Warrior Life Studios

Pam Palmater

Tag: chronic underfunding

  • Genocide? Murder? Criminal Negligence? Or Passive Indifference? Canada is Killing Our People

    Racism doesn’t just hurt our feelings – racism kills. The two senseless deaths of First Nations children in a house fire in Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation in Saskatchewan from an unpaid bill of less than $4,000 has sparked outrage across Canada. In no other place in Canada would an ambulance, fire fighter or police officer ask a provincial resident if they had paid their taxes before answering an emergency call for help. Canada has a deep-seated racism problem which is killing our people. But to truly understand Indigenous outrage and sadness, one must understand both the context and true depth of this problem in Canada.

    In the mid-1700’s, colonial governments in what is now Nova Scotia considered the Mi’kmaw Nation to be “rebels” because we refused to give up our land. As a result, Governor Cornwallis issued a scalping proclamation that decimated the Mi’kmaw Nation by as much as 80%. In 1971, Donald Marshall Jr., was sentenced to life in prison for murder and spent 11 years in jail before his wrongful prosecution was exposed. A subsequent Royal Commission found the reason for his imprisonment was racism against Mi’kmaw people by all levels of the justice system.

    In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that the Mi’kmaw right to fish and trade it commercially was protected in our constitutionally-protected treaties. The result? Canada sent in law enforcement to beat, pepper spray and run over our fishing boats – in addition to legal charges. In 2013, Elsipogtog First Nation and other members of the Mi’kmaw Nation who supported their anti-fracking stance in Mi’kmaw territory were labeled “terrorists”, “militants” and “bad Indians”. The scalping law was not used but our people were beaten and imprisoned.

    From small pox blankets and scalping bounties to imprisonment and neglect – Canada is killing our people and Canadians will be next if nothing is done to change the value (or lack thereof) that we collectively put on human life – all human life. This dictatorial, police state is not what newcomers to Canada had in mind when they came to Canada. A territory shared with Indigenous Nations based on formal agreements (treaties) and information agreement (alliances) were founded on three principles: (1) mutual respect, (2) mutual prosperity and (3) mutual protection. Indigenous peoples, their families, communities and Nations protected and cared for newcomers. Our people fought in Canada’s world wars to protect our shared territory and people. Now it’s time for Canadians to stand up for Indigenous peoples.

    In 1971, Helen Betty Osborne was kidnapped and murdered in The Pas, Manitoba. Her grieving friends and family were treated like criminals while the accused men were given the royal treatment by law enforcement and left to walk free for years. This wasn’t the first time our Indigenous women and little girls have been victims of a racist Canada, but no action was taken. Today, Canadians are well aware of the thousands of Indigenous women and little girls have gone murdered and/or missing in Canada. Yet, there is no sense of alarm in Parliament, nor has the Canadian state taken any steps to work with First Nations to embark on an inquiry or implement an emergency action plan.  

    By 1996, the last residential school had closed which was supposed to mark an end to the theft of Indigenous children from our Indigenous families, communities and Nations. Literally thousands of Indigenous children were victims of murders, rapes, tortures and medical experiments – and upwards of 40% never made it out of some of those schools alive. The legacy of thousands of our children who died as a matter of state law and policy should at least have included a promise to stop stealing our children. Today, we have more than 30,000 Indigenous children in care and growing. The problems have not stopped – they are getting worse.

    The use of small pox blankets on our people to try to kill us off faster has been described by medical doctors as the first example of “biological warfare” during non-war times. Indigenous women and little girls were forcibly sterilized without their knowledge and consent for decades in an effort to stop us from reproducing. The Canadian state does not need to use such blatant policies to reduce our populations anymore – willful neglect has the same lethal effect. Federal, provincial and municipal governments are standing by while our people die. This is not an “Indian problem” – this is a Canadian problem that impacts every single Canadian and our collective future.

    In 2005,  Jordan River Anderson, a little boy from Norway House Cree Nation with many medical issues, died in hospital at 5 years old never having seen his home because the federal and provincial governments couldn’t stop arguing over who would pay. In 2008, Brian Sinclair, a double amputee, whose family had roots in Berens River and Fort Alexander First Nations, died after waiting 34 hours in a hospital waiting room waiting for treatment for a bladder infection – while nearly 200 people passed him by – including staff who wrongly assumed he was “sleeping it off”.

