Vic Toews, who was President of the Treasury Board at the time of First Nations/Kapyong Barracks ruling, now hopes to redact history and falsely blame First Nations for the lack of progress on negotiations and development. In an effort to manipulate the social protest group, Raging Grannies, on June 21, 2010 (1) he deflects government responsibility by stating “Maybe the Raging Grannies should go talk to the lawyer for the First Nations,”

Even though The Raging Grannies don’t really have a dog in this hunt, the question of why the land continues to remain dormant does have merit – in regard to the rights of First Nations people.

“Highly respected judge Douglas Campbell, who has a solid track record of well-reasoned court rulings, completely rejected any and all arguments by the federal government that First Nations did not have entitlement and a right to be consulted concerning the development of the Kapyong Barracks.” (2)

Toews has now taken the opportunity to falsely target First Nations for the governments own delaying tactics, which can only foment a further increase in public anti-aboriginal sentiment. Using political smoke and mirrors he fails to be truthful and admit that he was actually the one blocking any efforts to bring the situation to the negotiation table.
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Things are improving for aboriginal peoples through their own political will and organizational abilities but there is still a long way to go. Basic issues such as adequate and cost-effective access to food and water services are being taken more seriously only because the people are making their voices, socio-economic interests, and when necessary, their votes well known.

Northern Shipping

In the article of May 19, 2010 (Serving the True North – The North West Company Should Not Be Involved) it was argued that the North West Company should not take a principal role in replacing the Canada Post Food Mail Program privatization through that company would only serve to narrow public options and increase costs. A recent article on page 9 of Grassroots News, June 1, 2010 (1) indicates that although INAC officials presently indicate that they are still reviewing, sufficient backlash and demand that First Nations be involved in the review and consultations. An announcement is to be issued by INAC but unconfirmed rumours are that 1) INAC itself will take over administration of the Program and 2) Northern Stores will not be involved in the program in Manitoba. Hopefully, North West Company/Northern Stores will not be a factor in the future of the program and there will be a real chance to bring consumer costs of essential foods in line with the economy of the communities.

However we await the official announcement to find out if the program will truly serve the peoples involved.

Clean Water

In a second article in Grassroots News (June 1, 2010, p.1), the Water and Wastewater issue has taken another step forward as the federal government is putting some numbers to their plans That I mentioned in the article of June 2, 2010, (Water, But No Bucket: Bill S-11)
The Conservatives also announced a two-year extension of the First Nations Water and Wastewater Action Plan, at a cost of $330 million (1). There still remain gaps in the proposal, such as what the full costs would be to bring the plan to national standards. Still, it does indicate that there may at least something positive towards priming the pumps of better wastewater management and clean water access.

References
(1) Grassroots News June 1, 2010, http://www.grassrootsnewsmb.com/, download PDF
(2) Canada to improve drinking water in First Nation communities, by K.J. Mullins Digital Journal, June 7, 2010 http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/293078

As BP has proven, taking shortcut in safety is increasingly the pathway to business failure. First Nations and aboriginal interests in Canada are always among the first to be crippled by businesses harming the environment and therefore must always be ready to pressure for complete safety studies, methods, and backup to be in place before a project is even green-lighted. While companies will argue that this is obstructionist, in reality they are only opposing such stipulations to keep costs down and profits up. If they are allowed to proceed without safety proper measures, it will only assure that the BP-Gulf fiasco will be repeated over and over again in the future. BP, or any other company will not simply voluntarily change their ways come the next project, even in light of this latest catastrophe.

The problem is that if a similar situation arises in Canada, the northern peoples will be even worse off that the residents of the Gulf coast. Just as the two month destructive haemorrhage of oil poisoning the beautiful waters of the south is the result of the inaccessibility of the leak; coupled with the lack of any proven safety measures; so too will a disaster in northern regions of Canada be subject to slow response times and measures due to isolation and logistical factors. Further, there will be less impetus to resolve a northern debacle as the victims will not have the same wealth and influence as Texas, Louisiana and Florida. The majority of the public simply won’t care as much that northern peoples and environs are victimized. Historically, they never have.

