Unbelievable! I am not sure how I can be both shocked and not, every time I see an irresponsible poll or article like the one below: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Government+generous+with+aboriginals+Canadians+tell+pollster/6867983/story.html I guess maybe some would say I am too hopeful? That despite all the racism, hatred and lack of compassion shown for our people, that this will change. But I am. I am hopeful because our people are strong, proud and have the power to stand up to this bullying. Canadians can follow the lead of First Nations in resisting and defeating this dictatorial bully government. I KNOW that there are Canadians out there who see what is happening for what it really is: after-the-fact justification for the theft of First Nation lands and resources. Most Canadians know that the right-wing propaganda is just that. What concerns me are all those new Canadians and young Canadians who can and will be influenced by the media’s irresponsible hate messaging. Take this article for example – the statements in the poll would lead respondents into a certain mind frame. The poll options seem to relate to the money spent on First Nation peoples by government. Just think about the messaging. The statements assume that there is money which “belongs” to Canadians that is then “given” to First Nations. Right off the bat, most people who hate paying taxes will latch onto any excuse to justify why they should not pay taxes. If pollsters can find a scapegoat, like First Nations, then they could easily latch onto that as their outlet for tax-frustration with their own government. More than that, thinking about the theme of the questions puts Canadians into the wrong mindset – it provides them with faulty facts – that Canada uses taxpayers money to fund First Nations. The fact is: First Nation lands and resources fund the Canadian, provincial and municipal governments in this country – NOT the other way around. The reason why Canadians have such a high standard of living compared to the rest of the world is because Canada uses our lands and resources to fund them. Although Canadian governments tax their citizens, these taxes come from land use, businesses and jobs all created off the wealth of this country – which belongs to First Nations. This kind of corrupted messaging – that we are somehow living off of Canadian taxpayer-funded welfare – has led to the current state of hatred, racism and lack of compassion for our peoples. This government propaganda forces a wedge between First Nations and Canadians and ensures that there is little public support for addressing the current crisis of poverty in many First Nations. This Harper government, together with its ultra-fanatical right-wing supporters portray First Nations as “soviets”, “communists”, “lazy”, “primitives” and describe our communities as “cesspools”. This tactic is ancient – it tries to link biology to an imagined concept of race and make us appear less than human. Why? So that land theft can be justified. So that government has an excuse to not have to spend any of our own money to address the lethal poverty in our communities. If government can convince Canadians that we are poor because we choose to be, or we commit suicide because we can’t cope with the “modern world” then this lets people feel off the hook. That is why lack of water, food and housing in other countries is considered a crisis in need of UN intervention and millions in Canadian funds to help, but in Canada it is the fault of First Nations – so no assistance. I just published an article called “Stretched Beyond Human Limits: Death by Poverty in First Nations” in the Canadian Review of Social Policy. This journal is a special edition focusing on poverty issues, and because First Nation poverty is so acute in Canada, they have agreed to allow free access to my article so as to raise awareness about the causes, the effects and what can be done to address it. http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/crsp/article/viewFile/35220/32057 I have been researching the issue of poverty in First Nations for several years now and am part through writing a book on the topic. This article is like a brief overview of the issues that will be covered in this book. The main premise of this article is: “There is evidence showing that there is a direct link between discriminatory federal laws and policies, and the crisis of poverty and preventable deaths in First Nations. Canada controls tyhe lives of First Nations, provides them with inequitable funding that results in conditions of extreme poverty, which the research has shown leads to their premature deaths.” While past governments have tried to various degrees to address the issue, this Harper government has specifically decided to ignore the problem and have even instituted more funding cuts. Now, the news paper article alleges that billions are given to First Nations with no improvements. What Canadians don’t realize is that almost half of that funding goes to support employees of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) many of whom get raises every year, have six figure salaries, paid vacations, trips overseas, go on paid language training for years at a time, get sick days, health coverage and retirement pensions. This giant INAC