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“When I was first “warned” about what to expect in Sheshatshui, a lot of it seemed really over-the-top to me, even racist at times. I heard so much trash talk about this town and its inhabitants, and so passionately told, that I wondered if people were hanging onto some kind of “grudge” that I didn’t know about. So many stories preceded my visit there and they all seemed extremely exaggerated. Nevertheless, I took my camera and set out to take some photos.” |
The post is from 2010. You’ll need to agree to a disclaimer before entering.
No different than the projects in south Chicago. The common thread…
No property ownership.
The CPC has legislation the gives at least some property rights.
In the case of Davis inlet though i think that abandonment and moving the entire community into goose bay make the most sense as there is zero economic reason for the community’s existence.
Disclaimer: I knew a few people who grew up in Davis inlet in university and others who worked there and did some of the construction work there and in the resettled town.
Nothing shocking to me. I grew up next to Hobbema, which looks and sounds identical.
What is shocking though, is that as far as I remember Hobbema has always been this way. The trade off for living in 3rd world conditions is getting a decent cheque for not working. The more kids you have equates to more money. Turn 18 and you win the lottery.
The problem is money frankly.
I disagree with the blogger’s tough love, cut-them-off remedy.
A better solution is to scrap or seriously revise the Indian Act so First Nations people can own private property. If they own their homes, they won’t treat them so casually. At the same time, make money for housing on reserves contingent on each reserve (or “nation”) adopting and enforcing a proper building code. Only about 2 per cent of the 600-plus reserves in Canada have adopted a building code. Shoddy construction, along with abuse and neglect, are the reasons why so many new reserve homes quickly become dilapidated, moldy fire traps.
And, oh yes, make chiefs and band councilors accountable for how they spend public money. They will vociferously oppose the latter requirement but the Government of Canada needs to make it non-negotiable. (Ram it through Parliament if you have to, Mr. Harper) Future funding must be contingent on Bands having proper accounting procedures in place so we taxpayers, plus ordinary band members, know how the money is spent and why. I am sick of us spending billions upon billions every year on Aboriginal affairs only to be told it is not enough or it is not making any difference.
That kind of tough love would be a good start and I would support it. I liked Ezra Levant’s suggestion yesterday that Jason Kenney take over the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio. The current guy is beyond hopeless. Kenney is the one true star in Harper’s cabinet and has proven he can build the consensus needed in a difficult and mine-strewn policy area to implement serious reform.
On one level it is totally shocking. But on another level, it makes perfect sense as the logical outcome of the policy decisions made over the past couple hundred years. I mean, you shove an entire segment of the population into some of the least desirable locales on earth, remove their property rights, allow a small cabal of chiefs to run the show… is anyone surprised by any of this?
Daniel Menjivar sounds pretty sympathetic to the Innu but even he can’t stop the place from looking like a complete mess.
I did four years as a teacher in the arctic and a lot of the same stuff described was what I saw and experienced.
Always blame someone else, never their fault. We had a case where two 14 year old boys, helped up by sniffing skidoo gas tank vapours, climbed two 8ft fences, broke open an electrical distribution box and electrocuted themselves. One of them died.
Not a peep of acceptance of responsibility by the village leaders, the parents . . Anyone. It was white mans fault for not making it safer, harder to break into.
Same people that used to complain, after looking at the Housing section of southern newspapers I had mailed to me, that the proof of racism was the vastly better houses the government gave white people down south.
They simply would not believe me when I told them people down south didn’t get free houses.
The key problem is that the natives refuse to actively participate in the modern economy but insist on being given, by the taxpayer, the results of that modern economy: money, new communication technology, modern housing, cars, hydro, running water, etc.
Get rid of the reserve system. Reserves are Crown Land; no private business is permitted on them. That means that anyone living on a reserve can’t create a business or get a job. The Reserve system sets up dependency.
Give every native a ‘final settlement’ fund and ..that’s it.
Inform the public of the true nature of the Royal Proclamation of 1763; the true nature of the Treaties; the true nature of the Reserve system. The ignorance of both non-natives and natives, and our media systems, is astonishing.
