AFN writes to Prime Minister and Governor General demanding action in support of Chief Theresa Spence
Click here to listen to the CBC.ca interview with Chief Theresa Spence explaining her fast
AFN press release
Open letter on behalf of the First Nations leaders to the Right Honourable Governor General David Johnston and the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper
OTTAWA, Dec. 16, 2012 /CNW/ - On behalf of the National Executive of the Assembly of First Nations, we write today regarding an urgent matter requiring immediate attention. As First Nations leaders from coast-to-coast-to coast, those with inherent rights and title and those with whom the Crown has entered into Treaty, we collectively raise our voices about the critical situation facing First Nations.
On December 11th, 2012, Chief Teresa Spence commenced a hunger strike to call attention to the dire conditions which many First Nations communities and peoples face, and to protest the disrespect and shameful treatment of First Nations by the Government of Canada. She has stated that she will remain on this hunger strike until a meeting is achieved between the Crown (including provincial Crown representatives where the provincial Crown is involved as in Treaty 9) and all Treaty First Nations to discuss the Treaty relationship and our respective obligations and outstanding issues. This situation creates an urgency that is foremost in our minds and is a direct correlation to the humanitarian crises being faced in many First Nations communities today
The Government of Canada has not upheld nor fulfilled its responsibilities to First Nations, as committed to by the Crown including at the Crown-First Nations Gathering January 2012. Canada has not upheld the Honour of the Crown in its dealings with First Nations, as evidenced in its inadequate and inequitable funding relationships with our Nations and its ongoing actions in bringing forward legislative and policy changes that will directly impact on the Inherent and Treaty Rights of First Nations. Treaties are international in nature and further indigenous rights are human rights, both collective and individual and must be honoured and respected.
We seek an immediate commitment to a meeting with you as the representative of the Crown, together with the Prime Minister of Canada, to demonstrate respect and attention to the priorities set by First Nations. All First Nations across Canada stand united and in solidarity in advancing this urgent call for action and attention.
Respectfully,
National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo
In behalf of the National Executive of the Assembly of First Nations
SOURCE: ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS
For further information:
Contact information:
Jenna Young, AFN Communications Officer 613-241-6789, ext 401 or cell: 613-314-8157 or jyoung@afn.ca
Alain Garon, AFN Bilingual Communications Officer 613-241-6789, ext 382 or cell: 613-292-0857 or agaron@afn.ca
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From the Kenora Daiy Miner & News
Treaty 3 supports Attiwapiskat chief's hunger strike
By Jon Thompson, Kenora Daiy Miner & News
Monday, December 17, 2012 12:58:54 EST PM
Treaty 3 Grand Chief Warren White
Attiwapiskat Chief Theresa Spence began a hunger strike last Tuesday and Grand Chief Warren White wants her to know the people of Treaty 3 support her.
White issued a release proclaiming support for the chief whose community attracted national attention a year ago when housing conditions in the remote First Nation forced the community into a state of emergency.
Spence intends to stay on her hunger strike until the federal government commits to engaging with Canada's First Nations in what she deems to be meaningful dialogue.
"It is shameful that in order to get the attention of the federal government to deal honourably with outstanding issues that Chief Theresa Spence is compelled to go on a hunger strike. Grand Council Treaty 3 acknowledges her efforts," White said in a release.
In early August, White was among several Treaty 3 chiefs who met with Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada John Duncan and Kenora MP Greg Rickford. White and the chiefs called on the federal government to establish a treaty table to attempt to reconcile outstanding treaty relationship issues. White claimed the federal government and the local member has issued no "willingness to engage" or response.
"I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall," White said in the release. "There is a willingness by the provincial government and even Health Canada but the federal offices with the greatest ability to work with us to make meaningful change refuses to acknowledge or commit to a process."
Rickford felt the August meetings were productive, adding there has been "meaningful contact" with White on a couple of occasions since. The Kenora MP expressed there is "plenty of evidence" that relationships between the Crown and some of the region's First Nations are positive and said his office is ready for further discussions of key objectives.
"We want to work with willing partners," said Rickford. "Once we have a clear understanding from Grand Chief White what his Treaty 3 issues and concerns are - and I'm aware of a few of them - we continue to have those talks and we're willing to work with Treaty 3 when they're prepared to lay out what their key objectives are."
In the meantime, Rickford insisted progress is being made on a number of large and small-scale projects in the Treaty 3 territory.
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From http://www.cbc.ca/strombo
December 18, 2012
It's Been One Week Since Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence Started Her Hunger Strike For First Nations Rights
One week ago, Theresa Spence went to Parliament Hill and declared her intention to go on a hunger strike until Prime Minister Harper and the Crown agree to a meeting with First Nations leaders.
So far, the Prime Minister has not responded to Spence's demand. Media requests for comment have been referred to John Duncan, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
Spence has been fasting since December 11, drinking only water (once in the morning and once in the evening), and living in a teepee on Victoria Island, near Parliament Hill.
