Idle No More Protests in Prince George
Sunday, January 13, 2013 @ 3:52 AM
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(Participants gather at Civic Centre Plaza for Idle No More rally. Photo – 250NEWS)
Prince George, B.C. – Members of native communities in the Central Interior gathered in Prince George Saturday afternoon to tell the Harper government that they will be idle no more.
One of the head organizers of the Idle No More movement, which is sweeping across the country to demand the federal government address a host of native issues, was on hand for the rally at the Civic Centre Plaza. Rosalind Caldwell of Regina, more specifically Cotes First Nation 366, says the movement is bringing awareness to the multitude of problems affecting first nations. “We’ve never had this kind of awareness in terms of our treaty rights. I think the last time was in the late ‘60s when the White Paper was introduced, and slowly but surely over the decades (we’ve seen) the White Paper is done, especially with this Bill (C-45) that Harper has just passed. I mean he just did it on his own with his cronies in Ottawa and never paid any attention to us at all. None of the leadership, the chiefs, Sean Atleo (national chief, Assembly of First Nations), none of them. He just went ahead and did it.”
Caldwell says the movement has been in the works for years “but it never came this far, to a head, until Chief Theresa Spence started her hunger strike (from Attawapiskat in northern Ontario) to create the awareness that there really is something wrong with a country that is so rich in resources that their own people are still living in poverty. There’s no jobs, no hope, just hopelessness and despair in all the communities across the country and it’s gotta stop. We need to be able to live and co-exist in this country as Canadians, not just as First Nations people but as Canadians.” She says that means addressing issues such as addiction, incarceration in prisons, “all of our missing women that have just been "offed" and people go, oh well, she’s just a prostitute, so what. You know all of these girls that have gove missing, they belong to somebody. Somebody loves them regardless of society looking down on them.” She says employment and education are other crucial issues which need to be addressed.
Asked whether she feels the Harper government is listening, Caldwell says “the desire I don’t feel is there, the willingness I don’t believe is there however Harper, if they want to get in again, it all comes back to politics. He has to be seen attempting to do something, and if he isn’t well shame on him and his government. She says Harper attending a meeting Friday with native leaders was just window-dressing. “You need to take a serious look around and see that there’s more at play here. Big government, corporations, the oil and pipelines that are going through. Those have got to really make you cringe when you look at what they’re doing to mother Earth.” Caldwell says there is no end date for the Idle No More movement.
Terry Teegee, Tribal Chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, addressed the hundreds who gathered for the rally and told them the protest movement is all about the “future of our children.” He pointed to the African American equal rights movement of the ‘60s, the Constitutional Train in 1982, the recent Occupy movement and the Arab Spring. Teegee asked the crowd “When is it our turn? When is it our turn to conduct protests, when is it our turn when we fight for our rights? That day is today. This isn’t just for us. This is in honour of our ancestors and all the people who have fought for our rights before. This is for the future generations and we shall go idle no more.”
Comments
hundreds?
I’d like to see where all the money goes.
Canada needs to get less complicated with all races.
“One Country…One People…One Law”
Yeah, let’s inflate protests numbers so they don’t feel so pathetic.
What utter BS. When are “native issues” NOT at the forefront? This assertion that WE have all been unaware of all the constant carping and racists comments that CBC enjoys encouraging from corrupt native chiefs, is ridiculous.
When is there NOT an ongoing native dispute? From the race based fishery to blockades when band coffers run low near resource extraction.
I think hitching their wagon to a corrupt and greedy chief from Northern Ontario, who is going to wind-up being charged for fraud and theft, is just the latest in a long line of self inflicted wounds. Good luck with that.
As a Conservative supporter, I have to offer a great big thank-you for placing the ROC squarely behind Stephen Harper. After that quisling Justin Trudeau’s inclusion into the LPC’s march of the sycophants before Spence, we all were reminded why we don’t need a return of another weak kneed, finger in the wind, navel gazing, hand-wringing Liberal PM.
Mannnn all you people that commented so early in the morning musta got up on wrong side of the bed.. or spouse made ya sleep on the couch again, with that kind of attitude.. This is 2013, not back in the neanderthal days.. Catch up to the times…
You must be some unhappy people to be posting stuff like this
So Styxxx, after your rant, I am not sure what you want?
Do you support Harper because he will do nothing because he in your opinion, a strong leader and will not cave? Therefore Canada can continue to pour Billions into a system that you are not happy with?
Seems doing nothing is rudderless leadership!
You heard it. Chief Terry FreeBee will be idle no more. A little surprised he didn’t say Harper made it -30 to thwart the protest.
The “Idle No More” theme song “Too Much Time On My Hands” written and performed by none other than Styxxx. };-)
Harper is just the receiver of the problem. Anyone who thinks this problem hasnt been around for hundreds of years are just kidding themselves. Harper did not create the problem, however he may very well try and solve it, which is more than others have done.
