Trust. Integrity. Reputation.
1997 Windspeaker October Headlines
Here is a full list of the stories featured in the October, 1997 issue of Windspeaker. If you are not receiving your own copy of Windspeaker, then you have missed many of these exciting stories. Click here for Windspeaker subscription information.
· Daishowa wants permanent stop to boycott
· Another solution to the Indian problem proposed
· Quebec and Inuit restart autonomy talks
· Police rivalry wrecks Kahnawake raid
· Extinguishment offered to Sechelt
· Stoney members get chance to speak to auditors
· Urban Native Police Unit helps bridge the cultural gap
· Justice system or 'just-us' system
· The bigger they are. . . - Editorial
· Native Tasmanians hunted to extinction - letter
· Time to give back - letter
· Everyone welcome at centre - letter
· Columnist hits the mark for reader - letter
· Sometinmes militance is required - letter
· Actress is theatrical pioneer
· Good people outnumber the bad - column
· Canadian justice system does not work for Natives - letter
· Reader just stating another point of view - letter
· Candidates named for saskatchewan's top chief
· Hate message to university student a hoax
· Tribal show a success
· Upcoming season could be North of 60's last
· Artist shares the 'great love of peace'
· James Bay's talented young featured on CD
· Anishinabe tales entice reader, preserve culture
· Nurses concerned with suicide rate
· Walk brings greater awareness to community
· Program reaches out to Aboriginal women
· Grandmothers pull double duty
· Choices in treatment have to be made - AIDS columnist
· Parenting classes help fill in the gaps
· Project cancelled to protect grave of 'Indian Princess'
· All Aboriginal team wins national championship
· Cree goalie hopes to success his hero
· National hockey teams planned
· Burning desire drives squad
· Women boxers rock
· Kemano deal draws fire
· Chiefs gunning for more input into Bill C-68
· Award nominations will close Oct. 10
· Irwin hiring hush-hush at Prime Minister's office
Classroom Edition
· Addiction, not tradition - Aboriginal people's use of tobacco
· The Indian Act: Serious Internal Error. Discontinue Use.
· When it's gone, that's it - No more Indians: Aboriginal language
· Savvy leaders learn to communicate throught the press
· Conflict Resolution: People need to find the middle ground
October, 1997
Police rivalry wrecks Kahnawake raid
By Paul Barnsley
Windspeaker Staff Writer
MONTREAL
Rivalries - jurisdictional and otherwise - between off-reserve police services and the local Peacekeepers foiled a raid on a warehouse on the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory in early September, a Kahnawake councillor says.
Members of the elected Kahnawake council took action to prevent a joint Royal Canadian Mounted Police/ Montreal Urban Community police operation on their territory, thwarting a raid that the RCMP believe would have yielded important evidence about smuggling and money laundering. The raid was to have been a key part of a massive police operation which resulted in the arrest of 30 people and seizures valued at over $100 million.
An RCMP spokesman in Montreal said that raids scheduled for Sept. 10 on Kahnawake properties owned by Matthew "Watio" Lazare were cancelled after council members told police that news of the upcoming raids had been leaked.
Councillors urged government and police officials to cancel the raids, saying the police officers' safety had been compromised by the leak.
But a Montreal Gazette story published several days after the fact revealed that Lazare and his associate Bryan Jacobs did not know about the planned raid. The story suggests that Chief Joe Norton and his council took steps to prevent the raid for political reasons and misled the off-reserve police services in order to prevent the raid.
The RCMP alleges that Lazare "headed" an organization that was linked to a "major network of Montreal-based criminal organizations."
The Mounties allege that the organizations involved "individuals related to outlaw motorcycle gangs, and dealt with various aspects of organized crime, namely: selling and buying bootleg alcohol, dealing in and possession of stolen goods, fraud, drug importation and trafficking, counterfeiting, bribery of federal public servants, alcohol cigarette and tobacco smuggling."