bureaucracy is well-paid and never has to worry about enough water, food or safe housing. What if that funding went to First Nations to provide their own programs and services? What if INAC employees had to account to US for whether they are working hard enough for our people? What if no results meant that INACers lost their jobs and funding? I am a strong believer in accountability – but it is INAC that is living high on the hog while our people suffer – not us. There are good people that work in government, many have chosen to work there to try to make things better. But they are not the decision-makers – the Harper government’s dictatorial approach to running this country means that Harper calls all the shots. Therefore we need to stand up and demand better. Irresponsible polls like this one do not help advance the issues – nor does it do anything to help us come up with solutions. How could anyone responding to this poll be able to make an informed judgement about whether Canada gives First Nations too much money if they don’t know how much money we get, how that compares to what provinces and municipalities get, and what the money is used for? I could say the exact same thing about Canada – we keep giving the province of Manitoba millions in tax-payer funds but they still have a growing problem with homelessness. Maybe we should cut off Manitoba’s transfer payments? What kind of policy logic is that?? Governments are transferred money from tax revenues to pay for essential social services like health, education and water – this is exactly what happens in First Nations except we are chronically under-funded in comparison. Why are provincial residents entitled to clean water and First Nations are not? We need to start having fact-based discussions around what the issues are and how to address them. Rhetoric and personal opinions do little other than perpetuate misinformation and hatred. Let’s have a real discussion and start treating First Nations like human beings – instead of constantly blaming them for being impacted by federal control. Canada can’t have it both ways – they can’t control every aspect of our communities, chronically underfund them and then deny responsibility for the extreme poverty and pre-mature deaths that result. It’s time for an economic action plan that includes everyone.
Tag: Harper Government
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Maybe Oliver Needs a Job in Mining? Curing Conservative Dysfunction
Conservative Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver announced this week that amendments to Canada’s regulatory process are needed to speed up the approvals of mining and other extractive industry projects. Part of his justification for speeding up approvals is to transform “aboriginal communities’ which he considers to be “socially dysfunctional”. The cure for this alleged social dysfunction is to take even more oil, gas, minerals, and other resources from their territories at a much faster pace. http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Dysfunctional%2Baboriginals%2Bneed%2Bjobs%2BTory/6341582/story.html As Oliver’s heart bled for the poor Indians, he said it was his goal to “give” aboriginals some hope. His plan, in fact, is to “move them from despair to hope” by giving Indians jobs in the extractive industry. I have to agree with Chief Clifton from Gitga’at First Nation that the language was “insulting”. I would go further though and say that the language is also consistent with the Conservative’s assimilation plan. http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2012/03/20/are-we-being-assimilated-promo/ Harper made it clear that the objective is to give “individuals” jobs and to keep the Indian Act right where it is and will even impose additional legislation on First Nations to further control our governments and territories. The “problem” as defined by the Conservatives is that we are not fully absorbed into the body politic yet. The problem will never be resolved until Indians are “equal” with Canadians – i.e., have jobs, pay taxes and their communal lands are “open for business” (i.e. resource extraction). I am always struck when the Conservatives are able to convince the public that the source of the serious housing, water and poverty crisis in First Nations is simply because we don’t have jobs. In one line, Oliver is able to discount hundreds of years of brutal colonization and the well-known inter-generational effects of both the historical and ongoing colonial laws and policies imposed on our peoples. The residential schools system was not an “education policy gone wrong” (Minister Duncan)… http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/10/27/residential-schools-saganashduncan-apologize/ …nor can Harper say (in truth) that Canada has “no history of colonialism”. http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/534215/prime-minister-harper-denies-colonialism-in-canada-at-g20 Canada has met every criteria for genocide against Indigenous peoples, the only issue is that Canada is not likely to be charged with the offence any time soon. This does not make it any less genocidal, nor is specific intent for physical destruction necessary. http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/pamela-palmater/2011/11/unbelievable-undeniable-genocide-canada