On Sunday, the prime minister and the Governor General will meet to dissolve the current Canadian Parliament. This decision means that by the end of October, we could see a new set of faces in the House of Commons and some constituency offices throughout the country.
However, even if there is a dramatic shift in the Canadian House of Commons and even if the current prime minister is replaced by someone from the Opposition, the status quo of the land claims negotiations at the Oneida Business Park on the Six Nations Reserve will remain the same.
In the 141 years since Canada gained its independence from Great Britain, the federal Indian policy in Canada has not changed. It does not matter which of Canada's political parties controls the House of Commons in Ottawa; each successive government inherits what Duncan Campbell Scott called Canada's Indian problem.
The current problem which one of the political parties will inherit in October is the ongoing land claims processes underway in the Haldimand Tract.
These land claims, which the new administration will inherit, are older than the Canadian government which inherited them from England in 1867 and since that time has chosen to ignore.
Since the current round of talks began as a result of the Douglas Creek incident in 2006, neither the prime minister nor his Indian Affairs minister has even bothered to go to Six Nations or Caledonia to ascertain the situation there.
Given the federal government's dismal track record of settling Indian land claims, the taxpayers in this country should not expect the next administration to accomplish anything even resembling a settlement of the Douglas Creek situation even if the Liberals or the New Democrats defeat the Conservatives in October.
The only change which may take place could be in the form of a new head negotiator for Canada which would result in even more taxpayer money and time being spent as the new negotiator learns the ins and outs of his or her place at the table.
Douglas Whitlow Ohsweken