You guys will love this one, especially YTS folks

[superiorwhore]

A report on the future of the troubled Kashechewan community in northern Ontario recommends relocating the reserve to the Timmins area, 450 kilometres to the south.


CTV.ca News Staff

Alan Pope, special federal representative on Kashechewan along with Stan Louttit, Grand Chief for the Mushkegowuk Council and Jonathan Solomon, Chief of Kashechewan, left to right, hold a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday. (CP / Fred Chartrand)

Alan Pope, the federal government's special representative on Kashechewan, released his report Thursday flanked by representatives of the native community.

After spending five months working on the report, which included going door to door to canvas opinions and holding public meetings in the isolated reserve on the shore of James Bay, Pope said he believes the move will improve the lives of the residents.

"The benefits of such a relocation are clear," Pope said in a statement. "This will offer the greatest advantage of improved economic and individual opportunities to the members of the Kashechewan First Nation."

The move would provide the residents with access to improved medical services, educational and employment opportunities, clean water and proper housing, Pope said.

The potential cost of moving the community has not yet been estimated.

Under the recommendation the residents would continue to own the land where the reserve sits, and would be able to continue using it for traditional purposes such as hunting and fishing.

The Kashechewan reserve grabbed the nation's attention in October of last year when an E. coli outbreak in the water supply forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

The reserve was again in the headlines in June when the federal Conservative government said it wouldn't move the community to higher ground a short distance away.

Pope emphasized his report contains only recommendations, and it will be up to the residents to decide their own future.

"It's not displacing community from their traditional lands because it's their choice," he told the news conference. "The government isn't ordering anything. I'm not ordering anything. It's simply a report."

However, Pope said he believes the recommendation "offers the best long-term sustainable solution for the community," and he said his report was reviewed by residents who made additions to it.

Stan Louttit, grand chief of the Mushkegowuk Council who is responsible for Kashechewan, attended the news conference with Pope. He said he is concerned that an agreement struck with the current government won't be upheld by the next, in the event that the minority Conservative government falls.

However, he has hope for the proposal and said it is crucial that the residents decide their own future.

"They need to be in the driver seat, they need to discuss that report ... and they need to come up with a community driven action plan in terms of how to move ahead," Louttit said.

The report sets down some discouraging details about life in the Kashechewan community, such as the 87 per cent unemployment rate and 50 per cent high school attendance rate.

Louttit said those issues aren't new, but it's important to have them set down in "black and white" by a government appointed official.

Among its 50 recommendations, the report also calls for high-tech upgrades to water and sewage systems in Kashechewan and other communities along James Bay, the creation of a volunteer fire department and a community evacuation plan.

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/TopSto ... yline=True

[Coolbreeze]

That's just what Timmins needs...the Kashechewan community, with 87% unemployment rate and 50% high school attendance rate. I believe the Kashechewan community will have 99% bar/pub attendance when in Timmins though. Should be ideal to increase tourism to Timmins.

[Timone123]

"They need to be in the driver seat, they need to discuss that report ... and they need to come up with a community driven action plan in terms of how to move ahead," Louttit said.

YEAH RIGHT! Good luck with that! Hard to do between drinks!

[ettw]

Ah yes, once again the government is looking out for the best interests of the aboriginal population. Of course these are just recomendations!

The government is always looking for the cheapest way to "manage" the aboriginal population. Why can't the government just accept the fact that they have a constitutional obligation to look after the well being of the aboriginal populations of this country? Staying on their land is probably a better option vs more culture conflict that would result by moving them south. At least that seems to be the opinion of my friends who are Inuit or Native.

The government (mostly federal) has quite a track record of moving people around to suit the governments best interests. It would probably be cheaper for the government in the long run to move them to Timmins but what do the people want? It would appear that they are at least interested in the possiblity but I wonder what sort of BS promises the government will give to make Timmins look like the best option for the community.

