Community News

Lead Your Way! Nomination Call 2006 for outstanding Aboriginal youth role models

Lead Your Way!  - Aboriginal youth nominating Aboriginal youth. 

GET YOUR NOMINATIONS IN!

Lead Your Way! is the National Aboriginal Role Model Program. We are pleased to announce a Nomination Call for 2006 for Canada's top Aboriginal youth role models.

The National Aboriginal Role Model Program highlights the accomplishments of First Nations, Inuit and Metis youth and it is designed to encourage Aboriginal youth to pursue their dreams. This program is delivered by the National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO).

Lead Your Way! will recognize Aboriginal youth who have demonstrated a significant level of innovation, achievement and leadership and who are considered role models by their peers and community members.

Through Lead Your Way!, 12 Aboriginal youth will be chosen as role models for a year.

The Lead Your Way! program will produce posters and trading cards that feature each of the 12 role models. The posters and trading cards will be available to First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities and organizations. As well, the youth role models will visit Aboriginal communities to attend celebrations, school functions, workshops and conferences. The role models will share their stories and experiences with other Aboriginal youth in the hopes of inspiring others to pursue their goals.

What: Lead Your Way!, the National Aboriginal Role Model Program, provides opportunity for Aboriginal youth to be recognized for their achievements. Role models may be First Nations, Inuit or Metis youth between the ages of 13 and 30 years old.

Who: Aboriginal youth (between the ages of 13 and 30 years old) can nominate their role model by filling out the nomination form. The nomination form has various attributes that fit your role model.

When: Nominations will close on May 21st, 2006.

How: You can nominate for Lead Your Way! By:

  1. Using the on-line nomination form.
  2. Downloading a form found on our website www.naho.ca/rolemodel.
  3. Calling 1-877-602-4445, to request a form to be faxed.

For more information, please contact Lead Your Way!, the National Aboriginal Role Model Program at:

Telephone:(613) 237-9462 ext. 548
Toll-free:1-(877)-602-4445 ext. 548
Email: leadyourway@naho.ca

Healthy Mind, Body, Planet cross-Canada multi-media tour in Sioux Lookout

Healthy Mind, Body, Planet - A Multi-Media Tour, Tabloid and Documentary

The tour presentation is Wednesday, May 10 in Sioux Lookout at St. Andrew's United Church starting at 7:00 pm. 

Hope you can make it, and please forward to anyone you think might be interested.

Background Information:

Healthy Mind, Body, Planet is a Multi-Media Tour, Tabloid and Documentary that is visiting 23 towns and cities across Canada between April 3 and June 20, 2006.

The Healthy Mind, Body, Planet tour, tabloid and documentary presents the most current information, analysis and inspiration related to mental, physical and planetary health.

We will look at the reasons for the recent rise in depression, and at the myriad of treatments available, including pharmaceutical and holistic, within the context of Big-Pharma and corporate culture.

This multi-media presentation provides a critique of our current state and offers direction for positive change.

http://www.healthymindbodyplanet.org

Project Contacts:
Angela Bischoff, www.Greenspiration.org
Kelly Reinhardt & Bridget Haworth, www.boilingfrog.ca

KI member supports community by walking from Pickle Lake to Toronto

Mark Anderson and his supporters from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug are leaving Pickle Lake this morning on a long walk to Toronto. His goal is to raise awareness concerning the challenges his community is facing with the legal and territorial struggle with the government of Ontario and the mining company, Platinex.

Click here for previous news story concerning the $10 billion lawsuit against his community.

From the Big Trout Lake First Nation web site at http://bigtroutlake.firstnation.ca ...

"In the ongoing struggle that the community faces regarding the mining issues and the lawsuit brought forward by Platinex, a local member Mark Anderson and a select group of other members have decided to bring awareness of the plight of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib people to the forefront of the country and the Province of Ontario. The goal they have set is to walk from Pickle Lake, Ontario to Toronto in 43 days and to conclude the walk on June 20 at City hall in Toronto before the court hearing in Thunder Bay which is to begin on June 21 Aborginal Day.

A information spokesperson has been assigned regarding the walk her name is Sandra Mckay and she can be contacted at (807) 537 2263 if you want more information about the goals of the walkers."

First Nation MP delivers message in the House of Commons - Will anyone listen?

