Strategy results further reaching than expected

The answer that brought Tom Flanagan’s career to a skidding halt was unintentional, but the question was part of a larger strategy.
“It was kind of planned, but we didn’t know what to expect going into this….He’s coming to our community and we can’t not doing anythind,” said Arnell Tailfeathers, who posted on YouTube Flanagan’s response to a question about child pornography. The resulting furor has arguably ended Flanagan’s career as a policy advisor, educator and media commentator.

Tailfeathers, who is heavily involved with the Idle No More movement on the Blood Nation, says his INM group met on the Monday prior to Flanagan’s Feb. 27 presentation and dedicated themselves to a 24-48-hour strategy of raising awareness through tweeting and Facebooking Flanagan’s invitation by the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs to speak on “Is it time to reconsider the Indian Act?” at the University of the Lethbridge.
“From what I can tell, (Flanagan) has been dangerous to First Nations people for however long he’s been in Canada. His viewpoints, they just kind of seem to undermine treaties and the Indian Act, and everything,” said Tailfeathers.

Part of the discussion Monday night was to hit Flanagan with comments he had made in 2009 about Manitoba legislation that dealt with child pornography. The research on the subject had been undertaken by INM movement member Levi Little Mustache, of the Piikani Nation. Tailfeathers ensured that the battery of his phone was fully charged when Little Mustache challenged Flanagan to support comments he had made stating that child pornography was “just photos.”

Flanagan answered, “I certainly have no sympathy for child molesters, but I do have some grave doubts about putting people in jail because of their taste in pictures. I don’t look at these pictures.”

Flanagan’s response brought jeers from the crowd, the majority of whom were First Nations. Both the crowd and Flanagan had been keyed up by a series of heartfelt challenges from members of the audience about First Nations rights. Tailfeathers said emotions were “pretty intense” and the speeches “pretty heated” with much of what the audience had to say greeted by applause.
 “I wasn’t sure how far the video would get out,” said Tailfeathers.

The video and Flanagan’s pornography comments became the focus of the evening’s events.

The response against Flanagan was swift. The next day, Wildrose Opposition leader Danielle Smith released a statement saying, “Dr. Flanagan does not speak for me or the Wildrose caucus and he will have no role – formal or informal – with our organization going forward.”

Andrew MacDougall director of communications with the Prime Minister’s Office, tweeted,“Tom Flanagan’s comments on child pornography are repugnant, ignorant, and appalling.” The CBC announced that Flanagan, who was a member of the Power & Politics’ Power Panel would no longer be appearing on the program. And the University of Calgary President Elizabeth Cannon said Flanagan’s comments “absolutely do not represent the views of the University of Calgary.” She also made public that Flanagan had tendered his resignation from the university in January, effective June 30, 2013.

Tailfeathers says he does not regret posting the video.

“I’ve been getting a lot of people thanking me through the social media,” he said. “I’m told that this is a victory.”

Student Abby Morningbull, who coordinates Idle No More activities at the University of Lethbridge as well as on the Blood Nation, says it is unfortunate that the passionate speeches and well-researched questions that dealt with First Nations issues got swept away by the child pornography tide.

“People put a little piece of themselves into what they said and … lot of it was probably the best public speaking that I’ve heard from a lot of these people,” said Morningbull.

Lisa Lambert, a member of the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs, says Flanagans’ “30 seconds” comment on pornography steamrolled his other “two and a half hours of controversial things (said).”

Both Morningbull and Tailfeathers expressed surprise that Flanagan had been invited to speak on the Indian Act, given the current political atmosphere, that seven per cent of the university’s students are self-identified Aboriginal, and that the university is situated next to the Blood First Nation, which is the largest reserve in Canada.

Flanagan is well-versed to argue one side of the Indian Act, says Lambert.

“University and public debate is exactly what SACPA is about. We encourage public discussion of public interest issues… that’s why (idle No More) were encouraged to be there. That’s what public debate is about,” said Lambert. “Not talking about it doesn’t make it go away.”

Lambert noted that First Nations lawyer Faye Morningbull was next on SAPCA’s agenda with a March 7 talk on Idle No More and the main issues behind the movement.