Manitoba Pipestone - November 2014

AFN pushes for independent inquiry

The Assembly of First Nations is calling for an independent probe of how police handled the disappearance of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine, whose body was pulled from the Red River wrapped in a bag on Aug. 17. Fontaine had run away from home on the Sagkeeng First Nation in July. She was placed into the care of the Child and Family Services Agency and housed in a Winnipeg hotel. She ran away repeatedly. Police in Winnipeg are conducting an internal investigation after discovering two officers came across Fontaine during a traffic stop in August, a week after she had been reported missing, but did not take her into custody. The two officers have been put on administrative duties while the investigation is ongoing. It is also reported that paramedics picked up Fontaine by ambulance the same day police claim to have last made contact with her. “It is unfathomable that police officers would not take into their care a teenage girl who is reported missing,” said Cameron Alexis, Alberta Regional Chief with the Assembly of First Nations. “It appears to be a systemic failure from top to bottom Ö This is an example of what’s going on across the country.” Alexis is also a retired RCMP member. Along with the internal police investigation, Child and Family Services Agency is doing its own investigation, but the results aren’t likely to be made public.

On Oct. 1, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet premiered Going Home Star — Truth and Reconciliation, a ballet about Indian residential schools. The ballet, based on a story by novelist Joseph Boyden, follows the journey of a young, urban First Nations woman who discovers her ancestors and finds meaning in her own life with the help of a homeless residential school survivor. The ballet included appearances by Polaris prize winner and Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq, along with other Aboriginal vocalists. The performance was spearheaded by Aboriginal actress and former MP Tina Keeper, who sits on the ballet’s board of directors. The history of residential schools in Canada lends itself well to the ballet stage, Keeper told the Canadian Press. “At the heart of every ballet is a great story and that’s what we have here,” she said. “It is a great tragic tale and a love story, so in that sense, it fits perfectly.” Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners and survivors met with those involved with the ballet throughout the creative process. It is hoped the ballet, choreographed by Mark Godden, will tour across the country following its premiere in Winnipeg.

A major investment will enhance water level regulation and the flood water management system along the lower Assiniboine River, including Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin. Greater flood protection will be implemented by enhancing Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin outflow capacities as part of the larger flood management system that includes the Portage Diversion and the Fairford River Water Control Structure. The government is also evaluating the Assiniboine River and Lake Manitoba watersheds to develop greater flood protection.  The Red River Valley is protected by a combination of the floodway, the primary diking system, and community and individual ring dikes. Flood protection in the Lake Manitoba and Assiniboine River watersheds will be enhanced with engineered flood management techniques. “This investment will require more than 30 steps and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to provide similar additional benefits,” said Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Steve Ashton.

Treaty education, which started as a pilot project for Grades 5 and 6 in 2010, has been rolled out province-wide. Treaty education is not mandatory in Manitoba schools, however, presently700 teachers are delivering lessons in 200 different schools. Manitoba Education Minister James Allum says the province has taken steps toward full implementation. Treaty Relations Commissioner Jamie Wilson says the long-term goal is to get into every school and to get every teacher trained across the province. “The opportunity for young people to learn that treaties were made with Indigenous nations is going to absolutely change the way people think about historical foundations of this part of the country,” said Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Derek Nepinak.

Chitek Lake Provincial Park is the first land in the province to be classified and preserved as Indigenous traditional use. This new classification gives recognition to lands of natural or cultural significance to Indigenous people, recognizing them as traditional-use areas, said Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh. However the park will still be open to licensed hunting, fishing and trapping. Chitek Lake Provincial Park is the province’s 88th park. Walter Cook Caves Park Reserve was also named as an ecological reserve through work undertaken with the Misipawistik Cree Nation. The ecological reserve is located within Misipawistik Cree Nation’s trapline. Chitek Lake Provincial Park contains Manitoba’s only herd of free-ranging wood bison while the Walter Cook Caves is the only known place where elk, moose, white-tailed deer, woodland caribou and wood bison share the same habitat.