Need to go out for a few hours. Will check back tonight.

Dreamerman, I've been following this story closely elsewhere. Two great articles on the subject well worth reading are ....

Brett Hodnett: The real math behind Attawapiskat’s $90 million

(Note, the above link is to the National Post reprint of the âpihtawikosisân blog on Nov 30 that speaks to many of the stereotypical attacks on the community)

and another quoting that contractor extraordinaire, Mike Holmes...

Stop building junk on reserves, says Mike Holmes
 

Actually Mike said "crap".  The article also interviews people living in the communities and  includes this excellent advice from Donald Johnston, senior director of technology and policy for the Canadian Home Builders' Association,

"Often, what seems like a good idea from some southern expert runs into problems under the conditions of the far north," ..."It takes refinement over the years, and it's really important to build on the knowledge of people who have experience in the North, not to make the same mistakes over and over again."

Amen, Mr. Johnston and Sister âpihtawikosisân

Hi dreamerman,

The drinking water has been a perrenial problem.  I cannot believe that Canada as a nation does not have the ability to address this situation immediately.  I understand that immediate fixes will not likely be long-term fixes.  I do not understand why clean drinking water isn't even an interim issue.

Outside of that are general living conditions which should be a coordinated effort with the individuals living on the reserve.  Housing could be built it would need to be maintained.  Which is the same of all reserves.  Once the home is built it is the owner's responsibility to provide upkeep, some are better at it than others which is true of all people.

There is, at the very least, some concern about the management of funds allocated to the reserve.  Again, some reserves appear to do a better job of managing allocated funds than other reserves.  I'm not sure of all the reasons that come into play around that.

I would hope that among the first nations governments there is a sense of best practices and one community could learn from another community as to what approaches work best in resolving which issues.

In Newfoundland and Labrador the provincial government still offers remote settlements the opportunity to relocate.  The catch being everybody has to agree to relocate.  Where they go isn't an issue, that they all leave is.  The most recent community to relocate was Great Harbour Deep which only had ferry access.

I don't know how such an offer would be received by first nations peoples since they, more than Newfoundlanders, identify with geography.

Grace and peace to you.

John

i've been following this situation as well, because i think that it is the tip of the iceberg as far as what is happening on the reserves around canada. 

what i find interesting is that the reserve itself has been pretty transparent about its financial management, yet people are still suggesting some kind of 'shady dealings' as to how the band manages the money they recieve.

i think that we are coming to a real critical point in canadian first nations funding.  the numbers of aborigional people are growing, and they are not taxpayers.  as the entire population ages and more and more people are recieving services as the taxpayer base shrinks, i think that we are going to see some real nasty stuff come out.

Hi Sighsnootles I am not sure what you mean by they are not taxpayers. Do you mean aboriginals  living on reserves or their children or are you referring to aboriginals in general?

I really don't know enough about the whole Aboriginal situation.  That said, I can't give any solution or even temporary fixes.  There isn't just one Reserve in jeopardy.  I have heard that there are many across the country (just not quite as bad, I guess). 

It is difficult for 'average' people  like me to understand the magnitude of the probelms that are rife on Reserves - the housing, the dysfunctional families, the addictions, the general ill health, the lack of adequate parenting, the lack of commitment to education and so on.  Obviously this isn't true of all sectors of all Reserves, but there are deep and complex problems to be dealt with.

I get the impression that our Government doesn't truly know how much is spent on indivdual Reserves, nor how that money is allocated.  Personally I find that unacceptable.

I have heard comments about the money being handled by the Chiefs and Bands - but who trained them to budget, keep books etc?  Occasioanlly I hear of an Aboriginal person getting a University degree - do these people go back to the Reserves and act as role models or do they get absorbed into city culture?

My other area of confusion is the actual treaties - did the white people back then really promise to house all Reserve residents?  The rest of the country doesn't get free housing.  Health care and education are provided on Reserve too I think.  Do these expenses come out of the Band monies or are they in addition and controlled by individual provinces?

Maybe this will be a good wake up call for us all.

Another hope is that the mining company which makes gazillions digging up their land and selling it's resources and employs some of the Attiapiskat community will find it in their hearts to make a grand and sustainable effort toward the life of that community also.

I applaud Mike Holmes for speaking up. I like the idea that he mentioned about using shipping containers to build modular homes. I've seen photos of some home, and even apartments built using them and they can actually be quite nice and livable, as well as durable and smart for the environment. I think they would be a good idea in a lot of places actually.