The laws, policies and political decisions that led to deaths in residential schools, forced sterilizations of Indigenous women, small pox on blankets, and gruesome scalping laws are some of the most destructive genocidal acts, but today we have children taken from our families at higher rates than residential schools, we have Starlight tours and deaths of our people in police custody, we have courts and judges who put our people in jail at higher rates than Canadians, we have hundreds of murdered and missing Indigenous women and the list goes on. Colonization hasn’t stopped, nor is the reason for homelessness in Attawapiskat, contaminated water in Kashechewan or child suicides in Pikangikum due to someone not having a job in the mining industry. But let’s talk social dysfunction for a minute. Here are some dysfunctional social conditions I have noted over the last few years: (1) Canada has one of the highest child poverty rates and when compared to 17 peer countries ranked at 13; http://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/details/society/child-poverty.aspx (2) Children account for only 22% of the population, but represent 38% of food bank users; http://www.campaign2000.ca/whatsnew/releases/MediaReleaseRCNov24En.pdf (3) Homeless population in Canada is around 300,000 and 1.7 million struggle with housing affordability. 50% of Canadian population lives in fear of poverty and 49% believe they are 1 paycheck from being poverty stricken. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2007/06/26/shelter.html (4) The “measurable” health-related costs of violence against women in Canada is more than $1.5 billion a year! http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/pubs/women-femmes/violence-eng.php (5) Meanwhile, some municipal librarians are making 6 figure salaries. http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/publications/salarydisclosure/2011/munic11a.html (6) Harper’s Conservatives were thrown out of Parliament for contempt. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/957379–committee-finds-harper-government-in-contempt (7) Conservatives are now implicated in robo-calls which may have impacted their re-election. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/mps-summon-elections-watchdog-to-talk-robo-calls-on-same-day-as-budget/article2379807/ Before Canada starts pointing fingers about our Indigenous Nations being dysfunctional because we don’t run to give up our lands in exchange for a mining job, I think politicians better look in their own back yard and clean up their own dysfunction. At least there are historic and ongoing reasons for our poverty – we are managed against our wills by the Canadian government. If Canada can’t manage its own affairs without dysfunction, how can it presume to manage ours and not expect the same results? If there was ever a justification for First Nation jurisdiction over our own lives (aside from sovereignty, treaties, and our right to self-determination) this would be it! To say that First Nation poverty, cultural trauma, and the inter-generational effects of colonization would be cured by a job in mining is ludicrous. Even just framing the discussion this way presumes that the best First Nations can hope for is a job – as if we don’t own the lands they want to mine. These lands are ours and it is up to decide to whether we want own, operate or stop mining on our lands. This is the very essence of Indigenous land title and our right to free, informed and prior consent which is now internationally protected under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Oliver should resign as Minister of Natural Resources and get a job in mining – maybe that will cure his dysfunctional mouth.
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UPDATED – Harper Hypocrisy: Media Blackout on First Nation – Harper Summit
I am compelled to write this blog before the upcoming meeting between the “Harper Government” (i.e. Harper and a few Cabinet members) and a small contingency of First Nation Chiefs (approximately 100). It has been reported that no provincial premiers will be in attendance, nor will any grass roots Indigenous peoples will invited. I realize that the meeting has not yet happened and may be imprudent to try to guess what will and won’t happen, but the way this meeting is shaping up deserves some consideration. I can understand a meeting being restricted in size in order to address important issues. What makes no sense to me is that the media is severely restricted about what they can and can’t broadcast or attend. The media is allowed to record and broadcast the opening ceremonies, the opening speeches and the scrum (series of questions) afterwards. All the real business in the plenary sessions will be part of a media black-out – no one in the media can see what happens inside. None of this is necessary in an age where web-casting, pod-casting and live-streaming is available on the Internet as well as television broadcasts. This is not only offensive to me as a grass roots Indigenous person, but also seems to me to be the ultimate in Harper hypocrisy. The Harper government has vilified our leaders in the media as being corrupt and not accountable, has tried to impose legislation on them to make them more “open” and “transparent” and even made