Native Protest - Idle No More

One of my New Year resolutions is to better inform myself about native issues in Canada. A combination of events; the Idle No More movement; Bill C-45; the hunger strike of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence etc., have provided the inspiration. For many years I have avoided thinking about the plight of our native people. When the subject came up in the media I would change the television channel, not read the newspaper or switch to another station on the radio. 

It is not because by nature I am not a compassionate individual. It bothered me greatly that in a country such as Canada we have citizens living without adequate housing, clean water, poor nutrition and the list goes on. Now Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are the present focal point of ongoing native protests. It hasn’t escaped my attention that the Liberal Party were in charge for the majority of the last 50 years in Ottawa. Instead of addressing native issues the powers to be have followed the following process; funnel money to the native politicians; react to crisis situations by again allotting some cash. Complicit in this arrangement have been the native political establishment. In addition to the above instead of meaningful negotiations all sides seem to invest in paying lawyers to fight it out in the various courts. 

My point is that although I certainly sympathize with the plight of Canada’s aboriginal population, I had given up hope for any solution. By chance I happened to observe an interview on television with a young native man about the Idle No More movement. For some reason I didn’t change the channel. He spoke of Bill C-45 which, by coincidence, is a piece of legislation that has bothered me. I hadn’t considered Bill C-45 in terms of native issues until then. I appreciated this young man’s perspective and sincerity. Perhaps his passion reminded me of my quest for change in the late 60’s, early 70’s. Whatever the case I decided to put away my cynicism and become re-engaged. 

I stated above that I have a concern about Bill C-45. I have observed the following situation on this site and others many times. Someone will make a negative remark about native protests. There will be a response from another subscriber asking the first individual if they have ever read Bill C-45. While Bill C-45 is approximately 457 pages long, I very much doubt that anyone pro or negative native protests have ever read this bill. No disrespect to Sault Ste Marie’s Member of Parliament Bryan Hayes intended. I would be extremely surprised if Mr. Hayes had more than a very brief idea what this bill contains. Think about it… 457 pages of financial and legal information. What I do not like about this bill, per say, is that I believe it is so large as to discourage democratic participation. It is all about control which has been Stephen Harpers method of operation. I am thankful that native protests have at least inspired some dialogue on Bill C-45. 

I believe some of the Idle No More protests are sporadic and it is a grass roots movement. I haven’t read the following anywhere else. Has it occurred to any media that if the Idle No More movement is successful the major conflict may not only be with the Conservative government in Ottawa? What about the established native leadership? Many supporters of Stephen Harper’s approach to relations with native groups state that many reserves are poorly managed. I am sure on some reserves there is dissent between the residents there and their own chiefs. For the sake of argument, even if this is true there still has to be discussions held between native leaders and government representatives. Harper’s approach has been, up to now, to arbitrarily make decisions that affect native lands and treaty rights. 

The following is not a criticism on the Idle No More movement. The organizers claim that their purpose is to inform Canadians about native issues and how it affects non-natives. I do not disagree. Shouldn’t the protests at some point be held in Ottawa and/or Toronto? There was a protest walk down Great Northern Road to David Orazietti office. I personally do not mind protest walks. I participated in many as a young man. I checked all the major newspapers in Toronto and Ottawa when traffic was delayed on the highway through Garden River for 12 hours recently. There wasn’t a mention of the event. 

Is there any hope for remote native reserves? I wonder about this. I have been reading about the Attawapiskat, more specifically the opinions of the residents there. I found it interesting that even though living conditions and employment opportunities are so poor, residents there are afraid to leave. Forget about the financial costs. Spend a billion dollars, two billion whatever it takes to provide good housing, clean water etc in Attawapiskat. You will still have a reserve with what… a 70% unemployment rate. A native man once said the quickest way to kill (the spirit) of a man was to pay him to do nothing. I do not have an answer. We always discuss remote reserves in terms of dollars. What about the human costs? Is it possible to create economic opportunity in remote reserves and give the residents who live there purpose? 

Finally I don’t see many news articles celebrating the success stories on reserves. These are important in two ways. They provide hope. Secondly they provide a blueprint for success. 

As I see it in the past I avoided native issues because the politics involved by all sides didn’t address the needs of the individuals concerned. The Idle No More movement and the connection to Bill C-45 eliminated my apathy.  

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