Attawapiskat chief goes on hunger strike

[mentalfloss]

Attawapiskat chief goes on hunger strike

The chief of a Northern Ontario reserve that garnered international media attention last year for its deplorable living conditions says she is giving up food until the Prime Minister and the Queen agree to discuss treaty rights at a meeting with first nations.

The hunger strike announced by Chief Theresa Spence of Attawapiskat was just one of a number of actions taken Monday by first nations members who say they are tired of watching from the sidelines as the federal Conservative government enacts laws that affect their lands and people.

“The reason why I am doing this is to tell the Prime Minister and the Crown to sit down at the table with the [first nations] leadership, because the treaty’s been violated [for] so many years and it’s time for the Prime Minister to honour it and respect our leaders,” Ms. Spence told reporters at a news conference outside the Parliament buildings.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is “making legislation and bills and laws that are impacting our future” without consultation, Ms. Spence said. “He has no right to make plans for our future.”

Ms. Spence will be staying in a cabin on Victoria Island in the Ottawa River while she goes without food. “I am willing to die for my people because the pain is too much and it’s time for the government to realize what it’s doing to us,” she said. “I am not afraid to die. If that’s the journey for me to go, then I will go and I am looking forward to it.”

A spokeswoman for Mr. Harper said the government has respected its duty to consult with first nations. Every year, she said, there are more than 5,000 such consultations and, since 2010, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs has personally visited 50 first nations communities.

Attawapiskat chief goes on hunger strike to press for treaty rights - The Globe and Mail

 

[Ron in Regina]

I hate to say it, but when I hear of an adult threatening a hunger strike unless 'X' happens,
I always think back to the child threatening to hold their breath until they get their way.

I'm not try'n to belittle the situation in Attawapiskat, but just being honest.

 

[taxslave]

Some people don't grasp the difference between consultation and capitulation.

 

[#juan]

When we last visited chief Spense some of her people were living in cardboard boxes while she was taking
selected friends on sight seeing trips to Toronto. Is this chief doing anything that is going to benefit her people?
Maybe she is but I can't see it.

 

[skookumchuck]

She is a crooked skank that never should have been elected. She could also stand to lose some weight.........

 

[L Gilbert]

hhmm Something interesting here: How Ottawa spent $90 million at Attawapiskat | Full Comment | National Post

 

[karrie]

She is a crooked skank that never should have been elected. She could also stand to lose some weight.........

Based on what exactly?

 

[skookumchuck]

Based on what exactly?

Just what i said. Can you show otherwise?

hhmm Something interesting here: How Ottawa spent $90 million at Attawapiskat | Full Comment | National Post

Interesting if one assumes no political bias. How many years did the liberals sit on these problems then? Were they protected by the media?
Also interesting that we are dealing with perpetual welfare cases, not everyday communities. You cannot apply regular rules to a rigged game.

 

[coldstream]

'Treaty Rights' usually mean accepting vast land claims.. from federal Crown land.. which will be harvested.. or set aside to build casinos.

The concept of the 'noble savage'.. free of the corrupting influence of civilized man.. is a gross fiction. Crown land is held in trust for all Canadians... and for the benefit of all Canadians. I demand no more than a fair share.. the same as a newly minted citizen of a few weeks vintage.. even though one side of my family has been here since the United Empire Loyalists.. and no less than someone whose ancestry might date back millennia.

I get awfully tired of the codices of 'multi-culturism' that deems Western Christian civilization as inherently predatory and exploitive.. a spoiler of purer primitive cultures.. where in actual fact those societies were racked with war, injustice, slavery, atrocities, famine, disease and conquest.. just as brought by the Western conquistadors.

The claims for land are no more valid than those from whom the Mohawks or Algonquins usurped from their predecessors.. and there were plenty. So i say to Theresa Spencer.. make a life for yourself in a great country.. where equal opportunity not special rights should be the prime directive. And quit resorting to pathetic acts of political theatre.. appealing to lowest form of pity.. rather than respect. You are doing your culture no favours.

