Ignatieff argues that since the 1960's Canada's political history can be seen as the story of unwillingness of the majority to discard the connection between equality, individual rights, and group assimilation. He effectively explains how the aboriginals have been fighting for rights since before the construction of Canada, and it was not until 1969 that the aboriginals were accorded full citizenship rights as individuals. He argued that before this the aboriginals did not enjoy an equality of rights with other Canadians. As well the author makes a similar argument for the French Canadians, arguing that the French have also been fighting for rights since before Canada was formed. Similarly he argues that it was not until 1969 when " all Canadians were granted the right to bilingual services in

He successfully seeks to explain that these groups seek political recognition, and that these are claims of nationhood, based on historical priority on the fact that they were present at the creation of the state. The author compares these rights to individual rights, which are based in entitlements to freedom of religion and assembly, and used by groups to maintain cultural heritage. Ignatieff argues that these political claims (group rights) pose enormous problems for the majority of Canadians. He argues that the majority also believes that giving some citizens special rights to protect their language (French) and their land (aboriginals) grants privileges withheld from other citizens. By these he explains that if the aboriginals gain exclusive rights to land they may denies other Canadians access to land and resource. Furthermore he adds that Canadian fishermen on both coast resent the fact that certain waters are claimed as aboriginal fishing grounds under formal treaties signed years ago. This issue is still a major problem; fishermen continue to complain that the aboriginal fishermen should not have greater access to Canadian natural resources. The aboriginals are allowed to fish during seasons, which are restricted to all other citizens, and allows for an unfair business adv

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 869
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)