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.
It's amazing that the National Post can publish editorials by Widdowson, and still wonder why they are hovering on the verge of bankruptcy. Who wants to read it? Well I fought down the bile long enough to skim through her latest article "The aboriginal healing boondoggle" which attacks the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF).
Widdowson clearly has no idea what the AHF actually does and she flops from one topic to another like a fish on dry land trying to grasp onto something to criticize. For example, she points out that several individuals at the AHF have prior professional experience related to their jobs. But far from being a good thing Widdowson's twists job experience into an evil conspiracy: the "Aboriginal Industry," which she described in her book of paranoid delusions last year. In an attempt to shock her readers she points out that a number of high-level professionals at AHF are well-paid. Of course these salaries are on par with what their peers earn in other government departments. So I am not sure where she's going with this, unless she believes aboriginal workers should be paid less than their non-native peers for the same work.
Widdowson continues to spew ignorant arguments based on her unique brand of thinly veiled racism. For example - towards the bottom of her article she says Aboriginal people (here I think she really means FIrst Nations) found the transition from hunting to wage work difficult, which is false. The fur trade started failing at the turn of the century in the east, later in the West. Within a few decades First Nations were successfully working as lumberjacks, in high steel, ran a number of successful farms, earned wages fisheries and canneries, or during the wars, worked as soldiers. She could walk into any library and crack open a book (some of them even have pictures) to get this information. In reading through Widdowson's writings once finds most of what she writes is baseless, false or based on carefully manipulated half-truths.
Make no mistake though, there is an aboriginal industry. Here is how it works based on real facts, histories, political sciences, newspaper articles (in REAL newspapers, not the Post) all of which are available either online, in public records or public libraries.
For any nation wealth is based on an ability to access resources. Over the last century First Nations were slowly cut off from resources they once harvested, traded, or sold such as gold, trees, fish. First Nations were cut off from exploiting new resources on their land as they were discovered: oil, diamonds etc. So everyone else gets their cut - federal, provincial and municipal governments who earn millions in taxes, and the corporations who get to exploit these resources. However, not a single red cent goes to First Nations. An that is why First Nations have to go hat in hand to other governments and beg for money to provide basic services like schools and water. When First Nations ask for their cut, to either exploit the resources themselves, launch land claims, or ask for revenue sharing agreements, governments fight tooth and nail, spending millions of taxpayers dollars on lawyers to keep First Nations poor. That is the REAL aboriginal industry. It's not good for First Nations, and it's not good for Canadians. The sooner we all fight back and express our desire for change, the sooner it will all get better.
Widdowson is part of this aboriginal industry. She is their cheerleader and their PR. She earns a living promoting racist ideas. You see Widdowson not ignorant or stupid. She has been to a library. She is well-read. She knows all the same facts we know. Her brain is healthy and perfectly capable of interpreting and analysing the data she reads. So when Widdowson pounds her keyboard, purposefully spitting out falsehoods like a viper spitting poison, she does so fully aware that she is twisting the truth and ignoring the facts. She writes what she knows is ugly and untrue about an entire race of people because she wants to. That is why I call her writings racist.
Fortunately, the majority of Canadians see through it. That is why they don't read the Post which seems to specialize in poorly researched opinion pieces that border on hate crimes. That is why it is about to go under. The world will be just a little bit prettier when that happens and people who want to spin hate have to go back to hertiage front chatrooms. I think we should all help it along. We should each call or write one advertiser in the Post and let them know we will ban their products so long as they continue to support such a nasty paper.
A frail, elderly Winnipeg woman narrowly avoided being stranded at a U.S. airport thanks to a stranger in shiny shoes who transformed into her guardian angel.
Elsie Clark's return trip home from a holiday with family in Texas last week became turbulent quickly after she was dropped at the wrong departure gate by an employee working at the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport.
"By this time I was in tears," the 79-year-old Clark said in an interview on Monday with CBC News. She said she suffers from a bad hip, making it difficult to walk for long periods.
After missing her flight, the airline arranged for a different one with a connecting flight in Chicago.
P.O.V.: Good Samaritan
Have you taken care of someone in need?
It was on this aircraft that Clark said fate stepped in.
"I noticed a man with shiny shoes," she said, adding that since she was a little girl she's admired people wearing well-cared-for shoes.
His name was Dean Germeyer. Missed connection
Clark said she and Germeyer shared stories on the airplane, which landed late, meaning Clark missed her connecting flight and would be stranded in O'Hare International Airport overnight.
