Posts Tagged ‘Indigenous’
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Harper’s belated move on native education
Monday, December 20th, 2010
Dec 20 2010
Harper has made progress on the symbolic front… including the apology for abuses in residential schools and the ratification of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. But he has been slow to embrace Kelowna-like measures to improve the quality of life for First Nations and other native peoples… the problems have continued to fester, notably in native schools. In the U.N. index of educational attainment, Canada’s status Indians rank 71st in the world, as opposed to the No. 1 ranking for non-aboriginal Canadians.
Tags: Indigenous, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Smear of First Nations over chiefs’ salaries overlooks facts
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
Dec 15 2010
While I can find no excuse for the high salaries of chiefs recently reported by the news media, I understand certain contexts that likely are unfamiliar to reporters… It is not my chief and council’s salaries that are keeping our young men and women mired in self-doubt and looking to their future with trepidation rather than hope. If, in fact, First Nations were allowed to manage our communities through agreements extracted from Indian Affairs policy and funding mechanisms, you would see hope come back to our community…
Tags: budget, Indigenous, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | 1 Comment »
Native children also have the right to parents
Monday, December 13th, 2010
December 11, 2010
Native children are languishing in state care in unthinkable numbers… Canada remains so traumatized by the “sixties scoop,” the widespread adoption of native children into white homes, that it allows the native children of today to grow up without a permanent home of their own… Striving to avoid the wrongs of the past, we have inflicted new wrongs, of temporariness and a lack of nurturing, on the most vulnerable children. Unless we insist on the right of these children to permanent parents, future premiers may find themselves apologizing again, for lives ruined by yet another public policy failure.
Tags: child care, Indigenous, multiculturalism, rights
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Stung by allegations of inflated pay, native chiefs to open their books
Saturday, December 11th, 2010
Dec. 11, 2010
Under fire over revelations that some of them are paid better than provincial premiers, Canada’s native chiefs are poised to make an unprecedented commitment to open their books. The more than 600 chiefs of the Assembly of First Nations are expected to adopt a resolution next week promising to “lead by example” through the clear and timely release of audits, public accounts, salaries, honorariums and expenses of their chiefs and council.
Tags: budget, Indigenous
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Ottawa, chiefs agree to pursue wholesale reform of native education
Friday, December 10th, 2010
Dec. 09, 2010
The emerging consensus for reform involving both the federal and provincial governments and native chiefs “is quite extraordinary and unprecedented”… [Indian and Northern Affairs Minister] Duncan and National Chief Shawn Atleo jointly announced Thursday that an expert panel will have until the middle of next year to come up with a new plan for on-reserve education that is standards-based, accountable and both culturally and regionally appropriate… For the 113,000 children in native schools, so many of whom are at risk, they can’t come too soon.
Tags: Indigenous, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Five Things to Know about the big chief paycheques on native reserves
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
November 24, 2010
Conservative MP Kelly Block’s pending private member’s bill that aims to require aboriginal chiefs to publicly disclose their salaries may not change the way many First Nations are governed. As appalled as many people may be when chiefs help themselves to colossal paycheques, the reality is there is frequently a widespread consensus in a lot of native communities that chiefs are entitled to make their own rules… Even if a majority of members are outraged at their chief’s salary, they won’t necessarily protest.
Tags: budget, Indigenous, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | 1 Comment »
Scores of native chiefs out-earn PM
Monday, November 22nd, 2010
Nov. 22, 2010
…at least 30 chiefs were making more than the after-tax income of Canada’s provincial premiers… 222 reserve politicians were making more than their respective premiers in 2008-09. And more than 700 received an income that was the equivalent of a off-reserve salary of more than $100,000… “a lot of reserve politicians are abusing their ability to set their own pay levels and to keep it hidden from the public.”
Tags: budget, Indigenous, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Common sense on aboriginal law
Saturday, November 20th, 2010
Nov. 19, 2010
By a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has set a new standard for interpreting First Nations’ land claims arising from so-called “modern treaties” — those signed after 1975. From now on, disputes between governments and First Nations will be handled by the courts much more like land-use disputes arising between governments and non-aboriginal Canadians… Governments that otherwise respect the provisions contained in modern treaties are under no obligation to engage in open-ended “consultations” with native bands that go beyond the administrative procedures…
Tags: Indigenous, participation, rights
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
UVic shows there’s a better aboriginal way
Thursday, November 11th, 2010
Nov. 11, 2010
In 2005, the [University of Victoria] began a four-year pilot project aimed at improving aboriginal outcomes. It was hoped the program would entice more to finish their degrees and even go on to graduate school. The endeavour was dubbed Le,Nonet, a Coast Salish term for “success after many hardships.” Graduation rates among those in the program improved by 20 per cent… 73 per cent of the participants said the program helped them become a more integral part of the campus and gave them a better chance of succeeding.
Tags: Indigenous, participation, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Crisis? What crisis?
Monday, November 8th, 2010
Nov 07 2010
At the heart of the systemic flaws with the current system is the Indian Act itself, a piece of colonial legislation passed by Parliament in October 1876 as a means to protect, civilize and assimilate the Indian population. “I’m not a great defender of the Indian Act,” Duncan, who has been minister for three months, said. “No Indian Affairs minister could have a greater legacy than to be the one to say, ‘I got rid of the Indian Act.’ “There’s no consensus (on a) way to get there right now.”… “We have bought into the need for reconciliation,” Duncan said. “We know we can’t move forward without doing that.”
Tags: Indigenous, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
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