It's not primarily about money at all, Fred: nor do they want power beyond a measure of governance over their own lives and options; they would like to be less excluded, less forced into dependency.

it's about abiding by treaty obligations, respect, consultation and compassion. It's about justice and civility. We have never given an anyways appropriate return for the use we make of their lands, heritage or resources, far less for the waste, destruction and casual vandalism wrought against their livlihoods, chldren, communities, values and cultures.

Money is the Government's first knee-jerk response: it's too easy. And it will never right the fundamental wrongs. Canadian society has to change, from its roots up.

Chief Spence is not going to attend the meeting with Harper and is pulling out unless the GG also attends.......she is also not allowing the media into Attawapisket.

Is this damaging her credubility to the rest of Canada, IYO?

Hi Waterfall,

She has, from the outset insisted on the GG being present.  Part of that has to do with the GG representing the Big Crown (The Monarch) and the PM representing a little crown (the Country).  This understanding sees the Monarch (in this case Queen Elizabeth II as the actual treaty partner and not the Government of Canada.

Of course the Federal Government and Queen Elizabeth do not appear to share that particular perspective and believe that the Federal Government is the legitimate treaty partner that any First Nations group needs to address.

For Canada's part we do not tend to recognize traditional native governments and the Federal Government tends to communicate primarily with Band Councils established under the Indian Act.

If Chief Spence agreed to participate in the meeting while under the impression that the GG would be present and has now withdrawn because that condition would not be met it speaks more towards her integrity than meeting without the GG being present.

I think the "leak" of the audit earlier in the week was intended to cast Chief Spence in a negative light although information is coming forth now which shows that the the way the numbers were put together includes data from before Spence's time as chief.  Given the way the Conservative Party has fudged the F-35 expenses I wouldn't think they should be considered a reliable source of actual figures.

Grace and peace to you.

John

To get information on my own city council's spending habits, we have to resort to fredom of information requests. There is no open accountability anywhere.  Yet, in the posts around the aboriginal persons issue, there seems to be a mindset that any critique of the movements or persons within is somehow racist?  No.  Neither is it unfair to ask Rob Ford, or Joe Fontanna to explain their actions and to hold them accountable for that - as society should. 

If we want open accountability of all things - it has to be across the board.  When I spend money, I am accountable for it.  Fair 'nuf. This goes across all lines, and levels of government.  It's a dream.  Just think of our servicer persons flying big planes with knock-off chinese parts.  Money talks.

One slight difference, Matt, is the the relationship between government and native and aboriginal peoples.

The accountability is a bit different. Treaties often imposed by the Government in the past establish the obligation to transfer money to the Nations and communities. It's all between the Federal Government and the indigenous peoples: provinces and private people or corporations are not a part of the basic deal, despite often being beneficiaries.

So the payments are made, often parsimoniously (compared with the benefits received in return), often resentfully, and often with conditions attached. It could be looked at this way:

Imagine this is you or I, leasing or or sharing our home in return for money (less than we should be getting, we realise)… would we happily go along with a further demand from the person(s) paying us that we satisfy his/her ideas about the ways we spend that money, and comply by supplying receipts? And feel that our tenants' families' and friends' judgements about our decisions were just attempts to be helpful? Even though their past ideas of "helpfulness" have included forcing us to speak their language and stealing our children to raise them "properly" into depression, poverty, addiction and alienation, not to mention what they continue to do to the garden? 

In quite a few cases, as the original post makes clear, there has simply been an occupation — a unilateral taking of very valuable resources without any binding agreement in place. 

When we ask our government and its agencies for acountability, we are asking our "servants" to be responsibile to us. Our government works for us. It's OUR money. We can change our Government. The same is not quite the case with aboriginal communities. As things are, the arrangement is a collection of complicated, inconsistent relationships — unreasonable and unresolved — across enornmous disparities of power. 

At stake are justice and moral issues. Non-aboriginals are the particular beneficiaries and the justice and moral shortcomings are theirs. We are short-changing the people whose land we are very richly exploiting:  de facto or by trick treaties.

Most people of the World are growing out of that colonialism and censuring it when it happens… it still happens, widely. But that is no longer an excuse, far less a justifiation.

I'm the update person on the Ottawa meeting this Fri....lol.

The GG has now agreed to attend the Fri. meeting. Chief Spence is resting and hasn't been told yet.....1:54 p.m. Thurs.

I am hopeful she will now attend and all will go well.

Great news… well, a possible starting point. Let justice pour down…

Mike....agreed.....YES ITS TIME....!!!!

Global Day of Action - Idlenomore - Jan.11/13

You might want to mark January 11th on your calendars.

That will be the day that Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with First Nations leaders in response to the ongoing Idle No More protests over Bill C-45 and its impacts on aboriginal communities.

It's also the day that protest organizers are planning a 'Global Day of Action' with solidarity rallies in countries around the world.

So far, 35 intentional events are in the works: 31 in the United States and one in each of the UK, Portugal, Germany and New Zealand.

In the UK, activists are being asked to meet-up at the Canadian High Commission in London.

One of the bigger rallies will be in San Diego where 171 people have agreed to attend a "Round Dance" in support of hunger-striking Chief Theresa Spence and treaty rights.

Meanwhile there are 27 protests planned for Canada. Organizers in Ottawa are hoping to get over 10,000 people out to their day-long rally on Victoria Island where Chief Spence currently resides.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/idle-no-more-organizers-p...

GG meeting Fri.

It appears, however, that Johnston's 'ceremonial meeting' isn't good enough for the Manitoba Chiefs -- they say that they won't attend.

According to a spokesperson for hunger-striking Chief Theresa Spence, Johnston's olive branch isn't good enough for her either.

"We cannot have separate meetings we have to do this together in unity and solidarity for all people, for the First Nations sake, for our future generation’s sake," Spence's spokesperson, Danny Metatawabin told Global News.

The Friday meeting between with the Prime Minister is set for 1p.m in Ottawa and will include Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, Treasury Board president Tony Clement and a delegation of about 30 chiefs.The government has highlighted treaty rights and economic development to be the main topics at the meeting.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/governor-general-host-mee...

Germany and Friends - Idlenomore

http://www.facebook.com/events/308754992557455/?ref=22&suggestsessionid=...

Edit : Sorry there seems to be a new WC web format that's incompatible with my puter. I'm not able to do paragraphs. They didn't break automated so I tried "edit" without success.