Dean Germeyer said he felt compelled to help out after hearing Clark talk about her travel troubles to an airline employee. Dean Germeyer said he felt compelled to help out after hearing Clark talk about her travel troubles to an airline employee. (CBC)Living on a fixed income, she said she couldn't afford a hotel room and would have to spend the night sitting on an airport bench with nothing but her purse.
"I'm absolutely in tears again," Clark said.
But that's when Germeyer stepped in and saved the day, she said.
The young businessman whisked her away to dinner with his wife at their apartment overlooking downtown Chicago.
Afterward, Clark said Germeyer took her sightseeing in the Windy City in his car.
At the end of their tour, Germeyer drove Clark to the Affinia Hotel where he had footed the bill for her to stay the night in a posh suite.
In the morning, a limousine arrived to ferry her to the airport and an uneventful flight home.
"Meeting a man like him — it's unbelievable," Clark said. "I will never forget him.
"You say 'thank you,' and it's not enough," she said.
Germeyer said he couldn't look the other way when he overheard Clark talking about her travel woes with an airline employee.
"I told her, 'I couldn't have slept with you sitting overnight with a bad hip at an airport. That wouldn't have been right,'" he said.
"This was a pretty easy thing for me to do — in the situation I knew exactly what to do — I had the means to really help her," Germeyer said.
Both Germeyer and Clark said they hope the story inspires others to help people in need.
We all are expecting a new round of conservative appointments to the Senate. Pondering who these new appointees might be, I began reminiscing about Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau, the two most controversial appointments from last round. It got me wondering... How do they feel being the subject of so many blogs and so much debate? Are they friends now? Are they maybe helping each other adjust? Then I found this video, called the taxpayer's twist. Good to know they are getting on well, enjoying their Harper Holiday and all that.
Ok so I am being sarcastic but think about this..............Cindy Blackstock Executive Director of the First Nation Child and Family Caring Society (FNCFCS)has convinced the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and therein the Chiefs of our communities to allow her and her board of directors to set the direction and pace to address the needs of our children.
Because of this the AFN is now the advocate for First Nation child welfare agencies such as Awasis Child and Family Caring Agency and the Cree Nation Child and Family Caring Agency...and other agencies that have manipulated the system to better themselves.
Ms Blackstock did so well she convinced the Chiefs to launch a HR complaint - even though it had been considered before and tossed aside by those of us that were actually impacted by the policy itself.
With that move INAC stopped talking to AFN - why would they? I'm sure they can save some cash by not funding AFN to advocate for children if they're just going to use it to demand more money rather than help build solutions. And no I do not believe for one nano-second that increasing the funding gap by the 22% will decrease the number of indigenous children entering care. It will hire one or two more people, maybe provide a work-shop or conference...as the increase in funds did in Manitoba.(I've lost the link so please refer to the story I copied below written by Mary Agnes Welch who has done an amazing job covering the story: Rising from the ashes of Phoenix, Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION System overhauled, but the deaths continue By: Mary Agnes Welch 21/12/2008 1:00 AM)
The FNCFCS use their funds to advocate for First Nation child welafre agencies. Various FN child welfare agencies pay a membership fee (and the entire board is made up of directors of those agencies) so that Cindy can lobby for them. The FNCFCS is also funded through a few charitable organizations like this one here the Atkinson Foundation to the tune of 100K a year for the next three years.
Not bad, she manages to cripple the voice for children within the AFN - the voice that might question the policies and how those policies actually impact on the children their families while she secured other funds to continue to lobby for the Agencies. The focus is now on how the Agencies are funded not whether the policy actually helps children or harms them. The argument from the Agencies is simply we are not funded equitably and that’s why “there are as many children in care today as at the peak of the residential schools.” But try to ask point blank – will the increase in funds decrease or stabilize the number of children who enter care and there is silence.
Frankly I think the Chiefs, through the AFN, should actually challenged the Agencies, the Federal Government and the Provinces and withdraw en-mass and give control back over to the feds and the provinces to deliver the program......oh to dream the impossible dream.....They would FREAK! Both the federal government and the provincial governments know they cannot afford to implement the program so they want the communities to have "delegated" authority. The province delegates the authority to the Agencies.
