Is it time to Reconsider the Indian Act? (Part 1)

Part 1 of the Audio of this speech is available courtesy of an audience member here: http://snd.sc/XHjXez NOTICE OF SPECIAL SESSION Wednesday, Feb 27, 2013 7pm PE 261 University of Lethbridge The Idle No More movement has brought issues of treaties, reserves, land claims, and the Indian Act to the forefront of political discourse in Canada. Perhaps best known for his book First Nations? Second Thoughts the speaker has written extensively on aboriginal history and politics with an eye to making major changes in the relationship between aboriginal people and the Government of Canada. Chief among his changes would be the right to private property on reserves and a change in the tax structure of reserves such that there would be no representation without taxation. The changes that the speaker argues for are controversial but have some precedent in recent negotiated treaties like the Nisga’a Treaty. He will argue that an overhaul of the relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the Government of Canada is necessary in order to effect real change for aboriginal people in Canada. Speaker: Tom Flanagan Dr. Tom Flanagan is a professor of Political Science at the University of Calgary. His books include Metis Lands in Manitoba (1991); The Collected Writings of Louis Riel (1985); Riel and the Rebellion: 1885 Reconsidered (2nd ed., 2000); Louis "David" Riel:'Prophet of the New World' (2nd ed., 1996); Waiting for the Wave: The Reform Party and Preston Manning (1995); Game Theory and Canadian Politics (1998); First Nations? Second Thoughts (2000, second edition 2008); Harper's Team (2007); and Beyond the Indian Act: Restoring Aboriginal Property Rights (2010). Flanagan is also an active party strategist. He was former Director of Research for the Reform Party of Canada 1991-92; Chief of Staff in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, House of Commons, 2002-03; and was Manager of the National Campaign of the Conservative Party of Canada, 2004 and the Wildrose provincial campaign in 2012.He is a panelist on CBC TV’s Power and Politics where he has been both controversial and a frequent fashion leader. Moderator: Peter McCormick