For standing up for ourselves, our beliefs, and folks we love, women are often called a bitch.
When we demand social justice, women are often called a crazy bitch.
Just goes to show you conservative men lack both imagination and decent comeback lines.
Something I read recently gave me a flash back. Let's play a little game of then and now...
THEN: Leading up to the November 2000 election the following appeared on Chuck Strahl (now Minister of Indian Affairs) website: High unemployment, social problems and infrastructure decay still plague many native areas despite billions in federal monies going to assist them. Natives live in Third World poverty while their chiefs and councils – and an industry of lawyers and consultants surrounding native affairs – live in regal splendor. The Canadian Alliance is aggressively pressuring the government to implement accountability measures so that grassroots aboriginals get the services they need. "The government spends billions of dollars on aboriginal-specific programming that it claims will better the lives of Canada’s aboriginal people. Why is it that grassroots aboriginals get so little and band councils get so much?” – Chuck Strahl, Vancouver Sun, April 7, 2000.
NOW: Chuck Strahl will recieve an MP pension of $155,733 annually if he retires. Regular working people in Canada, who are eligible for Canada Pension Plan after decades of contributions at the age of 65, will receive approximately $5,800. a year, only $150,000 less than Strahl. (Source: National Post)
Major employers in the Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon riding are the construction and manufacturing industries, retail trade and the service sector. The 2006 census showed an average family income of $66,138 and an unemployment rate of 6.7 per cent. (source CBC)
As a cabinet minister, Chuck Strahl earns a base salary of $233,247 per year.
Why is it that grassroots white people get so little and their white MPs get so much, Chuck? Why?
Too exciting not to blog about! Bold and daring or short sighted with disastrous outcomes. I think this should open up the stodgy claims process. Imagine the confidence to say - "I don't need the "Indian Status" to know who I am." It's so true. They won't stop being Gitxsan but they will stop being "wards of the state."
I bet you Strahl is wondering - how can I make them give it up and retain control of the resources at the same time.
JUSTINE HUNTER
VICTORIA — From Monday's Globe and Mail Published on Monday, Nov. 09, 2009 5:00AM EST Last updated on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 4:03AM EST
A delegation of the Gitxsan people from northwest British Columbia is set to meet with Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl next month with a groundbreaking proposal: That the 13,000 members of their tribe be allowed to abandon their status as "Indians."
The group is willing to relinquish reserves, tax exemptions, Indian Act housing and financial supports in exchange for a share of resources. Unlike most contemporary efforts at treaty-making, it would also abandon the ambition of a separate level of government.
B.C.'s new minister of aboriginal affairs and reconciliation, George Abbott, has met twice with the Gitxsan treaty team and has put his senior negotiator on the file. Mr. Strahl agreed to the meeting after Mr. Abbott sent a letter to Ottawa last week urging him to take a look at the proposed governance model.
In an interview, Mr. Abbott said he has given his negotiators "a mandate to talk and explore." He said the proposal still has many hurdles, including the question of whether elected chiefs or hereditary chiefs can claim to speak for the Gitxsan people. The concept is far outside of the standard treaty model, and it presents a series of constitutional questions about the possibility of taking away, even with consent, the rights accorded to status Indians.
* Can you enfranchise a status Indian? * Can the government recognize the authority of hereditary chiefs? * Can you give them a share of resources beyond what's been offered in the past?
And the proposal is by no means universally endorsed by the Gitxsan people, having touched off a power struggle between the hereditary rulers who trace their authority back thousands of years, and the elected band officials who have earned their power through a system created by the Indian Act.
The first nation's treaty team, led by hereditary chiefs, proposes the Gitxsan would become regular, enfranchised Canadian citizens, governed by municipal, provincial and federal governments.
What would the Gitxsan get in exchange? The upfront price tag is some land ownership and cash, but the bigger prize lies down the road: The Gitxsan want a share of the resources that are taken from their 33,000-square-kilometre traditional territories, to be managed by their traditional system of clans and houses.
Read the Gitxsan Reconciliation Alternative Governance Model (pdf)
Download this file (.pdf)
Taiaiake Alfred, director of the University of Victoria's Indigenous Governance Program, said one aspect that is likely troubling Canada and B.C. is the notion of handing over any control to hereditary chiefs who are not governed by elections. "But it's a form of democracy that is participatory and direct. There is constant dialogue between the people of that community that generates consensus."
The step forward comes as the province's attempts to settle land claims over virtually all of its Crown lands seems deadlocked. As well, earlier this year, an effort led by Premier Gordon Campbell to enact Recognition and Reconciliation legislation collapsed.
"There are some elements to this that make it a very difficult discussion to conclude," Mr. Abbott said.
