Aboriginal affairs and Northern development in Canada

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:Cultural Studies

Document 1

The policy, however, received a strong rejection leading to its withdrawal in 1970. This paper gives a brief history on the development of Northern Canada and justifies that Pierre Trudeau’s white paper of 1969 was not majorly concerned in solving the problems that faced Aboriginals in Canada but rather succeeded in initiating the spirit of activism and interests of Canada’s First Nations. The rights of First Nations has been a question of concern since the first European settlers reached North America. In 1969, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his Minister, Jean Chretien came up with the “statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy” also known as the white paper. The policy was mainly intended to solve the ineffective relations that existed between the Canadian government and First Nations.

Sign up to view the full document!

The crown favored the principle of collective treatment that undermined the legal decisions of First Nations. Therefore the perception of the Crown of First Nations as less important was the main core of creating land cessions. In accordance to that, the judicial ruling of 1888 in regards to St. Catherine’s milling case, it ensured that First Nations could only be entitled to land with the approval of the Crown. This recognized First Nations people as not civilized enough to own land, and therefore they were not entitled legal documents that proved ownership on the land they lived (Holt and Ryan 2016) The British North America Act of 1867 further undermined First Nations land ownership rights. ) The Aboriginal rights and freedoms remained to be neglected heavily till the return of First Nation soldiers after the Second World War.

Sign up to view the full document!

They came back with a powerful notion of questioning the treatment they received from Canadian society. The Aboriginal servicemen were provoked especially by the denial of the land rights. The 1950s and 1960s saw increased activism and awareness but rather little political activism. The First Nations developed activist groups such as the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians and National Indian Brotherhood to demonstrate against the marginalization of First Nations in the Canadian society. Through a book written by Harold Cardinal, Unjust society, it gave sense to the Aboriginal people who in response were shocked on how the white paper had failed to address their concerns. The paper contained no provisions to honor First Nations legal rights and to guarantee them of their freedom.

Sign up to view the full document!

It did not solve historical grievances such as land ownership and the inclusion in making meaningful participation in the formulation of Canadian policies. Though the paper acknowledged that there was the presence of social inequality, many people viewed the policy as a statement to facilitate assimilation of the Indians into the Canadian Society. Canada was in a mission of absolving itself of its responsibility of marginalization and to build ties with First Nations. This was evidently portrayed during Meech Lake Accord constitutional negotiations, which excluded Aboriginal people and culminated to rendering of Manitoba member of legislative assembly “no” vote. This incidence helped to scuttle the entire agreement. Up to date the legacies of the 1969 are being felt in the Canadian government.

Sign up to view the full document!

From $10 to earn access

Only on Studyloop

Original template

Downloadable