Grassroots News on Chiefs and Missing Money

This story was written in the Grassroots News. I have to say one thing before you read this… It is somewhat surprising that more editing staff is not being utilized at this news source…but as so many of you in Manitoba have clearly laid out … this is a David controlled paper … the advertisement for employment at the newspaper must read …No writing experience required. The article does run on and has very little focus but it does contain the information in relation to several recent news items - so I have not edited its' content.

http://www.grassrootsnews.mb.ca/article.php?article_id=223

NEWS BRIEFS – Breaking News By GRN Staff

First Nations leaders, especially Chiefs, can take some solace in the news that over $9 million was "misplaced" and not accounted for properly by staff at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Chiefs are often maligned for failure to comply with proper accounting procedures, and Grassroots News has become convinced over the years that, while there are some Chiefs who have abused the system, most are trying to run governments with minimal resources while trying to comply with reporting procedures that are completely overbearing and often repetitive and unnecessary. The good news is that First Nations citizens are rising up against corrupt Chiefs (sometimes against all odds because those same Chiefs who rip off the system are usually backed by the power of handouts, nepotism and the authority that goes with the office). The bureaucrats at INAC were accused of mismanagement, inappropriate use of authority, playing favorites, running their Department like a dictatorship, massive absenteeism (stop us when this starts sounding familiar). But, unlike First Nations, who can rise up and oust a crooked leader, the bureaucrats at INAC who @#$%^&'ed up all kept their jobs (two were demoted, one kept his position). Then again, what's $9 million?

The confusion surrounding whether or not all those nice, tidy little homes along Kenaston Boulevard (formerly home to the soldiers of Kapyong Barracks who were transferred to Edmonton) can be used to provide badly needed housing for low income working families, or shelter for single moms on social assistance, or even the homeless got.. more confusing.. as federal Tory bag man Vic Toews implied that the housing will not be made available to First Nations unless they drop their land claim.. but then Toews said he didn't "mean they had to drop the claim". Meanwhile, First Nations leaders, who have indicated that the houses along Kenaston could indeed be used for First Nations citizens in the past, have indicated that they are not interested in the Kapyong property for housing.. their claim is to turn the property into an urban Reserve. Most confusing to the public is the fact all this money is being spent to heat, clean, repair, mow the lawns and even paint these houses while they sit vacant year after year after year.

The fate of three multi-billion-dollar pipelines, and the role of First Nations in approving such projects, and the claim for royalties and compensation to be paid to First Nations if the pipelines go ahead, rests in the hands of a Winnipeg judge. Treaty One First Nations (1871) claim that there is a duty to consult with them before these pipelines are built and this was not done. The seven Treaty One First Nations are demanding Judge Robert Barnes order a halt to construction unless they are consulted and paid royalties and compensation. Lawyers for pipeline companies Enbridge and TranCanada, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, and the federal government claim the pipelines have little impact on Treaty Rights and that even if consultation is required, it would be "at the lowest end of the spectrum". There are billions of dollars at stake here (in construction costs of the pipelines, the value of the sale of oil which flows through the pipelines, and royalties/compensation). Judge Barnes wouldn't say when he would reach a decision but Grassroots News wonders why lawyers for the federal government are always lined up with whomever the Indians are fighting with to gain their rights. Isn't the federal government supposed to be on the side of First Nations in protecting Treaty Rights? And, of course, what kind of justice can we expect when the game is always played by the white man's rules, in the white man's court, subject to His laws?

Meanwhile, Enbridge has given five Dakota First Nations 100 grand each but they had to withdraw their intervener status with the National Energy Board and sign a Memorandum of Understanding. This "bird in the hand" might cost them billions in the bush.

The Assembly of First Nations has asked the federal government for an $8 billion dollar stimulus that would reinstate the Kelowna Accord and add new money for thousand of new houses, upgrade water treatment systems and build new schools. National Chief Phil Fontaine had dinner with Prime Minister Harper on January 15 and said the AFN came away "pleased" with the PM's response. The new federal budget is announced on January 27th, 2009 (the same say Grassroots News is published so we have no news about what is in that budget). You can find out how much money has been set aside for First Nations by searching the internet, reading one of our daily newspapers or on the TV news. Is Phil still pleased?