A key sticking point for the province is that the hereditary chiefs want some measure of control over their entire traditional territory. Most treaty settlements involve some small fraction - often 3 per cent - of a first nation's traditional lands. As well, Mr. Abbott said, the concept of "enfranchising" a status Indian creates a legal quagmire. "The Gitxsan collectively may say they want to be like everyone else. But whether, on an individual basis, their constitutionally entrenched rights around fishing and hunting can be terminated is questionable and needs to be explored."
The Gitxsan's chief negotiator, Elmer Derrick, said the proposal was initially rebuffed because the treaty negotiators for Ottawa and Victoria have tried to fit it into their standard treaty model. He is encouraged that there may be some political will now to see that this will result in better living conditions for his people who currently live in desperately poor conditions - and that it will cost Canadian taxpayers less.
"Every time we sit down with politicians at every level, I make a point of saying the Gitsxan don't want to be a burden on the Crown and we don't want the Crown to be a burden on us," said Chief Derrick, a hereditary chief of the Gitsegukla, one of seven communities of the Gitxsan nation.
Health Canada has decided they should speak to First Nations about H1N1 concerns and is hoping it will stop the F*** ups. What a revolutionary thought. They are so excited about this ingenious new idea, that they will hold a Press Conference all about it tommorrow. Well, it's not much, but it's a start. Hopefully the government will follow up with other super smart and clever ideas - like access to clean water, safe housing, schools, doctors and nurses, economic development.... Now that would be worthy of a news conference. The one bizarre twist in this story is INAC flack Ted Yeomans' insistance that the body bag incident had nothing to do with this announcement. Uh-huh. Christ Ted, just say your sorry and stop being an ass.
Full story below.
Tories reach out to First Nations after body bag blunder By Sue Bailey (CP) – 1 hour ago
OTTAWA — The Harper government is reaching out to First Nations with a flu communications strategy after this week's body-bag fiasco was blamed on a misunderstanding.
Shawn Atleo, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, will join Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl for an unusual weekend news conference here Saturday.
Sources say chiefs of some of the most vulnerable communities across Canada will soon have a conduit to raise flu concerns with Ottawa health officials.
The ministers are expected to outline a plan for regular meetings between assembly and government staff. Federal willingness to ease the exchange of such information is seen by some as an olive branch to outraged chiefs.
Ted Yeomans, a spokesman for Strahl, said that's going too far.
"Tomorrow's announcement is not a result of what issues were dealt with this week in regards to H1N1. What will be announced has been worked on for a number of weeks and has been planned for some time."
There is also talk of a virtual summit to allow First Nations with online access to ask questions of flu experts.
Not all communities will be able to take part, said one source close to the planning. But it's a start.
Atleo has expressed frustration with how Ottawa deals with far-flung, often remote First Nations.
He reacted with "disbelief" when Manitoba reserves hard hit by the H1N1 flu received several body bags from Health Canada this week.
A department spokesman said the shipment was part of "routine restocking" - not linked solely to a potential new wave of flu.
Atleo said the badly timed blunder shows why native leaders have been calling since last spring for a new approach.
"This incident demonstrates the urgent need to ensure pandemic planning is developed in partnership with First Nations," he said in a statement.
"I am urging the responsible federal ministers to work with First Nations leadership nationally, regionally and locally to ensure effective communication, clear planning and full engagement and attention on this matter."
Aglukkaq has vowed to get to the bottom of the body bag deliveries as native reserves brace for a second outbreak of H1N1 this fall.
Starting last spring, the flu pandemic disproportionately hit native reserves grappling with lack of running water and overcrowded houses.
Chiefs from some of the most stricken Manitoba reserves accused Ottawa of abandoning them. Some leaders travelled to the nearest cities to buy hand sanitizer and other supplies in bulk after federal shipments were delayed over concerns residents would drink alcohol-based cleanser.
Aglukkaq has repeatedly insisted that the federal government has a pandemic response plan to help all communities should the flu return in force.
At least 76 Canadians across the country have died from H1N1, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Apparently Mohawk Grand Chief Tim Thompson crashed what was supposed to be a schmoozing Day of Reconciliation. While Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl and AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine exchanged warm words, the Grand Chief hopped the stage to make a 20 minute long unscheduled speech and blasted the government in front of the audience of hundreds and media. (story)I am really hoping someone posts this on YOUTUBE.
Thompson had been working on the border-crossing issue - Mohawks who have a border crossing in the middle of their territory at Akwesasne don't want the guards to be armed. They would be equally happy if the checkpoint was moved outside their community as a solution. I don't know if the media really ever explained this but if you've been to Akwesasne and seen the area, it seems like an easy fix.
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