How ironic that this story comes out mere days after there was a minor kerfluffle in the Canadian media about the outrageous over-representation of Native Canadians in the prison system.
Four percent of the population takes up almost a quarter of all prison spaces? What could possibly be wrong with that picture?
Harper's tough-on-crime storm troopers are honing in on the illicit tobacco trade. The guys and gals who framed this proposed law understood full well that it is aimed squarely at putting even more First Nation folks in prison.
That's due to accidents of geography and tax law. Canadian governments of all stripes pride themselves on being world leaders in putting warnings on cigarette packs, but they are hopelessly addicted to cigarette taxes.
Indians have the right to purchase tobacco without paying taxes. That's one of the benefits that went their way in return for them handing us the continent.
150 years later, selling those tax-free smokes on to white folks has become a viable business opportunity on many Indian reservations. In many cases it's the only viable opportunity available to our Aboriginal neighbors. That's resulted in Canada's native population having, on paper, by far the highest cigarette consumption rate in the world.
The fact that the Harper government goes down this road at all gives the lie to claims that they deal "nation to nation" with the Aboriginal population and treat them as equals. If that were true it would be totally up to First Nations to decide who to sell cigarettes to.
This heavy-handed criminalization of tobacco trafficking also provides a nice contrast to how white Canadians have historically been treated when they are involved in the smuggling of "contraband."
Not sure how many members of the Bronfman tribe still call Canada home, but their fortune derives from patriarch Sam doing exactly what these Indian entrepreneurs are doing today.
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