Take a look at the history of places like Whale Cove, Grise Fiord, Fort Mackenzie, etc. The people that were moved by the feds to Whale Cove were inland Inuit. As I understand it, most if not all of them had never even seen a seal before they were dumped on the coast of Hudsons Bay. But the feds decided that Whale Cove was a great place to get a boat into and unload. There was quite an adjustment for the people moved there.


By the way, if you think that this is old history, the move to Whale Cove was in the 1950s! If I were aboriginal, I'd be bitter towards the white man too!


Cheers,

ETTW

[Doc]

If you're going to move them....move them to Toronto, or, better still, Ottawa! They'd make great Sens fans!

[Crowbaby]

If they want to move to Timmins, let them move to Timmins. Why should we pay to relocate them from where they originally settled. High school attendance and unemployment aren't going to improve just because they live in Timmins. I lived there for 1 1/2 years working for the Northern store so I know what it is like up there. Lots of the kids get sent to Timmins for High School and just come back home before they finish because they can't handle living in the "white man's world". While I was there the chief spent lots of time in Timmins attending "meetings", the local opinion was that these meetings were held in the local watering holes and he would come back to dry out. Not that the community was as "dry" as it was made out to be.

Back to my original point, if the community wants to move farther south or wherever, let them do it with the money that the government already gives them to manage their community. If any other municipality in Canada wanted to pack up and move, they would get told to pay for it themselves. I am sick and tired of my tax dollars paying their welfare checks while they drive around in brand new vehicls and complain about the condition of their housing. The Band Council should put some of those unemployed people to work cleaning up their community and constructing better housing, this should be a condition of their welfare. Unless they have a VALID reason for not working, i.e. real health issues.

I spent time on several different reserves while working for Northern and Kash was one of the worst.
End of rant.

[rigpiggy]

Indian Chief, Two Eagles, was asked by a white government
official, "You have observed the white man for 90 years.
You've seen his wars and his technological advances. You've seen his
progress, and the damage he's done."

The Chief nodded in agreement.

The official continued, "Considering all these events, in your opinion,
where did the white man go wrong?"

The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute
and then calmly replied.

"When white man found the land, Indians
were running it. No taxes, no debt, plenty buffalo, plenty beaver,
clean water; women did all the work, medicine man free. Indian man
spent all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex."

Then the chief leaned back and smiled.

"Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that."

[Hedley]

a constitutional obligation to look after the well being of the aboriginal populations of this country?

You can't possibly really believe that ..... NEWSFLASH: the gov't screws everybody over.

If I was in charge, I'd announce that in 5 years, all this subsidy nonsense was going to stop, starting now - a 20% decrease in handouts every year.

My ancestors wore skirts, ate sheep's stomach and threw telephone poles for sport. Why don't I get "special" treatment from the gov't to help me deal with the emotional and psychological trauma of it all?

[bcflyer]

Why wait 5yrs? We've given them more than enough money to live on already. I say cut em off now!!! I'm so f*&%in sick and tired of all these idiots dogooders crying that the indians have it so bad when they've never set foot on a reserve and seen the corruption and laziness that exists there.

[ettw]

My ancestors wore skirts, ate sheep's stomach and threw telephone poles for sport. Why don't I get "special" treatment from the gov't to help me deal with the emotional and psychological trauma of it all?

If you were here first then maybe you'd have a caber to stand on but I'm assuming that you or your ancestors moved here because it was better here than where you were so I'm thinking if you want financial support for this distress you are feeling, go get it from the people who saddled you with this mental anguish.

when they've never set foot on a reserve and seen the corruption and laziness that exists there.

I'm sorry, are you refering to the House of Parliment? I'm more concerned with how my tax dollars are being spent on the mission in Afghanistan or full pensions for MPs who only stick around for 6 years than the money spent at INAC. It would appear that for 2006, INACs percentage of the federal budget was about 2.6%. Doesn't sound so unreasonable to me.

