The Scrapping Of Kelowna?
– no, not the city, it’s the Agreement hashed out between the federal government, the provincial governments, and the Canadian Aboriginal groups that CPoC Monte Solberg (Conservative Finance Critic) says will not be honoured under a CPoC government.
PENTICTON, BC–(CCNMatthews – Jan. 10, 2006) – In an interview with CJWW Radio Saskatchewan, Monte Solberg, the Conservative Finance Critic said, “(The)Kelowna Agreement is something that they crafted at the last moment on the back of a napkin on the eve of an election. We’re not going to honor that. We will have our own plan that will help natives a lot more than the Liberals”
(emphasis mine)
Ah.. their own plan ‘eh? Back of a napkin ‘eh? That’s what they think of the months and months and months of effort and hard work that went into the The Kelowna Agreement is it.
Negotiated agreements (obviously even those worked out on the back of a napkin) couldn’t possibly stand up to something like their plan could they?
Any plan for aboriginal people that Thomas Flanagan has his fingers in will not be good, as Clement Chartier (President of the Metis National Council) says:
“This just shows that the Conservatives have little to no respect or appreciation for Aboriginal peoples. Mr. Solberg conveniently ignores that over 14 months of consultations and negotiations led up to the Kelowna Agreement. Aboriginal communities and leaders from across the country were engaged. All provinces and territories have signed onto the deal. Now, the Conservative Party is unilaterally going to sabotage all this work and effort that was done in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples and replace it with their secret plan.”
I’ve been holding off on posting about the Conservative’s Aboriginal vision, at the suggestion of some of our Conservative friends who have been asking that I “wait until the new policy is released”.
Funny. There hasn’t been a “new policy” yet. Monte’s little slip about “our own plan” to “help the natives” is very interesting. The “policy” currently up at their website is pure Flanagan, without the explicit use of the term “assimilation”.
from ctv where the interview was fleshed out a bit more:
That being said, I’d like to see the whole thing myself.
Which whole thing? The Conservative Aboriginal policy?
That’s not fleshing it out Candace, that’s damage control. One would assume that someone as far up in the CPoC party as their finance critic knows what he is talking about when he says “We’re not going to honor that.” and starts talking about their [CPoC] own plan – don’t you think.
Do a little research on the views of good old Tom Flanagan and see if you think that’s the best way to deal with North Americas “first immigrants” issues or not. He’s got some pretty interesting south of the border “this is how we dominant immigrants deal with natives in the real world” issues.
Frankly, I was insulted by the comments. If the CpoC wants me to believe that they will honor commitments (which I know they wont) and only want to deal with the fiduciary aspects of it, then that still leaves the question of wether or not they will decrease the amount of money committed (which they will).
Of course, who am I to speak, right? I am “a special interest group”, right?
You know what I find weird? The agreement is between the Canadian government and the First Nations, as represented through the Assembly of First Nations, (except for those groups who respectfully withdrew from the process) the Metis people, as represented through the Metis National Council, and the Inuit people, as represented through the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.
I may be wrong – I am somewhat gullible, but it was explained to me at a parliamentary hearing that the Government of Canada is the embodiment of the people of Canada. The laws and agreements that the Government enters into are the peoples laws. (This was about the Indian Act and I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the First Peoples were not considered ‘people’ at the time the Indian Act was made into law.) His meaning was that it’s not a political party that makes these laws. (It was a Conservative who told me this – from the original Conservatives though).
My other lesson in Politics came when I volunteered with the Liberal party (I only lasted a few months and then—well, I saw and I left.) Among the many lessons was that the resolutions passed on the Liberal floor mean nothing to the (Liberal) Government and just because they are passed there doesn’t mean the (Liberal) Government endorses them. It was a cool lesson to learn.
….if these CPoC’s can do it to the Kelowna agreement, and they can do it to the same sex marriage law, then what else can they touch? I don’t think its scare mongering to question the flippancy of his comments.
Nothing ever changes. The Federal Government enters into an agreement with First Nations, Metis, or Inuit groups and every Tom, Dick, Harriet, and Jane wants to get involved. God forbid that the Indians just might come up with a good idea. Can’t be because everybody else knows how to fix the “Indian problem.†Why is that? Have you ever been to a remote community and seen how many churches are in these tiny communities – Every God loving person seems to knows better how to fix the problem.
Tax dollars are spent every day on inane and useless contracts, poorly run programs, etc. The auditor general comments on them every year in her release but nobody gets into an uproar about it. And by the way, statistically speaking fewer tax dollars per capital is spent on Aboriginal people in Canada than is subsidized on the average Canadian. (Think roads, sewers, schools, recreation centres, libraries, etc not to mention a 90 Billion- dollar- a -year volunteer sector that few Aboriginal people access).
Ok so thats my rant and this is my question – why is everyone so especially- overly concerned about their tax dollars when First Nations, Metis, or Inuit people are involved?
Kashechewan is off the radar wideye, the First Ministers Meeting is over, and all the problems have been fixed don’t ‘cha know….. everything is good again and the Canadian population can go to sleep with easy minds tonight because of that.