The Royal Proclamation was NOT a treaty. No native signed it. It was, ah, a proclamation, an order, of the King. It outlined giving the military who fought in the war against France anything from 50 to several thousand acres.
And, it said that with regard to ‘those Indians under our protection’, that they were indeed under the rule and ‘protection’ of the Crown. That is, they were NOT, I repeat, NOT, sovereign nations.
Instead, it was clear that the natives were to be left free to hunt. Period. If the lands on which they were hunting were desired for settlement, then, the natives could only cede it by treaty to the Crown. No individual native could sell that land; no individual non-native could buy it. That’s clearly a statement rejecting native sovereignty. Only the Crown could purchase, by treaty, that land.
Oh, and if a criminal from the settled part should flee to the native lands, too bad; the Crown could trot in and arrest them. That is yet another statement denying native sovereignty.
As for the lands, and that includes Chief Spence’s Reserve, that sits on land ceded by Treaty 9 a century ago. It’s over.
What Harper is tring to do is to transform the destructive ‘no economy is possible on a reserve’ system and enable private businesses. So why are some of the chiefs in an uproar? Because that will give power to the people under them, dependent on them for allocating the government annual funding of that Reserve.
Chief Spence uses the millions in govt funding for her own greed, including funding her boyfriend at $850 a day!, and her car and her house and…while the rest of the community daren’t say a word because she controls all, I repeat, all, of the money. That’s similar to other Reserves.
Harper is trying to change this and give economic and political power to the people living on the Reserves; the Chiefs don’t want this.
That’s what it’s all about. And our media, and the Liberals and NDP are using it for purely anti-Harper political purposes. As usual.
It’s always amusing to hear from a person who has heard about the Reserve situation, but dismissed the comments as “racist”, AFTER he’s actually visited and seen for himself.
The problems are many, but the ONE over riding fact is that Indian governments are in charge of the Reserve. They have the authority and the money to improve the situation, but beyond their extended families, simply don’t give a damn.
IF a complete accounting for where the money went at Attawapiskat is EVER done, and I seriously doubt it will be, Canadians will find out the extent of the corruption and the third world dictator mindset of the leaders of that Band. Maybe, finally, that will remove the blinders of so many useful idiots.
If you give them property that THEY own it will soon belong to someone else at a fraction of the cost of what it is actually worth. Might be better to stop funding them entirely and just lett the drug addicts and drunks starve to death. The natives who are strong and motivated will move to more prosperous areas.
Sadly, dmorris, finding that out will only convince those people how well-qualified Chief Spence and her krewe are to run Canada!
Spent ten years as an auditor, looking at first nation’s books.
Had one band where, aftr I had identified several fraudulent transaction (the payee on cheques had literally been “whited-out” and a different payee written on the cancelled cheque), the chief came into my trailer (it was that far north), laid his rifle on my desk, and said “I don’t think I want any of our records being taken back to your office”.
Myself and my assistant snuck out by float plane in the middle of the night, records with us.
This was thirty years ago, nothing’s changed, nothing ever will.
Time to scrap the system and press “reset”
None of this is ‘news’.
The only thing ‘new’ is the public discussion….finally.
My hubby used to fly for a band in Man…his strong work-ethic was severely tested,and after flying a float-plane load of goods into reserve,and band members refusing to unload there own supplies,he quit.The moment of truth shall we say,was when he asked them why they wouldn’t help,their response? “Why should we..we get a cheque!”
Hubby had LOTS of northern experience,and another of his observations have to do with the fallacy that ‘we are stewards of the land’ put forth by First Nations.Have you ever been to a reserve? As well,the indiscriminate ‘harvesting’ of big-game,just because ‘we can’ is an outrage.When you see game killed,and no meat taken,what is the point?
I’ve mostly being reading and not commenting on the INM/FN protests. Quite a few commenters after the articles suspect that the amount of rage of individual Chiefs is directly proportional to the amount of funds they have misused. I wonder if amnesty for all Chiefs and Band Councils regarding financial irregularities prior to this year would calm the waters a bit. But, Band Councils must agree that all future funds will be accounted for properly or they face fines and criminal investigations. I think that the fear of racism charges, apathy and even possibly kickbacks to government agents to look the other way allowed incompetence and mismanagement to become the norm on many reserves.