About 200 students gathered at the University of Winnipeg to protest a proposed move by the federal government to transfer the administration of post-secondary funding for First Nations students from INAC to the Canada Student Loans Program (picture appears elsewhere in GRN). The federal move would mean funding for tuition, books and living expenses would be a loan, making it even more difficult for First Nations students to improve their lives through education (as if it is not bad enough that funds for post-secondary education have been capped at 2 per cent since 1996 creating a long waiting list, and don't forget that many First Nations students already take out loans to supplement their meagre incomes). Look! We can't have it both ways! The Canadian public is always claiming it wants to help improve the lives of First Nations, mostly the economic standing of First Nations, and the best way to do that is through education. Just 4 per cent of Canada's Aboriginal population have university degrees while 15 per cent of the rest of the Canadian population have degrees so "do the math". We can't make it harder for First Nations to escape poverty. Besides, education is a treaty right (and don't give us that crap about "universities never existed when the Treaties were signed so they weren't talking about post-secondary education, just K-12". Yeah, right! Give us a break! The whole word was different back then. The Treaties are meant to cover things generally, this is why health care is referred to as "the medicine chest shall always be full" and economic development is covered by "the provision of plough shares" Education is education and what was meant in the Treaties was not restricted to elementary or high school or university.

Another crowd of about 200 First Nations and Metis citizens gathered at the Aboriginal Centre on Friday, Jan 23rd, 2009 but this was a much happier lot as they were celebrating extension and expansion of the Aboriginal Aerospace Employment Initiative. And that means 200 more Aboriginal citizens will get training and employment experience in one of Manitoba's oldest and most established industries. The federal and provincial governments, along with the Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development (CAHRD), the Aboriginal Council of Winnipeg, MKO and the Southern Chiefs Organization are teaming up to sponsor the program which will provide literacy, like skills, classroom and on-the-job training leading to full-time and permanent employment. Say what you want about CAHRD and the Aboriginal Council, these guys are good at getting government grants (this latest one is worth a whopping $13.9 million in total), and they must doing something right because they are building on an existing program that must have been accountable and produced results in the past. Hey, if they are graduating people with skills in a complicated industry like aerospace, and helping Aboriginal people get permanent, good-paying jobs in one of Winnipeg's most stable labour markets, more power to them (see picture elsewhere in GRN).

And finally, about 200 students from Gordon Bell High School gathered on Portage Avenue at noon on Friday, Jan 23rd to yell "Gimme a G R E E N Gimme an S P A C E" and tell Canada Post that the large, one black square property which used to be Midway Chrysler would be better used as a sports field than a postal service outlet. The high school has been concrete bound since it opened 49 years ago but now has an historic chance to create a badly needed recreational facility right beside their classrooms along Canada's most famous freeway. This one is such a no-brainer, Grassroots News staff will lay across Portage Avenue during rush hour if the students don't get their way (well, at least the Editor will). Picture also appears in this edition of GRN.

Fort Chip cancer rates higher than expected: report

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/02/06/edm-fort-chip-cancer.html

I believe the news and stories clearly show the position of the Government in relation to Aboriginal People

I had the good fortune to visit Fort Chipewyan many years ago. It is a very isolated mostly Aboriginal community in northeastern Alberta. If you were to consider a community that has been impacted by its’ environment – there is no greater place.

The community lies along the shore of Lake Athabasca. When I went there it was a terrain that had its’ own beauty but it came with many challenges. To give you a small glimpse of the community the hamlet of Fort Chipewyan has a small population – based on the 2006 census it had 915 people. The population in Fort Chipewyan and the surrounding area is largely made up of Cree First Nations, Chipewyan First Nations and Métis people.

The media yesterday through an Alberta Health report released alarming statistics in relation to the cancer rates of people living in this community. The Alberta report and the government is quick to say there is no proven ability to consider that this may be a result of their environment.

The Governments can look the other way – blame others and try to convince Americans of their clean oil but the people of Fort Chipewyan could tell you a story that started many years ago.