    The former Auditor General for Canada raised the alarms about discriminatory funding and the failure by Indian Affairs to take action on programs that would significantly impact the lives of First Nations. The Office of the Correctional Investigator has called the increasing over-representation of Indigenous peoples a crisis that needs to be addressed. The United Nations Special Rapporteur has made numerous recommendations on how Canada can address this multi-faceted crisis in First Nations. But Canada fails to take action.

    Despite Canada’s failure to act, First Nations continue to try to raise the alarm bells on this lethal situation. A failure to address the chronic underfunding has led to First Nations being 10 times more likely to die in a house fire than Canadians. Indian affairs own report done in 2011 indicated that a minimum of $28 million dollars was needed to prevent deadly fires in Manitoba alone – yet all 633 First Nations in Canada only get $26 million.

    Canada sits back and watches our people die needless deaths while we struggle to heal our families and communities, to rebuild after the theft of our lands and resources and to resist ongoing attempts to assimilate and eliminate us. The herculean effort at the grassroots level to protect our people is made more difficult by state propaganda that would blame us for our own misery, or deflect media attention by vilifying our leaders. Now Bill C-51 will make those of us who speak out against such inhumanity all “terrorists”. Then who will defend this territory?

    The Chief Coroner for Ontario released an especially rare and powerful report in 2011 on the child suicide epidemic in Pikangikum First Nation which had declared a state of emergency – a desperate call for help that went unanswered by Canada. Within a two year period between 2006 and 2008, 16 children between the ages of 10-19 committed suicide. 16 children died – not from accidental car crashes or unpreventable diseases but because the “basic necessities of life are absent” in Pikangikum who struggles to heal and survive amidst the “backdrop of colonialism, racism and social exclusion” and government neglect.

    16 little First Nation children committed suicide because the Canadian state creates and maintains the conditions of life that will either kill them or make them so hopeless they will kill themselves. That’s the UN definition of genocide.

    In the words of the coroner, this “was not a story of capitulation to death, but rather, a story of stamina, endurance, tolerance, and resiliency stretched beyond human limits until finally, they simply could take no more.”

    In what vision of Canada are the ongoing deaths of our people ok? We need Canadians to stand beside First Nations and support us as we defend the health of our lands and waters as well as the rights and freedoms of Canadians. This should not be our burden to bear alone anymore. Help us turn this ship around before we lose any more precious children.

    #StopBillC51 #RacismKills #Genocide #FirstNationsLivesMatter #foodfor7gens #mmiw P. Palmater, Genocide, Indian Policy and legislated Elimination of Indians In Canada (2014) vol.3, no.3, Aboriginal Policy Studies 27-54. http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/aps/article/view/22225/pdf_22 P. Palmater, Stretched Beyond Human Limits: Death by Poverty in First Nations (2011) No.65/66, Can. Rev. of Social Policy 112-127. http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/crsp/article/viewFile/35220/32057

  • Myth of the Crooked Indians: C-27 First Nations Financial Transparency Act

    Can you think of any Prime Minister, President or World Leader that would withhold food, water, or health care as a bullying tactic to force its citizens into compliance with a new government law, policy or scheme? Can you ever imagine this happening in Canada? I don’t think most of us could. Yet, this is exactly what is happening with Harper’s implementation of the illegal C-27. Minister Valcourt has threatened to cut off funds for food, water and health care if First Nations do not get in line and abide by this new legislation – despite the fact that it was imposed without legal consultation and is now being legally challenged. How many First Nations children will have to die for Harper to sit down and work this out with First Nations? Bill C-27 (formerly C-575) First Nation Financial Transparency Act (FNFTA) is the classic deflection tactic by Harper’s Conservatives to distract Canadians from the extreme poverty in many First Nations and Canada’s role in maintaining those conditions. The solution to chronic underfunding of essential human services like water, food, and housing lay not in more legislation, but in addressing the problem: the underfunding. Presenting accountability legislation as the solution implies that First Nations are the cause of their own poverty – a racist stereotype Harper’s Cons use quite frequently to divide community members from their leaders and Canadians from First Nations.

