Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, December 05, 2011

Attawapiskat doc filmmaker says Duncan must have known earlier, she asked him for an interview last year

The First Nations community of Attawapiskat, which is in a state of emergency after the Red Cross arrived to deliver emergency aid and some residents were living in unheated tents, and overcrowded and substandard  housing, is “not any worse” than it was almost two years ago, says documentary filmmaker Angela O’Leary who visited the northern Ontario community near James Bay twice in 2010 and who says it’s nearly impossible for Canada’s Aboriginal Affairs minister not to have known about the crisis happening there until recently.

“He said they had no clue what was going on. I know myself and I know other journalists as well have approached INAC [Indian and Northern Affairs Canada] for interviews about the situation and this doesn’t date four weeks back, this dates, one, two, five years back,” said Ms. O’Leary, who documented Attawapiskat’s plight in her film released last year, Canada: Apartheid Nation.

“Just in the short period since I’ve been producing the documentary, if I’ve known what’s going on in this short time span, surely, INAC in its history must’ve realized, or must have documentation, that there was a problem. For him to pass it off, pass off the blame on [NDP MP] Charlie [Angus] because Charlie didn’t tell him that all this was happening, is nothing short of a joke.”

Mr. Duncan (Vancouver Island North, B.C.) told CBC TV last Thursday that his department has been “patient” with the people in Attawapiskat. When reporter Julie Van Dusen asked him to elaborate, he said. “We’ve had 12 years of co-management. During those 12 years there’s been many indications that there maybe was some issues in the community. If the department can be accused of anything, it is extreme patience due to the extreme urgency of dealing with the issues for the people of Attawapiskat. We intervened.”

Ms. Van Dusen then asked if he should have been more vigilant instead of patient, to which he replied: “Well, I mean this is an issue in many communities, but we did not have an awareness of what was in the community until a few days after Oct. 28, and we’ve had people in the community monthly or more often since April, officials, and some of this has been going on for more than a year, some for two years.”

When asked if he’s had officials there since April why did he not know about the problems, Mr. Duncan, who was appointed Aboriginal Affairs minister in August 2010, replied, “That’s correct. Yeah, they did not identify there was an issue, and neither did Charlie Angus, the representative from the area who is not shy about talking about Attawapiskat,” before his assistant ushered him out of CBC’s studio.

Mr. Angus, who represents Timmins-James Bay, Ont., has raised issues about poor funding and social services in Attawapiskat since 2008, when he brought residents to Ottawa to highlight the need for a new school in the community.

In the House on Nov. 17, he explained that there was a state of emergency there, the third one in three years, with families living in tents.

“In one tent we met a family of six who have lived in a tent with two double beds and a couch for two years,” he told the House. “One would have to see this situation to believe it. In another case, we were in an unheated shack that had two grandparents and a little girl sharing a bucket. The bucket was their toilet. They had to dump it in the street in front of their neighbours. On that corner there were 15 people dumping buckets in ditches. This is in Canada in 2011. If we did not see it first-hand, we not believe that this situation exists.”

Mr. Angus explained that another 90 people live in a trailer with six washrooms and “hardly any fire exits.” Further, he said that two years ago there was a sewage backup that left almost 100 people homeless.

“The response at the time from the then Indian Affairs minister was, ‘Tell them to just stay in their houses.’ They had dirt and waste coming from their basements, and they were told to sit in their houses and wait,” Mr. Angus said. “Those houses were not fixed. The damage started the ball rolling for the present crisis in Attawapiskat. Anywhere else in Canada there would be a response, but this is not what has been happening.”

In response to questions in the House during Question Period, Mr. Duncan noted that in the last five years, the government has “invested” more than $92-million in Attawapiskat.

“That is $52,000 for every man, woman and child. We are not getting the results that we thought we should get. I have officials in the community and they are making progress to ensure people are appropriately housed,” he said.

Ms. O’Leary criticized the government because its first response was to insinuate that there was mismanagement of funds.

“The fact is that if you break it down, simple mathematics, divide $90-million by five years by 2,000 people, you get $9,000 a person—$9,000 a person per year for water, infrastructure, education, health care, social programs, doesn’t cut it,” she said.

Mr. Duncan, who has yet to visit the area or indicate he will visit it, also announced last week that it would put the First Nation into “third-party management” because “on the ground assessment has determined that urgent health and safety issues demand immediate action.”

He also said there would be a “comprehensive audit to identify how money has been spent and what oversight measures have been taken over the past five years.”

In response, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence in a press release said she was surprised that after a month of inaction, the government is blaming victims instead of offering assistance.

