Aboriginal protests in Canada.

[mxracer14]

mxzretta, you say you have native pride again and again. So your proud that your people want to continue to be lazy and unproductive as a whole, towards our country?? Continue to recieve govt handouts so they can what..... sit around theyre whole life and do nothing with it but piss it down the drain. Your proud that Indians, as a whole, expect to be given everything yet be held responsible for nothing??? Reservations are by far the dirtiest and foul smelling/looking places to drive through that a detour is actually needed for a pleasant drive! And your PROUD of that??? thats disgusting IMHO. Real environmentalists right there. You should be concerned with the corruption within your "sacred society" and helping Indians actually fend for themselves instead of holding your hand out for money. Enough is enough. This country is going to continue to slide into the sewers if people (black, white, indian, yellow, brown, etc) dont pull up thier socks and do something for themselves instead of crying wolf everytime your 'feelings are hurt' or 'you did this to my people back then' or whatever other cock and bull line you can pull outta your ass. I do dont feel sorry for anyone that continues to throw the past in front of them as theyre excuse to continue to enjoy the luxuries of life on MY dollar. Get bent. We are and have been, now it should be your turn.

End rant.

 

[Bisch]

An excerpt from a National Post article, about a CBC report done a year ago the current mess started. I'm not sure that this would be the same for every case (I'm almost sure of it) but it is very telling about the Attawapiskat situation.

Full article here:
Lessons from a brilliant CBC report on Attawapiskat?s mismanagement | Full Comment | National Post

Watch the video: It’s shocking how many important lessons from Attawapiskat Ms. Arsenault manages to pack into just eight minutes.

1. The idea that the destitution of far-flung First Nations such as Attawapiskat is a result of Ottawa’s neglect is wrong. Ms. Arsenault’s quick tour of Attawapiskat — a place that then was supposed to have been in a housing crisis — shows a half-dozen well-constructed houses with no one living in them. When questioned about this total waste of resources, Chief Theresa Spence has no real answer.
2. In fact, Ms. Arsenault’s reporting suggests that the real problem in Attawapiskat is Ms. Spence’s own incompetent leadership — in which capacity she is aided by her live-in boyfriend Clayton Kennedy, who serves as the community’s manager. Neither apparently can be bothered to fill out the paperwork required to get needed resources from Ottawa, or even supply basic accounting information. When Ms. Arsenault bluntly asks Mr. Kennedy whether its appropriate for the chief’s unelected romantic partner to be running the place, he answers that it’s “nobody’s business.” (A decade ago, Art Eggleton got thrown out of federal cabinet for awarding a research project to a former girlfriend. Yet Ms. Spence has become a “grass roots” hero for giving an even cushier job to her current boyfriend.)
3. Ms. Arsenault didn’t intend to profile Attawapiskat’s economy. But she did a good job of it nonetheless. Take a look at every backdrop: Every home is made from materials transported from hundreds of miles away. The temperatures are frigid, so every home goes through gallons of heating fuel daily. All the chairs and paneling in the leaders’ conference room, all the North Face coats, all of the ski-doos and hockey equipment — it’s all flown in from Timmins or elsewhere, or trucked in on winter roads at high expense. This might be one of the most expensive places in the world to operate a human settlement. Yet the town itself has zero private economy — except for a few cafés and the like. There is a major diamond mine in the region. Yet we do not meet anyone who has any sort of high-tech job skills, or any way of achieving them in Attawapiskat. Put aside culture for a moment: In economic terms, Attawapiskat exists as a pure sinkhole for resources produced elsewhere.
4. Perhaps the most pitiful scene in the whole piece is the one in which Ms. Arsenault examines the masses of unopened boxes containing (apparently useful) donations from concerned Canadians. Yet until Ms. Aresenault came around, no one had even bothered opening the boxes. Ms. Spence complains that she couldn’t get “volunteers” to do the job. That in itself is a damning indictment of the state of civil society in Attawapiskat. We are always told that the preservation of reserves is a great way to maintain First Nations culture. But it strikes me that the opposite is true: The best way to destroy a group’s spirit of civic solidarity is to turn the economy into an outsider-funded cargo cult; whereby the locals’ only “job” is to sit around waiting for handouts — to such extent that apparently even rousing themselves to rip open cardboard and plastic is seen as too taxing.
5. Far from being idolized by Attawapiskat residents, Ms. Spence seems to be regarded with a mixture of suspicion and exasperation — in large part due to her cronyism. Local man Lindy Mudd, interviewed at length by Ms. Arsenault, states quite clearly that he is ashamed by the manner in which Ms. Spence has made Attawapiskat a poster-child of native poverty. Ironically, Ms. Spence is far more popular with naïve, white Naomi Klein types who venerate her from afar as a sort of Gaian martyr than with the people who actually have suffered under her incompetence.
6. Ms. Arsenault gave Ms. Spence and her lover a chance to address all of these points on air. And yet whenever given this opportunity, all they could do was assert self-righteous but extremely vague complaints about Ottawa — even when they were asked explicitly about decisions they had made that had resulted in the squandering of federal aid. This itself is a telling spectacle: We have gotten to the stage in First Nations politics whereby you no longer even have to string a logical sentence together to connect a problem on the ground with Ottawa’s blundering or malfeasance. Turning the feds into all-purpose bogeymen is convenient for Ms. Spence, but it also effectively destroys the very idea of sovereign native self-government — since the very notion of a government responsible for its own citizens is ludicrous if every problem is casually passed off as the white man’s fault.