I have lived in the north and I have seen the new trucks, the booze, drugs, etc, etc. I know I'm going to get clobbered for this but I think the native population is worse off now than they were before "we" arrived and I still stand on my soap box to say that we have to accept some responsibility for this. I'm sure in a few generations the aboriginal population will have arrived at a happy medium between our society and their past one.

I get really sick and tired of the pathetic, ignorant, racist views expressed by alot of people with respect to the aboriginals. We're all Canadians living in Canada and we look after our own.

Sometimes I wonder if I haven't been timewarped back to someplace like Alabama in the 1940s.

Cheers,
ETTW

[Doc]

Hey Hedley....that ain't all they did to sheep!
Kidding aside...I'd give it ten years, with a 10% reduction in support payments per year. That's why we ain't running the show. There's too much money in keeping the show going! There is NO answer!

[bcflyer]

ETTW
Wow I don't even know where to start. You are correct in saying that you will likely get clobbered for your comments. I think there are too many people on this forum that have witnessed the millions of taxpayers dollars that are wasted every year because we have to "look after" the natives. You say that we are to blame? We are the reason Indians don't go to school? We are the reason that Indians stay on their reserves to eat, drink and sniff themselves to death? (thats when they aren't busy beating each other up or raping their siblings) We are the reasons for the high unemployment among Indians? There are many programs available to every single Indian out there that want to create a better life for themselves. When do we say, enough is enough? You can't continue to throw money at a problem that isn't getting any better. The entire water issue in Kash was a direct result of an Indian that was too lazy to do his job correctly. Once again we have to come in and clean up a mess that was their own fault. When I was in college there was a native sit in at the registrars office complaining that they weren't receiving enough financial aid while in school. They had their tuition, books, room and board all paid for as well as getting a monthly allowance for "recreation" Apparently that wasn't enough. Meanwhile other "non native " students are working two jobs, eating KD and weiners while going to school just to make ends meet. But I guess they should just suck it up since its our fault the Indians are in their prediciment.
Oh and please don't compare this to Alabama in the 1940's. Its not even close to the same thing. They thought that the blacks were an inferior race and certainly weren't giving them land and paying them to do nothing! I don't think that Indians are lower class people, in fact I wish they were treated just like the rest of Canadians!! No free housing, no free land, pay taxes etc etc.

[ettw]

BCFlyer,

There is no doubt that there has been alot of INAC money misspent, stolen, redirected, whatever. Thats not the point. Need I remind you of the Gomery commision, EI billion dollar mystery, EH101 cancellation penalties, etc, etc,. So we should stop paying our taxes because some of it is not spent to your satisfaction? Money is blown by those in charge every day. There are bad apples in all levels of government and management. That's not an excuse, its reality. Hold those who are responsible accountable but don't make everyone pay the price.

What about the water debacle in Walkerton Ontario. That was outright lying and laziness. Who cleaned that mess up? The government. Whats the difference?

As far as your comment regarding Alabama where they "certainly weren't giving them land and paying them to do nothing!", ahhh, I'm pretty sure the natives were here first and that WE pushed them off their land. Paying them to do nothing, well according to the EI numbers I found we are paying about 311000 non aboriginal people to do just that.

There are problems in aboriginal communities, no doubt. So your solution is to cut off all financial support for social programs, education, community based learning, business loans, etc? Sorry, can't subscribe to that.

As far as access to no or low cost education, it frustrates the hell out of me to how many people do not take full advantage of that, but again, cutting it off is not a solution.

One of the most impressive programs I've ever seen involved the rebuilding from the framing up of a large number of old homes in a closed mining town. The band looked at all of them and chose the best and tore them apart, redid the plumbing, electrical, everything. Then you could buy that house using a mortgage.

The most important thing that came out of that program, in my opinion, was not the trades that were learned, or the money that was earned, but the life lessons learned by the kids at home. They saw their father or mother get up Monday to Friday get dressed and head off to work. This was the most important lesson learned in the whole program. BCflyer, you would cut this sort of thing off?

