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We’d like to take some time here to acknowledge some terrible losses our communities have suffered since the last time we published, including, and perhaps most notably, the community of Burns Lake where fire destroyed a sawmill, killing two men and leaving many in this village injured and out of work indefinitely. The pain of that situation will be acutely felt as people mourn both the personal and professional devastation of the fire. Our thoughts and prayers are with these families. Once the grieving is put aside there will come a time when finding other employment will be necessary, and in this region that will be difficult; perhaps even impossible. We wonder where hope and help for these people will come from.
We also have a heavy heart over the loss of two young boys at the Nanoose First Nation, Vancouver Island, who perished in a house fire on Jan. 25. The boys had been sent to a neighbor’s to keep them from harm during a wind storm that threatened to topple trees near their home. The storm knocked out electricity. The candles being used to light the home where they were staying are believed to be the cause of the fire.
Jordan and Devon Drake are the latest victims in a string of house fires on First Nations reserves. Compounding the risks our people face in our communities are poorly constructed housing and overcrowding; issues that were among the long list of complaints that First Nations leaders hoped would be addressed at the Crown/First Nations Gathering held in Ottawa Jan. 24. Any solutions that could have been discussed come too late for these children. How many other fires will we be enduring before our housing needs are resolved?
It took a plane crash in northern Ontario at Spirit Lake First Nation to bring attention to the dangers of travelling in and out of our remote communities by air. Four people lost their lives on Jan. 10 for the lack of navigational aids for the small planes that we rely on.
“We have people travelling every day out of necessity,” said Grand Chief Stan Beardy.
“A lot can be done to improve the safety of air travel in the Far North. We have to get proper navigational gear in place, there has to be proper weather reporting available close to the communities, we have to make sure the condition[s] of aircraft travelling up North [are] monitored. My people’s lives are as valuable as anybody’s in Canada.”
Add it to the list of things for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to consider while we sit quietly in the corner banging our heads on our desks waiting for some action.
A first step—that’s how Assembly of First Nations Shawn Atleo described the Crown/First Nation Gathering as it came to its conclusion. A first step to renew the “historic” relationship with the Crown.
Why aren’t we farther down the path than that? We are disappointed that we are back here at square one and nobody is asking why that is?
Dealing with the federal government is like playing a game of Snakes and Ladders. There is great energy and work expended to move up the board—like say, in striking a deal called the Kelowna Accord which had a vision forward and the financial commitment to back it up— only to hit a long skid back to the beginning.
Prime Minister Harper tells us that for the years his party has been in power he has been distracted by elections, minority governments, and a global financial crisis. But is that an excuse?
Life tells us there is never a perfect time to act when dealing with issues of importance and concern. There will always be distractions and we just can’t accept that the federal government places such a low priority on us that our issues have been allowed to linger all this time.
Count that lost time among the insults to the injuries our people have been subjected to. Many years have been allowed to go by without change. Count lost productivity, lost opportunities, and, most appalling, the lost lives that we have had to endure.
The cost to our communities just keeps piling up, as do the casualties. And it’s just not right.
Windspeaker
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