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Native Social Issues in Canada
Aboriginal Issues and the Politics of Change
by Scott Fogden
January 19, 2003
On July 16, 2003 Phil Fontaine was elected leader of the Assembly of First Nations
(AFN) for the second time in his political career. The Assembly is made up of First
Nations chiefs from 633 nations across the country and provides First Nations people
Canada-wide political representation. The leadership campaign brought out many pressing
concerns for all of Canada’s aboriginal peoples and was largely about how best to renegotiate
their relationship with the Canadian government.
While Canada routinely ranks in the top ten of the United Nations’ Human Development
Index (HDI) - a quality of life indicator based on income, education and life expectancy
– applying the same criteria to Canada’s aboriginal population reveals some striking
figures. Registered Indians living on reserves are ranked approximately 68th, somewhere
between Bosnia and Venezuela, while off-reserve Indians are ranked 36th.
These are contested statistics, but they do give some indication of the inequality
of life between Canada’s aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities.
In this segment on Aboriginal Canada, Mapleleafweb.com will introduce some major social
issues facing Native communities and outline the political structures and movements
that seek to build a more viable future for Canada’s first people.
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- Official Designations and Statistics
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- Health & Welfare Among Aboriginals
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- Social Conditions & Crime
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- An Impetus to Preserve the Past
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- Aboriginal Political Representation
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- The Push for Sovereign Powers Within a United Canada
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- Colonial Remnants Versus Modern Nationhood
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