open, transparent and accountable governments part of the agenda for this meeting. Yet, it is Harper, not First Nations leaders, who is implementing the media black-out for the actual plenary meetings – thereby preventing openness, transparency and accountability. Every time an elected Chief even attempts to make what he/she does open and transparent, Canada, through Indian Affairs, reminds him/her that they are only accountable to Indian Affairs via the Indian Act, and not to their people. How can Harper accuse First Nations of NOT being open when an important meeting like this one will be off-limits to the community members served by those Chiefs? These are the very ways in which Canada sets up our leaders to fail their people every time. How can any grass roots person have an opportunity to judge for themselves what their leaders do on important issues if they are banned from seeing it for themselves? This is an insult to grass roots members and even to the many Chiefs who are not able to attend the meeting. Notice how Harper is dividing Chiefs into elite groups with “access” and those without, and also dividing communities into those with power (Chiefs) and those without (grass roots). Something like this should be open for all to see if they choose. It is not uncommon for some government meetings to be closed to the cameras or the public. One must keep in mind, this is not a confidential Cabinet discussion about an upcoming budget, it is not a meeting to negotiate foreign trade strategy, nor does it involve litigation or even high-stakes negotiations. This is a high-level political meeting more for show than for decision-making. In fact, this meeting has no mandate to do anything at all but talk about what Harper decided was important: education, economic development and accountability. So far, Harper has told the media that First Nations should temper their expectations – that nothing should be expected out of this meeting. But we all know what the real issue is. This meeting would NEVER have even come to fruition, and certainly not on January 24th, 2012, had the politically embarrassing situation in Attawapiskat not hit the headlines in the media and stayed in the media for so long. Harper had promised such a meeting several times before and it never came about. So, we see that this is a meeting not one of choice, but of perceived political necessity – i.e., to save face. Having a meeting for the purposes of saving face politically and to appear as though Harper is taking concrete action on Indigenous issues neither starts the meeting with the right intentions, nor can it be expected to result in any sort of commitment for Indigenous peoples. However, given that the meeting is about saving face, Harper could never allow the public or the international community to see him called out by First Nation leaders about his assimilatory legislative agenda, his purposeful chronic underfunding of essential social services or his complete rejection of Aboriginal and treaty rights. This is the real reason why the meeting is not slated to be broadcast. So, Harper demands transparency on the part of First Nations, but then does not allow to be transparent. He demands openness on the part of Chiefs, but then closes the doors on an important meeting involving the health and well-being of all Indigenous peoples. He demands accountability, but only works with “willing partners” – i.e., those who will support the Conservative agenda. This meeting represents everything that is wrong with Harper – he is a dictator and assimilationist who would enjoy nothing more than to have Indigenous people dance for him, give him gifts in hopes of gaining his favour – an exercise in futility. UPDATE: I have learned that organizations like the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) will be providing a live feed of the three plenary sessions at the Saskatoon Inn so that their community members can watch the proceedings. http://www.fsin.com/index.php/communiques/713-fsin-executive-communique-january-13-2012.html I also understand from the Assembly of First Nations website that they are trying to be inclusive to the Chiefs who cannot attend by setting up certain locations where non-attending Chiefs can view all three plenary sessions. It also looks like the AFN is trying to set up a second Ottawa location (I assume not at the venue) where officials can watch the proceedings. http://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/crown/nc-bulletin_december.pdf I will continue to contact organizations and see if anyone is providing a live-stream feed on the Internet where all grass roots Indigenous peoples can watch what is happening any of the three plenary sessions. It now makes even less sense to me that the media is not allowed in the plenary sessions or that they cannot broadcast the plenary sessions when clearly First Nation organizations are permitted to do so in select locations. I applaud those First Nation organizations like FSIN who will be doing their best to ensure people can see the events, but I am sure they are limited by funding and technology to be able to set up viewing stations on every First Nation in the province. This is something that should be streamed online or at least televised by the Government of Canada, or at least something the media is