'Sorry' is the first step in a bold move forward

In short, there is not the same fear or conservatism within the Canadian community about recognising the prior ownership of Aboriginal Canadians to the land or their special place in Canadian society.

In a survey published in June this year by the Centre for Research and Information on Canada (CRIC) 43 per cent of those surveyed believe that Aboriginal people should be treated the same as other Canadians and 53 per cent believe that Canadian governments should settle land claims with Aboriginal people and give them the powers they need to govern their own communities.

It is not being suggested that Canada is a nirvana for Aboriginal people. As the CRIC survey found in some areas of Canada, particularly where the non-Aboriginal population has been doing it tough, there is resentment at the perceived special privileges accorded Aboriginal people. And the Nunavut Comparable Health Indicators report released last week showed life expectancy in that territory remains 10 years lower than the national average and child mortality rates are three times higher than for Canada as a whole.

But by restoring some of the fundamental pride and dignity of Aboriginal Canadians through land hand-backs and treaties, the creation of a sovereign territory, a formal apology for wrongs committed in the past, European Canadians have removed a large obstacle to self- empowerment and sense of worth. By doing this, they are affording Aboriginal Canadians the opportunity to be optimistic about the future because they know that the tools and levers of economic and social change lie firmly in their hands.

As Stephen Kakfwi, an Aborigine and former Premier of the Northwest Territories said in June this year, by addressing the political and historical grievance in the 1970s and 1980s, Aboriginal Canadians can now say, "its our land, its our life, its our future".

Australia must learn to lose its fear of Aboriginal sovereignty and redressing the past with the simple word "sorry".

As Canada shows, by acting boldly, the road ahead becomes a little easier.