Not much for attack ads but I love this.

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Too funny - Who really had a hidden agenda on Coalition - Stephen Harper.

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1) Coalition governments are legit. in Canada, we've had them before and it's a political reality in most other parliamentary democracies.
2) Coalition governments offer the best option for stability in our post 1993 5 party system.
3) Parties who form governments with less than 50 percent of the popular vote do not have the moral authority to govern as if they are majority governments. Coalitions ensure cooperation among parties who more accurately reflect the popular vote.

I was happy to discover, that despite what he may have said this morning that Harper, deep in his heart, agrees with me that coalition governments can be a good thing.

Here's Block leader Gilles Duceppe on Harper's attempt to form a coalition in 2004.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/03/26/cv-writ-response.html

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Whose Chief is it anyways

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I often find myself at odds with folks like PacificGatePost who recently posted online at an APTN forum. Pacific argues that all chiefs and councils are corrupt, and thinks Canada and Canadians are responsible for fixing governance issues in First Nations communities. I'd argue that relatively few communities have governance problems and that when they arise it's our responsibility to solve them. Is that not in the end what self-government is about? I thought I’d share the exchange. My last post on the APTN site is still being “moderated” but I have gone ahead and posted it here.
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PacificGatePost 21 hours ago

Why is it that Canada and Canadians stand by as First Nations People get abused their First Nation Chiefs and Councils ? ? ? Dictatorships have been allowed to flourish across Canada and abuse of power is rampant. Membership in the bands is in fear of speaking out against the abuse of power or else they won't get the crumbs thrown their way. Is it because it serves the purpose of bureaucrats? The Memberships is held down under the thumbs of their Chiefs? What a sad and pathetic situation, the bureaucrats have enabled.

WardoftheState 8 hours ago in reply to PacificGatePost

Pacific, I wish you wouldn't generalize. I come from an awesome FN community. Our people are very active culturally socially and politically, our books are tight. If we had elected a corrupt chief we'd simply remove him. It's not rocket science. My community is not alone- there are hundreds like mine. You ask why is it that Canada and Canadians stand by and let troubled communities like yours continue? It's not their responsibility. It's yours. Time to put on your big boy pants and stop saying you are too frightened to do anything about it. What would your ancestors think if they heard that? So stop blaming whitey, and stop expecting Canadians to solve all your problems for you. How the heck is some poor urban-living Canadian (some of them quite new to Canada) supposed to know what needs fixing in your community anyway? Besides many of them are busy fixing their own problems.

Still if you do want the government to step back into its "great white father" role (which by the way caused most of the problems we face today in our communities) and run things for you, fine - but please don't generalize and lump us all into this madness. Our community is quite happy to see less and less of the Canadian government interfering in our decisions as we happily sail toward self-government. You sound like a member of Canadian Tax Payers Federation....

And by the way - this whole conversation seems random and unrelated to the above article. It was Carson, from the Great white father's office that started this unfortunate scandal. (really think you want somone like him stepping into your community)

PacificGatePost 1 hour ago in reply to WardoftheState 


@ WardoftheState, For you to claim that "there are hundreds like mine," flies in the face of a seriously countervailing wind. Please provide ONE single evidence of a band anywhere in Canada where there has been established a system of Checks and Balances. Just one. The Government of Canada sure doesn't seem to care if any is constituted.

First Nations' circling vultures dressed as advisors, councillors, lawyers, developers, gladhanders, don't want their systems to change. Just like the Immigration Industry, the "First Nations" is growth industry, and a gift that keeps on giving to those who know how to abuse and have the connections. . . And while there may be a rare band led by a benevolent dictator, the system of governance historically and currently exercised is not one that provides equal opportunity for its members nor does it provide oversight or transparency. . . The result is self evident from Victoria to Halifax.
. . . The result is self evident from Victoria to Halifax.

Ward of the State @ Pacific who wrote "Please provide ONE single evidence of a band anywhere in Canada where there has been established a system of Checks and Balances. Just one."

Many First Nations have established measures such as: conflict of interest codes, process for community redress,portfolio systems that identify roles and responsibilities of both Chief and Council vs the band administration. You asked for names and details, at the bottom of this post are links to a few dozen of them. You'll find many more examples online in the government archives.

However my point is that at the end of the day, even with all the checks and balances on paper we, like Canadians, have to hold politicians accountable with our votes. The Canadian system is not at all like the American system where the leader's power is limited. When Canadians elect a majority government, that government pretty much has carte blanche for 4 years. It's not like Canadians don't suffer their own share of scandals and cultures of entitlement in their system. The government imposed band council system certainly has similar flaws, but we have the power to vote them out and the responsibility to keep them accountable to us. Calling on Canadians to take that responsibility for us is lazy, and suggesting that they are at fault when we elect poor leaders is ridiculous. Further, it is absolutely untrue to say that no FN leaders have tried to improve democracy and accountability, as evidenced below.

