Native policy book a tough but worthy read

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"...And the First Shall be Last," (NC Press Ltd.), by Ontario author Murray Angus, is a new series of essays dealing with federal and provincial Native policies since Confederation.

At less than 100 pages, this book is a solid examination of government track records on Native issues.

But it is also a dense read. And because it is written in an essay style, but presented as a book with chapters and sub-headings, there is a lot of jumping around

from one Native issue to another.

There is such a volume and scope of material that the reader feels inundated. The reader will need a good memory for figures and names and an ability to draw conclusions as easily as the author does.

If you fit this profile, you will find this book interesting and informative. If your memory and ability to synthesize ideas is not the best, you might become overwhelmed and confused. I found myself somewhere in between.

The subtitle of this book is "Native Policy in an Era of Cutbacks." Angus, a researcher and policy analyst, deals principally with the last decades of Liberal and Conservative action, reaction and inaction on Native policy. He discusses the political

and economic reasons why the federal government wants to shake its responsibility for Native people.

Angus shows the reader how bureaucrats and politicians think. He talks about how language works in legal documents such as treaties and agreements in principle and how courtroom decisions will likely always favor the government if too much political or economic power it at stake.

He goes into detail on how government manipulate words and numbers to fend off negative publicity, which could affect public opinion if the truth behind the figures were known.

But one problem faced by the Native community, Angus writes, is the small net gain governments earn by meeting aboriginal demands. Although public opinion highly rates Native issues, the number of concessions the government would have to make to meet the demands would not be worth the small pay-off at the polls.

Angus also reveals the degree of government inaction by following court decisions which have favored Native claims. The government is constantly breaking its own laws.

According to Angus, it seems Ottawa is not willing to deal with its legal commitments. And after reading this book it doesn't seem the government adheres to its own obligations, duties and philosophies.

Throughout the book, especially at the end, Angus discusses the role of the middle class in Canada. He says the government is driving wedges between members of the middle class, Native people and other groups who receive subsidies and welfare. The federal government, he says, favors the rich and corporations:

"Because the middle class, too, is being squeezed in the same way, and if it realized why it is being squeezed economically--to facilitate an increase in the concentration of wealth at the top--it may recognize how it, too, is being victimized by

a long-term process destined to benefit others. In the process of recognizing this, the middle class might find new reasons for identifying with other victims of the same process: marginalized groups, including Native people."

The tax system is set up so that the middle class bears an unfairly large percentage of the burden. By cutting or eliminating social spending, the federal government hopes to get on the good side of the middle class. By divesting itself of its fiscal and fiduciary responsibilities and passing them onto the private sector, the government hopes to shift the tax burden from the already over-taxed middle class.

Angus seems to know his material well. But since he structured the book along policy issues rather than chronologically, a reader can feel too much information is being presented without taking into account what else is going on at the same time.

This book would be appropriate text for use in Native Studies courses which deal with contemporary issues. There is some awkwardness in style and ometimes difficulty in determining what is the subject of a particular paragraph. But overall, this text is a comprehensive document, written in an academic and personal style.