I'd rather our Nations be recognized as the designate authorities similar to the Alberta model. But with this mighty plan hatched by the 'experts' I'll bet that eventually the funds will be increased by the 22% demanded by AFN and the CW agencies because the government knows it's easier and cheaper - but why give in right away? This way the AFN and Cindy will think they won something.
Truth is we will still be the biggest losers - cause we could have gone for the whole gusto and designed a program that actually helps children, mom's, dad's and the whole family. But then somebody or many somebody’s might jeopardise their incomes eh?
Rising from the ashes of Phoenix Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION System overhauled, but the deaths continue By: Mary Agnes Welch 21/12/2008 1:00 AM | Before five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair's body was discovered in March 2006 and the horrors of her abuse and torture spotlighted a child-welfare system in crisis, 145 kids in care had died, according to a provincial report, since devolution began in 2003.
Since Phoenix's death, the province's child-welfare system has been overhauled and pumped with money. But at least 16 kids in care or with open Child and Family Services (CFS) files, still died from homicides, suicides or accidents. Many are still anonymous because the province won't release details of the deaths, citing confidentiality. Here is a snapshot of what we know.
Phoenix Sinclair, 5 Died June 11, 2005, discovered March 2006 Phoenix was in and out of foster care most of her life. In 2005, she was living with her mother, Samantha Kematch, and her mother's then-common-law boyfriend, Karl Wesley McKay, in Fisher River. Despite allegations of child abuse, Winnipeg CFS closed Phoenix's case just a few months before she died from repeated beatings, neglect and confinement in a cold, dark basement. McKay and Kematch were convicted of first-degree murder earlier this month.
Venecia Shanelle Audy, 3 Died Aug. 14, 2006 Venecia and her siblings had been involved with the CFS system most of their lives but were living with their mother in Bowsman when Venecia was murdered. Around suppertime the day she died, Venecia's mother called 911 saying her daughter had fallen down the stairs, but officials later determined she died from a blow to the abdomen. Melissa Audy has been charged with second degree murder and is out on bail awaiting trial. Her next court date is Christmas Eve in Dauphin. Her common law husband, Jason Allen Kines, has also been charged with sexual assault and sexual interference related to the case . Roanna Meagan Fontaine, 14 Died June 24, 2007 while in the care of Peguis CFS Roanna was found dead outside a North End residence in the early morning following a party. According to a source, an incident involving an older man left the 14-year-old so distraught she jumped from a sixth-floor balcony. Fontaine and her 16-year-old sister were on a weekend visit to Winnipeg to attend the Red River Exhibition. Her death prompted many in Peguis to slam their local branch of Child and Family Services, saying that despite repeated warnings the girl was at risk, the agency did nothing.
Gage Guimond, 2 Died July 22, 2007 while in the care of Sagkeeng CFS Gage and his sister were taken from their mother and sent to live with an experienced foster family shortly after Gage's first birthday. In the winter of 2007, he was moved from that foster home to live with his grandmother, who warned CFS workers she wasn't able to care for him, and where he was neglected. He was eventually placed with his great aunt, Shirley Guimond, where he died six weeks later from severe head trauma. Shirley Guimond has been charged with manslaughter and a host of assault charges. She is to be in court for a preliminary hearing next fall.
Fonessa Lynn Louise Bruyere, 17 August 30, 2007 while in the care of Sagkeeng CFS At the time of her murder, Fonessa had been in and out of foster care during her short life. The system returned Fonessa to a family member's home less than three months before she died, despite allegations such a move would expose her to both drugs and prostitution. Fonessa herself struggled with drugs and the sex trade before her body was found in a field on the outskirts of Winnipeg. No one has been charged in her death, but police are still investigating.
Samuel Luke Maytwaywashing, 5 months Died March 26, 2008 while in the care of Anishinaabe CFS Samuel died in his Lake Manitoba reserve home of what his mother said was pneumonia. But sources said the infant was dehydrated, had a high fever and was possibly malnourished at the time of his death. His four siblings were seized just before Samuel was born when his mother said she was living in a shelter for abused women, but Samuel was left in her care when he was born.
Will Trout Jr., 16 Died May 26, 2008 Trout hanged himself in a Winnipeg foster home. Child welfare sources claim an accusation was made to authorities that another child in the foster home was being abused. Trout was not removed during the investigation, and it's unclear what prompted him to commit suicide.
Keayne Franklin, 14 Body recovered Aug. 16, 2008 After leaving his home at the Poplar River First Nation, Keayne was in foster care in Riverton when he drowned while swimming.
