Romeo Saganash2013-06-18T19:19:18-04:00Romeo Saganashhttp://www.huffingtonpost.ca/author/index.php?author=romeo-saganashCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Romeo SaganashGood old fashioned elbow grease.Harper's in Need of Some Real Northern Exposuretag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.18403362012-08-30T08:54:47-04:002012-10-30T05:12:01-04:00Romeo Saganashhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/romeo-saganash/
This month I visited the northernmost region in my riding, Nunavik, and met with people from all walks of life there. It was a great chance to not only hear their concerns first hand, but to see them first hand with my own two eyes.
Trips like those give you a real reality check that some politicians go out of their way to avoid. I was reminded of that sad fact the week after I got back from Nunavik, when Prime Minister Harper made his annual pilgrimage to the North. Since he became Prime Minister, Harper has made a point of making this trip every year, complete with tightly controlled meetings, funding announcements where the actual funds never seem to flow and beautiful photo-ops on all kinds of military equipment.
There are many serious issues that are being faced in the North today, ones that require real vision that includes the residents of the region. In every community that I visited on my tour of Nunavik the week before, the same concerns were raised over and over again:
The high cost of living in Northern communities, including the lack of quality food at affordable prices and the sale of expired food
The need for investments in basic infrastructure and the lack of government investment in them
The lack of adequate housing for rapidly growing populations
The lack of consultation in the development of their region, including on the social impacts that these developments will bring to their communities
While I was there, these were all issues that you could see with the naked eye. I could see the condition of some of the homes and the need for more adequate housing. I could see the communities full of very young faces, and envision what will be needed to help them grow. I was able to go to the local Northern store and see how the price of basic food staples had risen since my last visit.
But when Harper made his trip North a week later, he did his best to avoid these concerns and conversations. He passed by members of the Carcross Tagish First Nation as they protested outside a partisan Conservative event in the Yukon regarding a lack of action on concerns they have raised with the Federal government. He did eventually meet with Carcross Cheif Danny Cresswell the next day, but during that meeting he only repeated old promises to act that have yet to be followed through on.
In Nunavut Cathy Towtongie, President of Nunavik Tunngavik Inc., declined to attend one of the Prime Minister's events in her community. According to APTN News, on her Facebook group she stated she "was not prepared for a greet and meet function without a substantive meeting to deal with the issues affecting all of Nunavut." True to form, Harper never did have that substantive meeting, opting for the simple photo-op instead.
Canada's future does pass through the North and there is amazing potential there to help us achieve the healthiest environment, the fairest society and the strongest economy in the world. The only way that we can achieve that goal is to work towards reaching our full potential. Since getting elected, this government has used Canada's North as a rhetorical prop, all without giving any second though to the day-to-day realities of the region. The federal government has a large role to play in the proper development of the North, and that development has to first and foremost yield positive outcomes for the people who live there and have called the region home since time immemorial.
This will require a comprehensive approach, one that takes into account not only the resource development potential and strategic geo-political importance of the region. It also must involve the social needs and true prosperity of Northern communities. It requires listening to the concerns of everyone in the North, not just card-carrying Conservative partisans. The typical hands-out approach the Conservatives have become known for will not do.
Last week the Prime Minister had a chance to begin listening to the people of the North, but instead he stayed inside his bubble and kept thinking of the beautiful tundra. For the seventh consecutive year, Harper went North and missed out on a chance to help Canada and the North reach its full potential by listening to those who call the region home. Doing this properly will involve a great deal of work, compromise and co-operation; it's work that is not for the faint of heart.
As Harper's approach and inaction has shown us, this is the work that the Conservatives cannot properly do.]]>Harper's Hypocrites Could Learn a Lesson from First Nationstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.16301852012-06-28T13:30:04-04:002012-08-28T05:12:04-04:00Romeo Saganashhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/romeo-saganash/
With that in mind I spent part of my National Aboriginal Day in the House of Commons voting. We had only one vote on one bill, the second reading of bill C-27: "First Nations Fiscal Transparency Act." That may sound like a bad joke, but that is what the Conservatives chose to vote on that day.
I am not opposed to the concept of transparency, nor are the vast majority of First Nations leaders. But this bill is being imposed on First Nations without any consultation and runs against the Conservative own promises at the Crown First Nations Gathering to work together with First Nations. It does nothing to increase accountability of First Nations governments to their people and does nothing to help communities to become more accountable.
This bill will also gives the aboriginal affairs minister more power over First Nations communities, moving us further away from true self-government. It gives the minister the ability to withhold any funds to or terminate any funding agreement with a First Nation that doesn't meet their requirements. This is a harsh punishment that does nothing to help those First Nations citizens who depend on those funding arrangements for the of providing safe water, for keeping their schools operating and for paying social assistance for those who need it.
The great irony of this bill is that when passed, it will apply transparency standards that are greater than those for elected officials in many other jurisdictions. This is coming from the government that has done everything it can to avoid being transparent and accountable to Canadians.
In their 2006 election platform, the Conservatives promised to bring in a new era of transparency and accountability. They promised to: "Clean up the procurement of government contracts," "ensure truth in budgeting," and "strengthen auditing and accountability within departments."
Six years after making those promises, we can see just how they have faired. They promised to clean up government procurement, yet they deliberately kept Canadians in the dark about the true cost of the F-35 program. In April, the auditor general reported that the government misled Parliament over the cost of the F-35 program. According to his report, the Conservatives hid over $10 billion of the estimated cost of the jets from Parliament. That doesn't sound very accountable to me.
How about "ensuring truth in budgeting"? Well, before the last election we saw a censure motion that found them in contempt of Parliament for their refusal to disclose accurate costs of crime legislation, corporate tax cuts and the F-35s again. Now after the last election, they are refusing to give Parliament the details of job cuts to the civil service. Sadly we are not seeing very much "truth" in the budgeting there.
Finally, we have the promise to "Strengthen auditing and accountability within departments." Here we can point to the F-35s and the public service cuts again for this promise, but there are even more examples. We have the G8 Legacy Fund, which taught us that to the Conservatives, gazebos in Muskoka are an integral part of Canada's border defense. We can also point to Minister Oda and her insertion of the now famous "not" that defunded KAIROS. In all of these cases, not a single minister was punished.
With their record, I wonder why they think that they can start dictating to First Nations communities about transparency and accountability with any credibility. There are many chiefs and councils all across Canada that could teach these Conservatives a lot about how to be accountable and transparent to their electorate.
We have seen how the Conservatives' approach transparency when it applies to them. When they are expected to be transparent and accountable, they do everything they can to avoid it. They have refused to meet the most basic standards of accountability and transparency, yet they asked us, on National Aboriginal Day, to impose transparency standards on First Nations that are greater than the ones the Conservatives themselves refuse to meet. That is hypocritical and deeply insulting, but typical of the Harper Conservatives.
This government is in no position to speak to others about being accountable and wag their fingers judgmentally. When they learn how to be properly accountable to all Canadians, maybe then they can teach some lesson. But until then, maybe they should keep their word and start to work with Aboriginal communities. You never know; just like in the past they might even learn a thing or two from the First Peoples of this land.]]>Smile Like You Mean it, Prime Ministertag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.15530382012-05-31T07:49:04-04:002012-07-31T05:12:17-04:00Romeo Saganashhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/romeo-saganash/
But as a nation we've also had moments to be less than proud of. We don't have monuments to mark most of those mistakes, but in some cases we've seen later governments apologize and take responsibility for them. When those apologies have been made, the government of the day has promised a new approach to build a new, respectful relationship with the victims and their communities. While it has been hard to get governments to take that first step of apologizing, taking that second step of creating that new relationship has been even harder.
A good example is the residential schools apology. When Prime Minister Harper issued the apology, he promised to forge a new relationship with Aboriginal Canadians. Four years later, we can look to his government and see just how far they have come.
There are still survivors of that government policy who have yet to have their cases addressed. The case of seven Inuit, who have come to be called the "Experimental Eskimos," is a good example. In the early 1960s, they were removed from their homes, without the informed consent of their parents and sent to school in the South under a federal government program. It was not until 1997 that they were able prove that this move was an "experiment." For the past five years they have been in court fighting with the federal government to get redress for what was done to them. But the government continues to stonewall and fight, refusing to deal with this clear case of wrong-doing.
Another example comes from the reaction of Conservative ministers to legitimate concerns. We have seen ministers of the crown attacking the messengers, hurling insults and ignoring the important concerns they raise. Sadly one of the worst offenders has been Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.