permitted to do. My biggest concern is that he will propose the following “deals” with “willing partners”. These deals won’t be spelled out in the Summit – but instead key words and phrases will be used to signal where he and his officials are headed. The true extent of the deals will be spelled out in future one on one meetings – how Indian Affairs usually does its business. (1) Education Harper will commit to find “efficiencies” in current funding envelopes (aka no new funding) to fund a First Nation education system as defined by him. This will mean that funding will flow through a national school board system, or similar method that mimics provincial systems or in some way that removes jurisdiction and decision-making away from local First Nations. This will pit individuals versus communities; lump diverse Indigenous Nations like Cree, Mi’kmaq and Mohawk as a generic Indians (again); and ultimately promote the same assimilatory education agenda that is so prevalent in many (not all) provincial school systems. The idea here is to make sure First Nations communities are not in control and that they don’t get to hire education coordinators or provide things like child care for single mothers trying to go to school. The efficiencies found in eliminating local control and related educational services will be used to promote a school board or boards stacked with Conservative supporters and those “willing partners” willing to take power away from First Nation governments and create new forms of power among Conservative Aboriginal elite. (2) Economic Development There is no surprise here either. The language that Harper has been using around this item is very clear as to the end results – “unlocking” the economies of First Nations for the “benefit of all Canadians”. Clearly this relates to continued use of our traditional lands and natural resources for their own government and corporate benefit. Think: oil sands, mining, timber, fishing and international exports and ignore Aboriginal rights, treaty rights, inherent rights, international human and Indigenous rights and so forth. But key words have been used here: “unlocking” is the language used by the most infamous assimilationist, Tom Flanagan, in his newest book: Beyond The Indian Act. It is the same language being used by Manny Jules, head of First Nation Tax Commission, who agrees with Flanagan’s plan to break up reserves into individual pieces of land that can be sold to non-Indians. We only hold less than 0.2% of all land in Canada as reserve lands, yet the 99.8% of our traditional lands will continue to be exploited for the “benefit of all Canadians”. This 99.8% of our lands are not enough for those with a capitalist persuasion. They now want to “unlock” what little we have left and squeeze every ounce of cash out of our reserve lands that they can with no thought for our well-being or future generations. So, any commitments or efficiencies found in other funding envelopes might be used to offer economic development incentives with the condition that support is found for the upcoming First Nation Property Ownership Act or that quick and cheap agreements can be made to forgo land claims. Other legislative initiatives like the matrimonial real property legislation which will open up reserve lands to non-Indians may also fall under this category. (3) First Nation Accountability We all know what this is about. Harper wants his legislation to pass forcing First Nations to publish their salaries. But that is just what we see on the surface, what he is really after and what we will likely never see or hear are the hidden changes to funding agreements, reporting requirements and reporting of business activities that will likely be more invasive, despite the Auditor General’s criticism in this area. I can also see extreme pressure being placed on First Nations to accept the water bill proposed in the last session of Parliament (S-11) where Harper will be able to transfer all costs and liability for water systems onto already underfunded First Nations. There will be no extra money provided for this purpose of course, but the efficiencies found in off-loading the responsibility may be used to provide up-front training and minimal infrastructure investments that will fall apart will lack of stable funding for upkeep and maintenance. It will be stressed that accountability = doing what Harper wants – versus what is best for their communities will be the condition for all future funding. Things like emergency housing or water services will likely be contingent on third party managers or co-managers imposed quietly. This meeting and those that we will never hear about will focus on getting control over the Indian problem. The Indian problem will be resolved in one of two ways: (1) our continued colonization through empowering those Aboriginal people who have internalized colonization and now turn on us, or (2) legislating those Indigenous people who resist colonization and assimilation out of existence – keeping them in constant litigation, medicating them, vilifying them as “radicals”, splitting up families, dividing women from their communities, and over-incarcerating us. If anyone thinks I am being pessimistic – you are welcome to your opinion. However, the writing is clearly on the wall and anyone who expects