“Now let me turn to the other segment, the off-reserve Indians, who represent some sixty per cent of the total Indian population. Off-reserve aboriginals include individuals residing on non-reserve rural land and individuals residing in Canadian cities. Of these two groups, the populations in cities make up the largest concentrations of native people anywhere in Canada, on or off reserves.
“Winnipeg, for example, contains more than 26,000 First Nations people and Vancouver and Edmonton each have more than 20,000 within their boundaries. In the smaller cities on the Prairies, the concentrations are even greater. In Thompson, Manitoba, and in Prince Albert and North Battleford, Saskatchewan, for example, fifteen to thirty per cent of the total population is Indian. These figures, of course, are dynamic, but the trend is toward increasing concentrations of these large urban, generally young populations in identifiable sections of the cities. Again, minister, the figures are not always trustworthy, especially in this case as many of the young people don’t exactly take to filling in census forms and so on. So we’re guessing about how many kids are in the urban populations.
“The problem of disaffected youth, both with natives and non-natives, is related to poverty and lack of education; however, these issues are of particular concern in the native population. As you well understand, there is a strong correlation between success in school and future employment. School enrolment for all natives between the ages of six and sixteen has remained stable at around eighty-six per cent since 1990. However, high school graduation rates on reserves remain low.
“For instance, on Manitoba reserves, only thirty per cent of aboriginals between twenty and twenty-four have completed high school. Among Canadians generally – including off-reserve natives – eighty-four per cent of the same cohort have completed high school. The general failure of young people on reserves to finish high school has an inevitable negative impact on their individual lives, of course. But it also has a cumulative wasting effect on the reserve community. Failure in school leads to failure in the work place, which leads to frustration and grievances, which leads to security vulnerabilities for the individual, the community, and the nation. It’s no exaggeration in the context of on-reserve natives to speak of a ‘lost generation’ or more realistically about an unrecoverable, lost society.”
Ed Conway took a breath. “Gentlemen,” he said, “there is some cautionary good news in the data. Post-secondary enrolment rates remain low as well, but show marked improvement from historic figures. Today, the number possessing post-secondary degrees has increased dramatically.”
“At least,” Riley put in, “they offer role models for youth.”
“Unfortunately, minister, while the data does show that these people are better off in many ways, it shows also that better-educated natives don’t just leave the reserves but they tend to live outside urban aboriginal communities once they have completed their studies. That out-migration, in turn, leaves the worse-off, the uneducated young people, perhaps the most aggrieved, on the reserves and in the inner-city slums. It creates unbalanced communities, at least by Canadian standards.
“Sir, the employment figures support these general observations. Unemployment for on-reserve Indians remains far higher than the rest of the population, at 27.6 per cent. The unemployment rate of off-reserve Indians is markedly lower but, at 16.5 per cent, still over twice the general figure. The unemployment rate for fifteen- to twenty-four-year-olds, the most vulnerable group for radical propaganda and recruitment and therefore the main security concern for the Canadian Forces and the police, is 40.1 per cent on-reserve, against 9.2 per cent national average. This is indeed a worrying fact as native leaders have repeatedly pointed out over the years.
“Minister, General Bishop, that concludes my portion of the briefing.”
As Riley began to lift his hand the CDS cut in quickly. “If you agree, minister, I suggest we go right into the next briefing. I’ve asked Colonel Ian Dobson, the Director of the National Defence Operations Centre, to cover the criminal native gangs aspects of this situation for you. Then we can move to your office to handle any questions and consider our planning options.”
Riley reached for his water glass. “Sure, fine, whatever you suggest. It’s a lot of information at once. And it’s not good news, you know, especially the way you guys think of things – what’s the old saw? For soldiers, nothing is ever safe enough.”
Riley took a drink and turned towards the next briefing officer. Bishop’s lean jaw clenched perceptibly.
Ian Dobson adjusted his reading glasses and took his classified notes from a folder. “Minister, there is another series of details you need to know. They’re related, as General Bishop suggested, to the sometimes conflicted relationship between NPA and native gangs, or what officials term Aboriginal-Based Organized Crime, ABOC.”
Riley nodded, relieved by the change of topic, even to this unpleasant subject.
“The Canadian Criminal Intelligence Service reported recently that native gangs are a serious, growing threat to Canadian society. They are young, armed, and ruthless. They differ in structure from region to region: more like conventional organized crime in the East, especially along the Ontario/Quebec/U.S. borders, where the main business is smuggling.
“In the West,” Dobson continued as a new PowerPoint presentation appeared on the screen, “they’re typical violent street gangs of young men attracted by excitement and a sense of belonging, likely to work for organized crime groups in a kind of adjunct and subordinate relationship. In Alberta the main gangs – the Red Alert, the Indian Posse, and the Alberta Warriors – are based mainly in Edmonton and Calgary. In Saskatchewan, the Native Syndicate has control of the action in Regina while the Indian Posse works out of Saskatoon. And in Manitoba, the main gangs are the Manitoba Warriors, the Indian Posse, and the Native Syndicate. They are – ”
Riley interrupted. “Are these gangs with the same names part of a bigger organization, like say the Hells Angels? When I was in the Manitoba government, the gangs were a bother, but not the national security threat you seem to be suggesting here.”
“The gangs, minister, are loosely related, but very much locally controlled. They work together to transport drugs and weapons for instance, but they are territorial.”
“Thank you, please go on.”
“The gangs are recruited from local populations, thus tending to be band- or clan-oriented, which increases their appeal to young people and their internal cohesion and loyalty. Recruiters target young people drifting into the cities, and others in community centres and correctional institutions – police refer to the jails as gangland community colleges. Of course, the recruiters are active on the reserves.
“In every province except Newfoundland, gangs are expanding into smaller towns and recruiting more aggressively, creating successor generations of members. Expansion, competition for ‘trade’ and new members, and a general sense that they are untouchable due to the, uh, political optics of aboriginal issues, is increasing the number of incidents and the level of violent behaviour, and it is spilling over into peaceful, settled communities. Police, courts, and jails are struggling to address the problem. In most provinces, but especially in the West, many prisons are dominated by native gangs and cults. They are very dangerous places.
“The gangs have typically been motivated by the usual factors: money, status, and inter-gang power struggles. They are fed by drug- and gun-running profits, prostitution of white and native boys and girls, petty crimes, ‘debt collections,’ and intimidation – ‘tax collection’ it’s called on the street. Until recently there has been little sign of any political motives or orientation in the West, but some officials suggest that this fact may be changing.
“In the East, the gangs are more entrepreneurial and actually run large networks of drug, booze, tobacco, and firearms smuggling; they also launder money on a significant scale. And, like the reserves in the West, they provide tax-fraud havens for these and other illegal activities.
“Nevertheless, minister, the NPA