Lake Athabasca has one of the worlds largest fresh water deltas which receives water from the Peace River, Slave River and the Athabasca. The Peace Athabasca delta also has the designation of being the largest boreal delta in the world.

In 1968 a dam was built on the Peace River called the Bennett Dam. The flooding of the Finlay and Peace river valleys was a tragedy for the aboriginal people and the impacts were felt from the reservoir valleys through to Fort Chipewyan. In fact, late last fall one of the Aboriginal groups called the Kwadacha First Nation received a multi million dollar settlement for the damages that they endured as a result of the dam.

The Bennett Dam also caused the water levels in the Peace Athabasca Delta to significantly drop. BC Hydro has disputed that at different times but there has been different things attempted to try and raise the levels in the past which even include weirs.

The loss of water levels in the Delta has environmental effects on the Fort Chip people but it also has life style impacts. The people of Fort Chipewyan are dependent on the water way as a means of transportation throughout the summer and fall months of the year. It provides the community with a means to barge their supplies into the community and they also use it as a source of access to traditional food sources. When the delta water recedes the barges can not move. The boats can’t depend on it as a mode of transportation - they must rely on sustaining their lives on process foods that are preserved; they must rely on expensive transportation to bring in this less then ideal food source; they must use air travel to access the required medical services that they may need and mostly the issue of the delta is that it is one of the avenues of contaminating Lake Athabasca.

Then we start with the issue of the mining that has contaminated the water sources between Fort McMurray and Fort Chip. The tailing ponds that have been knowingly leaking and sending toxic recipes into the waterways both surface and subsurface. There have been times that notices have been sent out about warnings about the fish and wildlife source being less then healthy and that they should not be eating animals in certain areas.

I am also not indicating that the tar sands and dams are the only detriment to this community because on the north shore of lake Athabasca (Saskatchewan Side) there is the uranium mining and gold mining.

None of this is the entire story … there are the issues that there has been no investment of infrastructure to support the needs of the community in the area of education, health or programming. Often – even though many hear about the plentiful jobs available for the taking and opportunities galore – Fort Chip is to far away to benefit (you mostly must fly in and out of the community or if the waterway is open it is a 6 - 8 hour boat ride to Fort McMurray) but they are not far enough away not to be impacted.

Over the last several years the Aboriginal leaders in Fort Chipewyan have been raising the issue of the number of their family members that seemed to be contracting cancer. The death toll to cancer appeared to be higher based on what they knew and the forms of cancer were rare. In 2002/03 Dr. John O’Connor of Fort Chip began speaking out about the issues related to the patients he was working with. He was later put before a great deal of professional challenges by the Alberta Government for raising the alarm on the issue and the Alberta Government insisted that these allegations were unfounded. The Aboriginal people of Fort Chip were forced to do some of their own studies relating to the water and the fish to try and make the government take the allegations seriously. They found higher levels of various toxins in the fish, water and soil.

In the spring of 2006 - Dr. O'Connor wanted the oil industry to pay for health research that would explain the high rate and rarity of the cancers in the community. In May of 2008 the Alberta Government in partnership with Health Canada agreed to launch what they termed a "Comprehensive Review" that would have the results released in the fall of 2008.

Well here we are in the early part of 2009 and a report is released …. But comprehensive …. I would say not. Comprehensive would have had recommendations that clearly set the parameters of assessing responsibility. It would not have had the Government of Alberta still denying any environmental causes.

As Canadians we can all turn the other way – it is not our children, our elders and our community that is drinking the water – eating the food and suffering the consequences of our industrial greed. We watch governments work with industry to ignore the issues that are raised in relation to the on-going development without hesitation for the long term impacts of what this does. In fact, one of the Alberta Members of the Legislative Assembly said we should be happy that the industry is mining the oil because when he went on a site visit the stuff is just bubbling up and contaminating the water ways.

We must remember that many international and national corporations have been making billions of dollars in profits and as they try to tell you about their Community Responsibility and Relationships they would sooner look the other way and continue to ignore the facts.