Farron Miles, 5 Died late September, 2008, while in the care of Awasis CFS Farron drowned about two kilometres from his foster home on the Cross Lake First Nation. He was a ward of Awasis, after he went to live with foster parents soon after his birth.
Rephanniah Redhead, 14 Died Sept. 25, 2008, while in the care of Awasis CFS Rephanniah took her own life after being taken to Winnipeg for medical care from Shamattawa in late 2007. The Manitoba Children's Advocate is investigating.
Gerrod Head, 7 Died while in the care of Cree Nation CFS Head was one of two boys killed in an abandoned shed fire on the Opaskwayak Cree Nation. He was taken by Cree Nation from his mother's care earlier this year and placed in foster care with his grandparents. The Children's Advocate is investigating.
Cameron Ouskan, 13 months Died Nov. 13, 2008 while in the care of Awasis CFS Cameron was living in a foster home in Gillam, when he died. RCMP officials said they believe Ouskan's death was a homicide, and the Children's Advocate automatically launched an investigation. Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, the province's chief medical examiner, said the child had multiple fractures at the time of his death. "It looks like everyone dropped the case," said Balachandra. "The child had fractures, and no one followed it up."
- Mary Agnes Welch
Tragic figures Deaths of children in care since Phoenix Sinclair was found in March 2006: 16 total 5 accidental 6 suicides 2 homicides 2 undetermined 1 co-sleeping Kids in care 2006 -- 6,629 children 2007 -- 7,241 children 2008 -- 7,837 children 70 per cent: number of kids in care who are from First Nations (as of March 31, 2008) 9 per cent -- Métis 6 per cent -- First Nations (non-status) 14 per cent -- Not aboriginal
Social workers Number of front-line workers hired since Phoenix's remains found -- 99 Total: 697 front-line social workers
Funding $242,893,800: Provincial budget for child welfare in 2007-08. $89,851,600: Provincial budget for child welfare in 1997-98. 170 per cent: Increase in provincial child-welfare budget in last decade. $48 million: Increase since Phoenix's death. ($42 million in funding to agencies plus $6 million for foster families)
I wrote this several years ago and just came across it the other day. I saw the date and couldn't believe how many years have passed but how the story remains the same.
Friday, January 02, 2004 Word Count: 841 The Road to Hell
A young man from a remote northern First Nation community confesses that given the choice between life and death, he chooses a slow and painful death. The calm and deliberate testimony was captured on a homemade video last year.
The voice behind the camera asks, “Why are you doing this to yourself?” The boy pauses a moment, breath steaming in the sub-zero temperature. The sound of snow crunching beneath feet freezes in the midnight air.
Slowly he turns to face the camera. His eyes are dark, ancient pools. With slow, heavy gestures, he labours to form the words that will answer the question.
He drops to his knees and hunches over in the snow. Despite an effort he slurs his words. He tells the camera what an old Indian man once told him.
The video was shot over a three weeks period last winter. Every night all year long, volunteers gather to patrol their community. On the night the camera captures this young mans testimony the temperature is below -25 C. The temperature often reaches –40C and colder. Kids who sniff gas love this time of year. Lots of snowmobiles make finding gas easy.
The young man yanks off his gloves and drops them in the snow. He reaches behind and drags out his gasoline can. He places the small red jug beside his gloves.
His gaze locks on the camera. He gestures towards his gloves. “Let’s say these gloves are food,” he says. “This is nutritious, it builds strength and will make you healthy.” Then he points to his gas tank. “This is poison. It will rot you and will make you sick. Eventually it’ll kill you.”
With visible effort he points back to his gloves and repeats his lesson, “If you choose this you will have a healthy life. If you choose the gas,” he pauses and, stares into the camera lens, “You’ll die.”
A long silence follows. He looks back at his gas tank. His chin, slick from the gasoline vapours, sinks into his chest. His shoulders slump forward. He releases a long slow breath into the icy air.
Starring back up at the camera he says, “That is what an old Indian man told me. We all have choices in life. We can choose life if we want to.”
The boy leans into his bag of gas and huffs several times before lurching to his feet. Swaying, he stares into the camera one last time before disappearing into the bush, gas tank in hand.
It was early fall when I visited this community. Evidence of social distress was everywhere. Corners from orange and green plastic garbage bags, empty hairspray bottles, and the remnants of makeshift shacks litter the trails that thread through the bush that surround the community.
