EPO Z aS IE 2s NERD Tm et ee Oe aN FB Wednesday, October 28, 1998. recently released study by the federal Department. of In- i. »dian Affairs con- firmed what we all know: that living conditions on many na- tive reserves in Canada are comparable to those of the. Third World. Unemployment, poor hous- ing, drug abuse, lack of educa- tion and economic opportunity are far worse than the national average. The plight of many native people who have left their -reserves. and congre- gated in large cities is, in many cases, even more pitiful. This much is certain, the present state of affairs. must ~ not continue, and, on that, we ~ surely all agree. Where there is | genuine disagreement. is on the appropriate course of ac- tion best likely: to provide a remedy... . There are those who advo- cate the treaty-making process Agreement is the first manifes- tation. They wrongfully brand anyone who’ raises. serious questions or concerns over the implications of treaty-making as being mean-spirited and de-” termined to keep native people "in, their backward condition: © i ‘They. seem disinterested: and © --even antagonistic towards any: _.. consideration of an: ‘alternative : solution, eos Pea séfore, going on to suggest. an alternative. solution. tothe’ © ‘treaty- making process, allow . “me to list a couple. of self-evi-: ~ dent but often ignored facts. 4 First, treaties, long-since in: - place. in the rest of Canada, ~~ have not resulted in any better - living conditions on reserves established by those treaties than on the 1,634 reserves al- ready in place in British | Co- F lumbia, In fact, the poveranient study referred to at the begin- ning of this column, found that . living conditions on B.C. re serves were somewhat better than ‘on«those: elsewhere’ in Canada, Don't misunderstand me, | am not advocating the COME and GROW with us! Would you like to make WINE, BEER, CIDER, etc.? _ Are QUALITY and SERVICE your middle names? = As we enter our 11th year of SERVING the PENINSULA, wa feel ~ fortunate that our QUALITY PRODUCTS supported by our extremely SERVICE ORIENTED and FULLY EXPRAIENGED local staf! havo m necessitated an expansion to our staff, |. a CORNED EEF a 69 CHOP * Shelly, Stacie, Jamas, George and Jim want to welcome you Into our Hy sos a SUEY « a4 fr ie working family, Please write us today to tall us why you should joln our team, No telephone Interview plaasal but do feel {ree lo drop off your ras sumo ‘at: PENINSULA U-BREW WINERY | 20; 1 Malaview, Sidney: (agrope fromm slang umber) mile mie fed Dh W201 continuation of the reserve sys- tem. In fact, I advocate the very opposite. I’m merely: saying that entering into treaties in other parts of Canada has not proved to be the panacea. Secondly, the problem has not been solved through the massive expenditure of public _ funds made each year. Special in B.C., of which the Nisga’a * federal programs for status and - treaty Indians ‘(which inciden- tally will continue to be paid to the Nisga’a) ammount to close to $7-billion:per year. Provincial . programs and tax exemptions © add at least-a billion Neha -, more. -Massive amounts of. money ‘have not solved the problem. . “ell, -what.is the solu- ion? It starts with a: deeper. diagnosis of. ‘ihe problem. Sv ets - Poverty, drug abuse,’ high,” s unemployment, poor housing “on-reserves, etc.:are not the = ~ problem, They’ are merely symptoms of it. The problem is that the na- tive people have suffered for 140 years under a federal gov- - ernment: policy regime that has made them wards of the . state: It is a system based on ° the collective rather than indi- » vidual ownership, which has discouraged self-reliance, indi-- vidual - initiative. and its “re- wards. It places the power and dollars in’ their: leadership’s hands rather than their own. And above all, a system that. “has treated native people dif- CPINION ferently in law from. other Canadians. Such policy, with the Indian Actas its centre-piece, has iso- lated aboriginal people from mainstream Canadian society; it has allowed special federal laws based on race to su- percede many provincial laws of general. application; it has isolated reserve communities from the provincial society to which they are adjacent and has deprived native people of developing a sense of Cana- dian or provincial community. Sad to-say, the proposed Nisga’a Treaty does not strike out in a new direction but re- confirms this failed and dis- credited federal