THE situation in Ottawa affects Indian people more than any other major population group.
As we look to the year ahead, the political uncertainty in Ottawa takes on increased importance for Indian people.
Our treaties, signed with representatives of the monarchy, are with the federal government, which is responsible for providing services that are partially – or sometimes entirely – the domain of provincial governments for citizens without Indian status.
This relationship is seldom properly understood by the public. The federal government exploits this misunderstanding to create the impression that more is spent on Indians than is provided.
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The federal Indian Affairs budget is $6.3 billion. This takes in virtually all program spending.
This total is often exaggerated when trying to turn public sentiment against Indians. Governments and right-wing think tanks pull numbers out of the air, saying Indian spending its $8 billion, $9 billion, even $12 billion.
And then there is another blaring headline distorting the nature of Indian spending. No wonder the public thinks Indians are flush with government money.
The differences in how spending is categorized makes anti-Indian propaganda easier. Most of the $6.3 billion budget spent through the department of Indian and Northern Affairs isn’t additional money for Indians, but rather funds that are distributed for most Canadians through an array of federal and provincial departments such as health, education, social services, industry, municipal affairs, etc.
For political reasons, critics of spending on Indians don’t mention this difference in bureaucratic classification. They won’t let complex facts weaken their simplistic arguments.
To put spending on Indians into perspective as a percentage of government costs, comparable statistics would have to be developed for non-Indians.
This would involve adding federal, provincial and municipal budgets across the country.
A lot of the money allocated for Indians is spent by the government through the bureaucracy. The people who are rewarded the most are government employees in the comfortable office buildings in cities like Ottawa and Winnipeg.
I have always been opposed to having Metis and Indians lumped together. As I explained in my Western Producer column in October, Metis are as different from Treaty Indians as they are from non-Aboriginal people.
The Liberals under Paul Martin took disturbing steps toward a pan-Aboriginal approach and the current federal government is moving further in this direction.
The lumping together of all Aboriginal groups has been used to further confuse the public. Instead of singling out the budget for Indian Affairs, critics toss in estimates – guesses actually – relating to total spending on Aboriginal people by governments.
In some of the most devilish of estimates, costs related to prisons and the high percentage of Aboriginal people in jails are thrown in. The implication is that Indians should be grateful for money spent to hire guards to watch over imprisoned Indians.
I’m sure that many of the farmers who read this newspaper often feel that the non-farming public is misinformed about the nature of agricultural spending.
Ah yes, the propaganda. Don’t accept government statements at face value.
Morris J. Swan Shannacappo is grand chief of the Southern Chief’s Organization of Manitoba.