Just throwing money at the problem won't fix it.  Part of the problem is surely the high rate of alcoholism, but this is not usually mentioned in polite company.  You can't even begin to fix a problem if you are too squeamish to talk about it.  

Denile ain't just a river in Egypt.  

Just my opionion.  

I am troubled by how many people are just hearing about this now. There are wondercafe comments and whole threads going back to at least 2008.

When land is in the possession of or assigned to others (Crown)- after all these years- for someone to manage for you, how do we convince people they are equals? Did sharecroppers feel equality? When do we begin to treat people as equals?

How would you feel if a minister of affairs could tell you what was ok and what was not with your land?

When another's ways are imposed and enforced upon you, how are you free? When it does not work, and the old system worked, why do you continue to insist except because you can?

The tradition was that women in the clan chose the clan chief. They did so thinking what was good for the whole and the children. The best person for the job was chosen. Clan Mothers had the power to remove a chief who was not performing their duties. We insist upon democracy so the most promises made wins or the one who can do the most for you... it is full of corruption. And there is nothing they can do. Our system and our demands that they use them also broke things.

If we read about the Hebrew people in the BIble (Numbers) we see a people who suffered in the wilderness of Sinai, 40 years in the wilderness...a harsh place for the Jewish people. Food, water and shelter were all lacking. Even when God performed miracles to take care of those needs their mood of foreboding and pessimism was not easily dispelled. Think about the trails of aboriginal peoples and the time we are speaking of. How come we "get it" when it is one group and we do not when it is another? Is it because we do not want blamed? Is it because of a sense of guilt? Is it that we have not quite gotten over history? What?

Addiction is a reality. Yet, when addiction help is difficult to come by where I live, how do you think it is in a place where babies are not treated for pnuemonia? Where there are NO doctors?

When legal exemptions from seizure and such also meant that you could not get a mortage or a loan for renovations or upkeep is it any wonder places fall into disrepair? When one cannot afford to heat a whole home and sections off rooms, mould is bound to grow.

When you hold my resource money in trust, how am I am equal?

When only the federal govenment can build houses do you think they will be cost effective? It cost $1,600 to move a bed for the G8 and $200,000 for a "welcome stone" in the land of granite outcrops. Look up what it costs to build a house in Attawapiskat.

When the largest oil spill in N. Ontario happens and I cannot sue... when clean-up is not bothered with.... When DeBeers makes more money and poverty increases...

How am I equal? How do I trust? How do I hopet? How do I care?

Thank you SG, for well countering the pejorative "drunk Indian" stereotype which, at the very least approaches race bias.

I'm sorry that you 'heard' my comments as stereotypical and perjotative.  It surely isn't worth arguing with you about my mental mindset on this topic.  I know Treaty members who hold good jobs as teachers, social workers, business owners. That doesn't remove the responsiblity for as all to give of serious thought to the addiction situation, along with the others I mentioned. 

I too really liked what Mike Holmes said on the subject.  Train the residents to build, give them the skills for the future, while giving them good housing.  It may cost more initially but will save money and health and heartache in the future.  One saying I like to repeat is:

"Always buy Quality. You'll only cry once."  

that may be a problem elsewhere, but in this reserve they are completely transparent... they are audited every year. 

in fact, you can look at thier finances pretty easily.  its online at the national post website right now.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/12/04/brett-hodnett-the-real-ma...

that is a link to a globe article on the situation, and there are a few links there to take you through their last audit.

according to the indian act, bands are required to ask permission to spend the money they are allocated.  so the government claiming that they have no idea how the money is spent is a total red herring... all harper has to do is ask his minister in charge.

as i said earlier, this band in particular is audited every year, so their books are pretty wide open for everyone.  i believe that in the past fiscal year, the chief of this band made a whopping $71,000...

yes.  not only did we promise to house them, we promised them health care and education. 

they don't get 'free housing', though... their ancestors traded their land to us.  so any housing on the reserves is in exchange for the land that we live on.

i think that is very important to remember once people start talking about stopping the treaties... if we don't honour the treaties, then we SHOULD be giving them back the land that we traded them for, correct?

health care and education are covered by the money that this band recieved from the federal government.

so, for example, when the federal government claims that this band recieved 90 million dollars last year, which i didn't btw... it recieved 90 million dollars IN TOTAL since 2008 to today... that money is supposed to cover not only housing, but health care and education. 

i find it fascinating how the government has spun this one... like the whole 'occupy' movement, they are somehow successfully managing to make the poor people look like the villans here.

a sad statement on our society, really.

