Aboriginal youth deserve better future
SudburyStar.com – Opinion/Editorial
April 21, 2016. Editorial/Postmedia Network
An outcry of sorts greeted former prime minister Jean Chrétien’s recent suggestion inhabitants of the remote, poverty-stricken community of Attawapiskat might have to move to improve their lives. Many urban Canadians wondered why First Nations people would insist on remaining in such dreadful conditions. But many First Nations people found Chrétien’s remarks outrageous and insulting.
Is one side right? After all, thousands of Canadians have moved from their birthplaces to find work or create a better environment for their families. Canada’s Aboriginal People, however, have suffered a history of being forcibly relocated, or having their children taken from them and placed in abuse-laden schools. They take a dim view of advice about leaving the land.
The Chrétien kerfuffle points to a deep gap in understanding between many aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians.
There are encouraging signs. The federal budget pumped $8.4 billion over the next five years into aboriginal affairs. The government will hold an inquiry on murdered and missing aboriginal women. It has pledged to build the long-sought, all-weather road for the Shoal Lake 40 First Nation in Manitoba.
Last Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that Canada’s 665,000 Métis and non-status Indians have constitutional status to turn to the federal government for health care and other benefits. The ruling has broad financial implications. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised “the path forward will be together.” Meanwhile, indigenous communities expect more of a say — and have been told they’ll get it — on key development projects, such as pipelines.
And the government must deal concretely with the 94 recommendations made last year by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to heal the scars of the Indian Residential Schools.
Finally, the demographic bulge of young aboriginals in Canada will make itself felt — constructively, if we tackle education properly; in more difficult ways if we do not.
Which brings us back to Attawapiskat, temporarily awash in attention and assistance from do-gooder southerners. The community is used to this cycle of love and loss from Canadians: It has been in crisis for years. The challenge is to find a sustainable way to offer a future to its youth.
It is a quintessentially Canadian challenge, and applies to all indigenous communities.
It is a national project, which should mean not just governments, but individuals, rallying to find solutions. It’s 2016. It’s time to get this relationship right.
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Tags: economy, Health, housing, ideology, Indigenous, mental Health, participation, rights, standard of living, youth
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