Because of the huge amounts of money involved in the criminal activity alleged by the RCMP and the appearance that the council shielded Lazare from the outside authorities, the perception is that the council must somehow be involved in some of the criminal activity. The Kahnawake council member who holds the policing portfolio is Chief Phillip Jacobs. He hotly denies the council is shielding Lazare but he said he knows where that idea came from.
"I don't think the mainstream media is ever going to understand us," he told Windspeaker. "We're against criminal activity of any kind. We're not trying to stop anything. We're not protecting criminals. We made a decision that we had to exert our jurisdiction and it leaves us looking like the bad guys."
He said that the outside police forces ignored the terms of a formal policing agreement involving the federal government, the province and Kahnawake and forced the council into a corner. Chief Joe Norton said the blame for that lies solely with the federal minister responsible for the RCMP, Solicitor-General Andy Scott. Jacobs said the outside forces have to learn that First Nations communities are different and that input from local authorities is crucial.
"This community has a long history of disputes with the police. We know our people best. We know how to avoid these headaches. We have to know what's going on. We're responsible. If they don't let us in on what they're doing, how are we going to look? What are we going to tell this community?" Jacobs explained.
Jacobs said the RCMP and MUC scheduled the raid without involving the local police service, the 23 officer peacekeepers. He suspects that was done because the outside forces don't completely trust or respect the peacekeepers.
"They should have at least the respect to talk to our people a couple of days before. If something like this is going to happen they should give our guys some time to have a look at it," he said.
The councillor said that the two-year-old Kahnawake Police Agreement clearly spells out that the peacekeepers have the jurisdiction on the territory and should be involved in-depth in any police operation. However, he added, "certain members of the MUC, the Surete de Quebec and RCMP have a paternalistic attitude towards our police and our people."
After the initial press release announcing the seizures, arrests and charges, the Montreal RCMP refused to comment on related matters and would not reply to the charges made by Jacobs and Norton.
Jacobs said the peacekeepers are maintaining a surveillance of the warehouse and the possibility of a raid - executed in co-operation with the local police - is still available to the outside police.
Another solution to the Indian problem proposed
By Kenneth Williams
Windspeaker Columnist
It's old news now, but the Reform Party of Canada released a 59-page report on how they would improve the collective lot of First Nations people by making us all happy Canadians. The report was unavailable to me, so I had to rely on the executive summary that was posted on the Reform Party's Internet site.
Mike Scott is the Aboriginal Affairs critic for the Reform Party and the author of this report. I don't doubt his good intentions. There are indeed many problems plaguing reserve communities - suicide, high unemployment and substance abuse are just a few.
First Nations people are also frustrated with their own elected band councils who can sometimes carry on like spoiled children fighting over toys. A quick glance shows sit-ins, calls for resignations, and demands for forensic audits on three Alberta reserves this month. (Part of me believes that this is the result of a conspiracy of chartered accountants who will earn hefty fees straightening out the books of these financially troubled reserves.)
Are there individuals exploiting the system?
Most definitely. This is not news to First Nations people. But what is the point of a cure that's going to kill the patient?
Point 12 of the Mr. Scott's plan states: The ultimate policy objective should be to replace existing federal programs for Aboriginals with the full range of federal and provincial/territorial programs enjoyed by all other Canadians. This would require a phasing-out period that would take as long as 20 years.
Call me cynical but that sounds like First Nations people are being phased out as well. The fact that we get to partake in the programs "enjoyed" by other Canadians hardly makes me leap for joy.
In fact, the goal of the Reform Party, as well as most other governments, has been the elimination of First Nations people as a political and cultural entity. The two are intimately tied. You can't lose one without the other.
First Nations people get wary whenever some politician offers his "solution to the Indian problem." We've seen these solutions before in the way of residential schools. It's like the Canadian people are the Borg from Star Trek.
"You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."
