FELDSTED - The government and indigenous people have different definitions and there is “no meeting of minds”. Until there is, there can be no reconciliation
Our “leaders” are really followers -- they are not interested in acting in the best interests of Canada and her people. Four of the six party leaders are in favour of writing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into Canadian law. That will add to the complexity of reconciliation. If we were to adopt the UN Declaration (promulgated in 2007) it should be based on replacing all existing treaties. A serious impediment to reconciliation is the failure to reach an agreement on what “treaty rights” are, and are not. The government and indigenous people have different definitions and there is “no meeting of minds”. Until there is, there can be no reconciliation. Adding another set of “rights” created by an unelected body with no responsibility for the outcome of imposing the declaration on Canada will result in problems our leaders are not considering. There has been no serious discussion or debate on the merits of adopting UNDRIP...