In an attempt to defend her cuts to Aboriginal health funding from legitimate questions, she attempted to use her heritage as a shield, accusing opposition members of crossing racial lines. When the UN Special Rapporteur raised his concerns about access to food in Canada, she accused him of being a European academic who had a "lack of understanding and knowledge about aboriginal people" and accused him of writing "a report on what is best for me as an aboriginal person."
I was shocked to hear her comments, especially given the important position that she holds. She knew full well that Aboriginal people across Canada are struggling with these issues. The evidence is clear on that point. Was she trying to tell the Inuit in Nunavik or the Cree in Northern Saskatchewan that paying over $12 for a jug of orange juice is not a barrier to eating healthily? She of all people should know better and maybe that is why a week later, she backed off some of her comments but not those about the UN Special Rapporteur. She tried to bury her head in the permafrost and to use her identity to avoid legitimate questions. That's not a new relationship with Aboriginal Canadians, only a new face.
The final insult has unfolded over the past few weeks with the Conservatives budget and their response to criticism. Aboriginal communities all across the country are facing many serious issues: under-funded education system, lack of health services, rising cases of diabetes, prescription drug abuse and other health ailments and difficulties accessing nutritious food. These are all important issues that need to be addressed quickly and require the support of government.
In the face of these concerns, the Conservatives moved to slash money from budgets from programs that help deal with these needs. They cut 40 per cent of the health funding from the Assembly of First Nations and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, while cutting 100 per cent of the same funding for the Métis National Council and Native Women's Association of Canada. They cut funding to the Community Access Program, which provided affordable Internet access to students in Aboriginal communities. And when it comes to food, in 2011 they did away with the Food Mail program, handing it over to private interests. That caused the price of food in the North to spike. None of these changes did anything to address these concerns and in most cases have made them worse.
So here we are after four years. We have our apology and the new relationship that was promised has yet to appear. That new relationship is still possible and is key to the future of a prosperous Canada. One thing is becoming clearer by the day: The Prime Minister who took that first step to apologize is not likely to be the one to take the next. But when that next step is truly taken, I look forward to the potential that it will bring.]]>Protecting Families From a Conservative Agendatag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.11866312012-01-05T17:44:26-05:002012-03-06T05:12:01-05:00Romeo Saganashhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/romeo-saganash/
Sadly, for many parents across Canada that job is getting tougher, as making ends meet is growing increasingly difficult. Full-time jobs are harder to find, wages are falling against inflation, and the number of working poor families continues to grow along with food bank use.
To aggravate matters further, the current Conservative government has seen fit to offer breaks only to the wealthy, exacerbating the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us.
Families need help getting childcare, but instead of creating new affordable spaces, the Conservatives offer a tax break that doesn't cover the cost of a week's care for a single child.
For families in Ontario and British Columbia, they raise the cost of hydro, gasoline, heating fuel and other essentials by five per cent through implementation of the HST.
The Conservative economic strategy is to provide tax cuts to corporations like Electro-Motive in London, Ont. and then do nothing when that company locks out employees in order to extort a 55 per cent wage cut.
This Conservative government continues to make decisions that make it harder on Canadian families.
But we can fight back.
Creating an affordable national daycare system would be a great first step. This would save families money on childcare. It would provide parents who want to work with the opportunity to earn more income. And because more people would be able to work and pay taxes who would otherwise be trapped on social assistance, governments can save those costs. Quebec has shown us how to run a successful and affordable system, offering a template that can be modified to work across the country.
Canada needs business to work in the best interest of the communities in which they operate and we need to reward those that do so, instead of rewarding those who take and give nothing back. We have seen the result of blanket corporate tax cuts: factories and mills shut down, raw materials shipped out of the country, good jobs lost, environmental degradation. Instead, we need to create a sustainable economy and stop the race to the bottom.
I believe we need to rationalize our tax system so that it returns to the principles it was meant to serve. We can hold personal tax rates steady and raise the minimum standard deduction to a living income, helping everyone meet their basic needs. We can pay for that by eliminating corporate incentives that don't incentivize, specialized credits that only serve to shift the burden from the wealthy to the middle class, privileged deductions like the one for executive stock options that serve those who don't need it, and all of those loopholes that cheat honest, law-abiding Canadians of a fair tax system.
