Canada outlines native cash deal

[Sean]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4466096.stm

Canada has unveiled a C$5bn (US $4.3bn; £2.4bn) programme to fight poverty in native communities, at the end of an unprecedented two-day summit. Prime Minister Paul Martin said gaps in wealth, health and education between aboriginal and other Canadians were "not acceptable in the 21st Century". Mr Martin, provincial leaders and native groups have been debating the deal at the summit in British Columbia. Canada's one million aboriginals make up 3.3% of the population. It follows a C$2bn pay-out to natives abused at residential schools. But some details of the plan were not finalised, and it could be jeopardised if Mr Martin's government falls in an forthcoming parliamentary vote. 'Step forward' The package, the details of which were announced as the summit in Kelowna drew to a close, will be spent over ten years on programmes to improve housing, healthcare, education and economic development.

[shield772]

Bravo Canada

[Nono]

Remember: this is government spending money obtained through taxation to correct imbalances. Canadians by and large still believe in this approach. Americans -- so many of whom keep saying how they want the federal government off their backs and all that -- should take careful note.

[Osborn F Enready]

I have, and while I see it as a benevolent thing to do, it would not work constitutionally in this country.

I do NOT see a problem, with trying to correct these wrongs, just not through taxation of those who had NOTHING to do with the offense. This is a form of socialist thinking.

[Nono]

Quote by: Os This is a form of socialist thinking.

A familiar American taunt regarding Canada, to which Canadians reply "Sticks and stones ... ".

[Osborn F Enready]

I am not POKING Canada, hell we have a TON of socialist thinkers HERE in the U.S.

I attribute this notion not to any nation in particular, but to the thinking and rationale involved.

There are at least two mindsets here.

Take a little from everyone, to make up for governmental shortcomings.
Take a lot from the guilty, to make up for governmental shortcomings.

This is a way to address a problem without addressing the cause, and while it may serve a temporary fix, it does not create a barrier to prevent it from happening again, nor does it take into acccount the rights of the individual.

[Nono]

Yeah I realize you're not singling out Canada. It's just that the word "socialism" isn't one that everybody hears as an accusation. Some of us like it. :)

By all means address the root cause. If checks and balances can be made part of the system, that's better than ad hoc government intervention -- an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Still, capitalism cannot be made socially equitable. It just isn't in the nature of the beast. So there will always be cases where governments have to use public funds to intervene.
Of course, here we're talking about the issue of the role of government in a market economy more than aboriginal rights.