Co-signed by Jean Crowde, MP, Nanaimo-Cowichan
Dear Minister John Duncan,
It has been over a week since the Federal Court determined your department's decision to appoint a Third Party Manager in Attawapiskat last November was "unreasonable" and resulted from a failure to consider "more reasonable, more responsive, or less invasive remedies available." In the days after this very clear ruling, you said you needed to spend more time thinking about the implications. We have decided to reach out to you to suggest concrete ways of mending the broken relationship in Attawapiskat. If you showed leadership, Attawapiskat could be a test case towards finding long-term sustainable solutions for northern First Nations.
At the outset, let's deal with the key finding in the ruling by Justice Michael Phelan that Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada failed to understand the real problem in Attawapiskat, which was a lack of resources and equipment, not a problem of financial mismanagement.
To this end, we are disturbed that in the days following the court decision (August 2nd) you refused to provide a ministerial guarantee to support a plan that had been approved by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to build 30 new duplexes in Attawapiskat through rents established at market rates. Since Attawapiskat has never defaulted on a housing loan it is not surprising that CHMC was willing to partner with the community.
Thirty new units would have gone a long way towards alleviating the serious levels of overcrowding in the community. As the band had already been approved by CMHC, your role was simply to sign a ministerial guarantee. This was not a hand-out but a forward-looking plan that to provide safe housing for families who are living in very precarious conditions.
It would be disturbing to think that this refusal to sign off on a credible funding arrangement for new housing may have been part of the ongoing punishment of the community for having spoken up about the dire housing conditions last November. Such a move would only further underline the sense of broken trust between your department and northern First Nations. Last week, Postmedia published an article revealing that your department is now dealing with "Attawapiskat Syndrome" among communities who fear that annual water inspections will be used to impose Third Party Managers on their communities.
It is imperative that you recognize that, in re-establishing a positive relationship with Attawapiskat, you are sending a signal that you are committed to building a positive working relationship with all First Nation communities. Certainly Chief Theresa Spence in Attawapiskat has been very forthright in her desire to work with you on more positive terms.
To this end, we would like to suggest concrete steps that will help end the suspicion with which you are being viewed by many communities. No doubt, you will recognize many of these ideas as ones brought forward in the media by independent experts who spoke out during the mismanagement of the Attawapiskat housing crisis:
Jean Crowde
MP, Nanaimo-Cowichan
http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/the-man-behind-stephen-harper-tom-flanagan/
Except that, right in the middle of this so-called state of emergency, when people were in leaky houses and tents, the Attawapiskat Indian band — with three chiefs and 18 band councillors on the payroll — made an important financial decision.
They needed a new ice resurfacer for their hockey rink."
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/08/10/hockey-rules-in-attawapiskat
The ice resurfacer (Olympia) that was purchased was discounted because of the trade in from the old one. The band raised funds on their own to purchase it.
http://www.attawapiskat.org/wp-content/uploads/20111205NoticeQuestionsAboutAttawapiskat.pdf
Establish legally binding contracts with penalties and regular inspections to ensure these housing units are respected and cared for.
http://ipolitics.ca/2011/06/09/a-decade-on-government-progress-on-first-nations-reserves-elusive/
The 10-year examination of First Nations policy concluded that education and child welfare — along with adequate housing and clean drinking water — are in an "unacceptable" state, despite a large stack of government recommendations, initiatives and money over the years.
Following the report's release, both Atleo and Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan announced a joint process to develop goals for education, economic development and governance of First Nations.
The aim is to have the process culminate in a summit later this year, which Atleo said could also tackle issues including the Assembly of First Nations' desire to move away from the Indian Act and embark on a more independent relationship with the federal government.
http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Education/2011/07/13/Ottawa-failing-First-Nations-education-advocate/
Mr. Duncan.
[English]
Mr. John Duncan (Vancouver Island North, CPC): Thank you very much.
Thank you for your good work on the three chapters of the report that we're looking at today.
Just on a broad level in regard to chapter 8 dealing with transferring federal responsibilities to the north, the response of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to the AG chapter was basically to disagree that they should be responsible for results and that their only responsibility should be fulfilling specific obligations. I think that leaves the door wide open for a complete lack of accountability.
I'm assuming this is of concern to you also, so I'd ask your opinion on that.
I also have some other, more specific questions, so if you could provide an appropriate answer to that one at this time....
Ms. Sheila Fraser: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It is correct, as we noted in our opening statement...
In the note we did there are a couple of findings. First, we hope the department would intervene earlier in the process, to try to help correct the issues before there is need of a third-party manager.