otherwise will be disappointed. Now, I might stand to be corrected. Harper could make any sort of announcement where I would happily concede the error of my predictions. Harper might announce at this meeting that he will reduce First Nation Poverty in 5-10 years: http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2012/01/12/harper-once-pledged-to-reduce-aboriginal-poverty-in-5-to-10-years/ Oh, wait, he already did that. Ok, Harper might announce that he will speed up land claims with a “revolutionary” new Specific Claims Tribunal: http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/05/16/four-years-later-harpers-promised-tribunal-still-mired-in-bureaucracy/ Darn, he did that too, with similar non-results. Sadly, 2, 4 even 6 years later, Harper’s old promises still have not come to fruition. I think if he makes any new promises at this meeting – First Nations might be well-advised to wait and see what concrete actions are actually taken, and not jump too quickly for that “willing partners” name tag. I fully admit that all of this is my best guess based on all my research, education, and experience, but that is all us grass roots people will have, since the actual meeting is off-limits to the majority of us who are affected by their decisions – unless of course we find an organization that is permitted and willing to live-stream the event online for all of us. I will keep looking…
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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Whose the Smartest of them All? The Problem with Radicals, Insurgents, Terrorists, and Non-Thinkers
Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who’s the smartest of them all? Well, according to Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, the Conservatives are the smartest of them all – at least, they are the only ones who take “facts” into account when they think. This means that everyone else who does not think, act and support the Conservative right-wing agenda is relegated to that neanderthal group of non-thinkers who pose a national security risk. Sound familiar? http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2012/01/09/pol-joe-oliver-radical-groups.html Well, I am not just talking about me and my alleged “subversive and hostile activities”. Nor am I talking about Cindy Blackstock and her evil pursuit to give First Nations children a chance at the good life. This time I am talking about all those pesky environmentalists, anti-poverty groups, churches, amnesty groups, human rights organizations, international organizations, students, academics, lawyers, animal protection groups, scientists, researchers, women’s right organizations, Canadian politicians and political groups, actors, actresses and singers, and philanthropists, as well as the most notorious radicals, insurgents, and terrorists in Canada – Indigenous peoples. https://pampalmater.com/2012/01/when-advocating-for-first-nations-is.html Somehow this gigantic, ideologically, culturally, socially, politically and legally diverse group form a “radical” group of people who, according to Conservative Minister Oliver: “don’t take into account the facts but are driven by an ideological imperative”. This imperative is to “block trade” and “undermine Canada’s economy”. This out of control group “threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda”. Honestly, just the thought of someone trying to hijack our regulatory process sends a cold shiver down my spine. Imagine the level of sophistication, planning and education that allowed such a dangerous group to read and understand those millions of regulations. The sheer level of dedication to their terrorist plot to protect the environment, the health of the residents or Indigenous lands is astounding. Don’t let this insurgent group’s reliance on research data, scientific studies, academic publications, and internationally recognized reports fool you. They are not basing their ideology of sustainability and human rights on “facts” – they are, instead, blindly following a radical ideology which is intent on destroying Canadians – i.e., those that voted Conservative in the last election. “Their goal is to stop any major project no matter what the cost to Canadian families in lost jobs and economic growth. No forestry. No mining. No oil. No gas. No more hydro-electric dams.” What next? Wind mills, solar power and bicycles? I think the answer is actually hidden in Minister Oliver’s comments – REAL Canadians support mining, logging and oil sands – regardless of the costs to people, land, water or the environment. Radicals support clean water, alternative energy and respecting Indigenous lands and resources. Thus, by stripping this rather large group of radicals of their citizenship (non-Canadians), intelligence (thinking without facts), or legitimate concerns (radical ideologies), they can be de-humanized, vilified, criminalized, and ultimately ignored. If you think I am being paranoid (that one’s for you CSIS), then ask any Indigenous person who has been labelled as “savage”, “pagan”, “heathen”, “uncivilized”, “communist”, “radical”, “insurgent”, “terrorist” threat to Canada. We are so dangerous in fact that it takes CSIS, special units of the RCMP, DND (military) AND Indian Affairs to keep an eye on our tiny little population. Stealing