Idle No More co-founder distances movement from planned blockades, hunger-striking Chief Spence
Kathryn Blaze Carlson | Jan 15, 2013 3:28 PM ET | Last Updated: Jan 15, 2013 8:23 PM ET
More from Kathryn Blaze Carlson | @KBlazeCarlson
More from Kathryn Blaze Carlson | @KBlazeCarlson
Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press
First Nations Idle No More
protestors march and block the International Bridge between the Canada
and U.S. border near Cornwall Ontario, Saturday January 5 2013.
Idle No More’s co-founder is distancing the movement from Wednesday’s
planned First Nations blockades and from Chief Theresa Spence, saying
the grassroots movement is so far hosting only “peaceful” education
events and has no leader.
Sylvia McAdam, one of the movement’s four originators, stressed in an interview with the National Post that chiefs — not Idle No More co-founders — are behind Wednesday’s planned blockades along a key southern Ontario highway and a busy bridge to Michigan.
Those kinds of highly disruptive protests, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Chris Lewis warned in a YouTube video released Tuesday, highlight the reality that First Nations demonstrators “have the ability to paralyze” this country by shutting down travel and trade routes — an approach Ms. McAdam said she does not endorse, at least not now.
“A lot of our children and elders are involved in the [Idle No More] activities, so their safety is our priority,” she said. “If you have an impromptu blockade that doesn’t follow the legal permits, then you’re irritating the public and that’s not the purpose behind Idle No More.”
The purpose, she said, is to educate Canadians about indigenous sovereignty and treaty rights, although she acknowledged that the movement has already spiraled to include so many other causes that it risks diluting its core message.
“When you begin to go into that realm of Idle No More is ‘save the gophers,’ then you’re losing the vision,” she said.
Ms. McAdam, a consultant who lives on Saskatchewan’s Whitefish Lake reserve, also made the distinction between the movement and Attawapiskat Chief Spence, who started a liquid diet around the time Idle No More ramped up late last year and has since been married to movement in the eyes of many Canadians.
“We’re both headed in the same direction, but the grassroots movement of Idle No More is the face of all grassroots people,” Ms. McAdam said. “Idle No More has no leader. The founders might be considered guides or maintaining the vision, but Idle No More has no leader or official spokesperson.”
Ms. McAdam said the co-founders have no planned Idle No More events for Wednesday, a national day of action declared by chiefs unsatisfied with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s response to their demands so far. Aside from rallies and round-dances at various locations across the country, chiefs in Ontario say they are planning to slow traffic on Hwy. 401 and along the Ambassador Bridge.
The Windsor Police Service, which is responsible for policing the bridge, said in a news release that officers have been in touch with the protest organizers. Contrary to Ms. McAdam’s characterization of the event, though, the statement refers to the demonstration as an “idle no more protest” — demonstrating, perhaps, the degree to which people associate First Nations action with Idle No More.
Windsor police said a “peaceful walk” is planned to begin at 11 a.m. along Hwy. 401 toward the bridge, and while the release says protesters will “assemble at the foot of the bridge” before walking back to the road, there has been some indication the protest will move onto Ambassador Bridge. In an interview Monday, Oneida Chief Joel Abram said protesters plan to rally in one of the lanes and block traffic, but later amended that to say the group will stay off the bridge.
Kris Grogan, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman responsible for the state of Michigan, said Wednesday will be “business as usual” for the American patrol because the planned activity appears slated for the Canadian side of the bridge.
All the while, Ms. McAdam said she and the other co-founders are
focusing on Jan. 28, an Idle No More international call to action whose
main event is a Parliament Hill protest as MPs return to the legislature
after their winter break.
Earlier this week, two First Nations leaders warned that once the snow melts and warmer weather sets in, key highways — including the main road to Alberta’s Fort McMurray, a major oil production hub — could be blocked for days, weeks or even months, prompting what one chief called “chaos.”
Although Ms. McAdam dismissed blockades as an effective form of protest generally, she said Idle No More co-founders and elders are specifically considering a future blockade along the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline in B.C. and Alberta.
National Post
• Email: kcarlson@nationalpost.com | Twitter: KBlazeCarlson
Sylvia McAdam, one of the movement’s four originators, stressed in an interview with the National Post that chiefs — not Idle No More co-founders — are behind Wednesday’s planned blockades along a key southern Ontario highway and a busy bridge to Michigan.
Those kinds of highly disruptive protests, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Chris Lewis warned in a YouTube video released Tuesday, highlight the reality that First Nations demonstrators “have the ability to paralyze” this country by shutting down travel and trade routes — an approach Ms. McAdam said she does not endorse, at least not now.
“A lot of our children and elders are involved in the [Idle No More] activities, so their safety is our priority,” she said. “If you have an impromptu blockade that doesn’t follow the legal permits, then you’re irritating the public and that’s not the purpose behind Idle No More.”
The purpose, she said, is to educate Canadians about indigenous sovereignty and treaty rights, although she acknowledged that the movement has already spiraled to include so many other causes that it risks diluting its core message.
“When you begin to go into that realm of Idle No More is ‘save the gophers,’ then you’re losing the vision,” she said.
Ms. McAdam, a consultant who lives on Saskatchewan’s Whitefish Lake reserve, also made the distinction between the movement and Attawapiskat Chief Spence, who started a liquid diet around the time Idle No More ramped up late last year and has since been married to movement in the eyes of many Canadians.
“We’re both headed in the same direction, but the grassroots movement of Idle No More is the face of all grassroots people,” Ms. McAdam said. “Idle No More has no leader. The founders might be considered guides or maintaining the vision, but Idle No More has no leader or official spokesperson.”
Ms. McAdam said the co-founders have no planned Idle No More events for Wednesday, a national day of action declared by chiefs unsatisfied with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s response to their demands so far. Aside from rallies and round-dances at various locations across the country, chiefs in Ontario say they are planning to slow traffic on Hwy. 401 and along the Ambassador Bridge.
The Windsor Police Service, which is responsible for policing the bridge, said in a news release that officers have been in touch with the protest organizers. Contrary to Ms. McAdam’s characterization of the event, though, the statement refers to the demonstration as an “idle no more protest” — demonstrating, perhaps, the degree to which people associate First Nations action with Idle No More.
Windsor police said a “peaceful walk” is planned to begin at 11 a.m. along Hwy. 401 toward the bridge, and while the release says protesters will “assemble at the foot of the bridge” before walking back to the road, there has been some indication the protest will move onto Ambassador Bridge. In an interview Monday, Oneida Chief Joel Abram said protesters plan to rally in one of the lanes and block traffic, but later amended that to say the group will stay off the bridge.
Kris Grogan, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman responsible for the state of Michigan, said Wednesday will be “business as usual” for the American patrol because the planned activity appears slated for the Canadian side of the bridge.
Dave Chidley / The Canadian Press People from Aamjiwnaang First Nation continue their blockade of the CN St. Clair Spur line in Sarnia.
Earlier this week, two First Nations leaders warned that once the snow melts and warmer weather sets in, key highways — including the main road to Alberta’s Fort McMurray, a major oil production hub — could be blocked for days, weeks or even months, prompting what one chief called “chaos.”
Although Ms. McAdam dismissed blockades as an effective form of protest generally, she said Idle No More co-founders and elders are specifically considering a future blockade along the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline in B.C. and Alberta.
National Post
• Email: kcarlson@nationalpost.com | Twitter: KBlazeCarlson
Labels: Aboriginal populations, Canada, Conflict, Controversy
posted by Pieface | 8:58 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home