The ERCB released new regulations on tailing ponds this week – this will not clean up the underground water and soil contamination that has gone on for decades.

All of this seems far too little far too late. And now…the saga continues as there is talk about another dam on the Peace River by Dunvegan. Industry keeps progressing and Aboriginal people are overlooked.

Mother by Nature - An interesting Blog

Recently there has been media attention on New Brunswick about whether there should be the National Anthem in the School’s everyday because of its’ reference to God. Freedom of Religion within our charter would infer that Canada is a place where all religions are allowed to exist without imposing your religious beliefs on another. As an Aboriginal person living in Canada I do understand that the imposition of another’s values, beliefs and culture on ours has been the make up of many tragedies that Métis, First Nations and Inuit people are still dealing with today.

There is a blog called "Mother by Nature" that recently posted an item that I thought was interesting and had some very interesting views. I thought I would share it with all of you:

http://motherbynature.ca/2009/02/o-canada-thy-history-is-confused/


O Canada Thy History is Confused

So I was googling the lyrics to O Canada. Purely out of laziness, so I could just copy-paste and print instead of typing them out myself. I’m not hyper-patriotic or anything… in fact I think the recent hubbub about the New Brunswick elementary school that decided to stop singing the anthem every single day is just ridiculous. I mean, do we as adults sing the anthem every single day in our workplaces? Forcing kids to sing it in school every single day is not going to instill patriotism. At best, it produces boredom and annoyance, it stops having meaning and becomes a pointless ritual. At worst, it’s propaganda and indoctrination, pure and simple.

We should want to sing the anthem because we love our country, because we feel it to be a country worth being proud of. The cause and effect goes in that direction, not the other way around. We don’t come to love our country by singing the anthem!

Anyway, I still think it’s important that my kids know the anthem, and can sing it. So we’re going to start singing it together… maybe once a week. Maybe not that often. Whatever, just so that we learn it. And the history of it is quite interesting, so we’ll take a look at that too.

For instance, there’s the whole changing-of-the-lyrics thing. I found this great clip on youtube, which is a wax cylinder recording of a performance of the 1908 lyrics. These were not the first english lyrics, but they are the ones from which our current version eventually evolved.

Then I visited the official government heritage website detailing the history of the anthem. It was fascinating, except…

According to the listed history, a committee formed in 1967 recommended a version of the lyrics which are the ones we use today, adding “from far and wide” and “God keep our land” to replace two of the “we stand on guard” phrases.

But that did not match my memory.

I distinctly remember having to learn the new lyrics in elementary school, in the early 80s. I wasn’t even alive in 1967. What’s more, the lyrics that I remember having learnt first did not match the previous version as listed on the official website.

Leave it to wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org/) to clear it up for me.

In 1980, the song was (finally) officially adopted as our national anthem, with a revised set of lyrics.

The original 1908 lyrics went, from just before the ‘chorus’:

And stand on guard, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee,
O Canada, O Canada,O Canada, we stand on guard for thee
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee

The lyrics used until 1980 were:

And stand on guard, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee,
O Canada, glorious and free
We stand on guard, we stand on guard for thee
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee

Ahh… THAT’s what I remember. And THAT is not mentioned anywhere on the official heritage website! How confusing must our anthem’s history be, that even the government’s own history website does not get it right?

And of course, here is the version officially adopted in 1980 that we use today:

From far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee,
God keep our land glorious and free
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee

Even our modern version is not without controversy. Many Canadians object to the religious aspect of “God keep our land” — interestingly, that was one of the lines added later, and was never in the original.

There is also objection to the “In all thy sons command” line, as it is gender-exclusive. Before you go thinking “oh that’s just overly PC, we should keep it the way it is for history and tradition’s sake” — you should know that this was also not part of the original. The original line, as you can hear in the youtube clip, was “Thou dost in us command,” which was changed to the “sons” line in a 1914 revision. Considering that at that time in our history, bills proposing women’s suffrage and property rights were still being defeated in some parts of the country, it is not unreasonable to interpret this as a sexist sentiment, that women are not capable of “true patriot love.”

