1969 White Paper

FNS 12

• In 1969, Jean Chretien, Canada’s Minister of Indian Affairs, introduced a new Canadian Policy which became known as

“The White Paper”

•This was the Canadian Government’s attempt to

get rid of the Indian Act. . .

Jean ChretienMinister of Indian AffairsPrime Minister

Pierre Trudeau

The White Paper

• The "White Paper" advocated the complete and immediate integration of First Nations citizens into Canadian society

Chretien’s Speech

• Read the speech given by Jean Chretien when he introduces the White paper to Canada’s Parliament.

• Keep track of the parts of the speech First Nations people would like, and parts that they would not like..

Chretien’s Speech to Canadian parliament..

• To be an Indian is to be a man, with all a man's needs and abilities. To be an Indian is also to be different. It is to speak different languages, draw different pictures, tell different tales and to rely on a set of values developed in a different world.

Speech continued..

• Canada is richer for its Indian component, although there have been times when diversity seemed of little value to many Canadians.

Speech continued..

• But to be a Canadian Indian today is to be someone different in another way. It is to be someone apart - apart in law, apart in the provision of government services and, too often, apart in social contacts.

Speech continued..

• To be an Indian is to lack power - the power to act as owner of your lands, the power to spend your own money and, too often, the power to change your own condition.

Speech continued..

• Not always, but too often, to be an Indian is to be without - without a job, a good house, or running water; without knowledge, training or technical skill and, above all, without those feelings of dignity and self-confidence that a man must have if he is to walk with his head held high.

Speech continued..

• All these conditions of the Indians are the product of history and have nothing to do with their abilities and capacities. Indian relations with other Canadians began with special treatment by government and society, and special treatment has been the rule since Europeans first settled in Canada. Special treatment has made of the Indians a community disadvantaged and apart.

What does he mean by special treatment?

Special Treatment?

Residential Schools?

Special Treatment?

Indian Reserves?

Special Treatment?

Aboriginal War Veterans denied the benefitsOf White Veterans?

Special Treatment?

Banning the Potlatch and other culturalTraditions?

Thanks for the Special Treatment Canada!

No Problem!

Speech continued..

• Obviously, the course of history must be changed.

Didn’t the Canadian GovernmentStart this course of history?

Speech Concludes!

• To be an Indian must be to be free - free to develop Indian cultures in an environment of legal, social and economic equality with other Canadians.

Compare your two lists..

• How do you think the First Nations of Canada reacted to the “White Paper”?

Make a prediction..

So What did the White Paper say?

• Abolish (Get rid of) the Indian Act

• Rejection of land claims

• Assimilation of First Nations people into the Canadian population with the status of other ethnic minorities rather than a distinct group (NO more status!)

• THE RELEASE OF THE WHITE PAPER on federal Indian policy in 1969 generated a storm of protest from Aboriginal people, who strongly denounced its main terms and assumptions.

The End of the White Paper

• The Calder case, which recognized Aboriginal Title had not been extinguished help defeat the White Paper

• The near-universal opposition of First Nations peoples resulted in the government shelving the Paper in 1971.

What do you think?

• Take a few minutes to jot down your own thoughts on the White Paper..