On Thursday, May 4, Gary Merasty, Member of Parliament from Northern Saskatchewan and former Grand Chief of the Prince Albert Grand Council delivered a strong presentation concerning the Kelowna Accord and the government's lack of financial support for First Nations and children.
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 39th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION

EDITED HANSARD • NUMBER 016

CONTENTS

Thursday, May 4, 2006

Aboriginal Affairs +-

    Mr. Marc Lemay (Abitibi—Témiscamingue, BQ): Mr. Speaker, the government says that it wants to review the Kelowna agreement, and it maintains that it is respecting its objectives because its budget provides for financial resources for the first nations.
    However that budget contains only part of the funds provided for in the Kelowna accord.
    How can the government claim to be respecting the objectives of the Kelowna accord when, for the next two years, it is cutting more than $640 million from the original agreement?
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    Hon. Jim Prentice (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, CPC): Mr. Speaker, our government has demonstrated a significant commitment to aboriginal Canadians.
    The budget provides $300 million for northern housing, as much for housing on the reserves, $150 million for the additional fund and a $300-million increase for departmental spending. The total envelope is $1.050 billion. That is a lot of money. We are making progress.
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    Mr. Marc Lemay (Abitibi—Témiscamingue, BQ): Mr. Speaker, at the time of the health accord concluded in September 2004, the government was supposed to pay the first nations the sum of $700 million over five years. This amount was not confirmed in the budget.
    Where did the first nations’ health money go?
[English]
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    Hon. Jim Prentice (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, CPC): Mr. Speaker, it is a fair and reasonable budget with respect to aboriginal Canadians. It contains extensive funding. In terms of the total budgetary situation, there was additional money allocated to the Department of Health relating to aboriginal health for the coming year. It is a fair and reasonable budget and I invite the hon. member to read the specifics of it.
Aboriginal Affairs+-
    Mr. Gary Merasty (Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, yesterday the finance minister and the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development defended a budget that scrapped the Kelowna Accord.
    There is no new funding to address serious health issues like TB, diabetes or HIV in aboriginal communities, no new funding for education or water, and no funding increases for economic opportunities. The government will never understand the pain our people feel. The government promised funding contingent on a budget surplus.
    Will the minister admit there are no real dollars for aboriginal peoples in the budget?
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    Hon. Jim Prentice (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, CPC): Mr. Speaker, let us compare this Conservative budget, not with Liberal promises but with previous Liberal budgets.
    The 2004 Liberal budget had no new money for aboriginal housing, zero, nothing. This Conservative government has invested $300 million in northern aboriginal housing, $300 million in off-reserve housing. The Liberal budgets were about multi-year procrastination, fuzzy language and empty promises. This budget is about action. It is about a two year action plan. It is about real money.
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    Mr. Todd Russell (Labrador, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the government is trying to sell aboriginal people a case of diet Kelowna: little flavour, none of the punch and truly tasteless.
    It talks about meeting the Kelowna targets. Talk is cheap but the government is cheaper.
    With less money than was agreed to in 2005, nothing for the Métis, nothing for health and nothing for education, will the minister admit that he has broken his promise to aboriginal people and denied progress for us, the aboriginal people of Canada, for generations?
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    Hon. Jim Prentice (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I have no intention of apologizing to that hon. member or anyone on that side of the House about promises to aboriginal Canadians.
    This government has provided $300 million in northern housing, $300 million in off-reserve housing, an additional $475 million, $500 million for the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, $2.2 billion in relation to residential schools. We have nothing to apologize for. It is a good budget for aboriginal Canadians.
*   *   *
Child Care
Mr. Gary Merasty (Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Mississauga South.
    It is a pleasure to speak to the issue before the House today which is one that touches the very heart of this great country and each of its citizens. Health care is an incredibly important concern for me and all my colleagues and, indeed, the future of Canada.
    I know that I as a parent have always wanted the best for my children, the best opportunities, the best learning and the best care. I am truly thankful that my wife and I have been able to provide a safe and loving home for them.
    However many of our fellow Canadians do not have this. Far too many in a land of such wealth and prosperity have little and must engage in a daily struggle for survival. Their pain far too often does not have a voice, rather, only cold, unfeeling numbers tell the undeniable story of their unspoken tragedy.
    Infant mortality is a clinical phrase, one that only suggests the terrible anguish it brings. In 2000, Health Canada reported that the first nations infant mortality rate was 6.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, a rate 16% higher than the general Canadian population. Those who survive are often brought home to live in a house that overcrowded and need of repair. Indian Affairs and Northern Development reported that in 2005 12% who live in a first nations community live in overcrowded conditions in comparison to 1% elsewhere in Canada.
    Moreover, 27.6% of these homes are in desperate need of major repairs or need to be replaced outright. Many of these children suffer greatly because of the twin scourges of poverty and disease. The rate of child poverty in Saskatchewan, for instance, is already far too high at 17.6%, but for off reserve first nations and Métis in Saskatchewan, the number shows a truly dire situation. Fully 55.9% of first nations children and 36% of Métis children live in poverty.
    I ask members to please not confuse the culture of poverty with the culture of aboriginal people.
    Too often poverty also means disease. In 2000, the gap between first nations and Canadian rates of enteric, food and water borne diseases among children aged 0 to 14 were reported by Health Canada to be 2.1 times higher for shigellosis, 6 times higher for rubella and 7 times higher for tuberculosis.
    These horrible statistics are linked to other troubling and chilling numbers. Aboriginal youth are eight times more likely to be incarcerated than other Canadian youth. In Saskatchewan, 75% of all youth incarcerated are aboriginal. As a terrible last act, 22% of all deaths of first nations youth were as a result of suicide. We need more than anything to listen to these silent voices for their anguish says the most.
    I ask the House to try to fully comprehend the tragedy of these numbers. This is a tragedy with silent voices, voices that all need to be given strength, to be listened to and to be responded to.
    The response we need to give is one of compassion, support and help. This support is not a hand-out but a helping hand up. Right now there are little or no supports for aboriginal children aged 0 to 4 in first nations communities, especially children born with disabilities. With no services and few accessible quality early childhood intervention programs try to imagine the anguish that parents and children who want and need but they cannot get. This is what it means to be powerless.
    Saskatchewan as a whole needs more spaces in order to meet the needs of dedicated working parents. A University of Toronto report recently found that Saskatchewan does not have nearly enough spaces to meet these families' needs. In fact, only 4.9% of Saskatchewan children under age 12 had access to regulated child care spaces, the lowest in the country.
