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Old Posted Jan 16, 2008, 6:22 AM
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Spocket Spocket is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2006
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These statistics, like many are probably quite misleading.

Statistics Canada has probably broadened the definition of "aboriginal" and "metis". For example, I can think of plenty of people I know who look slightly less aboriginal than Jeff Foxworthy or Morgan Freeman. Nevertheless they insist that they are indeed aboriginal. That's fine , I really don't care but the statistic itself is probably not nearly as accurate as it might first seem since it almost certainly relied on the census of 2006. That makes it a self-reporting issue. Think you're aboriginal ? Okay, check that off on the census. Voila ! You're now an aboriginal. Whether this was a conclusion drawn for 2006 census figures or some other survey the inherent flaw is the same : nobody is going to argue the matter with you in this case. If I decide to state that I'm black because my grandfather was black, I guess from SC's viewpoint, I'm an African-Canadian.
The truth is that nothing is all that much different today from a year or two ago. As a segment of the population it's no surprise that Natives and Metis make up a greater percentage but the article itself even says the same thing that I just did. It's less of a shift in demographics and more of a shift in definition.

The true figure has undoubtedly risen but I seriously doubt it's been nearly so dramatic as the statistics would suggest.
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