REALity  Volume XXV Issue No. 2 February 2016

Everyone, no matter which side of the political spectrum, agrees that aboriginal affairs is a terrible mess. It is an overwhelming tragedy that, according to Statistics Canada, in 2014, 21% of female homicide victims were aboriginal.  It is significant too that 24% of male homicide victims were also aboriginal.

On December 8th, 2015, Prime Minister Trudeau announced that $40 million would be spent over two years on a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, (although nothing about men, even though violence is a men’s issue too).

This inquiry will allow the family and friends of these missing women to express their anguish over their loss. However, it is not expected that the inquiry will add much to our understanding of their problems.

This is because this has been thoroughly studied already:

  • Prime Minister Stephen Harper established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ­­­­­­­­­­­­in 2008. It released its final report with 94 recommendations which Trudeau agreed to implement even before the recommendations were released to the public. It is a concern that item #6 recommends that the government repeal s.43 of the Criminal Code which allows parents to spank their children if reasonable under the circumstances. The harm suffered by aboriginal children in the residential school system has nothing to do with our current, limited child discipline law. However, this recommendation is being used by anti-spanking advocates as a reason to remove that provision in the Criminal Code.
  • Former B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal investigated the problem of missing aboriginal women and made recommendations to deal with the situation; His extensive final report and recommendations were released in November, 2012;
  • The RCMP conducted a thorough investigation, based on extensive data provided by Statistics Canada in May of 2014, with an update in April, 2015.

We know the problems facing aboriginals in Canada. For example, in the last decade, 400 of the 618 First Nations Communities have been under a boil water advisory.  According to the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), two-thirds more aboriginal Canadians live below the after-tax, low-income measure than the general population.  The unemployment rate among aboriginals is roughly twice that of the general population.  This survey also found that 80% more aboriginal households report overcrowding and housing in need of serious repairs.  More than two and a half times as many aboriginal Canadians between the ages of 25 and 64 have no certificate, diploma or degree, compared to the general population.

In summary, there is a range of social, economic and health challenges facing aboriginals, caused by poverty, unemployment, lack of transportation and mental health and substance abuse issues.

Aboriginal Education

On the matter of aboriginal education, Trudeau announced that he would be making “significant investments” in First Nations’ education, with no figures given. The difficulty is that the previous Conservative government had provided aboriginals with funds for aboriginal education, but this was rejected because the Chiefs claimed they had not been consulted and that this provision was “paternalistic”.  The reality may be somewhat different in that one of the terms for this money was that school boards be established to make education more professional.  Apparently, the Chiefs believed they would lose power and funding if native school boards were established.  This is based on the fact that there is significant evidence that aboriginal bands raid the education funding envelope whenever they are short of funds in other areas.

Public Disclosure of First Nations Funding

The Conservatives had also attempted to place some restraint on aboriginal fiscal activity by passing the Financial Transparency Act, which required Chiefs and band councillors to disclose audited financial statements, including their salaries and expenses.  This was not unreasonable since it is Canadian taxpayers’ money (over $7 billion annually) that is being distributed, and this information should be made available to the general public.  However, Trudeau objected to this legislation, claiming it was unnecessary.  This Act is to be reviewed by the Liberal government, and will, no doubt, eventually, be repealed.

Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the country’s largest indigenous political group, fell all over itself with joy when Trudeau announced his plans to engage aboriginals in a “total renewal” of Canada’s relationship with them. Trudeau has given the Chiefs everything they ever wanted, without their having to be accountable.

Where Are the Controls on Trudeau’s Largesse?

It is puzzling that there does not seem to be anyone in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) putting a restraining arm on Trudeau, advising him that his statements made during the election that “he would govern from the heart” and that “budgets would balance themselves” are meaningless in the real world. Trudeau seems to be spreading his “sunshine” in order to satisfy his apparent insatiable need for approval.   He achieves this by lavishly spending taxpayers’ money on special interest groups.  Unfortunately, it seems that he has surrounded himself with advisors who unthinkingly accept politically correct concepts and clichés.  Critical analysis is not their strength. No one in the PMO seems to study the policies to determine a possible downside to them.

The media, despite reporting this lavish spending by Trudeau, as they are obliged to do, seem unwilling to criticize him for it, and instead, continue to allow a circle of enchantment to protect him.

Canada’s Ship of State Steering into Perilous Waters

It seems that the Canadian Ship of State is being steered into perilous waters, towards dangerous rocky shores. At this point in time, we do not know when, or the particular circumstances, that will lead to disaster.  All we know is that it is coming our way.