NELSON: Ottawa’s indigenous appeasement is bankrupting Canada

There will come a day when a brave politician in this country will tell the truth about the endless shakedown indigenous leaders are engaged upon under the guise of protecting the land.Sadly, chances are that day is a long way off.So, until such a moment arrives, we’ll have to suffer through yet more pious platitudes about promoting diversity and recognizing the unique stewardship indigenous folk bring to the very heart and soul of Canada.It is total poppycock, of course. Do we see roving bands of Natives busily picking up litter in our national parks or resolutely bagging trash that lazy and ignorant drivers threw away along our highways, as a practical way to keep Canada pristine?.Or are the various reserves across the country on par with Switzerland for being wonderfully neat and tidy?The answer is no. But what we do see is an immediate rush to the nearest microphone if any level of government intends building anything, anywhere in Canada. Simply suggesting this is cause for uproar.This is coming to a head again following the passing of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s much-ballyhooed Bill C-5, a piece of legislation supposed to kick-start development across Canada and strengthen our economy so we’re less of a rollover when talking tariffs with the United States and its endlessly belligerent president.Whether it’s building roads, pipelines, docks or mines is immaterial. It is simply deemed wrong to do so because such projects are, by their very nature, a threat to the Indigenous way of life. (It certainly doesn’t threaten lawyers’ way of life — they can make a killing on the resulting fees charged as courts deal with the inevitable challenges that arise as soon as the word ‘build’ is uttered.). The latest legal challenge to Carney’s attempt to fast-track development was filed in Ontario Superior Court of Justice this week, claiming Bill C-5 represents a ‘clear and present danger’ to First Nations' self-determination on their territories. After all — we were informed in an emotional press conference that followed the lawsuit’s launch — First Nation communities have a ‘sacred responsibility’ to protect the land.In response the prime minister trotted out the usual mouthings about consultation and respect, while probably wondering why he ever left banking to get involved in this charade.What he should have said is that Canada’s rapidly going broke; that we’re borrowing close to $100 billion this year alone and desperately need to boost our economy if we’re to continue spending such huge amounts of money.And then he could have pointed out the annual federal budget for Indigenous Affairs almost tripled between 2015 and 2025, growing from about $11 billion to more than $32 billion allocated this year.Oh, and the fire hose of spending didn’t end there.The Fraser Institute recently tallied up all the legal class actions involving First Nations settled without litigation. The estimated liabilities had reached $76 billion by 2023, as specific claims were settled at a rate four times higher by the Justin Trudeau regime than they had been under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government..Not surprisingly this has led to a significant transfer of land and money to First Nations.So, is it any wonder anything changing the status quo, no matter how vital to this country’s future, is therefore fair game for a legal challenge, because the end result will be more taxpayer cash doled out in compensation? It works every time.This wouldn’t be so bad if at least this continual shakedown subsequently improved the life of average indigenous people. But it hasn’t. Far from it: Natives are dying younger than ever, for Heavens sake.Take Alberta, for example. Between 2015 and 2021 the life expectancy dropped a shocking seven years for First Nations men and women. For males it fell from 67 to 60 years and for females 73 to 66 years. (For the rest of Canada it was 79 and 84 years respectively.)This is wrong at every level. But yet it continues because no politician has the guts to stand up and tell the truth: continue to cripple Canada’s economy by tying up all proposed development in legal knots and the money tap will be turned off.Some day someone will say this. But it won’t be this day.

NELSON: Ottawa’s indigenous appeasement is bankrupting Canada

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