June 29, 2022

Winnipeg
18° C, Partly cloudy

Full Forecast

Contact Us Subscribe Manage Subscription Chat with us
Log in Create Free Account Help Chat with us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • My Account
    • Manage my Subscription
    • Change Password

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
    • Log in
    • Create Free Account
    • Help

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
  • Coronavirus Coverage
  • Replica E-Edition
    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West
  • Above the Fold
  • Front page
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Book Club
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Canada
  • Local
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • World
  • Reader BridgeNEW
  • WFP EventsNEW
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Archives
  • Free Press Community Review
    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Classifieds
  • Contests
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • LifestylesNEW
    • All Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Homes
    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Newsletters
  • Obituaries
  • Puzzles
  • Photo and Book store
  • More

©2022 FP Newspaper Inc.

Close
  • Quick Links

    • Coronavirus Coverage
    • Federal Election
    • Above the Fold
    • Home
    • Local
    • Canada
    • World
    • Classifieds
    • Special Coverage
    • Newsletters
    • Obituaries
    • Photo and Book store
    • Archives
    • Contests
    • Publications
    • Sponsored Content
    • Privacy Policy

    Ways to support us

    • Pay it Forward program
    • Subscribe
    • Support Faith coverage
    • Support Arts coverage
  • Replica E-Edition

    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West

    Business

    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
  • Arts & Life

    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Sports

    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • Opinion

    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor

    Media

    • All Media
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos

    Homes

    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Canstar Community News

    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Coupons

    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • About Us

    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
The Free Press
Articles Read
Your Balance +tax
Day Pass Till
Day Pass
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Report an Error
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
    • Staff Biographies
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • Log in
    • Create Account
    • Help
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
    • My Account
    • Manage My Subscription
    • Change Password
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
Log in Create Account Contact Us
Contact Us Manage Subscription
  • Sections
  • Local
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Diversions
    • Environment
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Health
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Soccer
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • E-Edition
  • Homes
  • Classifieds
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Automotive
    • Careers
    • Garage Sales
    • Merchandise
    • Pets
    • Real Estate
    • Rentals
    • Services
  • Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Manitoba’s Top Employers
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print
    • Ripley's Aquariums
    • The Bay
    • Staples Canada
    • Altitude Sports
    • Nike
    • Tuango
    • Ebay Canada
    • Sport Chek
    • Roots
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe$1.50 for 5 months
Home Local

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Everybody agrees Indian Act must go

Moves to repeal and replace it afoot in House

By: Mia Rabson / Hill Talk
Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Monday, Oct. 22, 2012

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Save to Read Later

OTTAWA -- If there is one thing First Nations and the federal political parties agree on, it's that the archaic, paternalistic and repressive legislation commonly known as the Indian Act has got to go.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/10/2012 (3537 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

OTTAWA -- If there is one thing First Nations and the federal political parties agree on, it's that the archaic, paternalistic and repressive legislation commonly known as the Indian Act has got to go.

First Nations have asked for the act to be replaced for decades.

Bob Rae: nation-to-nation process

CP

Bob Rae: nation-to-nation process

The government last week backed a private member's bill from one of its own MPs, Saskatchewan's Rob Clarke, calling for the methodical abolition of the act.

Today, Liberal Leader Bob Rae will introduce a motion in the House of Commons also calling for the act to be replaced.

So one might think it should not be hard to actually do something about it.

As usual in politics, nothing is that simple.

The problem, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper put it so succinctly during the Crown-First Nations Gathering in Ottawa last January, is that the act has deep roots and cannot simply be blown up.

The Indian Act is more than 136 years old and touches every aspect of life on First Nations.

Created by a government determined to stamp out aboriginal culture, the act governs everything from education and housing to band governance and operations.

Under the act, First Nations cannot pass bylaws for their communities without the approval of the minister. The act limits how they can use and develop reserve land, often putting so much red tape around economic development it simply doesn't happen. It is so intrusive on the individual lives of First Nations people. A reserve resident cannot even write a will without getting it approved by the minister.

In other areas, it is vague and laden with loopholes. On education, for example, the act lays out the premise for First Nations education but includes no standards of education, not even a minimum number of school days or basic education requirements of teachers.

The poverty, addiction and violence that plague reserves today can be largely traced back to governance under the act. The residential schools the act created ruined lives and destroyed communities. The act now often prevents First Nations from having any chance of recovery.

Clarke's bill begins by deleting all references in the Indian Act to residential schools and repeals or amends sections addressing wills, education and band bylaws. It also requires the minister of aboriginal affairs to report every year what work has been done to replace the Indian Act with new legislation.

In his speech in defence of his bill last Thursday, Clarke referred to the Indian Act as an "outdated, racist, colonial statute."

"The problems created by this archaic piece of legislation are far-reaching, extending to every aspect of the lives of every First Nations person and the root cause of the Attawapiskats of our country," he said.

Today, Rae will propose a similar but not entirely identical approach. In his motion, Rae calls the act the "embodiment of failed colonial and paternalistic policies."

Rae's motion calls for a nation-to-nation process, to begin within three months of the motion passing, to replace the Indian Act with new agreements based on constitutional and treaty rights, the government's fiduciary responsibility to First Nations, United Nations standards and stability and safety of First Nations.

The Liberal leader's motion calls for a two-year time frame for the work to be completed.

Many First Nations leaders have balked at Clarke's bill because they feel it was introduced without consultation and isn't clear on how much consultation will take place.

The Free Press | Newsletter

Winnipeg Gardener

What you need to know now about gardening in Winnipeg. A monthly email from the Free Press with advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing.

Sign up for Winnipeg Gardener
Sign Up

Clarke said his bill is based on a principle he calls ARRC -- amend, repeal, replace and consult -- but it is a sign of just how much mistrust there is between First Nations and the federal government when there needs to be a specific consultation process spelled out in detail before many will believe consultation will actually take place.

Rae's motion appears to have the backing of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak.

It won't be easy to replace a piece of legislation that is so complex and diverse. It won't be easy to develop a consultation process that will appease all parties involved.

But perhaps now, more than at any previous time, all the parties at the very least have the same goal and are all on the playing field ready to start kicking the ball.

If they succeed, the impact on Canada and its First Nations will be almost immeasurable.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

  • Report Error
  • Submit a Tip
  • Refund
  • The Free Press is certified by

The Winnipeg Free Press invites you to share your opinion on this story in a letter to the editor. A selection of letters to the editor are published daily.

To submit a letter:
• fill out the form on this page, or
• email letters@freepress.mb.ca, or
• mail Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2X 3B6.

Letters must include the writer’s full name, address, and a daytime phone number. Letters are edited for length and clarity.

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Top