d order of government in Canada. He supports two levels of government for the following reasons. Canada is made of so many people of different countries and ethnic groups that it is necessary to have a territorial imperative so that all people can participate cooperatively as Canadians. The Ottoman Empire had many religious denominations that controlled their own customs and private law, within their own separate communities. However, this model was in no way democratic; there were no elections and no representative government, making it one Canada would not want to imitate. Political rights should hinge on residence within that territory, not because of ethnic origin. If the provisions of aboriginal self-government, detailed in the Charlottetown Accord had been realized, it would not have made aboriginal people part of our current system of liberal democracy. Instead, they would be plunged into a world of dependence on government hand- outs, and not take advantage of Canadian society and economy. It is likely that if special provisions were granted, then other groups would soon follow, demanding special political powers for themselves and resulting in an end of equality. In conclusion, Olthius and Townshend’s case for native sovereignty made good ethical points for the necessity in suggesting ideas on how to achieve a better status for aboriginal people. However, Flanagan’s arguments were more convincing in pointing out the difficulty and impracticality of establishing native sovereignty. The Charlottetown Accord contained certain amendments within it that might have begun to set acceptable conditions for aboriginals in Canada, but it seemed to offer too little of what they were hoping to obtain. I empathize with the situation of native people in Canada. Creating a new level of government, and giving such potential political power to a relatively small percentage of Canada’s population doesn’t seem l...
