We Need Solutions

I was going to refrain from posting anything on this topic, but due to some in-depth conversations with a number of people, I can no longer hold my tongue. The 'Idle No More' movement has become front and center in Canadian news. If we do not, we should all have an opinion, and should be thinking of a solution or two in the process. Why? Because the outcome of this evolving crisis will be felt by everyone of us, eventually. 

I am troubled by the many contradictions that I observe. 

- 10's of thousands of First Nations people around the country 'round dancing' protesting, marching, drumming and obviously not working while they are doing it. I watch on my lunch break while I am working. 

- Chief Theresa Spence, who is on a hunger strike, talks to reporters, with round and rosy cheeks, and then climbs into a luxury car to go to a hotel to have a hot shower and a rest. "Her health is failing. She could starve to death", say her supporters. She and her husband pull in almost $300,000.00 per year and drive a Cadillac SUV while their people live under leaking roofs. 

- The FN leaders want to speak to our Governor General, the Queen's representative, as nation to nation. The Queen's business was all transferred to the Canadian Parliament when our constitution was repatriated. There is no reality in their request, but a denial of history. 

-Leaders are saying that this whole mess started when aboriginals were not included in the nation building process hundreds of years ago, and yet now want to stay separate as a nation with their own culture, land, resource exploitation and governance. 

-Chiefs and band leaders salaries are in the six figures, often leading small villages of only a few hundred people, while their people live in poverty with inadequate nutrition for the children.  

-FN people's connection to the land, claiming to be guardians of the lands, waterways, and forests, and yet involved in illegal fisheries here in BC that have aided in decimating the Fraser River Salmon runs. 

-Some bands such as the Osoyoos band and the Westbank Band having great success, while others are wallowing in poverty. They could learn from each other. 

-FN people paying no tax and getting free education, and yet very few of them excelling in anything but substance abuse, prostitution, and protestations. 

-Leaders such as the head of the Manitoba band councils calling for illegal actions from his thousands of "warriors" so that they will bring the economy of Canada to its knees while they depend on the success of the Canadian economy to get their monthly welfare cheques. 

Sadly, the movement is not unified in a number of areas. They cannot agree among themselves as to who should be in the talks, and they do not want to be accountable ( they reject Bill C45 207 (3) ) and yet the grassroots band members want the leaders to own up to the abuse of funding.

I would  propose that in order to address the myriad problems that plague the relationship between First Nations and our government, that everything heretofore be thrown off the table and that we start afresh with new ideas that are satisfactory to all. Anything that worked well in the past, keep, and even enhance. Likewise, discard those elements that have been contentious and did not work well. Plan with a view in mind that we are no longer living in the 1800's and we cannot return there. Reject any romanticizing and make it clear that reviving or enhancing valuable cultural traditions will be done by those that value them, and will not cost or infringe upon the rights of other Canadians. Provide mandatory education and require that there be no welfare until at least a high school diploma is achieved. Provide for the bands, both funding and non-governmental expertise in land and resource development that will lead to total independence within a limited time frame. Grant property ownership rights. 

Even if this initially costs us billions and billions, if there is an end game, and true independence is achieved as a result, it will have been worth it. 

The dependence that has been fostered and foisted upon FN peoples was a road to ruin from the beginning. With no pride of accomplishment, no reward for effort, but only a sense of entitlement, the creative juices and talent that we are all born with, are wasted and will wither away. After generations of this, it is time to start afresh.  

When will we as Canadians stop trying to be a bunch of nations within a nation? ( Quebec, and now FNs) We are all Canadians. There is room for all of us. Let us be united in our citizenship of the greatest country in the world and take equal responsibility as we enjoy equal benefits. Every people group that has come to Canada to make a new life, including my own, left oppression and depredation, but did not protest to the government for handouts. We all worked and took advantage of the unlimited opportunities that are here. Those opportunities are still available. Even to First Nations people.