U.N SAYS CANADA IN CRISIS OVER TREATMENT OF ABORIGINALS
Benjamin Shingler. 12 May 2014
Issue Overview and Course Connection
This issue is about a government who is abusing a minority and an aboriginal group, this is very similar to what happened to the aboriginals in America and Australia. It is showing that the Canadian Government has come into an area that was already populated and used their force and power to wipe out the indigenous population. But unlike America and Australia the aboriginals still have some of their land, it's not much but they have enough to live on. Now the Canadian government wants to build a pipeline right through their land that they live on. This is not only an ecological blunder, but a political one too. Oil spills are terrible for the environment and riots paired with U.N investigations are terrible for the politics of Canada. Just is comparable to an extent to the way the citizens are treated in North Korea. There is a complete disregard for their well being and their safety.
Key Stakeholders
There are two key stake holders for this issue, the first being the Canadian Government and the second being the aboriginal population of Canada. For the Canadian Government they want to downplay this issue as much as possible, it is a really bad image on them to follow what Australia did to their Aboriginals did (eliminate them). Then there is the aboriginals who feel they are owed by the Canadian Government for "invading their land", as well as not wanting them to build potential ecological disasters on their land.
Contributing Factors / Implications
This issue brings up so many different background factors and further implications it could be talked and debated forever, and that is exactly what is being done within the Canadian Parliament at the moment. The current Government of Canada does not want to be known as the group that sanctioned off an entire indigenous population, building potential ecological disasters. But they are on the right track for it to happen. What this means for the aboriginals living in Canada is quite terrible but also has an up side, there have already been great human rights abuses against them and with the U.N taking notice that means that there is hope for the aboriginals living in Canada
Then there are the environmental implications of the keystone pipeline being build across Canada and USA, oil is not an environmentally friendly material, it is the exact opposite. What the Harper government wants to do is build a pipe that will pup oil across two different countries. There have been many various oil spills being reported all over the world, having one of these going through Aboriginal land would be horrible for their way of living.
Then there are the environmental implications of the keystone pipeline being build across Canada and USA, oil is not an environmentally friendly material, it is the exact opposite. What the Harper government wants to do is build a pipe that will pup oil across two different countries. There have been many various oil spills being reported all over the world, having one of these going through Aboriginal land would be horrible for their way of living.
Bias
This article sounds a lot like an attack ad on the Harper government in Canada, it sets them out to be the bad guy in this situation, making them look like they only care about the keystone pipeline. While the pipeline is not good for the Aboriginals living in Canada, it is amazing for the Canadian and American economy; creating tons of jobs and moving resources in a safer more manageable way.