Should we make reserves ASAR's?
We often read or hear of the need to provide more funding for educational and other services on indigenous reserves.
While I agree with that, I think it would also be wise to give them the tools to help themselves too.
To make an analogy, imagine that your house will be flooded by tomorrow unless we dig a moat around it and fast.
I have three options:
1. I do nothing and let you dig the moat with your bare hands.
2. I give you my shovel so that you can dig the moat more efficiently yourself.
3. I take my shovel and start digging the moat for you while turning down your offer to help me help you and telling you to get out of my way while I help you.
4. I bring two shovels and* give you one and we dig the moat together.
I get the impression that the Government's plan to help indigenous Canadians is based on strategy 3 above whereby the Government throws money at indigenous Canadians but does nothing to help them help themselves.
Obviously we can't go from plan 3 to plan 2 overnight, but we can go from plan 3 to plan 4 quickly enough.
Supposing that we declared reserves Autonomous Special Administrative Regions (ASARs). Essentially, indigenous communities would be exempted from Canada's language, trade, and foreign worker rules except for UN sanctions. This would mean that unless the reserve imposes language rules of its own, packaging and labeling could be in any language and companies could do business in any language within the rules set by the indigenous nation. And unless it imposes its own tariffs, quotas or sanctions, it could import whatever it wants. And unless it imposes its own work visa requirements, anyone with a valid passport could work there.
This would allow reserves to import products that off-reserve companies couldn't, or at least not at the same price.* It would also ensure that an on-reserve company could easily fix a labour shortage by hiring anyone with a valid passport (as long as the indigenous government allows it of course.
We could allow private hospitals to do business on reserves too. As it stands now, private hospitals outside of Canada are getting that money.
While the removal of such obstacles to economic development would not necessarily eliminate indigenous dependance on the Government of Canada, it would likely at least significantly reduce such dependance.
Given the recent news with the SQ in Quebec, it could also increase safety by allowing indigenous communities to collect the funds to police themselves. After all, indigenous police officers are far less likely to assault members of their own community, sexually or otherwise, than white police officers from outside the community who have no ties to the community.
So while this would likely not bring us to plan 2 above, it would bring us to at least plan 4 which would already be a step in the right direction.
We often read or hear of the need to provide more funding for educational and other services on indigenous reserves.
While I agree with that, I think it would also be wise to give them the tools to help themselves too.
To make an analogy, imagine that your house will be flooded by tomorrow unless we dig a moat around it and fast.
I have three options:
1. I do nothing and let you dig the moat with your bare hands.
2. I give you my shovel so that you can dig the moat more efficiently yourself.
3. I take my shovel and start digging the moat for you while turning down your offer to help me help you and telling you to get out of my way while I help you.
4. I bring two shovels and* give you one and we dig the moat together.
I get the impression that the Government's plan to help indigenous Canadians is based on strategy 3 above whereby the Government throws money at indigenous Canadians but does nothing to help them help themselves.
Obviously we can't go from plan 3 to plan 2 overnight, but we can go from plan 3 to plan 4 quickly enough.
Supposing that we declared reserves Autonomous Special Administrative Regions (ASARs). Essentially, indigenous communities would be exempted from Canada's language, trade, and foreign worker rules except for UN sanctions. This would mean that unless the reserve imposes language rules of its own, packaging and labeling could be in any language and companies could do business in any language within the rules set by the indigenous nation. And unless it imposes its own tariffs, quotas or sanctions, it could import whatever it wants. And unless it imposes its own work visa requirements, anyone with a valid passport could work there.
This would allow reserves to import products that off-reserve companies couldn't, or at least not at the same price.* It would also ensure that an on-reserve company could easily fix a labour shortage by hiring anyone with a valid passport (as long as the indigenous government allows it of course.
We could allow private hospitals to do business on reserves too. As it stands now, private hospitals outside of Canada are getting that money.
While the removal of such obstacles to economic development would not necessarily eliminate indigenous dependance on the Government of Canada, it would likely at least significantly reduce such dependance.
Given the recent news with the SQ in Quebec, it could also increase safety by allowing indigenous communities to collect the funds to police themselves. After all, indigenous police officers are far less likely to assault members of their own community, sexually or otherwise, than white police officers from outside the community who have no ties to the community.
So while this would likely not bring us to plan 2 above, it would bring us to at least plan 4 which would already be a step in the right direction.
