17.3 billion dollars!!! That is how much the Canadian economy of Canada would benefit if First Nations peoples in Canada were to be allowed to control their own affairs. Back in the mid nineties the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples came to the conclusion that it would be more beneficial to have Aboriginal peoples control their own affairs rather than being lead around by the yoke of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs.
Today it costs the government of Canada about $7.5 billion annually to undertake services such as health care, and education among others. If given complete autonomy including controlling their land, there would be a $17.3 billion shift on the balance sheet by 2016. As a result of this shift, Aboriginal Peoples would end up contributing to the economy about $9.8 billion. The $17.3 Billion comes with consequences though. It would mean the loss of 4805 employees at the department across the country both at headquarters in Ottawa and the regional offices.
The bigger question we need to ask is why in the in year 2010 do we still have a federal law that governs the lives of a specific group of people. Can you imagine if there was a statute called the White Man Act of Canada or the Chinese Act of Canada or the….you get the picture.
photo credit: jumpyjodes
Bernd Christmas
Mr. Christmas is the owner of Bernd Christmas Law Group, Barrister & Solicitor with the primary focus on Corporate and Commercial law.
He recently assisted Hill & Knowlton Canada develop its aboriginal affairs practice while in the position of Senior Vice President and National Practice Leader. As former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Membertou Band of Nova Scotia and the Membertou Corporate Division, and as a negotiator for several First Nations bands, Mr. Christmas brings a deep understanding of Aboriginal perspectives. He also brings extensive experience on national and international boards and commissions.
The first Mi'kmaw to become a lawyer in Canada, Mr. Christmas obtained his law degree in 1991 from Osgoode Hall at York University. In 1993, he accepted a position in corporate and commercial law with Lang Michener, where he also expanded the firm's Aboriginal practices.
In 2003, he was appointed by Prime Minister Chrétien to the External Advisory Committee on Smart Regulation. From 2000 to 2002, he was one of three Canadian commissioners to the International Commission for the Conservation of Tuna. He is a former member of the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board and of the executive committee organizing the Governor General's Conference on Leadership and Diversity. He has been a member of the board’s of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Keltic Petrochemcials Inc. and the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. He currently is a director on the board of Investors Group.
Mr. Christmas is a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society and of the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario).
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After years of invading and occupying non-White countries and their peoples with white male Commanders-in-Chief at the helm, the USA has “changed” and is now invading and occupying non-White countries and their peoples with a blackface Commander-in-Chief. Call me hopelessly cynical, but somehow behind Bernd Christmas’ proposal and pseudo-anti-racist rhetoric against the very label “Indian Act,” I sniff a similarly fraudulent revolution being prepared in which government-corporate mismanagement and ruin of aboriginal people’s lives by White masters is supposed to be transformed by a no-less-ruinous transfer into the hands/under the direction of aboriginal masters… like, say, Bernd Christmas perhaps?
Here, here!
There’s an excellent book on the market about this subject, written by Marie Wadden, called “Where the Pavement Ends: Canada’s Aboriginal Recovery Movement and the Urgent Need for Reconciliation” (Douglas & McIntyre, 2009). It seems to me that the Canadian government is still trying to pigeon-hole Aboriginal peoples into its way of functioning. What’s worse is, I really think the average Canadian has no real grasp on Aboriginal issues and struggles; until I read Wadden’s book, I admit to being oblivious to Aboriginals’ points of view. Loosen the reigns, Canada!
I agree, most Canadians don’t understand the perspective of indigenous struggles. Why is this you ask? Well history was written by those colonizing white folk and it is from this point of view that most of us were taught. There was little treatment of respect and dignity as the nation of indigenous peoples, found in this “newly discovered” foreign land, was unsettled, displaced and oppressed. Only recently did the Canadian Federal government acknowledge their rights. What will come if this remains to be seen. Their desire to protect the natural resources of the land is one lesson we might want to listen to!