You know what racist? Separating one group from another.
JMD: “I liked Ezra Levant’s suggestion yesterday that Jason Kenney take over the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio. The current guy is beyond hopeless. Kenney is the one true star in Harper’s cabinet and has proven he can build the consensus needed in a difficult and mine-strewn policy area to implement serious reform.”
This is what needs to be done. Move John Duncan to a different, less controversial portfolio, and let Jason Kenney deal with belligerent “warriors” and the press who are in their pockets. The amount of money that’s been squandered on First Nations who will perpetually see the rest of Canada as their enemies is too great to allow this system to remain the same. Some bands encourage their people to learn and succeed in life. Others seem to want their people to stay as lifelong victims. The Idle No More protests are ironic, especially led by Theresa Spence who has been BILKING her people.
Re: that “stewards of the land” nonsense, there is something that perhaps we all could do to mock that. Ever noticed, the closer you get to some (but not all, I must add) reserves that you get, the more trash is found by the roadside?
I suggest that those of us who are out and about, traveling around our provinces, simply tote along a camera, and take some nice clear pictures of the evidence of Indian “respect” for the environment, and send them on to whichever blogger might be interested in compiling a slide show.
I think many city folks have never in their lives actually seen how some tribes desecrate their surroundings.
Is this real?
“Since the start of construction, over $325 million in contracts have been awarded to solely owned or joint venture companies run by the community.”
http://www.netnewsledger.com/2011/12/01/attawapiskat-what-is-de-beers-doing-to-help/
If this is true Attawapiskat has to be among the richest communities in Canada.
The WAR drums are beating, and every white Canadian is at risk of violence to their person in this country.
Where are our guns to defend ourselves?
Along with illegal cigarettes the Native warriors are well armed with millions of dollars to spare for illegal black market firearms.
Why did we allow the Liberals to leave us disarmed with this corrupt, hostile, and racist Nation living in our midst?
Why the HELL are we disarmed and left as helpless victims to this racist violence on our own streets!!!
See Douglas Bland’s novel Uprising, published 2 years ago…
http://www.amazon.ca/Uprising-Lt-Col-Douglas-Bland/dp/1926577000/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358014559&sr=1-2
I don’t think everyone is as prone to panic and radicalism as you are, K99. FN activists do not speak for all natives. FN people are not the caricatures promoted by the media and academics. They definitely have major social and cultural issues to deal with but they are not the enemy. Not all natives are dysfunctional basketcases. Some of us know them as people with names like Norma and Marilyn, coworkers, neighbors, soccer coaches and school teachers.
LC Bennett >
Who’s panicking, I’m well armed.
I’m glad you’re taking responsibility for the welfare of the remainder of the nation. It’s only right that people make themselves accountable when telling others not to worry about dangerous things.
If any Canadians do get hurt during this “peaceful” coup or native uprising what exactly are you pledging to their families for telling them to not worry and not arm themselves?
I think this is the end result of welfare dependency. When you give too much for too long, this is the end result. People that simply exist at the expense of other people will become like this. It happens in the inner cities, it happens on reserves. It happens in communist countries and dictatorships. They have no pride of ownership and no ambition, and so they don’t care how they appear. They need to be able to acquire property (and also the ability to lose it). They need the ability to succeed or fail based on their own initiative.
Humans will never blame themselves, so they blame the ‘white’ people. Of course, what is even scarier is the fact that for them, blaming the ‘white’ people is not an excuse, they likely truly believe whites are at fault, and they become very racist and dangerous because of it.
It would take more than one generation to fix this. Many current residents are fetal alcohol victims, which severely impairs their ability to function normally. The only ambitious residents would have fled long ago.
ET, unless there is the kind of effort, which you are now getting about, to turn the historical misrepresentation around, we are going to be manipulated by the courts into a “distinct society” conundrum vis-a-vis the FN.