A proposed modern alternative is “In all of us command.” I could live with that.

The other line that raises hackles is “Our home and native land,” and this one has always bothered me. The issue is simply that this is not the ‘native land’ of all Canadian citizens. Not only is it not true for more recent immigrants, but the vast majority of the Canadian population is descended from immigrants. This is only truly “native land” for the aboriginal populations, and it’s quite offensive IMO for us white folk to loudly proclaim that this is OUR native land, after everything we’ve done to the aboriginal peoples.

In fact, when I sing this line, I make a subtle change in my head. I don’t change the words, just the meaning. This is “our home”, but we are living on “native land.”

Being President can get your children in the headlines when things go wrong....

In Today's Winnipeg Sun:

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/manitoba/2009/02/05/8271316-sun.html

The son of Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a series of drug-fuelled break-ins and robberies.

At a sentencing hearing Tuesday, Judge Heather Pullan gave Christopher Guiboche, 24, double credit of two years for time already served, reducing his remaining sentence to one year.

Guiboche was arrested Oct. 30, 2007 after police spotted him on the roof of a Regent Avenue liquor commission, the lookout during an attempted break-in.

He was released on a promise to appear, only to be re-arrested two weeks later after robbing a North End bingo hall.

Court heard Guiboche threatened a volunteer with a pellet gun before making off with $1,000 cash.

RETURNED TO CUSTODY

Guiboche was released on bail the following January but was returned to custody three months later when his father reported he was continuing to use crack.

During an interview with police, Guiboche confessed to breaking in to the MMF'S Henry Street office on Oct. 20, 2007 and stealing $1,400 from a bank machine.

Guiboche was previously employed as a security officer at the building but was fired after he repeatedly showed up drunk for work.

"He knows he has disappointed his father and he knows he has disappointed his community," said defence lawyer Lisa Labossiere.

Chartrand described his son as a "kind, hard-working, compassionate boy" driven to crime by his addiction to drugs, Labossiere said.

"He did not know who his son was. His son was a different person."

Pullan rejected a defence request Guiboche be sentenced to time served, saying he has shown no evidence he is ready to abide by probation conditions.

After being released by police following his first arrest, Guiboche's behaviour "escalated to a shocking extent," Pullan said.

"The degree of brazenness for a man just released for a break-in is alarming."

Canada's Record on Indigenous Rights Questioned at UN Human Rights Council

OTTAWA, Feb. 4 /CNW Telbec/ - The international community has sent a strong message that the Government of Canada must do more to uphold the human rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Canada's human rights record was reviewed by the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday, February 3 as part of the new Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process.

Of the 45 states that spoke during the three -hour session, 30 raised concerns about the rights of Indigenous peoples. Some of the strongest recommendations came from states that have traditionally allied with Canada in the promotion of human rights.

The United Kingdom, for example, recommended that Canada give its "highest priority" to addressing "fundamental inequalities" between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people including through "resolution of land claims and reconciliation of governance and self-government."

The governments of Norway and Denmark called on Canada to reconsider its opposition to the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Norwegian representative said, "We believe the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is unique as a universal framework for improving implementation of existing rights of Indigenous peoples in all countries of the world."

The government of Norway also called for "comprehensive reporting and statistical analysis of the scale and character of violence against Indigenous women so that a national strategy can be initiated in consultation with Indigenous representatives to respond to the severity of this issue."

Switzerland expressed concern over the lengthy process for resolving Indigenous land disputes and the concessions demanded by the government as a condition for settling claims. Switzerland urged Canada to "redouble its efforts" to resolve land disputes and to improve the mechanisms for doing so.

Canada was also questioned about the rights of Indigenous peoples by states with close economic ties. The government of the Philippines asked, "Is there specific legislation which covers mining activities in lands claimed by Indigenous communities? What mechanisms are in place to resolve possible disputes between private corporations, local and federal government and Indigenous communities in this regard?"

Twenty-three states did not have a chance to speak because of time constraints. They have submitted questions and recommendations in writing. For example, Zambia recommended Canada "take steps to review its position on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, consistent with the principal of international cooperation and the protection of the international human rights system as a whole."

