Attawapiskat and the Indian Act

Here we go folks...

First off, I want to say that I have many friends of aboriginal descent, all of which who left the reserve to get an education and become successful.  "Best thing I did was leave the reserve when I did," they'd say.

The terrible conditions in Attawapiskat and lack of medical staff which contributed to the death of a child are the cause of one thing, and one thing only--greed and gross mismanagement by the reserve chiefs and "administrators".  There's only 1800 folks that live there yet money, millions of it, pour in from the federal government and get squandered. 

Liberal leader Bob Rae was bellowing in the House of Commons asking the Prime Minister to visit the reserve to see the conditions.  Does that mean Mr. Harper should also visit every reserve in the nation?  Some are doing well, like in Osoyoos, BC, but we know that many are not, despite the millions poured in.  And when the federal government threatens to cut back, the first whiners out of the gate are some of the band chiefs crying about the conditions of their people, like it was caused by the current federal government, when it's their own uncaring greed.


Now, the feds wanted to send in a third-party manager but the chief doesn't want him there.  Oh, gee why is that?  To show what a greedy, uncaring band council you really are?  Smarten the hell up.

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence told CBC News that she had informed the band manager of her decision.

"I advised my band manager I don't want them in my community … doesn't work for our community … we should focus on the crisis, not on other things," she told host Evan Solomon, on CBC's Power & Politics.

Yes, you SHOULD HAVE been focusing on the crisis.  But you didn't.  

The government said earlier it had chosen Jacques Marion, from the accounting and consulting firm BDO Canada, as its third-party manager for Attawapiskat. Marion was to exercise signing authority for all department spending and would decide which band staff are required to run its program and services.

Spence said the minister responsible for First Nations "didn't listen."

"We'd like to work together but put third party away … We've demonstrated we have our deficit down. We don't need a banker to come and tell us what to do," the chief told Solomon.

Like many Canadians now learning of these autracities, I've had it with some of these whiny chiefs who think they know better when they clearly have no bloody clue.  I've had it with reserves all together.  When I drive through many of them in Alberta, I don't like what I see.  No regard for the environment.  Boarded up homes and apartment complexes.  Burnt cars.  Trash.  Is this the traditional proud lifestyle of our aboriginals?  Not at all.

And now National Chief Shawn Atleo is in the spotlight.

"We must move beyond the Indian Act and we must affirm our Crown-First Nation relationship," he said during a speech on the first day of the Special Chiefs Assembly in Ottawa. "This 19th-century relic continues to hold us back in delivering better lives for our peoples."

He's right.  The Indian Act (ignorant name to begin with) needs a complete overhawl, or you know what, maybe just scrap it all together.

Atleo said that despite the potential being reached by many young First Nations people and other areas of progress, it is still a "frustrating" time. Too many people are struggling with substance abuse and suicide, are sick from dirty drinking water, living in unsafe homes, and too many children go to school in cold, mouldy classrooms, Atleo said.

But sorry chief, despite all the money that pours in, you need to hold your band chiefs accountable.  Maybe set an example and not live a lavish lifestyle.

"Canadians saw for the first time last week what we see every day," Atleo said, referring to the situation in Attawapiskat in northern Ontario.

But if you see it every day then what are YOU doing to solve it, National Chief?  Are you actually saying that because of the Indian Act where millions of dollars are poured into reserves and essentially lining the pockets of band chiefs hasn't solved the issues and problems?

If you are, then that's pretty refreshing to hear.  But talk is cheap.  Canadians and the media are going to now pay even more close attention to see if it isn't.