Not Going To Take It Anymore
Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat reserve is angry and she isn't going to take the colonial atmosphere surrounding the government's response to her reserve's emergency situation any longer. How dare the Government of Canada impose upon Attawapiskat, in its time of desperate need, a financial overseer from outside?
How utterly demeaning to the reserve's independence. For the government to interfere in the reserve's business is an intolerable infringement of their sovereignty and their human rights entitlements.
Besides which, her "life partner" has been managing the reserve's financial affairs, and doing a creditable job of it. Which was reason enough for her to order the government-appointed financial overseer to make himself scarce.
And she has the resolute support of Shawn Atleo, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations: "We simply can't lurch from crisis to crisis and we can't accept externally imposed solutions". And then he congratulated Chief Spence for hers and her council's 'transparency and accountability'.
An admirable job of managing the reserve's affairs; their record worthy of congratulatory kudos. Irrelevancies like the $90-million that Attawapiskat received from the federal government in the past five years, exclusive of funding from the province, from CasinoRama, and from the De Beers diamond mine situated on the band's lands quite beside the point.
"While [Ottawa, the provincial government and De Beers Canada] reap the riches, my people shiver in cold shacks ... Precious diamonds from my land grace the fingers and necklaces of Hollywood celebrities", she fumed. And, she's just not going to take it any more.
Why should she? When it comes to aboriginals charged to take account of themselves, what generally occurs is offence. An air of hurt credulity. Of being accused of something. When all you really want is what's best for your people. Who are suffering. It works. It's the best defence.
It makes people feel bad, guilty, empathizing about the plight of First Nations. And it's all our fault. Because we don't care enough. We think that just throwing money at First Nations will solve their problems. Encourage them toward using the money well, to favour themselves. But because the money is simply there, and all they have to do is collect it, they seem to have no idea how to use it.
Use it, that is to say, to benefit the community. Other than to employ a favoured handful; friends, relatives, because nepotism trumps the potential of fair consideration. And since no one quite knows how to proceed in any given position, they just kind of, stumble along. Education for the young is not seen as a priority; kids aren't encouraged to stay in school and to learn.
Discipline holds no attraction for the parents, nor by extension, for the children. It's a value that has little meaning for them. Basically unemployed and collecting welfare what need is there for discipline? Discipline would help to recognize the value of working rather than not. Of maintaining a household and being responsible to mend what falls apart.
But with no personal investment of sweat, labour, purchase-and-ownership, who cares? And the band council, the chief and the band manager who are presumably there to guide and steer the band members to responsible behaviour through responsible leadership, collect their inflated salaries, go off on trips, rack up expenses and call it a job well done.
As for De Beers, it has pledged $30-million over the 12-year-lifespan of the Victor mine, with an original signing bonus of $1-million, and $2-million annually since 2005. Where did it go? Oops, well, who needs to keep accounting records? And then there's $325-million in contracts that De Beers awarded and funnelled through solely owned or joint-owned companies based in Attawapiskat Resources Inc.
That's for the provision of catering, dynamite and helicopter services to Victor Mines. But the band's accounting shows it has profited to the extent of $99,867 since that contract was written up. Where have all those millions evaporated to? What was it spent on? Why has the entire community failed to benefit?
And why are First Nations people "dying slowly", in the words of Chief Spence, in Attawapiskat? The reserve can feel great relief at the news that aboriginal leaders are rallying behind Attawapiskat and Chief Spence, however. All for one and one for all.
She's not going to take it any more, and nor are they.
How utterly demeaning to the reserve's independence. For the government to interfere in the reserve's business is an intolerable infringement of their sovereignty and their human rights entitlements.
Besides which, her "life partner" has been managing the reserve's financial affairs, and doing a creditable job of it. Which was reason enough for her to order the government-appointed financial overseer to make himself scarce.
And she has the resolute support of Shawn Atleo, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations: "We simply can't lurch from crisis to crisis and we can't accept externally imposed solutions". And then he congratulated Chief Spence for hers and her council's 'transparency and accountability'.
An admirable job of managing the reserve's affairs; their record worthy of congratulatory kudos. Irrelevancies like the $90-million that Attawapiskat received from the federal government in the past five years, exclusive of funding from the province, from CasinoRama, and from the De Beers diamond mine situated on the band's lands quite beside the point.
"While [Ottawa, the provincial government and De Beers Canada] reap the riches, my people shiver in cold shacks ... Precious diamonds from my land grace the fingers and necklaces of Hollywood celebrities", she fumed. And, she's just not going to take it any more.
Why should she? When it comes to aboriginals charged to take account of themselves, what generally occurs is offence. An air of hurt credulity. Of being accused of something. When all you really want is what's best for your people. Who are suffering. It works. It's the best defence.
It makes people feel bad, guilty, empathizing about the plight of First Nations. And it's all our fault. Because we don't care enough. We think that just throwing money at First Nations will solve their problems. Encourage them toward using the money well, to favour themselves. But because the money is simply there, and all they have to do is collect it, they seem to have no idea how to use it.
Use it, that is to say, to benefit the community. Other than to employ a favoured handful; friends, relatives, because nepotism trumps the potential of fair consideration. And since no one quite knows how to proceed in any given position, they just kind of, stumble along. Education for the young is not seen as a priority; kids aren't encouraged to stay in school and to learn.
Discipline holds no attraction for the parents, nor by extension, for the children. It's a value that has little meaning for them. Basically unemployed and collecting welfare what need is there for discipline? Discipline would help to recognize the value of working rather than not. Of maintaining a household and being responsible to mend what falls apart.
But with no personal investment of sweat, labour, purchase-and-ownership, who cares? And the band council, the chief and the band manager who are presumably there to guide and steer the band members to responsible behaviour through responsible leadership, collect their inflated salaries, go off on trips, rack up expenses and call it a job well done.
As for De Beers, it has pledged $30-million over the 12-year-lifespan of the Victor mine, with an original signing bonus of $1-million, and $2-million annually since 2005. Where did it go? Oops, well, who needs to keep accounting records? And then there's $325-million in contracts that De Beers awarded and funnelled through solely owned or joint-owned companies based in Attawapiskat Resources Inc.
That's for the provision of catering, dynamite and helicopter services to Victor Mines. But the band's accounting shows it has profited to the extent of $99,867 since that contract was written up. Where have all those millions evaporated to? What was it spent on? Why has the entire community failed to benefit?
And why are First Nations people "dying slowly", in the words of Chief Spence, in Attawapiskat? The reserve can feel great relief at the news that aboriginal leaders are rallying behind Attawapiskat and Chief Spence, however. All for one and one for all.
She's not going to take it any more, and nor are they.
Labels: Aboriginal populations, Canada, Crisis Politics, Culture
posted by Pieface | 7:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home