TIME TO GET RID OF THE INDIAN ACT

Re: “Stop apologizing and start making hard decisions,” Chris Nelson, Opinion, Aug. 27.

Chris Nelson makes a very important point when he identifies the many Indigenous people who have chosen to leave the reserve.

In fact, more “status Indians” now live off-reserve than on reserve.

Yet, the almost entire focus and flow of funding goes to on-reserve status Indians, despite the fact that the infamous Section 91.24 of our Constitution states the federal government responsibility to be “Indians and lands reserved for the Indians,” not just the Indigenous on the lands reserved for them.

Despite paying lip service to the need to get rid of the Indian Act, which underpins the status quo, there is absolutely no movement from the present government or Indigenous leadership to change the conditions for a variety of reasons that Nelson correctly identifies.

Bob Liddle, Calgary