End hunger protest or leave office: Band readies demand for Chief Theresa Spence, reports say
Kathryn Blaze Carlson | Jan 23, 2013 12:39 PM ET | Last Updated: Jan 23, 2013 3:27 PM ET
More from Kathryn Blaze Carlson | @KBlazeCarlson
More from Kathryn Blaze Carlson | @KBlazeCarlson
Fred Chartrand / CP
Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence,
centre, wearing a headdress, takes part in a drum ceremony before
departing a Ottawa hotel to attend a ceremonial meeting at Rideau Hall
with Gov. Gen. David Johnston in Ottawa, Friday January 11, 2013.
A band council delegation from the
beleaguered Attawapiskat community is reportedly slated to fly into
Ottawa to hand-deliver an ultimatum to Chief Theresa Spence on Wednesday
afternoon, threatening to oust her from office unless she ends her
liquid-diet protest.
Negotiations to end the fast — which began more than 40 days ago when she left her northern Ontario community to set up camp on Victoria Island — had already ramped up earlier this week, but the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network is reporting that Ms. Spence now faces pressure from within her own council.
“They are coming in tonight,” a source close to Ms. Spence told APTN. “Then it will end.”
Ms. Spence’s spokesperson, Danny Metatawabin, confirmed that Liberal interim leader Bob Rae and First Nations leaders are in the midst of talks to end the liquid diet, although he would not comment on the preconditions. According to the Canadian Press, Ms. Spence wants opposition parties and First Nations supporters to sign a 13-point declaration, in part promising to maintain pressure on the Conservative government to amend its omnibus legislation and also to demand on-reserve housing and education improvements.
Sources — who do not want to be quoted because the negotiations are at a critical point — say a resolution could be reached as early as Thursday.
Mr. Metatawabin told the National Post on Wednesday morning he had not heard yet that a delegation is bound for the island near Parliament Hill on Wednesday, but said “I’m sure everybody wants her home.”
“Those are her own community members, so I can’t stop Theresa from seeing them,” he said, adding that a hand-delivered letter threatening her removal would only complicate an already fluid situation.
Mr. Metatawabin said Ms. Spence’s Victoria Island camp expects to make an announcement sometime today or tomorrow regarding an end to the liquid diet. Until this week, Ms. Spence has said she would maintain her fast until the Prime Minister agreed to meet with First Nations leaders and the Governor-General — at the same time — to discuss treaty rights and implementation.
“We’re not backing down,” he said, rejecting the notion that Ms. Spence is capitulating without having her long-standing demand met. “We’re not giving in. Actually, we’re building momentum to stand united as a nation.”
The Canadian Press obtained a draft of the 13-point declaration, which lays out the specific conditions for resolving a protest that has thrown the Ottawa-First Nations relationship into disarray for the last six weeks. The draft declaration says treaties should be fully implemented within five years and demands a thorough review of two Conservative government omnibus bills that dramatically changed environmental oversight and sparked the Idle No More movement.
“We fully commit to carry forward the urgent and co-ordinated action required until concrete and tangible results are achieved in order to allow First Nations to forge their own destiny,” it says.
The National Post sought to confirm that an Attawapiskat band delegation is, indeed, bound for the Ottawa River island, but a staff member at the band office hung up on the newspaper three times and would not provide any information whatsoever.
Thursday is the same day Ms. Spence and the Assembly of First Nations had asked the Prime Minister and Gov.-Gen. David Johnston to hold a meeting with the country’s chiefs.
Neither Mr. Harper nor the Governor-General have agreed to the
meeting, but several chiefs are expected to travel to Ottawa anyway.
The Prime Minister’s Office has said that Gov.-Gen. Johnston will not be involved in any future policy discussions with First Nations.
“[First Nations people] are very insistent on having the Governor-General there, but the Governor-General says this is a policy matter with the government and that [he] shouldn’t be there,” PMO spokesperson Andrew MacDougall said. “We agree with that.”
National Post, with files from the Canadian Press
kcarlson@nationalpost.com
@kblazecarlson
Negotiations to end the fast — which began more than 40 days ago when she left her northern Ontario community to set up camp on Victoria Island — had already ramped up earlier this week, but the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network is reporting that Ms. Spence now faces pressure from within her own council.
“They are coming in tonight,” a source close to Ms. Spence told APTN. “Then it will end.”
Ms. Spence’s spokesperson, Danny Metatawabin, confirmed that Liberal interim leader Bob Rae and First Nations leaders are in the midst of talks to end the liquid diet, although he would not comment on the preconditions. According to the Canadian Press, Ms. Spence wants opposition parties and First Nations supporters to sign a 13-point declaration, in part promising to maintain pressure on the Conservative government to amend its omnibus legislation and also to demand on-reserve housing and education improvements.
Sources — who do not want to be quoted because the negotiations are at a critical point — say a resolution could be reached as early as Thursday.
Mr. Metatawabin told the National Post on Wednesday morning he had not heard yet that a delegation is bound for the island near Parliament Hill on Wednesday, but said “I’m sure everybody wants her home.”
“Those are her own community members, so I can’t stop Theresa from seeing them,” he said, adding that a hand-delivered letter threatening her removal would only complicate an already fluid situation.
We’re not giving in. Actually, we’re building momentum to stand united as a nationThe CBC is reporting that Attawapiskat’s acting chief, Christine Okimaw-Kataquapit, and a band elder are heading to Ottawa on Wednesday afternoon and expect to present Ms. Spence with a letter — signed by all Attawapiskat band members — on Thursday morning. Ms. Okimaw-Kataquapit told CBC Radio that the message expresses the community’s belief that their chief has made her point and that the time is nigh for her to return home. Concerns about Ms. Spence’s health are also reportedly mentioned in the letter.
Mr. Metatawabin said Ms. Spence’s Victoria Island camp expects to make an announcement sometime today or tomorrow regarding an end to the liquid diet. Until this week, Ms. Spence has said she would maintain her fast until the Prime Minister agreed to meet with First Nations leaders and the Governor-General — at the same time — to discuss treaty rights and implementation.
“We’re not backing down,” he said, rejecting the notion that Ms. Spence is capitulating without having her long-standing demand met. “We’re not giving in. Actually, we’re building momentum to stand united as a nation.”
The Canadian Press obtained a draft of the 13-point declaration, which lays out the specific conditions for resolving a protest that has thrown the Ottawa-First Nations relationship into disarray for the last six weeks. The draft declaration says treaties should be fully implemented within five years and demands a thorough review of two Conservative government omnibus bills that dramatically changed environmental oversight and sparked the Idle No More movement.
“We fully commit to carry forward the urgent and co-ordinated action required until concrete and tangible results are achieved in order to allow First Nations to forge their own destiny,” it says.
The National Post sought to confirm that an Attawapiskat band delegation is, indeed, bound for the Ottawa River island, but a staff member at the band office hung up on the newspaper three times and would not provide any information whatsoever.
Thursday is the same day Ms. Spence and the Assembly of First Nations had asked the Prime Minister and Gov.-Gen. David Johnston to hold a meeting with the country’s chiefs.
Geoff Robins / The Canadian Press Idle
No More protesters demonstrate at the base of the Ambassador Bridge in
Windsor Ont. on Wednesday. About 1000 demonstrators disrupted traffic to
the country's busiest border crossing for several hours.
The Prime Minister’s Office has said that Gov.-Gen. Johnston will not be involved in any future policy discussions with First Nations.
“[First Nations people] are very insistent on having the Governor-General there, but the Governor-General says this is a policy matter with the government and that [he] shouldn’t be there,” PMO spokesperson Andrew MacDougall said. “We agree with that.”
National Post, with files from the Canadian Press
kcarlson@nationalpost.com
@kblazecarlson
Labels: Aboriginal populations, Communication, Conflict, Controversy, Government of Canada
posted by Pieface | 12:51 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home