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I think it does matter who is being paid what because I know alot of people would be mad with the salaries of some of our policticians and leaders if they were paid too much for too little so it does matter because it all comes out of tax payers pockets so which ever side i am on may not matter but anything that cost tax payers is an important issue.
The problem that continues to exist is that a lot of people cannot grasp the concepts of how Canada was formed and the agreements (treaties) with the First Nations people by England. It was much different than what happened in the USA.
Britain made agreements (there are many) with the Native people of Canada that they would be paid for the use of the land, the resources of the land and whatever was taken off the land. It’s like a farmer having a million acres of land and he rents it out to other people. He makes an agreement in money for the use of the land and for anything that comes from it, be it a gravel pit found under the land or a gold mine. These agreements stand in perpetuity to all the family of that farmer and future generations. So what basically is happening, to simplify the example is ….rent….. is being paid….. as well as a percentage of the profits…….. of anything found and used by the renters. This includes the use of the land that most of you are sitting on.
The Crown (England) also agreed to take care of this money for the Native people and give them their share of the proceeds. Despite the fact that many of you believe that you are an independent country you are in reality part of the Common’wealth’ of England. That is why you have the Queen’s effigy on your money and why there is also a Governor General who reports to England. The Crown still has constitutional powers over Canada and the Queen remains the Head of State of Canada.
So the Canadian Governments pay money to the First Nations people (and they also agree to protect the Native people). Where that money specifically comes from is up to the Government of Canada. It may come from taxes or other areas of income. However wherever it comes from it is basically ‘rent’, paid to the Native people.
Now lets step back a moment. Lets say you rent land, or an apartment, or a town house, or a boat, or a lawnmower from someone and you pay them rent. What they do with that rent, how they spend it, who in the family of the renter gets what percentage is in reality ……no one’s business! If any of you rent an apartment for instance, do you ask the landlord how much money he keeps and how much he gives to his kids? If you rent from a corporation, do you ask how much the CEO makes compared to how much the office staff make? Do you compare how much the CEO of your building takes, compared to the CEO of another rental company? No…..on all counts.
Of courst the difference in this situation is…….some people in Canada feel they have a right to tell the ‘landlord’ how to handle their money. Why do people feel that the Native people should be treated any differently than the landlords of any other Corporation? Well it’s because most of the people in Canada had no idea they were in reality renting the land. Came as a big surprise didn’t it. Most people feel they own their land and yes in a sense you do, but that land was sold originally longgggggg ago by the Canadian or maybe the British government to the first purchaser. The government was given the right to sell that land and they take taxes from it and part of those taxes goes to rent.
The agreements or treaties with the First Nations people existed and will continue to exist. It is the duty of the Canadian government as representatives of the Crown to take care of the First Nations people. Pay your taxes and get on with your lives and leave the Native people alone. The government of Canada will, or should, live up to the agreements with the Crown. If they don’t…….then the First Nations people will deal with it as they chose to.
I know alot of people would be mad with the salaries of some of our policticians and leaders if they were paid too much for too little so it does matter because it all comes out of tax payers pockets.
You have a right to be angry at 'your' politicians because 'you' hired them and they are your 'employees' who work for 'you'. It has nothing to do witht the First Nations people.
I have a right to like or not like what my money is doing
Yes you do have that right. I would like that right too when I see where the government is wastefully spending my money in different areas. But that is different than the agreements made with the Crown long ago for what is basically ‘rent’.
Taxes off my pay to me is not rent ...To me my rent is Morgage and property tax ... So in my opinion every penny of Taxes takin of my earnings give me the right to like or dislike what they are doing with it
A portion of your taxes may go to the First Nations people (I have no idea how the government splits up their intake of money). However part of those taxes may go to that rent. You may not see it that way but it is the way it is and has been for a longgggggggggggg time. To me the real problem is, no one in our education system or our governments ever really explained it to people in detail…..and they should have. I’ve asked people I know, people in their teens and in their 30’s and people who are in their 70’s and even 80’s and they had no idea. That tells me that few people know the facts.