We can help the vast majority of Canadians simply by getting rid of misguided attempts at social engineering that only ended up allowing those who can afford to pay an accounting firm to evade their responsibilities.
We can protect existing jobs and create new jobs. We can work with corporations, labour, and the public to ensure that local communities get real benefit guarantees from economic activity in their area. We stop giving corporations tax breaks and incentives only to get nothing in return. We ensure the interests of workers are protected. Natural resources are not extracted without creating the value-added jobs. Canadians are not on the hook for environmental clean up when toxins are dumped by negligent operations. This can be done. I've done it before and I can do it again.
As we get into the swing of the New Year, let's remember our commitment to our children's future. Let's fight back for them. Let's demand that Canadian families get some help from their government. ]]>Stop Making Our Copyright and Digital Laws Worsetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.11433322011-12-12T16:40:26-05:002012-02-11T05:12:01-05:00Romeo Saganashhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/romeo-saganash/
Our laws are out of date; they were written before file sharing or Facebook, before iPods or BitTorrent. If they ever worked, they don't anymore. They don't support the information commons or encourage creativity in the arts. They don't help people.
After five years of failed attempts at copyright reform, the Harper Conservatives have drafted legislation (Bill C-11) that, given their majority, will likely make it through Parliament. Bill C-11 prioritizes information restriction over consumer rights through the use of "digital locks," the electronic codes that prevent a product from being copied or modified. While every creator has the right to put digital locks on their own content to prevent piracy, digital locks should not be used to prevent legitimate consumers from accessing content for which they have already paid.
Harper's legislation is far more restrictive than it needs to be, more than the controversial copyright laws being fought in the courts in the U.S., and more than international treaties regarding intellectual property require. Honest, hard-working educators, archivists, documentary filmmakers and consumers will be criminalized. Even the transfer of legitimately purchased music to different devices may be illegal.
This is all in the pursuit of fighting piracy on behalf of multinational corporate interests, despite research that shows that removing digital locks can actually decrease piracy.
Of particular concern to those in remote communities are the "book-burning" provisions regarding education texts. Students studying through distance education will be forced to destroy their notes after a semester ends. They won't be able to save them for an honours project or refer to them for other courses in the future. That information is gone, forever. These students won't have the same rights as those who are fortunate enough to be able attend classes in person.
If we want to promote the arts and protect digital innovation, we have a lot of work to do. And it starts with listening to the users, the consumers, Canadians.
We need to legislate clear rules on net neutrality to give consumers equal access to online content. We need to prevent internet providers from persisting in anti-competitive behaviour. We need a made-in-Canada copyright law that protects Canadian artists and the Canadian public, not a bill driven by foreign interests. We need to develop our copyright law in consultation with people, instead of introducing new restrictions with false urgency.
We need to support artists by helping them maintain their rights, while ensuring they can be remunerated for their work. We need to support educators and the public by ensuring they have a right to access those works.
We need to make sure every household that wants access to broadband has access to it. We need to build digital policies around innovation and knowledge sharing instead of restriction and exclusivity.
Our copyright and digital policies have been out of date for quite some time and right now it looks like they're going to get worse before we get a chance to make them better.
We aren't where we need to be on copyright, but we know how to get there. We need to listen to Canadians.
]]>Two Sides of the Same Baytag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.11259052011-12-04T00:48:36-05:002012-02-02T05:12:01-05:00Romeo Saganashhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/romeo-saganash/
This is not unusual.
People may recall the stories about Kashechewan that were in all the media a few years ago, or Pikangikum. There are many others. Sandy Bay First Nation in Manitoba wants people to know they are in similar circumstances.
Estimates are that 80,000 new houses are needed and similar numbers are in need of major repair across the country. There are over 100 communities living under boil water advisories. There are over 40 First Nations that have no school for their children to attend.
Embarrassed by the media and public attention, the Harper government leapt into action this week and immediately blamed the people of Attawapiskat. Basically, they said that big money had been spent there, so we'll solve the situation by sending in an accounting firm to run the government.
Outside the government, people are mobilizing, donating items of use, and the Red Cross has gotten involved. Most are treating this as the crisis it is, pointing to the avoidable tragedy and urgently pleading for help to stop it from happening. Let's hope that succeeds.
But what about the dozens of communities where the media aren't paying attention? Will crises come and go relatively unnoticed? And what about stopping this from happening over and over again?