Canada failed to consult with Indigenous peoples' organizations and domestic human rights groups before submitting its report to the Human Rights Council. Such consultation is recommended by the UPR process. Unfortunately, the failure to hold consultations was not made clear in Canada's report or in yesterday's session, which led some states to congratulate Canada on its consultations.

"The government is working with Aboriginal communities to agree on priorities," John Sims, the Deputy Minister of Justice, told the UN Human Rights Council. "The challenges are enormous. The scale of issues to confront is vast and many of the issues are technically very complex but we're moving ahead on many fronts: education, entrepreneurship, economic development, land
claims, safe drinking water and so on."

Indigenous peoples' organizations and human rights groups are calling on Canada to take the recommendations of the UPR seriously and to engage constructively with Indigenous peoples and civil society to ensure their implementation.

The report of the Council's UPR Working Group will be released on Thursday, February 5. The Government of Canada will have until June to respond.

Video recordings of the session and related documents can be found online at: http://www.un.org/webcast/unhrc/archive.asp?go=090203

For further information:
Assembly of First Nations:
Don Kelly, Communications, (613) 241-6789 ext 334, dkelly@afn.ca

Gina Cosentino, Government Relations + International Affairs, National Chief's Office, (613)
241-6789 ext 356, gcosentino@afn.ca;

Amnesty International Canada: Beth Berton-Hunter, Media Officer,
Amnesty International Canada, (416) 363-9933, ext 32, Cell: (416) 904-7158;

Canadian Friends Service Committee: Jennifer Preston, (416) 920-5213;

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami: Stephen Hendrie, Director of Communications, Cell: (613) 277-3178, hendrie@itk.ca;

Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada): Corinne Gray, (613) 563-2642;

KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice: Ed Bianchi, Indigenous Rights Program Coordinator, (613) 235-9956;

Native Women's Association of Canada: Celeste McKay, cell: (613) 858-7070;

Quebec Native Women: Ellen Gabriel, (450) 632-0088 ext. 228

More on Senator Brazeau in the news….

The Federal Government must be rubbing their chins and asking themselves – What the heck have we gotten into and how do we fix it? I will say good luck because obviously those of us that are at a community level have been wondering that ourselves.

The bad news is not going away for past CAP leader, Patrick Brazeau. CTV news did a piece on the newly appointed Senator which ended with him driving his new Porshe. He certainly has brought to the attention of all Canadians that it does not matter how many issues may be a part of your past … if you are a friend of Prime Minister Harper’s accountability is not an issue. In fact the CTV broadcast certainly brought forward some very disturbing accounts of a man who is ridden with fallacies and who is not the person he portrayed himself to be.

The other two individuals who were at CAP and riddled with some of the same accusations that are facing Senator Brazeau have left the organization are now a part of the support staff for the Brazeau in the senate.

Even the leadership hopefuls for the AFN’s top job are now weighing into the story. Attached are a couple of articles in relation to these matters.

Reserve seats in Commons, Senate for aboriginals: Chief

By CHRISTINA SPENCER, NATIONAL BUREAU

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/02/04/8255526-sun.html

OTTAWA -- Parliament should set aside a minimum number of seats in the House of Commons and the Senate for aboriginals, says a top Ontario candidate for the job of national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

John Beaucage, grand council chief of the 42-member First Nations of the Anishinabek Nation, said the AFN needs to be "more than a special interest group" lobbying federal officials. Instead, he said, it should focus more on acting as a steward of native self-government.

"We are a government in principle," he said.

New Zealand, a fellow Commonwealth country with a parliamentary system, already sets aside seats for Maoris, he said. "I think that could ... hold true for Canada."

While there are aboriginals in Canada's parliament, they often have to vote the party line, rather than defend the interests of First Nations, Beaucage said.

And he added one of them -- recently appointed Senator Patrick Brazeau -- had "hurt" aboriginal causes. Brazeau, former head of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, which purports to speak for urban First Nations, has been the subject of controversy since his appointment. "He does not speak for us."

About 60% of First Nations people don't live on reserves and are not represented by the AFN. Beaucage said he would like to see the organization represent them as well.

