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Michel Boucher[_3_]

(Steve Pope) wrote in news:g6n95t$li5$2
@blue.rahul.net:

> To be sure, Canada has done a lot more to try to acknowledge and
> right the situation than most former European colonies have.

Yes and no. Constitutionally, "Indians" are class 24 under section 91 of
the BNA Act, renamed the Constotution Act 1867. However, the government
fails to provide services for which money exists, such as clean water in
remote areas, roads, schools and clinics.

Under the Parti québécois, the Québec government underook to provide at
least some of these services to outlying First Nation groups and did it for
many years. This was not their responsibility but as the feds were not
stepping up, they felt an obligation to provide for people in Québec.

Some years ago, the minister of intergovernmental affairs took a bill to
Ottawa which represented the cost which Québec had incurred, asking that it
be repaid as it was in fact the federal government's obligation. They
refused. That's how much they really care.

The recent apology (and the back-handed slap that accompanied it) were
cheap theatrics. Seeing as this government eliminated the Kelowna accord
(when they had said they would respect all agreements already on the
table), I cannot believe that they are in any way sincere. But then again,
sincerity is not a conservative trait...lying through their teeth is.

The US, as flawed as it may be, recognized in the 1930's that the white
man's attitude towards native people (that they must be assimilated) was
wrong-headed. Canada is learning this slowly and despite its government.

I can find the US information when I get back to work next week.