The media was not only against Indigenous people, but in the 1990s and before there was still a great amount of tension between the Franco-phones and Anglo-phone Canadians. “Robin Philpot argues in Oka: Dernier Alibi du Canada Anglais (Oka: English Canada's Last Alibi) that English-language coverage of the standoffs at Oka and Kahnawake was tainted by anti-Quebec,” potentially caused by the end of the Meech Lake constitutional accord (Wells, 1991). This accord was intended to persuade the government of Quebec to follow the 1982 constitutional amendments (Wells, 1991). The English were not entirely supportive of the French during the Oka Crisis evident with their media coverage of ignoring the Mohawks attacks in the past (Wells, 1991). Unlike
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Lastly, Philpot stated that “Quebec’s biggest problem isn’t disaffected natives…the problem is that there are about 18 million Canadians who…would like there to be a problem” (Wells, 1991). The Anglophones being against the Francophones in this issue caused a major bias reporting the event basically outside of Quebec. In Quebec the focus was not on Quebec’s wrongdoing in the situation but the indigenous people causing a death of an officer by their protest.
The Oka crisis brings forward examples of race, class, and political affiliation in Oka’s society, but the injustice faced by indigenous people to this date. The existence of a socioeconomic gap between indigenous and non-indigenous people is quite obvious during that time (Scott, 2015). It is as if the members of societies all over Canada know, but choose to ignore it because they don’t lose anything. For example, “The United Nations Human Development Index has rated Canada sixth in terms of quality of life, but when you apply those same indexes to indigenous peoples, we're 63rd” (Scott, 2015). If indigenous and non-indigenous people are being provided with the same rights in …show more content…
The main social issue involved was race, this event was for the most part portrayed in favour of the city of Oka. The death of an officer caused the dispute to grow and that is when the media was truly able to convince society of the wrongdoing of indigenous people. There was no significance given to the first nations perspective or their rights on this land. The way the media portrays a news story is what society will believe. If the media is hiding relevant facts of a story and a bias exists, members of society will be very unlikely to find out. In our time and age, it is much harder because of the information we have available on several different media platforms. We are not only relying on one outlet. Although there was a bias against indigenous people in this issue, the French were also targeted outside of the province. The facts are the same but the way the media addresses the issue is
Lastly, Philpot stated that “Quebec’s biggest problem isn’t disaffected natives…the problem is that there are about 18 million Canadians who…would like there to be a problem” (Wells, 1991). The Anglophones being against the Francophones in this issue caused a major bias reporting the event basically outside of Quebec. In Quebec the focus was not on Quebec’s wrongdoing in the situation but the indigenous people causing a death of an officer by their protest.
The Oka crisis brings forward examples of race, class, and political affiliation in Oka’s society, but the injustice faced by indigenous people to this date. The existence of a socioeconomic gap between indigenous and non-indigenous people is quite obvious during that time (Scott, 2015). It is as if the members of societies all over Canada know, but choose to ignore it because they don’t lose anything. For example, “The United Nations Human Development Index has rated Canada sixth in terms of quality of life, but when you apply those same indexes to indigenous peoples, we're 63rd” (Scott, 2015). If indigenous and non-indigenous people are being provided with the same rights in …show more content…
The main social issue involved was race, this event was for the most part portrayed in favour of the city of Oka. The death of an officer caused the dispute to grow and that is when the media was truly able to convince society of the wrongdoing of indigenous people. There was no significance given to the first nations perspective or their rights on this land. The way the media portrays a news story is what society will believe. If the media is hiding relevant facts of a story and a bias exists, members of society will be very unlikely to find out. In our time and age, it is much harder because of the information we have available on several different media platforms. We are not only relying on one outlet. Although there was a bias against indigenous people in this issue, the French were also targeted outside of the province. The facts are the same but the way the media addresses the issue is