“Millions promised for Indigenous kids is subsidizing mining companies, internal documents show”. This was the headline on March 2, 2017 which made me and many other people very angry. https://www.pressprogress.ca/millions_promised_for_indigenous_kids_is_subsidizing_mining_companies_internal_documents_show First of all, the Minister of Indigenous Affairs can’t be trusted to tell the truth and secondly, thousands of First Nation children end up in foster care because instead of providing adequate funding for First Nations kids, our money goes to subsidize the mining industry. This makes me absolutely furious as there is no excuse for this. Dr. Cindy Blackstock already filed and won a human rights claim against Canada at the Canadian Human Rights Commission to prove Canada’s discriminatory under-funding for First Nation kids in care. http://decisions.chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/chrt-tcdp/decisions/en/item/127700/index.do Then the tribunal actually had to direct Canada to comply with the order several times. Yet, instead of complying, Minister Bennett continues to claim they have, in fact, provided that funding. If I look angry when I speak about the injustice of this issue, it is because I am. http://www.pampalmater.com/child-welfare-unfair-for-first-nations/ Some people say: “Pam you are too angry” or “The AFN isn’t complaining, why should you?” Others say: “Pam, you have to admit that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made better promises on First Nation issues than former Prime Minister Harper” and still others say “But Minister Bennett is so nice?” They are all right. I am angry; National Chief Bellegarde looks exceptionally happy these days; Trudeau did make better promises than Harper; and having met Bennett on several occasion, I can say she seems to be a super nice person. Yet, I sometimes work in The Pas, Manitoba where Helen Betty Osbourne was kidnapped and raped, yet nothing has been done to stop the numbers of disappeared and murdered Indigenous women and girls. I am often woken up in the middle of the night with phone calls or texts about someone’s child having committed suicide or community members who have died in a fire or frozen to death outside. The most recent hand-written letter I received was from an Indigenous man residing in prison who was hurting deeply because his mother had been raped by an RCMP officer and nothing was ever done about it. The over-incarceration of Indigenous peoples in prison has been a crisis for decades, but continues to get worse. I receive calls from people who are trying their hardest to get to university, but there is no funding for them, so they give up. PM Trudeau promised $200M in extra funding for post-secondary education, yet that hasn’t happened yet. And an email I received this week was from a Rape Crisis shelter who asked me to keep advocating on behalf of Indigenous women and girls despite how hostile the environment. The national inquiry is almost a year into its two year term and it still hasn’t started yet, but our Indigenous women and girls continue to go missing and be murdered. So, I admit that I am angry and I look angry and I sound angry. The pre-mature deaths and suffering of my First Nations brothers and sisters is nothing short of a national crisis. The lack of housing, proper schools, adequate health care, education, and child and family supports; along with the lack of basics like food and clean water, have been called labelled as a “crisis” “grave” “discriminatory” and “inequitable” not just by First Nations and advocates, but also by former Prime Ministers, Supreme Court of Canada justices, the Auditor General for Canada, the Office of the Correctional Investigator, the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the United Nations. So why has little been done to address the crisis? Despite all the promises from Trudeau, where is the action? Instead of action, we see daily doses of misinformation at best and lies at worst. Whatever you choose to call it, it’s not the truth and herein lies the problem with Canada’s new obsession with reconciliation. We can’t ever get to reconciliation, no matter how it’s defined, until we find a way to get to the truth and share it and take responsibility for it. Canada is killing our people with its deeply ingrained racism towards to First Nations. If a, affluent neighborhood in Montreal had contaminated water which was making everyone sick, federal and provincial resources would instantly be brought to bear to remedy the situation. If a cozy suburb of Toronto developed the world’s highest suicide rate, massive amounts of financial and human resources would be dedicated to remedying the crisis. If 50% of the Members of Parliament’s children were stolen from them and put into foster care due to lack of funding for child and family services, watch how fast they’d reallocate funds from Canada’s 150th to get their kids back. So, why then does the government not act to do this when it involves First Nations? Why does the response always follow the same racist pattern: (1) DENY the problem: This is when the government either says that there is no crisis or that it is not as bad as the media or First Nations are saying it is. Then comes the inevitable Access to Information request which shows that the government was either lying or misinforming and they have to admit there may be a problem. (2) DEFER the problem: This is when the government says they will study the issue, even if it has been studied exhaustively and well-documented in the research. This is when they will buy the media silence of National Aboriginal Organizations like the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) by