Gee Tsang is a Reform Party official from Saskatchewan who made the unfortunate remark that the solution to Native people's problems would be for them to join the Canadian mainstream.
He must have a good sense of humor because this can only be a joke. If Mr. Tsang or Mr. Scott take any of this seriously then they have ignored repeated statements from First Nations leaders as well as the grassroots people whom they've supposedly consulted.
We do not want to stop being Indians! And you cannot eliminate the collective rights of a people because it's merely inconvenient for you.
All we've ever asked is that the government of Canada honor the spirit and intent of the treaties (which the Supreme Court has repeatedly told it to do.)
We didn't ask for Indian Affairs. We didn't ask for our resources and land to be destroyed for other people to get wealthy and for us to become welfare dependent. We didn't ask for opportunistic Indian agents to give away our land at whim. We didn't ask for the slave labor and sexual abuse of residential schools that attempted to eradicate our culture.
This land is where we come from. Ten thousand years ago, Mr. Scott and Mr. Tsang, my ancestors watched the glaciers carve up this land. Do you have a clue what that means?
Mr. Tsang pronounces that our attempts to cling to the past is our weakness. Try to ignore the accomplishments and dreams of your ancestors, Mr. Tsang, and see how you feel.
Canada was not given to us and we did not come here from somewhere else. If you want us to go back to where we came from then you'd better pack because you're living on it.
Mr. Scott, I know you mean well, but there is much more to us than just welfare and tax breaks. If you truly want to take a stand for Aboriginal people, look deeper than you are now. Take the government to task for not honoring the treaties. Ask Jane Stewart why she refuses to apologize the for the generations of abuse at residential schools. Attend powwows and Métis festivals and talk to Elders. Visit the Inuit and see what it means for a young man to get his first polar bear. Hunt caribou with the Dene. Fish salmon with the Sto:lo. To borrow a really old cliché, Mr. Scott, walk a mile in our moccasins.
Quebec and Inuit restart autonomy talks
By Kenneth Williams
Windspeaker Staff Writer
KANGIQSUALUJJUAQ, Que.
Quebec's premier, Lucien Bouchard, and the president of the Makivik Corporation, Zebedee Nungak, agreed to restart talks on an autonomous government for the people of Nunavik in northern Quebec.
The Nunavik territory occupies northern Quebec from the 55th parallel upwards. There are about 7,000 Inuit in 14 communities along the Hudson and Ungava Bays.
Autonomy negotiations began in 1990, but were called off in 1995 because of the Quebec referendum. The agreement came after several Quebec ministers and Bouchard visited Kangiqsualujjuaq on Sept. 10. One of the ministers was Guy Chevrette, the minister responsible for regional development as well as Aboriginal affairs. It was the first time in more than 10 years since a Quebec premier had visited Nunavik.
"What was announced was a public agreement between Zebedee Nungak and Premier Lucien Bouchard to re-open those negotiations - to pick up where they left off and create a proper forum to address those self government talks," said Stephen Hendrie, a spokesman for the Makivik Corporation. "Since the announcement, it was agreed by Quebec and Nunavik to restart the talks. We are waiting for a communication from the Quebec government to set up a meeting. We expect it to take place in two or three weeks, probably in Quebec City."
"There is now a common will on both sides to address this important issue," said Charles Larochelle, a spokesman for Chevrette.
The Quebec government is willing to talk about Inuit governmental autonomy and that could cover such areas as education, social services and the administration of justice. The details of the negotiations, however, will not be made public.
But the Inuit of Nunavik are looking for something like the autonomous political administration that will be implemented in the Nunavut agreement, said Hendrie. This was something that wasn't available to them when they signed the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement in 1975.
"There was no concept of giving Aboriginal people self government," said Hendrie. "The fact that the Inuit and Cree asserted their Aboriginal rights was new. This was a first in Canada. The agreement did not include any form of self government - no assembly , no ministry for Inuit.