Have a look-see at the non-profit Frontiers Foundation. It is an aboriginal organization.

http://frontiersfoundation.ca/

They work with First Nations communities across the country. They build homes using local materials if possible, cutting the "transportation costs" the government often cites. They also teach people job skills at the same time.

That is a model the government could look at, but the government does not think they can be taught anything by aboriginals. THAT is the crux of problem and policies come out of that....

I want to ask the government, if public health and safety made you act with regard to Occupy why have you dragged your heels and sat on your thumbs and had your head doing a colonoscopy when it came to people living in tents on James Bay without access to clean water or sewage for years?

Hmm.....

Oh bravo, SG! 

In a wonderfully factual response I highlight this

And a quick visit to the Attawapiskat website, government officials and any one else who cares, will find audited financial statements going back to 2005:  see here Financial Statements

These are quite easy to find on their website btw, the quick link clearly labeled 'Financial Statements' in plain view on the home page. 

As an exercise in transparent comparability between my community and the Band's, I went to my town's website and could not find, even with the search function, financial statements for my municipal government and how it spends its funds - funds btw that include grants from both provincial and federal governments including the 2009 winfall of the G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund.  Nice little bit of irony there don't you think, legacy indeed.

Of course, Tony Clement is our MP and Harper's choice as President of the Treasury.  The Honourable Mr. Clement did set the low bar on opening up the books to auditor or public scrutiny in our community and this might explain why the Harper government failed to recognize the Attawapiskat transparency.

The paperwork for this was not perfect. It should have been better and I take my share of the responsibility for that and certainly I have learned that there are different ways and better ways to provide for these kinds of intake processes and I will commit myself to using those.

     Tony Clement, Nov 2, 2011

Hi KTC... My comment on stereotype was not related to your posts. I should have cited the comment in view. Here it is:

When we take the symptom of a problem to be the problem we are most often found to be standing on shakey ground.

LBmuskoka,

Another note is that this money the government keeps squaking about, has been since Harper took office... not in a yearly budget.

It sounds like a bunch, but my wife and I sat thinking on figures.

What would our little town, with less than half the population total? You see, we do not think about it. The cost of each kid getting to school, the cost of teachers, the cost of running the school per student... the cost of healthcare totalling everyone... the cost of all the construction... the cost of policing... the cost of the fire department.... the cost for the community centre....roads... the cost of the landfill... the cost of the reeve and council...

The cost of educating a student, according to Ontario Ministry of Education in 1995 was a high of $7500 and a low of $5000. If the Attawapikat population was 1,900 in 2010 and about 1/3 are under 18... that is lets just say 500 students. At 5000 each for 5 years that is....$12,500,000 for school only.

If health care is 172 billion and Canada's population is 34,278,400 that is abut $5,000 per person...so $9,500,000 for five years is $47,500,000.

We are already up to $60 million.

I know from council meetings we paid $45,700 for EMS (five years means $2,285, 000

You know what.... they were not spending crazy. They couldn't have been.

I cruised my township;'s wensite and I cannot find a budget....

Would our community do this as far as transparancy goes?

http://www.attawapiskat.org/wp-content/uploads/20111205NoticeQuestionsAboutAttawapiskat.pdf

The answer is NO!

The government accusing the people who believed the government's promises made with their lying writing sticks... of lying themselves.... it is an affront.

One more slap in a series of abuse.

I came across these webites, and, as suggested by Mike Holmes, I thought this would be a really good way to address the housing crisis (there and anywhere).

http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/shipping-container-homes-460309

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=513fd7e8-12b9-4f8e-b5b4-1b00133ff93f

Kimmio, there are many alternative building methods that can be used.  What is needed is the will to address the systemic issues that perpetuate the crisis.

The reason most northern reserves have housing crisises is because Indian Affairs - housed comfortably in Ottawa with well insulated plumbing - ignores and then, responding to public outcry, flies in, quickly constructs shoddy buildings using  techniques that do not work in northern climes, patches uninsulated pipes, slaps some paint over the mold, and thus ensures that the crisis will occur again in the future; but that is ok 'cause Indian Affairs has created the perfect scapegoat, the band itself.

What is really needed is what both Holmes and Donald Johnston recommend, involve the members of the community.  Listen to their needs and provide them with materials and techniques that work in the severe conditions that they live.