It is therefore up to the peoples of the Canadian north to claim the role of stewards of the land and safeguard the lands and waters that provides for them.

To say that this is something that is to be handled by federal and provincial departments is to be naive as the past has only shown that these departments serve principally and increasingly as glorified census takers and have done little to cultivate and enhance the natural value of the country. Fisheries and wildlife populations have only dwindled over the entire history of Canada. The lands have been stained with toxins and the only blame that has been laid is the disinformation that native peoples have over-hunted and over-fished. Never mind that The Hudson’s Bay Company/Northwest Company demanded the accelerated decimation of all the animal species now at risk or extinct in order to supply Europe. Never mind that Booth Fisheries and similar companies depleted fish stocks for the inland seas of Manitoba. Never mind that hydro dams have caused the majority of land destruction in the province. Somehow in some twisted logic the government agencies have seen fit to suppress native efforts to protect and cultivate stocks for their use while permitting further exploitation by non-aboriginal interests.

If northern peoples do not take action to prevent exploration industries from living by their own rules with complete disregard of the consequences, environmental tragedies will eventually manifest here in even greater numbers. No one will have the same reaction here that has been seen in the Gulf. The guilty will merely shrug their shoulders, pack up, and leave. The only way to avert such an outcome is for the residents to demand appropriate regulations and enforce safeguards ahead of inevitable northern disasters.

Clean water and efficient waste management are a high priority to any community. First Nations communities, often distant and isolated from major water treatment centers, are a major concern. But addressing these needs can be involved and expensive. Recently (1), National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, expressed a concern about S-11, the proposed First Nations Safe Drinking Water Act introduced by the Federal Government. While it identifies the need, it fails to offer a means to achieve the objective.

While Bill S-11 proposes regulations to improve First Nations water supplies, once the observer scratches the thin glittering patina, he finds that beneath lies a lead façade.

Merrell-Ann Phare of the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources pointed out at the CFCAS Water Security Symposium (2) that “The number one opposition to the Bill is the lack of capacity and resources”, a stance that is echoed by the Assembly of First Nations.

The City of Winnipeg (population 675,000) is proceeding with a ¾ billion dollar contract for water and sewage upgrades for the city (3), in addition to an undisclosed 30 year contract for maintenance with Veolia (4). Using the same model, coupled with the fact that the aboriginal population of Canada is over 1 million and growing, one would expect that there would be a budget of at least $1 billion just to initiate the infrastructure. In fact this value should be much greater, given the poorer state of existing facilities and the remoteness of the locales.

In the end of course the costs will be absorbed by the communities but, since they have little in the way of available existing funds to respond to the proposed regulations, this amounts to the wind whistling through the heads of the politicians proposing the bill.
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Things are changing in northern services and some are progressive and in line with the needs of the northern regions and benefit the communities. North West Company curiously continues to be the lone private non-aboriginal player.

CBC reports that Canada Post currently has a $60-million annual subsidy to deliver fresh food to the North under the Food Mail Program (1) . The Federal Government plans to turn this role over to non-government companies. While there is an indication of a native presence in two of the organizations: Arctic Co-operatives Limited, (ACL) (2), and La Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec (FCNQ) (3), the involvement of North West Company (4) remains questionable.

Aside from its historical role as being the government’s private partner in the economic extraction of aboriginal resources, they are otherwise a vestigial element in the proposed arrangement. In other words, aboriginal business cannot only do without their participation, they can do much better. The other two organisations possess a myriad of assets required to fulfill the objectives of the plan.

Arctic Co-operatives Limited ACL is a member organisation of the Canadian Co-operative Association. It is not itself an aboriginal organisation. However local co-ops are member owned and operated. In the case of ACL and in conjunction with FCNQ much of the business alliances and company ownerships are linked to aboriginal interests.
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