Courting Agreement

The agonizing spectacle of histrionics succeeded.  As hollow as the threats were, how obviously useful they have been to Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence in papering over her failure in administering her northern Ontario reserve's interests in favour of self as martyr, Prime Minister Stephen Harper saw an advantage in mustering enough enthusiasm to impel him to arrange a conference between himself, key ministers and the Grand Chiefs of the Assembly of First Nations.

PMO Photo by Jason Ransom Prime Minister Stephen Harper participates in a working meeting with First Nations leaders in Ottawa, January 11, 2013. Shawn Atleo is on the far right.

Not all of them, unfortunately. There were critical holdouts.  And those holdouts were occasioned by disagreements between First Nations Chiefs in support of the Idle No More movement which has itself disowned the effectiveness of the direction taken by National Chief Shawn Atleo and the Assembly in negotiating with Ottawa in good faith. A more strenuously antagonistic role for the AFN, reflective of the past, seems more appealing to the Idle No More crowd and those chiefs who support it.

Manitoba chiefs in particular were hugely critical of a meeting to end the Victoria Island crisis and the ongoing threat of highway and bridge and rail blockades.  They hint darkly that what has been seen heretofore has been civil and measured, that much more, radical action is being held back, but could be unleashed at any time. National economic slowdowns and resource development will be hindered by First Nations actions.

"There's no going back to where we've come from before this movement. If the Crown does not respond, if we don't find that Canadians are joining us and seeking to do the hard work of reconciliation, I am concerned about the safety of our people. This is a fork in the road. This is the moment of reckoning and the tipping point that for so long we've said was coming."
National Chief, Assembly of First Nations, Shawn Atleo

Chief Atleo has found himself pushed into a defensive corner requiring that he exhibit an ability to talk tough, not just diplomatically, when confronting and interacting with the Prime Minister to ensure that neither lose sight of the critical nature of an untenable situation that threatens to get out of hand. The threat of bringing the national economy to its knees is no idle one, but it may be a somewhat fanciful one.

On the other hand, neither the government nor the Canadian public wishes to see an escalating confrontation, over and above what has already occurred, prompting the present meeting and promises of many more to come with a view to settling once and for all, outstanding land claims, and better provisions from government to First Nations bringing their lives to the standard of all other Canadians.

What must not be lost in all of this, however, is the need for First Nations communities to become far more accountable to themselves and to the government and taxpayers whose firm support of their needs as Indigenous Canadians first on the land, must be accompanied with the trust that self-help accompanies sovereignty.