Research Paper on Indigenous People in Canada: Growing Population and Challenges

Introduction

The indigenous people in Canada, also described as Aboriginal people have resided in Canada since the immemorial age categorized as Metis, First Nations, and Inuit (Mintz et al., 2016; Parrott & Filice, 2019). According to details from a National Household Survey in 2011, it estimates that approximately 1.4 million Canadians, which is 4.3% of the total Canadian population are indigenous individuals in Canada (Mintz et al., 2016). However, this population drastically increased, whereby the 2016 census estimated that about 1.67 million Canadian identify themselves as Aboriginals and have grown more than four folds of the non-indigenous people residing in Canada (Parrott & Filice, 2019). Whereas the Canadians believe that everyone should be treated with equal rights, the indigenous population state that they have exclusive rights due to their previous occupancy of Canada (Anaya, 2013; Chrisjohn et al., 2009). However, various treaties have been developed to protect Aboriginal people. For example, the indigenous individuals residing in Canada are protected by the Constitution Act, 1982, under section 35, which offers the specific rights of the indigenous people (Parrott & Filice, 2019). Regardless, the Indigenous people are still struggling for recognition of their right to self-determination and sovereignty. The paper will discuss the different obstacles the Indigenous people in Canada are facing as they battle for sovereignty and their self-determination rights. Also, the various courses of action for them to achieve real, meaningful justice and rights will be discussed.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Canada is ranked one of the top countries in the promotion of justice and human rights since the 1945 formation of the United Nations; it has extended the constitutional protection of the Indigenous population through court cases (Parrott & Filice, 2019). Besides the Constitution Act of 1982 on Aboriginal people's rights, the provisional and federal government has included remedies to gender differences in the Indian Act and appropriate access to the Canadian Human Rights Commission (Parrott & Filice, 2019). Also, the nation is resolving historical injustices to ensure that Aboriginal people acquire a sense of self-determination. Regardless of the drastic treaties developed to protect the Indigenous people and give them the rights they badly ask for, challenges remain with the between the Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people growing in terms of self-determination rights (Chrisjohn et al., 2009). Along with the issues and challenges Indigenous people residing in Canada encountered in the past few decades, more problems are developing with changes in the economic, political, legal, and social framework in Canada.

Obstacles the Indigenous People Residing in Canada are Facing

The Indian Act can be attributed as the source of some of the challenges the Indigenous People in Canada are encountering, such as the denial of some of the critical rights. Events of a lower level of education have delivered an obstacle for the Aboriginal people. For instance, colonialism has accounted for the demoralizing legacies and some of the most pervasive education practices. Provided in the Indian Act, the introduction of the Indian Residential School system is considered as a root cause of the low level of education amongst the Aboriginal people (Anaya, 2013). As estimated by the 2016 census in Canada, about 33.65% of people identified as Indigenous people have higher learning, high school, or any other equivalent certification compared to 18.3% by the other Canadian population (Parrott & Filice, 2019).

The Indigenous people living in Canada face the issue of inadequate housing and dense living conditions, particularly among the First Nation people. Around 2011, the First Nation community drew massive attention from international media, the United Nations showing the bad state within which the community lived (Mintz et al., 2016). Of the First Nation individual living in Canada, around 44.2% lived in houses that required significant repairs, with most of them build with mud compared to a 6% of non-Indigenous persons dwelling in similar habitats (Parrott & Filice, 2019). The issue of inadequate housing deliver significant social and economic effects as the people with inadequate shelter; this has resulted in the small overcrowded dwelling by a generation of different families (Anaya, 2013). Crowded houses have increased problems such as health problems, homelessness, and family violence among the Indigenous adults and children than among the non-indigenous people in Canada (Anaya, 2013). The obstacle of poor health is another challenge that the Indigenous people are facing. Despite the various measures by many Indigenous communities to improve awareness on the issue of health, the Indigenous people remain at high risk for illness and death. For example, chronic conditions such as heart diseases and diabetes are on the rise signifying the definite connection between social factors, living conditions, and health (Anaya, 2013).

