The Frontier Centre for Public Policy – asked those who live on Indian reservations what they think about their governance;
In the last thirty years, government spending on aboriginal Canadians has increased by 3000%, yet the data on native incomes and standards of living show little improvement. Many reserves report unemployment rates as high as 90%, and urban natives face rates as high as 50%. Other indicators of social development often associated with entrenched poverty – welfare dependency, involvement with the criminal justice system, family disintegration – also lag when applied to First Nations. No other ethnic group reflects this persistent lack of progress.
[…]
As he researched and discussed these problems, we came to appreciate that some First Nations communities were in much better shape than others. We wanted to know why. If some Indian reservations were experiencing good governance, in spite of the significant barriers common to all, why couldn’t they all? That led us to propose this experimental project. How adequate are the institutions of governance in Canada’s First Nations? When measured by commonly accepted standards of the quality and effectiveness of ruling institutions, how do these semi-autonomous units of governance measure up? How can we find out?
How happy do you think the chiefs were about this?
My guess is not very.
Canadians have known for years of the corruption in the ‘Indian Industry’, it has been shown time and again.
What is needed is accountability and action.
Local government falls under provincial authorities and legislation and contains adequate controls against corruption and ensures accountibility. Federal stewardship through the Indian Act has resulted in collectivist homelands devoid of property rights with little local government accountibility, essentially the creation and maintenance of wholy dependent welfare ghettos.
Subdividing Reserve or settlement lands into individual or family held fee simple titles would be a good first step in reform. The Feds should then discharge their ‘fiduciary responsibilty’ with cash to the provinces to cover their retreat and eventually depart the ‘Indian Industry’completely. What remains should fall under the respective provincial local government legislation. Traditional, cultural, language and religious differences from mainstream society can be maintained by the voluntary sector or under local government / provincial mandates.
Integration with mainstream society should be a better path than the continuous divorce action of the existing situation.
. . . government spending on aboriginal Canadians has increase by 3000%, yet . . . many reserves report unemployment rates as high as 90% . . .
Shouldn’t that be “therefore” instead of “yet”? I don’t find it surprising that people who are given lots of money by the government decide not to work.
Kate,
Spending increased by 3 thousand percent? Please tell me that’s a typo.
I lived on 2 reserves, boarding with some native friends. And the politics on both would make the Lieberals look honest. The chiefs and elders were elected, but on each reserve one family would control the votes. If you belonged to that family you got preferred treatment. If not you got very little.
slightly OT here but yesterday I took a trip to our local reserve just outside of Calgary to buy cigarettes, 1 carton at Safeway = $81.00, 2 cartons on the reserve = $95.00! So please tell me again who the poor hard done bys are?
The aboriginal system of self government (through elected chiefs and band councils)is probably the most corrupted and inept invention ever foisted upon the native population.
Many people get rich off this set up,but natives still suffer in poverty and neglect though with the amount of money thrown at these problems they should not exist.
It serves the “elected” fews agendas several ways, in that they take (to the tunes of billions off Canadians)and can still play the rascist card when going cap in hand for yet more money..see our poverty? poor us..pity me…
friends, it’s a decades old shakedown that counts on white guilt and benign neglect..the liberals were masters at it,by just throwing money at the problem and holding them at bay..
It is time that natives joined the real world, and as such, auditing of band finances would be a start..can’t wait to hear the wailing when that is demanded of them!!
Wow, a lot to read and digest although a few words came up time and time again. Those words were dysfunctional, bribery, social assistance, fraud to mention a few. From the descriptions one is led to believe that these tiny communities are run by dictators with a free hand to subjigate it’s residents. It also showed how some bands could have a positive future with the right leadership (and not more guvment money).
Having lived in Manitoba, I’ve noticed a couple of these things myself. I also noticed that there are a heck of a lot of reserves with a few people in the middle of nowhere. Kind of like having a great lemonade stand located at the end of a dead-end alley. If the business isn’t there… Heck, a lot of the bands don’t even have any native business to serve their own people.
The ability to have the chief say “poof you’re not an indian anymore” , but I’ll still collect your cheques is scary.
