Topic: Protecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Country: Canada
Delegate Name: Sara Vargas
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Canada position papers GLIMUN 2018 committees
370 million indigenous people. 5,00 tribes. 90 countries. Men, women, children with watering eyes and naked bodies. Top it off with 78% of their population diagnosed with depression. Indigenous people, according to Survival People, are in every region of the world. They are a part of the dominant post-colonial culture with “their own language, cultures, and traditions”. But, Indigenous people are negatively affected by innovations, changes, and savageries of the modern world. Their personal traditions and customs are being stripped along with their land. As their traditions and customs are invaded, their identity and purpose for existence erodes. Piece by piece, square mile by mile, the innocent indigenous people become nomads in a land they used to call home. Sir John A. Macdonald wrote a carefully researched book about Canada’s negative contribution to the indigenous people lives. Early on in his research he realized that “you could look at poor health outcomes [of the indigenous people] almost as a measure of oppression and marginalization. Today, Canada acknowledges our mistakes.
The Indigenous people’s rights to comfort and ability to practice cultural traditions is suppressed insidiously. Canada is “no land of wonders”, imperfect in the way that we address the suppressions of our indigenous people: 600 tribes of within Canada, and 1,172,198 individuals underrepresented and left to eat the scraps of Canadian colonialism. Although, we are angry with the actions of our government, and its abandoned promises for lasting change: Canada can’t allow the continued spread of this hellenic disease of undermined torture towards indigenous people – in our lands or beyond. Canada has a policy of inclusivity. We care about the people who are suppressed and we desire to meet each segment of our population’s needs, but with little stress deriving from the mouths of our people into the seat of the government- little change has permeated. The problem is considered in our parliamentary government, but not seen through. The people continue to suffer and Canada waits to hear the voices of the people. But as a country with a 3 billion dollar deficit, our economy does not particularly benefit from losing land to the indigenous people. Do we care? Yes. But economically, Canada calls upon other nations to help Canada during this time of trial: to help us help alleviate the suppression of indigenous people through monetary aid.
Canada proposes a three step process to solve the issue of unprotected indigenous people rights: 1. Mass Media Propaganda advertising Ad Nauseum the issue to the public to increase population awareness. 2. Taxation to raise money for the indigenous people. 3. Cultural fairs outside of Quebec- Yearly cultural events that center around the indigenous people and their contributions to our post-colonial lands. In addition to these three steps of advertisement and acknowledgement, for lasting change to occur, it must derive from the government.With this said, Canada calls upon the United Nations to gather additional ideas that pertain to law enforcing details of indigenous rights and come together on a global solution. Canada believes that through these proposed steps, and with the support of other countries of the United Nations, indigenous peoples rights will increase sufficiently.