offering them some sort of project-based funding to meet about the issue, set up tables, or do policy papers on the subject. (3) DEFLECT the problem: At this stage, the problem can’t be denied any longer, so the government will blame previous governments, blame First Nations themselves or make excuses as to why the problem can’t be dealt with right now, like budgetary limitations or that changes can’t be made overnight. The most common response at this stage is: “We can’t just throw money at the problem” because (a) First Nations leaders are corrupt (Harper) or (b) First Nations have no capacity to address the issue (Trudeau). The end result is that all of the problems get worse and our people die. The government response is usually a Tweet or speaking point for the media which says: “Our hearts go out to the community” or “We are sorry for your loss” and then everyone goes back to their offices to plan Canada’s 150th birthday. Every day that this government fails to take urgent action says that there is no relationship less important to Trudeau than the one with Indigenous peoples. The underlying message is that there is no life worth less in Canada, than the life of an Indigenous person. Until we accept that this is current government policy and force change, then it doesn’t matter which party is elected – new or old, racism will continue to kill our people. Quick Facts: Indigenous peoples are 4% of Canadian population; 10x more likely to die in a fire; 5-10x more likely to commit suicide; Some jails are 80-100% Indigenous; 50% of all kids in care are Indigenous; More likely to go murdered or missing; 120+ First Nations without clean water. #racismkills Update: And, as if on cue, one day after I wrote this blog, Minister Bennett wrote an op-ed saying more than money is needed to address discrimination against Indigenous children. Their standard pattern of denial, deferral and deflection is both appalling and predictable. The very method of discrimination (under-funding) is now denied as the solution to the discrimination by the very department that has been found guilty of discrimination for under-funding. If Minister Bennett doesn’t think funding is part of the problem, she needs to go back and read the court order. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/hon-carolyn-bennett/indigenous-children-discrimination_b_15131394.html Just in case anyone thought the Minister’s special representative on Child Welfare might be the solution, keep in mind, Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux is a failed liberal candidate who also has the same bias as Minister Bennett. She was quoted as saying the liberals “are not going to take money and throw it up in the air like confetti” promoting more racist stereotypes against First Nations. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/azraya-kokopenace-charlie-angus-1.3824868
Tag: lies
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The Federal Election 2011 – What Does it Mean for Us?
In case you have not already heard, Canadians are in federal election mode. How did Canada get to the place where it will have its fourth federal election in only 7 years? It is because the Conservative government fell on March 27, 2011, after a non-confidence vote against them won by156-145 votes. The reason why a motion of non-confidence was brought forward in the first place was because the Speaker of the House, Peter Milliken, found both the Conservative government and one of its Ministers to be in contempt of Parliament for withholding information and misleading the Parliament. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/parties-set-for-4th-federal-election-in-7-years/article1954357/ Specifically, the Speaker made two key rulings about the Conservative government’s behaviour which is no surprise to the rest of us, given their highly questionable actions throughout their time as minority government. The first ruling dealt with Bev Oda, the Minister for International Cooperation who failed to disclose her role in the decision to cut funding to Kairos. http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/politics/Parliament+waits+Speakers+rulings+Conservatives/4411388/story.html He held that Oda breached her Parliamentary privilege – i.e. she is accused of lying about the decision. First she said that her bureaucrats had denied the funding, then it came to light that they had in fact approved it, but an unknown “someone” had scribbled “not” on the document, then she says she ordered the person to insert the word. It is all very convoluted and confusing, but the moral of the story is – she was not honest with Parliament. The second ruling was against the Conservative government generally. This involved the allegation that the Conservatives were not being honest about the actual costs of its tough on crime legislation and plans to build prisons, its purchase of fighter jets and corporate tax breaks. Despite requests for the actual costing information, the Conservatives refused to disclose them. Therefore, the Speaker ruled that the opposition could continue its investigation of the Conservatives before committee because: “There is no doubt that an order to produce documents is not being fully complied with and this is a serious matter that goes to the House’s undoubted role in holding the government to account.” http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/951327–conservatives-ruled-in-contempt-of-parliament They government fell because they were never about the people and were only in it for themselves. They also fell because they are dishonest – which is the biggest crime as far as Canadian citizens are concerned.
