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mr.x
Apr 17, 2008, 11:48 PM
Thursday, April 17, 2008

Frustrated First Nations eye Vancouver Olympics as protest target: chief

Sue Bailey, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - Canada's top native chief says the Vancouver Olympics are a potential target for First Nations protest much like Beijing has been a flash point for Tibet supporters.

Phil Fontaine says native leaders will use whatever chance they can, including the 2010 Winter Games, to focus governments on aboriginal poverty.

Thousands of Canadians who've marched in support of a free Tibet should be "outraged" by abysmal native conditions in their own country, he said Thursday.

"We'll take whatever opportunity is presented to us to state our case, to set the record straight, to tell Canadians the true story about our situation. They have to stand up and demand immediate action on the part of their government to fix this.

"We find the Tibetan situation compelling," Fontaine said when asked if the 2010 Olympics could be disrupted by the sort of protest that has dogged Chinese planners.

Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl said he has heard such talk but finds it "a little odd."

From job prospects to sports arenas, special effort has been made to ensure that the four First Nations located on Olympic grounds in B.C. share related wealth, he said.

"For the first time ever, indigenous people have a say in how the ceremonies are going to be conducted and how the benefits will be distributed. ...It's going to be an exciting Olympics for First Nations - not just from the area but from across Canada. My hope is that they'll be respectful of that."

Ernie Campbell is chief of the Musqueam First Nation, whose traditional lands comprised much of what is now Vancouver.

Negotiations for Olympic benefits are ongoing, he said, and he fully expects the Winter Games to draw demonstrators.

"I think that's a fact no matter where the Olympics are held. People are going to take that opportunity," whether they're native or non-native, he said.

The Assembly of First Nations has called for a peaceful, lawful day of national rallies and marches on May 29. Fontaine said it's just the beginning of what will have to be a long, sustained campaign for change.

He stressed that he hopes demonstrators will stay on the right side of the law. But some militant factions used a similar day of action last June to shut down highways and railroad lines.

Fontaine said he understands the frustration: his attempts to negotiate have been largely ignored by the Conservative government.

Strahl said he's not against legal demonstration. It can help make more Canadians aware of the basic needs - including clean drinking water - that are still lacking on dozens of First Nations, he said earlier this week.

The Conservatives scrapped the $5-billion Kelowna Accord negotiated by their Liberal predecessors, native leaders and the premiers that was meant to lift native living standards.

Instead, Strahl argues his government is taking a targeted approach to help speed native land-claim settlements and clean up polluted water.

Fontaine said that translates as federal apathy toward decrepit native housing, substandard schools and sporadic health services.

The Conservatives say First Nations must better account for $10 billion a year already spent by Ottawa on native programs - starting with money-tracking audits.

Fontaine countered that chiefs have already agreed to an exhaustive auditing process and are willing to do more. Raising doubts about value for money is "an excuse" for allowing many First Nations to subsist without decent classrooms, housing or water treatment systems, he said.

The assembly is also poised to reject a long-awaited official apology for residential schools abuse if the Conservatives use it as a political ploy to mute the May 29 day of action, Fontaine said.

"It's not about scoring political points," he said of the apology and overdue launch of a truth-and-reconciliation commission to hear from abuse survivors.

Fontaine is disturbed by rumours that the Conservatives will apologize the week before the planned demonstrations when the House of Commons is not sitting. He said it's vital that former students hear the prime minister say he's sorry in Parliament - as was done to make amends for the Chinese head tax.

Moreover, Fontaine said the assembly has not been consulted on the language of the apology or a related ceremony.

Strahl said no date has been set but that speculation around the week of May 19 is "inaccurate." Fontaine and other aboriginal leaders will be asked for input before the government acts, the minister said.

© The Canadian Press, 2008








Protest what? That Olympic organizers have been giving First Nations in Canada a lot of attention and focus? I think that in today's climate, First Nations have it pretty good. They have problems, but much of that is being resolved or is up to their own bands and communities to fix.

quobobo
Apr 18, 2008, 12:01 AM
This isn't going to be a pretty thread.

204
Apr 18, 2008, 12:13 AM
Let's just flush the whole concept of personal responsibility down the crapper.

deasine
Apr 18, 2008, 12:52 AM
Protest What? That Olympic organizers have been giving First Nations in Canada a lot of attention and focus? I think that in today's climate, First Nations have it pretty good. They have problems, but much of that is being resolved or is up to their own bands and communities to fix.

Yeah what the hell would they be protesting for? I mean a lot of the marketing and art are designed by First nations. The BC Government has made a treaty few months ago with the Tsawassen band?

The APC are the ones that should shut up. I haven't seen any action from them for a while [keep our fingers crossed that this continues]

Nutterbug
Apr 18, 2008, 3:02 AM
Thursday, April 17, 2008

Frustrated First Nations eye Vancouver Olympics as protest target: chief

Sue Bailey, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - Canada's top native chief says the Vancouver Olympics are a potential target for First Nations protest much like Beijing has been a flash point for Tibet supporters.

Phil Fontaine says native leaders will use whatever chance they can, including the 2010 Winter Games, to focus governments on aboriginal poverty.

Thousands of Canadians who've marched in support of a free Tibet should be "outraged" by abysmal native conditions in their own country, he said Thursday.

When they start getting shot on the streets, we can start drawing comparisons.

Hong Kongese
Apr 18, 2008, 3:26 AM
When they start getting shot on the streets, we can start drawing comparisons.

Good point!

