White Washed Case Study

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White Washed: The Canadian Government Solution
Nations involvement with Canadian democracy. Additionally, various court decisions of the last twenty years, reinforced by the 1982 Constitution Act, treat First Nations governments as modified municipal institutions (Abele & Prince, 2006). Since municipal council and a First
Nations' band council share similarities, one could assume that a municipal model would be a suitable format for self-government by First Nations' people (Manderscheid, 2008, p.115), however, this logic is flawed in that it does not recognize the unique character of First
Nations' people in terms of economic resources, geography, demographics and most importantly, their distinct culture. (Manderscheid, 2008, p.115).
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The risk of using multiple models is that it will likely complicate an already convoluted state of affairs.
According to the 2006 Census, the number of people who identified themselves as
Aboriginal persons, that is, North American Indian (First Nations people), Métis and Inuit, surpassed the one-million mark, reaching 1,172,790. Aboriginal people in Canada are increasingly urban. In 2006, 54% lived in urban areas, up from 50% in 1996. This brings the question of how to apply models of Aboriginal self-government to a population that is split on and off reserve. Perhaps the answer is to reserves seats in the legislative assembly and parliament, which reflect the representation that First Nations have in the population of
Canada. This would place the voice First Nations directly into the system of Canadian democracy thereby circumventing the Canadian Government’s white washing of First Nations involvement in Canadian democracy.
In any case, a dialogue on the appropriateness of a model or models and their application to governmental Aboriginal-Canadian relations does not absolve the Canadian
Government’s white washing of First Nations involvement in Canadian democracy.