policy even to the extent of incorporating some of the.undesirable provi- sions of the Indian Act into the treaty. way. Here is an alternative ap- - proach: ‘1. Transfer the ownership of all 1634 of the Indian reserves -in the province to the various bands who: now occupy them ‘to be dealt with as those bands see fit: ~-2. Supplement reserve lands’ with. ‘the transfer of Crown land, or dollar compensation in’ lieu, on. the basis of a limited - ~ but: ‘reasonable interpretation “There has to be a better ____PENINSULA NEWS REVIEW 9 completed within 25 years, the 100.or more special programs that now apply to natives only. 6. Confirm that all laws and government institutions both federal and provincial will ap- ply to all native people through- out the province, save only municipal laws of native mu- nicipalities. 7. Repeal the application of the Indian Act to B.C. 8. Turn out the lights for- ever in the federal Department of Indian Affairs, so far as B.C. is concerned, and do likewise in the provincial Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs. It would be preferable if all. of the above could be set out in agreements through a concen- trated effort at negotiation be- tween senior governments and the native leadership over the next three years. It would be understood that, failing a ne- gotiated settlement within that - time, ‘government would. pro- ceed to legislate this or a simi- lar solution and, if necessary seek from Ottawa a constitu- - tional amendment to achieve it. ~The end result would be to “integrate native people ‘into Canadian society and yet re; Jt spect their land rights. Integra-*"=" tion without cultural assimila- It’s time to get on with it. tion. “Tes. the only permanent: The term color-blind is offen applied to people, who strictly speaking, do not suffer color blindness. Only a tew individuals actually see the world entirely in black and white. tn most other cases, the problem is a color deficiency which makes it difficult to recognize certain colors or shades. The most common type of color deficiency is where the eye detects all three primary colors, but in the wrong. proportions. y. Another form is where the eye detects only two of the three colors. f such an individual will be either red blind, or green blind, or in extremely rare cases, blue blind. Color blindness is a genetic condition most offen present in males, but the gene is carried by females. Sixteen times as many men as women have color blindness. There is no cure for color blindness or deficiency..!n order to increase a color deficient i person's ability to detect differences in colors an Optometrist can q prescribe a special red contact lens for use on one eye. This } technique does not actually provide the person with normal color vision and does have undesirable visual side effects. ; Peaple with color blindness or deficiency need to make appropriate career choices based on their color vision. Those in. | certain occupations such as pilots, police officers, electricians and | interior designers need to be able to judge. colors accurately. Eye 4 examinations at a young age can detect color. deficiencies:and help parents assist their children in career choices. Dr. Paul Neuman . Optomerrise: . Brentwood Bay *. 10-7103 West Saanich Rd. 2 544-2210 - - the Delgamuukw case. -Re- “Jands be’ made available to in- tically elected municipal gov- * ernments on native lands, with — ments so as to avoid constitu- - of aboriginal title as found in quire that, a: portion. of. such - dividual band members. -3. Encourage, where. viable, the establishment of democra-.. municipal-like powers only, but outside: of land claim. agree- ~ tional rigidity. 4, Make all economic and’ social programs of general ap-. plication, both. federal and provincial, available to native v people, with some degree Of FRG 20d: crwnmennsn rene preferential treatment but this Ba preference to be phased out ABD ecthit Bak GaCEALVRE OR POH over 25 years. § Begin to phase out, to be. GOLDEN RIPE BANANAS $39¢ : | _ ey | GREEN qu ; tp ag A FRESH. wesc ecw Bs CHICKEN 469 ef WINGS... I a FRESH 59 tH “FRESH BONE IN ‘CHICKEN vageveneea 29 . soa md. LUHICH BY. LAVOUDS, j FRUIT WUICE 7 SY SSS AL se “DEL BE ca ie a ee : THIGHS... ay ee th ¢ is ut NES eaivak, NCO, WALA ORANGE seine fa 6ST FRESHGARDEN bac PRIGWY SOFT. eh BATH site ora TISSUE YOM PING WATER ah a AW "9 ; COTTAGE CHEESE ht “dite fails sap ade aay AERA QW AYRE D NE AFR OER Bi A