The Problem Of Shoal Lake 40 In Canada

Aboriginal self-government is a long standing issue that continues to be a struggle for the First Nations People. To truly understand the scope of Aboriginal self-government within First Nations communities, more effort is needed to understand the legislative system that runs Canada. This issue of self-governance has been very destructive in First Nations communities. After signing the Treaties, First Nations People was stripped of their livelihood and from that point on to abide by the Dominion of Canadas legislative policies. One current issue that would be a perfect example is the Nisga People in British Columbia who is no longer under the protection of the

Throughout history, the Native people of North America and the Europeans have continually had arguments and disputes over land. To this day there are still issues trying to be resolved. Twenty years ago, the beginning of one of the most violent and intense land disputes in present day Canada occurred. This event is now referred to as the Oka Crisis, named after the town Oka in Quebec. This crisis caused a confrontation involving the Quebec provincial police, the Canadian armed forces and the Mohawk people.1 The stand that the Mohawk people took in the town of Oka became a major revelation for the aboriginal people spreading awareness of aboriginal rights across Canada.

Canada can be considered one of the most desirable First World Nations to live in however what many people are not aware of is the Third World nation that lives within our borders. Fist Nations people within the Canadian North live in the most extreme poverty often with inadequate access to water due to either a lack or deteriorating infrastructure. The statistics about First Nations water issues are startling and this leads to implications of their quality of life, a disappearing culture and pure lack of serious government intervention. This can be attributed to many things such as Canada’s Aboriginal versus non-Aboriginal and centralists versus decentralists fault lines. If I have learned anything in my life time, it is that people deserve the right to life and that means meeting them at their most basic needs such as providing opportunity in water resources.

The Canadian government was being deceitful towards the Mohawk peoples; they ignored their claims to the land and decided to build anyway. This was unjust act was bound to be followed by retaliation. Even after the crisis ended in September of 1990, one of the non-aboriginal locals stoned 75 cars that had aboriginal women, children, and elderly inside. This shows the hatred and disrespect for people who were just defending what was rightfully theirs. Cases like this one help to make Canadian's more aware of the current situation with the First Nations. It shows them how the government is and has been failing to treat the First Nations people fairly when it comes to their rights to the land.

“As long as the sun shines, grass grows and the rivers flow…” written in the Treaty 8 accords, describes the length of time treaty 8 will remain valid (Booth et al, 2011). These words were meant to solidify a union between those settling and those native, but very little has been done on the government side to uphold these promises. The treaty guarantees the First Nations the right to hunt, fish, trap and harvest. The duty lies with the governments to consult and accommodate any affected First Nation if there is a reduction in the amount of land set aside for these activities and yet that rarely happens (Booth et al, 2011). Thankfully, many of those who

A health concern that may not be considered a common issue to the Canadian population is the lack of access to safe water among the Aboriginal population. The National Household Survey indicated in 2011 that about four percent of the Canadian population identifies as Aboriginal. The Constitution Act of 1982 identifies three main groups of Aboriginal people: First Nations, Metis and Inuit. First Nations are referred to as Status Indians, non-Status Indians, or Treaty Indians and represent sixty percent of the Aboriginal population. Status Indians are those that are registered under the Indian Act through a proof of ancestry, well non-Status Indians are not. Treaty Indians are the Indians that are a part of the First Nations that signed the treaties. Métis people represent about thirty-three percent of the Aboriginal population and identify themselves as mixed Aboriginal and European dissent. The Inuit are Indigenous people that represent about five percent of the Aboriginal population and live in the northern regions of Canada. The E. coli contamination that occurred in Walkerton, Ontario led to the general Canadian population inquiring about the quality of their own drinking water. This event was widely publicized and resulted in a policy inquiry that supported a new change in legislation. Media attention was not raised as to the conditions that the Aboriginal populations were facing, as many of their water systems were considered high

What happening there is some of the commercial fishermen are charged by the Ministry of Natural Resources as they do not follow the rules and regulations set by their local government and the provincial government. According to the chief of Nipissing First Nation, this agreement was made for the purpose of protecting the resources for future generations. However, the representative lawyer for commercial fishermen said that “The chief and band council don't represent the collective. They can only represent their master, who created them, the Government of Canada”

If it difficult for the Aboriginals to unite against the government, so they can unite a local level using protests which ultimately gather lots of news coverage through television and radio. The internet and e-mail has allowed Aboriginals to establish a connection to face the negative impacts of external development on their lands. Another strategy is to hire technical advisors which will investigate the impacts of the dam on Aboriginals and the environment. This allows the Aboriginals to gain access to weaknesses in the dams development plans which they can use to halt construction of a dam, but in the case of the Rupert's Project in Quebec, it did not change the Review Panel's decision. More recently was the protest against Manitoba's $1.3 billion hydroelectric dam project. Many of the Aboriginals lined up to prevent workers to the construction site. Their main objective was to get the attention of the managers and government to show that their rights as future workers of the dam are not being met. They say that at least one third of the workers at the site are to be of the local area.

