'I'm not dead!' 'He will be soon.'

We may not have death panels in our scary Great White North socialized health care system, but we do offer very strong hints encouraging your impending demise.

Ottawa sends body bags to Manitoba reserves

Aboriginal leaders in Manitoba are horrified that some of the reserves hardest hit by swine flu in the spring have received dozens of body bags from Health Canada.

The body bags — which were sent to the remote northern reserves of Wasagamack and God's River First Nation — came in a shipment of hand sanitizers and face masks.

Grand Chief David Harper, who represents northern First Nations, says body bags send the wrong message and no one can understand why Ottawa would do such a thing.

"It really makes me wonder if health officials know something we don't," he said. "I have a right to speak for my people. I make a plea to the people of Canada to work with us to ensure the lowest fatalities from this monster virus. Don't send us body bags. Help us organize; send us medicine."

Now where have I seen this before....?

Oh, yes...



Meanwhile:

"Is the body bags a statement from Canada that we as First Nations are on our own?" Wasagamack Chief Jerry Knott asked. He said his community's nursing station received about 30 body bags.

Knott flew to Winnipeg with the bags on Wednesday and took them to the Health Canada building on York Avenue.

The office was closed at the time, so he stacked the bags on the doorstep and marked them "return to sender."

Live Coverage of The Apology for Residential Schools

Today we recognize this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm and has no place in this country.
- Stephen Harper

"Fallen Feathers" (image from Turtle Island Native Network - a site with extensive background links and information)

You can watch coverage online at CPAC which began at 1 pm ET.

Before Harper spoke, a motion was presented by the government to allow several first nations leaders, beginning with AFN leader Phil Fontaine, to give responses in the house - a move the Conservatives had resisted until the very last minute. Approval of the motion was unanimous.

I will post links to Harper's statement and the responses when they're available.

CBC reporters have noted in their live coverage that there is a festival-like atmosphere on the hill, where hundreds of first nations people have gathered inside and out, as many reunite with family and friends they have not seen for years. But the solemnity of the occasion hangs heavy in the air, just as it does in many of our hearts.

Related:

CBC has extensive text, audio & video coverage of Canada's Stolen Children.

The department of Indian and Northern Affairs also has live online coverage.

Globe and Mail coverage includes snippets of the statements by Harper and Dion.

The Toronto Star's coverage.

Update:

Leaders from the following first nations organizations responded in the house:

Assembly of First Nations (Phil Fontaine)

Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (Patrick Brazeau)

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) (Mary Simon)

Metis National Council (Clement Chartier)

Native Women's Association of Canada (Beverly Jacobs)

more to come...

Update:

Video of Harper's statement:

Part 1


Part 2


Phil Fontaine's response:

The Angst of Privileged White Men

Just how much personal resentment and anger does a person like Don Martin carry around inside of him to have the audacity to call the upcoming apology to first nations victims of residential schools "the greatest grovel in Canadian history"?

He continues:

The government, Parliament, indeed every Canadian will be apologizing without exception for every student's experience, be it positive, negative or abusive.

But there are still high-level concerns it won't be enough and, while unlikely, could be rejected by native leaders as a political stunt that isn't sufficiently sincere. One senior government official involved in drafting the apology acknowledged in mid-gulp on an Ottawa beer patio: "Of course, we're still not sure they'll accept it."

Beverage splattered. Excuse me?

No. Excuse me, Mr Martin.

It's absolutely clear that by his inclusion of the word "positive", Don Martin is just plain clueless and vindictive. No one is apologizing for "positive" experiences - whatever few there may have been. And his public angst over the possibility that this apology will not be enough to satisfy all first nations people who lived through and were affected by the horrendous trauma which impacted every single area of their lives - the sexual, physical and psychological abuse, the destruction of their identities and culture, the indoctrination of forced assimilation, the resulting suicides and massive social problems that still reverberate to this day - (and that's not even mentioning the fact that our ancestors stole their land, gave them smallpox, herded them onto reservations like animals to be penned and continue to expect them to live in third world conditions) and Martin bemoans the fact that some people won't see this apology as being enough?

As far as I'm concerned, it isn't.

And let's not be too charitable in giving props to Stephen Harper's government for crafting this apology. Over and over again in the house, he and his cronies have made a point of chastising the Liberals for not properly handling this issue. While it's absolutely true that the Liberals dragged their feet for decades, that type of finger-pointing by such a shallow prime minister shows that there is some political grandstanding involved here. If there weren't, Steve would allow - as has been requested on many fronts - aboriginal leaders and victims the right to respond in parliament. But Steve is so anal-retentive that he stands on the "tradition" excuse ie. that he simply can't allow those voices to be formally heard or recorded in Hansard for all time because it would be an unusual break from parliamentary tradition. Well, Mr Harper, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures so spare us your angst as well.

Our first nations people have already suffered enough at the hands of policies crafted by privileged white men - government and religious leaders who decided their job was to "civilize" a group of people whose culture they feared and didn't understand. And it seems that fact is still being denied by people like Don Martin and Stephen Harper who would rather re-victimize that population by mocking them and silencing them on the national stage.

Parliament does not belong to privileged white people. It belongs to all of us so, as far as I'm concerned, the people who should really be silenced in all of this are those who have yet to truly come to grips with what our country has done and continues to do to our first nations brothers and sisters. What they most need to do is to listen instead of continuing to be in love with the sound of their own sanctimonious voices. Maybe then they'll actually learn and understand why the wounds this nation, the victims, and all of us who care about the sorriest part of our history cannot be fixed by mere words pontificated on from above.

StatsCan released a report on hate crimes statistics today. This country still has a long road to travel before prejudice based on race is anywhere close to being eliminated. One thing is certain: if our government officials and the media refuse to acknowledge their complicity in stirring up resentments against minorities, we are all doomed to suffer those continual injustices with the victims - those of us who actually care, that is.

Do your part. Speak up and act when you can. Compassion is not a vice.

Related:

More Don Martin bigotry. Let him know what you think about his intolerable rants: dmartin@nationalpost.com

Reconciliation goes sour in Canada

Assembly of First Nations

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

CBC Newsworld will provide complete coverage of the apology and house proceedings on Wednesday as will CPAC where you can watch it online.
 

Quote du Jour: RCMP Use Pepper Spray on Native Children

A 6 month-old baby was pepper-sprayed by the RCMP in BC and this is what their spokesman says about it?

...Staff Sgt. Zalys said Constable Martin was relatively new to the force and unfamiliar with the band's tradition of soccer processions.

"He did not know what was going on. ... His intention was to get the kids to sit down so it would be safe. ... When the crowds started to come in, the members were feeling a little afraid," he explained.

"It's unfortunate that the kids around them also got sprayed. And some spray did go on the baby and I apologize. There was no intention to scare or hurt a child."

Afterward, Staff Sgt. Zalys told reporters that he hoped the pepper-sprayed youngsters would recover quickly.

"Pepper spray can be a painful thing. But in the overall scheme of things, it is on the lower end of the use of force."

Yes, that baby is lucky it wasn't mowed down by a gun. That would have been much worse.

Wankers.

(And if you want to see a shameful display of racism in Canada, read some of the comments attached to that article.)
 

Friday: Canada's National Aboriginal Day of Action

And the protests have already begun:

Armed Mohawk protesters barricaded a highway in eastern Ontario Thursday night, vowing to set up even more blockades as a national aboriginal day of action begins at midnight.

About 40 protesters parked a schoolbus on Highway 2, near Deseronto, just before 9 p.m. ET, forcing traffic to stop and turn around at the location, which is about 50 kilometres west of Kingston.

Protest leader Shawn Brant said the blockade is just a "soft target," done in anticipation of major blockades that will be set up somewhere along the high-traffic Highway 401, between Montreal and Toronto.

Protesters also intend to hit the CN Rail line between the two cities, Brant said, not giving exact locations for the blockades, but saying protesters are armed and ready to keep their blockades up until midnight Friday.

"We've made no secret that we have guns within this camp," he told the Canadian Press.
[...]
In anticipation of blockades, Via Rail cancelled all Friday train services between Toronto and Montreal and between Toronto and Ottawa.

One day of inconvenienced rail travelers is nothing compared to what our first nations people have suffered for far too long now.

And if all levels of government have any sense at all, they'll let the protesters make their voices heard peacefully while doing everything they can to avoid another Ipperwash style tragedy.

The Assembly of First Nations chief, Phil Fontaine, has also issued a statement on "potential illegal protests" on Friday.

We respectfully urge Canadians not to criminalize First Nations people with respect to the actions they plan to take on June 29th and beyond. Our people do have a right to protest, as do all Canadians. The Assembly of First Nations has never resorted to illegal activities, or anything beyond the rule of law, to advance the causes of FN people.

We understand the frustration that exists among too many of our people. Our objective in organizing the National Day of Action is to provide a positive channel for that energy. We invite all Canadians to stand with us in support of a better life for First Nations and a stronger country for all Canadians.

In recent weeks, the AFN has met with various police forces, as well as CN and CP Rail, because of our mutual interest in ensuring public safety and security during the various events that will make up the National Day of Action.

Visit this AFN page for more information about the protests and the national events schedule.

The treatment of aboriginal people in Canada is our nation's shame. It's a humanitarian disaster. And when the current conservative minority government decided to scrap the Kelowna Accord, it derailed years of work meant to finally begin to address those issues in a substantial way. Piecemeal policies have never been enough and they certainly are not enough now. Our aboriginal people deserve justice and their third-world living conditions must be dealt with immediately. Please support their day of action in any way you can.
 

Some Justice for Dudley George

In September 1995, a half-century-old native land claim dispute exploded in Ontario's Provincial Park and left protester Dudley George dead.

Read more about the Ipperwash scandal here.

Via the CBC:

The government of former Ontario premier Mike Harris, Ottawa and the OPP all bear responsibility for events that led to the 1995 death of Dudley George, the head of the Ipperwash inquiry said Thursday.

Commissioner Sidney Linden found Harris did not order provincial police into Ipperwash Provincial Park to remove unarmed aboriginal protesters, but he could have "urged patience, rather than speed" at resolving the dispute.

"The federal government, the provincial government and the OPP must all assume some responsibility for decisions or failures that increased the risk of violence and make a tragic confrontation more likely," Linden said.

Linden added:

Linden said in his final report, released in Forest, Ont., that he didn't believe Harris when he claimed he never made a racist statement about the occupiers during an informal government meeting with provincial police just hours before George's death.

Harris acknowledged during his testimony that he wanted the occupation brought to a quick end, but denied he said, "I want the fucking Indians out of the park," as former Ontario attorney general Charles Harnick alleged during his own testimony.

"After carefully assessing the evidence, it is my view that Michael Harris made the statement," Linden wrote. "I agree with Premier Harris's characterization of the statement … as racist."

Well, I don't know how anyone could conclude that it wasn't racist.

"The provincial government could have appointed a mediator or negotiator at any time, but did not," Linden wrote. "The premier could have urged patience, rather than speed."

Linden also found Harris and Harnick misled the leglislature [sic] about the so-called "dining-room meeting" involving government officials and police, and by doing so, contributed to the appearance of inappropriate interference and a lack of transparency by the government.

Harris' lawyer feels there's absolutely no need for his client to apologize. What else is new? None of these bastards ever think they have to apologize for anything they're responsible for unless they are actually forced to do so and, even then, they only do it because they have to - not out of any sense of morality or acknowledgment of the suffering they've caused. According to Harris' lawyer, "He has done nothing wrong."

Further:

The inquiry also blames the OPP for ill-informed actions, cultural insensitivity and racism, faulty intelligence and poor communications.

Linden also faulted the federal government for expropriating disputed First Nations land for military use during the Second World War, then in a series of "successive neglects," failing to give it back as promised.

In the more than 60 years following the action, the Stoney Point band tried to get the land back, claiming it contained a burial ground destroyed when the military camp was built.

The state of land claims negotiations and aboriginal human rights in this country is absolutely appalling. Yet, government after government stalls and passes the buck. The latest affront was obviously the rejection of the Kelowna Accord by this bunch of minority government Conservative non-apologists.

It took 12 years for this investigation into Dudley George's death to finally point the finger of blame where it belongs. There is no excuse for that delay, just as there is no acceptable reason for First Nations' issues to have been pushed by the wayside for so bloody long.

Canadian Aboriginal Children 78th on the United Nations Human Development Index

February 8, 2006 - 1:00am

Aboriginal children, on and off reserves are not doing nearly as well as non-Aboriginal children. Over half of Aboriginal children live in poverty. Twice as many Aboriginal babies will be born prematurely, underweight or die within the first year of life. Three or four times as many babies will die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Three to four times as many children will die by injury, poisoning or violence. Five times as many of Aboriginal young people will commit suicide. The National Children's Alliance Policy Statement (in PDF) addresses this sharp divide in quality of life.

link

And people wonder why there is so much despair, hopelessness and anger in aboriginal communities?

How could there not be?


Related:

The CBC has videos of today's news conference by Linden along with an interview with Dudley George's brother, Sam.

The Ipperwash Inquiry Report can be found here.

The Assembly of First Nations calls on all Canadians to join them on June 29, 2007 for a National Day of Action. Please take some time to read their statement.

If you get the chance, check out the book and/or movie about George's death: One Dead Indian. I haven't read the book, but I did see the film and it is definitely worth watching.

The Globe & Mail has more on today's report.