Canada should create a province just for Aboriginal peoples to allow them to govern themselves, says a royal commission study.
The new province would consist of all the land and water contained in the 2,000 odd reserves in Canada and would grow in size as land claims are settled.
The $60-million Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples is using the study, by professor David Elkins at the University of British Columbia, in its final report on Native issues, scheduled for release at the end of 1995.
Elkins says the province would be non-territorial. Urban Natives, for example, could be citizens even though they do not live on the provincial territory. Elkins also recommends an Aboriginal charter of rights be written by Natives for the new province to replace Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Natives would also decide for themselves who is an Aboriginal citizen under their government.
