The aboriginal people in Canada are the indigenous people that live in Canada. They are made of the Inuit, First actions and the Metis. The issues that face the Canadian Aboriginals have attracted high mainstream media attention. There concerns regarding policy surrounding the issue such as self-governance, human rights, and employment and education standards. It is also well known that the Aboriginal population earns less the non-Aboriginal population. The course on aboriginal conditions has made me realize the various issues that the aboriginal people go through and that it is a crisis.
One of the most important aspects of the course is the level of education that the Aboriginals get. Education is important to every individual since it will help them get through life and improve their living standards. However, the Aboriginal education is a crisis and may significantly affect their ability to improve their living standards since to lowers their chance to get a higher income. The government has made little effort into the crisis facing the Aboriginals in Canada.
There is clear polarity when it comes to the Aboriginals. All aspects such as education, employment and income are polarized. The rich got richer while the poor get poorer. There are implications to the aboriginal people not having a good education. Without a solid education, they cannot improve the conditions in such that they can reduce the polarity between them (Lamb, 2013).
The aboriginal people also suffer from poorer health compared to the rest of the communities. There is a rise in the heart diseases and diabetes, which are chronic diseases. Income levels have a significant impact on the social factors as well as health. There are higher rates of the respiratory problems among the aboriginal children. Additionally, there is inadequate housing as well as crowded living conditions, which are factors that facilitate the spread of disease. the living conditions attracted attention from all over the world. Attawapiskat is an example of the conditions that the aboriginals have to struggle with (Kathi & Nicolette, 2012).
There are lower levels of education among the aboriginals. There were only 22.8 percent of the aboriginal people that had a complete high school education in 2011, which is very low. There are lower income levels among the aboriginal population. In 2006, the aboriginal average income was about 30 percent lower than the non-aboriginal workers. They also have a higher rate of unemployment. The state may be attributed to the low education rates among the population, which may cause them to be less competitive in the job market. The aboriginal population is also younger than the non-aboriginal population. This is due to the fact that 73 percent of those in the urban areas are between 15 and 44 years old, as compared to 56 percent of non-aboriginal population. The difference in the age population may represent the lower life expectancy of the aboriginal population. In the economic aspect, the aboriginal population enjoys higher income rates as compared to the non-aboriginal population in the urban areas. In terms of education, 30 percent of the aboriginal population have not completed high school while in the non-aboriginal population, 27 percent have not completed (Kathi & Nicolette, 2012).
The aspects mentioned above are significant since they collectively contribute to the poor conditions that the aboriginals have to deal with. Lower education and poor income levels hinder the efforts for them to access adequate medical care. Additionally, they contribute to the poor housing conditions, which worsens the situations of their health. Canada may rank highly in the UN Human Development Index, however, the Aboriginal people rank the same as those in Belarus, Panama and Malaysia in their economic and social prospects. Regarding the educational levels, there are important points to note. The aboriginal population is younger than the average Canadian population age average. The Aboriginal labour market is lower that the Canadian average and their employment rates are also lower (Hossain & Lamb, 2012).
The observations only prove that it is essential to improve the living conditions of the aboriginal population. Perhaps the improvement of the aboriginal population may play an important role in the labour shortage that Canada faces. The labour force is declining due to the increasing ageing population. There may be high potential for the aboriginal population to help with the labour force in the country since their rates are significantly lower compared to the Canadian average. Since the labour force among the Canadian aboriginal population is projected to rise, then it makes sense to improve their conditions because they may account for the countries large labour force.
Considering that education is the key to higher participation rates and employment, the governments has clear motivation to make the Aboriginal education a priority. Additionally, if the government and other stakeholder do not work towards improving the conditions, the situation may become worse for future generations, making the progression hard to reverse.
The issue is important to explore since many may think that the aboriginals may not have a significant role to play, but they do. Despite the media coverage about their conditions, but stakeholders have done little to help alleviate the bad situation many are in. the course makes one realize that if stakeholders will not take action with the aim to protect the citizens of Canada, then perhaps the search of an active population may be enough incentive not to avoid the Aboriginals situation. Additionally, improving the education standards of the Aboriginals will reduce the dependency rate of the country. If the aboriginals do not find work in the economy, they will be part on those that depend on the working population, along with the ageing population.
Clearly, improving the education standards of the aboriginals in addition to improving the population itself, it will also improve the Canadian businesses and the entire Canadian population. The increase in output will lead to an increase standards of living. The decreased cost that the government would incur will be reduced, which may enable the government to reduce taxes, reduce debt and improve public services.
The aboriginal population is one that has been under pressure and poor conditions for a long time. Their poor situation has been ignored, however, as stated earlier, improving their welfare may be in the best interest of the rest of the Canadian population. Above all else, education is the most important aspect that can go a long way in improving the living standards of the aboriginals. Education will help them become marketable in the labour market. Consequently, they will be able to afford a decent and credible education for their children, extending the productivity to the next generation. Additionally, making the population productive will reduce the crime rate and reduce the dependency ratio, which is a positive impact on Canada’s economy.
Reference list
Hossain, B., & Lamb, L. (2012). The Impact of Human and Social Capital on Aboriginal Employment Income in Canada. Economic Papers, 440-450.
Kathi, W., & Nicolette, C. (2012). Urban Aboriginal health: Examining inequalities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations in Canada. Canadian Geographer, 98-116.
Lamb, D. (2013). Earnings Inequality Among Aboriginal Groups in Canada. Journal of Labor Research, 224-240.