Even our counterparts internationally have commented that Canada is losing its sense of democracy, and very few Canadians seem to be upset about it. One particular article from Australia argues that Canadians are sitting back watching democracy be eroded, while people in other countries are willing to die for their freedoms. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/canada-watches-its-democracy-erode/story-e6frg6ux-1226030310248 Some commentators are even arguing that Harper should not even be allowed to run in this election because his government was found in contempt of Parliament and was thrown out by a vote of non-confidence. Makes me wonder if Oda will be campaigning along with the rest of the rejected Conservatives? http://presscore.ca/2011/?p=1980 Is it just me, or does anyone else see the utter hypocrisy of the Conservatives? Remember how Senator Brazeau implied that First Nations leaders are all corrupt, that First Nations were hubs of illegal activity and another conservative MP introduced Bill C-575 asking for accountability? That is rich given that the conservatives have been found in contempt and thrown out of Parliament.
Or how about Harper who says one thing (never appoint people to Senate without elections) and does another to suit his own political needs (appoint people like Brazeau to Senate). http://www.peterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=1347743 Or how about when they take a court of appeal case like McIvor, and draft limited and discriminatory legislation to respond to it, but when the federal court of appeal finds against the conservatives (for the in and out scheme), they dismiss it as an “administrative dispute”. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/former-tory-mps-speak-out-against-conservative-in-and-out-scheme-117368283.html?path=/canada/breakingnews&id=117368283&sortBy=rank It is almost like Harper and his Conservatives don’t live in reality – like they actually believe that “government” is really just made up of the few who sit in Cabinet. Let’s just pretend that none of this non-confidence stuff matters. Let’s look at the Conservative’s “honesty” record to date: (1) Former Minister of International Affairs, Maxime Bernier, resigns over “scandal” related to his leaving security-sensitive documents at his girlfriend’s house – a woman with former connections to the “biker underworld”; http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Specials/20080527/bernier_history_080527/ (2) Former Minister of State for the Status of Women, Helena Guergis, resigned and her file referred to the RCMP after concerns related to her husband Rahim Jaffer using her office to peddle influence with the government. You will recall her husband had been charged with drunk driving and cocaine possession, while Guergis herself was accused of being belligerent to airline staff and using her staffers to flood editorials. http://www.thestar.com/article/792861 (3) MP Pierre Poilievre criticizes the residential school settlement as not being “value for money” on the same day that Harper makes the apology in Parliament. http://www2.macleans.ca/2008/06/11/pierre-poilievre-shows-his-empathy-for-residential-school-survivors/ (4) I don’t even have to list all the vile words said by Senator Brazeau; https://pampalmater.com/2011/02/brazeaus-tiresome-campaign-against.html (5) Conservatives try to distance themselves from another scandal involving Access to Information and removed Sebastien Togneri from affiliation with their party: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1235796.html (6) Minister of INAC John Duncan was against “race-based” Aboriginal fishing rights and recently made stereotypical remarks against First Nations saying it was “easy” for them to be “aggressively contrary”; https://pampalmater.com/2011/03/no-natives-allowed-how-canada-breeds.html (7) Conservatives said MPs who “cross the floor” should not be allowed to join other parties, but then made David Emerson, a former liberal who crossed the floor, the Minister of Trade: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20060206/emerson_defection_060206/ (8) Don’t forget the conservatives prorogued Parliament twice to avoid dealing with critical issues like the Afghanistan detainee affair; http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/prorogation-a-travesty-yet-clever/article1415391/ (9) Then there is the Bruce Carson story, broke by APTN News, which revealed that this “Tory operative”, together with his former-escort girlfriend, lobbied on behalf of a water filtration company to get contracts in First Nations with poor drinking water. He is accused of breaching rules about political staffers lobbying so soon after employment; http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/03/23/season-finale-carson/ (10) The Chuck Cadman affair involved the allegation of bribery by the Conservatives to secure a vote that was settled out of court, but not in the eyes of the public: http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/308224 (11) NWAC’s Sisters in Spirit disaster where funding was cut for the program despite its international success: http://www.rabble.ca/news/2010/11/sisters-spirit-program-used-feds-squeeze-native-womens-association-canada (12) There is also Bill C-3, Bill S-4, Bill S-11, Bill C-575 that all went forward without any legal consultation with First Nations, which of course does not include the “expert” education panel announced that came from INAC and not First Nations. Or how about the “revolutionary” Specific Claims tribunal that has not heard a single case in 3 years?? It’s all fun and games until you get booted from Parliment!
I could go on, but this list is sickening enough. What is more concerning to me is how little reaction any of this gets from the public and from our own National Aboriginal Organizations (NAOs). Regardless of whether you believe the Canadian government is your government, the fact of the matter is that they currently assert their jurisdiction over our peoples. Do we really need this kind of corruption and scandal to be “managing” our affairs? I would hope not. This is where our NAO’s need to be providing their “constituents” with information about what is happening, not just in our communities, but on the national scene as well. They are “National” Aboriginal organizations after all, and it is there job to keep us informed. Looking at the websites today, I don’t see a single mention that there is even a federal election underway. Nor do I see any public letters to the parties telling them what our important issues are or what their party positions are in that regard. I personally, would like to see what the AFN’s views are on the events of late, or NWAC’s list of priorities for the next Prime Minister. I don’t expect much from CAP, who, having literally fallen off the face of the earth, recently posted public support for the Conservative budget – trying to prop up an unethical government that provided almost nothing for Aboriginal peoples – the poorest in our society. What do the NAO’s think about the Liberal’s education promise of 1 billion dollars for non-Aboriginal people to go to school?? Is that not a bit insulting given our socio-economic statistics which show us as far behind non-Aboriginal people? Where are the promises to address housing, water, child welfare, education, food subsidies for the north, land claims, treaties etc etc?? Do none of the NAO’s have a position on any of these issues? What about providing us with a list of all the Aboriginal people across Canada running in the election so that we can support them? What about organizing ways to help Aboriginal people get out and vote if they want to? I know many of us do not vote for very good reasons that I discussed in my last blog, but we have to support those who do. https://pampalmater.com/2011/03/what-does-fall-of-darth-harper-and.html The federal election will be held on Monday, May 2, 2011 and Elections Canada 2011 has all the information you need regarding voting: http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=ele&dir=41ge&document=index&lang=e I have always had little faith in the Canadian election process because our numbers are so small as to make very little difference, and for the fact that even if we do elect Aboriginal MPs, they have to tow the party line – which rarely benefits us. However, I have been hearing from lots of my readers and their arguments about why we should vote, and they are very persuasive. I am very close to being convinced. The majority of people I have heard from are not conservative, liberal, NDP, Bloc or otherwise politically affiliated. They are concerned Indigenous peoples who would rather vote for anyone, than see Harper get back in for all the reasons I listed above. I am concerned enough about the evils of the Conservative autocracy that I am now thinking that every single vote will count to make sure they are not re-elected. Regardless of whether we get our own MPs or whether we ever participate in politics federally, the concern is more related to avoiding Harper’s re-election or worst-case scenario, a majority government – which for Indigenous peoples would be the final nail in the coffin. By saying this I am not submitting to the assumed sovereignty of Canada – I have never waivered from the fact that I believe our Indigenous Nations have the only legal sovereignty on this territory. However, I am not against using a wide variety of tools to stop the colonizers in their tracks on a “without prejudice” basis. At this point, if we don’t act to bar Harper from re-election we can only expect more of the same and none of that benefits us.
Please keep sending me your comments and e-mails. I am an open-minded person and always ready to be convinced I should be considering a different point of view. *(None of these pictures are my own, I found them all courtesy of “Google Images”)