"Mr. Nungak has stated publicly that he's looking for a commission like the Nunavut commission," he continued. The negotiations "must be taken seriously and must be done by a proper commission at arm's length to have the power to negotiate on the behalf the Inuit, and representatives to negotiate on behalf of the Government of Quebec, [and] they have to look at the creation of an assembly."
The Inuit aren't looking for a race-based assembly, but a public political body that would represent all of the people of Nunavik, who happen to be 90 to 95 per cent Inuit.
The Quebec government is keeping quiet as to what it hopes to accomplish with the negotiations.
"There are teams of negotiators and committees on different issues to address the various dimensions of this matter," said Larochelle. "And there are also discussions on institutions - should there be a parliament or an assembly, and so on."
But Larochelle also stated that the Quebec government is waiting for the Inuit to form a consensus as to what type of political administration they want. He said that some of the Inuit municipalities already receive funding directly from the province and they don't want another administration to deal with.
On the other hand, Hendrie said that Nungak wants funding to be administered directly by the new autonomous government of Nunavik. This is what he calls block funding and feels this would be a more efficient use of money.
So far, relations between the Inuit and the Quebec government are cordial, if not warm. The visit by Bouchard to such a northern community scored well for his public image among the Inuit.
The Quebec government is trying to maintain a dialogue with all of the Aboriginal groups within the province, said Larochelle. The province realizes that there are serious social problems that have to be addressed and is looking at ways to find solutions.
"It's the best way to know each other and have a better understanding of each other," he said.
Hiding behind all this, but ever present, is the threat of separation. Even though the first autonomous negotiations were called off by mutual desire, Hendrie said the 1995 referendum was not conducive to negotiation.
The Inuit had their own referendum and voted more than 90 per cent in favor of staying within the Canadian federation regardless of the results of Quebec's referendum.
Hendrie said the Inuit's resolve is based on history and the fact that their land had changed jurisdiction several times over the last 300 years without their consent. In speeches made throughout 1996, Nungak emphatically stated that the Inuit and their territory would remain Canadian.
But issues of separation and jurisdiction will not be Quebec's main focus of negotiations, said Larochelle. Right now, the province and the Inuit will negotiate over the practical, day-to-day matters such as infrastructure, roads, sewage, political administration and so on.
"We can work on both levels," said Larochelle. "But we can also respond to their practical and immediate needs. . . we're willing to work to resolve those problems and to address those matters."
Daishowa wants permanent stop to boycott
By Paul Barnsley
Windspeaker Staff Writer
TORONTO
Each side accused the other of using threats and intimidation when lawyers for Japanese multi-national corporation Daishowa, Inc. and members of the activist group Friends of the Lubicon tangled in an Ontario courtroom late last month.
Daishowa initiated the court action. The company is seeking to have an existing temporary injunction which prohibits the promotion of a consumer boycott of its paper products extended to a permanent ban. The corporation is also asking the court to award it over $11 million in damages.
Friends of the Lubicon, a small group of volunteers based in Toronto, initiated a campaign against Daishowa, Inc. in 1991 as a gesture of support for the Lubicon Crees of northern Alberta.
The Lubicon Lake Nation is embroiled in a long-standing land dispute with the federal and provincial governments. Promised a reserve in 1939, the Lubicon claim 10,000 sq. km of resource-rich land in northwestern Alberta. No treaty exists for the area and the Lubicon maintain they have never ceded the land in question. Since 1939, the governments and the Lubicon have been unable to finalize a mutually satisfying land agreement.
In 1988, Daishowa purchased a license from the province of Alberta that gave the company the right to harvest trees on 29,000 sq. km in the region, including the land claimed by the Lubicon. The Lubicon and their supporters, already involved in a bitter fight with the federal and provincial governments over the extensive damage done to their traditional territory and their traditional way of life by provincially-licensed oil and gas exploration, upped the stakes when it appeared another valuable resource would be stripped off of the land they claimed before they could profit from it.