How can the government reverse laws and agreements? It’s actually pretty easy if people don’t give a rats a$$ about what’s happening, or buy into the rhetoric because it’s ‘just easier to deal with’. They’re the government, they set the agenda, and people have been conditioned to believe they are powerless — at least until the next election cycle, and even then I consider voter apathy as just another sign of conditioned powerlessness.
It will be easy to do because people want to believe that all “that stuff” happened 200 years ago instead of within their lifetimes.
It will be easy to do because people really do not want to believe that their government and their religious institutions really did anything ‘that bad’.
I can pretty well guarantee you that a SSM reversal would get more coverage and national interest than the Kelowana Accord getting scrapped… it’s not worth any tax payer money so it’s something that people can get behind.
I don’t think Kashechewan is off the radar just yet, but maybe I’m naive. I’m also reserving judgement until I see just what it is that the CPC DOES intend to do.
Kashechewan is the result of Liberal and Conservative governments failures. They have made little in the way of progress for years now.
The problems on reserves have been there for years. In fact it has taken this Liberal government 10 plus years to deal with the mission school issues. They still have not dealt with it as we wait for more stuff to happen.
Job opportunities, education and health care continue to be problems because neither the Conservatives or Liberals while in power do anything.
I have some concerns with a “majority” CPoC government. A monority will be tolerable. My conserns deal largely with the likes of Tom Flannigan and the Calgary school folks.
a great post here on that matter…
kelowna will get back on the map when the ogopogo eats monte solberg alive.
The tender concern for Aboriginal communities currently being shown by many of our conservative blogbrethren is deeply touching. I predict that deep concern will last exactly as long as Kashechewan and other current problems remain useful sticks to beat the Liberals over the head with – and it will then evaporate as quickly as a Liberal campaign promise.
“Kashechewan is the result of Liberal and Conservative governments failures”
I wish it was that simple. Sorry that answer picks on easy scape goats. The First Peoples and their Nations hare political tools for all political parties. To be used at will to strengthen a position or tear down another. It’s an easy place for people to vent frustrations about the loss of billions of their hard earned tax dollars without results, yadda, yadda, yadda……
If I have learned anything on the side-lines of politics its that the People and the issues facing our children mean nothing unless a political advantage can be found. And then like Balbulican says, the interest is fleeting.
No? Two male prisoners were burned alive in the Kashechewan jail last weekend. The facility was an old delapitated house turned into a make-shift jail, there was no fire suppression system, no decent alarms, and the cells had to be padlocked shut because the cell door locks didn’t work. They were burned alive while locked in their cells.
- how much play did it get? How close to the centre of the radar screen is the community that had the national spotlight just a few weeks ago? What did Martin, Harper, or Layton say about it on the campaign trail?
Sorry Candace, and please forgive my bluntness (it’ not specifically directed towards you), but generally speaking mainstream southern Canada does not give a flying f****, they have greater and more important concerns to amuse themselves with and to occupy their time right now than being interested in their governments legal responsibilities towards the first peoples of the country.
I mean really, things like whether or not Jack Layton once used a for profit medical clinic, or whether Martin approved the attack ads before he approved the ads that he didn’t approve, or whether or not Harper really does suffer from cronic Bush sack envy, are way more important than people dying in poverty in their own back yard isn’t it?
– but hey, maybe the nation will get lucky and we can let the CPoC have their kick at the cat… given that their initial offering is to scrap the Kelowana Agreement things can only get better can’t they?
I found this on the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples site. Apparently they sent letters to the parties asking for responses to questions. They don’t seem to have received a response from the Liberals yet. Reading through it, it appears that Kashechewan is very much on their radar. Perhaps that’s why CAP decided to endorse them?
It is an interesting response Candance and speaks generally to the issues and problems experienced by many Aboriginal people in Canada (ie. “good rhetoric but it’s all been heard before”) but without public push where will it go?
The government has very selective radar Candace, Kashechewan is not on it, nor is it on the general publics radar – wait until the funding issues the CPoC has get opened up (if in fact the CPoC even follows through with the agreement instead of tossing it and getting on to their plan) and watch what happens now that plane loads of sick and poverty stricken Abiriginal people are not walking across a cold and snowy runway in front of TV cameras.
If Kashechewan was anywhere near close to the centre of the public radar screen two men being burned alive while padlocked in the cells of of a ramshackle jail would have resulted in significant public interest and outcry, as it happens, it did not.
Interestingly enough a dead white girl in Toronto did.
If Kashechewan was anywhere near close to the centre of the campaign radar screen two men being burned alive while padlocked in the cells of a ramshackle jail would have been worth at least passing mention, as it happens, it did not.
Interestingly enough a dead white girl in Toronto did.
Is that jaded, some would say so, I consider it realistic. I’ve lived and worked in small Aboriginal communities for (with the exception of the last 3 years) my entire adult life, I still both work with, and on behalf of, the Aboriginal community on a daily basis and I have seen this shite happen time after time after time after time, it starts to wear on a fella after a while.
[...] Back on the 11th of January we posted about [then CPoC Finance Critic] Monte Solberg stating that the Kelowna agreement would not be honoured by a CPoC government – all good Conservatives can now applaud and put a little check mark in their “promise kept” column. [...]