https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/first-nations-syrian-refugees-chris-hall-1.3348053
When thinking about the relationship between new immigrants and Indigenous Peoples, it’s important to consider the outside influence of the rest of Canada. In recent history, Canadians have shown far more compassion for refugees than they have for Indigenous Peoples in reserves. National priorities are telling when the former Governor General David Johnston called Canada’s national response to help Syrian refugees “an opportunity to reimagine how we take care of the most marginalized and vulnerable among us,” and that national aid was “a defining moment for Canada, a defining moment for all of us.” Cindy Blackstock, the executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, noted the hypocrisy in that “Canadians’ imagination for what they can accomplish internationally is much sharper than it is for what they can do at home.” Being that immigrants are being generally so warmly welcomed by Canadians, it wouldn’t be surprising that they would pick up on the Canadian tendency to “blame First nations for their own problems.” It could be that any apathy of immigrants towards Indigenous Peoples is simply a reflection of how Canada as a whole views them as well.