“My people deserve dignity, humane living conditions. For that our community asked for the assistance from my fellow citizens. For our simple request for human dignity, the government’s decision was to impose a colonial Indian Agent. Minister John Duncan has missed an opportunity to alter the relationships with First Nations across this country, and to renew the positive values of being a member of Canadian society,” Ms. Spence said.

She also noted that since the Conservative government has come to power, the community has received $94.4-million from the federal government for specific projects. Of that money, 6.5 per cent has gone toward housing and minor capital over six years.

Further, Ms. Spence said, “The funding received by the First Nation is not distributed to on Reserve members as individuals. It is used to provide specific services, and programs for the benefit and use of on Reserve members. This is based on statistics maintained by the Indian Registry maintained by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.”

Chief Spence noted that all of the projects and funds were audited and approved by Aboriginal Affairs.

In addition, she said, the majority of taxpayers’ money does not remain or circulate locally in Attawapiskat specifically.

“The majority of these funds go to support the greater economy of northern Ontario and Canada for goods, materials, services, contractors, legal advice and auditing services to mention a few, which in turn support urban northern communities such as Timmins, Sudbury, Sault Ste Marie, Thunder Bay, North Bay, Toronto, Kenora and Winnipeg to name a few. The majority of these firms are non-Aboriginal taxpayers,” she said.

Mr. Angus told The Hill Times last week that the government’s response to the situation is “sending a message that they don’t think this is a priority.”

Mr. Angus said the government needs to do more and stop trying to blame others.

“I mean, the Liberals are responsible for Kashechewan, the Liberals are responsible for the health crisis in Attawapiskat with the schools, but that’s not the issue. This is not Stephen Harper’s doing. This is years of chronic underfunding and indifference, but Stephen Harper is the only guy that can fix it because he’s the Prime Minister,” Mr. Angus said. “If he thinks that little kids sleeping in a cold hockey arena isn’t something that sticks on his conscious, well then it says something about what this government stands for.”

By putting Attawapiskat in third party management, the community will be unable to rebuild, Mr. Angus said.

“You can’t build houses when you’re in third party management. So, they’re telling us they’re moving people to this shed, this hockey arena, it’s like a shed with ice. It doesn’t have showers, it doesn’t have any proper plumbing, they’re going to put a bunch of kids and old people in a hockey arena and then they’re going to walk away,” Mr. Angus said.

Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett (St. Paul’s, Ont.) said last week that the government’s response has been “non-existent” and that Attawapiskat’s “needs are not being taken seriously.”

When asked if the previous Liberal government failed to prevent this from happening, Ms. Bennett said that as prime minister, Paul Martin in fact tried to do something different.

“[He] decided that the way we were going about things before wasn’t going to work in this top-down way,” Ms. Bennett said, noting a Cabinet Committee was set up to work bottom-up with aboriginal leaders and provinces.

“They worked for 18 months to develop a plan bottom-up this time and with the $5-billion booked. Of course, that was only signed just as our government fell and we never got a chance at doing this differently. This government tore up the accord and used the $5-billion for other things. We’re just five years behind where we should’ve been,” Ms. Bennett said.

If the government is serious about helping the Attawapiskat First Nation, it should ask the community what it needs, Ms. O’Leary said, who criticized Mr. Duncan’s scrutiny of $92-million over five years when for one two-day G8 summit last June, the government spent $50-million to build gazebos, improve sidewalks and add more toilets for dignitaries.

In addition, she said, “In the same amount of time, we spent $500-million in developing infrastructure for Afghanistan that have gone to health care to providing teachers for education, to housing, to clean water. You know what, that’s needed, and I’m glad we’re doing it as most Canadians are but why can’t we invest in our own people as well? First Nations people have a lot of knowledge, a rich culture, they’re people who can contribute to our economy. Why wouldn’t Canada choose to invest?” she said.

“I mean, there has to be more. It seems to me when we go to other countries we really don’t try to find quick fixes. We try and find solutions. Look at how long we’ve been in Afghanistan. It’s not because we want to fix it quickly that we’ve been there for 10 years, it’s because we were trying to find real solutions. Can we not do that for our people? Can we not do that for the rest of the people in our country?”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Assembly of First Nations national chief Shawn Atleo last week and announced that there will be a Crown-First Nations gathering on Jan. 24, 2012.

“First Nations are diverse and face many challenges, but by focusing on key critical issues we can set out a long-term strategic plan for progress and prosperity,” National Chief Atleo said in a press release. “We must strengthen our relationship and give life to our Treaties as the foundation to build strong First Nation economies, boost First Nation education and foster healthy citizens and safe communities. This will unlock the tremendous potential of our people and create a stronger country for all of us.”

Origin
Source: Hill Times 

No comments:

Post a Comment