And don't forget that most of these communities do not have enough employment opportunites to employ all adults there. I honestly believe that is where the social issues arise (you know, the sniffing, raping, beating ), just like in downtown Toronto or Vancouver.

All in all, I don't like everything that I see in my travels but I do believe that in time all will come to an equilibrium and that takes time and understanding. I'm really glad that people like you are not running INAC. If you think things are bad now, I can't imagine what the north would look like 5-10 years down the road when all funding is cut off.

Cheers,

ETTW

PS...surprised the mods haven't moved this to the other forum...its hardly about aviation now

[Hedley]

its hardly about aviation now

actually, it is ... all that money that gets hosed at the natives trickles down to non-native pilots building time, doing the popanchips and bingo runs.

[niss]

I am on board with ETTWs point.

These problems were not just caused by our ancestors prior to confederation. The last residental school was closed in saskatchewan in 1996 and were started pre-confederation. That is a minimum of 129 years of being plucked from your families and sent away to learn how to be a good little Christian.

Today, while it is not uncommon to hear some former students speak about their positive experiences in these institutions, their stories are overshadowed by disclosures of abuse, criminal convictions of perpetrators and the findings of various studies such as the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, which tell of the tragic legacy that the residential school system has left with many former students. They, and their communities, continue to deal with issues such as physical and sexual abuse, family violence, and drug and alcohol abuse.

http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/gs/schl_e.html

Excerpt from the Statement of Reconciliation
Sadly, our history with respect to the treatment of Aboriginal people is not something in which we can take pride. Attitudes of racial and cultural superiority led to a suppression of Aboriginal culture and values. As a country, we are burdened by past actions that resulted in weakening the identity of Aboriginal peoples, suppressing their languages and cultures, and outlawing spiritual practices. We must recognize the impact of these actions on the once self-sustaining nations that were disaggregated, disrupted, limited or even destroyed by the dispossession of traditional territory, by the relocation of Aboriginal people, and by some provisions of the Indian Act. We must acknowledge that the result of these actions was the erosion of the political, economic and social systems of Aboriginal people and nations.

Against the backdrop of these historical legacies, it is a remarkable tribute to the strength and endurance of Aboriginal people that they have maintained their historic diversity and identity. The Government of Canada today formally expresses to all Aboriginal people in Canada our profound regret for past actions of the federal government which have contributed to these difficult pages in the history of our relationship togther.

One aspect of our relationship with Aboriginal people over this period that requires particular attention is the Residential School system. This system separated many children from their families and communities and prevented them from speaking their own languages and from learning about their heritage and cultures. In the worst cases, it left legacies of personal pain and distress that continue to reverberate in Aboriginal communities to this day. Tragically, some children were the victims of physical and sexual abuse.

The Government of Canada acknowledges the role it played in the development and administration of these schools. Particularly to those individuals who experienced the tragedy of sexual and physical abuse at residential schools, and who have carried this burden believing that in some way they must be responsible, we wish to emphasize that what you experienced was not your fault and should never have happened. To those of you who suffered this tragedy at residential schools, we are deeply sorry.

[Hedley]

niss, you're young, and missing the point: the gov't screws everybody over. Get used to it.

Google David Milgaard and Paul Morin to see how the gov't treats citizens, both native and of european descent.

[2R]

Ignorance and Racism are words used by both sides of the debate.

It is pure irony when peolple of different political ideologies use the same political rhetoric to defend their views.

To ask for equality and special privallage at the same time is the product of a busy mind.

Do not forget that most of these Indians are Decent People and are grateful for our help.

Any solution should include their input and respect their dignity

[niss]

Why are there so many people calling to remove the social assistance for the natives? Why are there not people saying we should wean the white trash of the federal teat?

Methinks it has something to do with the fact that white trash is white and red trash is red.

[Hedley]

we should wean the white trash of the federal teat?

sounds good to me.

NEWSFLASH FOR EVERYONE: get a job

[2R]

Why are racial slurs against some groups allowed on here yet others taboo ???
Quid pro quo ???