GRSJ224/Aboriginal Income Disparity In Canada

From UBC Wiki

Despite Canada’s consistency in ranking top when it comes to liveability, income disparities between aboriginal Canadians and the rest of Canadians continues to exist. The general perception of Canada as being “equal”, as seen in statistics and published data, can be due to the fact that the Indigenous population is often overlooked. Please note that throughout the page, the terms ‘Aboriginal’ and ‘Indigenous’ will be used interchangeably.

Quick Statistics

According to the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) which measures the liveability of countries based on health, longevity, knowledge, education and standard of living, Canada is placed 3rd out of 177 countries. However, this number quickly drops to 63 when the Indigenous population is included (Chambers & Burnett, 2017). According to the Census of Canada, there are approximately 1.7 million people (more than 5 percent of the population) from Aboriginal ancestry (Pendakur & Ravi, 2011, p. 61)[1].  

The Lead-up: History and Politics

The income disparity, along with health and even social disparities, are a result of Canada’s history of settler colonialism. Through generations, the aboriginal population had to struggle through the reserve system and residential school. With the unequal treatment from the gecko, Indigenous children, especially those on-reserve,  were left underfunded in large areas of social services as they struggled through Canadian federalism (Chambers & Burnett, 2017)[2].

Variables of Income Disparity

Gender

Both Aboriginal men and women face severe earning disparity when compared to the rest of the Canadian population (Pendakur et al., 2008, p.31). Aboriginal women, however, are amongst the poorest people in Canada (Citizenship Canada, p. 201). It is clear that not only does discrimination exist in terms of race and ethnicity, but that sexism is very prominent within the Aboriginal community. However, data still shows that the income gap between Aboriginal men and women are smaller than that of Aboriginal men and women (Citizenship Canada, p. 21).

Registered Aboriginals

Registered Indians face higher levels of unemployment compared to the majority of the people (Pendakur et al., 2008, p. 9). In face for both men and women, registered Indians faced the greatest disparity in terms of income compared to the rest of the population (Directorate, 2013, p. 18). However, there seem to be differences between the genders when it comes to those living on-reserve and off-reserve. For men, income disparity was great on reserve whereas for women, income disparity was greater off-reserve (Directorate, 2013, p. 18). The concluding reason for the extreme disparity for registered Indians is due to the isolation of the reserves. However, even the urban Aboriginals faced a significant amount of income disparity overall.  

Education

Even with the increase in education, aboriginal people still face income gap compared to the rest of the Canadian population (Pendakur et al., 2008). However, all groups have increasing returns to earning when increasing their education. When it comes to highschool completion, most Aboriginal males had higher returns compared to the Canadian population but still had lower income overall. With females, the earning returns for highschool completion remained rather similarly with the Canadian population. Even with completion of higher education, aboriginals consistently had lower income (Directorate, 2013). However, for registered aboriginals, there proves to be greater improvement in returns to education than non-registered aboriginals (Pendakur et al., 2008).

Analysis and Conclusions

Intersectional Analysis

As with different types of oppression and discrimination we see in society, we can use the intersectionality to explain the Aboriginal income discrepancy in Canada. Phenomenons such as the income discrepancy for Aboriginals in Canada cannot be understood by one factor, but by many factors that work in mutually influencing ways (Hankivsky, 2014). Socio-cultural factors in which the Aboriginal population’s history is stigmatised can contribute as one of the factors of the income disparity. Also, because Aboriginals are not considered to be of the dominant group in Canada, society can assume them to be inferior. When the Aboriginal population is viewed as inferior, it is inevitable that power relations will work to force them to the bottom of the economy. Another factor is that Aboriginals are not given equal opportunities from the gecko. Aboriginals are limited with opportunities such as schooling which has continued since the history of residential school systems. As a result, the Aboriginal population will less likely be in professional fields, such as medicine and law, which tends to have higher income in general. Lastly, inferiority in terms of gender works to place Aboriginal women at the lowest tier of the economy. All of these factors are mutually present to create discrimination, hence, income discrepancies towards Aboriginals in Canada. Using an intersectional analysis is adequate because all the factors comes to form a unique type of identity which ultimately leads to discrimination.

Moving Onwards

In order to lessen the income disparity in Canada between the Aboriginal population and the Canadian population, education should be enforced to a greater extent. Despite the consistent rate of income gap, all groups prove to benefit economically when increasing their education. Although there has been government intervention, most of their efforts were towards assimilation. However, policies directed towards assimilation has proved ineffective and inadequate when closing the income gap. Moving onwards, policies should be directed towards reconciliation by challenging the long standing colonial mindset (Citizenship Canada, p.24).

References

  1. Chambers, Lori, and Kristin Burnett. “Jordans Principle: The Struggle to Access On-Reserve Health Care for High-Needs Indigenous Children in Canada.” American Indian Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 2, 2017, pp. 101–124., doi:10.5250/amerindiquar.41.2.0101.
  2. Citizenship Canada. “Government of Canada.” – Immigration and Citizenship - Canada.ca, Government of Canada, 13 June 2019, www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/account.html.
  3. Directorate, Strategic R., and desLibris - Documents. Aboriginal Income Disparity in Canada [2013]. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, 2013.
  4. Hankivsky, Olena (2014): Intersectionality 101, The Institute for Intersectionality Research & Policy, SFU: April 2014.
  5. Pendakur, Krishna M., et al. Aboriginal Income Disparity in Canada. Metropolis British Columbia, 2008.
  6. Pendakur, Krishna, and Ravi Pendakur. “Aboriginal Income Disparity in Canada.” Canadian Public Policy, vol. 37, no. 1, 2011, pp. 61–83., doi:10.1353/cpp.2011.0007.
  1. Pendakur, Krishna; Pendakur, Ravi. "Aboriginal Income Disparity in Canada" (PDF). Canadian Public Policy. 37: 61–83.
  2. Chambers, Lori; Burnett, Kristin. "Jordans Principle: The Struggle to Access On-Reserve Health Care for High-Needs Indigenous Children in Canada" (PDF). American Indian Quarterly. 41: 101–124.