Real Life: Many years back, a politician visited a local Indian Reservation (they called them that, back then! Here in Manitoba). He lamented how terrible the living conditions were (truth) and the hardships the typical resident faced (also true).
He lamented how one family "had to burn the screen doors to stay warm in the winter, and now their house was drafty causing even more heating issues."
Ok, fam 😲 you lost me there!
They live in a forest with 100 kilometers of trees in every direction... including a stone's throw from their home... but they "had to" burn their doors to stay warm?
Of course his solution was "spend more money!" and let the Chief & Council take most of it for booze, travel & gambling... which is exactly what happened.
Sort of? There's a whole Fed department in Ottawa with a gigantic budget. Lots and lots of White Lawyers on the payroll...
They dole out money based on the (alleged) population of the reserve, with funding factors too. Isolated reserves get more for example.
White Lawyers, Chiefs and Band Councils make a lot of the money vanish before it gets near the average resident, of course. Corruption is not only rife, it's open & accepted.
Of course many residents live OFF the Rez in the nearest big city. They also tend to get their daughters out before they turn 13 due to constant rape & epic child pregnancy. Chiefs almost always have a "Red Wife" on the Rez and a "White Wife" in the city. Both in luxury homes entirely paid for by the Rez.
There's a few Reservations that aren't corrupt hell-holes, but the organized bureaucracy is determined to wipe those out, overturning elections & so forth.
It is my (albeit limited) understanding that US Reservations are MUCH better run than ours. It's hard to imagine a worse system than what we have in Canada.
I'm no expert on American Rez's but they are basically little socialist states with the feds in charge of everything. If ours are better, goodness gracious
Real Life: Many years back, a politician visited a local Indian Reservation (they called them that, back then! Here in Manitoba). He lamented how terrible the living conditions were (truth) and the hardships the typical resident faced (also true).
He lamented how one family "had to burn the screen doors to stay warm in the winter, and now their house was drafty causing even more heating issues."
Ok, fam 😲 you lost me there!
They live in a forest with 100 kilometers of trees in every direction... including a stone's throw from their home... but they "had to" burn their doors to stay warm?
Of course his solution was "spend more money!" and let the Chief & Council take most of it for booze, travel & gambling... which is exactly what happened.
Are the reservations in Canada like those here in America, in that the federal government is in complete control of the purse strings?
Sort of? There's a whole Fed department in Ottawa with a gigantic budget. Lots and lots of White Lawyers on the payroll...
They dole out money based on the (alleged) population of the reserve, with funding factors too. Isolated reserves get more for example.
White Lawyers, Chiefs and Band Councils make a lot of the money vanish before it gets near the average resident, of course. Corruption is not only rife, it's open & accepted.
Of course many residents live OFF the Rez in the nearest big city. They also tend to get their daughters out before they turn 13 due to constant rape & epic child pregnancy. Chiefs almost always have a "Red Wife" on the Rez and a "White Wife" in the city. Both in luxury homes entirely paid for by the Rez.
There's a few Reservations that aren't corrupt hell-holes, but the organized bureaucracy is determined to wipe those out, overturning elections & so forth.
It is my (albeit limited) understanding that US Reservations are MUCH better run than ours. It's hard to imagine a worse system than what we have in Canada.
I'm no expert on American Rez's but they are basically little socialist states with the feds in charge of everything. If ours are better, goodness gracious