our land and resources, decimating our populations, outlawing our languages and cultures, keeping us in extreme poverty, stealing our children from us, throwing us in jails, and publicly vilifying us in the media is not enough to comfort those fact-based thinking Conservatives. If you ask me, the real radical terrorists are the “new” Conservative party. They are so far away from their old political ideologies that even some Conservatives are scared of this new party. However, given that many consider Harper to be akin to a dictator, these same old-school Conservatives fear doing anything but supporting this new radical party. It is plain to see that the right wing fanatics from the Reform Party invaded the Conservatives and have never ceded power. Once a dictator assumes power, the only way he can maintain it is through propaganda, misinformation, secrecy, fear and force. This is exactly what we see now. The new Conservative Party has shown that it is THEY who hold radical right-wing ideologies that they ram down the throats of the majority of Canadians. These ideologies are never based on fact, science or reality, but instead on their radical ideology that the ultimate goal is to achieve the most power and wealth it can. This is not my political rhetoric, as you will recall I don’t vote in federal or provincial elections as none of those parties represent our Indigenous Nations. What I am saying is fact – and in case you have any doubts, I invite you to consult the Parliament of Canada website and peruse the legislation that has already passed or is being proposed. It is highly focused on power (military, defense) and wealth (stopping unions, stealing reserve lands). http://www.parl.gc.ca/LegisInfo/Home.aspx?language=E&Parl=41&Ses=1 If such a political party can proceed with oil sands despite the catastrophic environmental, human and animal impacts; if it can proceed with destructive extraction industries ignoring Indigenous rights; or pursue wealth and power while leaving children and families to live in poverty – then I ask who is the radical terrorist? Who is acting in a way to subvert the well-being of Canadian citizens and Indigenous peoples, lands and waters? Since when did sustainable development, sharing the wealth, respecting human rights and Indigenous rights become anti-Canadian? Moreover, since when did participating in a democratic process like testifying before a regulatory board about one’s concerns about a project become such a radical act? Is Minister Oliver saying we are no longer entitled to hold a different opinion? That sounds radically like a dictatorship to me. I think we ought to start monitoring his Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail accounts and see what kind of meetings and conferences he attends. I’m a little nervous about this one.
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The Country of Harper: Are We Moving Towards an Autocracy?
I am absolutely stunned by what has been happening in politics lately. Canada used to pride itself in being a democracy, but in recent years under the Conservative government, we have moved further and further away from a real democracy that represents the voice of the people, and have moved closer and closer to an autocracy. An autocracy is a form of government where one person possesses unlimited power. Leaders who are autocrats are sometimes referred to as dictators or tyrants. Some of you who are political scientists or armchair critics might be thinking that Canada is not really an autocracy because we have a Constitution (which is the supreme law of the land), an independent judiciary and free elections. That is absolutely true. Technically, Canada is set up as a democracy – rule by the people. However, what is happening in practice differs a great deal from how things are SUPPOSED to work. Some key events have made me question where we are headed. My fear is that we may be repeating history under the guise of politics. Don’t forget, some of the worst of tyrants and dictators started out as something else – passionate leaders for a cause which they believed to be “good”. Just to be absolutely clear – I am not a member of any political party – Liberal, Conservative, or NDP. Nor am I a member of any other federal party of which, you might be surprised to know, there are quite a few: http://www.altstuff.com/federal.htm So this isn’t an election smear campaign, promo ad for the liberals, or pro-NDP blog. This blog represents my thoughts on what is happening based on all my knowledge, experience, education and most of all, my common sense. It is my personal opinion, and I am entitled by law to exercise my freedom of expression and share my personal views with the world. This freedom, as with other rights, are guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/const/const1982.html 2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: (a) freedom of conscience and religion; (b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; (c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and (d) freedom of association. As integral as these ideals are to our democratic society, under the Harper regime (or whatever it is), these rights are slowly but surely being eroded. I have to worry now, whether my personal views and opinions are safe from unreasonable