I think if you re-read carefully, I have no problems with discussing First Nations issues. I'm just pointing out that they should be called First Nations, not "Indians."

There are all kinds of problems with the First Nations, I think we all agree about that. But what do we do about it?

Personally, here are some of the things that I'd like to see happen in Canada, although many would not agree:

- Tear up all the old treaties.

- Make some sort of one-time benefit agreement to make partial amends for past treatment. What that could be, I have no idea.

- Make it known that self-government as a separate "nation within a nation" is not possible. If a region wants to be treated as a separate nation, then it should be treated as such in every respect, ie. they need to start assuming responsible not for just their own laws, but also for their own governments, legal systems, policing systems, border controls, currency, banking and finance systems, trades and tariffs agreements on imports and exports, education, building their own roads and infrastructure, etc. In other words, negotiate the ability to act like a fully independent nation, recognized as a sovereign country by the United Nations, instead of wanting self-governance only in matters where it's convenient.

- If, upon realizing just how ridiculous that concept would be for many territories, there is still some desire for independence and self-government, then consider instead consolidating a region, after negotiation with the host province and the federal government, to become a separate province or territory, much like our existing thirteen provinces and territories. Again, in this case, assume responsiblity for setting up an effective governance system and deal with all the rights and responsibilities that all other provinces and territories are expected to adhere to. This includes provincial taxation in terms of items like GST/HST and working with the Canada Revenue agency to ensure that income is recognized at a federal level.

- If the responsibility of becoming a sovereign country that is not dependent on Canada is not palatable, and if the idea of acting like a separate province or territory under the same rules is not palatable, then come up with a better idea that is fair to both sides, to the First Nations and to Canada and her citizens.

Those, however, are just some personal thoughts. I'm sure that some people would completely agree with some of my thoughts, and some would completely disagree. And that's the problem. There are no easy answers. But the first part of a solution is to discuss the situation rationally, without starting the conversation by continuing to use terms that are offense to an entire culture.

Do I feel sympathy for the First Nations? Of course. But I don't necessarily feel a lot of sympathy for some of their current behaviour. I feel sympathy for the way they were treated historically, and for the lack of ability to make some sort of positive change in a fast and meaningful way. Sure, the relationship between Canada and the aboriginal peoples is developing and in some ways improving. But unfortunately, no politician has the moral fortitude to slam their fist on the table and make significant changes now. Look at some of the people in power now. Harper seems to want to completely hide from FN issues. Wynne talks a good game and at least acknowledges them, but also seems to want to just kick the can down the road. Everybody wants to defer the problem to the future, and let someone else deal with it. In the meantime, it is many of the FN people who are continuing to suffer.

Sometimes I get really frustrated by activities of the FN's. I believe that they should pay taxes like the rest of us who are working Canadians. I believe that their talk about protecting the environment is complete hypocrisy when you look at the garbage littering the landscape in many of the FN communities. And I get extremely angry when certain people talk about protecting certain animals, yet have no problem slaughtering the same animals and sometimes not even using the meat. If you're killing the animals because you're eating them, awesome. But that's not always the case.

And corruption is another problem. I can't even get into that. The FN's need role models. They need ten thousand Chief Louie's. Maybe that would help. And the FN youth need hope. They need to realize that Canada would like to welcome them with open arms and let them grow and preserve their cultural heritage, but is that possible considering the conditions that most of them are living in? Mind you, there are a lot of Canadians living in similar abject poverty.

Any of us on this message, board, even if it's someone who only has the financial resources to buy a hundred shares of Noront, has a standard of living far above that of the majority of FN's living in this country.

So instead of complaining about the situation, how do we help to improve it?