If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) is busy patting itself on the back for solving all of Attawapiskat's problems. To hear them tell it, Jacques Marion, who was just let go as the First Nation's third-party manager, was a veritable hero, swooping into Attawapiskat in the nick of time, narrowly averting disaster.
With respect to those who suggest we henceforth do without the British Monarchy, there wouldn't be a Canada without the British Monarchy. This trumps everything as regards this debate. We have real problems in Canada at the moment -- and the British Monarchy isn't one of them.
One of the last times I saw her was when she and Serena spoke at the Ontario Federation of Labour Convention in Toronto. She blew the room away. Tough-assed union leaders cried when they heard her speak. There was something so vulnerable but so fierce about Shannen. She had moxy.
Housing is increasingly unaffordable for many. Federal support for housing has plummeted and could decrease further in an era of so-called fiscal restraint. The numbers point to more and more households unable to meet, or at risk of not meeting, basic needs including housing. Something's gotta give.
As you boot up your computer bleary-eyed this morning, groping about for your cup of coffee, I'm going to be that peppy friend across the table who is just so GOSH DARN EXCITED it's the new year! And do you know WHY I'm so excited?! (C'mon ask me, ask me!!)
Because it's the first new year you can start your day with The Huffington Post CANADA. YES! How sweet is that, eh? Canada news, Canada blogs, Canada celebs, Canada style, cute Canadian kitties on YouTube...
Attawapiskat is the portmanteau of Canadian blame, and the longer this continues the more neurotic, blame-happy and internationally noticed Canada becomes for all of this. We are a nation that says sorry with saccharine regularity but we balance this with a love of blame.
We are now two months into the crisis. Temperatures have dropped well below -20 Celsius. If it had not been for the work of the Red Cross, people may have died. And yet, Christmas will come with families still living in tents and sheds. This is completely unacceptable.
No proof is offered to support the assertion that she is hiding anything at all, it is merely seen as obvious. The question people should be asking if they are honestly interested is, "Why is Chief Spence rejecting third-party management?"
If Attawapiskat wants the continued support of the public over an extended period of time, it has to show that they are managing funds effectively. But in the meantime, who is helping the people who need housing now? Fight it out in court and do your audits after you take care of the emergency.
Chief Spence wants no outside interference -- just more money and no questions asked or controls demanded. If any non-Aboriginal community were run the way Attawapiskat was run, there'd be a revolt among residents -- and the feds would long ago have cut off funding.
Given the Harper government's frequent pronouncements about how they have "heavily invested" in Attawapiskat, I'm sure some of you are puzzled about its third-world conditions. I've decided to place Harper's communications department under third-party management until all of the facts are sorted out.
Reading the news coverage on Attawapiskat doesn't feel very healthy sometimes. There are so many racist rants and outright ignorant responses that it can bog you down. Where do you even begin? Well, you can try to answer questions with facts. Here are some of those facts, if you're interested.
The Indian Act -- an arcane law of our Parliament as old as Canada itself that institutionalizes apartheid on our soil -- makes it impossible for Ottawa's paternalistic iron grip of dependency to be loosened. Making action more difficult are the few Aboriginal "leaders" that make a very healthy living off the status quo and don't want to change it.
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.
Attawapiskat is Canada's Katrina moment. It may not be the same scale, but it is the tip of the iceberg for the numerous Bantustan-style homelands of the far north. Years of chronic under funding and bureaucratic indifference has created a Haiti north where dying in slow motion on ice-filled shantytown is considered the norm.