º  +-(1625)  
    The Progressive Conservative Party recognized this country's obligation to protect and nurture children. In 1959, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, a Saskatchewan boy, signed the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child. In 1989, Prime Minister Mulroney signed its successor, the Convention on the Rights of the Child. By doing so, they entered into a pact with the world to ensure that all children, including the ones living within their own country, would not be left behind.
    The Liberals, however, implemented commitments, 13 years of commitments and results, to ensure no children would be left behind. Head Start is an excellent example of this commitment. This comprehensive early childhood development program for aboriginal children and their families now serves 3,500 children in 114 communities across Canada. The on reserve component provides services to 7,700 children in 265 communities.
    The national child benefit also introduced by the Liberals has also helped Canadian families greatly. The national child benefit helps: one, prevent and reduce the depth of child poverty; two, supports parents as they move into the labour market; and three, reduces overlap and duplication of government programs.
    For Saskatchewan, the Liberals entered into an agreement with the province to commit $146 million in funding over five years devoted to creating 7,600 funded child care and early learning spaces, spaces that the parent experts asked for.
    For first nations on reserve, the Liberals committed $100 million to child care spaces and, on top of that, committed to an additional $100 million for northern aboriginal early learning and child care agreed to at the Kelowna first ministers meeting in November 2005.
    As a result of these initiatives, Canada's strong economic performance, which has been aided by eight consecutive balanced budgets, the number of low income families with children has dropped from close to 16% in 1996 to 11% in 2000. These are real achievements. This guaranteed parents and children real support and help.
    Unfortunately, the Conservative government is slowly tearing these commitments down. For Saskatchewan, the funding for spaces has been choked off, closing off the opportunity to create more spaces. For aboriginals, the Kelowna accord has been tossed aside.
    Instead, the government offers $3.25 a day to parents, taxable in their hands and subject to a myriad of clawbacks and hocus-pocus tax credit plan. There are few guarantees that this money could even get to families who need it most.
    First, $3.25 a day will not allow needy parents to quit work when they need to earn at least $6 or $7 an hour to provide for themselves and their children. What is worse, this small amount could actually lead to more problems than it solves: clawbacks on child tax benefits, missed eligibility for GST credits, clawed back social assistance payments and so on. On top of this, these working parents will be taxed. It will be the harshest for parents who are barely at the poverty line.
    At the end of day, April 30 being that day, the Caledon Institute reports that families with two working parents with a combined income of $30,000 will only take home $199 a year. The $3.25 plan becomes the 55¢ plan. Meanwhile, families making $200,000 a year with a stay at home parent will take home $1,076 a year.
    Low income aboriginal Canadians need support. This $3.25, or rather 55¢, will not help with threats of disease and terrible living conditions. This is an attempt to explain away the problem without dealing with it, without building capacity, creating opportunities for early learning and care, and giving parents the support they need.
    The tax credit plan will do even less. It will not create spaces on reserves with their different tax environments or in inner cities and economically marginalized areas. It does not respond to the challenges of remote and rural communities which need real commitments and real funding.
    I know the government will consider this old hat but the Conservative plan is inadequate. The government needs a lesson about the differences of equality and equity. Legislating the equality of opportunity and treating everyone the same does not eliminate discrimination. The measure of equality is in the equity of results, not the equity of opportunity.
º  +-(1630)  
    We must strive to listen to the silent voices and the voices of all Canadians who struggle and need real help and real commitment. I call upon all members to support the opposition motion.
+-
    Mr. Brian Fitzpatrick (Prince Albert, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I welcome the new member to the House.
    I agree with the member when he says that the housing problem with aboriginal people has deteriorated, that schooling has deteriorated, that suicide rate has deteriorated, that the crime rate has become worse, that water quality problems in our aboriginal communities have deteriorated and that the lives of aboriginal people have been deteriorating and the gap is widening. The Auditor General will confirm that.
    To me he has just described a damning indictment against a government that has governed this country for 13 years. From of his own lips, he has said that the lives of aboriginal people have deteriorated and the culture of poverty that exists among aboriginal people has become worse.
    Why is the member involved with an organization that has basically failed the aboriginal people over the past 13 years and led to this really dreadful situation that we are seeing today?
+-
    Mr. Gary Merasty: Mr. Speaker, I cited some statistics in my speech that talked about how the actions of the Liberal government actually helped. We began to set the stage for making even bigger differences in the lives of aboriginal children.
    What we see across the floor today is that Kelowna has been tossed aside, child care has been tossed aside and there is no mention of health care. These kids need the help of the government today.
    The Liberal Party is proud of its record when it was in government. The Kelowna accord set the stage for bigger and better things.
+-
    Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP): Mr. Speaker, earlier I moved a motion to amend the Liberal motion. The amendment clearly said that we needed to ensure that the money that is still flowing in 2005-06, a total of $1.3 billion, should be accounted for and that taxpayers should see at the end of fiscal year 2006 how that money has been spent.
    My amendment was very clear. It asked the House to urge the new government to ensure that all the money would be spent on child care, that the money would be accounted for and a report sent back to the House by the end of fiscal year 2006 on how that money had been spent.
    Why did the Liberal Party, the member's team, decide to vote against this very good amendment?
º  +-(1635)  
+-
    Mr. Gary Merasty: Mr. Speaker, back in the riding that I so proudly represent, we talk about the opportunity that the Kelowna accord presented, that the child care plan presented and that the actions that were talked about with regard to health and economic development presented.
    Unfortunately, the people in my riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River realized that it was the NDP that prevented all of that from occurring. That is an unfortunate reality but that is what we have to deal with. Now we have to hope that the government across actually responds and stands up for aboriginal Canadians.
+-
    Mr. Jeff Watson (Essex, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the Liberal member for Malpeque produced a report last year that recommended direct financial support to farm families for child care, not a nine to five bureaucratic day care plan. The Conservative child care plan, a universal benefit to all families, includes farm families. It is what this report called for.
    I know hon. Liberal members like to say that we are wrong, but is the hon. member saying that his Liberal colleague from Malpeque is wrong?
+-
    Mr. Gary Merasty: Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member for Malpeque is an outstanding individual who has done a great service to the House and to the people he represents.
    In rural Saskatchewan, I have met with people with families who say, “The $1,200 is fine, but what do I do with it? Where do I spend it to get the spaces? I need that support”.

