This has been as much the fault of governmental and ecumenical policies as anything else. Although we have been virtually throwing money at them for years, our First Canadians, with few exceptions, do not appear to be thriving. Just look at the suicide rate of First Nations teens. It would do us good as a nation, to restore the pride of our First Canadians. That said, we simply cannot afford to continue our current trend of shoveling money at them.
Pride comes from within.
There is not much pride in being given everything. If you doubt this last statement, you need only to consider what happens to many pampered children of the wealthy. We need to help our First Canadians establish a viable future for themselves, by inspiring them to want to work for their own success. A large part of this will be education, of First Nations people, in order that they may find a place for themselves in Canadian culture, and of the rest of us, in order that we see more clearly that First Nations people are our equals. We cannot afford to have descendents of the First Canadians left behind as we move to the future.