Jan O'Driscoll, a spokesperson for the Minister, says the department has made efforts to consult with aboriginal leaders, and that Duncan has offered to meet with Spence and have his parliamentary secretary tour the reserve to make sure it has what it needs for winter.
A Manitoba man, 51-year-old Raymond Robinson, is also on a hunger strike in solidarity with Spence.
Robinson is an elder of the Cross Lake First Nation, and he says he's drawing attention to the plight of Canada's aboriginal people with his hunger strike, which started last Wednesday.
Over the past few days, people have written open letters to the government demanding action on Chief Spence's requests.
Shawn Atleo, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, wrote a letter calling for a meeting between the First Nations, Prime Minister Harper and Governor General David Johnston.
In the letter, Atleo mentions Chief Spence's hunger strike, and says the government has not upheld its responsibilities to First Nations.
He says the government "has not upheld the Honour of the Crown," and attacks "its inadequate and inequitable funding relationships with our Nations and its ongoing actions in bringing forward legislative and policy changes that will directly impact on the Inherent and Treaty Rights of First Nations."
"We need to see the treaties implemented. We need to see the deep poverty alleviated, and for people to have the dignity of clean drinking water, of proper homes," Atleo said yesterday in Winnipeg.
Leaders of two of Canada's largest private sector unions have also called on the federal government to meet with Chief Spence immediately.
The Canadian Auto Workers Union and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union have both asked the government to use a collective bargaining approach with the First Nations people over treaty rights.
"For our entire existence as a country, the federal government has abused the rights of the First Nations people," said CAW National President Ken Lewenza.
"Chief Theresa Spence's fight for her people is similar to that labour movement and so many other groups - the fight for dignity, respect, and equality," said CEP National President Dave Coles. "It is urgently necessary that the government reach an equitable agreement with the First Nations people."
And Sid Ryan, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, released a letter yesterday calling on the Prime Minister to meet with Spence: "There is no excuse for you not to meet with Chief Spence. There is no excuse for your government not to act quickly to address the issues facing the Attawapiskat First Nation."
Chief Spence's hunger strike coincides with Idle No More, a political movement that is leading to protests and rallies, as well as lots of talk on social media.
The Idle No More movement began at a recent meeting in Saskatchewan between Sylvia McAdam, Nina Wilson, Sheelah Mclean and Jessica Gordon, four women who are angry about Bill C-45, the omnibus budget bill.
Two provisions in the bill particularly upset them: the reduced number of federally protected waterways and a fast-tracked process to surrender reserve lands.
McAdam and her friends decided to speak out about the Bill, and the broader issues facing First Nations in this country, and be "Idle No More."
Wab Kinew, former CBC journalist and current Director of Indigenous Inclusion at the University of Winnipeg, has a great piece about the movement right here.
There have been several Idle No More rallies (including a flash mob-style Round Dance at the Cornwall Centre in Regina on Monday evening), with another planned for this Friday, December 21 in Sudbury.
You can follow the #IdleNoMore hashtag on Twitter for updates on upcoming events.
Related:
SOAP BOX: Wab Kinew on First Nations Stereotypes
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Attawapiskat chief on hunger strike gets boost from growing aboriginal movement
By Graham Lanktree
Metro Ottawa -December 17, 2012
Metro/Graham Lanktree
AFN Vice-Chief Bill Travers and Manitoba Grand Chief
Derek Nepinak were in Ottawa to support hunger-striking Attawapiskat
Chief Theresa Spence on her seventh day.
Weakened, but not bowed on the seventh day of her hunger strike, Attawapiskat chief Theresa Spence was buoyed by the support of Winnipeg's grand chief who came to Ottawa to show her his support.
"If this was just about the housing crisis, I wouldn't be here," said Grand Chief Derek Nepinak, of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. "All these things have continued to pile up and pile up until we have a crisis in Canada. Theresa Spence knows this is happening and that's why she's doing this."
Spence started a hunger strike Dec. 10 to draw attention to the housing crisis still gripping her North Ontario reserve after it made international headlines in Oct. 2011 after the Red Cross slammed living conditions in the community.
Nepinak cited the high suicide rate among First Nations youth, the environment, a lack of food, housing and missing and murdered aboriginal women among the number of challenges the community wants to tackle with the help of the government. Nepinak called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to meet with Spence, who will end her strike only when she meets with him to talk about deteriorating conditions on her James Bay reserve.
The government got a start on tackling those issues with the announcement of a federal inquiry into the high rate of murdered or missing aboriginal women, yet there is still much to do aboriginal leaders said.
"This isn't just about Attawapiskat, this is about reestablishing our rights," said Nepinak. "Something is wrong here in this place called Canada." The other week, First Nations leaders tried to storm their way into the House of Commons to protest omnibus budget Bill C-45, which they said changes the Indian Act and removes many environmental regulations on their land.
Since Spence began her hunger strike, a group of First Nations calling themselves the Idle No More movement have set up protests across the country. Local Ojibway electronic musician Ian Campeau, has said this is part of a burgeoning civil rights movement among Canada's First Nations.
