Running head: WAKE UP CANADA 1

Wake Up Canada

Elli Chan

HSC4M

Author Note

References page includes the bibliography for the statistics and facts that are displayed on

the website as well as poster PSA.

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Wake Up Canada

We Canadians love our Tim Hortons coffees, our maple syrup, and our delicious poutine;

but most importantly, we love to pride ourselves on multiculturalism. But are we truly

multicultural? A portion of our population that we choose to ignore, would disagree. According

to the Canadian 2016 population census, 1,673,785 people identified as Aboriginal (Statistics

Canada, 2018), yet we rarely acknowledge their existence and often associate them with myths

and stereotypes. The most common myth being that Indigenous people “have it easy” which is

far from the truth. The harsh reality is that Aboriginal people face various issues that the general

public of Canada likes to close their eyes upon. These issues must be addressed especially if we

continue to pride ourselves on being multicultural. Just like the rest of us Canadians, Aboriginal

people deserve equal access to opportunities, and they also have rights that we need to recognize

as well as respect.

One of the biggest issues that Aboriginal people face today is the severe lack of funding

for services and resources such as education, child care, health care and housing. In the 2011

June Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada, the report found that "the education gap

between First Nations living on reserves and the general Canadian population has widened, the

shortage of adequate housing on reserves has increased, comparability of child and family

services is not ensured" (2011).​ The typical myth where Indigenous people get free housing due

to reserves, is more complex than that. The existing assistance programs designed to help

alleviate housing needs for Aborginal people is only applicable for dwellings that are on reserve
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lands. On these reserves, only the house is owned and the land is not, therefore the land can not

be sold and equity can not be built up. This is a con that non-Indigenous people do not have to

deal with. Furthermore, housing is grossly under-funded as the on-reserve population grows

rapidly each year; yet, Aboriginal communities receive minimal funds that only build 2,600

houses a year. This has led to a housing shortage on-reserve of about 20,000 - 35,000 units

(Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, 2011). Another misleading myth that surrounds

Indigenous people is that they receive free post-secondary funding. This is not the case for many

of them as only status Indians can qualify for this assistance. Those that are non-status Indians,

Inuit or Métis are not eligible for these funds. Additionally, those that live off-reserve, typically

do not qualify for funding. These factors such as over-crowded housing, limited access to

education due to lack of funds, are all interconnected with many of the issues that exist today

including unemployment and health issues. Many First Nations people suffer from mental health

problems, and have less access to proper health care despite their willingness to seek help. There

are also systematic public health issues that they unfortunately have to deal with, such as their

deadly drinking water. Seventy-three percent of Aboriginal water systems have a high risk or

medium risk for contamination (The National Assessment of First Nations Water and

Wastewater, 2011, p. 5). Despite all these issues, the federal government of Ontario has decided

to add insult to injury by cutting The Ministry of Indigenous Affairs' budget to $74.4 million, a

15% reduction from 2018 (Johnson, 2019).

Not only has the government reduced funding, but they had also passed a bill in 2012

known as Bill C-45 that effectively dishonored the spirit of First Nations and their treaty rights.
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This bill has proposed and made changes to the Indian Act, Fisheries Act, Canadian

Environmental Protection Act, and the Navigable Water Protection Act, all of which

substantially impact Indigenous people. Bill C-45 essentially allows the government to surrender

any First Nation territory without majority vote, which directly clashes with the UN Declaration

on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that calls for “free, prior and informed consent” in regards

to Indingenous people and their land. This is problematic as First Nations people often have a

spiritual relationship with land that is important to their cultural identity. To strip their land away

from them is the same as disrespecting their legal, constitutional rights. The bill also allows

companies to be exempt from proving that they will not damage waterways in Canada. This

affects not only First Nations people, but the rest of Canada as well. Due to the changes in the

treaty rights (Fisheries Act) already established, these companies will be able to wreak havoc on

our environment and waterways. This will cost us clean water and will change our ability to

maintain sustainable bodies of water and our environment. As a result of all these changes, Bill

C-45 should be protested as it only harms the future of Canada, as well as our First Nations

population.

Despite the social progress in the last decade, Aboriginal people still face systemic

barriers and numerous issues that leave them with a poorer quality of life compared to the rest of

Canada. Instead of sleeping on these issues and continuing to believe the myths that surround

Aboriginal people, Canadians, it is time to open our eyes and wake up to the cold truth. As we

continue to ignore a significant portion of our population: we will never be truly multicultural.
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References

Aboriginal peoples. (2018, January 17). Retrieved from

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-402-x/2011000/chap/ap-pa/ap-pa-eng.htm

Department of Justice. (2018, February 15). JustFacts. Retrieved from

https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/jf-pf/2017/july04.html

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. (2011, February). ARCHIVED - Evaluation of INAC's

On-Reserve Housing Support. Retrieved from

https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1325099369714/1325099426465

Indigenous Health Issues in Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.express-scripts.ca/raising-health/Indigenous-Health-Issues-in-Canada

The Problem with Aboriginal Education in Canada and what you can do about it. (2017, October

11). Retrieved from

https://www.jobpostings.ca/career-guides/aboriginal/problem-aboriginal-education-canad

a-and-what-you-can-do-about-it

Joseph, B. (2018, November 27). Insight on 10 myths about Indigenous Peoples. Retrieved from

https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/insight-on-10-myths-about-indigenous-peoples
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Jessica Clogg explains Bill C-45, First Nations Rights, FIPA. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.wcel.org/blog/jessica-clogg-explains-bill-c-45-first-nations-rights-fipa

Johnson, R. (2019, April 12). Ontario budget's cuts to Indigenous Affairs a setback for

reconciliation, says Carolyn Bennett | CBC News. Retrieved from

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/ontario-budget-indigenous-affairs-cut-1.5096723

Jordan Press. (2017, October 10). Over 80% of reserves have median income below poverty line,

census data shows. Retrieved from

https://globalnews.ca/news/3795083/reserves-poverty-line-census/

June Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada. (2011). Retrieved from

http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_201106_04_e_35372.html

National Assessment of First Nations Water and Wastewater Systems[​ PDF]. (2011, April).

Orangeville, Ontario: Neegan Burnside Ltd.

Northern Affairs Canada. (2019, June 12). National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered

Indigenous Women and Girls. Retrieved from

https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1448633299414/1534526479029

Reiheld, A., & Picard, A. (2018, January 02). Canada's Biggest Health Problem: Indigenous

Health. Retrieved from

https://impactethics.ca/2017/06/02/canadas-biggest-health-problem-indigenous-health/
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Statistics Canada. (2017, March 16). Aboriginal people and the labour market. Retrieved from

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/170316/dq170316d-eng.htm

Statistics Canada. (2018, July 05). Retrieved from

https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/dai/smr08/2018/smr08_225_2018