Maybe what they do with there money makes no sense but to me in a small community to be paid say 1/4 millto 1/3 mill well your neighbors lives in a shack makes no sense
It gets complicated I agree. First of all each Rez has their own problems being as where they are and what they have to deal with. These problems can be costly, more than most people realize. Secondly, a lot of things done on a Rez have to be approved by……the Federal government. Few people know that on a Rez no one can even start a business without the approval of the Feds. This really restricts the Native people. A lot of money goes towards lawyers, just to fight the government who are using tactics to try and take more from the Native people. The whole treatment of the Native people is complicated and it also varies from Province to Province. Treaties in Ontario are different from treaties in Nova Scotia etc etc .
REGARDLESS OF laws or treaties people need to realize they can control alot more then they think specially working together.
If you mean the Native people across the country working together…….I Totally Agree and I have told them that. However like the Middle East, it is a tribal system and for the most part they take care of themselves individually. (I suppose it’s also not much different than our separate Provinces thinking more of their Province than of the country as a whole). If they all worked together, be it Native Tribes or Middle Eastern tribes or even our own Provinces …..it would be unbelievable what could be accomplished!!
even if the goverment owes them millions if your family is suffering sitting around well your kid freezes and is hungry is not acceptable and as a Parent I know it is not the Goverments responsibility to feed and shelter my child nor is that the case with any child on this earth……etc etc etc
That part is complicated as well. We have to try and see it from their point of view that the Native people do not want to lose their heritage, their land, or their futures. Their land is like their ‘country’ and they cherish it for many reasons. When they leave the Rez they are no longer classified as Native, so to keep what they have they must stay. In a sense it’s like WW2 and the love of country by the British and the French and the Irish and the Polish and many other people, defending themselves against invaders. Many didn’t leave, they stayed and fought……some to the death. Their land, their country, was their home they had a passion for! Imagine for moment that some other country did take over Canada. Some would leave, others would stay and fight. Would you condemn those who stayed? Many Native children go to school off the reservations because there is neither money or teachers to create the education needed. In the case of some Reservations the schools were promised by past and present governments in Ottawa but they never materialized. All the Native people can do is ask, and ask, and ask…..and wait and wait. The plan of all Federal governments has been to make life so difficult and full of rules for the Native people that hopefully they will either leave or sell off their Reservations. The Native people know this trick and they are not falling for it. So they stay, because this is their home and this is their life, this is their heritage and they are strong people.
When a culture leaves their home, their land and gets dispersed amongst others they lose most of their culture and often it only takes only one generation because of the power of the culture they have been absorbed into by one means or another. The First Nations people of Canada do not want to become another statistic in the history books of lost cultures. The attempt to destroy the Native culture was already attempted by the Canadian government when they gave approval to the Residential School system to operate. A generation of Native innocent children were taken, stolen, from their parents. They were Forced to take non-Native names. They were Forced to not speak their own language and Forced not perform any of their traditions or wear their Native clothing. Those children who tried to hold onto who they were …….were punished and beaten. Some were killed. Still though…….those proud and strong Native people left, will not give in to the tyranny of others.
I understand fighting tyranny because of my heritage and that is why I stand up for the Native people. Most people in Canada have lost nothing and have never had to face what these people or others have had to deal with. They have no idea how it feels.
If you wanna spend your life making things more important then our children......etc
It's all about perception. You're not Native I persume so this might not be something you understand. If Natives left their Reservations and went into the 'other world' they would lose not only their land, but also who they are. They get absorbed into the larger society and the society wins, bit by bit, person by person, family by family, until it is all.........gone. Through history this has been seen in different degrees. The First Nations people are not only fighting to keep their own heritage alive but if you look at the big picture they are also fighting for the land and the resources and the protection of it all for ......all Canadians, and for your children and grandchildren and on and on. You many not see that now....but those in the future will understand.
Certainly they love their children just as any other parents would and that is why they stay and fight. For many this is bigger than a person and bigger than a family, it is everything for not only this generation but generations to come. They do not want to be written up in the textbooks of history as people who only cared about themselves as individuals. There is enough greed and selfishness in the world as it is.
Although from a different culture the meaning is the same because the persecution was the same..........
"You cannot conquer Ireland. You cannot extinguish the Irish passion for freedom. If our deed has not been sufficient to win freedom, then our children will win it by a better deed."
Pádraig Pearse; teacher, barrister, poet, writer, and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916
