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Public Policies toward Aboriginal Peoples: Attitudinal Obstacles and Uphill Battles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2015

Stephen White ,
Michael M. Atkinson ,
Loleen Berdahl  and
David McGrane
Stephen White*
Affiliation:
Carleton University
Michael M. Atkinson*
Affiliation:
University of Saskatchewan
Loleen Berdahl*
Affiliation:
University of Saskatchewan
David McGrane*
Affiliation:
St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan
*
Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa ON K1S 5B6, steve.white@carleton.ca
University of Saskatchewan, Diefenbaker Building, 101 Diefenbaker Place, Saskatoon SK S7N 5B8, michael.atkinson@usask.ca
University of Saskatchewan, Arts 280, 9 Campus Drive, Saskatoon SK S7N 5A5, loleen.berdahl@usask.ca
St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan, 1437 College Drive, Saskatoon SK S7N 0W6, dmcgrane@stmcollege.ca
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Abstract

This paper examines public attitudes towards aboriginal policy in Canada, focusing on evidence from two surveys conducted in Saskatchewan, a province with a large and growing Aboriginal population. We show that although non-Aboriginals are collectively divided on Aboriginal public policies, expressing considerable support for some, but strong reservations when it comes to others; the individual-level evidence indicates that there is a single Aboriginal policy agenda in the minds of non-Aboriginal Canadians. Support for, and opposition to, the privileging of Aboriginal claims is structured in part by prejudice toward outgroups but also by non-Aboriginal people's more general position on the role of government in society. Moreover, the impact of positions about the role of government in society on attitudes toward Aboriginal policies is moderated by people's level of political sophistication: the more educated and politically interested they are, the greater the impact of those ideological views.

Résumé

Ce texte examine les attitudes publiques envers la politique autochtone au Canada, en se concentrant sur deux enquêtes menées en Saskatchewan, une province avec une grande population autochtone. Nous montrons que, bien que les non-Autochtones sont collectivement divisés sur les politiques publiques autochtones, exprimant un soutien considérable pour certains, mais ayant de fortes réserves pour d'autres, la preuve au niveau individuel indique qu'il y a un seul agenda politique autochtone dans l’esprit des Canadiens non-autochtones. Le soutien et l'opposition aux revendications autochtones est structuré en partie par les préjugés envers les groupes externes, mais aussi par la position des non-Autochtones plus générale sur le rôle du gouvernement dans la société. En outre, l'impact des positions sur le rôle du gouvernement dans la société sur les attitudes envers les politiques autochtones est animé par le niveau de sophistication politique des gens: plus ils sont instruits et politiquement intéressés, plus grand est l'impact de ces visions idéologiques.

Type
Immigration and Identity Politics in Canada
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 281 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2015 

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