Accountability lies in response

DEAR EDITOR:

Achievement requires motivation, opportunity, effort, education and an element of risk. That’s how Canada was built. It wasn’t done with entitlements and handouts.

Handouts suffocate initiative and destroy incentives for change. They promote complacency and dependency. People have enough to get by at a marginal level, but sacrifice a considerable measure of their potential and dignity in return. It’s the classic welfare trap; a cheerless and soul destroying existence for anyone.

We’re at a cross roads with First Nations and must find a better way.

The Indian Act has been the path for the last 145 years and it’s a proven disaster. It institutionalized a culture of subordination and dependency for Indigenous people where a paternalistic government knows best. It’s worst manifestations today are the squalid conditions in remote northern communities which are worse than Sovietstyle gulags.

A renewed relationship can’t be dictated from above, like the Indian Act. It must be fair and equitable for everyone. The pattern of dependency must be replaced by one of independence, equality, education and opportunity. There are no quick fixes. And wisdom, responsibility and patience are in short supply.

Who speaks for First Nations? Should we treat Indigenous people as individuals or groups? An individual approach recognizes personal freedoms, rights and choices. Will there be a “one-size-fits-all” solution like the Indian Act? There are 630 First Nations communities with widely differing circumstances and needs.

Fifty five percent of Indigenous people don’t live on a reserve, which means that provinces and cities must have input. There are approximately 600,000 Métis out of a total of 1.6 million aboriginals. What’s the future for them? The aboriginal population is the youngest and fastest growing in Canada, so what might work today may not fit tomorrow.

There’s a lot of power and money invested in the Indian Act system; both in government and Indigenous bureaucracies, and there’s a lot of inertia to overcome on both sides. Many politicians promote dependency because it buys votes and power.

Let’s reject that thinking. First Nations and their chosen representatives must speak for themselves, but what about us? We have a long history of ignorance, indifference and political and bureaucratic ineptness working against us. We’re also wearing the mask of white, liberal guilt which distorts straight thinking and good judgement.

First Nations people are looking through their experience of disappointment, mistrust and resentment which is equally limiting. John Thompson

Kaleden