Preview

Collective Rights

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1347 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Collective Rights
Collective rights are the rights guaranteed to certain groups in Canadian society for historical and constitutional reasons. In Canada Aboriginal peoples; such as the First Nations, Inuit, and the Métis, the Francophone and the Anglophone populace are recognized as the founding peoples of Canada. The rights belonging to the groups are entrenched in the constitution because they are a part of the collective identity and are the founding peoples of Canada. Rights develop over time; they are not things that happen overnight. The rights of groups can be best reflected in their education system and what is being done to affirm their rights. Canada has put a lot of effort into affirming the collective rights of First Nations, but the attempt so far has been unsuccessful. Since Europeans first settled in Canada, First Nations have been treated poorly. Starting from 1763 the numbered treaties were put into action between Britain and the First Nations to protect the collective rights of Canadian Aboriginals. The treaties required First Nations to share their land and resources with the British. A variety of topics were covered within the numbered treaties, from reserves, education, annuities and many other matters.( Lychak, P., Gerrits, A. D., Nogue, A., Parsons, J., 2008)However, the numbered treaties put no consideration towards the natural rights of first nations. The treatment of the founding group was extremely disrespectful and unwarranted. Ethnocentric views of the Europeans at the time caused them to make laws for the First nations without the First Nations knowing, they were seen as people that needed proper guidance. The British government thought that by telling the First Nation communities how they should govern themselves they could be better assimilated. As a way of controlling and assimilating the aboriginal, the government made the Indian Act of 1876. The Indian act was also a part of the Royal Proclamation; helping to strengthen trade alliances and


Bibliography: 1. Lychak, P., Gerrits, A. D., Nogue, A., Parsons, J. (2008). Issues for Canadians. Toronto, CA.: Nelson Education Ltd. 2. The Constitution Act. (1982). Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (UK).1982, c 11, <http://canlii.ca/t/ldsx> retrieved on 2012-05-26 3. Aboriginal rights and human rights. (2011) <http://www.chrccdp.ca/proactive_initiatives/section_67/page4-eng.aspx> retrieved on 2012-05-26. 4. Asselin, B. R. (2001, September 17). Section 41 of official languages act. <http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/prb019-e.htm#BIBLIOGRAPHY> retrieved on 2012-05-26. 5. Indian Act. (1985). <http://canlii.ca/t/l0hh> retrieved on 2012-06-05 6. Michael, M., (2008, July). <http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/684ENG.pdf>retrieved on 2012-06-05. -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. The information in this paragraph was taken from (Michael, M., 2008).

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    So, they fought for the protection of their culture and were against assimilation. When Confederation was established, a new collective identity was formed for the nation of Canada. Collective identity is important because it helps us see the motivation for certain political and social movements. Understanding the group’s common goals and values will lead to a better understanding of the situation and the reason for certain actions. In our case, understanding these concepts allowed for easier negotiation and sped up the process of creating a confederation.…

    • 1529 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eventually, during the late 18th and 19th century, the Indian act was passed and the government started portraying a major role in the administration and development of these schools. Children were forcibly removed from their homes and brought to these schools where they were bound to learn Christianity, English, cooking and other needed skill to integrate into society and the industrial field. Even though they were able to learn some beneficial skills, many suffered from physical and sexual abuse as well as complete assimilation and cultural loss. To this extent, the government was benefited through this system since they had found a logical and functional solution to solve the “Indian problem” which was a worry they challenged since their arrival during the colonization period. To a massive extent, the government was successful in imposing Eurocentric views towards the FNMI people and their attempts at cultural assimilation. However, during the late 19th century, the last federally run residential school closed. Eventually, the government acknowledged Aboriginals in Canada and a reconciliation statement was created in…

