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Issues between First Nations and the Canadian government
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The Harper government, elected in 2006 and defeated in 2015, was one of the longest serving governments in Canadian history. Starting as the smallest minority government to ever be formed in Canada, it expanded, becoming a powerful majority serving nine years. The Harper government ended with the loss of 67 seats for the Conservative government and the gain of 150 seats for the Liberals. This rapid change was not surprising, as the Harper government alienated many. Harper himself was known to be temperamental and a control freak. While Harper was disliked by many, however, his government led Canada through a period of change and created many of those changes. Some of those changes were extremely controversial, such as the tough-on-crime agenda …show more content…
However, the majority of the policies that caused criticism all had one thing in common: it was done to balance the budget. An economist by trade, Harper knew how to be fiscally responsible. However, the means by which his government did this had a negative impact on Canada.
The Harper government had policies that marginalized Canada’s most harassed people, the First Nations. Of course, Harper did apologize for the injustice of the residential schools, but there was little action to prove he wanted better relations with the thousands of people who were so willing to put their maltreatment behind them.1 In 2005, the Paul Martin government worked with provincial and territorial governments to develop the Kelowna Accord. The idea was to close the gap between the standards of living of Aboriginals and non Aboriginals. The agreement was a major step forward for partnership between the First Nations and the government. Even so, when the Harper government replaced them and outlined their 2006 budget as a minority government, there was significantly less funding towards the Accord.2 The Harper
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It was also said to be flawed, ignoring what has been proven to reduce crime. As a minority government, they promised harsher sentences. Some of these included mandatory minimum sentences, higher incarceration rates, and a transformative policy to corrections.4 There were many concerns with these policies. Experts said that the higher incarceration rates were unfair, sending the wrong type of people to jail. The people who were being targeted, it was argued, were either substance abusers who would be better off sent to detoxification facilities or mentally ill.5 The Harper government ignored these concerns, showing their unwillingness to take advice. Furthermore, crime had been declining in Canada for decades. Over the years, according to experts, our policing strategies had become more effective, sociological and economic conditions had changed, and there had been a demographic change.6 Even with these changes, the policies enacted under Bill C-10 had put more people in prison. This was an issue because studies had been done showing that other methods such as addressing poverty and providing services for mentally ill had been more effective than the tough on crime agenda imposed by the Harper government.7 The Harper government’s laws were overly punitive. The conservative government, during their time, made it extremely difficult to obtain pardons. Offenders had to wait
“Just watch me.”Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau said in 1970. He meant it as he fought to keep Quebec a part of Canada. Not only did he do that, he managed to be prime minister for 16 years, as well as being Canada’s youngest leader at the time. He brought greater civil rights to Canadians, Quebec citizens mainly. His charismatic personality matched his innovative ideas, that enhanced Canada for the better. For his entire political career, not only did Canada watch him, the whole world watched him change the country for the better. He made a radical change to Canada by championing the idea of officially implementing bilingualism. Trudeau was a trailblazer from the moment he was elected.
Residential schools had a negative impact on Aboriginal people, many children suffered greatly. The government had thought Aboriginal people’s history and culture were not worth preserving.This resulted to loss of culture and assimilation, because they were stripped out of their traditional ways, and taken away from their families.Stephen Harper apologized to the former students enrolled in Indian Residential schools on behalf of the government of Canada. What
There are many more examples of conflicts between Trudeau's thoughts and his actions. For instance, Trudeau has always been uncomfortable with excessive state intervention in the economy. For this reason he has consistently opposed the imposition of price and income controls. But this did not stop him from deciding, in 1975, that a lack of responsibility on the part of business and labour necessitated the introduction of a controls system. Trudeau has spoken of the need for a shift of emphasis in Canadian society from consumption to conservation. And yet, he allowed energy-conservation measures in Canada to fall far behind those of the United States. More than a few times, Trudeau has insisted that it is our moral obligation as Canadians to share our wealth with poorer nations. Nevertheless, he still reduced foreign-aid spending and even put a protective quota on textile imports from developing countries. Trudeau has written about the importance of consensus in government. But again, this did not prevent him, on more than a few occasions, from entirely disregarding the consensus of his cabinet ministers on a given issue, preferring instead to make the decision on his own.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is attempting to further decentralize Canadian government with, what he calls, open federalism. This essay will begin with a discourse on the evolution of Canadian federalism, then exclusively compare Harper’s approach to the proceeding Liberal governments approach, and ultimately explain why Stephen Harper’s “open federalism” methodology is the most controversial form of Canadian federalism yet.
There are Canadian citizens who thought that the Canadian government we have is perfect, citizens who believed that every aspect of the government was truly democratic, and citizens who believe that government could do no wrong. Truly this group of believers has been living a lie. In our Canadian system of government, large aspects within are far from democratic and need to be changed. Liberal-minded people will cry out for a change in order for government to serve the people better, and on the other hand the more conservative thinkers will argue that no change is needed because our government is efficient and considerate. However, our voting system, our Senate, and the power vested to the Prime Minister are far from democratic, do not meet the actual needs of the people and definitely need to be addressed.