UN committee presentation on Canadian violations of Indigenous rights

Representatives of Indigenous people from across Canada are presenting a paper to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the violation of Indigenous peoples' rights in Canada. The entire paper can be found at http://knet.ca/documents/INET-UN-Presentation-Violations-May-5-06.pdf ...

Be sure to see the May 8 story below highlighting the initial findings that Canada continues to violate basis human rights of the under privileged members of our society. As well, the CBC story from May 22 highlighting the findings from the UN committee.

For more information about the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, visit http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr

See the press release below from this group ... 

2006_05_06_UN_FN_rights.jpg

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Canada's rights situation not much better despite past rebukes: UN panel - May 8, 2006 - LISA SCHLEIN

GENEVA (CP) - A United Nations watchdog group has harshly criticized Canada for its failure to live up to its commitments under an international treaty that protects people's economic, social and cultural rights.

In a tough assessment, one of the committee's 18 independent experts noted that "some situations (in Canada) had actually got worse" since Canada's record was last scrutinized in 1998.

Canada is one of five countries being examined by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on its compliance with the international covenant dealing with those rights. The committee's session will also examine Monaco, Liechtenstein, Morocco and Mexico. Each of the 153 states that is party to the treaty, effective from 1976, has to submit a periodic report to the committee.

The committee grilled Canada for two days, last Friday and again Monday, about its record on poverty, homelessness, indigenous and migrant rights, health and education. It found the government wanting in all areas.

"Many of the issues our committee raised in 1993 and 1998 are unfortunately still live issues today," said Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay, an expert from Mauritius. "Years later, the situation appears to be unchanged, and in some respects worse."

"There is continuing homelessness and reliance on food banks, security of tenure is still not enjoyed by tenants, child tax benefits are still clawed back."

"The situation of Aboriginal peoples, migrants and people with disabilities doesn't seem to be improving," Pillay said.

In presenting Canada's report, Alan Kessel, a legal adviser to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, said Canada is "proud of its record of achievement in the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights."

Canada is at the forefront of promoting human rights internationally and domestically, and "its efforts had paid dividends," Kessel said.

