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Tim Knight

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Watching the Watchdog: Supporting Idle No More is a No-Brainer

Posted: 01/07/2013 10:06 am
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Tim Knight writes the regular media column, Watching the Watchdog, for HuffPost Canada.


I've been writing this Watching the Watchdog column since March, 2012.

At roughly two-and-half columns a week, that makes around 100 editions in the past ten months. To which you, the HuffPost readers, have added perhaps 700 most welcome comments.

Sometimes, when your comments have taken the matter further and found meaning I've missed, they've enlightened and delighted me.

Then there are the times when you've rightly disagreed with my judgment, so I've re-thought my position and even publicly apologized.

On a few occasions, your comments have praised my intelligence, even my reasoning/writing. (These are my favourites.)

Other times they've simply baffled me.

And a few times, your comments have had nothing whatsoever to do with what I wrote.

As Forrest Gump explained so elegantly, life is "like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

Gump knew whereof he spoke.

For instance, on September 15 last year I wrote about Canada's journalists: "What if we all revolt? I believe that only a journalists' revolt can save Canadian TV news and protect the people's sacred right to fair, disinterested, honest, public service information." Although this is a column which, you may have noticed, is devoted to the media, I got not a single comment in response.
On November 17 I wrote about the power of white-skin privilege in the first U.S. election debate. I accused President Obama of "behaving like a cautious, respectful black man facing a very powerful white man" when he took on Mitt Romney. I expected a flood of comments accusing me of racism. There were seven, all politely agreeing with me.
On November 28, I wrote: "Israel claims the right to kill anyone who, in its opinion, has 'relevance to terror activity.' Which means, in turn, that any government, including our own Canadian government (which supports Israel in just about everything it does), can use that same excuse any time it wishes to kill a few journalists it doesn't like." Again, not a single comment. Maybe there's a general belief around that it's a good idea to kill journalists you don't agree with.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, came the comments to my columns about the First Nations' protest. Most reaction to anything I'd ever written here.

On December 21 I wrote about Chief Spence's hunger strike and the First Nations Idle No More protest and asked: "How has it come to this?" I answered: "Simple. It's what inevitably happens eventually when colonial powers invade aboriginal land. The newcomers carry big guns and speak grand words about the glory of their civilization and the power of their mighty god. And they justify the invasion by trying to destroy native culture, 'civilize' the people and turn them into lesser versions of the colonizers."

Thirty comments poured in. Most were along the theme of "I am so tired of the whining and complaining of Indians; their sense of entitlement is astounding. This is not their country, never has been."

And "Waiting for someone to feel sorry for you and give you something you think you are entitled to is an exercise in futility."
And "They don't want to pay taxes. They want other citizens to fork over billions to them -- forever. Natives [hold] a perpetual grudge against the rest of their countrymen. I believe there will come a day when the majority will finally say, 'Enough already. Sort yourselves out.'

On the very first day of this year I wrote about dancing with Idle No More protesters in Toronto's Dundas Square and got another twenty-seven comments. One attacked Chief Spence, whose hunger strike sparked a planned meeting with Prime Minister Harper this week.

It called her: "... incompetent, irresponsible and just plain disrespectful to the planet. This woman is a disgraceful example of female 'leadership'."

But it's not just the comments to my Watching the Watchdog columns that baffle me.

All over the Internet, people delight in zapping Chief Spence and Idle No More.

Even a couple of my friends have chimed in.

One friend, in his sixties and noticeably liberal and urbane, emailed: "Having been stopped from getting off one train onto another in Vancouver yesterday by these lawless renegades I have no sympathy nor support for these ne'r do wells. Not to mention a chief who has received millions of our money and achieved nothing for her village which by any modern standard would not exist were it not for white guilt and gutless politicians!"
Another, in his early thirties, wrote: "All I can say is that as a former professional protester myself, my instinct is usually that the real problem is that the protesters are poor because they smoke pot all night and wake up at noon. They're 'marginalized' because nobody agrees with them because they're crazy."

