Canada’s constitution of 1867 and the 1981 Charter of Rights are old pieces of paper. Old documents that have no meaning in today’s age. We should rid ourselves of these and start over.
Prepare the ramparts, it’s go time!
Logic would say it doesn’t make sense. Our societal and legal foundations come from these writings. The rule of law is etched within every word. No one would question the need for a system that keeps order and ensures that our collective and individual human rights are upheld.
So why is it a different set of rules when it comes to dealing with the legitimate land claims of our approximately 1.5 million Aboriginal Peoples? People that have been on this land mass for thousands of years. People that have been displaced and forced onto parcels of land called “reserves.”
Around the late 1960s, Aboriginal Peoples began to place legitimate land claims before the government of Canada. Those claims now total 1,046, only 272 of which have been settled since 1972. While government position has progressed, the basic premise is this: Any claim must first be approved by the government before it can proceed.
Does that make sense? For example, if you want to remove burglars from your house, then you call the cops. Land claim policy is the opposite. In the case of your home, you would first have to ask the burglars if it’s OK to call the cops!
The issue is that we believe our system of law is there to protect us. So we must ensure that all people are protected, including Aboriginal Peoples.
Land claims must move forward in a legitimate and efficient manner.
They can’t be slowed down by governments that are afraid that the use of those old sacred treaties signed by chiefs with European monarchs is a waste of time, too costly, and meaningless. Treaties are the most sacred form of recognition between two parties. If Canada is a democracy, then elected leaders must clean the slate with the Aboriginal Peoples.
The government apologized to Aboriginal Peoples who endured the brutality of residential schools. Why can it not apologize and own up to the treaties signed by previous governments?