The Chair: Thank you, Ms. Fraser and Mr. Duncan.
http://www.turtleisland.org/news/audgeneral.htm
Hookimaw-Witt, Jacqueline. "Keenebonanoh Keemoshominook Kaeshe Peemishikhik Odaskiwakh [Microform] = We Stand on the Graves of Our Ancestors: Native Interpretations of Treaty No. 9 with Attawapiskat Elders." MA Thesis, Trent University, 1998.
&
Macklem, Patrick. "The Impact of Treaty 9 on Natural Resource Development in Northern Ontario." In Aboriginal and Treaty Rights in Canada: Essays on Law, Equity, and Respect for Difference, ed. Michael Asch, 97-134. Vancouver: UBC Press published in association with the Centre for Constitutional Studies, University of Alberta, 1997.
&
Waisberg, Leo G., Joan A. Lovisek, and Tim E. Holzkamm. "Ojibwa Reservations as 'an incubus upon the territory:' The Indian Removal Policy of Ontario, 1874-1982." Papers of the Algonquian Conference 27 (1996): 337-52.
One of the key questions surrounding industrial development in the James and Hudson Bay lowlands is whether efforts to “dewater” open pit mines by pumping out groundwater from beneath the pit could release more toxic mercury into the environment. Mercury is already an issue in the area. In addition to the mercury that occurs naturally, industries and fossil fuel use are pumping more mercury into the air. This inorganic mercury falls on the land in dust, rain or snow and is then transformed into more dangerous methyl mercury by microbes in the oxygen-poor peat bog environment. The north’s extensive peatland slowly releases methyl mercury into creeks and rivers, where it can be taken up by long-lived northern fish and build up in the birds, animals and people who eat the fish.
So when the De Beers Victor diamond mine won permission to pump up to 150,000 cubic metres of water a day to “dewater” its open pit in 2008, concern was raised that the pumping could also move mercury into local rivers and boost fish contamination.
“It’s recognized throughout the world that when you dry peatland, the water being pumped turns brown and the mercury levels in water tends to increase,” says retired University of Ottawa toxicologist David Lean. “Particularly in northern areas, where large pickerel and northern pike are already at or near consumption guidelines for mercury, I think it’s a bad idea to do something that could add more mercury.”
http://www.attawapiskat.org/financial-statements/
If you want to know where the money was spent, you can look in the audited financial reports. This document for example provides a breakdown of all program funding.
http://www.attawapiskat.org/wp-content/uploads/2011-Consolidated-Schedule-of-Programs.pdf
Just getting to this stage alone proves false the claim that there is no accountability and no one knows where the money goes.
That $90 million includes funding for things like:
education per pupil
education infrastructure (maintenance, repair, teacher salaries, etc)
health-care per patient
health-care, infrastructure (clinics, staff, access to services outside the community in the absence of facilities on reserve)
social services (facilities, staff, etc)
infrastructure (maintenance and construction)
a myriad of other services
These costs are often not taken into account when attempting to compare a First Nation reserve to a non-native municipality. In fact, many people forget that their own health-care and education are heavily subsidised by tax dollars as well.”
But the facts are simple, the people in the remote community raised the money for the new Olympia Ice Resurfacer through fundraising efforts, in particular bingos in the community. The machine was purchased in order to replace one that had come to the end of its operational life according to the Attawapiskat First Nation. The facts from Attawapiskat are online Olympia Ice Resurfacer.
In this case, the opinion expressed by ever ignorant Canadians are ones that perhaps should be researched & referenced PRIOR to commenting eh?
http://netnewsledger.com/2011/12/17/attawapiskat-there-is-a-war-of-words-happening-in-the-media/”
&
http://onnaturemagazine.com/the-saga-of-victor-mine.html
&
The Ring of Fire
By Peter Gorrie
The experience of Attawapiskat First Nation, on James Bay northeast of
the Ring of Fire, demonstrates the pitfalls of haphazard deal making.
Some people in the community of about 2,000 say they got the modern
equivalent of a pouch of tobacco in an agreement struck five years ago
with De Beers that paved the way for Ontario?s first diamond mine. De
Beers agreed to pay $28.5 million to the community over 12 years, which
translates into less than $1,200 per person annually, and much of the
money goes to the costs associated with monitoring the agreement,
including fees for lawyers, consultants, administrators and rent. Most
of the approximately 100 or so jobs available at the mine are catering
and maintenance positions ? what Chief Theresa Hall describes as
?menial, low-paying tasks.?
Flaws in the De Beers deal and challenges within the community have
combined to virtually eliminate job training, and De Beers is purchasing
most of its supplies and services from outside companies, reducing local
business opportunities, says resident Jackie Hookimaw Witt. Water is
continually drained from the boggy mine site into the Attawapiskat
River, a local source of fish. Although evidence is inconclusive, many
residents fear that the fish are contaminated due to high levels of
mercury that?s mobilized when bogs are disturbed.