I think most people would agree that the stereotypical native-American, the one that despises the white man, hates taxation and the federal government in general, and probably lives on a reserve, still permeates non-native discourse throughout Canada.
How much of that is true? I have no idea.
But it would seem rather unrealistic to expect that all natives still have a deep resentment over the European occupation that took place centuries ago? In Quebec, however, under the tutelage of Premiere Jean Charest, the Cree community and the non-native community are doing just that, getting over any antipathy and resentment that they may have towards each other.
In a first since the James Bay Northern Quebec Agreement signed 35 years ago, the Cree and the rest of the non-natives in the region have finally agreed to put old rivalries aside and create a joint regional government.
This initiative comes as a direct response to Cree demands of governance over 300,000 square kilometers of native territory covered by the agreement. The Crees took legal action over their exclusion from certain parts of the territory, and in 2008, superior court judge Rejean F. Paul concluded in a ruling that the Crees must be involved in all aspects of management for the entire James Bay territory.
Additionally, for the first ten years of the joint regional government in Northern Quebec, both the native and non-native population of the region will enjoy a parity of votes between them, after which, “representation would be determined by a formula ‘based on demographic principles and demographic realities, to be further defined in the final agreement.'”
Finally, an initiative stemming from a solidarity and desire to solve common societal problems between two culturally different people.
I truly hope that this experiment in governance is successful. For too long have the great native American tribes and bands in Canada been separated from the rest of the population. This isolation on both sides has been intensely detrimental to our society. For a country that proclaims multiculturalism to be an official government policy, that extends both to public life and the workplace, segregating natives from the rest of the cultural mosaic looks a bit hypocritical.
We may have a united Canada yet.
Notre nouvelle génération apporte de nouvelles possibilités passionnantes d’unité et de fraternité entre tous les Canadiens.
