[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I remember accidentally driving onto a reserve just outside of Victoria and I was shocked by the conditions, broken windows in houses, broken down cars. My first reaction is that people did not care about their own communities. I also marveled how it looked so poor right next to a wealthy city.

As others have pointed out, this is an extremely complex issue. I feel that education is a key and I get the impression that more indigenous people are getting well educated, and this is why they are becoming adept at shining a light on their issues. No doubt, education is still inadequate and too many are dropping out. I believe that education will bring a better future and will allow themselves to better handle their own affairs in their own communities and keep more out of the criminal justice system.

I really think they need to control more of what they are doing but also, they need to pay for their own infrastructure as well at some point. Being dependent on social welfare means that they don't fully appreciate the cost of maintaining what they have including their schools, their water systems etc, etc. Getting everything for nothing will not solve the problem and throwing more money at it forever will not solve it either.

There is going to have to be a lot more discussion and negotiation and it will take years to resolve it, but I do see progress. Our goal is to encourage more and more indigenous communities to become self sufficient and if they choose to move to the cities, to encourage them to integrate while maintaining their culture and language at least to the same degree as immigrant communities.

I think the more dialog that takes place the better.

I also think we need to strive to make indigenous communities welcoming. Maybe they are already. Tourism in remote areas may improve the economy. Indigenous culture and the wealth of natural beauty and wildlife presents all sorts of possibilities with smart investment and management.

Someone more knowledgeable could correct me, but I don't think that First Nations communities would see what they receive from government as "social welfare". These are payments made and services given as a matter of right.