BC – 45 First Nations develop governance codes – details at: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20051228163849/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/nr/prs/s-d2003/bkgbc_e.pdf

Saskatchewan – 17 First Nations develop governance codes – details at: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20051228164225/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/nr/prs/s-d2003/saskbk_e.html

Ontario – 12 First Nations develop new governance codes – details at: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20051228164030/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/nr/prs/s-d2003/onbk_e.html

Alberta 8 Projects - http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20051228163602/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/nr/prs/s-d2003/albbk_e.html

Manitoba – 4 Projects http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20051228163949/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/nr/prs/s-d2003/manbk_e.html

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Native Leaders Reject New Child Welfare Agency

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Child Welfare has become my nemesis. I am disgusted by the entire “policy” that directs services on reserve and by the Child Welfare Act in general. I think the system is broken for ALL children but we see the worst of it more often in First Nation communities because (for the most part) we are clustered on reserves.

It's my most cynical belief that the current issue has nothing to with the wellness of children but with money. Or in the words of a current Human Rights complaint the absence of “equitable funds” for “equitable services”.

The problem is more complex that adjusting a budget-line but hey when you're the head of an advocacy organization for First Nation Child Welfare Agencies and receive a mandate and a salary to do these things for your Board of Directors then hey any action is an action; right?.................Unfortunately my concern is that more funds will mean more children in the care of a Child Welfare Agency......Aboriginal or not.

I agree with the Chiefs quoted in the Globe and Mail story. I wouldn’t have attended any “signing” event of the transfer of the responsibilities of a policy either. It really doesn’t matter anymore who administers the policy because whomever delivers will inherit the same conditions. In my humble view First Nation families should advocate that ALL authorities be transferred to a Provincial Agency.

Part of the story reads:

"His brother’s grandchildren had been taken and placed with a foster family in a different town. He tried to advocate on behalf of his family, proposing to authorities that they put the children in the home of a relative or at least keep the children in the same town where they could have contact with family members. His suggestions were ignored.

His experience was not unusual, he said. Several other Sto:lo families have told him of similar problems. That was one of the main reasons why he stayed away from the official ceremony last Friday. “To me, nothing has changed,” he said. “Why should we support it if nothing has changed?”

Tribal chief Tyrone McNeil of the Sto:lo Tribal Council said he is looking for more accountability in the new agency. Although the agency operates under authority delegated by the government allowing it to apprehend children, it still operates under the government’s rules, he said.

“It’s fine if an aboriginal person is there, but if all they are doing is following the ministry guidelines, it does not really matter if they are aboriginal or not,” he said." (G&M)

All the Nations as a collective need to create and build a webbed system that can provide an array services to address the many complex issues that come into play when a child needs protection. It’s possible to do but it might mean a huge change in how things are done and nobody likes change.

There are a heck of a lot of people out there that would agree that the current system fails nearly ALL children. And that children from a First Nation family living on some reserves stand a greater chance of being taken into care than non-Aboriginal children.

In fact a truth often quoted by Cindy Blackstock, Director of the First Nation Child and Family Caring Society,(FNCFCS) is that there are more children in institutional care now than at the height of the Residential Schools. And this is evidenced from the numbers in from Aboriginal child welfare agencies themselves. The FNCFCS advocates for those Aboriginal Child Welfare Agencies. The board members are all Directors of various agencies.

Cindy's organization launched a Human Rights complaint that argued the rights of children on reserve are not being protected because of a funding inequity. It’s true there should not be a 22% funding gap and the gap should be closed. But I argue it won’t reduce the number of children in care in fact I’d be prepared to state that the numbers will increase. And frankly 22% is actually nothing in a Federal Budget to fix. One day a government will adjust the budget – and whatever government that does it will want a big signing ceremony to show off at a photo op. The big laugh will be on the children. More money, more access to children, more need to return for “equitable funding” for training, administration blah blah .

It’s also a truth Aboriginal children are more highly represented in Child Welfare services in some clustered areas than others in Canada. So to just blanket a 22% increase across the board might not be the solution AND because some conditions are not the same then to compare a budget from one service to another is inequity at it’s finest. It reminds me of this quote by an American lawyer I don’t recall his name but I never forgot the quote “There is no greater injustice than to treat unequal’s as equals”. The same should be said about funding the delivering or administering a “policy” for children on reserve vs the administration of an Act everywhere else.

