Aboriginal Issues: parties have policies, if you can find them

Jeff Green | Apr 07, 2011

Former Prime Minister Kim Campbell once said that an election campaign is a bad time to discuss policy. She said that during an election campaign that did not end well for her or for her party.

None of the major parties seems to think this election is a good time to discuss Aboriginal policies, if the content and layout of their websites is any indication

The NDP have a web site devoted to their Aboriginal Commission, and that site contains a seven-point party platform, which includes a commitment of $1 billion a year for five years to improve conditions in First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities. The commission is referred to in a four-line item on the main ndp.ca election site, but that item does not even include a link to the commission site (ndpac.ndp.ca)

At Conservative.ca, I could find no reference to Aboriginal issues, although the site does not contain much detail about any of the party’s policies, even the recent budget, and the election platform has not been announced thus far. A google search did yield a social policy declaration about Aboriginal issues that was adopted by the party in 2005 and was included in the 2006 campaign. It is a detailed policy. (http://www.casw-acts.ca/public/conservative_e.pdf)

At Liberal.ca there is a tab for Aboriginal peoples, which leads to a three-paragraph position statement committing the party to: upholding the Kelowna Accord; withdrawing a cap on funding for post-secondary education for Aboriginal students; and committing to a federal investigation into the “hundreds of Aboriginal girls and women who have gone missing in recent years.” A google search yielded a Liberal Party Aboriginal Commission, which includes a detailed policy position coming out of the party’s 2009 policy review. (apc-cpa.liberal.ca )

At Greenparty.ca under the “Respect for Diversity” heading, there is the following statement - “recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples to the basic means of their survival, both economic and cultural, including rights to land and to self determination; and acknowledgment of their contribution to the common heritage of national and global culture.”

The party also takes a position opposing the commercial seal and whale hunts, but not Aboriginal hunting of seals and whales. A google search did yield a detailed policy committing the Greens to the $5 billion commitment in the Kelowna Accord and to an inclusive approach to land claims. (greenparty.ca/node/13370)

All four parties do have policies on Aboriginal issues, and there are nuances to those positions that could be of interest to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal voters.

But judging from the amount of focus Aboriginal issues have on the home pages of the election sites, none of the parties think that talking about Aboriginal issues will be a vote getter in 2011.