I abstained from voting on the Versry resolution supporting the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. I have yet to read this declaration in full.

The reason that I didn't vote on the resolution to support the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people is that there wasn't enough information available.  Anyway,  it passed with almost unanimous support.  Not only was the resolution not included in the Vestry agenda and sprung on us,  it refered to another document that nobody had read and that wasn't attached.  The resolution called for,  in part, the parish to actively lobby the municipal government to supoort the UN resolution.   My fear is that this UN declaration will further alienate, segregate, and marginalize indigenous people.  I belive that reserves are the worst thing for indigenous people.  They are prisons.   And, we can't plow under the cities of North America and send the White and Black people back to Europe and Africa respectively.   Reserves also promote socialism and economic stagnation.  The people of reserves,  like the people of any welfare state, tend to advocate for more welfare.  I'm all for local control and the decentralization of power, but indigenous people need to be part of our society, fully integrated--not assimilated--into a mosaic society in which they participate as equals, not equals with privileges.  So, we passed a resolution that we didn't understand.  Just like people of years past,  who implemented the residential schools, we have made a decision regarding indigenous people because we know what's best for them. Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android