The wind off the lake whipped through back yards. Faded shirts and thinning sheets snapped in the wind. Dust whirls whipped into gusts as I walked along the dirt roads of the tiny community. Houses with no windows and front entrances covered with sheets greet visitors. And so do the children.
Everywhere I walked children were laughing and playing. Young men walked babies in colourful strollers, youth gathered in small groups, talking and playing amongst themselves. Women swapped stories and caught up with each other’s lives.
I saw a vibrant community. People have taken action to help heal and support kids that would otherwise slip through the cracks. They seek out those kids that would otherwise end up in drug re-habilitation programs or clients of corrections services — if they’re lucky. The unlucky wind up in the community graveyard.
Several years ago, there were forty active gasoline sniffers in this community. Today there are seven. Two of the young men from the video are in jail. The boy who chose gasoline over life is one of them.
How did this community succeed without support from government while so many other communities fail?
At an impromptu meeting I learned that several years ago approximately 20 community members took control and organized nightly volunteer patrols.
Council members, secretaries, health workers, and peacekeepers each take their turn. They risk their own lives to save the lives of their children, to save their community. The volunteers grew in numbers sometimes recruiting former sniffers to help them understand the problem and to help reach these kids. They needed to learn how to intervene and stop older kids from recruiting the younger ones.
Despite the despair, there is hope. Despite the problems, there are people working for solutions.
I went to the community thinking I might have some answers. I left humbled with more questions than answers. So many of us who travel through these communities enter with the best of intentions. We want to fix what is wrong, put right what is askew. The road to hell is paved with the best of intentions. And we continue to create environments where youth choose death.
Way to go! I know it's a little late for a Christmas story but I found one. The kids showed true leadership in recognizing that Christmas (I don't celebrate as I am not a Christian) is more than what is under the tree.
I used to have a tree with presents under it for my kids when they were small but stopped the practice a few years back as they aged out of their teens. Although we had a tree and participated in the holidays - because we were not Christian I always asked that my kids (and I) do something or give something somewhere. There are always people or families who could use extra supports ALL year but holidays are tough on some because the "Joneses" insist that if you don't have a tree with lots of presents and bling - then you're not a good parent or Christian.
So...to ALL of you who thought of others and did something to ease the way for someone else this holiday season A BIG APPLAUSE! YAHOOOOO! YOU ROCK!
By M.J. Deschamps, The Ottawa CitizenJanuary 2, 2010 5:06 AM
When high school principal Brett Reynolds heard that the person who usually sponsors Operation Come Home's annual Christmas dinner for youth living on the street would not be able to do so this year, he challenged his students to come up with a fundraising campaign.
Members of the Leadership class at Osgoode Township High School were already working on ways to send a community message of gratitude to Canadian troops in Afghanistan in time for Christmas.
So they put the two campaigns together.
As a result, a postcard campaign raised $1,000 for Operation Come Home and over 2,000 messages of care and support were sent to Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.
For student Susan Hart, the Afghanistan initiative was particularly gratifying. Both her dad and brother have done tours of duty in Afghanistan.
"Living in Osgoode, we don't have a lot of contact with or awareness about street kids, so I thought it would be a good experience for the students," said Reynolds.
"When they heard about these kids who were just like them who wouldn't be home for the holidays, they became determined to make sure they would have a Christmas dinner."
Can someone explain to me why a 15 year old girl was allowed to hitchhike? She is a ward of the state - why was she not given bus fair or a ticket to travel home for Christmas?
Tony Spears. The Ottawa Citizen Jan 1, 2010
OTTAWA — Kingston police were still searching for a 15-year-old girl who disappeared Christmas Eve while hitchhiking home to Parry Sound.
Amanda Marie Koetter — who police said has hitchhiked before — was living with foster parents in Seeley’s Bay, 35 kilometres northeast of Kingston. Police believe she was trying to visit family in time for Christmas.
Koetter never arrived. She has not been in contact with her family or with her foster parents.
She was last seen heading towards Kingston on Highway 15.
Koetter is described as five-feet-seven-inches tall with shoulder-length, blond- and red-streaked light-brown hair. She has brown eyes. Koetter was last seen wearing jeans, a white shirt under a blue hoodie, camouflage boots and a white bomber jacket.
Anyone with information is asked to call Kingston police at 613-549-4660 or Crime Stoppers at 613-542-8477 (TIPS) or 1-800-222-8477.
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