That is where people need to see the bigger picture and focus on solutions.
The bigger picture explains why Attawapiskat should not be seen in isolation. The situation there is the result of deliberate policies.
It begins with the Crown breaking the partnerships with First Nations that formed the basis of the treaties and ignoring their own laws, like the Royal Proclamation of 1763. Yes, history matters if you want to understand how we got to this point.
It is followed by a policy of segregation. They invented the idea of "status" Indians, as defined by the Crown, and created reserves, where the Crown chose what it thought was valueless land and compelled people to stay there.
That was followed by the policy of assimilation, where the Crown reversed itself and started encouraging people to leave reserves to join the rest of Canadian society. Encouragement took the form of legislation that stripped people of their "status" and denied them the right to live with their families and communities if they did things like get an education.
The policy of assimilation is still in place. Only now, the Government of Canada uses talk of formal equality -- treating everyone exactly the same -- to justify treating First Nations like they have no Aboriginal or treaty rights, despite the Constitution of Canada and the UN Declaration.
So, there will be no partnership with First Nations to support them in self-government. There will be no co-operation in planning and implementing effective long-term strategies to make reserves liveable. There will be no money to help catch up from decades of neglect and mismanagement by a distant bureaucracy. There will be red tape and catch-22s and bureaucratic inertia. The plan is that the reserves will fail and people will have to move away. Those who don't die first.
That plan is what John Duncan is hinting at when he talks about "unviable reserves." They're pressing to close them down and send people into the cities as they tried with Kashechewan. They are introducing legislation to privatize reserve lands so that they can be sold or taken in default of loans. The fact that this will make resources, like the diamonds around Attawapiskat, more readily and cheaply available to developers is pure coincidence, I'm sure.
There are solutions. Working in the original spirit of partnership, supported rather than constrained in self-governance, First Nations can move forward. The deal that I helped negotiate between the Grand Council of the Crees and the Government of Quebec called La Paix des Braves has achieved some of that and is benefitting people from all communities in the area, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, right now. It is not the only example. That is what is meant by reconciliation.
On the other side of the same bay from Attawapiskat, their Cree cousins are not living in the same squalor. It can happen elsewhere.]]>How to Defeat Stephen Harpertag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.11123282011-11-25T09:42:44-05:002012-01-25T05:12:01-05:00Romeo Saganashhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/romeo-saganash/
Obviously, we must re-elect the people we have in Parliament now. We cannot step backward. That means maintaining our social democratic values, acting as a responsible and responsive opposition and solidifying our new base in Quebec.
I come from a 10,000-year tradition of communal living where we understood that the strength of all of us depended on the strength of each of us. Regardless of your role in the community, everyone ate, everyone had a home, everyone had clean water and everyone participated fully in decisions. I am a social democrat.
In my work before becoming an MP, I was part of a David and Goliath opposition to the Government of Quebec and we were successful. I know how to oppose, how to propose something better and how to bring people together for the benefit of all. The evidence is on the ground today in my riding.
With our main competition in Quebec not Stephen Harper but the Bloc, the task of solidifying our base there requires someone who not only speaks the language but who appreciates and understands the culture in all its unique colour and nuance so that we can build lasting support on the ground. After 20 years of living in and working in and loving Quebec City, I can do that.
I know that we can and will maintain our base, but we need to go further. We need to win the next 60 seats.
First, we must get our own house in order. I have met with some of our smaller riding associations; I've heard what they need and what they have not been getting. Supporting them in attracting others is how we will grow. I have met some of the fantastic candidates who had strong second place finishes last time out and I know that we can help them over the final hurdle in the next election. Supporting them is how we will win. We will do these things for ourselves and for those who join us.
Second, we will take away Stephen Harper's undeserved support.
We will start by returning to our roots in rural Canada. Rural communities are hollowing out and people are angry about it. The Conservatives sold people a phony bill of goods, playing on anger over hot button social issues while undermining their economic future. The Wheat Board decision is just the beginning. They are coming after the dairy and egg boards. They won't be satisfied until Viterra and Cargill and Monsanto control every bit of farmland in this country. Whether trees or minerals or energy, they will take the resources out of the land with vague promises of temporary work and leave nothing lasting in its place but a scar on the environment. It doesn't need to be this way. When we were the CCF, rural Canadians knew we were on their side. We need to reach out to them again with respect, to listen to their concerns and to act on their behalf. When we do, they will come back to us and we will grow together.
