It comes as no real surprise to those who have witnessed Tom Flanagan casually call for state assassinations or defend the very civilizing project that led to the abhorrent Indian Residential School system to learn that he made flippant comments regarding child pornography while giving a talk on the Indian Act. So when Flanagan, a former adviser to Stephen Harper, was summarily dropped as a commentator by the CBC and labelled a persona non grata by the Alberta Wild Rose Party and Conservative Party of Canada, the reaction among many in academia was: What took you so long?

OTTAWA - First Nations protesters chanted, danced and waved placards and banners on the snowy pavement in front of the Parliament Buildings on Monday ...

As the battle over Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline plays out, two key questions about the moral make-up of Canada will be answered. First, will we as a nation respond to climate change with a renewed commitment to conventional energy and conventional economic growth? Second, will large companies be allowed to bulldoze through unceded Aboriginal territory without local consent?

If the Enbridge review hearings rubber-stamp the pipeline, or Prime Minister Stephen Harper pushes it through, expect a First Nations lawsuit to kill it. The First Nations are the loudest and strongest in protest, and those who most deserve backing.

If you believe that only people contributing to these particular tax revenues should receive social programming, then you and I disagree on a fundamental philosophical level that is beyond the scope of First Nations taxation. I'd even suggest you disagree with a general Canadian belief.

On the other side of the same bay from Attawapiskat, their Cree cousins are not living in the same squalor. It can happen elsewhere. There are solutions. Working in the original spirit of partnership, supported rather than constrained in self-governance, First Nations can move forward.