So far, three candidates are running to become the next head of the AFN: Beaucage, Perry Bellegarde of Saskatchewan, and B.C.'s Shawn Atleo.

Current AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine has not said if he will run for re-election.

Don Martin: Patrick Brazeau should have stayed a 'senator-in-waiting'

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/02/03/don-martin-patrick-brazeau-should-have-stayed-a-senator-in-waiting.aspx

Posted: February 03, 2009, 10:44 AM by Dan Goldbloom

It's hard to imagine how such a thoroughly damaged resumé could've survived the supposedly ruthless scrutiny of the Prime Minister's Office, particularly when the job is a 40-year guaranteed Senate gig with an annual salary of $130,000 plus perks.

But the allegations, investigations and accusations against newly-appointed aboriginal Senator Patrick Brazeau, 34, are piling up in such a frenzy that it's quickly put the unelected Senate under a negative light, and must surely embarrass Canada's other six native senatorial representatives.

Consider the growing list of Brazeau indiscretions conveniently overlooked by the PMO, but unearthed by reporters in fairly short order.

Brazeau had to be arm-twisted to give up his six-figure job as chief of the Congress of Aboriginal People, lest it be seen as double-dipping on the taxpayers' tab.

That Conservative-cheerleading organization is still under investigation by Health Canada for its use or misuse of $260,000 in public funds including $16,050 in suspect payments to Brazeau or his sidekicks.

The man described in his bio as a loving father of three is darn close to qualifying to be a deadbeat dad with the mother of one offspring telling CTV that Brazeau hasn't seen or properly supported his 14-year-old son in eight years.

Brazeau's been seen tooling around Parliament Hill in a new Porsche SUV, has hired Ottawa staff who were reportedly hitting the sauce hard during work hours at his former congress job and is still fending off refuted allegations of sexual harassment at a human rights tribunal.

If this is the calibre of individual Stephen Harper had in mind when he set out to reform the Senate, well, it's enough to make you yearn for those days when they filled the place with backroom bagmen.

It's clear that Patrick Brazeau should've been kept a senator-in-waiting a bit longer to clear his name — or save taxpayers from a bad appointment.


AFN candidate challenging CAP in wake of Brazeau's departure
http://impolitical.blogspot.com/2009/02/afn-candidate-challenging-cap-in-wake.html

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Patrick Brazeau's departure from the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples has caused a candidate for the leadership of the Assembly of First Nations to seek to drive CAP out of business by making AFN the true representative of "natives on and off reserves": "AFN contender targets rival native group."

I'll let others speak to the merits of that proposal. I just want to note one aspect of this report that fits with the larger Conservative modus operandi.

Note this part of the report, Harper's favouring of CAP over the Assembly of First Nations and Brazeau returning the favour:

Hostilities between the AFN and the Congress have festered for years, but came to a boil when Mr. Brazeau became national chief of the Congress in 2006. He regularly criticized the AFN and its political structure of on-reserve chiefs as unaccountable to aboriginals and unaccountable in their use of taxpayer dollars.

Mr. Brazeau was also far more overtly political than his predecessors, publicly endorsing the Conservative Party and its leader, Stephen Harper. In turn, Mr. Harper attended a gathering of the Congress but did not attend any meetings of the AFN.

The Conservative government also funded a cross-country tour by Mr. Brazeau, where he concluded that off-reserve aboriginals are sometimes banned from taking part in elections on the reserves where they or their family are from.

More of the Harper government's short-sighted philosophy of picking winners and losers on any given issue. We've seen it as well with the ethnic groups the Conservatives target for votes. Some are more sought out than others. The federal government shouldn't be favouring one organization here over another and sowing division. Less political opportunism, more good governance. This the Conservatives have failed to learn.

Anything else coming down the pipeline? It can't be over...

Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review

UN panel tells Canada to improve human rights record

Laura MacInnis, Reuters Published: Tuesday, February 03, 2009

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1248510

GENEVA - Canada should strengthen its domestic violence laws and stop religious discrimination against Muslims, a UN panel said Tuesday.