And we must understand suburban Canada. Whether we are talking about new Canadians who moved from the cities or the proverbial soccer moms and hockey dads who grew up in those same towns, fundamentally, people want the same things. They want the freedom to live their lives as they see fit and they want security for their children and the future. The NDP can offer that. We can refrain from paternalism, respecting people's ability to make their own decisions. We can commit to balanced budgets and sound financial management for fiscal security, unlike the Conservative record. We can foster a sense of co-operation and social cohesion in our society rather than pitting people against each other, constantly fanning the flames of fear as Stephen Harper has done. We can insist on a cleaner environment, safer communities, better health care, the best education and new jobs and we can work with people to make that happen. When we do that, they will come to us and we will grow together.
Third, we must stop Stephen Harper's attack on Canadians. We must reach and represent the disaffected. I was one of those people. If you know my past, you know I had good reason to be. I understand the situation, I know that it can change, I know how to turn it around and I know that people will come to us when it does. I've been out in the communities, listening to the people and building the party. I've heard from First Nations and youth and the poor. I have been with the 99 per cent from Edmonton to Halifax. There are untapped skills and unmet aspirations across our country. We can channel that energy into something constructive. We can be on their side. When we do that, they will fight for us and we will grow together.
Canada can have the strongest economy, the healthiest environment and the fairest society in the world. To achieve this we just need to defeat Stephen Harper.]]>Selling Out Rural Canadatag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.10982632011-11-17T16:36:11-05:002012-01-17T05:12:01-05:00Romeo Saganashhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/romeo-saganash/
What receives less attention is the effect of this reality on rural Canada. As every year passes, more and more people are forced to leave home looking for work elsewhere. Rural communities are hollowing out.
Sadly, successive governments have also failed to take notice.
The Liberals truly didn't seem to care about rural Canada. As has been well documented, their failure to understand rural lifestyles or even consult with people outside of cities was a big factor in the negative response to the long gun registry. Downloading during the Chretien and Martin years put a huge strain on the quality of services. This put more and more pressure on smaller communities that simply did not have the means to pick up the slack. That led to infrastructure challenges that, in turn, hurt local industry and cycled into the loss of more jobs. They essentially abandoned rural Canada and paid the price at the ballot box.
In response, we saw the rise of the Reform Party and the Harper Conservatives. They at least pretended to listen. They paid lip service to the concerns of rural Canadians, making a lot of noise about a few hot-button social issues, but none of that helped to put food on the table in rural Canada or to put the food that rural Canada produces on tables around the country. It is more than ironic that while Canada's rural communities struggle, Stephen Harper, whose focus on rural votes put him in office, is only hurrying the hollowing out process along.
The Conservatives and Liberals have always shared one concern: that of large multi-national corporations. The beneficiary of the softwood lumber agreement was not the Canadian forestry worker: it was our international competition. The largest beneficiary of the ending of the wheat board is not the family farmer: it is agribusiness giants like Viterra and Cargill. The largest beneficiary of pipeline projects like Keystone KL that ship raw bitumen out of Canada is not the average worker in Canada's oil patch: it is international oil companies who would reap the benefits while leaving us with the environmental bill to pay.
Because of policies like these, rural Canada has lost tens of thousands of well-paying jobs, some single-industry towns have been mortally wounded, and more is on the way. The recent assault on the wheat board is just part of the Conservative attack on the small farmer. In Asia this week, Stephen Harper let slip his plans to undermine dairy and egg farmers as well. They too are showing how little they care about the communities who depend on farming and resource-based industries.
The fact is that the Conservatives have sold people a phony bill of goods. They have exploited divisions between urban and rural Canada for political gain without regard to the economic, social and environmental costs.
As Member of Parliament for a large rural riding, I see examples every day of how supporting rural communities can benefit all Canadians. In my years with the Grand Council of the Crees, the agreements I helped to negotiate with government and business created prosperity for my region, protected the environment for future generations and benefitted urban communities all at the same time. A balance can be struck for the common good.
To do that, we need to understand that one-size does not fit all.
Small farms need flexibility in order to compete. Health regulations built for factory farms don't work for small organic producers.