Southerners have to come at this problem with a different mind set.  The environment is different.  What works in Ottawa, Toronto or Vancouver will not work in the far north. Communities not restricted by Indian Affairs have to recognize that reserves do not operate like municipalities.  Their expenditures are different, not only do they pay for infrastructure they pay for education, health and social services. The opportunities to raise revenues beyond government transfer payments (and *all* municipalities receive government funds) are limited.  They can't just raise funds or spend the funds like their southern counterparts.  They are different so either stop forcing them to fit into a standard that they can not fit or provide them with the same procedures as other communities.

The people of Attawapikat have solutions to their problems, what they don't have is the equal opportunity to put them in place.

I struggle in this discussion to curb both my sarcasm and contempt.  History keeps repeating itself when it comes to the Department of Indian Affairs and it is a patronizing repetition that blames the victim for governmental neglect and mendacity. I am disgusted by the outright lies leveled against the Attawapikat governing body by people who hold the band to a different standard than they hold themselves.  Such behaviour is the definition of hypocrisy and it is appalling that our government is permitted to continue to behave this way.

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  The Canadian government in the guise of the Department of Indian Affairs has been insane for a very long time and the insanity is infectious.

We're all travelling heavy with illusions.
Sherman Alexie, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

mike holmes is my hero right now. 

while harper and his band of syncophants blather on about money, he is the only guy who is actually looking at the problem and trying to find a solution. 

THAT is a true statesman right there. 

I understand  LB. I didn't attempt tp address the systemic issues in my post on purpose, only posted a housing idea. I simply don't know enough about the community and it's issues to do so. I just posted the idea of shipping container homes, because Mike Holmes had suggested it...so I looked them up, and contrary to what people might think, they actually make good homes...and I wondered if it would be a workable housing solution that could be implemented fairly quickly. As for the other issues, again, I don't know the community so I would not venture to speak for them about what they need.

LBmuskoka, sounds like we both struggle to contain the same.

Back in 2007, I wrote about knowing what the schools were like in Attawapiskat. I know what housing is like. I know the issues. So, does the damn government.

If I with my one person, one mind, limited income, I can know someone who teaches there and hear her stories, meet people from James Bay and listen to theirs... if I can make a trip deciding to see for myself....

They know! They get reports, they hear stories... the difference is - they measure care agaiunst other things (note I did not say they do not care). For them it becomes more about policy, practices, agendas, funding, responsibility, spin... ass covering.

Plead ignorance. Lay blame. Get the heat off...

Blame people for not caring about their homes. Blame mould on being dirty.

People living in poverty sometimes do not have homes that look like Martha Stewart just left. It looks a bit messy when 5 people live in a 15 foot trailer year-round. I know this. (My family did) Anyone camp? Imagine how it would get to have 6 people in a tent for months on end.  It will also look pretty messy if 27 people are living in one house. It will look messy if laundry has to wait until a cheque comes.Think right now in your home if you had to not do laundry for two weeks. Now think if your family was not 2-5. Think of there were 7-10 or even 20. It will look messy if you move into a few rooms because you cannot heat the rest.

When a cord of wood is $150-200. How warm would our homes be? Think about the temperature difference between here and there. Think about -40C.  Now, think that you are not in a well or reasonably well insulated house.. Think about heating a shed, a trailer, a tent... Could we manage on what we earn? What if we were on a $1,342 a month disability cheque?

Would $1,342 a month be enough to live in a city in the south? It isn't. One only needs to look at a few pages of the book Persistent Poverty: Voices from the Margins to knwo the answer is NO! Look at what food items and things cost in Attawapiskat or Tuktoyuktuk or any remote locale. You tell me how it is supposed to be enough...

I know what one does when it is cold and you cannot get it warm because you do not have money for wood, for oil, the place does not hold heat..... I have seen it first hand in my own life not visiting anyone else. (II know what it is to try to heat a two bedroom trailer with burners on the stove because you have free gas because of a gas well on the property) The first thing that happens when you try to stay warm with an inadequate heat source, is that you try to trap and control heat. It means you put a blanket up and only heat certain areas. It means cold air in one place and warm in another. It means sweating on walls. It means ice forming on walls. It means mould. It means rot. It is not because you are dirty or you do not care. It is because it is sometimes a matter of life and death. Even when it is not, when you can see your breath or your teeth chatter so much you cannot talk, you could care less about mould. Getting through today is all that matters, the mould you will see when it warms up... you cannot think that far ahead.

