Urban Aboriginal Peoples Survey

Environics Institute’s Urban Aboriginal Peoples Survey

(2010)

This public opinion survey is an example of funding a skewed (self-fulfilling) survey which seems to be designed to show that First Nation, Inuit and Métis people in Canada want to be “mainstreamed”. Another way to phrase mainstreaming is to call it assimilation. Assimilation of Aboriginal people in Canada through mainstreaming would result in Aboriginal ethnic minorities that have no Indigenous rights to Canada’s land and resources under international law. In essence, fulfilling the goal of colonization through a continuing policy of forced assimilation.

CAID was made aware of the Environics’ survey in April of 2009. Dr. J. Richard G. Herbert wrote an unofficial review brief of the survey in which it was concluded the survey was:

“... skewed to receive answers to support the opinion platform that urban Aboriginal people prefer mainstream non-Aboriginal society over a traditional Aboriginal way of life.“

Environics’ conclusion on page 10 in the Urban Aboriginal Peoples Survey released in April of 2010 was as predicted:

“The urban Aboriginal experience in Canada’s cities is that there is no contradiction between success, power and knowledge in ‘mainstream’ society, and a strong First Nations, Métis or Inuit culture. On the contrary, urban Aboriginal peoples in Canada’s cities are today proving that these are mutually reinforcing.”

The Environics’ survey put a spin on public opinion to justify that Indigenous Peoples in Canada are no longer “nations.” They are, and want to be, Indigenous ethnic minorities. All indigenous rights would be extinguished with the creation of Indigenous ethnic minorities. There is little doubt the errant result contained within this survey and potential future public opinion polls will be used by governments and industry in Canada to justify broken treaties and government policies that violate constitutional and international rights accorded to Indigenous People.

To better understand how the Environics Institute survey was designed to obtain the opinion that Indigenous people prefer mainstream assimilation policies in Canada and then conclude that finding as fact, please read the documents linked below.