"We will get their attention," said lawyer Pam Palmater, standing with Chief Nepinak. "We already have Al-Jazeera, American and South American media covering it. When it becomes a big international issue, they will have no choice but to pay attention."
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Opposition calls on Harper to avoid a 'personal tragedy' in aboriginal protest
Terry Pedwell - Dec 18 2012
Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence stopped eating a
week ago, vowing to die unless the government started showing more
respect for aboriginal treaties.
Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - The federal opposition parties and the head of the Assembly of First Nations are urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to take steps to end a prominent aboriginal leader's hunger strike before it's too late.
The call came as an aboriginal elder in northern Manitoba embarked Tuesday on a hunger strike of his own.
In his letter to Harper, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair called on the prime minister and the Governor General to meet with aboriginal leaders to end the protests.
Chief Theresa Spence of northern Ontario's remote Attawapiskat First Nation stopped eating a week ago, vowing to die unless the government started showing more respect for aboriginal treaties.
"I ask that you please act swiftly to avoid a personal tragedy for Chief Spence," Mulcair wrote.
"I look forward to your early positive response to this urgent matter."
Spence has been living in a teepee on Victoria Island in the Ottawa River, less than a kilometre from Parliament Hill, since beginning her fast Dec. 11.
Victoria Island is considered by the Anishinabe as traditional territory. New Democrat MP Paul Dewar visited Spence on the island Tuesday and reported that she is so far in good health.
Last week, Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan proposed a meeting with Spence to discuss issues affecting Attawapiskat, but there was no response.
Harper met with Assembly of First Nations Chief Shawn Atleo as recently as Nov. 28 to review progress the government has been making in addressing aboriginal issues, said spokesperson Julie Vaux.
"The prime minister hosted a historic gathering of the Crown and First Nations this past January," Vaux said in an email.
"Since then, the government has been working with First Nations leadership to make progress in several areas, most notably education and infrastructure on reserve."
The Liberals and the Assembly of First Nations also sent letters Tuesday to Harper and Gov. Gen. David Johnston, calling for an urgent meeting to discuss Spence's demands.
"I urge you to agree to participate in this meeting and meet with Chief Theresa Spence to hear directly from her why she has felt it necessary to take such drastic action," wrote Liberal aboriginal affairs critic Carolyn Bennett.
Spence's hunger strike has become a cause celebre for some First Nations activists, prompting widening aboriginal protests across the country.
Attawapiskat was in the spotlight last winter when the reserve's severe housing crisis made international headlines.
More recent protests, however, have centred around aboriginal concerns with the Harper government's omnibus budget legislation, Bill C-45.
Supporters of a growing grassroots movement known as Idle No More have complained that the Harper government's policies have directly - and negatively - impacted aboriginal communities and the environment at large.
They want First Nations to be recognized as sovereign stakeholders in decisions affecting the country's land and resources.
Elder Raymond Robinson of the Cross Lake First Nation in Northern Manitoba launched his own hunger strike Tuesday, with the support of the Assembly of First Nation's Atleo and other aboriginal leaders.
"Now more than ever, we must see immediate and urgent attention and concrete commitments by government to work together with First Nations to address the unfulfilled promises, commitments and agreements that leave First Nations people struggling to meet the basic standards of life on a daily basis," Atleo said in a statement issued after a meeting of leaders in Cross Lake.
"First Nations stand in solidarity and will not back down. The time is now - and this must be met with urgent and priority attention by government, there are lives at stake."
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Chief Theresa Spence Now in 9th Day of Hunger Strike
"Not Well and is Weak"
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Challenges.
OTTAWA, CANADA - A source close to Chief Theresa Spence tell the Native News Network report that "she is not well and is weak" from the hunger strike she began on December 11.
Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence on Sunday
today is her 9th day of a hunger strike
Today marks the ninth day of her hunger strike.
Chief Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation, based in northern Ontario, has vowed to die unless the government begins to show more respect for aboriginal treaties.
At issue is Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harpers push for sweeping legislation that in essence terminates many of the First Nations treaty rights throughout Canada. First Nations people have come out in strong opposition to Harper's legislation known as Bill C-45.
Chief Spence is only drinking water twice a day - in the morning and evening. She spends most of her day in prayer. She has been living inside a teepee on Victoria Island on the Ottawa River, near Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada's capital city.
Access by the media has been limited due to the wishes of the elders surrounding Chief Spence who view her prolonged fasting sacred.
Others in Canada have begun hunger strikes in an effort to display solidarity with Chief Spence. 51-year old Raymond Robinson of Cross Lake First Nation and 72-year old Emil Bell of Cole Bay First Nation began hunger strikes earlier this week.
Protests have been going on in various locations in Canada to oppose Bill C-45 for the past two weeks.
Over 70 busloads of First Nations supporters from throughout Canada are heading to Ottawa to take part in a noon ceremony on Friday to show support of Chief Spence.
It is reported there have been closings at borders so that American Indians attempting to enter Canada from the United States to lend support of the First Nation people cannot do so.