One Has To Wonder
First Nations people south of the border are not the least bit impressed with Bush administration silence in regards to the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history
“From all over the world we are getting letters of condolence, the Red Cross has come, but the so-called Great White Father in Washington hasn’t said or done a thing,” said Clyde Bellecourt, a Chippewa Indian who is the founder and national director of the American Indian Movement here. “When people’s children are murdered and others are in the hospital hanging on to life, he should be the first one to offer his condolences. . . . If this was a white community, I don’t think he’d have any problem doing that.”
In this Bush shares a lot with his counterparts north of the border, they’re not all that interested in tackling this sort of issue either, in Canada the Federal government has spent 6 months trying to decide what it’s going do do with $700 million dollars (over 4 years) promised for programs and services that would help deal with things like a suicide rate that is “more than eight times the national average” and “a diabetes epidemic and an alarming surge in HIV-AIDS cases.”
Ultimately governments both north and south of the border are going to have to step up to the plate and not only acknowledge that they, and their institutions, have more than a passing responsibility for some of the tragic outcries from the aboriginal community and actually do something more than pay the problem token lip service.
I’m not sure if the situation is the same in the US, my impression is that the Federal level of government does not acknowledge the same level of responsibility in regards to Aboriginal people that the Canadian government has, but here
Aboriginal leaders have drafted action plans and strategies on how best to help themselves. All that’s missing is adequate funding from a government that is constitutionally and historically obligated to help
As I have mentioned before there is a group of Aboriginal youth walking from Duncan BC to Ottawa to do their part in helping to bring this problem front and centre here in Canada – they are tired of all the talk and want something done before more of their friends and relatives are lost…. national governments don’t seem to share the sense of urgency.
“There are 500,000 people in Newfoundland. If they had to put up with the living conditions that status Indians have to put with, there’d be national outrage.”
>Aboriginal leaders have drafted action plans and strategies on how best to help themselves.
Yikes. There’s an unfortunate turn of phrase.
One assumes these plans and strategies are going to turn the tide in a way that all the plans, strategies, and inadequate funding of the past have not.
Regardless of the talking points and catch phrases the Canadian government does not have a long history of working with the Aboriginal community, there is still far to much of the “we know best” school of thought involved.
Given that the usual government developed and imposed solutions have not “turned the tide” it’s difficult to find fault with the idea of implementing self developed solutions – unless of course you are a believer in the we’ll keeping doing more of the same and hope it works someday philosophy.
No, we’re well past the point at which any reasonable person would have tried something different. Try it and see where it goes. I doubt it’s a money problem, though.