My solution? I’d first get some positive leadership in there. Someone who knows how to lead and the proper administrative backup. Get some of the brightest and the ones with the best potential and teach them leadership and I don’t mean the “I’m okay, you’re okay, hug me” crap but rather a military style leadership acadamy. It’s tough but it works.
Wow, good topic.
How do we move from self government to self determination in a way that embraces Indigenous culture and creates self-dependency and hope?
It’s all about leadership if you ask me, but the community itself has to empower those leaders, not be cowed by them for the right atmosphere to emerge.
By comparison, there are definately some First Nations that are doing way better than others, due to their adaptation and synthesis of western and Aboriginal cultures and values.
We all know that divergence is not working. Convergence is not working either. There needs to be an honest balance.
Cheers!
Leto
So….some genius from the think tank crowd has publicly acknowledged the obvious.
Next step…politicians with enough guts to actually enforce laws?
The attitude of the band councils and chiefs seems to be ” If the rest of them want what I have they should get off their ass and do something!”
A quote by the way of comments I was present to hear.
How many of these self serving bastards will ever be brought to justice for their squandering of public money?
OMMAG
A fascinating survey — should be required reading for every politician in the country. It recapitulates in a valid survey what I’ve encountered living on and around native communities and interacting with natives over the years. It also recapitulates the economics lessons one can take from Amartya Sen’s “Development as Freedom” and Hernando de Soto’s “The Mystery of Capital”. What I find most galling about this whole situation is that anyone with a brain knows what the problem is, knows what the solution is and yet politicians are too spineless (or too corrupt) to take the steps necessary to let the next generation of natives live proud, free and prosperous.
$10 BILLION every year is spent by the feds on Aboriginal Programs.
Used to be the Chiefs et al made big fat contributions to the Liberal Party, and the Party kept the gravy train rolling.
Ordinary natives get little, if anything.
The reserves of Canada follow the third world pattern. 80% of the resources go to 20% of the people. Why? Because the 20% have the power and they want things to stay the same. They just need to keep thier people down by heaping blame on the governement for their suffering.
They keep the government in line by hiring lawyers, and accusing opponents of the native gravy train of being racist.
Want to change? Eliminate Indian affairs, divide 10 billion amongst all Treaty Indians. Then the reserves can tax back any they need to run their “Nations”.
For everyones sake this insanity must stop!
I did a few calculations based on Stats Canada for 1996, from the last census
Registered
under
the
Indian
Act 461,510
Non-status
Indian 92,780
Both figures come to 554,290
Using only 8,000,000,000 divided by both Registered & non Status Indians. The figure comes too 14,433 Dollars per native.
Only using registered Indians it comes out too
17,334 per native
http://www.statcan.ca/english/census96/jan13/abor2.htm
This is for every man Women & child Native. Today it would be much higher. Since I Have no figures on how much it would be to send them a check each month I could not include these numbers.
These stats of course do not include reservation revenues, oil money, nor taxes saved , free education or bursaries. Nor the equipment give always or housing. One can make up there own minds on where the money goes. Its obviously not being used properly, nor are there entitlements.
This whole thing has created an underclass. Kept ignorant & encouraged not to be productive. To blame others for there own faults or those who foisted this Apartheid on them.
Native kids are even worse prepared for life in a city or even having the life skills to open up a bank account. Its disgraceful.
I think allotting Native lands to families, than encouraging education with inducements might work in the short term.
It will take generations to erode the “you owe us ” mentality, if not the social bigotry that arose because of political chicanery. I think the future rests in native business leaders hands. Certainly not the government that has bequeathed them the chattel mindset.
Each tribe or band will be in a different situation, but something has to be done. A Judge here in Alberta tried to stop the rank corruption in one group & was almost lynched by the MSM. Plus the usual bleeding hearts forever groups.
On a personnel note. I would like to see all Natives , working, owning there own housing. This idea of no personnel property rights is obscene for both of us. No imminent domain either. Let Natives be free to buy sell & own there own lands. At least the tribes that are not allowed to.