The governments immediate answer was not building one single house or a plan for building projects.... but by cutting the financial lifeline that sustains the local band council.... by appointing a third-party agent.

If MacKay can get a helicopter for fly fishing, can't supplies get in to reserves more than a few months a year on an ice road?

Hmmmm.....

can i get an, amen!!!

can i get anotha', amen!!!

Kimmio, I'm not using your words as a personal attack.  I, too, understand that you genuinely care and seek solutions but...

it is the very lack of awareness of the communities like Attawapiskat that allows our government to get away with lying and permit the deplorable state of affairs to continue.

The problems persist because the people in a position to make change create the myths and those unaware believe the myth to be fact.  It isn't.

As SG says the facts are available, they are there for every one to see and have been present for so long now that for those that saw them early, those that live them year after year, simply can't understand why the myths live. 

Why is it always the one with the least control who is made accountable for the mess created by those in control?

This country will never find a solution to the destructive impact of systemic poverty, both in our native and non-native communities, until that question is honestly answered.  All we will continue to do is apply a coat of paint over the rot.

My school and my tribe are so poor and sad that we have to study from the same dang books our parents studied from. That is absolutely the saddest thing in the world.
  Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

While the band has posted their financial records it does make me wonder about priorities.

they know they llive in squallor, at least some do.  I can't find any resource to figure out if all live in squallor or if just some. 

But they have built an arena? 

I would expect that the basics of housing and clean water would be a far larger priority for the community

Here's a link to something about the current picture there:

http://www.ndp.ca/video/all/V6UXsLwzTRs

But this is not some isolated problem. The relationship between native peoples and the government and polities of the non-aboriginal peoples of Canada is a fundamental constitutional issue that has never been fully, honestly or sincerely opened, let alone resolved.

Everything is essentially "de facto", and it sucks.

And, despite or our denials and protestations of innocence and claims of goodness and decency, we are living with the consequences of centuries of exploitation, cultural denial and hostility, deep injustice and vicious stereotyping. And we generally assume they have served the interests of us non-aboriginals just fine.

Everything that we non-aboriginal Canadians might think of to abhor about the situation, the  guilt and embarrassment, the costs, the failures we so often point to as "native" failings and problems… all of it is, or has been, caused by non-aboriginal policies, attitutudes, actions and imposed "agreements", "treaties", "arrangements" and "settlements" — NONE of it traceable to freely entered-into relationships based on mutual respect and "fair" or balanced positions of power.

To just let this all drift on into the future, with a few piecemeal adjustments, has been the typical policy — in the hope that the aboriginal peoples will die out (which is a genocidal impulse) or that they will assimilate (which is a racist, culturalist and sublimely arrogant point of view). It also allows everything built on this way of being to be tainted with fraud, lies and injustice, and that reaches into every aspect of our lives... the failure to address the constitutional issue blights the whole of Canada and the dignity of each and every one of us. It mocks out justice system, our form of government, our claims to "democracy", our economy… everything. And it does in in a fundamental. It is non-aboriginals who are made "uncivillised" by their inaction and arrogance: us — you and me. It's a legacy of British imperial rule... echoing with all the racism and cultural vanity of Victorian rule.

It is long past time that we addressed this issue — wholly, decently and generously. We need a constitution that respects and protects us ALL. And, where reparations should be paid, they MUST be paid. Justice is the heart of hope. 

An no matter what you think of "multiculturalism", Canada has been multicultural since long before the first Europeans turned up here... "multicultural" is worked deep into the soils here, and I suspect it's impossible to "be" Canadian without recognising that as one of the foundational realities, as inescapable as the weather, the geology, the hours of daylight. We might want to bitch about it but it's not going to go away. We can have good, fruitful ways of living with such realities, or bad, sad hampering ways of failing to endure them... our choice (to a point).

And there's issues like this:

Professor Paul Zimmet, director of Monash University's International Diabetes Institute, told smh.com.au that indigenous people around the world, including Aborigines, Maori, Pacific Islanders and native American Indians, could become extinct if a diabetes epidemic is not halted.

"The idea of the extinction of indigenous populations by the end of the century is possible, and that includes our own indigenous people," Prof Zimmet said from Melbourne, where he is co-ordinating the two-day Diabetes in Indigenous People Forum which began yesterday.

"In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities between 20-30 per cent of adults have diabetes.

"It is a huge concern to us because we are seeing diabetes of adults, Type-2 diabetes, now in children and adolescents. By the time they are in their mid-20s they are having heart attacks."

