It's hard to believe that a native leader from a suffering community, would have to go on a hunger strike, to try to get a meeting with a Canadian Prime Minister.
On the eve of a day of aboriginal protest, the hunger-striking chief of the troubled Attawapiskat First Nation is again calling for a meeting with the prime minister and Canada’s governor-general.
And even harder to believe that Stephen Harper would let her starve rather than talk to her. For either he is incapable of even the smallest noble gesture. Or he's AFRAID of her eh?
Afraid of this gentle leader.
“I had a talk with my girls and I explained the journey of life. There are times in the journey of life you lose your loved ones. That is part of life,” said Spence. “If I am not going to be here, you are not going to be alone…There will be people looking after you, my partner, your sisters, my friends will look after them and I am going to be there in my spirit with them every day.”
And her Harper teddy bear.
Despite the heaviness of the topic and its dark lining, levity still comes easily here. Spence holds a teddy bear she said is named “Harper” and laughs. “I sleep with him, he keeps me warm,” she said. “My honey came here and spotted him and said, ‘you are replacing me,’ yes with Harper.”
Can you believe it? Give Harpo a hug, or a pair.
But of course Great Teddy Leader IS afraid of Chief Spence, because she is inspiring the awesome Idle No More movement, which is spreading like wild fire.
“We’re seeing a rejection of old strategies right now,” said Wab Kinew, the First Nations co-ordinator at the University of Manitoba. “Aboriginal people have tried sitting down with the government, they’ve tried doing it the bureaucratic way but it isn’t working. So they aren’t going to wait for the Assembly of First Nations, they aren’t going to wait for their leaders. They’re going to lead the charge.”
And all Great Chicken Leader has ever given the First Nations is hollow words and broken promises.
And all I can say is I'm with them, and I only wish I could attend today's rally in Ottawa.
For they are not just fighting for social justice, they are fighting to defend our precious land, its lakes and its rivers, that the Cons would defile. So their struggle is our struggle.
And Stephen Harper should find the courage and the decency to meet with Chief Spence before she gets even weaker.
Because if he doesn't, and something happens to her, he could find himself facing an uprising from coast to coast to coast.
For there will be justice, or there will be trouble.
Now is the time to show our solidarity with our First Nations brothers and sisters, and help drive another nail into the Con coffin.
Enough is Enough.
Idle no more....
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harper is a prick
ReplyDeletein the side of all Canadians.
If the prick
is not removed
it will fester and destroy us all.
Chief Spence will be our salvation.
She will shame us all to remove the prick before the end of it's term.
the other pricks will wilt and wither in the wind
hi ron... there is no denying that Harper is a prick. In fact I was planning to call him a dick head in this post. But then I remembered that's what I call Pierre Poilievre... ;)
DeleteAs we see how Harper, the new Great Dictator, treats all Canadians? The F.N. people suffer the worst. The high number of their young people committing suicide, is absolutely tragic. They see no better future for themselves. They have no hope. While it would be great, if they could merge in with us? They can't. They are the last to be hired for any jobs. Even resource jobs, on their own damned land.
ReplyDeleteIn Attawapiskat. Houses in the High North, only last for 5 to 8 years. Heat from the houses, melt the perma-frost. The floorboards begin to rot, mold grows through the houses, because of the damp. Mike Holmes said. The houses were crap to begin with. It costs $200,000 to build a cabin way up there.
The Children don't even know, what a real school is? They keep their winter jackets on, in their ice cold portables. We complain bitterly about, our Canadian high cost of living everywhere we live. Heat, hydro and food costs in Attawapiskat, are ten times our costs.
In BC we support our F.N. People. They are our unpaid stewards of, lands, lakes, rivers, streams, fish, sea, forests, woodland wildlife and our marine life. We rely on our F.N. We owe them a huge thank-you. We respect their wisdom of mother nature. Their wisdom, is a hell of a lot better than ours. They are always the first, to spot eco damage.
Provinces need to support the F.N. People. We have done enough dirt to them. Their children deserve, the same breaks our kids have. The F.N. citizens, deserve our help, not our hate.
hi anonymous...we all need to support the First Nations of this country. Far too many Canadians have become desensitized to their plight, or feel that the problem is too big etc etc. The time for excuses is over, the native people are rising up, and I support them a hundred per cent. Until we are all free none of is free...
DeleteHave a great Christmas Simon, keep on keeping on, thanks.
ReplyDeletehi Steve...thanks, and Merry Christmas to you and your loved one...
DeleteP.S. I think I've finally discovered how to keep on keeping on in Harperland. Close your eyes, put on ear muffs, put one foot after the other, and drink a lot... ;)
Remember those old dusters , where the good guy would take his knife and so would the chief, thumbs were slashed , and it matched same color etc. Genetic markers make more of a case , we are human beings , a name familiar to 1st nations . We should thank them for holding on to our country so L'il Steve could sell it PS there is a nice pic of 1st nations face painting L'il Steve.
ReplyDeletehi ofoab...we owe the First Nations a huge debt of gratitude for fighting so hard to save our land, and for reminding us of the true priorities in life. Canada wouldn't be half the country it is without them, and now they are leading the struggle against the Con regime. How great is that? And how could we ever thank them enough?
ReplyDelete