Germany, Russia, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and China are among the other countries facing a review this month, under a less than year-old process that is meant to ensure all UN members are held to account for their rights records.

In its first examination under the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review, Canada was also urged to do more to improve the welfare of its aboriginal citizens and to review its policies on police use of Taser weapons, following the 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski, an unarmed Polish tourist, at the Vancouver airport.

The Canadian delegation told the 47-member state forum "no country, including Canada, has a perfect human rights record."

"It is important that every country open their human rights records to scrutiny, both domestically and internationally," Canada's deputy justice minister John Sims told the session in Geneva, where both the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Human Rights Council are based.

The reviews could help the nearly three-year-old Human Rights Council gain credibility as a watchdog for wrongdoings.

Since its launch in 2006, the council has held special sessions on Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan's Darfur crisis, and Israel.

The council's predecessor, the UN Human Rights Commission, was seen to be largely ineffective.

Canada faced questions about its anti-terrorism laws, including a controversial "special advocate" measure in which a court-appointed lawyer with high security clearance stands in the place of certain detainees in their hearings.

Mr. Sims said the practice was meant to protect highly sensitive information while ensuring detainees get fair treatment.

"This program special advocates will be challenged and will work its way through the Canadian court system. It will, in this way, be tested for how well the government has struck this important balance," he said.

On racial and religious profiling, he said that it was not used as it was contrary to the law. Canada's "bias-free" recruitment of police meant its force included racial or ethnic minorities less likely to engage in such practices, he said.

Addressing the concerns raised that it should ratify more human rights treaties, Sims said that Canada chose not to join the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in September, 2007 because it was too vague on some issues.

"We are aware that Canada's position has generated a number of adverse reactions. I wish to stress, however, that Canada remains committed to fulfilling its human rights commitments to aboriginal peoples in Canada," he said.

The UN panel also said Canada ought to accede to UN treaties on enforced disappearances, the rights of migrant workers, and an optional protocol to the anti-torture pact.

Canada slipping on human rights: Amnesty

Louisa Taylor, Ottawa Citizen Published: Monday, February 02, 2009

OTTAWA - Canadians have long prided themselves on being the good guys when it comes to protecting human rights at home and abroad, but that's no longer always the case, says Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada.

"Canada has started to be a problem with regard to some human rights issues and has in fact started to get in the way of protection," said Neve, citing as an example Canada's "aggressive opposition" to the 2007 adoption of a United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Canada was one of only four countries to vote against the measure.

Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Canadian government "set out to block and defeat" the declaration, says Neve. "Other countries can't believe they saw that kind of behaviour from Canada and it has significantly set back and undermined our authority on the world stage."

Neve was speaking in advance of a speech he's making at the University of Ottawa Monday as part of its International Development Week activities. The theme of the week is Development: A Basic Human Right? and featured speakers include former minister of Foreign Affairs Lloyd Axworthy, Council of Canadians chair Maude Barlow and journalist Alexandre Trudeau.

Neve says he was asked to reflect on the state of human rights protection in the world today, a timely topic a month after the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"There is a great deal to celebrate and the world has come forward leaps and bounds from that time, in spite of horrific tragedies," such as Rwanda and Darfur, said Neve.

Canada's place at the forefront of human rights protection begins with the 1948 declaration itself, which was drafted in large part by Canadian legal scholar John Humphrey. Since then Canada has been a leader on many fronts, including the protection of child soldiers, the treaty to ban land mines and the creation of the International Criminal Court.

Neve cites former Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney's "strong leadership" in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and on initiatives regarding children's rights as evidence the shift in Canada's reputation can't be explained by blaming one political party or another. But he points to Canada's current position "of complete support of Israel with respect to the very volatile human rights issues that come up regarding Israel and Palestine" as a sign that the Harper government has abandoned previous efforts to remain impartial.

"That has damaged our reputation for principled leadership and objectivity regarding human rights," said Neve. "There's no question it has been since this government took power that we have seen a lot of these changes in policy and positions . . . We need to make it clear that's not Canada's tradition and Canadians want to see a return to principled leadership."