Ten years after the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, the vast majority of the landmark report’s recommendations have not been met, says the Assembly of First Nations.
The AFN has flunked Canada on its response to the report: “based on our assessment, Canada has failed in terms of its actions to date.” The quality of life, education and basic health needs of Aboriginals are being ignored by Ottawa and the AFN wants the situation rectified as soon as possible.
Ten years ago, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples released a five-volume report on the health, education and political status of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples.
The Commission, created after the 1990 Oka crisis, took five years to investigate relationship between both levels of government and Canada’s Aboriginal people and conclude it had to change.
The Commission left a detailed plan to close the economic gap between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals by 50 percent and to improve social conditions over the next 20 years.
The Liberals attempted to addressed the overall malaise felt by Aboriginal people with the $5.1 billion Kelowna Accord last November.
Three days later, Paul Martin’s Liberal government fell and Stephen Harper’s Conservatives quashed the deal after winning the federal election in January. Instead, the Tories offered $450 million, a pittance that did not address the needs of the people, according to the AFN.
