talonsjordan's Blog

As soon as I was old enough to understand, my mindset was that aboriginals are stealing our tax money.

Everyone around me always seemed to complaining about tax.  When I was seven, I went to the store with my piggybank full of  birthday money.  I chose an item and brought it up to the cash register with my fistful of coins, only to be turned down because I hadn’t factored in: “Tax”.

I asked myself over and over again, how could this happen?  I saw the price label last week, it said $39.99 and I had exactly $40, so why did they want more money than the price label said?

On the way back home, I asked my mother what “tax” was.  She said it was money the government got from people.  She said it went policemen, firemen and paramedics.  I could live with that.  She said it went to fix roads and pay for my schooling.  I could live with that too.

She also told me that our tax money went to the aboriginals.  I asked why.  She told me that our ancestors did bad things to them in the past and that they had a hard time living in current society. She said they didn’t have to pay tax, buy their land or pay for school.  So why did I have to pay tax then?

Article here.
“Only $5.4 Billion of all federal “Aboriginal” spending actually ever reaches First Nations.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Department officials have confirmed that only about 82% of policy and program funds actually reach First Nations in the form of grants and contributions. Treasury Board estimates that 11% or $600 million per year is spent on INAC departmental overhead.

It is estimated that only about 53% of “aboriginal issues” funding from other federal departments actually reaches First Nations. This issue requires further study.

INAC’s budget represents only approximately 0.004% of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product. Affordability to address First Nations’ urgent needs is not under question. In the last Budget, the federal government applied the $13.2 billion surplus to the debt, and this surplus continues to grow. Meanwhile, it invested $17 billion in military spending …”

Article here.

“The average Canadian gets services from the federal, provincial and municipal governments at an amount that is almost two-and-a-half times greater than that received by First Nations citizens.”

Nearly 11% or $600 million of budgeted aboriginal money is spent per year on running the INAC (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada).  Almost 2x the aboriginal budget was spent on military expenditures.

One of my concerns as a Canadian citizen is how tax dollars are being spent and the results achieved from the spending.

Aboriginal spending needs to be more closely monitored, if we are ever to get the full value of it.  They should be compensated because of what our ancestors did but not without restructuring the payment system first.

Each tribe is given an amount of money and how they distribute it is out of our government’s hand.  If the first nation’s government is corrupt, this could mean that little or no money actually reaches the people, explaining the poverty or otherwise bad conditions most of the first nations live in.

Looking deeper into the facts, it appears that while status aboriginals are not taxed, they actually receive only 53% of the total $9.1 billion collected for them, and almost 2.5x less funding than the average Canadian citizen.  It’s also apparent that INAC can not account for the missing funds.

For change in the living standards of aboriginal citizens, our government needs to do a better job of spending the aboriginal money, and the aboriginal government needs to be monitored to make sure the money reaches its destination.

For change to happen, people need to be aware of the facts, and realize the first nations are not the only ones to blame for the state they are in.

-Jordan Toering