He noted the Canadian government provides income support for low-income families with children through the National Child Benefit Supplement. He said Canadians are among the best-housed people in the world and that most "have access to housing of acceptable size and quality at affordable prices."

Among the federal government's priorities, he said, are improved childcare, lower taxes, health care and crime reduction.

But the committee challenged the Canadian delegation on a wide range of issues, including Aboriginal rights. It specifically asked about the government's failure to settle outstanding land claims brought forward by the Six Nations and the Lubicon River Indians.

The experts also asked why young Aboriginal women are disproportionately exposed to sexual assault and murder. They expressed concern regarding discrimination against women under the Indian Act.

The Canadian delegation countered the criticisms by saying "it recognized and affirmed land and treaty rights." It said it recognized "the inherent right of Aboriginals to self-government."

Several committee members said they were disturbed by the lack of investment in social programs and by continuing high poverty rates of the most marginalized - including women, Aboriginal peoples, people of colour and immigrants.

A group of about 20 non-governmental organizations representing a range of human rights, Aboriginal, anti-poverty and womens groups attended the hearings and provided the committee with studies that painted a bleak picture of life in Canada for underprivileged people.

Vince Calderhead is with the Charter Committee on Poverty Issues, a Canadian social advocacy group.

He said "social assistance levels are lower now than they have been in 25 or 30 years even though the government is trumpeting an improved economy."

The Canadian delegation said Canada is making progress on poverty alleviation and believes that this is due to "Canadas support for self-reliance for families and self-sufficiency" for those with disabilities, Aboriginals, and the homeless.

It said "there had been a consistent downward trend in low incomes since 1996, and governmental programming was benefiting all Canadians."

The committee will formally issue its conclusions and recommendations on May 19 when its session concludes.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

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from http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/05/22/unreport-canada.html

Canada failing to care for poor, disadvantaged: UN report

Canada is neglecting its poor and disadvantaged, a UN watchdog group charged Monday.

The report comes after an examination earlier this month of Canada's compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, an international treaty that protects such rights.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights notes that Canada ranks at the top of the UN Human Development Index and praises it for improving equal pay for equal work, extending maternity benefits and plans to improve health care.

But it scolds Canada for failing to heed recommendations in two earlier reports aimed at improving the lives of aboriginals, youth, single mothers, African-Canadians, people with disabilities and women.

Poverty rate considered high

Despite Canada's economic prosperity, the report says, roughly 11.2 per cent of the population lived in poverty in 2004. That is a drop from 13.7 per cent in 1998.

It says "… poverty rates remain very high among disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups such as Aboriginal peoples, African-Canadians, immigrants, persons with disabilities, youth, low-income women and single mothers."

The report also criticizes Canada's Employment Insurance program, saying in 2001, only 39 per cent of unemployed Canadians were eligible for EI benefits.   Many groups have a difficult time getting benefits even though they pay into the plan, including migrant workers, and part-time workers, especially women, the report says.   

Social assistance levels

The committee says federal transfer payments to the provinces for post-secondary education, social assistance and social services are lower than they were in 1995.

"Social assistance benefits … do not provide adequate income to meet basic needs for food, clothing and shelter," the report says.

More than half of the food bank users in the country did receive social assistance benefits, but said the benefits weren't enough to prevent them from having to use food banks, the report noted.

It recommends raising minimum wages and urges Ottawa to rethink its levels of federal transfer payments for social programs.

Aboriginals

There are "significant disparities" between aboriginals and the rest of the population in areas of employment, access to water, health, housing and education, it says.

Aboriginal women still face discrimination when it comes to property, Indian status and band membership, the report continues. It recommends amending the Indian Act.

The report also urges Canada to repeal section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, which prevents First Nations people from filing complaints of discrimination before a human rights commission or tribunal.

Children

Children from families that are low-income, single-mother, aboriginal or African-Canadian are "over-represented" in foster care, the report says. Many women are forced to give up their children because of inadequate housing. 

Children make up 40 per cent of the country's food bank users, the report says, while criticizing the deduction of child benefits from welfare cheques

Canada must take heed: advocate

A representative from an advocacy group says Canada must give this report serious attention since its recent inclusion in the new UN Human Rights Council.

"It really needs to take a look at its own human rights record before starting to criticize others," said Emily Paradis, with the Feminist Organization for Women's Advancement of Rights.

Paradis agrees poverty has increased among certain disenfranchised groups and that the gap between rich and poor has increased.

She blames cuts to social assistance, cuts to employment insurance and a low minimum wage," she said.

"All were taken in the last decade in spite of annual growth and annual budget surpluses."

United Church of Canada agrees to sign Residential Schools Settlement Agreement

PRESS RELEASE - Tuesday, May 2, 2006

THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA AGREES TO SIGN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

Toronto: In a statement released today, The United Church of Canada  announced that it will sign the Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.