Furthermore, the high rates of unemployment among the Aboriginal people has been an issue affecting the individuals as they struggle for sovereignty and self-determination rights. Related to the residential schools introduced by the Indian Act and denied women status, they have significantly contributed to the high rates of unemployment (Mintz et al., 2016). The majority of the women in the Aboriginal community could not attend university and are forced to stay at home, and in extreme cases, they remain in their parent's houses. Such actions have contributed to the rising rates of unemployment. Combined with the different acts of historical oppression, these have hindered the Aboriginal people from acquiring sufficient education that could help them secure jobs in the formal and informal sectors. The developed educational policies did not favor the Aboriginal community compared to the non-indigenous people residing in Canada. In the Canadian economic and social structure, the employment rate of the Aboriginal people living in Canada never increased by any significant level between 2006 and 2016 (Parrott & Filice, 2019; Anaya, 2013). This signifies the issue of unemployment among the Indigenous populations in Canada. Ultimately, the problem of high unemployment has also resulted in the low-income levels amongst the majority of the Aboriginal people (Anaya, 2013). For instance, in 2015, the average total income of Aboriginal individuals was 75% that if the non-indigenous individual, representing a 25% income gap (Parrott & Filice, 2019).

With the Aboriginal people, they are facing high rates of suicide, which is high among the youth in the First Nation, Metis, and Inuit communities. As provided in the Canadian encyclopedia, a 2016 report concluded that one in five adults in the Aboriginal population has had suicidal thoughts at some point (Parrott & Filice, 2019). The suicide rates among the Indigenous communities are 5 to 7 times more than the non-Indigenous individuals in Canada (Parrott & Filice, 2019). The rates have considered as one of the highest suicide rates in the universe. In other cases, Indigenous women are likely to be killed compared to non-Indigenous people (Anaya, 2013). Further, the death rates among the youth and children of Aboriginal communities are higher than death rates among non- Aboriginal children and youth. Indigenous children are three times more likely to die as a result of unintentional injuries than non-Indigenous children.

Finally, the high levels of incarceration among the Indigenous people living in Canada are an issue they face as they struggle for individual rights and sovereignty. Between 2015 and 2016, the Aboriginal individuals were represented in admission to national correctional services. The representations accounted for about 26% of correctional admissions (Parrott & Filice, 2019). Representation of Aboriginal people was more for females than males as they accounted for about 38% of female correctional admissions (Parrott & Filice, 2019). Majorly, the high rates of incarceration could be explained with the different provisions in the Indian Act, which stipulates numerous prohibitions for the Aboriginal persons. For example, the Indian Act prohibited the Aboriginal people from practicing traditional religion, speaking in their native language, and other fundamental rights (Anaya, 2013). Regardless of the amendments to the Act in 1985 and 1951, numerous cultural laws continue affecting the First Nations practices currently (Parrott & Filice, 2019).

Courses of Action for Aboriginal People to Achieve True, Meaningful Justice, and Rights

Related to the Indian Act, significant amendments should be developed by the Canadian government to give them the rights they deserve. In as much as the Canadian Human Rights Commission has described the issues facing the Aboriginal people living in Canada as human rights issues, the government should roll out appropriate and sufficient policies and programs to specifically address the human rights issues both at the provisional and federal level. When the Aboriginal individuals are compared to the non-Indigenous people in Canada, it is evident that there is a massive gap between how the Canadian government handles the two groups. As a result, the government is obligated to respond to the urgent needs of the Indigenous people and protect their treaty rights fully. In other cases, the national government can secure a proper relationship with the Aboriginal communities based on a common purpose and mutual trust (Anaya, 2013).

With a view of the different issues facing the Indigenous individuals in Canada, they are widespread across various sectors in the government. This increases the possibilities for the government to address the problems of sovereignty and human rights for the Indigenous people based on partnership and mutual understanding. It includes the development of Aboriginal representative bodies that are essential to provide a long-term solution to the issue arising among the Indigenous population. Through such actions, such activities will likely warrant the achievement of meaningful, true justice, and rights.

Additionally, a proper relationship and empowerment of the Aboriginal people education will provide an opportunity for actual rights and justice. With the documentation of various events of abuse among the Aboriginal population by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, it evident that the Indigenous children were purposefully sent to residential schools to destroy the community connection, culture, language, and their dignity as well (Anaya, 2013). these findings signify the need for a proper framework by the government to apologize to the Aboriginal people and develop a treaty meant to function as compensation for the violation of their rights. Also, the Canadian government can ensure that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's mandate is developed and extended to ensure that the survivors of the residential school system access the appropriate education and in line with their rights. Through the empowerment of the students through education and building of a sustainable relationship, they are meant to ensure that the Indigenous people can interact with other people in Canadian society as different access needs.

Aimed at achieving actual rights and justice for the Indigenous population, the government should develop an extensive and comprehensive inquiry to offer an opportunity to the Indigenous people to air their problems and sensitive concerns. The course of action will provide a positive response to allow involved government agencies to take...