It is not just the natives that have issues, although their circumstances are probably the worst. Everyone in this Country is being exploited one way or the other by big business, big unions, and big Government. There are plenty of non-natives on low incomes with issues that need to be addressed.
Part of the problem is, is that the Natives are looking to Harper and his Government to solve problems, while at the same time their leaders etc;, are trying to maintain the status quo, which works well for them. Its the everyday people who are stuck in the middle, who have no real representation from either side, and who are getting it is the ear.
This is a huge problem and it will not go away anytime soon. Throwing money at the problem is not a solution.
There are many more Natives working to-day than there have been in the past, there is more money available to them through the Government and through their partnerships with Private Industry, and there are many more Natives in the school system, and in the Universities, so to suggest that nothing has been done, or nothing is being done is not actually true.
Child poverty in schools in a major issue, and I ask you this question??? While the Natives, Politicians, etc; are arguing over various issues, what is happening in the real day to day world.
What is being done to address the issue of child poverty right now. Are we going to argue the big issue’s while children go hungry.
We need to have a meeting of all Government representatives in Prince George along with the City and Council, the School District, BC Teachers Assoc., and the various other native and non native organizations and sit down and address the poverty, hunger situation.
If we cannot solve some of these problems at the local level, then how the hell do we think we can solve it on a Country wide level.
It is not only the Government that is responsible for all the problems in Canada, the people who live in this Country are also responsible.
Lets get away from the age old game of pass the buck.
Gimme a break. This is NO sentinel moment in FN relations. This is an example of how ridiculous progressives and their idles can act and still have the gall to pretend they have a shred of credibility.
Funny how the only democratically elected leader of the AFN hasn’t felt the need to create a tempest in a teapot, simply to save face.
A corrupt native politician creates a distraction right before the damning audit of band finances is released. Whining left wing columnists see this as an opportunity to assuage their white guilt by penning some truly nauseating articles.
Cut some cheques to the right people in the AFN and the protests will end. Probably a lot cheaper to fatten a few more chiefs than address any of the issues of mismanagement or fraud.
This is the way it works with third world leaders.
Progress is bad?
Of course Styxx, all the reason to seriously look a the problem and address it.
Seems like an idle no more gathering rather than a protest. Sure First Nations have their problems, so do lots of other Canadians as well.
From what I see these days, we tend to include First Nations in the resource projects and have been a lot more tolerant as a society than at any other time in history.
Hopefully, we can find some sort of middle ground as a country and move forward.
When things get a bit more interesting accross this land in the next few weeks, I won’t hesitate to focus my gaze on the actions of our RCMP and it’s commanding officers. I firmly believe that the authorities tasked with upholding the law will come across to the Canadian public as being afraid of a certain group of individuals when it comes to dissing our Criminal Code. I hope to be proven wrong. One thing the RCMP should keep in mind is that here like every where else “perception is everything”. After th demise of several individuals my perception of “some” Mounties is very tainted. Rule of law? Not for everyone I’m afraid. A we shall see. Surprise me,you Constable Dudley Do-Rights. I understand he even arrest trees for loitering.
Terry Teegee posted some pictures of the recent Idle No More protest at the Court House on his Facebook page. One of the pictures showed a young FN man holding a sign that stated in big bold letters “Harper can suck my dick for a cheeseburger”. I thought that this was quite offensive and disrespectful towards our nation’s Prime Minister. I was both shocked and surprised that Mr. Teegee would post such a picture on his Facebook page.
I called Mr. Teegee at his office in order to ask him why he as a high ranking member of the area FN, thought that posting a picture like this was appropriate for a man of his position. Unfortunately I only got his voice mail. I left a message asking why he thought this type of posting was appropriate and I added that I would consider asking the local media to question him on the appropriateness of a man of his position posting comments such as this.
An hour or so later, the picture had been removed from his Facebook page.
I agree with many of the posts here this morning, especially the ones from Palupo. Our ordinary, average FN people definitely have issues. The Chiefs would be more successful dealing with the Federal Government if they were also willing to deal with the corruptive practices of so many of the Chiefs and Councils that are overseeing band finances. I know how much our Prime Minister gets paid. I know how much my Premier gets paid. The same holds true for our mayor and just about every one else in a position of authority over me. I believe that there would be a huge uprising within the FN if the average band member knew how much money the band received and how much the Chief and Council paid themselves while ordinary band members were freezing and hungry. Sadly, I think that the FN elite are more than happy with the situation just the way that it is and they are frustrated with anyone who wants to shake things up. This includes their own band members who say very little out of fear of reprisal.
Idle no more? I’m all for speaking out for the average band member! Chief Spence enjoys her large salary, her warm house and her Cadillac Escalade. Her band members, not so much!!
Palpou
“We need to have a meeting of all Government representatives in Prince George along with the City and Council, the School District, BC Teachers Assoc., and the various other native and non native organizations and sit down and address the poverty, hunger situation. “
Good luck with that. “idle” members can’t even agree on a place to meet Harper. The city has no jurisdiction. The BCTF
is, well, the BCTF.