I don't understand.

Centuries of racism, neglect and broken promises have spawned a righteous anger among Canada's native people.

The outward and visible signs of that anger are the Idle no More blockades of trains and roads designed to "stop the Harper government from passing more laws and legislation that will further erode treaty and indigenous rights and the rights of all Canadians."

That doesn't seem to me to be asking a lot. Particularly in light of the damage done by the colonial residential schools to First Nations culture and the appalling conditions that still exist today on so many reserves.

Writing about it seems to trigger some deep, residual guilt in people.

But the Idle No More protesters are simply asking that we Canadians, represented by our government in Ottawa, respect the treaties signed with our First Nations.

Thankfully, they have some powerful supporters:

Among those supporters are Amnesty International Canada, Assembly of First Nations, Canadian Quakers, Earth Roots, Indigenous World Association, Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, Lawyer's Rights Watch Canada and a whole galaxy of aboriginal organizations.

Here's the last part of these organizations' joint statement: "It is tragic that a hunger strike and Canada-wide protests are necessary, in order for Indigenous peoples to bring attention to violations of their dignity, Treaties and human rights. We urge all Canadians to engage with Indigenous peoples, to help educate others, and to support the current movement of awareness raising and ensuring vital reforms."

Damned if I can see how any Canadian can be against keeping our promises to the people who were here first.

Loading Slideshow...

  • A native dancer looks on during an 'Idle No More' gathering on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

  • Native dancers rally during an 'Idle No More' gathering on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

  • Idle No More Mall Protest

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/LJ_Henshell"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/630755180/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/LJ_Henshell">LJ Henshell</a>:<br />A First Nations Drummer plays during a protest at Intercity Shopping Center in Thunder Bay, Ontario

  • It's about the future

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/LJ_Henshell"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/630755180/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/LJ_Henshell">LJ Henshell</a>:<br />A child protests in Thunder Bay, Ontario

  • United we stand

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Doug_Cleverley"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/805699678/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Doug_Cleverley">Doug Cleverley</a>:<br />At the #IdleNoMore rally in Owen Sound (Saugeen Ojibway Nation territory), during a spontaneous round dance at the main downtown intersection.

  • Killer Whale Dance

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/twitter_profile_img/4441016.png" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop">Courtney Harrop</a>:<br />Idle No More actions, Coast Salish Territories, Powell River, BC

  • Idle No More #J11

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/twitter_profile_img/4441016.png" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop">Courtney Harrop</a>:<br />Coast Salish Territories, Powell River, BC

  • Idle No More #J11 March

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/twitter_profile_img/4441016.png" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop">Courtney Harrop</a>:<br />Coast Salish Territories, Powell River, BC

  • Tla'Amin Prayer Song #J11 Idle No More

    Tla'Amin Prayer song on #J11 2013 Idle No More, Coast Salish Territories, Powell River BC

  • Tla'Amin Killer Whale Dance, #J11 #IdleNoMore

    Tla'Amin Killer Whale Dance, #J11 #IdleNoMore, Coast Salish Territories, Powell River, BC

  • C45 affects all Canadians! Join the fight.

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Eleanor_Kure"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/840875359/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Eleanor_Kure">Eleanor Kure</a>:<br />At the Idle No More protest in Halifax Nova Scotia. with an eco-justice article in pocket, spreading the word that Bill C45 affects every Canadian, not only First Nations. Thank you FN, for beginning this movement.

  • Piyesiw Awasis

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/mizzren"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/twitter_profile_img/3183681.png" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/mizzren">mizzren</a>:<br />Thunderchild First Nation @ Lloydminster Flash Mob. January 16, 2013

  • <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/01/16/idle-no-more-queen-elizabeth-2-highway-blockade-alberta_n_2490009.html">Idle No More supporters jump onto a truck</a> as they are pushed by a driver trying to pass, as the protesters block Highway 2 as part of a planned national day of action, in Edmonton, Alberta on Wedneday January 16, 2013.