    This racist stereotype is recycled again and again when Harper is pressed to account for the fourth world conditions in some First Nations. The response always seem to be: “Well, we gave them x million dollars, where did all the money go”? What Harper never tells Canadians is that in giving First Nations x million dollars, that he has given them half of what is needed to provide the specific program or service. Without all the facts, this propaganda serves to distance Canadians from First Nations.

    In the last couple of years, Harper has been hit hard in the media about Canada’s persistent failure to address the basic needs of First Nations. The following high-profile poverty-related crises in First Nations meant that Harper needed some instant damage control and distraction – which he got with C-27:

    – Cindy Blackstock’s discrimination case for inequitable child and family service funding to First    Nations kids in care;

     – Numerous housing, water and suicide crises and states of emergency in individual First Nations; – Auditor General’s numerous findings related to inequitable funding in housing, water and education; – RCMP’s report about over-representation of murdered and missing Indigenous women; and – United Nation’s finding that Canada’s human rights violations leads to “abysmal” poverty in First Nations despite Canada’s enormous wealth;

    The Cons also use third parties, like the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, to advance their racist propaganda and deflect from the real issues. How many times have we heard the phrase “millionaire chiefs” or “exhorbitant salaries”? Yet there has never been a millionaire Chief in the history of Indian Act Chiefs. Canada has failed to show where any Chief ever received a million dollar salary from federal funding.

    But let’s pretend all 633 Chiefs in Canada got million dollar salaries (which they do not). That would mean $633 million dollars a year in salary to Chiefs. The annual budget for First Nation programs and services is approximately $10 billion.  It would be pretty hard to argue that 6% of the budget going to give all Chiefs a million dollar salary would be the actual cause of First Nation poverty.

    We simply can’t have this conversation around accountability without the facts. The facts are this: the average Canadian salary is $46,000/year. The average elected First Nation leaders’ salary is $36,000/year. Yet, there are numerous municipal librarians making $100,000 a year to manage books, while First Nation leaders must manage human lives.

    http://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/accountability/5_-_the_straight_goods_on_first_nation_salaries.pdf

    But why are we even talking about salaries when we should be talking about funding First Nation food, water and housing? That’s because of C-27 FNFTA and all the media hype around an alleged lack of transparency in First Nations. There are critical problems with this legislation which make it both unconstitutional and illegal: (1) it was done without legal consultation, accommodation and consent of First Nations and (2) it’s a direct interference with inherent First Nation jurisdiction;  and (3) it violates their internationally-protected First Nation right to be self-determining.

     http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/F-11.66.pdf

    FNFTA states that its purpose is to “enhance the financial accountability and transparency of First Nations” – which presumes, of course, that this is lacking. The Act itself provides that:

    – financial statements must be audited yearly;

    – it must include a schedule of salaries and expenses of Chiefs and Councillors;

    – Canada can publish the information on the Internet; and

    – Copies of the audits must be provided by First Nations to their band members.

    These may seem like harmless provisions, except when you realize that First Nations already have to submit audited financial statements every year, or their funding can be cut off. First Nations band members have always had the right to obtain copies of their First Nation audits – either directly from the First Nation or from Indian Affairs.

    What’s not obvious in this Act or its associated rhetoric, is that First Nations are the most accountable governments on the entire planet! The Auditor General has made very disturbing findings about the level to which First Nations must report on their federal funding – a “burdensome” 60,000 reports a year! That’s over 95+ reports per First Nation every year or one report every 3 days. The Auditor General even found that many of these reports are not even read by federal bureaucrats. So what’s the problem?

    http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_201106_04_e_35372.html#hd5j

    Enacting FNFTA seems more like an exercise in smearing First Nation leaders, than addressing any real glaring omission in accountability. And, with the Harper government, there is always a hidden gem. While he is turning community members against their leaders and distracting Canadians from the real issue of underfunding, here is what Harper is REALLY doing in this Act:

    – reporting of any salary, income or expenses of Chiefs and Councillors made in the PERSONAL capacity;

    – First Nations must make their audits accessible to the PUBLIC on the Internet for at least 10 years;

    – refusal by a First Nation to comply with any of these provisions means Canada can CUT FUNDING.

    So let’s look at each of these provisions more closely.