 

[OLE 11]

On Saturday 1700 Natives were coming to Hardisty Alberta to protest the Keystone pipeline. Was gonna saddle up my horse and go have a beer and watch the shitshow....But only 9 cousins showed up!!!! I laughed my ass off!!...They must of thought us Whities would put them to work! So like a number of Pipeline jobs i have been on...Another NO SHOW!

 

[papajake]

on the news today the so call husband or common-law is making 850.00 a day to run the reserve 850.00 x 25 days=21250.00 a month x 12 =255000.00 a year and he had the balls to say he wasn't making enough. they got 100 million in 7 years and they don't know where the money went and they want more harper please tell them to f off 65% of canadians work for less then 50.000 dollars a year and pay taxes

 

[mxzretta]

mxzretta, you say you have native pride again and again. So your proud that your people want to continue to be lazy and unproductive as a whole, towards our country?? Continue to recieve govt handouts so they can what..... sit around theyre whole life and do nothing with it but piss it down the drain. Your proud that Indians, as a whole, expect to be given everything yet be held responsible for nothing??? Reservations are by far the dirtiest and foul smelling/looking places to drive through that a detour is actually needed for a pleasant drive! And your PROUD of that??? thats disgusting IMHO. Real environmentalists right there. You should be concerned with the corruption within your "sacred society" and helping Indians actually fend for themselves instead of holding your hand out for money. Enough is enough. This country is going to continue to slide into the sewers if people (black, white, indian, yellow, brown, etc) dont pull up thier socks and do something for themselves instead of crying wolf everytime your 'feelings are hurt' or 'you did this to my people back then' or whatever other cock and bull line you can pull outta your ass. I do dont feel sorry for anyone that continues to throw the past in front of them as theyre excuse to continue to enjoy the luxuries of life on MY dollar. Get bent. We are and have been, now it should be your turn.

End rant.

I am proud of being Native and if you flap your gums at me. Then get some facking balls and say it to my face. Yes there is corruption in band offices just like any other government. And my feelings are not hurt but like i said get some facking balls and we will talk.

 

[LennyR]

I am proud of being Native and if you flap your gums at me. Then get some facking balls and say it to my face. Yes there is corruption in band offices just like any other government. And my feelings are not hurt but like i said get some facking balls and we will talk.

The other governments are actually embarrassed about the corruption, not proud to be a part of it. How you can possibly defend this situation or justify it in any way boggles the mind. Sorta accentuates the reality a bit I guess.

 

[mxzretta]

The other governments are actually embarrassed about the corruption, not proud to be a part of it. How you can possibly defend this situation or justify it in any way boggles the mind. Sorta accentuates the reality a bit I guess.

I am not defending or trying to justify it. Pisses me off just like you. What i am defending is that i am native and you cant paint us all with the same brush,

 

[teeroy]

I am not defending or trying to justify it. Pisses me off just like you. What i am defending is that i am native and you cant paint us all with the same brush,

I don't think anyone has questioned the pride you deservedly have in regards your heritage, I think most would like to hear any thoughts you may have as to a solution.

 

[blastoff]

Too bad that this is happening, The bands dont want help to manage the money because the Big Dogs would get shutdown of all the big cash they are ripping there fellow band members. It is all pretty sick of what goes on, dont forget there is alot of other money wasted by our govt. but it doesnt make the news like the reserves does. No F-ckin reason the chief and his so called tropper need to get $200,000.00 per year, bullch!t & more bullch!t...

 

[mxzretta]

I don't think anyone has questioned the pride you deservedly have in regards your heritage, I think most would like to hear any thoughts you may have as to a solution.

They should put a cap on their salaries. There is no fn way they should be making that kind of money. Hire someone off the reserve to manage the books and post all their expenses online. Just like what they are starting to do with the federal and provincial governments. Like i said it pisses me off to. But living off the rez i gotta put up with ch!t here in the city and if go back to visit people on the rez i get treated different there as well. Its a 10 hour drive to the rez and my dad still drives to vote in the band elections hoping it will make a difference there.

 

[teeroy]

They should put a cap on their salaries. There is no fn way they should be making that kind of money. Hire someone off the reserve to manage the books and post all their expenses online. Just like what they are starting to do with the federal and provincial governments. Like i said it pisses me off to. But living off the rez i gotta put up with ch!t here in the city and if go back to visit people on the rez i get treated different there as well. Its a 10 hour drive to the rez and my dad still drives to vote in the band elections hoping it will make a difference there.

is your reserve self sustainable, such as being in a location where natural resources are harvested? what would you (or your father) do to try and change the attitude of those that do not wish to improve their situation on the reserve, if the people living there are in a similar way as those in Attawapiskat? do they feel as if it is their administration that is to blame, or the federal/provincial governments?