"This is a historic agreement that recognizes and begins to address,  in a comprehensive package, the harm done to Aboriginal individuals and communities by the Indian Residential School system," said the Rev. James Scott, the church's General Council Officer for Residential Schools. "It is important for former students, for our church, and for our nation."

The unanimous decision was made by the church's General Council Executive, which met in Toronto, April 28-May 1, 2006, after a recommendation to support signing the Settlement Agreement was brought to the executive by the United Church's Residential Schools Steering Committee.

Scott points out that although the United Church had previously participated, along with the government, in hundreds of individual abuse settlements with claimants, it had always been unwilling to enter a formal bilateral agreement with Canada. He says the church supports this multi-party, comprehensive package, however, because it addresses not only compensation but also healing programs, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and commemoration. "And the Aboriginal voice was front and centre in reaching this agreement," he said.

Scott emphasizes that while the United Church agreement defines the church's legal and financial obligations, "it does not limit the church's moral responsibilities as they relate to our active and long-term commitment to build right relationships of trust, respect, and equality between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples."

"It is to the work of healing, justice-seeking, and reconciliation that we must now turn our attention and our resources. This work will challenge our theological and cultural assumptions as well as our pocketbooks, but it offers the promise of transformation," says Scott.

Under the United Church agreement, The United Church of Canada agrees to contribute a total of $6.89 million toward compensation and healing, much of which has already been paid.

Scott says the United Church will be actively involved in the healing, reconciliation, and commemoration components of the Settlement Agreement, such as the national and community events related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"We will also continue to attend adjudication hearings for abuse claims to bear witness to the claimant's story and offer words of acknowledgement, apology, and support," says Scott.

He adds that as a faith community, the United Church has  participated in the negotiations on the Settlement Agreement, remembering our accountability to those who have been harmed.

"This has involved the incremental steps of learning to be present to those we do not know, learning to listen to what survivors feel and need for healing, and being open to the gifts and leadership of former students in the process of reparation and reconciliation," comments Scott. He says this continues to be a humbling challenge for a church more accustomed to being the "helper."

NOTE: See also "A Collective Step Forward", a background document on the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement on The United Church of Canada's website (www.united-church.ca)

For further information, please contact:
Mary-Frances Denis
Communications Officer
The United Church of Canada
416-231-7680 ext. 2016 (office)

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The New Ways of "Our Youth" spiritual and cultural walk by NAN youth

Hello all.  This is Edmond Etherington. I am participating in a spiritual and cultural walk that is planning to leave from Cochrane Ontario on  May 14, 2006 and walk to Robb Alberta. 

So far things are going good for us. There are youth participating in the meaning behind this walk.  Youth from Moosonee, Peawanuck, Moose Factory, Kashechewan, and some youth from Sunchild Alberta are helping. 

Other youth are welcomed to participate in this life experience and meet new people across this country. We will be ask to speak to other youths in different communities on the way. And if your not camera shy, we will be on the news probaly every city we pass by. Don't be shy to join. Guaranteed this is something you will never forget and it will help you as a youth in this society today. 

If you need any more info and have any questions feel free to call me on my cell at (705) 262-4628. If anyone is interested in donations like tents, camping gear or are interested meeting the youth, we won't be hard to find on the highway.  We are going to be the only ones on the highway to Thunder Bay. 

All youth are welcome because there are young women and young men participating in this walk.

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from Timmins Daily Press, April 2006

Cross-country walker hitting spiritual stride By EDMOND ETHERINGTON

I am a Cree from the James Bay area. I am the son of Pat Etherington and the late Marlene Etherington. I am 28 years old. My father is from Fort Albany and my late mother was from Moose Factory.

I am writing this to the communities around the James Bay coast. A great opportunity is knocking on the doors for the youth in the area. I did participate in a walk last year that started in Cochrane and ended at Robb, Alta., just south of Edson, Alta.

My father put together this walk to respect the old ways. Today, I am going forward with another walk in May for the new generation, “our youth.” This walk would be a good opportunity for the youth to see this country and meet new friends along the way. It is a cultural walk and spiritual walk.

For me, there is a good meaning behind it. So we can show the youth of today how strong the native culture is. I have been living in Alberta for the last two years. I have been learning as much as I can about the spiritual ways we Crees have. I do know we have our cultural beliefs about trapping, hunting, etc., but we don’t realize that there are spiritual beliefs, too. I try to get this across to our youth so we can try to break the cycle of negativity that is in our communities so down the road they can do the same for their kids.

For myself, it’s really strong for me to do this. I have been through it all growing up. I wasn’t brought up on the reserve. I was brought up in the city life. I had the positive life my parents tried to give me but took advantage of it. I had been selling drugs since I was 14 years old. That’s all I know to do. I am sure some of the people reading this today have bought drugs off me during the time I was selling around James Bay. But now that’s all behind me. The negative I had before is in the past.