Ever since the British and French came to Canada, the first nations people have always seen themselves get the short end of the stick. Examples of this are: having their land taken away from them, receiving racial discrimination, being victim to Residential schools and being assigned a reservation to live on. For the last two centuries our Canadian government has been trying to make amends to these First Nations People. One of these amends to status indians are: No Taxes on any funds inside of a reserve, free education including post-secondary, huge cost deduction on housing, and of course our wonderful benefit of free healthcare. Based off of these benefits it would seem like First Nations peoples would live a very successful life, well this is infact very, very wrong!. Despite many benefits the First Nations peoples are still finding themselves living in poverty. Poverty levels are as high as 60% for First Nation children living inside a reserve. Whose fault is this? Is it the Canadian governments or the First Nations people’s fault. Are the ‘Status Indians’ getting enough funds from the Canadian government to live a successful life, Well… Let's take a look.

Everyone has different point of views. The Ottawa Federal government discriminated against the first nations elsewhere people from the government opposed their decisions. In the following paragraphs I would be discussing about the different stakeholders and their opinions on discrimination of the First Nations.

The Semiahmoo recently became aware of their council’s exorbitant salaries through the First Nation Financial Transparency Act, learning that their chief was making an annual salary of upwards of $267,309, and their councillor $187,138, while the rest of the reserve survives in semi-squalor conditions. Members of the band have come forward with some of the living conditions; “band members were struggling month-to-month in mouldy homes with poor drinking water and lack of sewer pipes, while nothing had been done to provide social programs or other amenities”, as told by Darlene Clark, one of the two cousins who belong to the Semiahmoo band who are calling for an audit as soon as possible. Another resident also mentioned that he “relies on food banks to survive”. With so many people on reserves living in third world conditions in a country with such a high standard of living, due to greed and corruption by it’s leaders; the First Nation’s community is not ready for self-governance. With the little control that the state has allowed the First Nations, the majority have shown that they cannot uphold a suitable standard of living and next to no social programs for their people. If given the opportunity to govern themselves, this situation would likely stay the same.

I write as a concerned citizen to urge you and the Canadian government to support culturally based equity for First Nations children. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that Canada fundamentally must acknowledge and remedy its unjust treatment of Indigenous peoples. First Nations children are uniquely affected by federal underfunding of services on-reserve. It is unacceptable that the federal government does not provide First Nations children, youth and families with equitable education, health care, child welfare and basics such as clean drinking water.

A summary of two cases such as Taku River Tlingit First Nation v. British Columbia and Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia that occurred in 2004 and 2007, respectfully. Both of these cases were taken to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the importance of consulting and accommodating First Nations in projects. It is essential that the consult and accommodate their interest so that their rights may not be violated. The importance of following the Environmental Assessment procedure in which it is mandatory to consult the first nation group through their representatives and the general population in order to know their expectations. In addition, knowing the impact and benefits of the proposed project, this was a case that was ignored by the by the Canadian Government during residential

Moraine Lake is a man made lake, located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The surface elevation is approximately 6181 feet above sea level. The lake is home of grizzly bears, ground squirrels, parrots and many other animals. The lake got its name from the “moraine”, a pile of glacier rocks and boulders that were formed by the Wenkchemna Glacier next to the lake. The lakes bright, blue-green color is from the light reflecting off the “rock floor.” The lake usually doesn’t open until June, when it starts melting, through early September. Moraine Lake was discovered by Walter Wilcox, a college student at Yale, hired by Tom Wilson to help map out the area around Lake Louise. Wilcox went out in search for a new route up Mount Temple. After

It is a well-known fact that the relationship between the Canadian government and the indigenous people is a very fragile one seeing how dark the history between them are with the first nations losing a great chuck of their land to their children being ripped away from their family’s and sent to residential school a topic is that avoid by both side of the political struggles between these two nations. So it is not surprising that the indigenous people are tired of the government ignoring them and dragging their feet in their fight for self-government and equality and empty promises about reconciliation that in the long run prove to be only political talks to rack in voters. In “The Wretched of the Earth” by Franz Fanon he focus on the political