    Personal Income:

    Imagine if any political leaders in Canada had to report their personal wealth in addition to the salary of their public office. Prime Minister Harper is the 6th highest paid political leader in the world with a salary of approximately $300k/year. Harper not only makes 7 times what the average Canadian makes, but makes far more than other world leaders with much larger populations and economies.

    https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/stephen-harper-6th-highest-paid-world-leader-study-134621685.html

    But let’s forget about his salary for a minute. What is Prime Ministers and federal politicians had to publicly disclose their PERSONAL wealth? Then we are no longer talking about over-paid Prime Ministers, we are talking about million dollar Prime Ministers. Stephen Harper’s personal wealth has been estimated at $5M. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin is in the hundreds of millions. Why the double standard?  Why did so many federal MPs refuse to disclose their own expenses? I agree there is an issue of accountability in Canada, but it’s with the federal government, and not First Nations.

    Public Access:

    The other issue is about accountability and to whom? This act makes First Nations accountable to the Minister first, the Canadian public second, and lastly to their band members. This Act does nothing to improve accountability of leaders generally to their membership. In fact, band members will not get any information that they were not entitled to previously. What is new is that the Canadian public has a NEW right to access that information. One has to wonder why that is the case. Canadians don’t participate in First Nation governments, they don’t vote for the leaders, and they certainly don’t pay for their programs and services – despite that persistent myth.

    There is no reason for Canadians to have access to this information – especially any information related to First Nation PERSONAL financial information. Some lawyers have even argued that this Act creates not only a double and higher standard on First Nations than on Canadian politicians; but also violates their legal privacy rights. There is simply no need for this piece of the legislation.

    Cutting Funding:

    Here is the real issue. Harper’s bully government has been meticulous in designing heavy-handed, paternalistic legislation with extreme-force compliance mechanisms built in and FNFTA is no exception. If First Nation do not or cannot comply, they can have all of their funding cut. We are not talking about funding for Ottawa-type expenditures like summer tulips, Canada Day fireworks, or international trips – we are talking essential human services like food, water, heat and housing. As temperatures reach -40 degrees in the north right now, this could be disastrous.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/first-nations-to-resist-complying-with-financial-transparency-act-1.2849517?cmp=rss

    Many Idle No More grassroots citizens, Indigenous lawyers, academics, activists and leaders have come out against this legislation – not because any of us are against the general principle of open, accountable and transparent governments, but because Canada has no right to interfere in the governance of our Nations for any reason. We have never surrendered our sovereignty or right to govern ourselves. In 1997, Canada even recognized as a matter of policy, that our right to be self-governing is constitutionally protected.

    I know there have been some bad individual leaders during our time.  I know that some individual communities struggle with internal leadership issues. But that’s not all our communities.

    I also know that we have all suffered many generations of colonization, inter-generational trauma from residential schools, and the impossible choices forced upon our leaders in managing extreme poverty.

    We have so many problems because of the systemic racism, assimilatory government policies, chronic underfunding, failure to implement our treaty and Aboriginal rights; lack of access and control over our lands and resources; and federally-imposed laws which tell us how to govern.

    One bad leader does not justify calling in the colonizer to further control our communities. Our Nations thrived here since time immemorial and our Nations will continue for many more millennia. We can survive and heal from colonization, just as we can get past any one bad leader. We simply can’t let Harper’s racist propaganda divide us. He wants community members to invite him in to control their communities – but once he’s in, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to get him back out.

    Say no to FNFTA and stand with those First Nations who are resisting its illegal imposition on our communities.

    http://indigenousnationhood.blogspot.ca/2010/10/bill-c-575-first-nations-financial.html

    #rise   #idlenomore   #warriorup   #sovereignty   #No2FNFTA

  • The Emperor’s New Clothes: First Nation CONTROL of First Nation Education Act?

    Today Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) Bernard Valcourt and National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Shawn Atleo announced “re-tooled” education legislation. It should be pointed out that despite all the hype leading up to this announcement, there is no actual legislation to scrutinize. So, what did First Nations get from this announcement?

    http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2014/02/07/first-nations-control-first-nations-education-act

    The Prime Minister explained that this legislation is an agreement between Shawn Atleo of the AFN and Harper’s government. For Harper, this is about filling the labour shortage with Canada’s fastest growing population – First Nations – not about addressing socio-economic conditions imposed on First Nations through Canada’s archaic funding formulas which purposefully and chronically under-fund First Nations in comparison to provincial residents.

    http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/crsp/article/viewFile/35220/32057

    He also referenced the many employers who sat in the audience ready to hire and train high school students. We all know from past announcements this means hiring First Nations to be the pick and shovel labourers for mining companies and other extractive industries. This is about creating a new kind of dependence for First Nations – dependence on labour jobs from extractive industries to undermine attempts by their leaders to defend their territories and the resources on them.

    Minister Valcourt also stated that they are looking at this legislation through an “economic lens” and not a treaty or inherent right lens. Therefore, the inherent right to be self-determining and exercise our own jurisdiction over education does not play into this legislation. He reconfirmed that Atleo was instrumental in the agreement which will ensure “stable and predictable oversight” by the federal government. He further noted that this legislation is about “Canada”. The Conservative government is not hiding their intentions here: it is assimilation into the body politic as they have stated over and over again.

    During the brief question period, Harper confirmed that the legislation was about the deal he struck with Atleo – uniform standards, curriculum and accountability. Atleo didn’t really say much of anything to add to the announcement. It looked more like a political endorsement of the Harper Government for their 2015 election than anything else. One lone woman stood up and stated that AFN and Harper did not consult with all First Nations and that she stood as a Treaty 6 person in objection to the legislation. The protestors on the ground were not permitted inside, so we could not hear their voices.

    Here’s a quick look at today’s “promises”:

    (1) There will be legislation, with a new name, but not shared today;

    (2) The regulations will be drafted later;

    (3) The focus of the legislation will be on provincial training, provincial rules, provincial certification, provincial curriculum and provincial standards (emphasis on provincial);

    (4) The legislation will impose “transparency and accountability” on First Nations as opposed to give First Nations any real control;

    (5) There will be funding, but not until 2015 and/or 2016 (after Harper’s term);

    (6) The funding will not be based on need or in line with the treaty right to education. Instead, an “elevator” (a.k.a. “cap”) will be placed at 4.5%; and

    (7) There is nothing to address the funding crisis in First Nation post-secondary education.

    It should be noted that nowhere in the announcement was there any description of whether this funding was “new funding” in addition to the current core funding; whether it is re-purposed monies from education or other programs that have been cut; or how this funding will be accessed by “non-willing partners” – i.e., those First Nations who reject the legislation.

    This appears to be more about deflecting the nasty publicity around the increasing litigation and human rights claims being brought by First Nations in relation to discriminatory funding in areas like education, housing and child and family services. The future funding promised after Harper’s term could evaporate as easily as the Kelowna Accord did when the Liberal term ended. A promise about future money, doesn’t educate First Nations kids now.

    None of it is really new. This announcement is just re-packaging of old promises that have taken years to come to fruition:

    (1) Election platform – promised adult education and skills training (note announcement yesterday on skills);

    (2) AFN-Harper Joint Action Plan – promised national panel on education

    (3) Crown-First Nation Gathering – promised national panel

    Then came the national panel to which AFN agreed, despite the objections of about half the First Nations in Canada. Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec pulled out of the national panel process and submitted their own reports in an unprecedented protest against AFN’s unilateral actions.

    http://www.chiefs-of-ontario.org/sites/default/files/files/OCOFOV%20Education%20Report%202012.pdf

    This was followed by numerous AFN resolutions from the Chiefs in Assembly telling Atleo NOT to talk education legislation with Harper. And most will not forget Idle No More’s rallying cry against the suite of legislation intended to be imposed on First Nations. AFN heard them and proceeded anyway. Atleo said he “respected their views” and proceeded anyway. This led to a large number of First Nations wanting to pull out of the AFN and set up their Treaty Alliance to protect their treaties. All this and Atleo still forges this deal with Harper.

    The promise of future funding is being used as a carrot to gain support for legislation that has not even been shared with First Nations yet. They are hoping that we are desperate enough to support this plan before we can see the army inside the Trojan Horse.

    This is really about tricking First Nations into voluntarily turning their treaty right to fully-funded education into a program privilege that is subject to federal legislation, control and budgets. Even without treaties, First Nations have internationally protected rights to be self-determining, they have specific jurisdiction over their own education and a right to funded education.

    This proposed legislation is meant to strike down any attempts at litigation against discriminatory funding – which they likely wish they could do with Cindy Blackstock’s case against discriminatory funding in Child and Family Services.

    This is just another delay tactic. While we sit in meetings, the natural resources are removed from our territories. While we negotiate announcements, Justice Canada drafts the details of our surrender.

    Had the Emperor actually looked at what his tailor had sewn for him, he’d have realized that he wasn’t wearing any clothes, despite the fact that people he trusted told him how wonderful he looked.

    It’s always our choice. We can choose to say no. Canada does not need legislation to properly fund education. Remember what was promised today: nothing. But we stand to lose a great deal in supporting this legislation. Recognize First Nation jurisdiction over education. Implement the treaty right to education. Properly fund First Nation education. Say no to FNCFNEA.

  • Federal Budget 2012 – The Battle Lines Have Been Drawn

    The Conservative budget was released today with most mainstream political commentators wiping their brows, saying “Phewf, we thought it would be much worse!” People like Kevin O’Leary were asking why the Conservative government didn’t go further to open up Canada for international investment. Others were relieved that only 19,200 federal public service jobs would be lost as opposed to the 60,000 that were predicted. Still others were wondering what the streamlined environmental review processes might mean. http://www.budget.gc.ca/2012/plan/toc-tdm-eng.html The area with which I am most concerned relates to what was and was not in the budget for Indigenous Peoples. I am not surprised by this budget, in fact, it is just about exactly what I predicted it would be. What I am surprised about is how the Assembly of First Nations’ National Chief Shawn Atleo could possibly think this was a good budget. http://www.afn.ca/index.php/en/news-media/latest-news/afn-national-chief-responds-to-federal-budget-calls-for-continued-work Atleo says: “The investments in education in today’s budget indicate that the voices of our youth are perhaps beginning to be heard…”. Well, let’s look what was and was not provided for First Nation education: For elementary and secondary education (k-12), approximately $1.5B in extra funding is needed this year to have an education system almost on par with the provinces. This budget only provided $100M for this year, most of which will go to early literacy (and not in our languages). For post-secondary education (PSE), we have an estimated need of half a billion dollars for this year as we have no less than 10,000 First Nation students on a waiting list to go to university. This budget appears to provide $0 for PSE. Atleo says that “First Nations will seize this momentum to move forward to real reform and reconciliation”. What momentum? According to the documents the AFN provided, over $6.7B is required this year to properly fund k-12 education and address the cumulative shortfall. The Cons provided only 4% of what is actually needed. I fail to see how this is momentum. The current cap on funding is at 2% – this is but a fraction more. Let’s put these numbers into proper perspective. INAC estimates that it will add approximately 45,000 people as status Indians as a result of the Bill C-3 amendment to the Indian Act. It has also estimated that upwards of 50,000 new status Indians will be added because of the new Qalipu band. This is a total of 95,000 new status Indians to be added to the 704,851 INAC’s website claims are currently registered. This is an increase in the registered population of approximately 14% through registration alone. Offering an additional 4% of what is actually needed for the current population for education is an insult, but considering the new population, it is no increase at all. Given that education is a treaty right, this amounts to an overt violation of First Nations treaties and very clear signal that there will be no future of increased, flexible, permanent funding set aside for First Nations education. The fact that no money was set aside for an increase in PSE is a further sign of things to come. The Cons have drawn their line in the sand and NC Atleo continues as if oblivious to the impending battle. I don’t see any “real reform and reconciliation” in a budget that offers $330M for water infrastructure over 2 years when the actual need is $6.578B. This amounts to approximately 5% of what is actually needed. If it cost your family $20,000 to install plumbing in your house to run water and have proper sanitation, what good would $1,000 do if you didn’t have the other $19,000? What kind of reform is that? Again, the Conservatives are laughing in the face of the current crisis of poverty in First Nations while NC Atleo praises them for “real reconciliation”. This year the whole world saw first hand what the crisis in First Nation housing looks like. The pictures from Attawapiskat First Nation showed people