and arbitrary interference, when I hear reports that the government has contracted private companies to monitor our Facebook postings and other social media sites: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/QPeriod/20100523/government-online-forums-100523/ Seriously? I knew there were some looney-toons sending me messages, but this is too much. Who is Canada to invade our social spaces, where we enjoy the freedom to discuss what we want, and add what THEY view to be the CORRECT information in our discussions? What about politics is correct – or is there only one way of thinking now? This sounds eerily close to other countries which do not allow dissent or who control social media communication. Is this where Canada is headed? You may have also heard the latest about Prime Minister Harper changing the name of our Canadian Government to the “Harper Government”. I thought it was a joke at first, but no, this is serious: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/grit-ads-blast-harper-government-rebrand-20110304-142800-929.html How could a democracy, which is truly governed by the people, have the name of the people’s government changed to reflect a single leader’s name without consulting with the people? Canada is not the sum total of Stephen Harper (thank goodness), so how on earth could he be so egotistical to think Canadians would agree to this? http://ca.news.yahoo.com/tories-rebrand-govt-canada-harper-govt-expert-says-20110303-125237-072.html Our government is supposed to represent all of its people – not a single leader. Nothing good can come from boiling down our government to one person – we have seen what happens when individual leaders think they are all powerful. I can understand the layman’s use of that kind of terminology, as the media does it all the time. However, they do so as a short-cut to saying what the Conservatives, in general, are doing as opposed to saying Canada is Harper. In the United States of America, the media often refers to the Obama administration, but you NEVER hear the government refer to itself as the United States of Obama. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-accused-of-shaping-language-for-political-ends/article1929548/ What makes this all the more suspicious is that they did this all in great secrecy. We might not even know this change has happened but for a bureaucrat “inadvertently” bringing the news to light. This is very characteristic of how the “Harper” government works. When the “Harper” government tried to defend itself by saying that Chretien used to do the same thing, lifelong politicians quickly pointed out that this was not the case. “Mr. Chretien . . . had way too much respect for our public institutions to cheapen them the way Harper has and he didn’t have the political megalomania the way Harper has to ensure his likeness or name was stamped on everything the government does.” In fact, many long-time politicians have pointed out that this name change even violates the Federal Identity Program Policy: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=12314§ion=text One of the objectives of this policy is to help “project the Government of Canada as a coherent, unified administration“. This can’t be the case if a name is chosen which reflects only one person and is obviously partisan in nature. The policy goes on to state that “the “Canada” wordmark are applied wherever an activity of the federal government is to be made known in Canada and abroad“. This includes communications with other states. Similarly, the Communication Policy of the Government of Canada is designed to “Ensure that institutions of the Government of Canada are visible, accessible and accountable to the public they serve” and that key messages represent our diversity. There is nothing diverse about changing our government’s name to “Harper Government”. All this does is send the message that Canada is a one-man show: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/sipubs/comm/cph-fspc01-eng.asp#_Toc141192549 To put it simply, Canada is not now, nor has it ever been represented by one single autocrat, tyrant, or dictator, nor should it be in the future. Who is Harper to be so egotistical and ethnocentric to think that a white man could stand before the world and say that HE is Canada. How quickly he has forgotten the First Peoples of this Country and that our identity and rights are protected in the Supreme Law of Canada – the Constitution Act, 1982. I don’t see Harper’s name ANYWHERE in the Constitution. Perhaps we should change the name to the Aboriginal Peoples Government – maybe that would end Canada’s paternalistic hold over our communities and “re-brand” Canada in a more realistic way. After all, this is our territory. I think that every person who reads this blog should file an official complaint with the Treasury Board of Canada who is responsible for overseeing these rules and policies. http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/tbs-sct/cmn/contact-eng.asp Then, take another 5 minutes and e-mail all MPs at the following addresses: To contact Liberal MPs – LIBMEM@parl.gc.ca To contact Bloc MPs – BQMEM@parl.gc.ca To contact Conservative MPs – CPCMEM@parl.gc.ca To contact NDP MPs – NDPMEM@parl.gc.ca I welcome any comments and feedback at palmater@indigenousnationhood.com