Whenever I hear, “Nation to Nation”, what I really hear is, “all the privileges of being Canadian, plus recognition of (un-delimited) additional rights beyond that, with no corresponding obligations to Canada, whatsoever.” Its only a matter of time before we hear that they’re still British subjects, implying a(n unacceptably) different status from everyone else.
“Nation to Nation” is very deceiving: it presumes a relationship very different than what exists today, but very coyly never suggests giving anything up (something like sovereignty-association — with all the unmeasured dangers of that dragon rearing its ugly head again).
No effort can be spared in the area of reason and argument, all of which must be matched by practical efforts to move this subject out of the purview of the courts.
ET, rather than argue the facts, it’s easier for the IdleNoMore movement to use emotional arguments with their incomplete definitions of terms such as colonialism, land theft and genocide. I read one “expert” arguing that native genocide continues today because “reparations” hadn’t been paid for the actual genocide, which apparently ended when the residential school system ceased.
The native movement faces a challenge to its existence alright, but they’re the ones causing it. Their radical movement continues to demand turning the clock back to some pastoral existence before the evil white colonizer arrived that somehow conforms with a modern economic lifestyle. It doesn’t – equating land claims with treaties can’t change reality either. Forward movement will be impossible with overblown rhetoric, threats and illegal blocades. It will inflame matters, lose natives the goodwill of Canadians, and take their movement further away from self-government.
The reality is the present government is more than willing to hand over juristictions and yes, private ownership I believe, to bands who demonstrate an ability to govern responsibly for the benefit of their people. Several bands today enjoy greater autonomy than others because they have shown effective leadership of their communities. Meanwhile, 25% of bands, including Attawapiskat, require external management because of the utter incompetence and self interest of corrupt band councils and chiefs.
This is a complex subject with a long history, so it’s difficult to really get a strong logical idea of the issues. The NP is at least taking a shot at it today, with an attempt to show positions on all sides of the present debate:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/12/separate-and-equal-nations-the-academic-theory-behind-idle-no-more/
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/01/11/andrew-coyne-atleo-was-courageous-to-meet-with-harper-as-his-constituency-openly-revolts/
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/01/12/rex-murphy-natives-need-to-tone-down-the-anger/
Natives have a chance with the present PM of achieving real reforms if they can get their act together, both at the band level where required, and in effectively dealing with their out of control elements.
They were not “shoved into the least desirable locales on earth, this is their traditional home turf, remove their property rights, they never have had property rights, it is a tribal society, allow a small cabal of chiefs to run the show, that is their choice of government, tribal once again.
Please spare me the apologist rhetoric. What we see there is the results of a stone age culture coming into the 20th century, encouraged by racist beliefs of their inherent racial superiority in all matters dealing with nature and fueled by an endless supply of money.
I live with Indians every day. There are good, bad and ugly Indians, just like White folks. Where I live, when a White guy and an Indian are fighting each other, it’s not a racist thing, it’s because they never did like each other.
To be armed or disarmed is a personal choice. In my neck of the woods (flat, treeless woods)almost everyone has hunting rifles and .22s. Most of us have PALs or POLs. The federal Liberals brought in the ineffective and expensive gun registry but you make it sound like there was some kind of mass confiscation program. There wasn’t. I’m sure some were hoping to move in that direction but they were horribly disappointed.
As for the rest of your post…seek help. Over the past few years you have gone from normal to paranoid.
The best way to kill a man is to pay him for doing nothing. Felix LeClerc. We have proven this to be true in our dealings with natives. We still refuse to deal with it. The longer we put it off the worse it will get. We are already to the point where dealing with it will incite violence but it needs to be done.
LC Bennett >
“As for the rest of your post…seek help”
Ha, ha 🙂
Yea, from where? The Liberals shipped our army over to Afghanistan to kill little brown people and protect the opium fields.
BTW, if you wish to give the corrupt Indian Chiefs money from your own pocket you’re fully capable and legal to do so.
I on the other hand care not to have my money taken from me to be given to these Mafia gangs as protection money. I’m being told that I either pay up or they go to WAR on my nation and on my people, their words paraphrased not mine.