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John Reilly: Shut down the native industry and spend the money on natives

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Former judge, John Reilly wrote a book: Writing Bad Medicine: A Judge’s Struggle for Justice in a First Nations Community and he say’s if he had the power he would “Shut down the native industry and spend the money on natives”

It’s posted over at the National Post. The NP is not a paper I frequent and I have no idea how I originally found this story/comment but I did. I was drawn to the comment because I agreed with the broader statement John Reilly writes (people make big money off the misery of the First People) and in fact just finished ranting over at Non-Status Indian my views on the “Indian Industry” .

But.................I hate it when I learn that I disagree with everything else but that statement. And that sucks cause the statement itself is easy to hate along with and will easily draw attention but say something new or intelligent afterward or why say anything at all...unless its to make some quick cash.

It’s easy to develop policies when all you have to do is draw a straight line between A and B. My friend Balbulican is always reminding people of this over at StageLeft. It’s a little more complex if you want to design policies that work. Similarly, it’s easy to sell book and make a big profit if you write a book about misery, blame government, choose easy to spot villains, and then throw out new titles and new offices like new recipes created on some Chef TV show. It’s a formula designed to make profits otherwise publishers wouldn’t touch it. The reality is solutions are complex, take time, effort, work, patience, trust, and more hard work, and more effort than most people want to give.

The reality is that the former Judge John Reilly is still just sucking at the teat of misery and only too happy to make a profit while he pontificates from an “I know best” attitude.

His simplistic statement to “dissolve INAC and repeal the Indian Act” says it all for me. It was here I began to loose interest. I mean seriously don’t we all love to hate a government office? But when answering what he would do if he had the power he said would :

“...terminate funding to the Assembly of First Nations. In my view, the AFN is a chiefs club that looks after chiefs, many of whom just look after themselves and do very little for the poor and the children of their reserves.
Then I would enact a Canadian First Peoples Enhancement Act, to preserve and maintain the cultures of the descendants of Canada’s original inhabitants, to ensure their health and well-being and foster the independence and sustainability of their communities. I would create a Department of First Peoples Services. Non-natives and former employees of INAC should be ineligible for employment in this department. INAC was created for the assimilation of Canada’s First Peoples and the eventual elimination of their communities. That purpose lives on in the corporate memory of the department and must be changed.
I would spend the $7-billion on doctors and healthcare workers, addictions counsellors and healing lodges, teachers and improved schools, so that our First Peoples could become a healthy and happy part of Canadian society....”

It’s just such an easy target but really – what is or has John Reilly doing – on the ground to improve or make comfortable the lives of people around him. Sounds to me like he like many people worked hard, payed their bills, maybe raised children.....read newspapers, formed opinions voted in elections and now in his stately years can tell us what he has learned and how it should be done.

It’s ok for him but wrong for “non-Aboriginal employees former and present at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada” to make a living off misery (he was a lawyer first, then a judge in the system, and now writes a book) – WTF? I’m all for taking to task wasted time and effort but it’s simplistic and so talk radio to blame the bureaucrats (this time "non-Aborignal" bureaucrats like it's racial or something) and the Chiefs.

And his solution is to enact a “Canadian First Peoples Enhancement Act and a Department of First Peoples Services... so he can spend the $7-billion on doctors and healthcare workers, addictions counsellors and healing lodges, teachers and improved schools, so that our First Peoples could become a healthy and happy part of Canadian society....”

I’m the first to admit I believe in faeries and I love long tales but is anybody else shaking their heads in wonder?

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An oldie but a goodie

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I tripped across this a while ago- a radio interview with Tony Prudori- INAC flack in Thunder Bay in a CBC radio interview about the Attawapiskat school issue. It's an older issue now, but I just played it for Wideye and she laughed and said YOU MUST POST THIS. So here is a link to the best CBC interview that I have personally heard to date on the subject. An oldie but a goodie. Kudos to the reporter only identified as "Marcos" in this interview. Click here to hear it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY4ZNuXd5S0

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Another McIvor update

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Sorry folks I've known about this for a while - but it seems I never posted the info. (Only thought I did. Signs of aging.)

A while ago the government asked the courts for another extension. The new date they have to meet to pass the amendments on Indian Status contained in Bill C-3: January 31, 2011. Not much news on whether the government has made the changes NWAC and Sharon McIvor want to see. When I hear I'll keep you posted. In other news some of my family and friends are already sending in their applications to try and get a head of the rush. Not a bad idea.

Other Posts on this topic include:

Sunday, May 23, 2010 Non-status Indians -Women's Groups are poised to kill c-3 the Sharon McIvor Bill.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010 More on McIvor- Canada Given 3-Month Extension to ImplementMcIvor decision

Thursday, March 11, 2010 McIvor update!!!! How Do the New Legislative Changes to the Indian Act Affect Me?

Saturday, March 6, 2010 Update on McIvor/Indian Status.

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