Indigenous autonomy is the answer
Ending the Indian Act won’t solve all the problems, but it would help
Back in 2015’s federal election, thencandidate Justin Trudeau made hefty promises on issues important to Canadians. One that hasn’t been at the top of headlines has been the government’s treatment of Canada’s Indigenous people. This was supposed to be a priority for Trudeau.
It came to the national fore in August 2016 after the Tragically Hip’s final concert in Kingston. With 11.7 million Canadians watching, a clearly ailing Gord Downie looked up at Trudeau in the crowd and said “he’s going to take us where we need to go” (referring to improving relations with, and conditions in, Indigenous communities). Downie then explained how current conditions “aren’t cool, and everybody knows it.”
Most people don’t know how tough life can be for our Indigenous fellow citizens. For example, median income for First Nations in 2016 was just $21,875, 30 per cent lower than median income for all Canadians. If we look at all reserves from coast to coast, 80 per cent of them have a median income under the poverty line.
The gap is also evident in health measures. On World Water Day of 2018, more than 50 Indigenous communities were under long-term drinking water advisories. Indigenous people in Canada are more likely to contract diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis, while being four times more likely to have Type 2 diabetes and experience health repercussions as a result.
Although Indigenous people only account for five per cent of Canada’s total population, they represent 27 per cent of our prison population. This figure has risen over the last decade. Nearly half of imprisoned youth in Canada are Indigenous people. Once in jail, Indigenous people are also more likely to be subjected to the worst forms of punishment in our prison system. . Cases such as Eddie Snowshoe, a man who died by suicide after 162 days in solitary confinement, offers a first-hand look at how cruel, heavy handed and overreaching our criminal justice system can be for Indigenous peoples.
Indigenous peoples were once promised autonomy to handle their own affairs, but those promises have fallen by the wayside. An example is the Hill v. Beaver custody case. Instead of allowing for this custody and separation case to be heard under the laws and customs of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, it was decided that the case must be ruled by Ontario Family Law. This interjection feels like the creeping hand of colonialism.
Many scholars on this subject, such as Dr. Christopher Alcantara (a former professor of mine at Wilfrid Laurier University) have argued that one major step would be ending the Indian Act. Some may argue that ending the Indian Act isn’t quite the answer to Indigenous issues, but one thing is for sure: the more the federal and provincial government interject into the lives of Indigenous peoples, the worse life gets.
The issues may be too complicated to solve with a single policy, but what is clear is that the ultimate answer to improving outcomes for Indigenous people lies in more autonomy to the people, not less.