  • Aboriginal protesters march down Huron Church Road towards the Ambassador bridge in Windsor Ontario, Wednesday, January 16, 2013. About 1000 demonstrators disrupted traffic to the country's busiest border crossing for several hours.

  • Aboriginal protestors pray at the end of their blockade of a CN railroad track just west of Portage La Prairie, Man., on Wednesday, January 16, 2016. They ended their protest without incident.

  • Aboriginal protesters demonstrate at the base of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor Ontario, Wednesday, January 16, 2013. About 1000 demonstrators disrupted traffic to the country's busiest border crossing for several hours.

  • Idle No More demonstrators block a CN east-west track just west of Portage La Prairie, Manitoba Wednesday, January 16, 2016.

  • Mississaugas of the New Credit support INM

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Vicki_King_Jamieson"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/750500023/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Vicki_King_Jamieson">Vicki King Jamieson</a>:<br />New Credit Youth supporting INM

  • Montreal Idle No More

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Caillum"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Caillum">Caillum</a>:<br />Thousands of people, both Native and Canadian, show their support at an Idle No More protest in Montreal on January 11th, 2013.

  • #Denendeh #J11 #IdleNoMore #YZF #NWT Yellowknife "Northwest Territories"

    Video of the Global Day of Action rally in downtown Somba K’e (Yellowknife)on the Akaitcho territory of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation in Denendeh (Northwest Territories).

  • #IdleNoMore March and Round Dance in Yellowknife Denendeh NWT

    "Today (Friday, December 21, 2012) in Denendeh and across the globe, we made an impact, a statement for true justice to be brought forward and acknowledged. But it will not stop, for the 8th fire has been lit and will only grow. Mahsi for all who showed up and united, we felt the support....we felt the fire!! And there's more to come in the new year." On Facebook By Lawrence Nayally, Melaw Nakehk'o and Eugene Boulanger https://www.facebook.com/events/112403725595655/

  • Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, wearing a headdress, takes part in a drum ceremony before departing a Ottawa hotel to attend a ceremonial meeting at Rideau Hall with Gov. Gen. David Johnston in Ottawa, Friday January 11, 2013.

  • Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, centre, departs a Ottawa hotel to attend a ceremonial meeting at Rideau Hall with Gov. Gen. David Johnston in Ottawa, Friday January 11, 2013.

  • Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with First Nations leaders in Ottawa on January 11, 2013.

  • Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with First Nations leaders in Ottawa on January 11, 2013.

  • Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence makes a brief statement on Victoria Island near Parliament Hill Friday January 11, 2013 in Ottawa. Spence is speaking out for the first time about how her reserve spends government money, saying most of what flows to her isolated James Bay reserve actually gets spent outside the community.

  • Aboriginal Chiefs stand at the main gate to Parliament Hill during a protest Friday January 11, 2013 in Ottawa.

  • Idle No More protesters listen to speakers during a rally on Parliament Hill Friday January 11, 2013 in Ottawa.

  • Gordie Odjig of Wikwemikong stands at the west gate to the Langevin Block during the aboriginal meeting in Ottawa on Friday, January 11, 2013.

  • Idle No More at UBC Vancouver

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Randall_Gray"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/100001602753648/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Randall_Gray">Randall Gray</a>:<br />

  • Idle No More at UBC Vancouver

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Randall_Gray"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/100001602753648/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Randall_Gray">Randall Gray</a>:<br />

  • Los Angeles Rally In Solidarity with First nations

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/hp_blogger_Melinda Gopher"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/contributors/melinda-gopher/headshot.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/hp_blogger_Melinda Gopher">HuffPost Blogger Melinda Gopher</a>:<br />Brock Conway, Blackfeet activist, with Saulteaux Actor Adam Beach and companion. Photo: Morning Star Gopher

  • Native protesters march up Wellington Street in Ottawa on Friday, January 11, 2013.

  • Four-year-old Phoenix Sky Cottrelle,from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, holds a sign as aboriginal protestors gather on Victoria Island before they march to Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, January 11, 2013.

