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Well my StatsCan link says different than yours (Oh wait ... you didn't provide a link!). https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11f0019m/11f0019m2019007-eng.htm Clearly, refugees' earnings are significant, and do increase with years in Canada, of course. Males and Females are reported separately here, but after a few years, it's likely that a refugee family's household income, while still below the average, is fairly indistinguishable from other Canadian families, many of whose household incomes are also below the average. There is a cost to bringing refugees to Canada, but that's simply an international committment we have always made. We are very fortunate that we are not a country (like in Europe) with many borders, many countries near us from which many refugees could arrive, eg, millions needing temporary refugee camps and all of the expenses related to that. We recently had some border refugees escaping Trump lol, but otherwise, not a lot of that kind of activity ever in Canada since Underground Railway, United Empire Loyalists, perhaps. Canadian complaints about 'refugees' are often just veiled racism from the far right, not really based in any significant issues.

My boss just gave me a 10% raise. That's on top of the 15% I asked for a couple of years ago. Fishing for a living paid off in the end.

But closer to home....it results in people like Justin Trudeau.

Mostly meaningless rhetoric. Lip service, including polishing silver, has nothing to do with labour, living standards, and fairness. Much of your plea is for a transfer of income from earners to non-earners, which is unfair and will only breed contempt in the long-run, no matter how much you try to rewrite history with pretty narratives about a single pure people who owned everything and shared it communally. Thankfully knowledge is power and we can all conduct research and draw sensible conclusions. In terms of the economy, the stats speak for themselves. The unemployment rate is historically low and never has employment in modern industrial society been more precarious or housing less affordable. Millennials have less than the previous two or three generations and are giving up on home ownership. The contempt for labour is becoming more obvious as greater work is no longer translating to better living standards. Some are deciding that gaming the system pays better than hard work. Of course people can only be pushed so far, resulting in people like Trump on the right and AOC on the left. Sensible management is under threat at a time when we have more data to drive sensible decision making than ever. The irony!

You did see the 2 million people that showed up to that Parade? Winning begats support. Basketball and Soccer will surpass Hockey for support in multicultural urban areas. Hockey is a snobby and expensive sport to get into. And you need a frozen rink to play in an organized fashion. With Soccer, all you need is a field and with Basketball all you need is a school gym. Soccer and Basketball are sports of the future. Internationally, people care more about the Raptors than they do with the Leafs. Hockey will always be popular in Canada, because it's "our" sport. But new Canadians, and their families, won't develop the affinity to it as past generations have. That being said, Toronto needs a second team and Gary Bettman is a greedy moron for giving teams to Vegas and Seattle before the larger GTA (Hamilton?) and Quebec City.

That’s really all you’ve got in the face of reasonable argument? Hopefully your views will remain at the fringe where they belong. I have defended multiculturalism, universal healthcare, and banning of handguns and assault rifles. I’m a centrist. The only reason I support the Conservatives is because the Liberals under JT moved as far left as the NDP. I’m relatively well informed on Canadian history. Are you? You’re very much speaking the shrill language of the revolutionary left. It’s a foolish game that can only backfire in a climate where most people feel that their standard of living is under threat. People like to feel like when they work they will be rewarded, not told they should feel guilty of crimes they didn’t commit and fork money over to people on spurious grounds. Thankfully this is a democracy, for now, and extremists won’t win elections, for now.

