[A-List] Canada: continuing discrimination

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

The long, cold wait

Native Canadians are still campaigning for their government to recognise and
reward them for fighting in the second world war, writes Anne McIlroy

Monday November 4, 2002

This year, 11 November was supposed to be less bitter for the hundreds of
aboriginal Canadians who fought for their country in the second world war.

Native soldiers risked their lives, but when they came home from battle they
found they were still second-class citizens. The veterans were offered few
of the benefits, education and training or jobs of their white comrades. It
is part of Canada's shameful history of discrimination against aboriginal
people.

For years veterans, like Saskatchewan grand chief George Anderson, pressured
the federal government to honour his contribution to the war effort by
awarding him compensation for the benefits he missed out on.

Chief Anderson, now 78, had joined the armed forces at the age of 16, served
for three years in Europe and was decorated for his service. He had relayed
messages to the front on a motorbike.

He was among 4,000 native men who volunteered to fight in the Second World
War and the Korean War. Their battle for fair treatment has gone on for
decades. The elderly native soldiers protested in front of Parliament Hill
and threatened a lawsuit against the federal government. Earlier this year,
Ottawa finally came through with an offer for the 1,800 veterans or their
widowed spouses.

Rey Pagtakhan, the minister of veterans' affairs, announced the
"compassionate plan" in the House of Commons. But it was a small fraction of
what a committee of government officials and Indian leaders that had studied
the issue had recommended.

"I would hope that those eligible would accept this offer and put closure on
the issue," Pagtakhan said.

The native veterans were insulted. Anderson called the offer "a little piece
of junk." "We were all brothers in the army," he said. "It was when we got
back that we were treated differently."

He said the Canadian government should formally apologise for its treatment
of native veterans and give them the compensation they are entitled to.
Ottawa was clearly hoping that its cash offer would be tempting to many of
the veterans, who are ageing, in many cases sick, and may not have the
stamina for a long court fight. In order to get the money, they have to
agree not to sue. But while some of the veterans will accept the money,
other former soldiers have vowed to continue their fight.

They have taken their battle to a new front, the United Nations' human
rights committee in Geneva. They have the support of at least one
politician. Saskatchewan New Democrat MP Lorne Nystrom is pushing not only
for cash compensation, but also for an apology, a monument and a scholarship
for school children in the memory of native veterans.

Those are gestures the old soldiers are looking for. Until the government
realises this, 11 November will be a day for native veterans to remember
their shabby treatment by the country they fought to protect.