Never trust a government to keep your culture. Just ask Quebec. I think Native culture or traditions would flourish , in a free environment where not all are beholden to the polity of the day. Just my thinking on it. I wish Native communities the best.
To have that though, you have to sacrifice something in order to morph into something better, it’s a fundamental law of reality.
Calidonia is the road to Zimbabwe, not freedom.
On the one hand, I think that this whole paleolithic tribal classist model of governance is the wrong way to go, at least if the issue is interest in enabling the highest levels of achievements of individual Indians, as we should be of everyone.
On the other hand, this is a most interesting report, and I would urge everyone to read it.
It it one of the great ironies of reality that excessive well-fare becomes ill-fare.
… and Hernando de Soto’s “The Mystery of Capital”. Thanks for the mention of de Soto, DrD. I always appreciate your posts. I had forgotten about him. The sad irony is that the same paradigm that condemns so much of SA to poverty is the same paradigm in place on the reservations:
What De Soto found was complex in detail but simple in essence: the poor lacked property rights. “They had houses but no titles; crops but no deeds; businesses but no statutes of incorporation,” he wrote.
Some 95 per cent of Peruvians are locked out of the highly regulated formal or legal economy. Of course, the informal economy is thriving. It is the reality of the economy for most people in what we call the third world.
http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=384572004
When you designate a group of people as permanently having special needs, in other words as losers, they become that very reflection of others. Continuing this sham isn’t in the best interest of Native Americans as it wasn’t with blacks after an period of state sponsored catch-up. After a time it becomes destructive.
BC has found the solution. The BC Liberal government is going to set up a parallel school system for the “First Nations”. You know …… separate but equal – – just like the good old days in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia etc until Brown v Board of Education in the 50s. Get ready for a whole new subsidiary scam for the Indian industry.
It amazes me how the politicians and Indians can come up with fresh new ways of maintaining the corruption and status quo.
google ‘clock of the long now’
this can be the inspiration to ‘start the clock’ on proper transfer of authority to natives with an eye to assuring accountability and good governance instead of the entrenched graft and despicable vicious circle of poverty.
starting the clock now should bring success some time in the next thousand fukin years the pace things are going.
Excellent idea, Robert. Speaking as a Canadian citizen who was born within a few miles of where he lives, and is therefore native and indigenous, I would quite pleased with a transfer of authority to me, with an eye to assuring accountability and good governance instead of the entrenched graft and despicable vicious circles.
And look on the bright side, that way we may yet get rid of racism, for you will be unlikely to find a person who is more anti-race than me (although there undoubtly others as anti-race as me, we nominal libertarians are like that).
Though why you feel the need to express yourself in ungracious language escapes me.
Kelly:
Beware: buying and transporting cigarettes off a reserve is highly illegal. Your vehicle could be seized by CRA and sold by public auction. The only ones allowed to smuggle tax reduced cigarettes are Indians.
The Indian act and is so outdated is should be scrapped as should native schools and Universities.
We are setting ourselves up for another school abuse lawsuit.
The Indian industry is huge and a lot of white bureaucrats protecting their jobs will not put up with change. Of course the chief and council on reserve will not give up control.
We continue to err by creating a special status tax free welfare society that hates the hand that feeds it.
When will gov. learn that throwing more money at a problem does no good.
A friend told me yesterday he would like to win a lottery so he could move 2 families of his native neghbours to live beside a rich bleeding heart.
LOL !!!
lets hear it for the rich bleeding hearts !!!
ooga ooga ooga ooga woo woo woo woo woo !!!
(rough approximation of the stereotype indian warrior on tv in the early 60s)
Indian Love Song
ogga chuka ogga chuka
I cant stop this fleecy
Deep inside of thee
Stand on guard oh Canada
you still owwe me!
ogga chuka ogga chuka
when you hand me
my welfare cheques
give them up man
with your fist so tight.
ooooohhhhww Im hooking on a fleecy.
Im high on believing that Canada still oweess meeeee!