 

[Cliffy]

“the first nations of northwestern Ontario are concerned that their rights have been trampled by Bill C-45, the government’s omnibus budget bill. Concerns include leasing of reserve land, on-reserve voting rights and scrapping the Navigable Waters Protection Act, which reduced protection of millions of our lakes and rivers to less than 200. No longer protected are northwestern Ontario rivers like the Kaministiquia, or the Nipigon River, home of the largest speckled trout in the world. ”
“neither has the Prime Minister consulted with scientists, academics, small businesses, Canadian workers, NGOs, provincial premiers, or Parliament, including his own backbenchers”
~ Bruce Hyer- MP for Thunder Bay

More:Bill C 45- Fed Govt: More Control Over Reserves: Violations of Rights

Wab Kinew: Idle No More Is Not Just an "Indian Thing"

 

[Goober]

“the first nations of northwestern Ontario are concerned that their rights have been trampled by Bill C-45, the government’s omnibus budget bill. Concerns include leasing of reserve land, on-reserve voting rights and scrapping the Navigable Waters Protection Act, which reduced protection of millions of our lakes and rivers to less than 200. No longer protected are northwestern Ontario rivers like the Kaministiquia, or the Nipigon River, home of the largest speckled trout in the world. ”
“neither has the Prime Minister consulted with scientists, academics, small businesses, Canadian workers, NGOs, provincial premiers, or Parliament, including his own backbenchers”
~ Bruce Hyer- MP for Thunder Bay

More:Bill C 45- Fed Govt: More Control Over Reserves: Violations of Rights

Wab Kinew: Idle No More Is Not Just an "Indian Thing"

I believe it also adds accountability on salaries as well. Some Bands are corrupt. Many are not.

 

[L Gilbert]

Just what i said. Can you show otherwise?

You make the claim, so you provide the basis for the claim. That's the sensible route.

Interesting if one assumes no political bias. How many years did the liberals sit on these problems then? Were they protected by the media?

Probably the same proportionatly that the Cons did. The media does what it does. Some of it keeps stuff quiet and some yells it from the rooftops.

Also interesting that we are dealing with perpetual welfare cases, not everyday communities.

uhoh You related to Dumpy by any chance? Just askin.

You cannot apply regular rules to a rigged game.

Rules? Which rules.
Rigged game? What is the rigging?

'Treaty Rights' usually mean accepting vast land claims.. from federal Crown land.. which will be harvested.. or set aside to build casinos.

The concept of the 'noble savage'.. free of the corrupting influence of civilized man.. is a gross fiction. Crown land is held in trust for all Canadians... and for the benefit of all Canadians. I demand no more than a fair share.. the same as a newly minted citizen of a few weeks vintage.. even though one side of my family has been here since the United Empire Loyalists.. and no less than someone whose ancestry might date back millenium.

I get awfully tired of the codices of 'multi-culturism' that deems Western Christian civilization as inherently predatory and exploitive.. a spoiler of purer primitive cultures.. where in actual fact that society was racked with war, injustice, slavery, atrocities, famine, disease and conquest.. just as brought by the Western conquistadors.

The claims for land are no more valid than those to whom the Mohawks or Algonquin usurped from their predecessors.. and there were plenty. So i say to Theresa Spencer.. make a life for yourself in a great country.. where equal opportunity not special rights should be the prime directive. And quit resorting to pathetic acts of political theatre.. appealing to lowest form of pity.. rather than respect. You are doing your culture no favours.

lol Guess I can take over your house and teach your kids Taoism or Hinduism then. Cool.

 

[coldstream]

?

lol Guess I can take over your house and teach your kids Taoism or Hinduism then. Cool.

No, LG, you are quite welcome to take off all of your clothes and howl at the moon on the winter solstice, in your own private Stonehenge.. or however your New Age rituals work.. but you are not entitled to do that in my living room.

