Our “new government”^TM is certainly getting knocked about these days, ya just gotta wonder if any of them are reconsidering their move to the government side of the House.

They came into power and immediately scrapped the Kelowna accord as something that was written on the back of a napkin and tried to blame the Liberals for making a balls up of the process. Nobody (but their adherents) bought it and today the House just gave second reading to the “Act to Implement the Kelowna Accord”.

They (quite rightfully IMO) criticized the Liberal Party “We’ll talk a good game and hope that’s good enough” strategy on the environment, and saw a bill passed that forces them to do what their Liberal predecessors would, or could, not do.

And now they are facing criticism on Canada’s Aboriginal record on the international stage

Canadian Aboriginal groups are preparing to castigate the government at an upcoming United Nations session which will look at racial discimination.

Canada’s position on the UN Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as its discriminatory treatment of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and elsewhere, will be scrutinized by the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) at its 70th session, which begins today in Geneva, Switzerland, reads a news release signed by a coalition of Aboriginal groups.

– and it doesn’t look good

Urban natives say they are facing an increase in racism from businesses, schools, police and employers, with an “astounding” four out of 10 Indians, Inuit and Metis reporting discrimination in Canadian cities and towns, a newly released government report reveals.

In a national poll for the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, 74 per cent of the Aboriginal Peoples who had experienced racism said it was at the hands of non-aboriginal people, an increase of 10 per cent from the last survey in 2003.

Forty-two per cent said they experienced discrimination by businesses, basically doubling the previous 20-per-cent finding in the earlier poll, while about one-quarter cited people at work, including their employer.

The report’s conclusion said the finding was “disappointing” and “disturbing” and included the fact that aboriginal renters “often or always” experience discrimination from landlords.

Government was found to be a source of their experience of racism by two of 10 Aboriginal People, a slight rise from 2003.

I fully expect two things:

[1] When questioned on this they will deny there is any real problem if they can, and blame the Liberals (and to be fair the Liberals deserve their share of the blame) if they can’t.

[2] They will do nothing about the issue