We need to create local, sustainable jobs by supporting new entrepreneurs, the creative economy and eco-tourism. That means keeping resources here through value-added production and protecting the local environment on which these industries thrive.
We must understand that downloading punishes rural municipalities with small tax bases and we need to re-balance that fiscal unfairness to provide the services and infrastructure rural communities need.
We can help rural communities rebuild by returning the benefits our generous geography provides to the people who live there. That growth will in turn benefit the country as a whole.
Unlike Stephen Harper, I'm not going to tell people that government is the problem. But I don't believe that government is the entire solution either. I understand that local communities are best placed to determine their own needs and it is up to us to work together as Canadians, urban and rural, to everyone's benefit.
We must fight this battle together, not only for the survival of rural Canada, but for our mutual prosperity as a nation. ]]>Let's Honour Veterans With Better Foreign Policytag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.10819082011-11-09T13:47:14-05:002012-01-09T05:12:02-05:00Romeo Saganashhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/romeo-saganash/
Canadians take pride in our historic role on the world stage. Our history has been one of an honest broker of peace. But over the years, we have seen this change.
Ironically, in pursuing his "Canada-first" strategy, Stephen Harper instead has ensured that Canada's interests will not be at the forefront when important international decisions are being made.
Over and over, the Harper government has demonstrated how poorly they understand international law and diplomatic relations. Representatives from other countries have openly wondered what happened to Canada. Our leadership on global issues can no longer be relied upon. The proof of Canada's fall from relevance was our failure to win a seat on the UN Security Council, a clear rebuke to what was once an expectation of an automatic place at the table.
When anyone criticizes these policies, the current government hides behind our brave soldiers in the field, equating support for Stephen Harper with support for the troops. At the same time, the government proposes cuts to Veterans Affairs and breaches the medical privacy of veterans. This is a strange version of support.
I believe that when they get home, those who have served their country deserve the best service in return. I also believe that before we send them into danger, our troops deserve to know what is expected and why it is asked of them.
For years Canada's incoherent, ineffective and expensive efforts to respond to the latest crisis have prevented us from actively preventing the next one. We need a foreign policy designed by people who understand how the process works. We need to invert the way we look at global issues: turn it on its head. Instead of reacting to each new crisis, conflict and problem as though it were an isolated event, we must establish a way of approaching issues and an underlying philosophy that will provide a platform from which we can see our way to solutions clearly and consistently. We need the long view.
I believe we must treat people with respect, listen carefully to their points of view and then find common ground on which practical solutions can be built. This applies to foreign relations as much as it does to relationships with neighbours, friends and family. This is the approach toward solutions.
We must, at all times, rise above knee-jerk reactionary emotion and understand the longer-term objectives that we hold most dear. And we can only do that if we are clear about our values.
We cannot claim to stand for peace and so easily opt for war.
We cannot claim to prize humanity and allow so much suffering.
We cannot claim to value the truth and preach from ignorance.
We must understand our connection to others on this planet in a more direct and personal way. Their future is our future. Their failure is our failure.
We must build our foreign policy from this foundation, with clear objectives, perseverance and integrity. We cannot waver in indecision, nor can we strike off in a misconception of our own self-interest.
We owe it to those who fought for our freedoms and sacrificed so much. We owe it to those who still serve today. And we owe it to the generations to come, so that they will not need to make those sacrifices.
It is time for us to truly lead, learn from the mistakes of the past and work together to ensure they are not repeated. Lest we forget.
]]>Proud to Be a Member of Parliamenttag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.10175522011-10-21T14:07:12-04:002011-12-21T05:12:01-05:00Romeo Saganashhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/romeo-saganash/
You see, I wasn't anxiously waiting for a chance to get involved in federal politics. I was happy in my role with the Grand Council of the Crees. We had accomplished a lot in the past 30 years and there remains a lot more to do that is worth doing.
I had been asked to run many times, but the time was never right. When Jack Layton asked me again this past February, I realized that my children were now old enough -- the youngest of the three is 16-- and I was ready to make the move to Ottawa. We agreed to begin a journey together, along with 306 other candidates, all those staff and volunteers and, as it turned out, a whole lot of Canadians. That journey is not complete, but the path we started on is clear.
That path leads to reconciliation.
I don't just mean reconciling Indigenous peoples with the rest of Canada, although we can start there.