 

[karrie]

Just what i said. Can you show otherwise?


.

I'm not familiar with her so I was curious what your opinion is based on. If its based merely on the fact that you said it, them it's of little interest to me. If there is some fact behind it, I'd be interested in hearing it.

 

[skookumchuck]

I am a half native who was lucky enough to have parents who knew that the rez was not our place. We got the hell off and worked, we have not whined and taken anything we could get.
I am flat out sick of the BS that instantly surrounds anything native. There are good folks on the reserves but they need to get the hell off and forget the horsecrap about land claims at the same time they join the rest of Canadian society.

 

[L Gilbert]

No, LG, you are quite welcome to take off all your clothes and howl at moon on the winter solstice in your own Stonehenge.. or however your New Age rituals work.. but you are not entitled to do that in my living room.

Ah, it's ok for the Europeans to have done just that, but not ok for others. I see.

I am a half native who was lucky enough to have parents who knew that the rez was not our place. We got the hell off and worked, we have not whined and taken anything we could get.
I am flat out sick of the BS that instantly surrounds anything native. There are good folks on the reserves but they need to get the hell off and forget the horsecrap about land claims at the same time they join the rest of Canadian society.

And some have. Also, some have stayed on their rezzes and made huge improvements.

 

[skookumchuck]

I'm not familiar with her so I was curious what your opinion is based on. If its based merely on the fact that you said it, them it's of little interest to me. If there is some fact behind it, I'd be interested in hearing it.

Sorry Karrie, i made my claim by knowing some of the folks involved. Perhaps i was outspoken.

 

[CDNBear]

Someone sounds starved for attention.

I think she needs to get the boot.

'Treaty Rights' usually mean accepting vast land claims.. from federal Crown land.. which will be harvested.. or set aside to build casinos.

So?

The concept of the 'noble savage'.. free of the corrupting influence of civilized man.. is a gross fiction.

What does that have to do with the stewardship the First Nations have shouldered?

Crown land is held in trust for all Canadians... and for the benefit of all Canadians.

I agree. But you still have to pay for it, it's all in the contracts.

I demand no more than a fair share..

It would seem that that is a bit of a fib.

I get awfully tired of the codices of 'multi-culturism' that deems Western Christian civilization as inherently predatory and exploitive.. a spoiler of purer primitive cultures.. where in actual fact those societies were racked with war, injustice, slavery, atrocities, famine, disease and conquest.. just as brought by the Western conquistadors.

So that should negate the contracts?

The claims for land are no more valid than those from whom the Mohawks or Algonquins usurped from their predecessors..

And you base that claim on what?

So i say to Theresa Spencer.. make a life for yourself in a great country.. where equal opportunity not special rights should be the prime directive. And quit resorting to pathetic acts of political theatre.. appealing to lowest form of pity.. rather than respect. You are doing your culture no favours.

I actually agree in whole with that.

No, LG, you are quite welcome to take off all of your clothes and howl at the moon on the winter solstice, in your own private Stonehenge.. or however your New Age rituals work.. but you are not entitled to do that in my living room.

You get a thumbs up for hypocrisy that made me laugh.

 

[karrie]

I am a half native who was lucky enough to have parents who knew that the rez was not our place. We got the hell off and worked, we have not whined and taken anything we could get.
I am flat out sick of the BS that instantly surrounds anything native. There are good folks on the reserves but they need to get the hell off and forget the horsecrap about land claims at the same time they join the rest of Canadian society.

If it weren't for people leaving the reserves for an assortment of reasons, I'd be down 10% of my relatives. 4 of my aunts and uncles, more than 15 cousins, and now the upcoming generation of my cousin's kids. I talk often about how segregation does nothing good for anyone, be it a reserve or a cluster of immigrants in a city. I'm thankful my famly includes people who thought the same. But, I can't assume that everyone has to agree, just because my relatives have.

 

[Goober]

So what is the story behind this Chief- is she or is she not corrupt. if she is or is not it will eventually come out.