No my point is that unless Indigenous contribute part of their income to the services and infrastructure on their reserves, they will not be taken seriously as self-governing nations. It’s not healthy for any society to depend so heavily on support outside the community. Collecting rent on the development work of private companies tax-free doesn’t necessarily demonstrate any contribution toward the common good of the reserve community at all. Ownership also means owning the costs of management. Sure some infrastructure must remain federal because it’s too big for a small community to build. I’m not even proposing a clawback of federal funding. I’m simply stating the truth that a society must be self-sustaining to be healthy. Sure you can argue that money is owed to people for doing nothing on land that is worth very little because of centuries old injustices that were the way of the world at that time. Some reserves are thriving and they should be self-sustaining because they are self-sustaining. Everyone agrees that development on Indigenous land requires agreements for payments to the reserve, but how is that money used to support the reserve? Is it simply kept by individuals like a profit share with no form of taxation to support the reserve? If you want to really dig into the specifics and problem solve, there has to be honest conversation about what self-government means. This is the heart of the matter. The broken reserve system and Indian Act are embraced by too many Indigenous decision makers. What hard choices are people willing to make to really improve life for the vast majority of Indigenous? You want to escape poverty and developing country conditions, function with the accountability and sophistication of healthier societies. Courts can figure out disputes over pieces of land, which will have their resources and title. The question is, after the settlement, what do you do with what you have? When will the conversation change from getting more from outside to creating and contributing? Some are already there. Federal money should go where it’s needed most. Certain items will probably remain freebies, such as land without property taxes and income taxes going to Revenue Canada. That’s a sweet deal. There’s also taxpayer money flowing into reserves from the government of Canada. Nice. What are Indigenous giving back to their own Indigenous communities?

Wise comment. I think most people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, want to see good jobs on reserves and revenue from resource development flow back to the reserves, as well as careful management of those funds to meet local community needs. I think, though, that for true self-sustainability, the goal has to be self-funding through self-taxation, as is the case in every community. External taxpayer funding should act as a kind of top up to meet a standard. Some reserves that are flourishing would need little or no top-up. Others might require much more funding than they currently receive. A condition of any external funding is financial accountability. This should be a requirement for all IBA and other sources of revenue on reserves, so that it's transparent to the community how such money is used. If there is no plan among residents of a reserve to collect a portion of their non-taxed income for the purpose of building and maintaining infrastructure and services on the reserves, those residents will always be reliant on the help of people who have their own priorities and may not want to contribute much to people who don't pay land or income taxes. I'm not taking a right wing position on this, as I think current levels of funding with rises for inflation are what we signed up for. On the other hand, there is no hope for true self-government and self-empowerment without self-management, which means running reserves internally the way city/town councils run municipalities, including having the band collect a portion of income from residents to pay for services/infrastructure. This is what makes Nunavut successful. I realize that this would have to be transitioned incrementally. I also wouldn't try messing with the reserve system as it stands, with its lack of private title for residents that would allow for the sale of private property in the marketplace. That should be a local decision for bands.

Which means double dipping. Earn income tax free AND get federal money. This idea of money owed comes from where? Courts need specific evidence. But sure, why not ask for federal money without accountability for its use AND have a confidential agreement with private companies to collect money for resource development? Anyone cries foul? Colonialism and genocide...

On January 21, 1977 President Jimmy Carter pardoned the draft dodgers and made good his campaign promise to grant unconditional pardons to those who fled the U.S. to evade the draft during the war in Viet Nam.

I think it’s sad that these agreements are confidential. Are bands setting aside any of the funds to improve infrastructure and services on the reserve? It’s important to know because it would be ethically wrong to receive large revenues and not set aside some funds like a form of taxation for upkeep, like any community. That’s how self-government works. Transparency would also make it easier to determine which reserves need more outside government help because not all reserves are resource rich.

Well, the ICC is a creation of the imperialists and colonialism framework, with no jurisdiction for crimes committed prior to the international treaty (2002). African nations have been the main targets of ICC proceedings and prosecutions. So don't hold your breath waiting for that grand-slam truth.

Why is it about a handover of more money that will have to come from taxpayers rather than doing what everybody else does: earn money through work and send a portion of earnings to government in taxes to pay for public services? It just looks like a demand for free money. Resource development is one thing. Bands already receive royalties for resource extraction on their land. Also, Indigenous are free to work and they should. How much hunting and gathering and living off the land is going on in these reserves? I imagine that in the far north it’s plausible to carry on an old way of life, not that everyone would choose it. The more this discussion wears on the more unnecessary this reserve system plight seems. I think we’re stuck with it because Indigenous aren’t coming to a consensus on its replacement. Why? It seems mostly about land and money, which isn’t related to vulnerable females or an apartheid reserve system or a bad Indian Act, unless it brings money and land...You promote this notion that somehow rent is owed to people who largely haven’t continuously lived on said land and haven’t worked it. Why would any sane, informed voters support that? I’m not talking about what may be some clear incidences of sections of land that should now be included in Indigenous territory. Let the courts decide that. But if government is being asked to service that land, there has to be a tax base from within that land. Things cost. What a strange mentality that asks money for nothing in return.

