Ottawa continues to fail Attawapiskat [editorial]

We’re not too sure what everyone is complaining about when it comes to the federal response to the Attawapiskat situation. Seems to us the fed’s response time is extremely fast, at least when dealing with any criticism it faces from outside sources, say like the United Nations.

On Dec. 20, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples expressed his deep concern about the social and economic conditions at Attawapiskat. James Anaya, who reports to the United Nations Human Rights Council, said the situation at Attawapiskat is indicative of many a reserve in Canada, despite the country’s usual high marks when it comes to human rights. Anaya said Aboriginal communities face “vastly higher poverty rates, and poorer health, education [and] employment rates as compared to non-Aboriginal people.”

And though this is hardly the first time anyone has heard such criticism—heck, we could cause an avalanche with all the reports on the subject—Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan wasted no time in calling down the special rapporteur’s comments. An Aboriginal Affairs spokesperson likened the statement to a publicity stunt, saying the comments lacked credibility and were filled with inaccuracies. Who are you going to believe?

Yes, Minister Duncan has got his own credibility issues when it comes to Attawapiskat. A state of emergency was called in late October as winter approached and the community’s residents were faced with freezing in ramshackle homes without heat, running water or sewage disposal, but Attawapiskat has been suffering for many, many years and we’re hardly surprised that it’s come to this. Duncan and many ministers before him have failed, and failed miserably, when it comes to that community. That the feds would point their fingers at the victims to blame them for the crisis is reprehensible.

Duncan’s response to the state of emergency, under pressure as he was from media, service organization and regular Joe Canadians to do something, was to put the community under the draconian third-party management system, a kind of foster care for Attawapiskat’s finances. And you know how foster care works, right? Once the kids are in, it’s very nearly impossible to get them out.

The skimming of large amounts of dollars off the top of an already underfunded community to pay for what is essentially only an accounting system is perhaps the most abhorrent part of this course of action. It makes us sick at the amount of money that will be lost to the third-party manager for his work.

Third-party management is wrong-headed in the extreme, stripping all control over community need from the people. Bills will be paid, or at least the ones that Aboriginal Affairs deem important, but nothing else can be promised to the community. Their priorities are now meaningless.

Congratulation to Chief Theresa Spence for battling against the appointment of a third-party manager, and to all those people who are rallying around the chief and community as they truly need our help in getting out from under the thumb of Ottawa’s lack of creativity.

When are they going to respond to the issues that continue to plague Attawapiskat? Instead, they spend far more effort on deflecting any attempt to attack the reputation of Canada. That is not leadership.

Shawn Atleo, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, spent time in Attawapiskat on Dec. 20 to see how the community is doing. He returned with a “silver-lining” statement, saying that the situation has raised awareness of the urgent needs of our communities. Not good enough, Mr. Atleo. We assumed you would return with a raised voice and fist and a call to action to fix these issues once and for all. We don’t need encouraging words. We need results.
Windspeaker