Idle No More Movement

[Alastair]

Here in Canada we've seen the activities of the idle no more movement where the aboriginal peoples are protesting and wanting their rights.

The woman who inspired this is a chief of her reservation which some time ago got a lot of press about how people on her reservation were living in squalor. She has been on a hunger strike trying to force a meeting with the Prime Minister and the Governor General. Today she gave up her hunger strike.

However in the intervening period we have discovered that she and her husband bring in some $250,000 in annual income whereas the average income of her people is just $12,000 a year.

And then we learn that after an audit was done on where the Federal Funds were spent the auditor reported that some 81% of the money can't be traced... meaning that they can't find out who got the money or find out what it was spent on.

now if she was doing her best you'd think she would have either spent some of that money on book-keepers or at least asked for help to keep track of things.

So once again we are left with the feeling that all is not well with a lot of the aboriginal peoples of Canada and that it is their own chiefs that are letting them down.

Of course when I ask questions about this i either get silence or accused of being a white racist.

I have yet to find an aboriginal peoples web site that tells what they do with the money they receive from the Federal government or how they run their reservations. Pretty well everyone else that receives Federal funds have to account for what they spend it on.

Now you could also blame the Federal government for not having better over sight of the where the money is going.

It seems to me that some native Indian people are doing well but most are not and yet they have a Native Chief who is meant to represent all the peoples but he doesn't seem to do much to make things more transparent.

And so this is all a right mess and until all the various native peoples are more transparent about how they run things I don't see it getting any better.

I have posted up on the index page I created for the First Nations some facts and figures from Statistics Canada which you can see at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/first/index.htm and there you will see they have the highest crime rate, the highest unemployment rate, the worst housing standards, etc.

Now if the money is not being spent as it should be then many of those people are being hit by their own chiefs. So how widespread is the corruption? We simply don't know due to lack of accountability. So I think time has come for the Federal government to mandate tracking of monies that they give to the aboriginal peoples and publish these figures.

I really believe that most Canadians would be happy for more money to be spent on them if it was proved necessary but without these figures most Canadians are not in favour of helping any more than they do right now.

Alastair

[Hugh]

Re: Idle No More Movement

The government spends 5% of their budget on 1% of the Canadian population which goes to the natives. When money is tight, people start to ask questions. It is not the right time to draw attention to yourself. Now the natives are starting to ask questions, and she was told by members of her reserve to get back to work.
Cheers.

Hugh

[Alastair]

Re: Idle No More Movement

I got told I should purchase the book "We were not the savages" by Daniel N. Paul. That book I was told would explain the First Nations point of view.

I confess to purchasing a copy but confess to being somewhat unenthusiastic about reading it. It actually uses a smaller font and is tightly packed reading material. I'm told the author has sold some 40,000 copies and is now in its 3rd edition. Apparently it's also being used in schools or so I'm told.

My problem in reading this is that it would be work and my main work is not to do with the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. Neither do I think most Canadians would take the time to read it. Most Canadians I think would just be happy to understand the issues in plain simple language with proper transparency.

In 2006 Aboriginal people represented 3.1% of all adults 18 years of age and older. The representation of Aboriginal adults in custody and community correctional programs is much higher. In 2007/2008 Aboriginal adults accounted for 20% of adults admitted to remand (detention while awaiting trial or sentencing), 25% admitted to provincial/territorial sentenced custody and 18% of all adults admitted to federal custody. With respect to community correctional programs, Aboriginal adults accounted for 20% of all adults admitted to probation as well as 21% of those admitted to a conditional sentence.


The representation of Aboriginal adults among female admissions is greater than among males. For instance, in 2007/2008, Aboriginal peoples represented nearly one-third of women admitted to provincial/territorial custody. In comparison, the same was true of 21% of males admitted to provincial/territorial sentenced custody.

The above figures are from Statistics Canada.

So there is clearly a major problem and an associated cost to go with it. To my way of thinking neither the Aboriginal peoples nor the Federal government are making things easy to understand how we got to this situation or identifying that the actual issues are.

Alastair

[sandyc]

Re: Idle No More Movement

it's the "blame everyone but us" mentality that has encouraged the current 'displays'.
As a non-resident Canadian tax-payer I am not surprised by the current emotive demonstrations. Many if the aboriginal peoples have been encouraged to believe that the rest of the population should 'pay' for errors made by their ancestors. They have been encouraged in this by the "PC" movement promulgated by the prior Liberal government of PET. Of course my views are not recognised by brainwashed generations. Nothing more dangerous than a wealthy socialist who could expound theories that would never impact on his own family. The wealthy remain wealthy and ensure that laws support their views. "Give me a child until it is 7 and it is mine forever" is a true adage and it has been totally applied to out so-called open and free Western society.
In short I am fed up with the payments to the indigenous population that have been so clearly mismanaged. Get over it and contribute.
.

[Lizzie]

Re: Idle No More Movement

Now, Sandy, my dear old friend let's have less of the 'wealthy socialist' who might well have been quite poor but hacked his way up with effort - and remembers - and would like to give the same opportunity to the willing. Can we have a wee rumble on this!!!? :-)

[sandyc]

Re: Idle No More Movement

Liz, he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was the worst kind, a theoretical socialist, whose policies did not impact on him or his family. In fact one of his sons is being groomed to continue the family 'business'.
There is "equal" and there is "equal" and we cannot all be equal.
He is one of the prime movers of multiculturism and the PC movement and in my opinion that has taken down a road to disaster.
No-one takes any responsibility for their own actions and society just 'stands back'...

Rumble on, I doubt we shall agree this time around.
Sandy

[Lizzie]

Re: Idle No More Movement

Hang in there , Sandy! Up to my eyeballs with 'stuff'. But, I'm flexing the muscles and gathering energy for our rumble!! After all, I know you're quite an adversary. :-)

[sandyc]

Re: Idle No More Movement

Was just thinking that something had happened. You do know to whom I am referring don't you...?
Will be over on your side of the pond in a couple of weeks.
Sandy

[Rick]

Re: Idle No More Movement

There is no easy way to understand the issues surrounding aboriginal peoples in Canada, so kudos to Alastair for trying. The first thing to remember is diversity: there are hundreds of Indian bands in the country with histories and cultures that are as different as any in the world. Salmon cultures, buffalo cultures, farming cultures, arctic cultures, etc. Some are impoverished and remote, others are wealthy and live side by side with metropolitan cities. Most are on a spectrum in between. There are legacies of injustice but also a pervasive culture of dependance and victimization that does nothing to improve the situation. The brightest spot in Idle No More is that it is largely made up of young people who are reacting against the ineffectiveness of their own leadership as much as they are reacting against Canada's federal government. They are dead wrong on most of their substantive complaints but have started a dialogue that may well have some effect on the general situation. The first manifestation of this is that the main stream media, instead of wallowing in romantic nonsense, is finally asking the sort of tough questions that are coming up in this thread.

[Lizzie]

Re: Idle No More Movement

Right now an oil company, TransCanada, has created an environmental disaster in Alberta polluting rivers and lakes mining the toxic tar sands. With a very bad record of pipeline oil spills they are desperate to have the US Gov. approve the Keystone Pipeline through the heart of the US. In Texas, where a length of the Keystone is being built, they have filed lawsuits against protesters thereby keeping said protesters so busy defending themselves legally they can't protest.
I had the impression Idle No More was a similar group protesting to defend the environment against Canadian Gov. actions reneging on old treaties. I found this background.

After the May 2, 2011 Canadian Federal election, the federal government, led by Stephen Harper, proposed a number of omnibus bills, which introduced numerous legislative changes. While omnibus bills had been presented to parliament by previous governments, the perceived ideological nature of the changes proposed in Bill C-45 played to fears of a supposed right-wing agenda held by the Conservatives, particularly concerning the removal of the term "absolute surrender" in section 208, among others.
A number of these measures drew fire from environmentalist and First Nations groups. In particular, Bill C-45 overhauled the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) of 1882, renaming it the Navigation Protection Act (NPA). The NWPA had mandated an extensive approval and consultation process before construction of any kind could take place in or around any water which could in principle be navigated by any kind of floating craft. Under the new NPA, the approval process would only be required for development around one of a vastly circumscribed list of waterways set by the Minister of Transportation.[citation needed] Many of the newly deregulated waterways passed through traditional First Nations land.[4]
While the NWPA had originally been intended to facilitate actual navigation, the ubiquity of waterways in the Canadian wilderness has given it the effect of strong environmental legislation by presenting a significant barrier to industrial development of any kind, especially to projects such as pipelines which crossed many rivers.[5] The government had by this time been engaged for some years in a campaign for approval of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines Project, a proposal to build a pipeline for bitumen condensate connecting the Athabasca tar sands with the Pacific Ocean, facilitating unprocessed bitumen exports to China.[6]

So, you have to ask has TransCanada been busy in Canada dredging up at a critical time for them to divert attention.

[Lizzie]

Re: Idle No More Movement

Perhaps the Native Canadians are awarded too much of the budget. On a similar tack, for every dollar New Jersey sends to the Gov., the State receives back $0.55. Other States get almost $1.50. It is a form of Robin Hood apportioning to prevent a segment of society or the infrastructure of any area fall below a certain level. If the monies awarded to the Native Canadians are not being used wisely it is the responsibility of the Government to investigate and correct for a positive outcome to diffuse the attitude the tribes are moochers. Perhaps the Canadian Government should get a new bookkeeper.

[sandyc]

Re: Idle No More Movement

I seem to have read just recently that the Council of Chiefs have refused an independent audit.

I am no expert on this but the perception held by many non-natives is that there is a lot of corruption within the Aborginal organisations and that public money is being squandered.
That said over the last 2 years I have had some dealings with native groups in the NWT and the people I have worked with despise the "moochers" much more than even we do.

Sandy

[Alastair]

Re: Idle No More Movement

The problem is that the native peoples see things differently from others in Canada and therein lies the problem. A proper audit of various native communities would sort all this out but they don't see that as something they should do.

it is not beyond them to provide factual information which is what we need but never get.

To my way of thinking they should cover....

1. A map of their lands showing where they live and what natural resources are available.
2. Then we need to know how much they receive from the Federal government and what it's spent on.
3. Then we need to know how effective their education program is compared to non aboriginal peoples.
4. Then it would be helpful if they showed the actual treaty they work under.
5. Then we should explore the earnings of the tribal leaders compared to their people.
6. Then they need to layout the issues they feel need resolved.

None of this is rocket science but clear statistics would do much to clarify matters. Like if you look at my index page for native peoples you can see the result from Statistics Canada on how Aboriginal peoples have more crime, take more drugs, live in worse homes, have much higher unemployment, do worse in education, etc. So is this because the elders are not doing a good job for their people or what?

Then if we could get the same statistics for a non Aboriginal area of roughly the same size in a nearby area that might reveal some issues. And so if just one Aboriginal tribe was willing to take part in this then it may well give us the answers we all need to make proper decisions.

Alastair

[Ranald]

Re: Idle No More Movement

Hi Alastair, is the following the correct link to which you refer, regarding the 'Aborigional peoples' ?

http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/first/index.htm

Ranald

[Alastair]

Re: Idle No More Movement

It is and it does include First Nations, Inuit and Metis.

Alastair