Community Development In Canada

Community development can be seen as a process where members of a community come together to take collective action concerning a variety of topics that affect residents (PeerNetBC, n.d, p.1). This process is essential to the wellbeing and growth of a community, without it communities do not flourish. An example of this in Canada is the lack of community development found in aboriginal communities. This is a result of suffering derived from residential schools and even though these schools have been closed for years the pain continues to transcend across generations. Growing up in small town Souris P.E.I. the aboriginals I knew were not treated any different by the town’s residents. Furthermore, my siblings and I often traveled onto the reserve

When I moved to Calgary at the age of 15 it became apparent very quickly that Aboriginals were seen as outsiders. In the 8 years that I have been living here it was not brought to my attention what was going on amongst these groups and communities such as suicide, addictions, loss of culture, and ultimately loss of hope. It was not until I joined this program that I realized just how ignorant I as well as others were. Now that I have gained a small amount of knowledge and worked with some of these individuals I can get rid of this ignorance and look for solutions to the problem. I may not be able to fix the issue all by myself, but the first thing I and others can do is gain a new perspective. One where aboriginals are seen for who they truly are victims, victims who have received the support they

Tootoosis often travelled to various reserves throughout the province on horseback in the 1930’s (Brown & Hannis, 2012, p. 139). The purpose for his travels was to inform reserves and aboriginal individuals of their treaty rights. However, Tootoosis would constantly be spied on and often pursued by RCMP because of the governments fear that he would encourage a rebellion (Brown & Hannis, 2012, p. 139). Tootoosis would go on to accomplish many things, most notably his efforts along with others that led to the establishment of treaty rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights (Native Leaders of Canada, n.d, p.1). Treaties to Tootoosis were saw as a support system for aboriginals and a way that insured that no time soon would desegregation occur (Pitsula, 1994, p. 15). Although that is not a point where I agree with Tootoosis I can see why he felt that way. The government at the time and even today works from a model based off of individual rights, where Tootoosis and many aboriginal communities are more concerned about the rights of the group as a whole (Pitsula, 1994, p.