Surge in Newfoundland native band has Ottawa stunned, skeptical

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
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Meat Draw and a free TV to the first 50 people.



When the Canadian government established a new First Nation in Newfoundland it expected to get about 10,000 applications for membership. It got more than 100,000.


The government was stunned. The mountain of applicants was the equivalent of one in five people in the province. After just the first round of applications, when 23,000 of 30,000 applicants were granted Indian status, the Qalipu Mi’kmaq were already the second largest First Nation in the country.

The size of the response was “neither reasonable nor credible,” the federal government said. The financial implications were significant, considering the health and education benefits due to status Indians in Canada. The government, in concert with band leadership, moved to tighten the membership criteria.


Now a new law before Parliament would allow the government to review and revoke the Indian status of those who’ve already been approved. The Bill, C-25, would also bar anyone from suing the government for the way an application was handled.


The new measures will undoubtedly limit the band’s size. But some of those expecting to be rejected say it’s wrong to deny them their identity, even if it’s relatively new. What began as an attempt to right a historical wrong is likely to leave tens of thousands feeling as though they’ve been wronged again.


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Surge in Newfoundland native band has Ottawa stunned, skeptical - The Globe and Mail
 

BornRuff

Time Out
Nov 17, 2013
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Giving them the power to strip people of Indian Status with no way to challenge the decision legally seems like an overreach.
 

PoliticalNick

The Troll Bashing Troll
Mar 8, 2011
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Edson, AB
We should just get rid of all the FN status bullsh*t. They can be Canadians or they can have some land and be their own nation. Option 1 gets them all the benefits and rights shared by all Canadians but no more special treatment. Option 2 comes with nothing but the land and a big fence around it with a border crossing. No currency, no passports, no handouts, and they can pay us over time for any infrastructure that may be on the land.
 

Twila

Nanah Potato
Mar 26, 2003
14,698
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Maybe Newfoundland Gov't could contact National Geographic and see if they can't get a group discount for their genome project. Test everyone's DNA see if they have the markers associated with this Native Group (assuming there are markers to find)
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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Low Earth Orbit
Maybe Newfoundland Gov't could contact National Geographic and see if they can't get a group discount for their genome project. Test everyone's DNA see if they have the markers associated with this Native Group (assuming there are markers to find)

There are natives as white as I am but have full status DNA wouldn't matter. It like how being Jewish is passed down no matter how diluted the bloodline.
 

Twila

Nanah Potato
Mar 26, 2003
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I always wanted to be a white Jewish Indian. Just think of all the tax free wholesale deals.

LOL. Somewhere, there very well might be someone with this biological make up.


I wish we all could spend time navigating life in another persons ethnicity/religion. You wouldn't have to believe as they believed, you'd just have to experience how they're treated based on their outward appearance. It would be startling.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
108,903
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Low Earth Orbit
Are you an efficient protector of the woods, water, animals ?

Of course, I'm not a poacher that runs down wildlife stocks just because I can.

Really? Is Winnipeg that ethnically diverse?

Yeah. Winnipeg's Jewish community is huge but pales in comparison to the FN population of WPG.

I have Jew kin there. Lots of them. They breed like the Irish.