Public Policy and Aboriginal Peoples, 1965-1992

Download or read book Public Policy and Aboriginal Peoples, 1965-1992 written by Katherine A. Graham and published by Canadian Government Publishing. This book was released on 1993 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book explores the foundations and characteristics of public policy discourse on Aboriginal affairs in Canada between publication of the two volumes of H.B. Hawthorn's Survey of the Contemporary Indians of Canada (the Hawthorn report) in 1966 and 1967 and establishment of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in 1991.Its primary sources are 222 documents prepared by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organizations and governments over this period. Our focus in analyzing these documents was to trace the evolution of policy discussions and debates in four key areas: lands and resources, governance, criminal justice, and education. The analysis builds on our conceptualization of public policy discourse as involving three basic questions: who was involved in policy discussions; how did policy discussions occur; and what was said about key issues in the domain of Aboriginal affairs? In dealing with these questions, we look at the various and sometimes competing public policy paradigms embraced by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal participants in the discussions. Our analysis also builds on our approach to historical documents, namely, that it is important to examine what one can learn from the past, as well as to attempt to understand the past in the context of dominant ideas and events of the period itself"--Executive summary, p. xi.