We were not meant to look behind us because if we did we would have eyes on the other side ofour heads. We don’t. That’s why I want to show people that a person like myself who has been in the gutter that there is hope for all of us. We just have to make up our minds.

That’s what an Elder taught me. Now he is gone into the spiritual life, his teachings are in my heart. I have the great-grandchildren of this Elder participating in the walk, too.

The youth are realizing that they can do this for their communities so others can look up to them as leaders. I know it’s going to be hard, but if we put our energy together as young individuals we can accomplish this goal.

There are more meanings and teachings I could get out but I can’t write it down on paper because it’s not meant to be written. So I am going to leave it at that for now. I do speak to youth in the justice system and schools around Alberta but now I am here back in my neck of the woods. If anyone is interested, feelfree to leave a message with the Ininew Friendship Centre in Cochrane and I will get back to anybody.

I am looking forward to working together on this good cause for youth so we can be strong as one. So nobody can break us up as “nishawbe.” Keep your head up.

KKK poster distributed before Caledonia gathering and march on Six Nations stirs up trouble

MNN Mohawk Nation News:

Please post this article. I am not living in Six Nations, and I know that K-Net's service extends more to the north, but more First Nations people need to know what is happening in Canada. In the end, we all know that what happens to one of us, happens to all of us.

++++++++

"OVER AND OVER, I'LL BE A FOOL FOR YOU" - KKK MARCHES INTO CALEDONIA TO SOLVE "INDIAN PROBLEM" AT SIX NATIONS.

MNN. May 2, 2006. Things are on schedule! The flyers in the hands of Caledonia residents, Ontario Provincial Police and a few Six Nations people reads:

Citizens of Caledonia -

Meeting tonight - 7:00 Sharp! (no location, no date)

Agenda: Discussion of the "Indian Problem". "What is the final solution?"

Full dress meeting. Wear your sheets. (This is no joke. This is what the flyer actually says. This ain't the movies, folks. This is real life).

Special Speaker - all the way from Burning Cross Mississippi, Bobby Lee Raspmas, Veteran of the 50's, 60's, 70's.

Hear about the "Final Solution". (How come Canada is letting him in and they won't let Indians cross the border to support us?)

Three-fourths of the flyer has a picture of a KKK meeting with sheets on.

We were waiting for this one! This flyer was given out for last Friday's rally and march onto the barricades at the site of the illegal housing project that the Six Nations People are trying to stop. It's being given out again for the Friday, May 5th rally at 7:00 right at the barricades this time.

The press has been asking Caledonians where the flyer came from and nobody seems to know. Janie Jamieson said, "If the non-native rioters come here and it gets out of hand, the OPP will declare they can't handle it. Then the army will be brought in". Based on past experience we suspect that even putting this flyer out is supposed to create a panic. We've seen it all before. The same thing happened in the Mohawk Oka Crisis of 1990.

We have given no reason for the army or the RCMP to come in. If these rioters create chaos, the Caledonians will be screaming for the big guns to come in. In 1990 the people of Chateauguay were incited to riot night after night at the boundary of Kahnawake. It was exactly exactly the same kind of threats, screaming, insults, trying to rush the barricades and yelling for the army to come in. It split the community up and gave it a "red neck" label that still taints its reputation 16 years later. What can be done? How do the people of Caledonia feel about being identified with the Ku Klux Klan? Hey, neighbors, can't you see it? You are being set up to get a bad name.

David Peterson, the Ontario negotiator, has probably been given orders to demand that the barricades be taken down before talks can begin. They want to create a situation so they don't have to negotiate. "Remove your barricades and then we will talk", it says on the colonial script. Every time we object to oppression, this is the same procedure that has been followed. Peterson is probably going to try to make it look like the Indigenous people are being stubborn, belligerent and non-compromising. That's what Bernard Roy and Alex Patterson did in Kanehsatake in 1990. They were getting angry because we kept on wanting to talk about the land issue. Throughout we were peaceful and non-violent. They got impatient and suddenly cut off negotiations. Then the army closed the perimeter around us and kept us there under siege for almost another month.

The term "final solution to the Indian problem" was coined first by Indian Affairs superintendent, Duncan Campbell Scott, to describe his genocidal policies in the 1920's. It's not surprising to find the KKK has taken up the banner of his cause. So they're not the first in line. Remember Hitler? He found Canadian and U.S. Indian policies very inspiring. Unfortunately, World War II was not enough to end such disgusting initiatives.

Has Canada no sense of pride? Aren't they ashamed to be doing this again? This tired out old tactic is digging a hole for Canada's reputation. Rather than settling with the Indigenous people, Canada would prefer to use scare tactics to get a little bit instead of settling the big issues.

