Maclean's
Tuesday 18 February 2020
Snippet 7 -- Canadian Railway
"I don’t know how we are going to get through this winter and get the trains running again, but I believe our politicians and police should err on the side of caution, and we should keep in mind that our country only exists because of the lawful crimes our government committed to get the railway built."
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One's response should be both right and just.
ReplyDeleteOur country was based on settler laws. Can't change now.
ReplyDeleteAh, so you play the legal move. Then, I'll use a morality move against your laws.
DeleteThe indigenous people peacefully invited us to share their land ... of cause it was.
Using the clever French word 'traite' we invented the treaty in order to make it legal. Questioning such a move, they were simply asked if they had a flag, i.e., No flag, no land. I suppose that it could have ended there, but the French decided that they had a flag and we granted them a special reservation -- referred to as Quebec. Therefore, until today ... discrimination.
Checkmate.
(See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9W1zTEuKLY)
"The root of the current clash can be found in reasons given for an environmental assessment certificate issued by B.C.'s ministers of environment and natural gas development on Oct. 23, 2014. The province acknowledged concerns from the Office of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and other Indigenous groups — and gave the green light to the project anyway." (CBC)
ReplyDelete"Just in case the way forward wasn't murky enough, the Liberals also reportedly reneged on a promise to introduce a bill that would implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples." (Maclean's)
ReplyDeleteYou are correct about the discord, but it is further complicated by, not only two sides of government, but two sides of indigenous factions ... and both being played with by capitalism ... as communism awaits in the wings.
ReplyDeleteAs I write, blockades continue across our country in solidarity with the hereditary chiefs of the indigenous Wet’suwet’en territory.
ReplyDeleteJustin Trudeau (back from his world tour) and his public safety minister, Bill Blair, said they would not interfere in police operations, and his two (Non-Indigenous) Indigenous affairs ministers, Marc Miller and Carolyn Bennett, pledged to meet the hereditary chiefs "at a moment's notice”. Showing his concern in the importance of this matter, Trudeau simply briefed the premiers over the phone, as they had requested a day earlier.
MPs debated a Conservative motion that condemned "radical activists" who are "holding the Canadian economy hostage” And again, such was the emergency, a vote on the motion was deferred until Monday.
Andrew MacDougall also writes in Maclean’s that “… divorced of consequence civil disobedience is anarchy, tarted-up.” While ignoring the fact that there is good argument that the hereditary chiefs do have some authority in this case (See an earlier comment), and that the word anarchy could be considered inflammatory.
Finally, would it not be very useful to accept an offer by Jody Wilson-Raybold, PC QC MP, to help with mediation, considering her previous position as a Treaty Commissioner and Regional Chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations. Good luck with that would be the unfortunate response, I suppose.
Trudeau is too proud to invite Jody Wilson-Raybold to help resolve his problem. I doubt he even talks to her, she's an enemy just like Scheer. Remember when we played cowboys and Indians? Most guys wanted to be cowboys and shoot imaginatively the Indians. Trudeau must have played the part of the Indian on his street. Those were simpler times.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about playing an "Indian" but he does know how to select an indigenous opponent for the boxing ring.
DeleteAnother random viewpoint: As each year passes, more indigenous lawyers will graduate from various universities. Inevitably, there will be an indigenous judge on the Supreme Court (A building on treaty land), not to mention Governor General (But, naturally, there will not be any incursion into the position of Prime Minister for many decades). Therefore, our government should stop 'kicking the can down the road'.
ReplyDeleteWhen Indigenous people become lawyers and in other professions it was hoped they would become part of the mainstream but instead some harbour old grievances and are now in a position to disrupt the country. Is this the can you want the government to stop kicking down the road?
ReplyDeleteYes, the can is (are) the many treaties written by the colonialists in their own favour with little consideration for the indigenous peoples. It should not be surprising that they have not become part of the "mainstream" as their legal strengths are still developing in the capitalist arena that they, now, find themselves.
DeleteDo you not think it beyond time for an indigenous Supreme Court judge, and if it is acceptable to have a Haitian Governor General, the same applies. Furthermore, the G.G. is a representative of the Queen who, I am certain, would be more than delighted to fill the position from the indigenous community.
Allow me to repeat the government's embarrassing reluctance to sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The many indigenous tribes in North America, first encountered in the late 1500's until the late 1800's, were friendly to Europeans for many reasons but one was to have the French help the Huron and Cree among others fight the Iroquois, supported by the English, to kill each other in gruesome war and rituals. Across the continent tribal wars were common with or without European weapons.
ReplyDeleteWe're fed a picture of peaceful, friendly, helpful, native people when the truth is that they were as duplicitous as their white allies. Why else would they sign away their hunting grounds for a promise of protection from the King across the ocean plus money, guns and whisky?
The Indian Act made them wards of the state promising money and the right to live peacefully on tribal territory in their own way (as long as they did what they were told by the government agent). Their Chiefs and Shamans concurred at the time. Later, the federal government tried to absorb them into the mainstream but the attempt failed. Racism and prejudice existed but were not a front page issue until the later part of the 20th Century. In the meantime, many tribal 'nations' have prospered under enlightened leadership but others, still enveloped in the blanket of shamanic tribalism, are still struggling.
The Mohawks (Part of the Iroquois nation) have prospered more than others by disregarding Canadian law. They may have the most to lose if the old myths are forgotten. What else have they in common with people in northern British Columbia?
I suggest it is to protect their 'privilege' to illegally sell cigarettes, weed, gasoline, and engage in other nefarious activities free from interference by the white settlers ie the OPP or RCMP and to be required to pay taxes like other Canadians.
So, as I said previously, you seem to be asking them, "Do you have a flag ?"
ReplyDeleteI imagine a future, following when the great global warming removes the snow from the Northern Territories, the capitalists will be up there too, giving away gifts of beads, alcohol, and a promise of clean drinking water. Pompously saying, "Do you have a mining drill ?" 🙄
LOL.
ReplyDeleteMany tribes are very entrepreneurial. They'll do alright as they share in the rewards legally, unlike the Mohawks.
Canada awarded Guinness World Record for Can Kicking. LOL !
Delete