living in unheated sheds with no running water. The media frenzy which followed shamed Harper into having a Crown-First Nation Gathering that had been promised several times over his years in office, but which never came to fruition. It was Attawapiskat that brought about that “historic” meeting and not NC Atleo, despite claims otherwise. Yet, not a single cent was dedicated to address the crisis in First Nation housing. What about this lack of funding for housing speaks of reconciliation? The assimilation scheme of starving the Indians off the reserve is well entrenched in Conservative policy, yet Atleo sees this budget as making “important investments”. I can assure you that I am not seeing monsters where non exist. This assimilation plan for Indians is well-documented in government records and has always been considered by INAC as “the final solution”. The Cons are just more aggressive in speeding assimilation along. The budget document focuses on “integration” of Aboriginal peoples into Canadian society – as a labour source, as tax payers and as individual property owners. Even the constitutionally protected right of Indigenous peoples to be specifically consulted and accommodated on their Aboriginal and treaty rights is translated as consultation (no accommodation) that will be “integrated” into current regulatory processes. But let’s look at what is really happening. The Indian Act is staying in place, as confirmed at the CFNG and the current level of federal control over First Nations will not only be maintained, but will be dramatically increased with the suite of legislation it intends to impose on First Nations. This budget confirmed what we already heard in the CFNG: (1) Non-Indians will gain interests in reserve lands in the matrimonial real property legislation; (2) Cons will transfer all liability for water and sewer on reserve to First Nations without funding to address the increased standards; (3) First Nation education legislation will impose increased standards and force provincial partnerships while not providing additional funds; (4) Reserves will be opened up to privatization (ownership by individuals) to allow mass sales of reserve lands and facilitate extractive industry activities on our lands; and (5) Accountability legislation to impose standards on First Nations leaders not imposed on Members of Parliament. Again, I am really confused how any of this screams “reconciliation”. In fact, this entire suite of legislation violates our inherent rights to be self-determining and violates our constitutionally protected  Aboriginal and treaty rights to govern our own affairs. It also threatens our communally-held traditional lands and current reserve land holdings. It will result in a dumping of liability and no funding to cope with a whole slew of additional regulations and standards that Canada itself can’t meet in First Nations now. In fairness, Atleo did say “First Nations must be at the table on any discussions that could affects our lands, our lives and our rights”. Or what? What is Atleo going to do? He certainly has represented ANY kind of threat to the Cons yet, nor has he publicly offered any real resistance to this run-away assimilation train. He also states that he will get clarity of what all this legislation means and ensure First Nations voices are “respected”. Really? Our voices have not been during his whole tenure – what makes now any different, except maybe that his election is coming up in July? The fact is, the AFN knows full well what these proposed pieces of legislation mean as they have already testified before the House and Senate on some of them. The focus should not be in ensuring our voice is “respected”, it should be in ensuring that our inherent right to be self-determining is respected, implemented and enforced. Our jurisdiction over our own communities is what needs to be recognized. We don’t need 5 more Indian Acts to prescribe how we will live our lives. I don’t want my voice to be accommodated in federal legislation – I don’t want the federal legislation. I honestly wish I could find some positive in what NC Atleo is doing on all our behalves, but I just can’t. It is not a personal thing, as I don’t know him as a person – most of us don’t and never will. I don’t get to vote in AFN elections, so this is not about voting. I have given the issue a great deal of thought and have spoken to a great many people that I trust about my dilemma in criticizing an organization that is set up to advocate on our behalf. It hurts me to do it, but after much contemplation and soul-searching, I feel like I have no choice. All we, as grassroots people, have to go by is what Atleo does or does not accomplish for us. The proof is in the outcome and this is not the outcome that will move our Nations forward in decolonizing, healing, rebuilding our languages and cultures and protecting our traditional territories for future generations. While Atleo cannot be blamed for the aggressive assimilation plan of the Cons (and I admit, he has a tough political landscape right now), he is to blame if he does not stand up and actively resist it. Our people are the ones who live in shacks – now is not the time to tell them their voices are “being heard”. Our people are dying pre-mature deaths – now is not the time to promote “reconciliation”. Our people see the impending battle – now is not the time to “seek clarity”. Our people need a leader – now is not the time to be a politician.