  • Aboriginal protestors hold signs as they march from Victoria Island to Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, January 11, 2013.

  • Gordie Odjig, an aboriginal protestor from Wikwemikong, shouts as he marches from Victoria Island to Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, January 11, 2013.

  • Woman's Voices

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/twitter_profile_img/4441016.png" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop">Courtney Harrop</a>:<br />Idle No More event Dec 30th,2012. Tla'Amin Nation Coast Salish Territories Powell River, British Columbia.

  • Idle No More Edmonton

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/AUPELOCAL6CHAIR"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/twitter_profile_img/4411530.png" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/AUPELOCAL6CHAIR">AUPELOCAL6CHAIR</a>:<br />Planned overnight and what a turn out!

  • IdleNoMore March, Dauphin, Mb

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Phyllis_Racette"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/1354341984/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Phyllis_Racette">Phyllis Racette</a>:<br />#IdleNoMOre Dauphin, Mb

  • Chicago Idle No More @ the Canadian Consulate

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Jolene_Aleck"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/644015258/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Jolene_Aleck">Jolene Aleck</a>:<br />Chicago's Idle No More 1.5.2012 rally @ the Canadian Consulate

  • VancouverC Jan 2 2013

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC

  • A man waves a flags as aboriginal protesters and supporters in the Idle No More movement block the Blue Water Bridge border crossing to the United States in Sarnia, Ont. on Saturday, January 5, 2013.

  • VancouverA Jan 2 2013

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC

  • VancouverB Jan 2 2013

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC

  • VancouverD Jan 2 2013

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC

  • VancouverH Jan 2 2013

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC, January 2, 2013.

  • VancouverF Jan 2 2013

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC

  • VancouverE Jan 2 2013

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC

  • VancouverG Jan 2 2013

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC

  • Flag Planting

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/seawaytoday"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/seawaytoday">seawaytoday</a>:<br />Akwesasne Idle No More att Cornwall, ON

  • Dec 21st 2012 Idle No More Ottawa: Berdine

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Gail_Chicky_Gallagher"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/535670179/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Gail_Chicky_Gallagher">Gail Chicky Gallagher</a>:<br />


 

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Tim Knight writes the regular media column, Watching the Watchdog, for HuffPost Canada. I've been writing this Watching the Watchdog column since March, 2012. At roughly two-and-half columns a wee...
Tim Knight writes the regular media column, Watching the Watchdog, for HuffPost Canada. I've been writing this Watching the Watchdog column since March, 2012. At roughly two-and-half columns a wee...
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Yoni Goldstein

Yoni Goldstein: Theresa Spence Is More the Problem Than Solution

I don't think Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence is going to starve to death. For one thing, the Prime Minister surely knows a dead First Nations chief would not make for good PR. Personally, though, I also have my doubts Chief Spence would actually see this through the end. I think the media attention, not the martyrdom, is what she's after. No, I have no sympathy for Chief Spence. She and other native leaders are the biggest reason why native reserves are mostly hellholes, filled with poverty, addiction, lack of education and general misery.

 
 
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yajra
0 Fans
09:26 AM on 01/08/2013
all this comment on the Attawapiskat situation. The money that is in question, came from (look in the mirror!), "US". We set up the inefficient Dept of Indian affairs and relied on OUR Government to control how it operated. Its hard to believe, that all that money was being provided with little or no checks and balances. some third world countries do a better job of honouring their treaty responsibilities, than does the Canadian Government. This debacle, is entirely the fault of the Federal Government (now and in the past)!! how? could that much money be issued before anyone hit the stop button?
cheers
Bob Elvish
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okgranny
Egalitarian by birth
317 Fans
09:36 PM on 01/07/2013
Thank you for this insightful column. As an old,white western woman, I support The Idle No More movement 100%. To me, our collective racist attitudes and behavior toward First Nation's People is a suppurating wound on the face of Canada.
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Jason Haney
14 Fans
03:11 PM on 01/07/2013
Thank you for pointing out the ugly comments, bigoted and racist on each and every article I have reviewed since I started paying attention to Idle No More. The ignorance in the online population is tremendous!
I blame the media and Government for decades of refusing to do the hard work of making the First Nations relationship to the Government completely transparent.
What REALLY needs to be done is an investigative journalistic approach to educating Canadians on the Legal ramifications of these treaties, the strict reporting requirements of the Indian Act, the Auditor Generals own damning report in 2011 outlining the Governments continued failing in its fiduciary responsibility to the First Nations over a decade reviewed, including the Liberals.
The sooner this is done, the sooner we'll see a change in tune, but all Canadians know are the stereotypes and spin which continue to be enforced by both media and government.
Whatever happened to the journalists who lived to uncover the whole truth? They seem to be wowed by spin only, whatever sells right? Sadly even the Huffington Post has bought into it without any real investigation today seeing your front page.
Some of us see between the lines, have read the treaties and Indian Act and see the bigger picture, but this week the ignorant will rejoice at harpers bold move to discredit Chief Spence with a PMO sponsored "leaked" audit and thus damage Idle No More's relationship with the average Candian.
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Seamus OMalley
My micro-bio is no longer empty.
85 Fans
11:59 AM on 01/09/2013
"I blame the media and Government for decades of refusing to do the hard work of making the First Nations relationship to the Government completely transparent."

---

... and what role shound FN play in enhancing the transparency in this relationship? Hiding funds and evicting media doesn't help.
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Jason Haney
14 Fans
04:35 PM on 01/16/2013
Talk to Aboriginal Affairs and harper on that.  It is government legislation that prevents you or I from peaking deeper into their rabbit hole.  The people that know where every dollar went is the Band Manager and Aboriginal Affairs, by government law, its no one else's business.  I would see that changed, band councils are only accountable to the government, not their people.  so where corruption arises, follow the money trail to find the source.  it starts at the top, aboriginal affairs!
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mathewhupfield
12 Fans
 
02:10 PM on 01/07/2013
The 7 stages of grief: Shock, Denial, Anger, Guilt/Sadness, Sorrow/Readjustment, Reconstruction and Resolution, Acceptance/Reconciliation.

Canada is currently somewhere in between Denial and Anger with respects to it's poor relationship with Aboriginal peoples. Lot's of finger pointing and denying reality. This is not something that is fully the fault of Canadians, however, as with any healing process following a period of trauma, is "normal".

With that being said, anyone who has experienced grief must be aware that projecting anger onto others is destructive and divisive and does nothing to make things better. Agreed that there are examples of poor accountability on reserves, however, there are also examples of success, growth and recovery. Whitewashing the issue with anger and dismissiveness fails to make things better - in fact, it often makes things worse for all - including the communities where things are getting better.
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Derek Knight
1 Fans
11:57 AM on 01/07/2013
When Canadians stand tall to speak out against injustice the world over and yet allow some of our own people, our own communities to have virtually no infrastructure, a youth who turn to sniffing gas and suicide at rates amongst the highest in the world... then I can understand why we may feel guilty and lash out at the inconvenience of a missed train, or delayed trip.

We don't want to see ourselves as conquerors or destroyers of culture. We accept and nourish ALL cultures. Of course, we allow the First Nations the 'freedom' to practice their own history, their own beliefs. The fact that so many changes wrought by the modern age make it almost impossible to do so, is ignored.

We will joyfully and proudly send millions of dollars to other cultures and other peoples who are in dire need of it. But we are bitter about every dollar spent on people who share our cities, our Provinces. Is it simply easier to put the unknown stranger on the pedestal? Is it easier to assume that the one's we "know" are not victims but rather complicit in their own failures?

Well said Tim... well said.

-Derek Knight
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fallyn fleur
It's not about left or right.....
104 Fans
11:06 AM on 01/07/2013
Great post. By standing up and being idle no more, the First Nations are protecting the environment for us all. Mad respect to them and all of my support.
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