Page 9

A national conference on fiscal relations held at the Squamish Nation Recreation Centre near Vancouver on Sept. 26 and 27, turned out to be a very civil clash between chiefs, a former chief and technicians who support the proposed fiscal institutions act and those who fear its potential effects.

Page 8

The British Columbia chapter of the National Aboriginal Veterans Association passed a motion in mid-October to accept Chinese Canadian veterans as associate members.

Chapter president Joy Ward said the Chinese veterans and Native veterans on the West Coast have helped each other as they seek to remedy the injustices they were subjected to when they returned home from war.

"We were happy to welcome the Chinese veterans because they've been so much help to us," Ward said.

Page 5

Dear Editor:

Your paper's recent coverage of the First Nations Fiscal and Statistical Management bill provides your readers with only one side of the story. By launching into critiques rather than first pointing out the intentions and history behind this piece of proposed legislation, your readers are left with a misrepresentation of the facts. Re: "Financial institutions act divides chiefs," September 2002 and "Government setting a trap," October 2002.

Page 5

I have always been suspicious of political correctness-the imposition of a set of beliefs, supposedly correct (though the water tends to get a bit muddy there) for the betterment of society. Some have even described its more radical form as the new fascism.

I guess you could say it falls under the category of "seemed like a good idea at the time." You put that together with the naive enthusiasm of youth and strange things can happen in the name of that political correctness.

Page 5

Dear Editor:

On Sept. 20, the people of the Atikamekw First Nation, situated in central Quebec, elected their first Kitchi Okima-grand chief-since the election of Kawaisekeck (Jean-Baptiste Boucher) in July 1887. In doing so, the Atikamekw Nation, composed of three communities, Manawan, Wemotaci, and Opitciwan, made an important step in re-establishing a national government (Atikamekw Kice Okimaw).

Page 5

Dear Editor:

Across Canada First Nations are struggling to break the shackles of colonialism and give meaning to self-determination.

Today some 90 First Nations collect property taxes from leaseholders and others occupying their lands and use these revenues to improve the quality of life within their communities. Approximately $40 million is raised each year.

Page 4

In case it wasn't reported in any of our respected mainstream Canadian press, I want you to know that on July 28 some 60,000 Colombian women converged at the capital of Bogota for an unprecedented peace march.

Thanks to the Canada Columbia Solidarity Campaign (CCSC) the march included a show of Canadian solidarity (Toronto-style) in which four other women and I joined women from the Colombian Postal Workers Union for this massive mobilization.

Page 4

Editorial

A false rumor that a Native political activist was stockpiling guns led to the mobilization of a fully equipped tactical unit from an elite RCMP anti-terrorist squad on Vancouver Island in September. Less than a few weeks later, young non-Native people charged with a hate crime for shooting up a reserve school and homes have those charges under the Criminal Code of Canada reduced dramatically by the Attorney General of Alberta. What's wrong with this picture?

Page 3

As you could have predicted, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Matthew Coon Come and Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Robert Nault had widely varying views on the importance of the speech from the throne delivered by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson on Sept. 30.

Coon Come saw it as an unambitious re-hash of previous promises.

Page 2

Even the most casual observer of First Nations' politics knows there's something strange going on at Barriere Lake in Quebec. With so many different stories being told by the various factions in and around the community, however, the question of exactly what it is that's going on is hard to answer.