News

Canadian indigenous peoples want a better quality of life

Canada’s ‘First Nations’, a term which includes all of the country’s aboriginal peoples except the Inuit and the Métis, protest against extreme poverty on ‘reserves’ · The First Nations want the law changed to guarantee their rights and to enable them to take part in local politics.

The First Nations of the state of Canada have marked National Action Day (29 May) by staging a protest in Ottawa. Canada’s indigenous peoples, commonly known as American Indians, or Amerindians, are the country’s most poverty-stricken communities. They are represented by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) which has come up with a series of demands addressed to the Canadian Government ahead of National Action Day. The document demands greater participation of indigenous peoples in local politics and calls for progress in recognizing their rights and eradicating discrimination.

The AFN has focussed on the poor quality of life – well below the Canadian average – experienced by children living on reserves, as well as highlighting housing difficulties, high unemployment, and suicide rates.

The AFN has sought to attract international attention, claiming that the treatment indigenous peoples receive from the Canadian state damages Canada’s image around the world. They are also keen to point out that Canada voted against the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People last year. On 29 April AFN leader, Phil Fontaine, suggested that the First Nations might follow in the footsteps of Tibetans and use the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics to inform the international community of their ‘desperate conditions’.

Photo: Members of the Tsuu Tsina people, one of the so-called First Nations (Wikipedia).

Further information: