What we support and defend

[Dayuhan]

but in my view there has been a real effort by the Canadian federal government to not marginalize native peoples (4% of their population, which to me as someone who grew up in a native community in the States seems like a relatively large percentage).

Some people I know would argue over the extent and sincerity of that effort. I'd be more inclined to point out that the effort came well after the orderly transition, and that it's mostly an attempt to compensate for and potentially reverse the marginalization of the past.

How much influence did indigenous people have over Canada's current political structure and its relationship with its former colonial master?

[ganulv]

Some people I know would argue over the extent and sincerity of that effort. I'd be more inclined to point out that the effort came well after the orderly transition, and that it's mostly an attempt to compensate for and potentially reverse the marginalization of the past.

How much influence did indigenous people have over Canada's current political structure and its relationship with its former colonial master?

I know less about how natives shaped Canada than I do about the shape of the relationships between the various parties to Canadian governance and individual First Nations. Indigenous affairs are on a nation-to-nation basis in Canada with the monarch as intermediary. A non-trivial quirk: Canadian federalism works in such a way that the Crown is so-to-speak “divided” amongst the provinces. You have issues stemming from nations within (or is it surrounded by?) a larger nation, including but not limited to issues of citizenship. You have other issues, too, of course…