57
poverty rate in 2000: 41.6 per cent for Aboriginal people and 17.3 per cent for the overall
population based on the Low Income Measure (LIM) of Statistics Canada. Unfortunately, this
was no improvement from the ratio in 1995 (also 2.4). However, in absolute terms, Aboriginal
individuals living in CMAs did see an improvement, from a proportion of 52.4 per cent having
low-income in 1995, it decreased to 41.6 per cent in 2000. For non-Aboriginal populations, the
rate fell from 21.6 to 17.3 per cent (Heisz and McLeod, 2004).21 The Aboriginal population had a
higher poverty rate than both recent and other immigrants.
Furthermore, the Aboriginal population represented a disproportionately large share of
the low-income population in Canadian CMAs.22 Even though they only made up 1.6 per cent of
the total population living in CMAs, they represented 3.7 per cent of the low-income population
in the same areas in 2000. In 1995, their share of the total population was 1.3 per cent, and 3.2
per cent of low-income individuals were Aboriginal.
Poverty for on-reserve Aboriginal Canadians is even worse than those living in cities. An
important aspect is that 41.5 per cent of on-reserve Aboriginals require welfare assistance
relative to only 8.1 per cent of non-Aboriginals in Canada (Royal Commission on Aboriginal
People, 1996a).
Helin (2006) argues that the situation of Aboriginal reserves across Canada are in many
respects similar to that of the inner city ghettos of America. In fact, many parallels can be drawn
between the problems faced by disadvantaged youth in the United States and those experienced
by Aboriginal youth. Hence, it would be natural that the findings and conclusions of the existing
literature, which illustrates the benefits of education and asks for improved educational
attainment among inner-city youths in the United States, be applied to tackle some of the
challenges confronting the Aboriginal population.
ii. Crime
Crime is very destructive and imposes huge costs to society. Unfortunately, according to
the 2004 United Nations report on the indigenous issues from the commission on human rights,
crime represents a serious problem for the Aboriginal population of Canada. The arrest rates for
aboriginal crime is almost double that of the national average, while the incarceration rate is
almost 4 times higher than the national average (Stavenhagen, 2004:14).
Aboriginals in its population was Sherbrooke (0.2 per cent), followed closely by Montreal (0.3 per cent), Toronto
(0.4 per cent) and Trois-Rivieres (0.5 per cent).
21 The Aboriginal poverty rate varied greatly between CMAs. The lowest poverty rate among the CMAs in which
Aboriginal Canadians represented more than 4 per cent of the population was in Sudbury, with 33.5 per cent of the
Aboriginal population below the poverty line and the highest was in Regina with 59.3 per cent. The poverty rate in
Saskatoon was also particularly high with 54.2 per cent. However, differences in the costs of living in different
CMAs were not accounted for in the report, so direct comparisons across CMAs are not particularly relevant.
22 The share of Aboriginal people in the low-income population varied greatly between Canadian CMAs. Among the
CMAs in which the Aboriginal population represents more than four per cent of the population, the low-income
Aboriginal population represented the largest share of the total low-income population in 2000 in Saskatoon (26.9
per cent). Regina followed with 26.2 per cent, and Winnipeg with 23.8 per cent. Sudbury had the lowest
representation of Aboriginals in its low-income population with 8.6 per cent, followed by Edmonton (11.1 per cent)
and Thunder Bay (17.9 per cent).