Anishinabek Nation communities plan highway tolls July 1 through traditional territories
Highway Stop Tax: First Nations plan road tolls July 1
Posted By Craig Gilbert, QMI Agency - April 1, 2010
ESPANOLA — Ontario First Nations are planning to make travel in this province difficult if not impossible Canada Day weekend.
Tollbooths on highways running through the territory of the province's 43 First Nations could pop up July 1 unless the federal and provincial governments find a way to preserve some form of point-of-sale exemption (POS) from the a portion of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) representing the former provincial sales tax, or eight per cent of 13, for First Nations citizens (hereafter referred to as a "POS exemption" for the sake of brevity).
Whitefish River First Nation played host to an HST panel Tuesday evening, March 23. Chief Shining Turtle, Franklin Paibomsai moderated the panel, attended by about 30 WRFN members, and featuring Grand Council Chief of the Anishinabek Nation (Union of Ontario Indians) Patrick Madahbee, Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief, Ontario, Angus Toulouse, AMK Member of Parliament Carol Hughes and Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Brown.
Now is the time to draw that metaphorical line in the sand, across the asphalt of the province's busiest roadways, Madahbee said.
"Be well aware of what could happen to you when you talk about being out on that highway," he said, invoking the memory of Dudley George, the protestor famously killed by Ontario Provincial Police in 1995 during a raid on a protest in Ipperwash Provincial Park. He said not to be afraid, and with a calm, matter-of-fact seriousness in his eyes, continued:
"This is worth my life. If I have to die for this, so be it. We can't be bullied in our own country. I've spent my life fighting for our rights. I'm fine with dying for this or getting arrested. I have a son and a daughter and a grandson already. What do we have to lose?"
Hughes was introduced as a friend of the Ojibwe of WRFN. She said a POS exemption is possible with continued pressure, and that the NDP would there every step of the way.
She put the blame for the battle First Nations find themselves in for their POS exemption squarely on the provincial Liberals for not ensuring it would be included before jumping on board and handing over responsibility for the HST to the federal government.
"It was a sad mistake on the province's part to not ensure the POS exemption was preserved," Hughes said. "I've seen the tennis match too, in the letters I write and receive. I'm asking the provincial and federal ministers if they are going to sit down with First Nations and talk about this. I'm still waiting for an answer."
There was much talk about the "tennis" or "ping-pong" match going on between Queen's Park and Parliament Hill when it comes to who could actually affect the change (or stop it, depending on how you look at it) First Nations are talking about.
According to Paibomsai, all of the relevant ministers in the provincial government (Revenue, Finance, Aboriginal Affairs) say they are in favour of the exemption. For his part, Brown pointed out Premier Dalton McGuinty has called the Prime Minister's office to express his support for an HST exemption. But, since the administration of the HST is the responsibility of the federal government, it's up to them to make the change.
It is a source of frustration that has prompted Paibomsai and many other chiefs, band councils and First Nations citizens to embark on a letter writing campaign. Paibomsai said he has been ignored, handled like an irate customer at a restaurant, flat out told to stop sending emails and even hung up on.
Hughes said she was "shocked" to hear this.
"All these e-mails, faxes, letters - this is how lobbying happens, and anyone who has been around politics for a while knows this," she said. "I was shocked that (Chief Shining Turtle) was actually hung up on. As chief, you deserve a lot more respect than that (but) all the lobbying you are doing is raising eyebrows in Ottawa."
Late last week Paibomsai sent a 20-page fax package to the Mid-North Monitor to illustrate the ping-pong match. It includes correspondence from McGuinty (March 22), federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, the one person Toulouse and Madahbee say outright refuses to meet with them (March 1) and correspondence officers representing the prime minister and federal Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl. The latter two are simply acknowledgements that Paibomsai's correspondence was received. There were several such letters in the package.
Said Paibomsai: "Let's take a bus to Mike Brown's office and live there for a month. See how he likes it. That exemption is provided for in the treaties of 1764 (Niagra) and 1850 (Robinson-Huron). Losing it is not going to happen on my watch.
"I'm exasperated but I'm just getting started. Once that door is kicked in, every other government in the future will keep trying to come through it."
The package also includes a letter from McGuinty to Prime Minister Stephen Harper urging him to "carefully consider the interests and requests of Ontario First Nation leaders and to support further work on the development of alternative approaches - approaches that would allow Ontario's current administrative practice for First Nations to continue under the HST."
McGuinty's letter references "data and methodological issues" the federal government says it needs to resolve before Ontario's administrative approach (read: POS exemption) could be considered.
"I believe there are always opportunities to improve government administrative practices through new insights, the application of modern technology and better data measurement approaches ŠTo this end, I would ask that a meeting be set up between federal and Ontario ministers and Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse and his colleagues, so that meaningful discussions can begin on these important matters."
Toulouse said talk of what should have happened isn't really productive at this stage.
"You have heard what we are going to do," he said, directing his comments to Hughes and Brown. "It's a toll. Now we need to know what you're going to do. We've already been told by both levels of government that a POS exemption can't physically happen by July 1 (but) that exemption is near and dear to every status First Nations person in this province. No ifs, ands or buts about it."