Petition to the House of Commons

The First Nations Study Group at West Hill has put together a Petition to the House of Commons in Ottawa which draws attention to the alarming gap between government services provided to Aboriginal people and those provided to non-Aboriginal people with respect to housing, water, education, child and family services, health and social programs and other basic needs.  

 

Ruth Gill, a member of West Hill who had the opportunity to spend a week in  KitchenuhmaykoosibInninuwug , a reserve in Northern Ontario, as a guest of the community's youth, spoke on her experience in July. (If you wish to hear only about the petition, Ruth's presentation of it begins at 36:09.) 

 

We believe that Ottawa will not take any serious action on these issues until it begins to see that in fact Aboriginal issues are a concern with non-Aboriginal people in Canada. Treaties were signed between First Nations and the Government of Canada. People of First Nations should not bear this struggle alone.    We too have a responsibility to ensure that our obligations and duties under the Treaties are upheld by our Government Representatives.

 

A petition which shows that non-Aboriginal Canadians consider these issues to be important enough to them that it could influence voting will in turn put pressure on our Government to do the right thing and provide basic needs equitably to all peoples living in Canada.

 

Two ways to sign the petition and distribute: 

  • The easiest way to sign the petition and generate interest is online, through Avaaz.  The petition can be found here through the Avaaz interface.  Please share the link with friends and family.  Then it's done.
  • Alternately, if you wish a hard copy of the petition, you can find it here.  Print off the paper petition and distribute it widely.  Copies with original signatures must be returned to: West Hill United Church, 62 Orchard Pk. Drive, Toronto, ON M1E 3T7  Attn:  First Nations Study Group.  The Petition will be read aloud in the House of Commons and will become a part of the Public Record.
More information and the petition can be found here.  
West Hill United