White Paper of 1969
The White Paper of 1969, introduced by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was a proposed policy framework aimed at addressing the socio-economic disparities faced by Aboriginal Canadians following World War II. This initiative emerged in a context where Indigenous peoples often suffered from discrimination and were excluded from the broader benefits enjoyed by most Canadians. Trudeau's proposal sought to eliminate the Indian Act, dissolve the Department of Indian Affairs, and transfer responsibility for Indigenous services to provincial governments, along with privatizing reserve lands and phasing out existing treaties.
The government's rationale was based on the belief that the special legal status of Indigenous peoples contributed to their marginalization. However, the proposal faced significant backlash from Indigenous communities and their newly formed political organizations, such as the National Indian Brotherhood. Critics argued that the White Paper failed to acknowledge Indigenous rights and sovereignty, emphasizing the importance of recognizing historical treaty obligations and land claims.
Ultimately, the proposal was withdrawn in 1970 in response to this opposition, leading to a gradual recognition of Aboriginal and treaty rights in subsequent years, particularly after the 1982 Constitution Act. In 2014, the Liberal Party of Canada formally repudiated the White Paper, acknowledging its assimilationist principles as a misstep in addressing the rights and needs of Indigenous peoples.
White Paper of 1969
By the late 1960’s, it had long been recognized that Native Canadians had failed to share socially and economically in the general prosperity that followed World War II. They were frequently the victims of discrimination and lacked access to the economic, educational, medical, and social benefits available to the majority of Canadians. These issues were frequently lumped together in the popular media and by government bureaucrats as the “Indian problem.” The White Paper of 1969 was a policy statement and plan issued by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to resolve the problem.
Running on the campaign slogan “The Just Society,” Trudeau led the Liberal Party to victory in the Canadian national elections in June of 1968. The slogan signified a social consciousness that had been growing among the Canadian populace throughout the 1960’s. The White Paper was part of a general attempt by Trudeau and his ministers, following that election, to review and reorder all Canadian social and economic policy.
Trudeau and his followers firmly believed that the special status granted to natives by the Indian Act was at least partly to blame for the discrimination against them. According to the White Paper
The separate legal status of Indians and the policies which have flowed from it have kept the Indian people apart from and behind other Canadians. . . . The treatment resulting from their different status has been often worse, sometimes equal and occasionally better than that accorded to their fellow citizens. What matters is that it has been different.
The White Paper recommended the repeal of the Indian Act, the dissolution of the Indian Division of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND), and the transfer to the provinces of all responsibility for the delivery of social services to natives. It also recommended privatization of reserve lands and phasing out existing treaties.
In order to gain native approval of its proposals, the government facilitated and funded the formation of a variety of native political organizations. The most prominent of these was the National Indian Brotherhood, which later became the Assembly of First Nations. Much to the surprise of the Trudeau government, these native political organizations were nearly unanimous in their rejection of the White Paper proposal. Their objections were many but hinged primarily on the failure of the Trudeau government to recognize native claims of aboriginal rights and sovereignty. These, they believed, would require the acceptance of long-ignored treaty obligations and the settlement of land claims.
Faced with such outspoken and vocal opposition, the Trudeau government withdrew the White Paper in 1970 but continued in various other ways to disavow the notion of distinct rights for natives and other cultural minorities. It was later to acknowledge a measure of “existing aboriginal and treaty rights” via the 1982 Constitution Act. Subsequent governments, while implementing some of the White Paper proposals (specifically the transfer of responsibility for social services to the provinces), have also negotiated land claims and aboriginal rights agreements with a number of native political entities. In 2014, the Liberal Party of Canada formally renounced the White Paper and its underlying assimilationist principle as a mistake.
Bibliography
Aboriginal Peoples’ Commission. "Policy Resolution 21. Acknowledging the Past in Order to Move Forward: A Resolution to Officially Reject The 1969 White Paper." Liberal.ca. Liberal Party of Canada, 2014. Web. 15 May 2015.
Cardinal, Harold. The Unjust Society. Vancouver: Douglas, 1999. Print.
"Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy (The White Paper, 1969)." Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Govt. of Canada, 15 Sept. 2010. Web. 15 May 2015.
Thompson, William Norman. "The Canadian Perspective." Native American Issues: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2005. 87–100. Print.
"The White Paper 1969." Indigenous Foundations. First Nations Studies Program, U of British Columbia, 2009. Web. 15 May 2015.