The prediction is based on figures showing indigenous people have a much higher rate of developing diabetes than the rest of the population, and all indications suggest the rate will continue to grow if left unchecked.

-------

And there are some responses here... see (for example):

http://www.soadi.ca/

But look at the greater contexts: marginalisation, poverty, poor diet… all going back to a constitutional chasm when it comes to justice and approriate relationships.

Hi Mike

I came across some stories on my google travels, perhaps off topic, sad but true.What can I say? Its just hellish......!!!!!

I am sure that, given access to the same jurisdiction, some of the community removals within Canada would face similar procedings on similar grounds.

Does this offer parallels?

Stealing a Nation from John Pilger on Vimeo.

I have tried this post three times, each time losing my progress. It is a Divine way of calming me down. Imagine, this is my calmed down version.....

Were education funds used for the Sportsplex? Yes. As it is the non-existent school’s gymnasium, it falls under education spending. They also used band money and took out a loan with the Bank of Nova Scotia.

The Ontario Curriculum insists on Health and Physical Education. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/healthcurr18.txt

They cite how it offers opportunities to learn, to be healthy. They cite WHO saying health is more holistic. One can see what exactly is required. They also specifically mention using multi-purpose facilities where a school does not have a gymnasium.

What about where there is no gymnasium, no multi-purpose facility?

Do you build one? You are in a lose-lose situation here. If you do not have a place you fail to provide for your children. In an enviroment where the lack of "proper" schooling has been an issue used to take children way....You build one and…

How do kids exercise in a portable? When kids are wearing coats in the portable, how are they meeting educational requirements? There is the national issue of childhood obesity, increased diabetic risk in the community….it is an educational issue and it is a health care issue.

School gymnasium aside, it is also a community centre. How many of you have warming stations or cooling stations in your vicinity? Where are they located? When the power was out here, the community centre was a warming station. Look at your community’s emergency plan. How many times has your local community needed evacuation? You still need a centre? They do not?

The Sportsplex can be a place during emergencies. The last emergencies in Attawapiskat and Kashechewan resulted in people being moved far from family they were worried about, away from jobs they would lose, .

Mr. Duncan, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, say it can be used for emergency accommodation, along with the Healing Centre (which I will get to in a minute) so do we still feel critical of its existence? So, you might want to ask, why were they not using the Sportsplex sooner? I will get to that too.

In Attawapiskat, the Sportsplex is also a place people can be where there is water, sewage, heat… and it holds many people. Unlike the donated DeBeers trailer that is home to 90 people.

Now, nobody knew about that… I knew, teachers there knew, Attawapiskat has been co-managed by the government for a decade, they had officials on the ground.... We believe they did not know about the housing situation?

No talk of the squandering and all that… Even in lean economic times, and elections….until… hmmm what changed? Eyes of the world?

Kind of like Aboriginal leaders seeking time with the Prime Minister and him being “too busy” until now. If he calls it a historic meeting one more time… but he is telling the truth it is historic he is meeting with them, mark the calendar.

Federal official visited in March, again in April, May, 3 times in July, in Sept and 3 times in October and they DID NOT KNOW? Did they send blind, deaf and dumb officials? Were they breathing?

Did not know??? How could you not know?

The government blames MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) for not saying something.

Mr. Duncan says “When a First Nation wants to declare a state of emergency they do so in a format that reaches us, that did not happen” He continues, that when they did it did not meet their criteria, oh, not that it was not deplorable and all that jazz, it just did not have enough details.

(Deep breath)

Attawapiskat becomes the 12^th First nations community placed under third –party management. It is not cost effective (the broke-ass band has to pay for the manager). It also does not work.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/12/01/pol-five-things-attawapiskat-intervention-policy.html

It does however fit in a government plan to relocate people or manage them…

Now, let me be clear, when I say “government” I mean no political party. I mean “the government of Canada” whoever that may be.
 

This is a new way of assimiliation IMO. It is one more way of the government (any and all so far) treating them like dumb indians and thinking only they know what is best for aboriginal peoples and they can and should  impose their will on them.

Attawapiskat situation is, like all reserves, made worse by the two per cent cap imposed in 1996 (under Cretien) on funding for core band services.

The cap means funding for services like education, child and family services and welfare, can only receive up to two per cent extra funding every year.

First Nations communities have rapid population growth. The costs go up and they simply cannot keep up with their needs. When we cannot meet our needs, we rob Peter to pay Paul.  On a reserve, it means taking money from housing and other infrastructure to top up their service delivery. It happens on many reserves. The transfers are not enough and they do not have another income source.