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    One of the earliest instances of Canadian aboriginals having a voice in politics was seen in July 1817. Five Saulteaux and Cree chiefs signed a treaty with Lord Selkirk to provide an area for settlement purposes. This area was to include “a strip of land two miles wide on each side of the Red and Assiniboine rivers”. This would mean that the treaty would start at city of Winnipeg and extend up the Red River to the city of Grand Forks North Dakota. Plots of land also “six miles in each direction from Fort Douglas, Fort Daer, and Grand Forks were also included”. In exchange for the land, each tribe was to receive annual payments of 100 lbs of tobacco. This land treaty was the first to be signed in western Canada. This would be the stepping stone for the Canadian government to seek treaties with the aboriginal people. The aboriginal political voice was also largely seen with treaty negotiations during the European colonization of the Canadian aboriginals. A series of eleven treaties were signed from 1871 to 1921, and it is a well known sentiment among Canadians that the signing of treaties was seen as an unfair process from an aboriginal standpoint and was destined to be advantageous to the Government of Canada. The purpose of the treaties was to secure land from the Aboriginals, the land was to be used for agricultural, industrial purposes as well as settlement for Europeans and non…

    • 2478 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Looking at the effects of Canada’s colonial past, the chapter of Monchalin’s textbook The Impact of Assimilation discusses the history of residential schools and the impact that they have had on Canada’s Indigenous community. The purpose of these horrendous and unethical establishments was to eradicate the culture, traditions, and language of Indigenous peoples. This was done by removing Indigenous children from their homes, denying them communication with their families while forcing them to adopt the beliefs of Christianity. Beginning in 1920, it became compulsory that all Indigenous children from the age of seven to fifteen must attend school however; this did not necessarily mean that they were required to attend a residential school. Though…

    • 212 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Europeans took over the First Nations people culture by how they acted, where they lived, and lastly who or could not be considered a status Indian. I think the European settlers should have tried to live with the Aboriginal people without trying to assimilate them. That would have helped each culture survive and thrive together and make Canada more peaceful. If this would have happened the history of Canada would have been completely different and I think it would have made less problems today. It would have made Canada a more peaceful place to live and Canada would then be considered more of a culturally accepting place to live.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    WASPs Essay 2014 11 11

    • 676 Words
    • 2 Pages

    When the British Empire took over northern North America they imposed their own government, comprised of their own people, governing over their subjects they sent from Europe to the newly founded Dominion. These people were predominantly White Anglo Saxon Protestants, thus setting the balance of power within Canadian society for decades to come. One of the first steps in preserving WASPs dominance was to ‘deal’ with the indigenous peoples of North America, their response came through the enactment of the Indian Act of 1876. Forcing Natives to move onto reserves put together by the Canadian government, most importantly however was the establishment of residential schools. In an attempt to eradicate aboriginal culture and customs, ‘Indian Agents’ took children from their communities and sent them to schools far from their families and forbid any religious or traditional practices, as well punishing any who spoke their native language, all in an attempt to make natives abandon their way of life and instead adopt the European one. All of this had a detrimental effect on the prevalence and strength of aboriginal culture which still has a lingering effect of aboriginals today. Similarly in Nova Scotia, the government passed the Education Act of 1918 which also allowed segregation…

    • 676 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aboriginals have inhabited the region of "Canada" as far back as historical records exist. From the first contact, Europeans have had a negative impact on Aboriginals. Disease and loss of land contributed to the rapidly declining number of Native peoples prior to the development of Canada. As opposed to the French influence, the English colonial culture was especially destructive. Aboriginals achieved some benefits by allying with the French. During New France times, the French lived among the Aboriginals and learned their culture and way of life. After the American Revolution, the British acquired land treaties with Aboriginal nations to support their growing immigration to Canada. Today, Aboriginals are still fighting for their rights and…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    According to Robert Bone, The term treaty generally included cash gratuities, and presents during the signing. Treaties between the two groups promised education, agricultural assistance, Rights to hunt and fish on crown land until such land was required for other purposes and land reserves to be held by the crown and entrusted to the Indian (Bone, 2011).Conflicts between the two signing parties of the treaties has arose during Canada in the 20th century as each group had different perceptions of the treaty agreements . This issue has caused a divide and has contributed tot the fault line between the two groups. The Crowns understanding of the treaties were that they would diminish aboriginal rights and their title to lands in hopes of having available land for agricultural advancements. As for the aboriginals, they understood it as an agreement to share the land and resources. With the two different perceptions of the treaties between the groups, conflict was bound to happen. An example of where conflict would occur was when government would sell crown land to corporations for extraction resources with out compensating the aboriginals. Many aboriginals lived on Crown land and the large corporations would destroy their natural way of life as they would interfere with hunting, trapping, fishing, and any many other resources needed to…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Oka Crisis

