A New Direction? Part Two

As stated in a previous post, the issue of how to resolve the overwhelming lack of services for First Nation communities in the far north is both complex and potentially very expensive. It is not just a matter of throwing piles of cash at the problem. We need, as a country, to have a better understanding of how we got into this mess (perhaps the report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission should be required reading before anyone is allowed to talk about solutions). We also need to understand what the people who live in those communities are saying and what their solutions are. However dealing with the housing, educational and social crisis in the north is only half of the problem.

According to the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada web page, half of all Indigenous Canadians live in urban centres. While it might be arguable that a portion of these individuals have migrated to urban centers because of the lack of services or opportunities in their home communities, I would suspect that for many of those who reside in cities, it is now their permanent home. The fact that those individuals appear to have less access to services is, in the year 2016, disheartening.

While it may not be a matter of public policy that indigenous individuals are discriminated against - it happens. It happens not just occasionally but continually. There are numerous indicators that clearly suggest that we are not all playing on a level playing field. In fact it would appear that for some Indigenous Canadians - they are not even allowed into the park.

In a Stats Canada report from 2006, it was reported that Indigenous citizens were less likely to graduate from high school than the Canadian population in general. When Indigenous students move to urban centers to go to high school it appears as if they are at a higher risk of suicide. In some cities (e.g. Thunder Bay, Regina, Winnipeg) Indigenous men and women make up between 50 and 80% of the homeless. The number of Indigenous Canadians incarcerated in our penal system both at the provincial and the federal level is nothing less than outrageous. One could fill up pages and pages with statistics from the countless reports and studies from the last thirty plus years. And they would all say the same thing.  It is clear that there is systemic racism at every level. The overt and sometimes subtle racism limits the opportunities for individuals to succeed. And that as long as  this discrimination continues, the long term consequences will be disastrous for the majority of Indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians.

While various levels of governments, assorted commissions and committees, and leaders of various groups can all publically wail and wring their hands; while ministers can promise more commissions and more money (in the next budget year), none of this matters one little bit. In the short term these promises may help us feel better; they may give hope to those who are naive enough to believe that money fixes all things or that the state can impose upon Canadians the obligation to treat their fellow Canadians with justice. While more money and better planning may help in creating some of the needed changes - the simple solution and in fact the only solution is that those of us who are in positions of power, those of us who are part of the privileged elite (e.g. have been to a post secondary institution) or those of us have benefitted (no matter how unknowingly) from this biased system need to stand up and say "we need to do something to level the field -  where do you want me to start?"

Governments can't impose values; governments can't stop racism - but we as individuals can live a life with values that honour and respect all people - and that will stop racism.