WI: The suggestions of the 1969 White Paper on Indian Policy were successfully implemented?

For those who don't know the 1969 White Paper was a proposal by the Federal Government of Canada basically dissolve all special legal status for Canadian Indians (Aboriginals). The treaties were to be annulled, the reserves were to be converted into private land owned by the band, and the department of The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (now the department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs) was to be dissolved and its responsibilities were to be assumed by the equivalent provincial agencies. The Trudeau government said this would help decrease poverty among Indians by giving them an equal place in Canadian society instead of keeping them separate but equal. The response was overwhelmingly negative OTL from first Nations leaders, some going as far as to call it an attempt at genocide through assimilation.

Suppose TTL there is more consultation with Band leaders beforehand, and they were convinced of it's supposed merits or for whatever reason there is not the huge wave of backlash that there was in real life. Without the uproar that there was OTL the government Implements most of the policies laid out within 5 years as envisioned in the proposal, and the more complicated ones are completed within 10.

How would this effect Canadian society 50 years later in the modern day?

Would this be severely detrimental to First Nation culture and way of life as feared or would the increased economic opportunity lead to a flowering of culture?

How affective would it have been towards solving the socio-economic problems that continue to plague many reserves in Canada to the present day?



For the interested (trying to show both sides here) and of course you can find much more with a simple Google search

A PDF of the Proposal is attached
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_White_Paper
https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_white_paper_1969/
 

Attachments

  • 1969 White Paper on Indian Policy.pdf
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