[socialisthorde]

I guess what I am saying is that there is already a huge problem with off reserve unemployment for First Nations people. The unemployment rate is significantly higher on reserve, and I would suspect that the unemployed on reserve are even less employable than those off reserve (i.e. in addition to facing predjudice, lower average education levels, higher levels of substance use problems etc. those on reserve have been somewhat isloated from the urban world). While some unemployed living on reserves could probably find work on their own quickly, I suspect that number is pretty small. The remainder would have to be integrated into other social services systems which are already overburdened. So if we immediately do away with the reserve system as was advocated above, we will be piling a gigantic problem onto an already large problem. There is also the issue of where these people would go. Having talked with numerous people from rural and smaller urban communities in Saskatchewan, there is a huge bias against First Nations people. I call it racism, but some would call it realistic appraisal based on past experience. In eiether case, I don't think anyone can deny, that rural and smaller urban communities are not going to embrace a huge influx of First Nations people (particularly if they are undemployed). Therefore, the vast majority are going to cities, which already have growing communities (ghettos?) comprised largely of unemployed First Nations people. Is it really beneficial to anyone if those communities get bigger without getting better? I am not diminishing the strength of individual First Nations people, here, but no matter whether you fall more towards personal responsibility (right) or societal responsability (left), there are pragmatic reasons that we can't simply abandon the curent system over night without thorough discussion and leadership from the First Nations people themselves as to whether and how that transition will occur.