The Role Of Discrimination Against First Nations People In Canada

Canada is a nation of opportunity and freedom. People from all around the world immigrate to Canada to start a new life, to get away from war or poverty. Canada opens their arms to them and accepts them, and gives them money to get them started. But how about those who were here from the very beginning, before anyone else landed in Canada; the ones that are called First Nation people, or Aboriginals? What is the government doing for them? Why are First Nations people suffering the worst in Canada? “55.6% of the poor are aboriginals and a lot of them live in reserves around Canada that Canadian government have put them in. For those who leave the reserves to get a better living the suffer from racism from Canadian society” (“Aboriginal”).

Since the colonization of Canada First Nations people have been discriminated against and assimilated into the new culture of Canada through policies created by the government. Policies created had the intentions of improving the Aboriginal people’s standard of living and increasing their opportunities. Mainly in the past hundred years in Canadian Society, policies and government implemented actions such as; Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reserve systems have resulted in extinguishing native culture, teachings, and pride. Policies towards the treatment of Aboriginal Canadians has decreased their opportunities and standard of living because of policies specified previously (Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reservation systems).

Ever since the first contact settlers had with indigenous or Aboriginal people, there has always been discrimination against these groups since they are seen at the bottom of the social class scale. This was the first time in Canadian history where a certain social group were marginalized; the white people who first settled in Canada looked at indigenous people and didn’t believe that they belonged to there society. However, in todays society we have laws that prevent decriminalization, but that does not resolve the problem since many indigenous people are constantly being murdered, assaulted, raped and treated as second class citizens. The underlying problem that help’s illustrate why there so many missing and murdered indigenous woman is due to the lack of support from the government. Many first nations people live in poverty, also Canadians are not properly informed about the deaths and missing rates of indigenous woman in Canada.

First Nation Peoples within Canada have been facing many injustices in their homeland since the dawn of colonization. The most unraveling point to First Nation assimilation was the formation of the consequential Indian Act and residential schools resulting in a stir of adversity. As racist ideologies within Canada developed, upheaval against such treatment was undertaken as First Nation communities fought back against government land claims and eradication of treaty rights. In attempt to make amends, proper compensations from the injustices within residential schools have been released and the key for the future is allowing First Nation self-government. Ideals with the intent of ultimate assimilation have been standardized unto First Nation

To many people, Canada exemplifies a country that fulfills human rights and equality being the country of ‘freedom’. However, the Canadian government has distorted certain information including poverty that impacts many Aboriginal individuals daily. In theory, it is impossible to effectively analysis the impact that the past has imposed on Aboriginal people in Canada today. With this being said addressed below are several important historical government actions and legislations such as the Indian Act, Royal Proclamation, force segregation on reserves, and residential schooling impacting Aboriginal Canadians social conditions today. Fundamentally my goal is to address the idea that historical events are a crucial factor impacting Aboriginal

Thesis: Although their were contributions in improving the lifestyles for the native Canadians by the Canadian government the prejudice they faced does not nearly way out of how they were treated through deficient access to health care, poor living conditions, and lack of education.

Canada is seen as a culture-embracing country, however when it comes to First Nations, Canada falls short. First Nations people face higher rates of unemployment, lower life expectancy, and have fewer high school graduates. These are only three of the many problems that First Nations people face. Although Canada has taken many positive steps toward ending the discrimination to First Nations people, there is and will always be room for improvement.

4. The main point of this article is that First Nations peoples along are often mistreated by the justice system in Canada.

It is visible that the violence and discrimination experienced by Aboriginal women and girls in Canada is a national tragedy, which has sadly received meager attention in our nation. Native Women’s Association of Canada (2013) explained how this has tragically led to the number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada being excessively high. Systematic oppression and negligence from the Canadian Government to actively address this national tragedy were dominant themes that were illustrated by the absence of research and data available on this subject. Additionally, it was appalling to realize that no policies were established, but only politically charged strategies were recommended to confront this grave social problem.

The evidence of Canada’s inequality towards the first nations is appalling and is a dreadful part of Canadian history. From the government of Canada we apologize, for the burden that was afflicted upon the nation. 80,000 people attending residential schools, families and communities were affected immensely by the brutalities that took place in our past. We apologize for the emotional, physical pain and suffering that was burdened onto thousands. We as a nation damaged and severed many relationships, we apologize for this segregation. We acknowledge that it was wrong to forcefully remove children from homes at a young age, leaving a void in families all across Canada. We apologize for any role the Canadian government had in the

Before the contact with the Europeans, Indigenous peoples had their own form of justice system, and there was never an issue with their way of administering punishment till the Europeans came. According to Belanger (2014), Native peoples make up a disproportionate amount of people in the prison. He explained that after the contact, there was the creation of the North West Mounted Police (NWMP), which had good relationship with the Indigenous peoples, but changed and became a source of oppression to them. He further explained the creation of the RCMP by the Canadian government, in which “one of is first actions was to raid the six nations in Brantford, Ontario.” (Belanger, 2014, p. 253)

First Nations have the longest history in Canada going back way before the Europeans came and settled. With them, they brought diseases that the Natives were alien to and these diseases killed 90% of the population of Natives. This is where it started, a long road of mistreatment and discrimination towards the Natives.

Futhermore, another sector mentioned in the Ontario Human Rights Code that set precedent to Canadian courts is racial discrimination. Racial discrimination was a social injustice towards people of colour, ethnicity, and religion in the workplace. At around the same time as the Female Employees Fair Remuneration Act (1951) came the social movement of Fair Employment Practices Act (1951). This was a social movement to reverse social discrimination in the workplace. Frager and Patrias (2001) proposed a rationale on the issue of not challenging racial discrimination in Canada in their article “This is our country, These Are Our Rights': Minorities and the Origins of Ontario's Human Rights Campaigns.” In this article, the authors examined

As a land of opportunities, Canada is one of the most popular destinations for immigrants and international students from all over the world. It is an indisputable reality that some kind of racial discrimination is a part of Canada’s diverse population because of the white domination in the field of social work. Racism as a basic construction of oppression is meant to consider people dissimilar by their external appearance, culture, hair structure, language and facial characteristics (Yee, 2005). Racial discrimination in the field of social work by the dominants is an undeniable factor in Canada when having a close look

People often view Canada as a very innocent country. Despite Canada currently being such a friendly country, it is impossible to deny some of the atrocious actions that Canadians have done in the past. A less known example would be the discrimination against the Japanese since their immigration to Canada in the late 19th century. This discrimination reached its peak during World War II; using the war as an excuse, Canadians forced people of Japanese decent out of their homes, and they forced them to remain in internment camps. However, these acts pale in comparison to the horrendous acts towards the Canadian Aboriginal Peoples. In particular, the formation of residential schools. This paper will discuss how the Aboriginal Peoples were