Take a stand against the KKK. Take a stand against police and military solutions to legal problems. Ask you Member of Parliament how it is that the KKK is able to import speakers to incite racist violence. This flyer was put out a week ago and nothing's been done since then. We still need people to stand with us. Any help is appreciated. Keep writing the Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Queen and everybody in the world. Tell them what's happening to us.

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News
Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com
www.mnn.mohawknationnews.com

Kashechewan obtaining land base from Ontario for new community development

From http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/05/02/1561349-cp.html

Ontario supports Kashechewan territory move - By STEVE ERWIN - May 2, 2006

TORONTO (CP) - New land has been approved in principle for the beleaguered Kashechewan First Nations community, who have been given Ontario government permission to pursue a move to a provincial Crown territory on higher ground some 30 kilometres upriver.

The land swap would see the northern Ontario community, which faces annual flooding that last month led to an evacuation of virtually all its 1,700 residents, move to new land agreed upon Tuesday in a meeting between provincial Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay and aboriginal leaders.

Ramsay said ministry officials still need to complete final checks to ensure there are no timber licences or mining claims on the proposed land. It is located on the same side of the Albany River, which runs west of James Bay, as the current reserve.

But Ramsay said the province has no issues with handing the Crown land over to the Kashechewan First Nation, provided the federal government gives its blessing too. The move requires Ottawa's approval because the new territory must be designated as reserve land under federal law.

"As far as we're concerned, money's not an issue here," Ramsay said when asked whether the province would need to be compensated for turning over province-owned land to the First Nation community. "We've just to got to give these people a safe place to live."

Kashechewan's current location is on low land surrounded by a dike that often fails to keep homes from flooding when the ice breaks each year during spring thaw.

The new site is one of six that Kashechewan's band leaders had earlier proposed as potential places to relocate the community, said Grand Chief Stan Loutitt of the Mushkegowuk Council of tribes in northern Ontario. The site agreed upon with the province is the only one that didn't encounter flooding this spring, he said.

Ramsay said the new location is some 55 metres above sea level; the current Kashechewan land is only five-metres above sea level.

A formal transfer of the provincial Crown land is necessary for the relocation to begin because the proposed new territory falls outside Kashechewan's current reserve boundaries.

"This kind of starts the process," said Loutitt, who will join Kashechewan Chief Leo Friday in a Wednesday meeting with federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice.

The pair will ask Prentice to accelerate the move of Kashechewan's residents to a permanent new home within one or two years - much faster than the 10-year plan put forth by the previous Liberal government in Ottawa.

The Liberals made that pledge following another mass evacuation of Kashechewan last fall that drew national headlines. That evacuation was forced by a contaminated water scare that raised health concerns for residents.

Loutitt said it makes "fiscal sense" to make the move sooner rather than later so that governments can avoid spending millions more dollars in the next few years for additional evacuations of Kashechewan.

"We just can't be spending millions of dollars every year on evacuations," Loutitt said following his meeting with Ramsay in Toronto.

Friday said his community members are anxious to relocate.

"I just want to see a move right away - not talk about it for another two years in order for it to happen," he said.

"A lot of people in the community say, 'Let's move now.' "

Most of Kashechewan's residents are currently in temporary accommodations in northern Ontario host communities, though many of them are stuck living in makeshift shelters such as local arenas.

"They're really in a terrible situation," Friday said.

Muskrat Dam goose hunters "discover" DeBeers drilling in traditional territory

From http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullNews.asp?id=25554

De Beers Risks Losing Social License to Operate in Canada
(May 2, '06 - IDEX Online Staff Reporter) 
 
Tensions between De Beers and the Muskrat Dam First Nation are strained after the community found an ongoing drill program underway at their traditional goose hunting area. Chief Vernon Morris, of the Muskrat Dam First Nation, is demanding that De Beers end the drill program and begin negotiations with the community to redress the disruption to the hunt.

Chief Morris has also written to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines demanding that the province assume their legal obligations under the treaty to protect the First Nations' right to hunt. Currently, according to the Mining Act, De Beers can stake and explore mine claims without consulting the First Nations. 

"We will continue to see a peaceful resolution of this issue," said Chief Morris. "However, we will use every avenue, including the courts, to protect our traditional way of life and our land from the impact of De Beers' activities. De Beers is threatening our identity as aboriginal people."

The annual spring goose hunt, which takes place in the area north of Bearskin Lake, Ontario, usually returns 200 geese for community use. Said Chief Morris, "The activities of procuring the geese are a source of cultural value and social well-being, particularly for the elders."

Last October, the Muskrat Dam First Nation was one of a number of Far North communities that declared a moratorium on mining exploration and development on their traditional lands.

The latest dispute is just one in a series of battles between First Nations over mining in Ontario's far north. Last week, junior mining company Platinex applied for a court injunction over a dispute with Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninumug Platinex are seeking to create a "treaty rights free zone" in order to pursue their drilling program.