As Friends of the Lubicon watched the impoverished community of about 500 people vainly struggle against governments and big business interests, the activist group hatched a plan that did $11 million dollars worth of damage to the multi-national between 1991 and 1996 and brought the plight of the Lubicon back into the national spotlight.
Three members of Friends of the Lubicon - Kevin Thomas, 30, Ed Bianchi, 37, and Stephen Kenda, 40, all of Toronto - began an information campaign aimed at hitting the multi-national pulp and paper company where it hurt the most.
First they targeted the retail stores that were regular Daishowa customers, urging them to buy their paper bags from a different supplier if the company refused to back away from logging on the traditional Lubicon lands. They told the retailers they would picket their stores if they dealt with the Tokyo-based company. Stores that continued to buy from Daishowa were, in fact, picketed and suffered from being associated with a situation that was widely portrayed as the rape of an impoverished Aboriginal community by a heartless multi-national and two governments.
During the civil trial in September, both sides agreed that the boycott was effective. Daishowa said 47 companies, representing over 4,300 retail outlets, opted to use another supplier rather than become involved in the dispute.
In his opening statement on Sept. 2, Daishowa lawyer Peter Jervis told the court that the Friends of the Lubicon had intimidated and threatened the companies.
Thomas, a 30-year-old legal researcher, finds it amusing that he and his co-defendants have been accused of intimidation. He suggested that court injunctions, expensive legal maneuvering and the threat of an $11 million lawsuit are much more intimidating and threatening than any flyer or picket line. He added that he and the other defendants have been forced to spend most of their time raising money to pay the $30 thousand in expenses their lawyers have incurred while working on the case.
"The whole issue of this case is not about boycotting," Thomas said. "It's about corporations controlling what anybody says about them. It's a silencing action."
Daishowa spokesperson Laurie Grant said the activists have spread misinformation about the company and have wrongly targeted Daishowa, Inc. In a press release issued by Daishowa-Marubeni International, Ltd. (DMI), an Alberta-based forestry subsidiary of Daishowa, Inc. which operates a sawmill near the Lubicon Lake territory, it is claimed that the parent company which has been the target of the boycott does not even use products from Alberta in its paper bags.
The statement from DMI creates the impression that Friends of the Lubicon boycotted the wrong company, that there is no connection between Daishowa, Inc. and DMI, Ltd.
Thomas believes that is a public relations move designed to erode the credibility of Friends of the Lubicon. He points out that DMI has held off on logging on land claimed by the Lubicon. He believes that the boycott convinced Daishowa to instruct DMI to not exercise its logging license.
The story at the heart of the civil action, defendant Thomas believes, is that high-ranking government officials and politicians and wealthy corporate executives have been caught trying to reap a profit from unceded Indian land and now that they've been exposed they're trying to bully their way out of an awkward situation with expensive legal action. He sees it as a modern-day land grab that mirrors the theft of the continent by colonizers in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since the government is an accomplice in this process, Friends of the Lubicon had no choice but to go right to the people, he said.
"It's happening now!" Thomas said. "We've been showing that what's happened over the last 20 years is exactly what happened 100 years ago. I've heard people say that what happened 100 years ago was a shame, that it was wrong and we let it happen. Well, I don't want people 100 years from now saying the same thing about this."
Thomas believes that the public has a right to know if the money they spend is being used for questionable purposes. In the free market, a consumer should have access to information that will allow him or her to make an informed decision about which company he or she will deal with, he said. He believes the court case will boil down to a judge deciding if corporations have the right to function in a society without being accountable to their customers. It's a chance for a judge to decide if there is true democracy in Canada or if the country will be run by the wealthy elite.
"This is a public issue that they're turning into a private issue. It might be the last gasp of real grassroots democracy," he said.
Justice James Marshall of the Ontario Court of Justice (general division) could take several weeks to render his decision.
Comments: e-mail: edwind@ammsa.com