Whether you live on reserve, in the remote north, or in the heart of a city, there is much healing -- much teaching and learning -- that needs to be done. I carry that responsibility deep in my heart.
It is also about reconciling rural Canada with urban Canada, east with west, Francophones with Anglophones, and both of those groups with all of us who have another mother tongue, whether we are new Canadians or indigenous peoples.
It is about reconciling the need for economic development with protecting the environment so that our children and their children will have a future; one that allows them to prosper physically and spiritually as well as materially.
It is about Canada's role in protecting human rights at home and abroad, ensuring that full respect for the rule of law by those in authority promotes peace and lawfulness by everyone and is never replaced by the raw application of power.
It is about reconciling the obligations that people owe to society with what they take in benefits from society. When I look at the Occupy Wall Street -- and now Occupy Everywhere -- protests that are going on, I see the urgent need to reconcile the growing gap between the privileged few and the many of us who pay for those privileges.
Reconciliation is the path to prosperity. Canada prospers when we strengthen our common bonds.
We prosper when we invest in young people, providing the best education in the world without the crushing burden of enormous student debt.
Canada prospers when we are healthy: seniors, those living with disabilities, all of us regardless of income, receiving the best care in the world.
We all prosper when community infrastructure anywhere in Canada is as strong as everywhere else.
Canada prospers when immigrants and new Canadians receive the help they need to integrate -- language training and credentials recognition -- to contribute to their fullest ability.
We all prosper when we treat each other with fairness, when we share in supporting others as our society supports each of us.
Canada prospers when we respect all of our relations -- each element of our environment, human and otherwise -- in the certainty that we must act to sustain what sustains us.
We prosper when governments keep their promises, to everyone. When every commitment is honoured and when that is demonstrated, transparently and accountably.
Canada prospers when we share in a vision for a strong and fair country. It prospers when we share in the making that vision a reality, and it prospers when we share in the benefits of our accomplishment.
I am in Parliament because I believe that, together, we can make this vision a reality. We can pull together to create a better Canada.
We have already begun our journey on this path. We have a long way to go. We can help each other get there.]]>Stephen Harper's Government For the Few Paid For By the Manytag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.10073052011-10-13T15:58:56-04:002011-12-13T05:12:01-05:00Romeo Saganashhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/romeo-saganash/
What I learned above all else was that each of us is connected. I learned that, by virtue of our connection we are interdependent. And I learned that our mutual reliance -- our community -- demands that we make the effort to understand and respect each other and the role each of us plays.
Reflecting on these fundamental truths, I found myself deeply concerned about our country, about the direction in which we are headed, and about our leadership. That is a major reason why I decided to take the plunge and run for the New Democrats this spring.
I am troubled by the divisions that are being sown between us as people and between all of us who form part of the environment. Dividing people through fear and mistrust is a familiar tactic. As a child, I was one of those taken from home to a residential school where the purpose was to divide Aboriginal children from our roots, our families and communities. We were taught fear and mistrust. I have seen the damage this does to people and to communities at home and in my work around the world. This is how people are set against one other and it weakens a country.
I am dismayed at how easily we dismiss the needs of others. There are some among the privileged few who deliberately undervalue the contributions of the rest of Canadians, who believe that they are entitled to use what has been created by and belongs to us all in order to profit themselves alone. The growing gap between the rich and the rest of us is the result of this belief and it is in the process of sinking economies around the world.
I am appalled at how Stephen Harper and his Conservatives are eroding respect for Canada's own laws and the very idea of governance itself. They ignore our international commitments, they undermine respect for our courts here at home, and they refuse to enforce or even accept their own legal obligations to Canadians. Then they call this "strong leadership." This is how we lost our bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. This is why Canadians are disaffected, distanced from their own government and from their own role in civil society.
These actions are the manifestation of an ideology that is at fundamental odds with what we know to be our best interest as a country. These are the actions of a government that ignores the social, environmental and economic bottom lines. Simply put, these are the actions of a government of and for the few, paid for by the honest, hard work of the many.
There is a better way. We can do much better as a nation. We can work to create a better Canada, for all of us. Here at Huffington Post in the weeks and months to come, I will tell you more about my thoughts on how we can -- as Ghandi said -- be the change that we wish to see in the world. I invite you to share your thoughts with me and start the dialogue.