This criminal code encourages sentencing judges to have recourse to a restorative approach to sentencing. Also, the enactment of s. 718.2 (e) is a definite direction by Parliament to pay particular attention to the circumstances of aboriginal offenders during the sentencing process because those circumstances are unique and different from those of non-Aboriginal offenders. Further, when sentencing Aboriginal offenders, courts must take judicial notice of such matters as the history of colonization, displacement, and residential schools. And they should look at how that history continues to translate into lower educational accomplishment, lower income, higher unemployment, higher rates of substance abuse, suicide, and, of course, higher levels of imprisonment of Aboriginal peoples. (Canadian Law, an Introduction 6th Edition: Neil Boyd 2015; page,
The application from the essay “ As Canadian As Possible Under the Circumstances” by Linda Hutcheon and the poem “I’m not the Indian you had in mind” by Thomas King shows in the aspects of the history, culture and tone side of things The talk of history shows relevance because it is significant in the importance of how Canadians act today. In the poem it talks about the progress they make towards reconciliation but then fall back and go backwards, “seven forward, seven back” (King). The author Thomas King portrays very important thoughts in the poem about residential schools and how that has affected how people act today. The way that that the government has acted against indigenous groups “The Oka guy, remember me? Ipperwash, Wounded Knee” (King lines 86-87) an example being the Oka Crisis
This paper will give an overview of the act and how it impacted the Indigenous community into becoming
The summer before eleventh grade, I was given the opportunity to travel to Tsawout, a First Nations reserve situated in Vancouver Island for a week on a short-term missions trip. While assisting to run a camp for the children in the reserve, I was exposed to the mental and emotional burden for those whom had experienced, and were victims of residential schools. Many of the Tsawout Elders witnessed the death of their culture and the brutality these schools wrought on those impacted: families and survivors. The Elders expressed their outrage and past struggles with passion, laying bare their innermost thoughts and ordeals. They challenged me to open my eyes to beyond the reaches of my comfort zone.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a starting point; however, it is simply not enough to integrate the aboriginals into Canadian society. Apologizing for wrong doing and compensating individuals that have lived through the terror of residential schools is not enough to prevent the issue from recurring again. There are multiple steps that need to be taken in order to correct for Canada’s original sin. First, negotiations between the federal government and the aboriginal people need to take place. Next, Canadians need to educate their youth of the historical truth.
Institutional and historical analysis often portray the motives of governments, especially in the cases of Quebec separatism and Aboriginal mistreatment. History describes attempts at compromise to rectify the problems by altering political institutions to provide more autonomy to the provinces, witness in various accords and the methods described previously. However, in regards to Aboriginals a historical relationship of exploitation and eradication sheds on the systemic issues that Aboriginals cope with and the institutions that caused them. As scholars of Canadian politics, it is important to consider historical and institutional analyses when looking at any issue, as it reveals the underlying motives of actors in regards to the cleavages that comprise a state.
One thing that was exciting and very interesting for me was learning about the Boston Massacre in Social Studies. Most people think of it as a minor event (which I did too until I learned all about it) in which a few people were killed, but it is much more than that, as I found out when my class went into a lot of depth to investigate the mysterious Boston Massacre. Some people think that the colonists aggravated the British and that the British fired in self-defense. Others say it was the British murdering (or murthering as they said it back then) innocent colonists. Whatever happened, it is a very interesting subject and kind of makes you question our supposed to be innocent ancestors.
Aboriginal people continue to be victimized and incarcerated at much higher rates than non-Aboriginal people. The overrepresentation of Canadian Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system is a question that has not yet been answered. This research paper will focus on the risk factors experienced by many Aboriginal people, residential school experiences, and institutional racism, and their roles in the overrepresentation of Canadian Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system. The Canadian government system has tried to deal with this issue, but looking at the high rates of overrepresentation, there approach has not been successful.
Available at: https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/stolen-generations-effects-and-consequences [Accessed 19 Apr. 2017]. Meslin, D. (2017). The antidote to apathy. [online] Ted.com. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/dave_meslin_the_antidote_to_apathy [Accessed 19 Apr. 2017].
The daily mantra school announcement extolling the virtues and importance of Aboriginals is essential to understanding Canada’s history. Through repetitive hearings our mind becomes washed over with guilt, thus making one feel the need to correct the mistakes made by previous generations. The daily announcement addresses the issues Aboriginals face or faced in society. Addressing the issues Aboriginals face today allows society to correct their mistakes and move towards a better society. The daily school announcement helps one understand Canada’s history through a psychological, sociological and anthropological viewpoint.
Naomi Klein's novel, This Changes Everything highlights the most imperative actions that need to be taken towards climate change. Klein discusses that as a society we overlook the causes and the changes that need to happen to the systems that are making the crisis inevitable. She encourages formulating a mass movement for climate change that supports changes in the economic system. Klein’s main argument is that, most people think that climate change is a threat, “we have not done the things that are necessary to lower emissions because those things fundamentally conflict with deregulated capitalism” which is the “reigning ideology” of our time (p.18). The purpose of the book is that Klein is supplying society with a challenge: are we on the right path, are we doing the right things for ourselves and for the future, or is this the best we can be?
Abraham Lincoln, a Senate candidate at the time, gave his famous “A House Divided” speech on June 16, 1858, in Illinois at the Republican State Convention. When Lincoln delivered the speech his immediate audience was the Illinois Republican Party, but after reading the speech one can see that it was intended for a much larger audience. His speech was intended to impact people of both parties, and to change the way the people thought. During Lincoln’s speech, he had a few main ideas that he was clearly trying to illustrate to his audience.
The basis of these problems is a loss of identity and a sense of knowing that their values are oppressed, and their rights are ignored. Likewise, non-indigenous Canadians have become increasingly aware of the unfairness of the richness of indigenous and aboriginal cultures that are taking place.
The colonization of Indigenous peoples has dramatically affected their health, and health-seeking behaviours, in a myriad of ways. The Indian Act of 1876 was, in essence, created to control the Indigenous population. The Indian Act laid out laws and regulations that tightly regulated the lives of natives economically, ideologically, and politically. This included a wealth of ways in which their identities were stripped away, and in which they were taken advantage of by the Government of Canada. This has resulted in a reduced quality of life for Canada 's indigenous population, as well as adverse health problems, and prejudicial perceptions that we still see the impact of today.
I particularly agreed with the authors’ argument about blending cultural and academic knowledge (McKinley & Brayboy, 2005, p. 435). I think it is institution’s responsibility to respect their cultural knowledge but also provide appropriate academic knowledge, relative to Indigenous students to be able to actively engage in reciprocal learning with their cultural knowledge, which, then, adds value to their survivance practice. I find that this piece opened up a new way of looking at the challenges which Indigenous students encounter and the ways to move forward with the situation through changing the perception of education not only from Indigenous students, but also from the perspectives of non-Aboriginal members in institutions by providing a way to