What absolute drivel and Faith Goldy has nothing to do with this. The gov't allocates multi billions of tax payer dollars a year on Natives, much of which is unaccounted for because as we know, there is no transparency required. If they did not live on unsustainable remote reservations and integrate (not assimilate) into society they would have a much better chance at success; in fact, those who do live off reservation do much better than those who do not. https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/audience/indigenous.html

I never understood why that Act was axed by Trudeau and why Natives did not oppose it being axed. There is a ton of evidence of misuse of funds by tribal chiefs/leadership with zero accountability - to their own people or to the government. Chiefs and leadership living high on the hog while their reserves are living in squalor. If I was Native, I'd be all over protesting that.

Conspiritard drivel. The government spends twice as much per capita on natives as it does on anyone else, and natives, on reserves, pay no taxes. Do you imagine this money is looted from some imaginary first nation vault deep beneath Gringotts bank or something?

Nonsense. The truth is as posted, and you wouldn't respond: Maintaining the lie that support for Indigenous people comes from Canadian taxpayers is a heinous, divisive and devious government strategy to sustain systemic racism against Indigenous Peoples, to cover up federal government embezzlement of Indigenous funds and to convince Canadians that the "final solution" to the Indigenous "problem" is to force them to fully assimilate, with intent to destroy them as Indigenous Nations. That systemic racism filters down through all public services, including policing. Of course, some people don't care about those financial realities of Canada since their denigration of Indigenous Peoples is just one aspect of their racism. White supremacists like Faith Goldy, for example, never change their racist tune due to new information, because their tune is purely about racism, not really about funding or any other excuses. They're just as likely to be out on street corners bleating against Muslims too. Lol

No goals in life, nothing to strive for . . . There are many 'first immigrant' men working in the coast logging industry. For the most part, they're a hard working bunch. No different than the many 'second immigration' men in that industry. The one blaring commonality with the 'first Immigrant' fellas is that they would never go back to live on reserve. Many of them are shunned by family and friends for making the break with the reserve life of doing nothing. These 'first immigrant' loggers don't follow an easy road in life . . . but, they'll never go back from where they came. Hat's off to those fellas that saw that life was full of choices and chose to become involved in this country. Chose to contribute to this country and culture. ps. I can wear a moccasin or cowboy boot . . . . they both fit.

Alcoholism and drug abuse?

Colonialism.

Who is holding back the final removal/revisions of the Indian Act? Is it really the federal government? My understanding is that Trudeau wanted to make serious reforms but at least some Indigenous leadership walked away, including Jody Wilson-Raybould. Why is this? Could it be because there are vested interests within Indigenous communities and no one wants to be blamed for their removal? You can’t have it both ways, calling the reserve system apartheid while at the same time wanting to retain its benefits. The “Trust Fund” is a a bit of a chimera, an attempt to exact rent for what is now privately owned or crown land. Of course at the time of settlement there was little interest in this land because it seemed endless and items like rifles for hunting seemed as valuable as land when treaties were negotiated. Of course we know that different peoples moved through and lived on these lands for periods who didn’t call it property. Also, on the one hand you say Indigenous should have the same privileges as all Canadians and claim that these are insufficiently provided, mainly because small remote communities that Indigenous will not leave are prohibitively expensive to service, but then you also say that Indigenous peoples should retain special privileges afforded to people with Indian status. Here’s reality: Most Canadians don’t care what the Indigenous do as long as it doesn’t involve trying to take non-Indigenous people’s income and property. Have at it. No one gets a free lunch.

The term Genocide for this issue of Native women gone missing is very much a lie. The problem is that the lifestyle that those particular women chose is what led to these issues. They have a lot of issues and violence amongst themselves. They would never admit to that either. By lifestyle I mean the laid back lifestyle they have and they do not have the same level of responsibilities that non-natives need in order to survive as they get a lot of stuff for free. That then encourages waste, no appreciation for what you have, lack of pride, and a host of other issues. I mean anyone being treated this way would have these same issues, native or non-native. Subsidizing the natives, free education, free pharmaceuticals, free help, I would hardly call this Genocide. The Natives actually have alot big families because of the assistance they get. Non-natives don't have that luxury so the families are of more modest size. There again because of these policies, I can hardly see this as Genocide. It's more of a lifestyle problem and alot of it within their own social environment.

