What Is It Going to Take For PM Stephen Harper to Meet With Chief
Theresa Spence?:
By: Christine McFarlane
What will it take for
Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper to sit down and speak with Chief Theresa
Spence? Will it take all First Nations and allies to continue stand- ins and
protests, staging blockades or will it take worse before our PM Stephen Harper
finally admits to himself that what he is currently doing, (which is nothing)
isn’t working.
It was December 11, 2012,
that Chief Theresa Spence of Attawapiskat First Nation began a hunger strike
that has largely become a focal point for the Idle No More Movement that is
currently sweeping across Canada and the international stage. It was also a
year ago that Chief Theresa Spence and Attawapiskat First Nation were thrust
into the limelight with their housing and infrastructure crisis, where we all
saw Harper famously stepping in, removing management of the community from the
Chief and council and announcing third party management, which was later ruled
by the courts as “wrong to do.”
Spence says “many First
Nations communities face impoverished conditions despite assurances from the
government that progress is being made to alleviate poverty,” and her hunger
strike is not only about putting focus on First Nations issues, supporting the
Idle No More Movement, highlighting concerns about Stephen Harper and his
Conservative governments omnibus Bill C-45, but also striking a national
discussion with First Nations leadership, the Prime Minister and Canada’s
Governor-General and getting them to agree to a sit down, to talk about
Canada’s treaty relationship with First Nations peoples.
Staying in a teepee, warmed
by a wood stove, across from Parliament Hill, Chief Spence has entered Day 22
of her hunger strike, and subsists on lemon water, medicinal teas and fish
broth once a day, nothing solid. Yet, there has been no word from our Prime
Minister Stephen Harper or a sign of him showing a conscience.
How is it that he can tweet
nonsensical things like “mmm..bacon..” when just mere steps away, Chief Spence
is starving to get First Nations rights heard. How can he in good conscience,
let Bill C-45 be passed, when he knowingly did not consult First Nations people
and their leadership. We are the original owners of this land, we all call
Canada.
This is a man, who on June
11, 2008 on behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians offered an
historic formal apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools and
sought forgiveness for the students’ suffering and for the damaging impact the
schools had on First Nations culture, heritage and language.
As noted on the
Canadian government website, Prime Minister Harper states “The treatment of
children in Indian Residential Schools is a sad chapter in our history,” and
within his apology, Harper noted that “we recognize this policy of assimilation
was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country. The
Government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the
Aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly.”[1]
As a First Nations
individual who has been following the Idle No More Movement since it began, I
have to ask, will Stephen Harper grow a conscience and meet with First Nations
people and their leadership, will he meet with Chief Theresa Spence, or will he
continue on the path he is on now-blatantly disregarding First Nations peoples
and their rights, to feed his need for ultimate power.
When Chief Theresa Spence
first set out for Victoria Island, Idle No More was a regional protest movement
that was started by four women who met on Facebook. Since then, it has
ultimately exploded. It has spurred dozens of protests, blockades and has
inspired thousands to demand a more equitable relationship between the federal
government and First Nations peoples.
This is a note to Stephen
Harper “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”
For more reading on Idle No More and Stephen Harper’s First
Nation Termination Plan please visit the following links:
Please note, this post will be cross posted on Shameless Magazine's blog at www.shamelessmag.com
[1] PM
offers full apology on behalf of Canadians for the Indian Residential
Schools system-Prime Minister of
Canada.
June 11, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2012 http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=2146
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