“In about half of the Dominion, the aboriginal rights of Indians have arguably been extinguished by treaty” (Sanders, 13). The traditions and culture of Aboriginals are vanishing at a quick pace, and along it is their wealth. If the Canadian Government restore Native rights over resource development once again, Aboriginals would be able to gain back wealth and help with the poverty in their societies. “An influential lobby group with close ties to the federal Conservatives is recommending that Ottawa ditch the Indian Act and give First Nations more control over their land in order to end aboriginal poverty once and for all” (End First). This recommendation would increase the income within Native communities, helping them jump out of
The question that is often brought to our nations attention is whether or not incremental equality for First Nations children is compatible with reconciliation. When considering my personal opinion, the two are in fact compatible with one another. However, Canada is still working towards reconciliation but still has not completely reached it. The working towards reconciliation within First Nations children is seen throughout many aspects in Canada. Firstly, incremental equality is trying to be reached through education. Next, incremental equality is working towards being met throughout health systems as well as behaviors. Lastly, incremental equality for First Nations children is moving towards reconciliation throughout the physical environments
Fleras, Augie. “Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: Repairing the Relationship.” Chapter 7 of Unequal Relations: An Introduction to Race, Ethnic and Aboriginal Dynamics in Canada. 6th ed. Toronto: Pearson, 2010. 162-210. Print.
As a nation that identifies as a constituency, Canada is divided into 3 levels of government – each having to abide by the objectives of a responsible government (Brooks, p.169, 2015). As a citizen, it is normal to hold high standards and expectations inside the Canadian government; with these standards in mind, it is well as important to understand how our everyday lives are impacted by the three levels of government – federal, provincial, and municipal. The Canadian government has various responsibilities that must be satisfied through each branch. With these various duties, I not only expect the branches to honor the way decisions are made, created and/or interpreted/applied, but I as well expect them to comply with their assigned roles. I expect the federal level to implement plans to ensure public safety is in order, the provincial level to be accountable for health care and education, and the
Both Hart and Anaquod were subjected to the cultural assimilation and social isolation that was part of the Canadian government’s policy to “kill the Indian in the child.” Where the goal to transform Indigenous children into productive members of society shifted to abuse and the church and government covering up the secrets of abuse is sitting on a blurred line. On June 11, 2008, the current Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, made a statement of apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools, on behalf of the Government of Canada for the previous government’s actions. “The government of Canada now recognizes that it was wrong to forcibly remove children from their homes and we apologize for having done this,” Harper said. “We now recognize that it was wrong to separate children from rich and vibrant cultures and traditions, that it created a void in many lives and communities and we apologize for having done this.” Harper noted that many former students have died and are unable to hear the government’s
For more than a decade, crime rates in Canada have been declared as steadily declining in correlation to the published rates of Police Reported Crime (PRC). Whilst there is the argument that the crime rates in Canada is factually falling, there is an armada of hypotheses that would disagree. For an individual to make a statement of how to maintain this trend, it would mean they would first need to be in agreement with the proposal that the cause of shrinking crime rates are due to the actions of the Canadian Justice System. In order to continue to be a successful justice system, Canada would benefit most by relying on old and new methods that both stand by important values, and adapt to current crime trends and effective punishments. This paper seeks to explore the various components linked to crime rates as well as make recommendations on how to maintain the trend Canada is seeking.
Imagine that you are a suspect of murder in 1892. You have no solid evidence that you are innocent, but there is no evidence that you're guilty either. No matter how much you argue, you are sentenced to a public hanging even though you didn't commit the crime. This is one example the Criminal Code of Canada would have sentenced you to if they suspected that you committed manslaughter. The Criminal Code of Canada is a book of laws that was developed in 1892. It determines sentences for certain crimes and thankfully, it has been revised numerous times. It is a big part of the Canadian justice system. The system is fair-minded now since the death sentence is forbidden, sentences are equal for both sexes, and children are persecuted differently from adults.
Since the ministry of Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Canadians and political scientists have questioned whether the Prime Minister of Canada has held to much power, this has been considered a fundamental problem in Canada’s parliamentary system. This essay will examine the role of the prime minister, the effects of party discipline, the centralization of power to the prime minister, and assert that power has been concentrated into the hands of the prime minister, further weakening the role of parliament as a source of democratic input.
Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper are opposites. Trudeau is very outgoing, holds a lot of media conferences whereas Harper was more restrictive. Also, one of Trudeau’s focus was the economy and this helped him win the elections because during Harper’s time, he had the worst economic record in Canada since 1946. According the study published by PressProgress, the growth of the GDP was only at 1.6% when Harper was PM, he has created the least jobs and Canadian exports have only risen by 0.3% during his time. Moving away from Harper, polls suggest that Trudeau is still popular amongst Canadians even though approval has dropped a little. Having the support of the population is important because if they like you, chances are that they will re-elect you. A survey conducted by The Nanos-IRPP suggests that 63% of the Canadians who answered the survey think that the country’s reputation has improved under Trudeau and 54% also believe that the liberal government is headed in the right direction for now. These numbers are good, however it’s still a decrease from the original polls. And Canadians are starting to get more and more impatient with the Trudeau government. Even though they are happy, disapproval rates have gone up. A survey conducted by forum research for the Toronto star newspaper suggests that the
...n of their cabinet, while others may choose to create a new political path without consulting the views of their party. Mellon thinks that the Canadian government is under dictatorial scrutiny, whereas Barker contradicts this belief. The idea of a prime-ministerial government is certainly an over exaggeration of the current state of Canada. There are too many outside and inside forces that can control the powers the Prime Minister of Canada. Furthermore, there are several outside sources that indicate a good government in Canada. The United Nations annually places Canada at the top, or near the top of the list of the world’s best countries in which to live. These outcomes are not consistent with the idea of a one ruler power. Canada is not ruled by one person’s ideas, suggestions, and decisions, but by government approved and provincially manipulated decisions.