Bill C-21 helps dispel “sovereign nation” notion

Regional News –Letter to Editor

July 2, 2008

After 30 years of dragging their feet, the Canadian government has finally passed legislation that gives Natives the protection of the Human Rights Act. This is great news not only because it grants basic human rights to people in need, but because it also helps establish that Natives are as Canadian as you or I.

When the Canadian Human Rights Act was passed in 1978, it excluded Natives who were considered to be governed by the Indian Act. One has to wonder how long such a policy would have lasted if Canada had told black people “You don’t have human rights because you are governed by the Negro act.”

Bill C-21 is a good first step toward solving the much bigger problem of treating Native people as though they are different from the rest of the country, and it helps to begin clearing up any misunderstanding that some may have about Natives being a “sovereign nation”.

The belief held and spewed by the tiny group of extremists who are being allowed to cause so much trouble is that they are a country living within a country and not subject to any laws they choose to break. They claim that “turtle island” (North America) belongs to them because their ancestors were here before ours were, and all of us pesky Canadians are actually just “squatters” on their land.

Being born here doesn’t make you any less of a “squatter” because you’re simply a descendant of a conqueror in their eyes. Personally I prefer to think of myself as “Canadian”.

Of course the biggest problem with the sovereignty argument is that they exist purely on resources given to them by Canada and nothing about them is even mildly independent. We hand a small group of people some $15 Billion each year for which there is absolutely no accountability. This leaves corrupt leaders free to line their pockets while we continue to hear stories about reserves that lack drinking water.

Any attempt to debate such points with the extremists immediately leads to accusations of racism and a tirade about how you are a Genocidal European Colonizer. Truly the equivalent of putting their hands over their ears and screaming “lalalalala” to drown you out.

Congratulations are in order to Canada for finally establishing that Natives are entitled to the same rights as the rest of us, but we need an equally strong federal statement to remind the Fantino’s and McGuinty’s of the world that equal rights does not mean extra rights. 

Jeff Parkinson

Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality

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