Yes, people in the community wonder or scream “what the hell?” We can find that at any local council meeting. I hear it from almost every taxpayer. They want answers.

I cannot blame them.

Back to Mr. Duncan, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, saying the Healing Centre can be used. I know, you are just the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, and I know that MP did not likely tell you. Likely the federal officials who made those ten or so trips did not tell you either. So, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, I will tell you, “the Healing Centre is way outside town and has no running water, sir.”

Today's news (TUESDAY):

The chief of the troubled Attawapiskat First Nation received a standing ovation at an Assembly of First Nations meeting in Ottawa Tuesday, telling her fellow leaders, "We’re not going to take it no more.”

In a rambling but emotional speech, Theresa Spence said her First Nation had done its homework and fulfilled its obligations, but her people were suffering and even dying during a long-running crisis.

“Our grandfathers signed the treaty to build up a relationship and build up a nation together,” she said.

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence speaks at the Assembly of First Nations meeting on Tuesday. (CBC)

“We must tell the government, this is our land, this is our life.… We need to say, enough is enough. Respect the treaty and honour the treaty as we did.… And I’m asking the chiefs to tell the government that what was done to Attawapiskat First Nation … we’re not going to take it no more.”

Spence said she met with Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan on Monday and explained how her declaration of an emergency had come about, with conditions that were still unaddressed two years after a sewage backup that damaged homes and the health of people in her community. She attributed three deaths to the effects of that crisis.

Spence said she was “shocked” at the government’s decision to put the community under third-party management. “We’re not going to tolerate this childish behaviour from the government when we ask for assistance.”

"We need action. Action."

Spence was in Ottawa Monday to meet Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo, along with several other First Nations chiefs who are in the capital to set their agenda for the next year.

Atleo touched on the reserve's issues in a key speech on Tuesday and in a scrum with reporters later, suggesting the crisis could be a turning point.

“We have many Attawapiskats,” he said. “It’s an issue that has really plagued this country, and for the first time, Canadians in a really significant manner have really had, right in their living rooms, through the reports coming out of Attawapiskat, what our people have felt day in and day out for a long, long time.”

Look at the date this was uploaded -Nov 13... and not a single comment....

Sad

People did not know because they did not want to know or because nobody told them... Those who tried to tell, simply give up because it seemed nobody was listening and that nobody cared. This is two years ago.

i could not adress this question you posed any better than sg has.

i would only add that thank GAWD they did build an arena, because at the rate the government is moving on this issue, the whole community is going to have to move into it shortly.

Let the world and especially, those in charge of policy, know we care and are watching. This site has been up for a long time.

But it needs flooded with members so they all know we have eyes to see and ears to hear and we care....

Go to Facebook.....type in
Attawapiskat - Making a stand for our Children & Elders

Alcoholism is genetic.  It is not caused by living in bad conditions.  

I'd bet anything I own that it is.  Here in B.C. alcoholism is a terrible problem with First Nations people.  But no one wants to mention it.  As I say, they are too polite or squeamish or something. 

Alcoholism is the elephant in the room.  It is pointless to talk about trying to fix the problems without talking about alcoholism.  

Genetics play a part in alcoholism.  The are not the sole cause.  Living in substandard conditions with little options for getting better leaads people to self-medicate as well.

To deal with the substance abuse issues (which are rampant in some places--remember the footage of kids huffing from Davis Inlet?) we have to deal with the context in which people live.

THe other thing that is often missed when people copmplain about the lack of routine maintenance is "who will pay?".  People living on reserve can not get a mortgage to upgrade or renovate because they don't own house or land.  And in the remote reserves money is tight at best due to a lack of employment options and the fact that the cost of living is so much higher.  So who will pay for housing upgrades?

Alcoholism is also a terrible problem among the "white" population.  Many with Scottish and English backgrounds (my own background) suffer tremendously from this scourge.  I have heard anecdotal evidence that those of Irish descent also suffer severely from this curse.  Surprisingly I have seen through various experiences with client matters that "Guyanese Canadians" (whose racial links to India are strong) are often ruined by alcohol.  Russians are particularly hard drinkers and there is a tremendous problem throughout the old USSR with alcohol abuse.  I have a file in my office now which relates to a child born in the southern "Oriental" portion of Russia (one of the "stans") with fetal alcohol syndrome.  My conclusion is that alcoholism is (as Mely bets it is) a "terrible problem with First Nations people" ... for the simple reason that that certainly is the case with the people residing in every other part of the world.  Additionally, it has been shown that there is a correlation between poverty, ignorance and social injustice on one hand and alcoholism on the other.  Those things seem to exist "with a vengeance" in Canada's north especially among the people of Turtle Island.  If one wants to address the problem of alcoholism in First Nations populations, then, a good first step would be to look for solutions to the social inequalities, the poverty and the substandard housing.  Making the solution to alcoholism as a precondition would be putting the cart before the horse.