You are welcome to marginalize what is happening all you wish, but at the end of the day they are holding our government hostage to their demands, and threatening the rest of us with violence and economic terrorism if we don’t comply with the slavery of our people.
Ah, yes. “Idle more and more.”
David Southam, yes, I’m concerned about the ‘distinct society’ mantra as well. But I think it’s more difficult if not almost impossible to apply that term to the natives than it was to Quebec.
Quebec had the reality of a single government, a common language and set of laws, while the natives had no such infrastructure.
Indeed, they were and are, divided by past economic mode (some were hunters, fishers, gatherers, or horticulturalists, dependent on the local environment). They were divided by history, language, culture.
The reality of the Proclamation denies their identity as sovereign nations. All it accepts is their use of the land in their ‘right to hunt’ and this right can be ceded only to the Crown. The treaties which cover Canada are quite clear; the land and the rights to use that land, were ceded to the Crown. The text is usually as in Treat 9 (Chief Spence’s domain).
“inhabiting the district hereinafter defined and described, and the same has been agreed upon, and concluded by the respective bands at the dates mentioned hereunder, the said Indians do hereby cede, release, surrender and yield up to the government of the Dominion of Canada, for His Majesty the King and His successors for ever, all their rights titles and privileges whatsoever, to the lands “.
That’s it. That’s a legal ceding of any use and title of the land.
I don’t see how a court can overturn those treaties. I don’t see how a court can deny the wording of the Royal Proclamation.
What bothers me, more than the courts, is the utterly malevolent political ambitions of the anti-Harper media, and the Liberals and NDP, who are like leeches, attaching themselves to these issues for, and only for, their own political gain.
The facts are: no economy is possible on a reserve. None. It is illegal to set up your own private business. Therefore, there are no jobs. Therefore, you are dependent on govt welfare. Get rid of the reserves by payouts to individual natives or, enable private ownership of the land and enable private enterprise. The latter is what Harper is trying to do.
Oh, and insist, in the meantime, on accountability for the native use of the taxpayer money. It’s not theirs ‘by right’. There’s no such thing as ‘first peoples’. We all came from..whereever.
LC Bennett – you are naive. Nefarious organizations fund ‘unrest’ in our beautiful country. “Where is all that money?” should be the top question asked because the canaries would start to sing if they were trapped. The chiefs and their pals are small fry in the grand theft of land and $$ from the Canadian people via the “Indian business”. TIDES, Sierra club, etc pour $$ into the pockets of decision makers on reservations but that ‘help’ has a price. It is blackmail money in exchange for silence so far as I can see.
ET, Crown Land is public property; the ‘Crown’ is not a taxpayer; hence cannot be a landowner.
Do yourself a favour, read Agenda 21.
Jema54, what does Agenda 21 have to do with native ‘nations’?
Yes, the Crown owns the land, by which is meant that it has essentially permanent title to all the land of Canada and can lease and dispose of it as it. or rather, as its government, wishes. That’s the nature of sovereignty; no individual can, let’s say, sell 1,000 acres of prime Canadian land to Iran, for its sovereign use. It remains Canadian land.
Therefore, since individuals in Canada do not have ‘absolute ownership’ of the land but instead, have ‘land tenure’ (they are permitted by the Crown to hold the land), then, paying or not paying taxes is not indicative of ‘land ownership’.
ET >
“The facts are: no economy is possible on a reserve. None”
Without intending to sound like I’m making an argument out of nothing, that’s certainly not the case in Alberta. There are plenty of private Indian owned businesses on reserves across Alberta. Some of the more notable ones that come immediately to mind are Morley west of Calgary, Hobbema, and nearly the entire town of Slave Lake that almost burnt to the ground a few years ago.
The local Slave Lake Indian reserve owned many of the stores, the hotels, service stations, golf courses.
There is allot of oilfield activity on Reserve land across Alberta, Oilfield companies are REQUIRED to hire local Indian employees and equipment whenever feasible or available. In some areas they supply the water, oil, and equipment transport, earth moving equipment, welders, and other commercial services.
The Chiefs spot check active locations frequently to insure that compliance is met.
A few links to Government Service for Alberta Indian Business affairs.
http://www.canadabusiness.ab.ca/index.php/export/528-aboriginal-business-info-guide-alberta
Jema, I’ll take naive over crazy conspiracy theorist…so thanks.
Yes, the eco-activists have strategically funded some native groups and too many Chiefs have been stealing from their own people but that can be reduced/eliminated by financial transparency laws, increasing transfers to individual Natives, better democratic systems for FN and other oversight. The radical rambling of a disturbing number of posters is an obscene overreaction to events. Free Speech is a great thing but don’t assume that means free from criticism. Addressing legitimate aboriginal complaints is as important as reforming the Indian Act and financial irregularities. Beyond the “hunger striking” chief and activists circus there are real issue.
LC Bennett >
“The radical rambling of a disturbing number of posters is an obscene overreaction to events.”
Please explain what is radical about being concerned with large groups of armed people who are successfully forcing our government into make us work and pay for their luxurious lifestyles, under the threat of violence?
That’s sort of the attitude that has put us in this slave existence to begin with isn’t it?
You are a slave LC Bennett. What’s worse is that you seem to accept it.
Over $100 million dollars of our hard earned money to Attawapiskat alone + 500K donated per month from the local diamond mine including employment and private business – all GONE.
Then WE are threatened with violence and economic terrorism if we don’t produce more protection money for these same people. People taking our money under force while claiming to be a separate Nation AND you tell us to calm down, stop making a fuss, and get back to the cotton fields like good little productive slaves.
Not cool at all. You need to change your moniker to Uncle Tom.
Knight99 asks: “Why the HELL are we disarmed and left as helpless victims to this racist violence on our own streets!!!”
That’s easy, Knight. Its because we, Canadians as a nation, are -stupid-.
We drank the Lefty bathwater right from the start. We elected disgusting non-entities like McKenzie King, Lester Pearson, Pierre Trudeau, Paul Martin. Our next will be substitute teacher and all-round doofus Shiny Pony Justin Trudeau.
We give half out incomes to government and they spend it on THIS. This outrage. We are STUPID.
Now, as far as the Indian Threat goes? Dude. They’re at most a biker gang. At most. They are weak and afraid, and every single thing they have they get from us.
If I were a racist, I’d argue that the situation remain exactly as it is. Let the crooked chiefs skim off all the cream and keep them all quiet and on the reserve.
Scrap the Indian Act,and organize local aboriginal governments as municipalities or corporations. Aboriginal municipal corporations would own land and receive a share of resource revenue from a wider area.
Take the total budget of all funding to aboriginals and divide it by the number of aboriginals and give the money directly to the people, not the bands. Expenditures by Canada related to Aboriginal affairs = $7.8 billion this fiscal. Number of Aboriginals in Canada = 1.2 million (2006 census). So, taxpayer expenditures per Aboriginal person = $6,600 per year, and each aboriginal person would get a $550 govt check every month. They would pay taxes like every other Canadian.
Some percent of that monthly check would be deducted for municipal services and funding their local aboriginal government. That local govt would own the houses and could charge rent if they wanted to. If the local govt wanted more money they could tax their members or apply for funding like any other municipality or corporation.
Every Canadian would get the same government benefits. Anyone who wanted more stood in the same line with everyone else for govt social assistance.
Reduce the size of the Federal aboriginal bureaucracy by 10% per year until it’s 10% of it’s present size.
As long as the funds/benefits given to the band by the taxpayers of Canada are distributed equitably so that all people receive their fair share of the taxpayers support, then how they manage their community is their business. They have to maintain the same transparent accounting and auditing as any municipality in Canada.
If they neglect some of their people by mismanagement of housing benefits then don’t expect the taxpayers to cover their mistakes. Liquidate band investments and fix all the houses. Train local people to maintain their house.
I was not horrified by the pictures, as were the effete youth who tend to populate this blog. Canada was once a messier place; and I partially grew up in Ottawa/Hull, where many French Canadians lived in tar-paper shacks. Now the French Canadians usually were good workers who didn’t like paying property taxes, and who certainly didn’t knock out their windows.
Anyway, to my point: there are over 600 Indian bands in Canada, and the variety is extreme. In BC, the Indians of Point Grey, or Squamish, are respectable. There is no First Nations nation – they all speak different languages, and don’t trust each other. Different bands in fact often fought each other, before a common government was imposed on them. In fact the rule of law is the great benefit which British and French society brought them.
As one relative who had some experience of First Nations issues told me, if you obtain agreement of only 638 out of 639 bands, you do not have agreement.
We are hearing now from – how many? Perhaps 10 bands?
Knight 99, perhaps I wasn’t clear about the type of economy. I meant a private business. Since the Reserve is public rather than private land, then, no private enterprise is possible on a Reserve. I acknowledge that there can indeed be businesses on a reserve but then, all proceeds go to the Band. Not to the individual.
Do you mean the various hotels around the Morley area? For that, you need the Reserve to exist in a tourist area, with roads and transportation. This is not the case in many remote northern reserves.
There are quite a few programs to help natives start up businesses, even off the reserve. The problem in my view is the public domain nature of the Reserve system itself that leads to dysfunctional families and life and corrupt financial affairs.
I can still find some comfort that PMSH & the CPC are in charge and not the other guys. That alone gives me some hope for a sane resolution.
ET >
Much clearer, thanks.
The reserves are where the losers stay. Anyone with any gumption gets off the Rez.
I have never lived in a house with a boarded up window, I have never seen one in any neighbourhood I have ever lived in. What the hell are these people doing to go through so many windows? If someone on the rez wanted to be idle no more they could start a glass and window business.
Are these the conditions under which the Librano$ and the NDP want Canada’s Native people to live to ensure the continuation of substantial financial contributions from Native bands? Their hypocrisy is brazen and their lack of genuine concern for the safety, health, and welfare, aka well-being, of Native peoples is breathtaking in its cravenness.
Socialism that isn’t running out of other people’s money.
” … make chiefs and band councilors accountable for how they spend public money. They will vociferously oppose the latter requirement but the Government of Canada needs to make it non-negotiable. (Ram it through Parliament if you have to, Mr. Harper) Future funding must be contingent on Bands having proper accounting procedures in place so we taxpayers, plus ordinary band members, know how the money is spent and why. I am sick of us spending billions upon billions every year on Aboriginal affairs only to be told it is not enough or it is not making any difference.”
I totally agree that the CPC should push this accountability bill through the House. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. The demons will shriek, the usual suspects will go ballistic, but so what? I suspect the CPC will have the support of a majority of Canadians who choose to be silent no more — including Native people who aren’t in the top 1%, who aren’t driving around in Hummers and Cadillac Escalades. Times are tough, families are financially challenged, young people can’t find jobs, older people are losing theirs, and we’ve got these coddled Natives running through gazillion$ of our hard-earned tax dollars complaining that it’s not enough and that it’s the government’s — aka our — fault that they can’t manage a few billion bucks a year.
NO MORE (of this crap).
Must be those friggin’ polar bears, minuteman! Damn that global warming for chasing them into that poor community!
Knight99 asks: “Why the HELL are we disarmed and left as helpless victims to this racist violence on our own streets!!!”
Knight we are disarmed and helpless because we let them disarm us and we continue to elect governments that allow natives to be above the law.
That’s not tough love. That is common sense stuff that should have been in place to begin with.
I remember the Fort Alexander Reserve on Lake Winnipeg,about 60 miles from the city. Every yard had about ten or more wrecked cars in various stages of rust. Some looked pretty good though,and I mentioned this to a local merchant in Pine Falls.
He replied that the Rez Indians would go to work for a while “up North” and on their way home would stop in Winnipeg and buy a used car so as to make a triumphant return to the Rez. He said that if any minor mechanical problem occurred,the owner would just push the car to the back of the lot,where it would stay until forever.
The guy said that even a dead battery would mean the car was abandoned. In one yard we counted over thirty wrecks,and no, it wasn’t an auto wrecking yard,just another citizen of Fort Alexander.
The place has a nice, new Indian name now, can’t recall what it is, but I’ve often wondered if those cars are still there.