More homes - not more promises

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From the poorly-built homes of the Blood Tribe in southern Alberta to Edmonton's inner-city squalor to the dilapidated shacks of Indian Cabins near the Alberta/N.W.T border, living conditions for Native people are as appalling as they cold possibly be.

Poor housing for Alberta's Native population has been a problem ever since Indians stepped foot from the security and comfort of teepees to deal with the white negotiator, who promised him a better way of life if he gave up portions of his land.

Indians were led to believe they'd be afforded clean accommodations and access to all the opportunities and social benefits a progressive civilization has to offer.

It was a sham.

And it has become as offensive as a New York thug stealing candy from a small child on a street corner during afternoon rush hour because it's no longer as subtle as the government wants it to be.

It has come about at a time when all Canadians are asked to tighten their belts in the guise of fiscal restraint.

But for most Canadians, it will be a matter of inconvenience. For Native people it is a matter of survival.

At a time when Edmonton is planning a $40-million city hall to house its council in brass and glass during heated debates over the cost of parties in Sir Winston Churchill Square, Native people are roaming the frozen sidewalks a few blocks away just trying to survive the night.

It's a time when Alberta Premier Don Getty, who's hard pressed to convince his own voters of his competence, proposes spending millions on paving secondary roads to lure the votes of Alberta farmers.

At a time when the country's aboriginal people are fading into oblivion, millions of dollars are spent on new, and improved, multi-ethnic commissions, whose sole purpose is to paper over cultural differences in Canada's diverse ethnic community.

It all comes at a time when the federal government injects millions of dollars into its external affairs department to help foreign nations overcome their own self-inflicted stress.

But the most offensive is the federal government's latest plan to supply Caribbean nations with millions of dollars to spruce up their own standard of living.

It's all at a time when Native parents are fed up with cramming their children in with their relatives or neighbors just to keep a roof over their heads.

It's a time when Indian bands want the federal government to put aside its current commitments to other countries and concentrate on the very first commitment it ever made.

Blood Tribe Councilor Peter Bighead said his band has established a Treaty 7 Housing Commission to take decision-making powers away from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which authorizes construction and renovation funding.

"CMHC is calling all the shots. Well, we don't want it that way anymore," he says.

"It's up to Indians to determine what houses they need," he says.

It's sad Native people have to construct their own committees just to plead for what is rightfully theirs to begin with.

There are no easy answers for the government, which excels in the ability to spend money on the wrong things.

There are no hard and fast answers for band administrations, who are forced to fork up more than their share to provide houses for their members.

As long as all three levels of government continue reneging on their obligations, the only thing Natives can do is keep chipping away for their treaty rights.