Wilson's budget was a punch right in the kisser

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Skanangohwe!

How many times have you seen a movie where the man of the house is a fat-bellied, beer-swilling, half-dresses, unshaven slob? And one day, all of a sudden, he hauls off and slugs his long-suffering wife right in the chops and screams, "Shut-Up! I'm sick and tired of your nagging!"

You get the picture, I'm sure.

I don't know how Michael Wilson acts or dresses around HIS house but when he was in the House of Commons the other day he might have been well-dresses and clean-shaven but he still hauled off and punched Native people right in the mouth.

In the budget he released, he cut payments to the provinces for things like health care, education and welfare by two-and a half billion dollars over the next two years. And since 70 per cent of Canada's Native people are dependent on some form of social assistance, his budget cuts are going to make Native people bleed.

And as if that's not enough, he's attacked Native programs directly. He's cutting spending on Native newspapers, radio stations, friendship centers, women's groups and political organizations by more than nine million dollars next year. The biggest cuts are in the area of Native communications. He's cutting funding to Native radio stations by more than two million dollars - a cut of 16 per cent - and he's cutting all federal funding to all Native newspapers in the country. That's another $3 million dollar cut.

The cuts could cripple Native radio stations and kill off most of the biggest, oldest and best Native newspapers in the country. But the funny (?) thing is Wilson did not cut federal advertising going to ethnic newspapers. That means Italian newspapers in Toronto and Chinese newspapers in Vancouver will continue to get federal funding while Native newspapers in Sioux Lookout and Yellowknife will get the axe. Does that make any sense?

Maybe it's because Michael Wilson, Brian Mulroney, Bill McKnight, Pierre Cadieux, Gerry Weiner and the rest of that gang just got tired of being criticized by Native newspapers. Maybe all that nagging got under their skin. I have to admit I did more than my share.

But then it is about time this government realized Canada's special relationship with Native people - one that is recognized in the constitution - is something more than just words on paper. So maybe Mulroney and Wilson did get tired of being reminded they're not living up to their obligations. And how did they respond to all this nagging? -- Pow! Right in the kisser.

Nobody likes to be criticized, that's for sure. But Native newspapers do much, much more than that and the shame of it is that Wilson and Mulroney don't seem to care. Native newspapers perform a crucial function in Native communities because the Globe and Mail just doesn't get delivered to places like Snowdrift, Moose Factory or Buffalo Narrows. But Native newspapers do get there and they report Native news ignored by the mainstream news media. And in some cases, they report the news in a Native language - the only language many Native people understand.

Wilson cut the Native communications' budget in the secretary of state department by more than $5 million, but at the same time, he has also increased the budget for the department of Indian affairs by $183 million - much of it to allow Indians to become more involved in the area of self-government.

Coming at a time when Native people need more information, not less, and when they need better communications, not worse, this cut is not only cruel, its senseless.

So what's the public supposed to think about all this? Here's my suggestion. Remember that wife-beating cave man I mentioned earlier? The kind of a guy, who believes women should be kept barefoot and pregnant? Well, by cutting back on welfare and by killing off Native newspapers, Michael Wilson has shown he believes in keeping Native people barefoot and ignorant.