The reservation system has effectively been “the natives'” forced collectivization, with equally disastrous economic consequences. The parallels are uncanny. Nepmen and Kulaks are expropriated and liquidated, “counter-revolutionary agitators” are intimidated, exiled or purged. And the corrupt apparatchiks in the Nomenklatura live high off the hog with their perks and dachas. No wonder the socialists love the system and fight tooth and nail with the AFN (effectively the mini-UN/dictators club) to preserve and strengthen the whole rotten mess.
Know for a fact that ‘service providers’ have been sucking at this trough for quite a while, and likely still are, supposedly helping aboriginal peoples and all that happens is maybe one in 50 actually benefits, the rest are using the system; one to make an unearned profit the other to comply with court orders, parole boards, etc…Just a scam.
Abuses go unchecked. An example is the Medical Services Branch out of Ottawa, esp. from the latter half of the 90’s should be investigated thoughly.
“How do we move from self government to self determination in a way that embraces Indigenous culture and creates self-dependency and hope?”
The first step is to end the practice of increasing payments for women who bear additional children while on welfare. Until the baby-farming industry is brought under control, there’s little chance of anything changing, either on reserve or off.
The reserve system has proven time and time again that it just does not work. As long as the Fed’s keep sending ALL of the money to the power chiefs to dole out nothing will change. With the billions of dollars that are wasted, it is time for a change. Until the Indian’s are treated as CANADIANS first it will never get better. In this day and age the general population of reserves do not “mix” with the rest of society. They have been brain washed that we are all bad. It is the controlling “Black Hearts” that have done this to their own people. (Black Heart – whitey hater), used regularly on the reserve here. I hope that the following is not to long but I felt that it was important for everyone to read. This is a email I received from a Caledonia citizen to his MP. I removed his name, to prevent problems.
Ms. Finley,
I believe you and your Government have failed and continue to fail with your inaction here in Caledonia.
I wrote to you many weeks ago, but things have only become worse since then. Yes, the barricades on the roads have come down, but only after people were beaten in the Canadian Tire parking lot, and our power was taken away by native protestors seriously damaging our local transformer station during Victoria Day weekend. Yes, I know all the damage at the Caledonia Transformer Station was done by the Protesters, because I was told by one of them to my face.
I guess terror in our town has become a way of life for me and my family. I tell you, I am ashamed to be called a Canadian when our citizens can’t walk the streets for fear of our lives. I have respect for people who respect me, the Protesters may have a reason to protest, but not break to the law. You need to stop this nonsense before You and Your Government get someone killed by your lack of interest and involvement.
It is only a matter of time!
I wish I could have celebrated this outstanding Day July 1, 2006 with respect for my Country and its history, but sadly that is not the case. My Sister and her Family were going to come to Caledonia for their first Caledonian Canada Day with us, but I told them to stay away because of the possibility of another uprising.
I cannot tell you enough. I hope you read this before July 1, 2006 – but I doubt it. I am sure my words are falling amongst deaf ears and nothing will change for many months, if not years.
I will be blown away if you have the guts to go to the Caledonia celebrations or put you face on display in the parade like you did in the Mudcat festivities. If I do see you, I will give you this letter myself, but even then you will give me the standard blah,blah,blah and hope I will go away happy thinking you are giving it your all.
I never used to think this way. I am generally a positive person. I pay my taxes, volunteer, go to Church, but something changed -my home and way of life has come under attack.
I hope You have a wonderful Canada Day – knowing your constituents are living in fear that someone will have to die before you and your colleagues decide to wake up!
(Note: An email I received from Ms Findley office, she was unable to attend due to illness)
Kate said:
“The first step is to end the practice of increasing payments for women who bear additional children while on welfare. Until the baby-farming industry is brought under control, there’s little chance of anything changing, either on reserve or off.”
You should read Steven Levitt’s “Freakonomics”. I think you would enjoy it. Read the chapter on “why Crack dealers live with their mom’s”. There are a few similarities within the Aboriginal challenges we have in Canada to the urban city and poverty challenges of black people in the US.
Comparing Crack bosses with Aboriginal Chiefs… now there is a study that would not make it through Ethics committee approval.
Cheers!
Leto
I wonder why they call us the Mississippi of the North!!???