While I am from a legal perspective adamant on honouring legal treaties with the aboriginal collective and continuing to use certain of their laws and traditions in modern law particularly when it comes to the environment I do concede using past history as an excuse not to deal with current issues is not helpful. I have noticed some not all leaders in aboriginal communities using past issues as a sort of catch 22 to excuse all current problems. That is not helpful. Substance abuse, incest, sexual assault and violence, peophilia are serious issues leading to mass suicide of young aboriginals. The question is how long is the past used as an excuse to NOT change the present? If its used as a crutch its destructive. I mention that because it is what certain aboriginal leaders are now saying to their own people and ultimately aboriginal people will have to decide what they need to do NOW to address their failures. Relying on lip service from Trudeau won't change a damn thing, nor will making excuses for corrupt aboriginal politicians either. That said, blaming all aboriginals for certain problems facing them is pointless but there is a real limit as to what non aboriginals can do or say. The changes have to come from within their communities. I myself do not like the Indian Act for that reason. I think it prevents change. I would argue it entrenches methods and policies that no longer work. I think we need to bring the aboriginal councils into a more visible government that is an active part of the federal Parliament guaranteed a certain no. of seats just like each province is. Whether those MP's then decide to sit independently or as part of one of the parties is their choice. I would also dismantle the Indian Act entirely. It belongs as part of the intergovernmental affairs and Cultural portfolios. Then again I think Fisheries, Health and Environment should be one Ministry, Vetreran Affairs and Defence one Minuistry, Homeland Security and Immigration one Ministry, all Trade, Natural Resources, Energy and Agricultureone Commewrce porfolio and Finance absorb the Treasury Board. Shrink that government down and identify redundant services that can be offloaded to provincial governments and non profit organizations and the savings used to provide assistance to infrastructure for each province, rebuilding the Defence Ministry and paying down the deficit. Also it is high time aboriginals are placed in a special operational military unit of Rangers and used to police the environment, fisheries and sovereign borders especially up in the Northern remote border areas.. Also why are we not developing eco tourism up in our North to employ aboriginals and Northerners as well.

Which somehow results in the continuing increase in the population of indigenous peoples.

There is no such thing as 'cultural genocide' in law.

They don't. But by their nature, street people move around and move on without notice, and don't have the normal secure lifestyle which would allow anyone to know when they're missing or why, or to allow police to track them down as easily. When a housewife disappears, or a woman who has worked as at a job and lived at the same place regularly for years, it gets noticed and police quickly realize something could be wrong. When a prostitute who is a drug user disappears nobody notices except other street people who often don't tell police. And then where do you look? And I never heard of a native woman who was killed simply because someone didn't like natives. They have the same risks as prostitutes and drug abusers of other races.

Clearly you have no knowledge of how Canada was formed, what our laws and treaties are, what is your business and what isn't. I would guess you're a 'white nationalist' like Goldylocks. /ignore

Scribblet please read my response to Zeitgeist above re 'Indian' Trust Funds (embezzled) and current revenue streams (not released). To clarify ... Treaties and other legal agreements - made by Indigenous Nations for uses of their land from British colonization to today - would have been more than sufficient to maintain their communities, if they were allowed to access their own money. But they were not. And yet the their trust funds are depleted with no government accounting of where the money went. One example: A small city mayor once acknowledged that part of the city was built on land leased from an Indigenous Nation, but the lease amounts were never paid. He stated today's value of that money, and that debt alone was far more than the total amount that has been allocated to their community since Confederation. And that's only one unpaid debt of many owing to them that hasn't even been paid to their Trust Fund. Canada has 'misplaced' far more money from 'Indian' Trust Funds than it has ever allocated to support their communities. Instead of complaining about "taxpayers" money, ask your MP to tell you where the 'Indian' Trust Funds have gone since Confederation. That's how they intended to support themselves. Racists like Faith Goldy have a lot to do with the denigration, dismissal and dehumanization of Indigenous people. So do governments.