Yume-sama
Apr 18, 2008, 4:11 AM
Yeah, they've got it BAD compared to the people in Tibet. What, with all the money and social services they get.

Don't ya know we're also trying to kill them all, too, and stop them from their religious freedom. Us Canadians are despicable! :P

We also completely hide every aspect of their culture and art. Can't have people knowing they exist...

ReginaGuy
Apr 18, 2008, 4:20 AM
How can first nations even compare themselves to Tibet?

The Kid
Apr 18, 2008, 4:28 AM
Perhaps they should be allowed to build a massive Olympic casino:rolleyes:

mr.x
Apr 18, 2008, 6:20 AM
Perhaps they should be allowed to build a massive Olympic casino:rolleyes:

Not a bad idea....


First Nations: RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE
Gov't: okay, we'll let you build a casino.


First Nations: RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE
Gov't: okay, we'll let you build another casino.

First Nations: RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE
Gov't: have another casino!

AKA-007
Apr 18, 2008, 6:34 AM
The natives already get many handouts from the govornment. All the scholarships and universities that I have applied to give special categories for the native people. There is a native student at my school who gets most of his high school expenses paid for. The opportunities are there for them to be personally responsible for raising their standard of living. This is why I'm not going to support any protests over native poverty. We are supposed to be a fair and equal society.

dreambrother808
Apr 18, 2008, 1:50 PM
A native friend of mine back in Ontario went to university for free and also got a living allowance each month from either his band or the government. He would talk about wanting to go back to his reserve and live on welfare though, not because he thought it was right or a good decision but because it was what he was used to people doing and so it seemed like an easier life when things got rough.

Life on the reserves from the stories I've heard is so socially fucked up though that growing up and becoming a more functional member of society is ridiculously difficult for native people.

Greco Roman
Apr 18, 2008, 2:16 PM
How can first nations even compare themselves to Tibet?


They can't. Period.

Mike K.
Apr 19, 2008, 4:05 PM
Aboriginal communities in this country have not bought into our way of life.

They do not associate with the rest of society like the general population does (blame that on government conditioning with handouts and alternative treatment [reserves]) and as such have nothing to lose by protesting or causing disruptions during high-profile events.

Aboriginal populations from across the world are realizing that they hold considerably more power in the modern PC world than society may realize and they're going to use that power to highlight the poverty and social issues they deal with in remote communities or even reserves within urbanized areas.

Wait until Vancouver becomes the next target of the media. It doesn't matter what Vancouver or Canada will have done "right," mass media will still focus on the negatives and make the city a target of criticism (let's start with the DES, gang violence, aboriginal issues, etc).

dreambrother808
Apr 19, 2008, 4:26 PM
You cannot simply dismiss all of the issues that are behind native protests. When native people stand up against injustices such as broken treaties and the misuse of land that rightfully, under those treaties, should be in their possession, they are often portrayed as troublemakers in the media. Their concerns with regard to those claims are trampled over repeatedly, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, in a way that leads to desperation and more disruptive protesting. When the Canadian government acts in a negligent way with regard to those broken treaties and the native community involved then protests in some disruptive way, the community group is jailed even though the government has repeatedly pushed the members of that community to such forms of protest by disregarding their legitimate claims time and time again. There are obviously problems relating to a lack of responsibility in these communities but that is not the whole picture. It is only part of the problem. Our government often willfully sides with developers and other established moneyed interests in very shady deals that screw over the native communities involved.

Nutterbug
Apr 19, 2008, 4:31 PM
1. Nobody alive today was around when the treaties were signed nor had any say in the matter.

2. Everybody born here is a native in the most literal sense of the word.

Time to wean them off of race based entitlements.

Mike K.
Apr 19, 2008, 7:00 PM
Race-based entitlements are a form of control. Aboriginal populations in this country are basically enslaved to government handouts. When your parents and grandparents are products of government programs, what chance do you have to stand up and leave the confines of a place in which you were brought up and are familiar with? Aboriginals have been hand fed over the last 100 years and some of the bright minds in their communities are finally coming to the realization that injustice and mistreatment is still the lay of the land when it comes to aboriginal issues.

The bursaries and government programs are just wool over society's eyes. If they worked, we'd have real representation of aboriginals in the work force and in academia. Instead we have "token" representation that is meant to appease the general population and make us feel like we're making progress.

Regardless of who did what and when it was done, it's up to us to make good on what our predecessors screwed up as this is how the world works. The environmental damage we may be causing now will be dealt with by future generations, and future generations will leave their own problems for their offspring to deal with, and so on.

Cypherus
Apr 21, 2008, 7:28 PM
Aboriginal communities in this country have not bought into our way of life.

As a Metis classified under Aboriginal, I find that statement a sweeping generalization as many of us aborginals are educated and live successful lives, especially when I work as a successful professional in downtown Vancouver. I find that your view of aboriginal is based on wild conjecture and stereotype.

They do not associate with the rest of society like the general population does (blame that on government conditioning with handouts and alternative treatment [reserves])

While I agree with first nations abusing their privilages of free government hand-outs, our Canadian society is based on the foundations of social equality for all minorities - whereby the government bends over to propagate all social and cultural rights demanded by minority cultures. However I have no idea why first nations need to protest during the olympics since the government already subsidizes their living to compensation for past wrongdoings. That is, first nations have free ridership, but you assume all first nations are free riders, and by using the term Aboriginal, so to are the Metis and Inuit.

mass media will still focus on the negatives and make the city a target of criticism (let's start with the DES, gang violence, aboriginal issues, etc).

I agree, but lets hope the media captures the real picture.