Quote:
Originally Posted by bowness
I am really impressed with this thread. Great dialoguue lacking the often misleading diatribes that lead us off into other issues. Un "BEE" lievable. (sorry couldent help myself.)
Now for my rant:
I often get frustrated that many Canadian laws do not apply to all inhabitants of Canada. The "first here" philosophy and the extra rights associated seem to be racist in themselves. Using racist laws to make up for the past injustices seems to be counter productive. Atleast it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. From my experience just because you were here first doesnt mean you are closer to nature or have less of a tendancy to exploit resources. The difference is you can exploit them and get Canadian tax dollars to support it. The icing on the cake is Canadians have no legal right to stop it.
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NICE!!!! this post right here should guarentee us atleast another 100 posts on this thread.
If you are talking about the rights and privileges afforded to the native populous then i agree x100. I am not a racist nor do i have a stigma against any individual race. But this often is a sore spot for me. one common misunderstanding is that if a individual with a status card is fishing with a line and pole, they are considered sport fishing and must abide by sportfishing regulations. If they net, trap, spear, whatever...... they are exempt from all fishing laws including catch limits, seasonal closures, ect.
Im sorry but it is getting to the point where this is ridiculous. I know you can't just run up and strip all there privileges to nothing. but there is alot of government funding going to people of native status. and In my opinion, alot of that funding is abused. I know some Native status individuals who have struck out and have tried to do something with what they are given and become self supporting and successful just as every other individual tries. But for every one that does this there seems to be dozens that adopt the mindset that, if they are offering this to us why wouldnt we take it. I actually know a couple cases of half blood relatives of close friends purposefully had kids so they can get subsidized housing with their status cards and not have to work because of the kids. I also know some native status people who understand and agree with alot of the negative stereotypes of native status people. They don't condone it but understand why people believe certain things..... because more often than not they are proven true. this is a whole other political topic so I will stop it right here and get back to fishing. My point is that no not all native status people abuse the system. but alot do, in my opinion.
in terms of fishing, we have catch limits and seasonal closures in order to Recouperate and help ecosystems survive. This is mostly do to mass fishing pressure. We close waters to protect spawning fish. we have limits to protect population. What good are these actions if it is not close to EVERYONE. Like I said you can't just take rights like these away. they do have to be phased out over time. but a step in the right direction is making them have to obey seasonal closures. and certain limits for certain species / waters. they can still net / trap / spear fish IN SEASON and protect spawners. the next step would be to make them apply for netting / trapping in certain waters.
those would be steps in the right direction. Politically, i do have a belief that things eventually do need to be changed. we cannot uphold the agreement with the "first here" laws that are in place for several reasons.
1. abuse of the system
2. Times have changed and so eventually do our laws in order to look out for the greater good of our resources
3. things just arn`t as cut and dry as they were when I could trade 10 fish for 1 fur pelt.