Again ... Indigenous Trust Funds are revenues from companies for resource extraction on their traditional lands, via treaties or other agreements, from British colonization to the present. At Confederation, Britain transferred the Trust Funds to Canada. Canada has never provided an accounting for those funds. Some Indigenous Nations are pursuing a full accounting for their Trust Fund monies. That will be interesting ... and not flattering to Canada. Stay tuned ... Such revenues continue to accrue and are the logical route to self-sufficiency for Indigenous communities. But their money is accessible only via mountains of paperwork and only if the Minister 'approves'. First Nations are greatly restricted in accessing their own capital to invest in businesses that can provide jobs and revenue to help make their communities self-sustaining, as addressed in this report: http://www.naedb-cndea.com/reports/recommendations-on-first-nations-access-to-indian-moneys.PDF Read the report.

The Indigenous Framework is another neoLiberal ploy. It seeks to negotiate extinguishment of Aboriginal rights, withholding funds for children's services, etc. to extort compliance. Now Trudeau's trying to roll it out in pieces, children's services first. Could be there's a variety of opinions, Canada's Band Councils, Traditional Councils. The Supreme Court upholds Aboriginal and Treaty rights. So does the Queen. The reserves were set up as apartheid, starving, extorting and pushing Indigenous Peoples into small portions of their traditional lands, out of the way of industry and commerce. Many are reasserting their rights on their larger traditional lands too, a say in development and a share in revenues, self-sustaining in place. The reserves and traditional lands are home to those who live there and for many more who are from there. Indigenous Peoples may have moved seasonally within their traditional lands for food and medicine gathering, etc. and every 20 years or so to allow land to regenerate, if they grew food. Other groups might stay on their land by agreement. All of this is considered by the courts when necessary re Title and Aboriginal rights. Crown Land is traditional Indigenous land under protection of the Crown. Traditional Indigenous land is Canada's industrial area: Logging, mining, oil, gas, and our governments get revenue from that. Indigenous people get some jobs, some business perhaps, but also get contamination of their food and water supplies. "The trees are gone, the animals and birds and bees are gone, the geese don't come anymore, the fish have tumours' ... a common story for Indigenous communities throughout Canada's. Indigenous Trust Funds are a reality of the Treaties made to allow us to live on Indigenous land. The Federal government, as Trustee, will have to account for the Indigenous shares of revenues from industries, that are to be deposited in Indigenous Trust Funds, so they can sustain themselves. But Canada's accountants seem incompetent in that. The private property land registry is under protection of provincial governments, and while there may have to be compensation paid where land was 'assumed' without agreement, it's highly unlikely that governments would 'take anyone's property' for that reason. Though for oil & gas & pipelines they would, with some compensation perhaps. Yes, the public services we all receive are funded at lower levels for Indigenous communities, with no explanation and no accounting for that: Just racial discrimination in provision of public services to Indigenous people living on reserves. More than half live off reserve, though. In Canada we do support all people with low/no income, or with disabilities, and seniors: income supports and public housing, healthcare, etc. On reserves, as elsewhere in Canada, about 80% of the people on 'welfare' are single mothers with young children. (Caveat: Canada does discriminate against low/no income single men, who seldom if ever get public housing, so stay homeless on the street.) Since nobody's doing any of that stuff you've raised as concerns, (see above), then really you have nothing to worry about. And if the Federal government starts depositing, distributing and publicly accounting for Indigenous monies the way a Trustee is legally required to, it will be more understandable and acceptable to Canadians. Maintaining the lie that support for Indigenous people comes from Canadian taxpayers is a heinous, divisive and devious government strategy to sustain systemic racism against Indigenous Peoples, to cover up federal government embezzlement of Indigenous funds and to convince Canadians that the "final solution" to the Indigenous "problem" is to force them to fully assimilate, with intent to destroy them as Indigenous Nations. That systemic racism filters down through all public services, including policing. Of course, some people don't care about those financial realities of Canada since their denigration of Indigenous Peoples is just one aspect of their racism. White supremacists like Faith Goldy, for example, never change their racist tune due to new information, because their tune is purely about racism, not really about funding or any other excuses. They're just as likely to be out on street corners bleating against Muslims too. Lol