The FN need band accountability and the Indian Afairs department needs to be gutted and rebuilt. The rest will follow.
Including every boy and their dog in some kind of summit will produce the same BS as every other meeting. More money.
Hart Guy; You forgot to mention the BOY FRIENDS ,large salary. Its time Band members got some GUTS and take charge of their own people , get rid of the Chiefs and run the Band like a business.
Come on bitter, doesn’t everyone’s live in boyfriend make in the 800 bucks a day range as a bookkeeper?
I used to be “IDLE” at 16:30 every Day,so I picked up Hammer and Shovel and build my own House!
I never heard so much BS about how tough live is.
When does the protests start for the missing 80 million dollars from Spences reserve ?
Idle no more sounds good to me me quit idling and get a job (we now have a labour shortage) and quit waiting for handouts
Like all long running disputes, it is both complicated as well as charged with emotions and misunderstandings caused from many decades of lying to each other with dead end and impossible theories of how this is all going to work.
The expectations that a lot of native people have are beyond possible for any federal government to provide.
The concept of autonomous âFirst Nationsâ within Canada? several hundred of them? self governed and yet unaccountable to financial responsibilities while being able to prevent development? Who could be so stupid as to even contemplate that being able to work or last?
We as a country are over 600 BILLION in debt already and there is no place to get the extra money being demanded. That mounting debt matters to everyone as the worse this becomes the more desperate we all are for any means of generating the money Canada requires. Hence the fierce debate to natural resource exploitation and pipelines such that they are.
I am not a racist and therefore I would say that we as all Canadians, native or not, should stop doing things in a racist way. First the Indian Act needs to be flushed and there is no need to have any such thing. Second, the concept of special rights given to anyone is wrong as is the directing of special funding or resource wealth to a given group based on race. All Canadians are equally responsible for the financial wellbeing of this country as they are equally entitled to the wealth and social programs provided. That is fair to all Canadians and the only practical way forward for all Canadians.
Thirdly there is no such thing as racial superiority when it comes to environmental stewardship or environmental protection expertise. All that nonsense is at the core of most disputes and no one has the guts to acknowledge those facts for what they are.
When all Canadians, native or not, approach this problem with the realistic understandings of what is possible and what is not then we can work towards a long lasting solution for everyoneâs benefit.
@ Hart Guy.Imagine how frustrating it is for my family being born and raise off reserve.
I swear the people they hire to look after our best interest is exactly the opposite.
I think they find these people and place them in positions that they know money can be skimmed.
Trying to make calls to people of importance and people that are hired for no other reason but to make themselves available to you and to return calls in a timely manner are basically just sit and hide in their offices all day,or just don`t show up for work altogether and still collect a full time pay check.
I would also like to add that Chief Theresa Spence is by any means the wrong person we want representing us in any way shape or form when it comes to native rights, with all the corruption in her own registry I want her to and her council before there is anyone in the federal government holds a meeting with her.
And as a first nations person would like to prologize for Chief Terry Teegee`s and any other first nations disrespect of our prime minister.. even though I hate politicians.
What is wrong with Canada? We live in a country where the unelected friends of prime minister(s) in the senate (who are not taking care of hundreds or thousands tribe members) are paid 6 figure salaries for the rest of their life and we forget those freeloaders and criticize the salaries of first nation chiefs. What is wrong with you people?
The Canadian senate is equivalent to the house of lords in the UK and the closest thing to Lords in Canada are the tribal chiefs and their lands. We can replace the Canadian house of Lords (i.e. Senate) with house of Chiefs and this will be a step towards resolving the historic conflict between the duality of aboriginal and non-aboriginal governments.
If racism prevents this to happen in Canada, then let a separate unified government of first nation territories be created with control over their lands, resources and taxation of companies working on their lands. The tax revenues from those oil, lumber, water, fishery companies will be more than enough to sustain them and drag them out of poverty to prosperity. And yes, without a single penny from Canadian tax payers.
What is wrong with Canada? We live in a country where the unelected friends of prime minister(s) in the senate (who are not taking care of hundreds or thousands tribe members) are paid 6 figure salaries for the rest of their life and we forget those freeloaders and criticize the salaries of first nation chiefs. What is wrong with you people?
The Canadian senate is equivalent to the house of lords in the UK and the closest thing to Lords in Canada are the tribal chiefs and their lands. We can replace the Canadian house of Lords (i.e. Senate) with house of Chiefs and this will be a step towards resolving the historic conflict between the duality of aboriginal and non-aboriginal governments.
If racism prevents this to happen in Canada, then let a separate unified government of first nation territories be created with control over their lands, resources and taxation of companies working on their lands. The tax revenues from those oil, lumber, water, fishery companies will be more than enough to sustain them and drag them out of poverty to prosperity. And yes, without a single penny from Canadian tax payers.
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