I wonder what people would think if someone said "throwing money at Hurricane Katrina victims won't do not good"? If they said, "I bet they didn't leave because they are crackheads"? If someone said, "why send money to Japan, they are rich"? Or, "that is what they get for living so close to nuke reactors or building them where there are earthquakes".

What are we thinking when we make statements blaming the victims? Would it be acceptable above? If not, why is it with aboriginals?

There is rampant alcoholism on many reserves. So what? (I know alcohol is banned in Attawapiskat, that does not mean it is not brought in, but it is banned).

Are we saying alcoholics do not deserve help? That children of alcoholics do not deserve help?

I am sorry. If some of us had to live there, in those conditions, with no chance of it getting better except leaving everyone we knew and loved behind, knowing we would likely never see them again due to the cost of flights into remote locales... sitting there  covered in boils and skin rashes, shivering every night... knowing tomorrow is more of the same....we might drink ourselves into oblivion. It is easy blaming it simply on genetics and mom or dad drinking. It would drive anyone to drink. Then again, so would having your children ripped from your arms and never seeing them again or having them return a shell. But, it is likely all genetics, eh?

There, but for the grace of God, go I.

Perhaps, I only realize that because my life saw me turn the wrong way and then find direction again. Addiction is addiction. It is like mental illness, it can effect anyone. You say you are not an addict today -one car accident, one disease, one wrong choice...

Why do we on Wondercafe talk about how redneck, backwards, ignorant the US is as it relates to women and blacks and gays, when in Canada First Nations people are actually treated far worse?

Preferring to look around instead of in?

Alchool abuse and drug abuse are often symptoms of another illness. Without health care, drugs and alchool are used to ease the symptoms of these illnesses. The type of illnesses one gets when you are kidnapped by the state and the church and put into residential schools where you are beaten and raped for years.

Or the type of illness you get when your parents were kidnapped and beaten and raped, and are thus not able to be a parent themselves.

I found it outrageous when white people blame first nations for social problems, caused by the attempted genocide of First Nations by our governement and supported by our churches.   

It just goes to show me, that people in Canada have no regrets about what we did to first nations,   Because what we have done allows us to continue to steal there land and there resources,  Including diamonds that are mined only 90 miles from  Atiwapiskat.  Where we speand a lot more money hopusing the workers, and their families than we do on the "reservation"

Well Mely it is "good" to see that your racits hate is not only directed Arabs.   I have flagged this as racist.  

Do not other people on WC see her/his racism?

I won't quarrel with you about terrible alcohol problems in other populations besides Native.  However the Natives seem to be particularly susceptible.   On some reserves in BC almost everyone seems to be alcoholic.   (Even with the Scots or Irish I don't think it is more than maybe about 20% of the population)

Another factor may be that most of the non-alcoholic natives have left the reserves and there is a sort of alcoholic remnant left.  

Certainly there is a correlation between poverty and alcoholism, but it is much more plausible that  the alcoholism is causing the poverty rather than the other way around.  There may be some causation going both ways in a viscous cycle.

...even at 10am in the morning, [the area] was already crawling with drunks, many of them already so intoxicated they could hardly stand.

On my left I could see a group of what looked to be middle-aged drunks, many of them in a very bad state indeed.

Just across the road there was another group of young men, perhaps in their 20s, and they all seemed to be knocking back what looked like bottles of clear alcohol.

Now the point is, these people were not just isolated bums. More than half of [the]... adult population is now reported to be drinking too much....

The picture above and the quote describes the situation in Mongolia.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3138806.stm

 In Mongolia, according to popular wisdom, the alcoholism is the fault of the Russians. ( I guess they didn't have residential schools so they can't blame those. ) 

A reseacher talks about alcoholism and genetics:

http://www.abc.net.au/quantum/poison/alcohol/nick.htm

I just blame racists like you, for defending and supporting abuisive behaviour towards aboriginal peoples world wide.