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Prior to the Oka Crisis, land disputes between Natives and other citizens of the country had been widely ignored by the government. Since the Oka Crisis was so large scale it attracted a lot of attention. The Natives could not be marginalized by the government because of the Canada wide reaction drawn by the shocking events. This meant that the Mohawk nation was given a full and most importantly fair trail, over the land dispute. The reaction to the proposal was extreme, but is an almost inevitable outcome after hundreds of years of inequality. The Canadian government was forced to listen to the Natives side, which improved relations because it is one of the first times that there was equal treatment of FNMI and whites. Though the crisis brought about an equal treatment, it is important to acknowledge that there is still much room for improvement between relations, treatment and reconciliation given. The Oka Crisis was necessary for FNMI rights to be recognized, and for the improvement and development of their government…

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Other forces of assimilation that rose up near the introduction of the Indian Act was both the Gradual Civilization Act of 1857 and the Gradual Enfranchisement Act of 1869 (Henderson, “Indian Act”). Both these acts were responsible for stripping the status of First Nations people (Henderson, “Indian Act”). They “were almost uniformly aimed at removing any special distinction or rights afforded First Nations peoples and at assimilating them into the larger settler population (Henderson, “Indian Act”).” The only perk a First Nations person would gain in voluntarily abandoning their rights, is to gain the right to vote, which was later acquired in 1960 (Henderson, “Indian Act”). Describing the forces of assimilation allows the reader to understand…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The native people constantly experience neglect from the government, it was recorded that the mortality rate of the natives were higher compare to other Canadians. Nobody care that their babies were dying, water the primary source of livelihood were often poisoned with chemicals and yet no provision was made…

    • 182 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hello

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages

    | Canada & the World * Through a novel study, students will gain an awareness of some Canadian issues in a world context.…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Indian Removal Act

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Native Americans were treated horribly, when they trusted the Americans. The U.S., stole their horses and many died from diseases. This information was gotten from the article called “Allow the Cherokee to Stay,” it stated “Their horses were stolen and hundreds died from disease and malnutrition on the journey.” This quote means that they agreed to move nicely and calmly, but the U.S., still did not treat them fair. That’s not all, when one tribe called the Lakota Nation agreed to move westward because there would be food, water, and land. The U.S., tricked them and they went to imprisonment camps. This was in the article called “ The Betrayal of Native Americans”, it said, “Instead, many Lakota live on reservations (or prisoner of war camps, as they might be called) like Pine Ridge, which is annually one of the most impoverished places in the United States.” This states that Native Americans agree to move where it would be better, but the U.S. still treated them horribly. It was not only the U.S., it was also Canda. The Canadians agreed to help the native groups with money because the U.S. and Canada were the richest nations back then. Instead, the Canadians poisoned their water, soil, and air. Some of the native groups were from the first nations. They were the Inuit, Métis tribe, and others . This was in the article called, “The Betrayal of Native Americans”. The quote stated, “Instead of honoring its…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The rights and freedoms of Aboriginals have improved drastically since 1945 with many changes to government policy, cultural views and legal rules to bring about a change from oppression to equality. Unfortunately on the other hand, some rights and freedoms have not improved at all or have even worsened.…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Canadian Identity

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages

    "OCOL - Official Languages Act." OCOL - Official Languages Act. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2013.…

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays