The mandate of the Assembly of First Nations - there is none!

The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) gets his "mandate", to unilaterally make decisions without consulting the grassroots people, from resolutions that are passed at General Assemblies and Special Chiefs Assemblies. However, attendance and quorum at these events is questionable.  There are approximately 630 Chiefs in Canada. How many of these Chiefs are actually present when resolutions are passed at the AFN assemblies? Does the National Chief even check quorum???  If quorum does not exist, the National Chief most likely does not have a valid mandate.

Watch the videos of past assemblies and determine for yourself whether the National Chief's office checked quorum just prior to passing resolutions   The videos will speak for themselves. Of course, the National Chief could always post online the attendance of those Chiefs who are present and the quorum checks just prior to passing resolutions in order to refute my statements. 

Come on National Chief Atleo, show us the integrity of your office and post the quorum checks and attendance just prior to passing resolutions.  I would love to be wrong on this issue.  Prove me wrong! We, the grassroots people have a right to know whether your resolutions are even valid in the first place!

The National Chief of the AFN is an illegitimate position and the organization itself requires major reform to reflect the diversity and autonomy of First Nations at the grassroots level.

I would say it's about time to change the status quo and make the "National Chief" accountable to everyone, including the Chiefs on the ground. 

Stay tuned for another blog on the charitable status of the AFN.  I am sure that many non-First Nations people would donate to the AFN if it had a reformed and accountable governance structure and charitable status so that donators could write the donation off when they file tax returns.  However, AFN does not have charitable status and cannot give tax receipts for donations. If it did have charitable status, the board of directors (the Executive Committee, including the National Chief) would not be able to receive their big, fat, tax-free paychecks.  Who suffers?  The grassroots people.

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN? 

This blog is not meant to provide legal advice. Please seek independant legal advice as it pertains to your situation.

Non-Aboriginal Judge heads Ontario inquiry into Aboriginal participation in juries

"Years of complaints that First Nations people have been systematically excluded from serving on juries in Ontario culminated Thursday in the provincial government calling an independent review into the situation. 

In a statement late Thursday, Attorney General Chris Bentley announced former Supreme Court of Canada justice Frank Iacobucci would review a jury system that on-reserve natives say has failed them badly."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/08/11/ontario-aboriginal-inquiry.html

Justice Frank Iacobucci is a distinguished judge and no disrespect to him, but why isn't an Aboriginal person heading this inquiry? 

"Lawyer Julian Falconer, who is acting for the Nishnawbe Aski, called the independent inquiry into the issue a Canadian first."  Julian Falconer is a distinguished lawyer and no disrespect to him, but why is Nishnawbe Aski using a non-First Nations lawyer to represent our interests when there are plenty of First Nations lawyers in Ontario who are just as capable as Falconer?

Why is it that in 2011, non-Aboriginal legal people are still being selected by government officials and some of our leaders to examine legal issues that affect Aboriginal people?

There are plenty of educated Aboriginal legal people in Ontario who are perfectly capable of examining issues that affect us. 

Another issue that requires examination is the lack of Aboriginal duty counsel in our court rooms. Like juries, non-Aboriginal duty counsel are also representing Aboriginal people in criminal court.  Our people need legal representation by First Nations duty counsel in the criminal justice system.  For example, there are three Aboriginal lawyers in Cornwall and not one of them is duty counsel.  Why not?  If there is one criminal justice setting that requires reform, it is Cornwall. 

The needs of First Nations people in the criminal law setting are not being met. 

The inquiry should be expanded to study the issue of the lack of Aboriginal duty counsel.  If Ontario is going to pay Justice Iacobucci a hefty salary for this inquiry using our tax dollars, he should examine the lack of Aboriginal duty counsel as well.  Kill two birds with one stone and use our tax dollars wisely!

The Ontario government's inherent racism towards Aboriginal people is blatantly obvious when our issues are continually being examined by non-Aboriginal people.  The same goes for those First Nations leaders who hire non-First Nations lawyers to advocate on our behalf when we have plenty of qualified legal people who can do the job.  It's an insult to Aboriginal people.  We are just as deserving of respect and dignity like our non-Aboriginal neighbours.

It is 2011 and it is time for Ontario and our First Nations' leaders to start recognizing that Aboriginal people are just as capable as non-Aboriginal people.  Use our people!

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU?

Organizations and the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry

First Nations women, especially the missing and murdered First Nations female victims of Robert Pickton, are pawns in the Aboriginal industry and we are used to benefit certain people or groups at certain times. Once our usefulness is gone, we are tossed aside as quickly as we were used to seek money from the government.  It is a sad situation that our interests are only considered when it suits the personal needs of a person or an Aboriginal organization like the Native Women’s Association of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations. 

All of the organizations, including the non-Aboriginal organizations, claiming to represent the missing and murdered First Nations female victims of Robert Pickton are screaming for public money to hire legal counsel to participate in the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. 

Do these organizations, Aboriginal and not, really have the interests of the missing and murdered First Nations female victims of Pickton at heart?  How many of these organizations are actually going to hire First Nations female lawyers to represent the interests of the missing and murdered First Nations women at the Inquiry?  Who is the lawyer representing the families of the missing and murdered First Nations women?  Is this lawyer a First Nations female?

We, as First Nations women, have a right to know all the details about the lawyers who are representing our interests.  How many of them are actually First Nations female lawyers?

Here is the link to my previous blog on the groups who withdrew from participating in the Inquiry due to lack of funding. http://charlenedesrochers.blogspot.com/2011/08/compromise-hiring-four-lawyers-for.html.

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU?

Compromise: Hiring Four Lawyers for the Pickton Inquiry

“The Missing Women Commission of Inquiry is looking to hire four lawyers to represent the interests of First Nations women and residents of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

The commission of inquiry came up with the plan after the provincial government refused to provide legal funding for 12 of 13 groups who have been granted standing to participate in the inquiry, which will probe the police failures during the investigations of serial killer Robert Pickton.”   This inquiry is informally known as the Pickton Inquiry and many of the missing and murdered women were First Nations women.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Compromise+lawyers+hired/5216373/story.html#ixzz1UG0SSy8o.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) were denied funding to participate in the Pickton Inquiry.  NWAC reportedly withdrew from participating in the Pickton Inquiry because of the lack of funding.  I have yet to see a news article verifying this fact.  However, a few other organizations withdrew over the past few days because they were denied funding to hire legal counsel. 

Grand Chief Phillip Stewart of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) formally withdrew from the Pickton Inquiry.  UBCIC should have been funded to participate in the Pickton Inquiry because Grand Chief Phillip Stewart truly has the interests of our people at heart. He would have ensured that all of the important issues affecting First Nations women were addressed at the Inquiry.  He is a leader that has the ability to think collectively about our issues.    

http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/News_Releases/UBCICNews07271101.html

On the other hand, I do not have any sympathy, whatsoever, for the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) who were denied funding to participate in the Pickton Inquiry. 

We all know that the AFN and NWAC are federal government organizations called “National Aboriginal Organizations” that sell off our rights in exchange for big tax-free paychecks.  The AFN and NWAC use federal monies to hire their consultant/lawyer friends to develop First Nations policies and they would do the same if they were funded to participate in the Pickton Inquiry.  They would hire their lawyer friends to represent the interests of First Nations women and most likely that friend would be non-Aboriginal or an Aboriginal male.  It is called the Aboriginal industry for a reason and only the Aboriginal industry would benefit from the Pickton Inquiry.

It is time for the offices of the National Chief of the AFN and CAP (Congress of Aboriginal Peoples), and the President of NWAC to take a good hard look at their governance style and assess the relationship between their lawyers/consultants and their office. One will find many friends reaping the benefits of federal dollars. Perhaps the offices of the National Chiefs of the AFN, CAP, and NWAC would actually have some credibility among the people if they reformed their governance practices and were actually accountable to the people.  We are not allowed to participate in decision-making or to vote in free and fair elections for the positions of National Chief and President of these organizations.

AFN, CAP, and the President of NWAC sold off the rights of all Aboriginal women by supporting Bill C-3 in 2010, the discriminatory amendments to the Indian Act that restores status as an Indian under the Indian Act to some Indian women who married non-Indian men and their children, but not all.  Prior to 1985, Indian women lost their status as Indians under the Indian Act if they married non-Indian men whereas non-Indian women gained status as an Indian if they married Indian men. 

Bill C-3 still denies Indian status to Indian women who married non-Indian men, and their children, and it is an act of cultural genocide against our people.  The AFN, CAP, and NWAC were told by the federal government that funding for roundtables on citizenship would not be forthcoming until Bill C-3 was passed into law.  AFN, CAP, and NWAC supported Bill C-3 and are committing cultural genocide against our people. These organizations are now happily implementing citizenship roundtables and their boards of directors are continuing to receive big tax-free paychecks at our expense.

Many of the missing and murdered women from downtown East Vancouver were First Nations and also negatively affected by Bill C-3 just like the rest of us.  Did AFN, CAP and NWAC think of these missing and murdered women when they unilaterally chose to support Bill C-3 without consulting the people??? 

Supporting Bill C-3 was an act of spiritual, cultural and physical violence against First Nations women.  The President of NWAC, Jeannette Corbiere-Lavell, perpetuated lateral violence against our women by supporting Bill C-3.  She fought her own personal battle against the discriminatory Indian Act status provisions in the 1970s, which is at the heart of Bill C-3 today.  Jeannette Corbiere-Lavell lost her status as Indian in the 1970’s because she married a non-Indian man and she fought this discrimination against her all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Here is the link to the Attorney General of Canada v. Lavell, [1974] S.C.R. 1349 decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1974 dismissing Jeannette Corbiere-Lavell’s appeal regarding her disenfranchisement from the Indian Act because she married a non-Indian man.   http://scc.lexum.org/en/1973/1974scr0-1349/1974scr0-1349.html.

Why did Jeannette Corbiere-Laval support Bill C-3??

So, please excuse me if I do not feel any sympathy for NWAC and the AFN for not receiving funding to participate in the Pickton Inquiry.

Perhaps, hiring four lawyers to represent First Nations women is the most logical approach to funding the interests arising from the Pickton Inquiry.  They should hire lawyers who actually have knowledge and professional experience working on issues affecting First Nations women.  I, for one, am supportive of this approach.  At least we would be sure that the Aboriginal industry, i.e. friends of the National Chief of the AFN and President of NWAC, would not reap the benefits of the taxpayers’ income.

After all, NWAC is not a true representative group of First Nations women.  We are not allowed to participate in their decision-making processes unless we formally become a member of NWAC yet the President of NWAC unilaterally makes decisions that negatively affect us all. Need I say more???

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN?    Certainly not the President of NWAC or the National Chief of the AFN.

Harper’s Token Aboriginals meet Prince William and Kate!

What did I tell you folks?  Didn’t I mention in my previous blog that the Prime Minister parades his token Aboriginals, the “National Chiefs” of the National Aboriginal Organizations (NAO’s), around at state events as a side show to foreign diplomats???

The President of the Quebec Native Women’s Association beamed with pride this afternoon when she advised the Chiefs at the AFN Annual General Assembly (AGA) in Moncton that the event with Prince William and Kate went well! 

Harper must have said to his tokens as they wiggled in anticipation:  “My children, you have done well this past year.  Thank you so much for supporting all of my assimilative policies and for helping to assimilate your people.  In return, I will allow you to meet Prince William and Kate and have your picture taken with them.” 

We all knew that National Chief Atleo of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) was a wolf in sheep’s clothing but I was shocked that he admitted it.  For the event with Prince William at the Calgary Stampede, National Chief Atleo went as himself.  He put on his cowboy outfit and played his true role in this world, which is that of “cowboy” instead of an “Indian”!!  Atleo had his picture taken with Prince William and Atleo had the biggest grin on his face!  

Harper must love the President of the Quebec Native Women’s Association (QNWA) because she appeared before the Senate Committee on Human Rights in December 2010 and supported Bill C-3, the Indian status provisions that discriminate against Aboriginal women, who married non-Aboriginal men, and their children. The President of QNWA announced to the Senate Committee that she was supporting Bill C-3 because her son was going to become a status Indian under Bill C-3!!  I was horrified that she had sold out all Aboriginal women and their children because her son was going to become a status Indian under Bill C-3. 

This same President of QNWA organized a march from Wendake, QC to Ottawa, Ontario in the summer of August 2010 in response to the federal government’s introduction of the racist Bill C-3, which still, by the way, discriminates against Aboriginal women, who married non-Aboriginal men, and their children.  She called it the “March for Amun” and Aboriginal women joined her march.   At the time I supported the march because I thought that the President of QNWA was marching for the rights of all Aboriginal women and children.  Imagine my surprise when she advised the Senate Committee on Human Rights in December 2010 that she supported Bill C-3 because her son was going to become a status Indian under it!! Talk about selling out your vulnerable constituents, our Aboriginal women.

Here is the link to the “March for Amun”: http://www.ottawaalgonquins.com/index_files/Amun%20March.pdf.

At the AFN Special Chiefs Assembly in December 2010, this same President of QNWA announced to the Chiefs that she was contributing to the AFN education fund because it would benefit her children.

Yes, Mrs. President, we get the picture.  However, your job is to advocate for the rights of all Aboriginal women, not just yourself!!

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN?

The "New Colonizer" and his take on the "New Fur Trade"

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) held a summit this past week on natural resources where more than 800 Indigengous leaders and business people (international/domestic) sat down to forge new relationships and to talk business (and sign contracts) about the extraction of natural resources from First Nations territories in partnership with First Nations.  APTN News covered the story at this link:  http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/06/30/afn-summit-aimed-at-capitalizing-on-the-new-fur-trade/. 

National Chief Atleo referred to this new relationship as the "new fur trade".  He said, "it was the fur trade that forged the first part of the economy".  He spoke about the natural resources that were taken from First Nations territories during the fur trade and said that modern day energy and mining ventures are the economic doors for future prosperity of First Nations people.

The "new fur trade"??!  Hmmm, I think that someone should educate "National Chief" Atleo about the disastrous effects of the old fur trade on our people and tell him that that "new fur trade" will maintain the status quo if the Indian Act remains in place. 

"National Chief" Atleo, take a look around you and you will see what the fur trade did to us!  It resulted in Apartheid:  the racist Indian Act; the residential school system and sexual/physical abuse of our children; the Sixties Scoop (adopting our children into non-Indigenous homes); and the stealing of our land and the resources on and under those lands.  The intergenerational impacts of the fur trade are alive and well today, i.e. high unemployment, violence against Indigenous women, addictions, poverty, inadequate housing, illness, and oppression by some of our own leaders, mainly, the overpaid federal government employee called the "National Chief" of the AFN. 

Yes, partnerships in economic development will provide for future prosperity of First Nations but if the Indian Act governance structures remain in place and First Nations citizens are not allowed to participate in decision-making, that prosperity will not come to fruition. It will be "smoke and mirrors".  Look at some of our rich First Nations.  Has the profits from their industry improved the poor socio-economic conditions in their communities?  No, it has not, and why not?  Greed and the Indian Act regime is the answer to that question.  The Indian Act allows greed to flourish by providing a colonial governance system, which gives the leadership control over their people and the profits from the resource extraction. We did not govern ourselves that way.  Traditionally, the community directed the leadership and the leadership implemented that direction.  Greed breeds crime and dysfunction.

"National Chief" Atleo is right when he calls modern day agreements between First Nations leaders and business companies regarding energy and mining development the "new fur trade".  The "new fur trade" will continue or increase the severity of the same disastrous effects of the "old fur trade" if the Indian Act remains in place.  The "new fur trade" will allow the federal and provincial governments of Canada to continue colonizing and oppressing First Nations and stealing our resources.  The status quo will remain.

The "baby step" approach into assimilation that is being implemented by the oppressive "National Chief" is not improving (it never will) the socio-economic conditions in our communities.  What we need is some action that will create major change.  We need major change! 

The Indian Act has to be repealed and the governance structure of the AFN needs major reform.  We are not allowed to participate in decision-making or vote in the elections for the Executive Committee of the AFN.  The "National Chief" is putting our sovereign rights to bed in exchange for senate/commission/tribunal appointments, big tax-free salaries, and dinners/pictures with the Prime Minister and foreign diplomats. 

The Prime Minister parades the "National Chief" around government events as Canada's token Aboriginal and the "National Chief" reciprocates with passion.  The "National Chief" dresses up in his traditional regalia and he dances and sings to the colonizers as a show of his "Indigeneity".  The "National Chief" puts on a show and pretends that we have a "reconciled" relationship with the federal government of Canada.  It is disgusting to watch these unethical and racist events unfold in 2011, especially on national television, when we all know that the federal government is still oppressing us through its racist policies designed by the incompetent and dysfunctional Department of Indian Affairs.  The "National Chief" of the AFN has become the "New Colonizer" of the "new fur trade".

We will not fall apart if the Indian Act is repealed.  The federal and provincial governments will still have fiduciary obligations to us pursuant to section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867, section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, and most importantly, the Treaties.  We do not need the Indian Act.  It has to be repealed and NOT REPLACED.  We have to reform our own governance structures.  If we don't, the federal government will do it for us.  Trust me, governance reform is coming whether we like it or not.  We can either do it ourselves or let the federal government do it for us. Take your pick!

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND OUR CHILDREN?

This blog is not meant to contain legal advice.  Please seek legal advice as it pertains to your community.

Wow! Kudos to National Chief Atleo! I'm speechless...

I just listened to National Chief Atleo's interview with APTN. 

Here is the link to the newsclip:   http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/06/10/atleo-putting-hopes-into-action-plan-agreement-with-conservatives/

National Chief Atleo is speaking like a leader!  He is talking about honouring our Treaty rights, First Nations jurisdiction, holding First Nations leaders accountable to their people, and moving beyond the Indian Act!!

Way to go Mr. Atleo!! 

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU?

Message for Lorne Gunter. You are wrong!

Lorne Gunter gave his political opinion about the state of First Nations affairs in the Edmonton Journal on June 12, 2011.  I am not going to comment on his article because it is the most uninformed article that I've read in awhile.

Specifically, he said, "Ottawa needs to provide more consistent funding -over three to five years, rather than year-to-year -and be clearer about performance standards and what constitutes success. Meanwhile, on-reserve politicians need to give up the fantasy that their tiny communities are nations and need to be dealt with as such.

Until reserves begin to function as municipalities, First Nations destitution will remain."

Do not listen to Lorne Gunter for he knows nothing about the state of Aboriginal affairs.  If he did, he would have advised the public that the federal government of Canada and the Indian Act is the problem, not the First Nations, and that as long as the Indian Act remains in place, there is not any amount of money or funding cycles that will reduce the poverty in our communities. 

If Lorne knew what he was talking about, he would advised you that "self-government", not municipality-type governance, is the only action that will reduce the poverty in First Nations.  The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development studied this issue and drew that conclusion. 

It is views like Lorne Gunter's that perpetuate racism and stereotypes of First Nations people. 

Lorne, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) is a good starting point for you to educate yourself on Aboriginal issues.  After you read RCAP, read the Treaties because it will give you a VERY good idea about how the federal government is ignoring international treaties, which is detrimental to the interests of First Nations people, and which maintains the oppression and poverty among First Nations people. 

Here is the link to the article:  http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Money+solve+aboriginal+problems/4933242/story.html

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU?

The "National Chief" of the AFN is at it again!

APTN reports that the "Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Shawn Atleo and Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan have agreed to a plan that seems to set the stage for an historic meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and First Nations chiefs." 

Here is the link:  http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/06/09/atleo-duncan-agreement-to-set-stage-for-pm-meeting-with-chiefs/.

What is so historic about the Minister of "Aboriginal" or "Indian" Affairs (whatever name the feds use) holding a meeting with his mascot, the National Chief of the AFN, and the Prime Minister?  Nothing.  The federal government will be meeting with itself through the National Chief.  The Minister of Indian Affairs uses his mascot, the National Chief, to soothe the Chiefs, on the ground, into submission and the Chiefs fall for it.  The only historic thing about this meeting will be that I actually get to watch the whole thing unfold and blog on the internet that the federal government's mascot is screwing us over yet again.

Yayyyy for the meeting...now the "National Chief" can continue his reign of oppression over our people!  Let's give him a big round of applause for supporting federal policies that are detrimental to the interests of the people, ie. specific claims, Bill C-3, education, health, and tripartite agreements, etc. 

Why doesn't the National Chief try something different for a change and say the word "sovereignty"?  Come on Atleo, you can do it!  Tell yourself, "I think I can", "I think I can", and enunciate after me, "SO-VER- EIGN-TY".  It's not a bad word.  It actually sounds pretty good when it rolls off your tongue!  SO-VER-EIGN-TY.   There you go!  SOVEREIGNTY.

Oh I know, maybe Bruce Carson and former "National Chief" Phil Fontaine can co-ordinate the meeting?!  They can reignite their relationship and hire their non-Aboriginal spouses to implement Harper/Atleo's "Aboriginal" agenda and receive big bucks for their work.

Of course National Chief Atleo is praising the meeting. He will get to continue receiving a whopping $136K+ tax-free salary and never have to step foot on a reserve while the rest of us have to fight the federal government for our treaty right to tax exemption.  While Atleo continues to receive a $136K tax-free income, "his" people will continue to be unemployed and live in poverty.  If Atleo is so selfless, why doesn't he give up his income tax exemption until the rest of us get the same benefit?  Atleo's office will receive the money to co-ordinate the meeting and, in turn, will feed their friends in the Aboriginal industry while the people continue to live in poverty and remain unemployed. Same old...same old.

National Chief Atleo is encouraging us to vote in federal/provincial elections. Why doesn't he allow us to vote in the elections for National Chief????

Well Chiefs, don't say that I didn't warn you.  

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND OUR CHILDREN? 

Message for Duncan and Harper - I am an "Indian" under the Indian Act!

You are not going to disenfranchise Minnie Iserhoff's family from the Indian Act in 2011 without telling us. I have a right to know the details of the protest review that the Department of Indian Affairs is undertaking pursuant to section 14 of the Indian Act regarding our right to registration as Status Indians under the Indian Act. 

I am a Cree woman and the Indian Act is a racist piece of legislation that should be repealed in its entirety and not replaced. We have acquired rights under the Indian Act that you cannot unilaterally withdraw without due process. 

I submitted an Access to Information request in March 2010 for the contents of my personal file, my mother's, Helen Iserhoff, and my deceased grandmother's file, Minnie Iserhoff, at the Department of Indian Affairs and they are not releasing that information to me.  Why are you keeping my file a secret?  Did Indian Affairs already disenfranchise me without informing me? I have a right to know that information.

My children and many of my nieces, nephews, and cousins are excluded from Bill C-3 and they have a right to be registered as Indians under the Indian Act.

My great grandfather, Samuel Iserhoff, actually signed Treaty 9 in July 1905.  You cannot say that we are not "Indians"!

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND OUR CHILDREN?

A Message for Kelly McParland regarding Brigitte Depape!

Kelly McParland calls Brigitte DePape "self-interested" for being strategic and having the guts to carry a "Stop Harper" sign in the House during the Governor General's speech on Friday, June 1, 2011. Those who speak out and are different from the status quo often get labelled as "self-interested" by those people who are jealous and want the attention for themselves.

Brigitte chose to get her point across by a different path and got the message across, which is one of the goals of activisim.  So what?  It does not mean that she is self-interested. She is taking action.

Why doesn't Kelly McParland do something about her own causes and use her editorials to educate the public on important societal issues instead of trashing a 21 yr old young woman like DePape in the newspaper for taking action on her political views?!

Brigitte DePape is a fine young role model for young women! More women should follow suit!

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/06/05/kelly-mcparland-cancel-the-election-results-brigette-depape-is-not-happy/

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU?

A Message for Bill Curry, Harper, and Obama!

APTN posted a youtube video about "Geronimo E-KIA, a poem by the 1491s".

Watch it and learn.  Geronimo and Indigenous leaders or activists are not terrorists or disobedient!  We are sovereign nations who have rights as sovereigns, just like Canada and the U.S. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7vKu7X4aNA&feature=player_embedded

What an excellent video!

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU?

Indian Affairs's letter regarding my registration as a Status Indian

Someone posted a question on my previous blog regarding Harper's vindictiveness and retaliation against me for speaking out against his discriminatory policies.  She asked me, "Why is it just the women that you are so focused on? What about your male family members who are also being discriminated against? Also, how do you know that it is actually Harper who is specifically coming after you? Do you have any proof that you and your families registration is being reviewed because of your outspokenness and that INAC is being spiteful directly towards you?"

This is a copy of the letter dated April 20, 2011 that Indian Affairs sent to a non-status Indian who applied for registration as a Status Indian: 

"Dear XXXXX

This is to inform you that a member of your family has submitted a protest under section 14 of the Indian Act regarding the members of the family of Minnie Iserhoff and their descendants.  We are in the process of determining the right to registration of this family.

Once the protest review is completed, I will be in a position to process your application.

Yours Sincerely
Allan Tallman
Indian Registrar
OTTAWA ON K1A 0H4"

Allan Tallman signed the letter and I have a hard copy of this letter in my hands as I blog.  I am Minnie Iserhoff's grand-daughter and I am a Status Indian as are many of my cousins, and Mr. Allan Tallman did not notify any of Minnie's descendants that their right to status was being re-determined.  When were they going to tell me that this review was taking place? Why is Indian Affairs keeping this protest a secret?  I have a right to this information.

The letter is dated April 20, 2011.   Indian Affairs cannot use the excuse that they were too busy to tell us about the protest when they took the time on April 20, 2011 to notify a non-status Indian.  Surely, Indian Affairs could have performed a quick search of Minnie's file and notified us. In the federal government, a letter that goes out to the public is sent up and down the system for a review a few times before it is approved.

Indian Affairs has stated publically that they will not take away anyone's status as an "Indian" under the Indian Act.  Why are they reviewing my file in secret????

Read my blogs.  I have been criticizing Harper and Indian Affairs as well as the National Aboriginal Organizations on many of their actions and policies.  Form your own opinion as to the reason why Indian Affairs chose to not inform me that they were reviewing my registration as a Status Indian.

Why are the protest provisions in section 14 of the Indian Act still in place when non-Aboriginal women who acquired status through marriage to an "Indian" are protected?  Section 14 is discriminatory and should be repealed. It allows Indian Affairs to pick and choose the Aboriginal women and their children that they will disenfranchise or demote.  Section 14 allows vindictive Aboriginal people to retaliate against Aboriginal people who are outspoken and perpetuates the community in-fighting that is common place in our communities.

I am focusing on discrimination towards Aboriginal women because the Indian status rules in the Indian Act are designed to discriminate against Aboriginal women who married non-Aboriginal men and their children.  So when I say Aboriginal women, it includes Aboriginal men who are the children of these women.

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN? 
 

My latest role model! 21 yr old Page was fired for protesting against Harper!

I love this 21 yr old girl!!!  Stevie Boy is reaping what he is sowing!

According to CBC News, Brigitte Marcelle, a recent University of Ottawa graduate, carried a sign reading "Stop Harper" and walked out in front of Gov. Gen. David Johnston as he read the speech Friday afternoon.  She was escorted from the House and fired from her job as a Page.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/06/03/pol-senate-page.html?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4de9423e5ffdd51d%2C0

Brigitte said, "This country needs a Canadian version of an Arab Spring, a flowering of popular movements that demonstrate that real power to change things lies not with Harper but in the hands of the people, when we act together in our streets, neighbourhoods and workplaces."

We need our young Indigenous women to follow her lead!  Come on ladies...let's rise and put Stevie in his rightful place.  We have a right to equality and we are not equal.  Harper is "trying" to shut down Indigenous women.  Let's show him who the "BOSS" really is...us!

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU?

Stevie dislikes me and has vengefully retaliated

Harper does not like Indigenous female activists who seek equality and speak out against the racist and discriminatory policies of the Department of Indian Affairs (“INAC”).  In case you haven’t noticed, I have been fairly outspoken on the discriminatory and dysfunctional Department of Indian Affairs and the Indian Act! 

INAC is the most incompetent federal Department of them all and inside, it is extremely dysfunctional.  It is all about building personal empires and climbing the ranks in the public service, hence the waste and inappropriate use of resources and our tax dollars.

Harper has retaliated against me by trying to disenfranchise me and my family (a huge family) from the Indian Act.  In other words, he has a team that is in the process of “determining our right to registration” as “Status Indians” under the Indian Act. Harper is looking for a way to tell me that I am no longer an “Indian” and therefore, must assimilate into mainstream society.

Harper is likely planning to tell me by letter that I am no longer an “Indian” as a form of punishment for challenging his discriminatory policies and not behaving like a “good little Indian”, i.e. do not “criticize” anyone, including your own leaders, and be quiet. 

The best part of this issue is that Harper DID NOT even notify me that he was in the “process of determining” my right to registration as a “status Indian”!!  I only discovered this action yesterday because I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  Someone made a comment on Facebook and I looked into it.  Imagine my surprise???  Wow...the man upstairs was definitely looking out for me!!

Harper is investigating my deceased grandmother, Minnie Iserhoff, and her descendants, which includes me and many of my aunts and cousins who have acquired rights under the Indian Act.  Minnie Iserhoff (nee Solomon) is a full-blooded Cree woman as was her husband, my grandfather, David Iserhoff.  My mother is full-blooded Cree as well.  Blood quantum should not be used as a factor to determine “Indianness” but I am trying to make a point.  You can’t get anymore “Indian” than 100% blood quantum!

Minnie was left off the Indian Registry in 1951 because she married David.  David was left off the Indian Registry in 1951 because his father, Samuel Iserhoff, gave up his family’s right to treaty in the early 1900’s when David was a minor child and also because David was a veteran in World War I.  In 1985, Minnie was reinstated under Bill C-31 as a s.6(1)(c) Indian and in 2000, David was reinstated as a s.6(1)(d) Indian and I was reinstated as s.6(2) Indian. My children are non-status.  My mother is a s.6(1)(f) Status Indian and she was reinstated in 1985. 

The Indian Act registration rules are very complex and INAC uses this complexity to its advantage to deny Aboriginal women the right to be a “status Indian” under the Indian Act.  One of the discriminatory parts of this issue is that while INAC is investigating and trying to disenfranchise me and my family from the Indian Act in 2011, they are protecting the rights of non-Aboriginal women who acquired Indian Status through marriage to an “Indian”. There is no process in the Indian Act to disenfranchise non-Aboriginal women who married “Indians”!  Why are we, as Aboriginal women, capable of being disenfranchised in 2011and not the non-Aboriginal women?  This is the thanks that my grandfather received from Canada for serving Canada in World War I.  “You are no longer Indian”.

I am going to challenge this process because it is discriminatory towards Aboriginal women!!  Aboriginal women have rights to equality and retaliation or not, I will never back down from Harper or anyone on this issue. 

To all the descendants of Minnie and David Iserhoff, please notify me immediately if you have received any letters from Indian Affairs advising you that your right to be a “Status Indian” under the Indian Act has been taken away or is in the process of being reviewed.  My email address is Charlene_desrochers@sympatico.ca. 

Once again, in December 2010, the “National Chiefs” of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, the Assembly of First Nations, and the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples did not consult the people and sold out all Aboriginal women and their children, in exchange for money, by supporting the discriminatory amendments to the Indian Status registration rules in Bill C-3. Real leaders advocate for the rights of their people, not the federal government and themselves.   

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN?

My latest Role Model - Jenni Williams from Zimbabwe!

I have a message for all Indigenous women (Inuit, First Nations and Métis) in Canada, watch this APTN newsclip about Jenni Williams, an activist from Zimbabwe, and let's copy her!  I am!!  Here is the link:  http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/06/02/zimbabwe-rights-fighter-urges-no-surrender/.

According to APTN, Jenni Williams "never backs down from a fight, even against Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe" and "she has been jailed nearly 40 times, yet she continues her quest for equality."  

Come on ladies...let's take (and not ask for) our rightful place as leaders in the community!  You have a right to equality. 

Kudos to APTN for the great newsclip! 

Whew! Just in the nick of time... the “Terminator” is no longer the Governor of California!

CBC Newsworld just reported that, “The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday endorsed a court order requiring California to cut its prison population by tens of thousands of inmates to improve health care for those who remain behind bars.”

Here is the link to the article:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/05/23/supreme-court-california-jails.html.

Wow...what a narrow (5-4) pro-human rights decision!  What is President Obama going to do now? Shoot them all?!  The California prison inmates are probably very happy that the “Terminator”, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is no longer the Governor of California.  Oh wait, I better not speak too soon.  We might hear the words, “I’ll be back”! 

Well, the U.S. federal and state governments are probably scratching their heads right now and wondering “whatever are we going to do?"  Hmm....let me tell you.  Rather than shooting them all or building more prisons, address the root causes for the reason that the prison population is so high.....and the prize goes to....yes, the woman who has said on numerous occasions, “Poverty is the root cause for high prison populations”, Miss Angela Davis!

Now why am I am not surprised that Justice Scalia dissented and said, “the court order is "perhaps the most radical injunction issued by a court in our nation's history."??  Is that man ever going to retire?  He's been on the bench forever.  Gee...give someone else a turn.

We need more decisions like this one, especially in Canada!  Decisions like this one are often the only means to make the governments act in a fashion that address human rights violations. 

Hey Stevie, I heard that you will be appointing two justices to the Supreme Court of Canada at the end of the summer.  Take a look at the characteristics and qualities of the five Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court who made up the majority in this decision and appoint two similar judges to the Supreme Court of Canada. 

Better yet, appoint an "Aboriginal" judge to the Supreme Court since you are so pro-“Aboriginal” these days and appear to like the word “Aboriginal”.

Aboriginal...Aboriginal...Aboriginal...

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND OUR CHILDREN?

Bill Curry on “Penashue’s dramatic journey from civil disobedience to political power”

In the Edmonton Journal on Friday, May 20, 2011, Bill Curry described the life of Peter Penashue, the first Innu man to be appointed as President of Queen’s Privy Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.  He titled his article, “Penashue’s dramatic journey from civil disobedience to political power.” 

Here is the link to Bill Curry’s article:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/penashues-dramatic-journey-from-civil-disobedience-to-political-power/article2030578/.

Journey from civil disobedience???  I did not realize that Penashue’s life involved acts of “civil disobedience”.  When I read Curry’s article, I saw an Innu man who was attempting to protect his peoples’ rights through the assertion of sovereignty!!

Journey from civil disobedience??? When I read Bill Curry’s article, my immediate thought was that Bill Curry does not have a clue about First Nations and sovereignty, and that he thinks of us as savages and terrorists whom he will praise when one of us has been reformed, assumed the “white man’s” way of life, and joined federal politics. 

Recently, controversy was created when President Obama called his unjust mission to execute Osama Bin Laden, an evil terrorist, without a trial, “Operation Geronimo”.   Indigenous peoples were insulted by this racist slandering of Geronimo by the implicit reference to him as a terrorist like Bin Laden.  Bin Laden is not anything like Geronimo.  Geronimo was not a terrorist.

Message for Bill Curry:  Peter Penashue is not a reformed Osama Bin Laden and we are not terrorists!  Stop calling our acts of sovereignty “civil disobedience”!!  I may set up shop outside your office carrying a sign that states, “Bill Curry is a terrorist”.  Would you like that???

           

Geronimo was a hero to his people and to me.  His actions were that of protecting the sovereign rights of his people, much like the actions of Louis Riel, Poundmaker, and Crazyhorse. Penashue’s earlier assertions of sovereignty are admirable qualities.

What Penashue was lacking at the time of his assertions of sovereignty (or as Bill Curry calls it “civil disobedience”) was the support of his fellow First Nations leaders across Canada.  If Penashue had their undivided support, ALL of our communities would be prosperous and look very different today.

First of all, let me congratulate Penashue on his appointment to such a prestigious position in Cabinet and for overcoming the obstacles in his life.  I am proud of Penashue for his accomplishments and I hope he does something positive for us.  However, time will tell.   Will the rest of Harper’s Cabinet allow him to make decisions that actually benefit his people?  I do not think so.

Does anyone want to bet $100 that the Innu and Inuit are going to get “screwed big time”???  It is an easy $100 for me!  Pardon my language but I am trying to make a point. 

Just because an Innu or Inuit person is in Cabinet does not mean that major change is going to occur. Penashue is a Cabinet Minister of a racist State with racist federal departments underneath him.

Let us examine President Obama’s situation. He is an African American President.  What has he done for his people who live in poverty in the United States?  Nothing.  President Obama cannot do anything for his people because, like Angela Davis said, Obama is the head of a racist state with racist departments underneath him.  The colour of Obama’s skin is not going to change anything.  The same principle applies to Indigenous peoples. I love Angela Davis! 

I am sure that Penashue and Aglukkaq would love to implement positive changes for us but their hands are tied by the machinery of the racist federal government of Canada. 

History has shown us that Cabinet Ministers or Ministers who advocate for our interests are quickly shut down by the rest of their team.  Leona Aglukkaq has had experience as the Minister of Health and she has done nothing for our people. In fact, she is doing the opposite. She is cutting health care services and programs for our people and dumping jurisdiction to the provinces through “tripartite” agreements.  Why is Penashue going to be any different? 

The most important fact of all in Bill Curry’s article is that Penashue’s “pro-development approach is not even universally accepted among his own community – or family. His mother has said that while she’s very happy for her son’s victory, she will continue to oppose the Lower Churchill hydro project due to its impact on area wildlife.”   Need I say more?

I view Peter Penashue’s appointment to Cabinet as part of Harper’s plan to economically develop the northern Inuit and Innu communities according to the policies of the federal government and not Innu/Inuit policies.  Instead of Harper developing the north and taking the vast majority of the revenues from the resources on and under their lands, he is going to make Leona Aglukkaq and Peter Penashue do it.  I also see Penashue ‘reconciling” First Nations interests with federal and provincial interests and then dumping jurisdiction of First Nations issues to the provinces.  Why should a “white man” do it when he can get an Inuit and Innu person to do it?  Throughout this process, the Aboriginal industry (lawyers, business consultants, accountants, miners, etc) will benefit tremendously off the backs of the Innu and Inuit.  I wish I was wrong and I hope Penashue proves me wrong.  Time will tell.

Now, let’s move onto Clint Davis and company...

Bill Curry quoted Clint Davis in his article.  “He realized that civil disobedience or protest can certainly bring attention to an issue,” said Clint Davis, an Inuk from Labrador who is president of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. “But real change comes from business activity and business development in a way that was respectful of their culture and respectful of the environment. So I have high expectations of him.”

Clint Davis is certainly entitled to his views and I am not judging him at all for his views. I do not know him and I have not been privy to his facial expressions while making this statement in order to fully grasp the context behind it. However, I think that he is advocating for municipality style governance as opposed to governance that actually acknowledges and respects sovereignty.  Take your place in Canada as a town, set up a business, and govern yourself like a municipality through the election of Chief and Council, much like a Mayor and his Councillors. Although we do not officially call ourselves “municipalities” that is exactly what we have become, whether we like to admit it or not.

I think we need to make a choice on what path we are going to take in life: municipality-style governance or sovereignty, which can be accomplished if all First Nations people united and demanded MAJOR change. Professor T. Alfred was right when he said we need to stop complaining if we are going to choose to live according to federal rules. We are getting the same treatment as municipalities and nothing more! This is not sovereignty nor does it respect our treaties.  We need to make a clear distinction between sovereignty and government-led municipality-style “self-government”.  What is taking place today is government-led municipality-style self-government, not sovereignty. 

A First Nations leader told me yesterday that “First Nations peoples live in two worlds. By working, earning an income in one world, it does not mean that we give up our identity or the world that we were born into.”  I have to respond to this statement on my blog because I absolutely disagree with him.  Yesterday, I told this same leader my view about Penashue being a role model for us and he judged me harshly in return. He is entitled to his opinion and I am not shaming him for that.  He has the right to speak as everyone else and should not be judged for it.  Learning and growing is a continual process.

First Nations people do not live in two worlds.  We live in one world where we define ourselves and live according to the Indian Act and federal government rules even though we may say that we do not practice or acknowledge the Indian Act or the federal government. Just because one states that they do not acknowledge the Indian Act, does not mean that one has not internalized the Indian Act.  One’s actions are evidence of this phenomenon. Actions speak louder than words.  Of course, this internalization is through no fault of anyone but the federal government.  The residential school era and the discriminatory status provisions in the Indian Act, which denied many of our people the right to live and practice their culture with the rest of their community, almost destroyed us. 

The Indian Act and residential school era did a good job in interfering with our ability to identify, think, and govern ourselves according to our cultures and traditions.  We have internalized mainstream society values whether we like or not. Only you, yourself, can make the change in your value system to reflect your culture’s values. The question is, “do you want to”?

By living in the “first” world, we are living according to the “white man’s way” and ignoring our identity and cultures as First Nations people.  In the “second” world, we are practising our culture on a land base specified by the federal government and practising our “identity” according to the Indian Act and excluding many of our citizens who were purposely left out of the Indian Act.  The Assembly of First Nations and Native Women’s Association of Canada’s acceptance of Bill C-3, the amendments to the Indian Act status provisions, is STARK EVIDENCE of the internalization of the Indian Act. We have now taken over the role of colonizing and oppressing our people.

While Penashue may be put forward by Bill Curry and others as a role model for Indigenous peoples, Penashue is one of many role models with varying backgrounds and beliefs.  I am proud of Penashue for his accomplishments in fitting into mainstream society, overcoming abuse, and climbing to the top.  I am not attempting to take anything away from him.

I have something to say to the people who criticize me for stating my personal and political opinions regarding Penashue’s appointment to Cabinet or other issues that I have commented on. I am a Registered Nurse, a lawyer with a Masters of Law in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy, and a Fulbright Scholar.  I also accomplished these feats as a single mother of three children.  I have overcome many obstacles in my life, just like Penashue, in order to get where I am today.  Do not judge me just because my views are different from yours.  We all have our own story.

My role models are Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, and Martin Luther King Jr., because they sacrificed their own personal interests for the interests of their people and created major change in the process.  Although Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison, that time was short considering the benefit it achieved for his people and each generation to come:  freedom. 

First Nations are not free and sovereign anymore. It is a thing of the past because we choose to make it a thing of the past. Some First Nations people may think we are free and sovereign but they have internalized the Indian Act.  They think that we are free and sovereign because we “negotiated” agreements based on one-sided federal policies that do not meet the needs of our people.  Remember that.

My Indigenous role models are Crazyhorse, Geronimo, Louis Riel, and Poundmaker because they set aside their personal interests, asserted sovereignty, and died fighting for the rights of our people.  They died with integrity.

Integrity, which means living with moral and ethical principles such as truth, faith, greater good, and justice, is the rule or value that I live by.  If you do not have integrity, what do you have? Do you as an Indigenous person or leader live with integrity? Only you can answer that question.

Did you as a First Nations “leader” give your non-Aboriginal spouse a very important contract that earned the both of you approximately $6 million dollars or some other amount? Did your people benefit from it like you did?  Is that integrity?

If you read this blog and find yourself upset at my opinions, ask yourself “why” and take a good hard look at yourself and your values. The truth hurts and people do not like to acknowledge the truth.

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND OUR CHILDREN?

Someone throw “National Chief” Betty Ann Lavalleé a bone!

Better yet, someone toss a few dollar bills at her and send her on her way! 

Betty Ann Lavalleé is the federal government’s “token Aboriginal” National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), a National Aboriginal Organization (NAO) that unilaterally claims to represent the interests of non-status and off-reserve Indians and Métis.  The NAO’s are funded by and a subset of the Department of Indian Affairs.  The NAO’s implement the federal government’s Aboriginal agenda and they do it well.

Betty Ann was “elected” as the National Chief in September 2009 by approximately 180 Aboriginal people; that is, 180 people out of more than one million Aboriginal people in Canada, and she seems to think that it makes her “management” of CAP legitimate.  In a democratic society, a majority vote of the population is often required before a real leader takes the helm. 180 votes out of one million votes is anything but democratic. In fact, it is a dictatorship when a “National Chief” only allows approximately 180 people to vote.

I am using the word “management” to describe Betty Ann’s role as “National Chief” at CAP because she is rarely, and I mean rarely (almost non-existent), heard or seen in the media advocating for the interests of off-reserve and non-status Indians to the federal government.  However, she does like to travel at the taxpayers’ expense doing whatever it is that she does.  When she is seen in the media, she is supporting federal government Aboriginal initiatives and, most often, does so without consulting her “constituents”. 

Although the National Chiefs of the NAO’s are “token Aboriginals” for the federal government, Betty Ann takes the cake over them all, past and present.  She is just plain lying on her back in silence while the Minister of “Aboriginal” Affairs, John Duncan, rubs her belly every once in a while, and says, “Good token”, “good token”.  The federal government is implementing Aboriginal initiatives that are contrary to our interests and Betty Ann is not saying a word in our defence.

Harper changed the name of the Minister of Indian Affairs to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs two days ago when he reappointed John Duncan to the position. 

In yesterday’s article of the Globe and Mail, it was noted that “Not all native representatives were wary (of the name change), however. Betty Ann Lavallée, National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, has long advocated on behalf of non-status Indians who do not qualify for the wide range of services that governments provide to status Indians.  She hopes the name change will further that discussion.” “I haven’t stopped smiling,” she said on Wednesday when asked for her reaction to the name change.”  “I love it.”

Here is the link to the Globe and Mail article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/aboriginal-affairs-a-new-name-with-an-uncertain-meaning/article2026696/.

Uh...did Betty Ann bother to ask any of us, her supposed constituents, if we were satisfied with the name change from Minister of “Indian” Affairs to Minister of “Aboriginal” Affairs???  NO, she did not!  A REAL and democratic leader asks her people what they want reflected in a name. 

Betty Ann SPEAKS and SMILES for HERSELF and NO ONE ELSE!!!  CAP does not ask us if we want to endorse federal initiatives. CAP just does it. That is not democracy.

According to the Indian Act, I am a section 6(2) status and off-reserve Indian and my children are non-status Indians.  I do not know about Betty Ann but I am a CREE woman!!  My children and I do not need or want a token Aboriginal “National Chief” to tell us who we are.  We know who we are.

We, my children and I, do not like the name change from the Minister of “Indian” Affairs to “Aboriginal” Affairs.  The name change is not going to change the relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the federal government because the federal government only collaborates or “consults” with itself through its token “National Chiefs” and the federal Minister of “Indian/Aboriginal” Affairs.  The terms “Indian” and “Aboriginal” are terms created by the federal government for the federal government, not us. We are not “Indians” or “Aboriginals”.  

The name change from “Indian” to “Aboriginal” is going to cost millions or hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars to implement.  That money could have educated some of our children or provided health care services for our people.   Did Betty Ann think of this fact before endorsing it????   Who knows what Betty Ann thinks because she rarely informs us about the federal government’s Aboriginal initiatives.  Silence is her “game”.

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND OUR CHILDREN? 

A Message for my Father, the Minister of Indian Affairs, John Duncan!

Dear Father

Congratulations on remaining in your Cabinet posting as the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.  I was hoping that you would remain in that post. I am enjoying blogging about your inability to parent your children, especially the unruly ones like myself!  I very much enjoy picking on you :)) 

I have a question.  When are you going to let me speak?  Am I still grounded for being unruly?  You know, the longer I am grounded, the louder and longer I will blog about you!  I am not going away. 

You are stuck with me for the time being so how shall I refer to you in my future blogs?  Father? John? Johnny? John Boy?

Until my next blog...

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU?

Harper's Cabinet - Good Boy Stevie! Good Boy!

Dear Stevie

I heard through the grapevine yesterday that you were going to appoint Leona Aglukaaq as the Mistress of Indian Affairs.  Thank GOD and thank you for not doing so!  Such a move would have been a huge slap in the face to Aboriginal women and I would have blogged forever on this issue.

You're catching on Stevie but you need some new Aboriginal advisors!  Tom Flanagan, Manny Jules, and Patrick Brazeau haven't got a clue about the needs and interests of First Nations people.  If you continue to use them, you will get no where in terms of advancing YOUR Aboriginal agenda.  You will only create more dysfunction.   

"Minister of Aboriginal Affairs"?  Aboriginal, Indian...it doesn't matter what term you use to describe YOUR Minister.  Both terms were created by the federal government and not by us. You are still regulating "Indians" or "Aboriginals".  Either way, it is YOUR agenda (not ours) that is going to be advanced through YOUR (not ours) token mascots, the "National Chiefs", and the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.  Don't forget, YOUR mascots do not allow us to vote in their elections nor do they let us participate in decision-making.  You might as well acknowledge the fact that by collaborating with your mascots, you are collaborating with yourself and not us.

First Nations are not the burden on the taxpayer.  The public service is the burden.  If you really want to save our tax dollars, reform the public service.  "Scare resources" or "unavailable resources" to deny funds for First Nations programs and services is not the issue.  Inappropriate use of available resources is the issue.   If you want to solve the problem, stop hiring your friends and get rid of the shoddy operators who are receiving a pension and a salary at the same time!

WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU?