It’s Time for Struggling Remote First Nations to Opt for the ‘Smallwood Solution’

Commentary A whopping $875,000 for every indigenous man, woman and child living in a rural First Nations community. That is approximately what Canadian taxpayers will have to pay if a report commissioned by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is accepted. According to the report, $349 billion is needed to provide the housing and infrastructure required for the approximately 400,000 Status Indians still living in Canada’s 635 or so First Nations communities. ($349,000,000,000 divided by 400,000 equals about $875,000). St. Theresa Point First Nation is typical of many of such communities. It is a remote First Nation community in northern Manitoba. CBC recently did a story about it. One person interviewed was Christina Wood, who lives in a deteriorating house with 23 family members. Most other people in the community live in similar squalor. Nobody in the community has purchased their own house, and all rely on the federal government to provide housing for them. Few people in the community have paid employment. Those who do have salaries that come in one way or another from the taxpayer....