Canada Position Paper

The indigenous or aboriginal people have coexisted with the non-native Canadian population for centuries. In fact, Canada was one of the first countries to develop a legal framework with the native population and since then, has been a leader in world discussions about native’s rights. Recently, however, Canada has been working through many pressing issues with its aboriginal people, such as the high percentage of people still trapped in poverty, those lacking in education and safe housing on reservations. These are issues that Canada would like to address today. In 2010, Canada endorsed the Declaration on Indigenous rights after previously vocalizing issues with the document. Canada does not support Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and would like to see that it is not included in any resolutions. When settlers moved out west, they encountered the First Nations people. Disputes about land arose and the government had to be called in to resolve them. In response to these disputes, between 1860 and 1923, seventy seven treaties were written on how to divide the land. Today, many people think that the natives were coerced on to the land due to the dwindling buffalo population and pushes from the federal government. Once First Nations were moved off their land, the land could be used for development and the First Nations went to places called reservations. However, many Native populations never got the resources they were promised by the federal government. Poverty increased on the reservations due to this fact. Today, the relationship between the government and native Canadians is a stressed but slowly improving one. The discriminatory practices of one bill, called the Indian Act was changed in 1985 with the amendment C-31. The policy that was changed was one that stated previously that if any aboriginal woman married a non-aboriginal man, her status as a native would be lost to her and all of her descendants. Bill C-31 abolished this and nearly 60,000