 

[CUSO]

I think it's time to push the reset button\\

 

[Nathansharkey]

I am not defending or trying to justify it. Pisses me off just like you. What i am defending is that i am native and you cant paint us all with the same brush,

I am trying to understand what point you are defending. I am a man too. A white one. But I am a man. So be proud of being a man. A native one. I know good men. I know bad men. I am proud of being a man because of what I stand for and what I take pride in contributing to my employees, my managers, my kids and my wife. It is my personal contributions that make me proud to be the man who I am. Not because I am white or because I am a man. But who I am as a man. I am not any more proud of bring white as I would be of being native.

The outcry that you are reading about is in regards to the disappointment that is felt with an entire culture being lost to laziness and gluttony and lack of discipline. No one has anything against all natives. The folks sharing their opinion are disgusted with the waste of resources. I think that you are probably too. The fact that you identify yourself as a proud native is excellent. The question is what are you proud of? I can see that you have the quality of empathy for your people's suffering. What solution can you share that you can be proud of?

Doctors in our country do not look at patients on life support as success. In fact, when you talk with the doctors, 99% of them would be proud to harvest their organs for other patients and take them off life support. So that the resources could be given to patients that could be saved by the organs. That is something to be proud of.

The system is broken. We need to fix it.

 

[mxzretta]

I am trying to understand what point you are defending. I am a man too. A white one. But I am a man. So be proud of being a man. A native one. I know good men. I know bad men. I am proud of being a man because of what I stand for and what I take pride in contributing to my employees, my managers, my kids and my wife. It is my personal contributions that make me proud to be the man who I am. Not because I am white or because I am a man. But who I am as a man. I am not any more proud of bring white as I would be of being native.

The outcry that you are reading about is in regards to the disappointment that is felt with an entire culture being lost to laziness and gluttony and lack of discipline. No one has anything against all natives. The folks sharing their opinion are disgusted with the waste of resources. I think that you are probably too. The fact that you identify yourself as a proud native is excellent. The question is what are you proud of? I can see that you have the quality of empathy for your people's suffering. What solution can you share that you can be proud of?

Doctors in our country do not look at patients on life support as success. In fact, when you talk with the doctors, 99% of them would be proud to harvest their organs for other patients and take them off life support. So that the resources could be given to patients that could be saved by the organs. That is something to be proud of.

The system is broken. We need to fix it.

That is what im trying to defend, we are not all lazy or drunks. I have worked since i was 14 and im sure im not the only one. But when you paint a culture all with the same brush its hard to change the views of people. I have applied for jobs in my younger days where the first thing out of their mouth is an indian joke. Did i come here to hear a joke or work? There are many hard working natives you just have to open your eyes to see them. Perhaps this summer many of you should take in a pow wow that is what i am proud of my culture and heritage.

 

[mxzretta]

what ever happened to munhoez? that guy was a cool native dude. would love to hear his take on all this.

He stopped coming here. The reason he stopped was because of a similar thread.

 

[Summiteer]

That is what im trying to defend, we are not all lazy or drunks. I have worked since i was 14 and im sure im not the only one. But when you paint a culture all with the same brush its hard to change the views of people. I have applied for jobs in my younger days where the first thing out of their mouth is an indian joke. Did i come here to hear a joke or work? There are many hard working natives you just have to open your eyes to see them. Perhaps this summer many of you should take in a pow wow that is what i am proud of my culture and heritage.

Wab Kinew on the Stereotypes about Natives in Canada - YouTube

 

[RoadKingGibson]

[video]http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/featured/news/868018287001/will-the-attawapiskat-audit-wake-up-the-media-party/2080090088001[/video]

Interesting. I hope this helps insure that the money will be spent properly on first nations.

 

[Bandit]

Mxzretta, you sound like a pretty dang decent guy! I hope i get a chance to meet you one day.

 

[deaner]

Mxzretta, you sound like a pretty dang decent guy! I hope i get a chance to meet you one day.

I agree

And I hope you dont take any "negative" comments personally. They are not directed at people of native heritage.....but rather at the system that is obviously broken, and those who choose to take advantage of it. Like I said before, I think native heritage is a HUGE part of our Canadian identity. I have been to a couple of pow wows and they are actually really cool. My wife has worked with our local indian band on two different heritage mural projects (she is an artist), and it has been really cool working with the local band and learning about them. I think we can learn alot from different cultures.

 

[4x4racing]

there are alot of diffrent cultures taking advantage of the system we have to grow some balls and stand up for canada together no matter what culture u are and do whats best for canada cause majority makes the rules and it can become a poor nation of dictatorship any know if australia gets snow