Ex-aboriginal health boss charged in $1M theft

You know we often wonder why there are no audits and reviews done that would determine accountability for what we believe are issues in the reporting of government funds received by organizations. There are a couple of interesting points in this article the first being that this is an issue that started in 1999 and went on for five years - over two organizations and four years of RCMP investigating before charges were laid. It would be important to remember that this is just allegations at this point which are now 10 years since the start of this. There will still be the cost associated with the trial and justice process that may take up to another 2 plus years before there is guilt attached to the individual that is being charged.

Based on that – when might we see investigation, forensic audits or accountability of what is believed to be misspent tax dollars? Also consider the amount of resources that are spent to try and bring justice to the issue. Could be a very long and expensive wait….

Ex-aboriginal health boss charged in $1M theft

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2009/02/12/8360571-sun.html

WINNIPEG -- The former head of a Manitoba aboriginal health agency is accused of stealing more than $1 million from the organization as well as from a reserve he once co-managed.

The RCMP say Daryl Joseph Cote, 53, of Winnipeg, is charged with two counts of theft and two counts of fraud.

Police say the charges were laid following a four-year investigation by the Winnipeg RCMP commercial crime section.

The investigation began after a complaint from Health Canada.

Cote is the former CEO of Anishinaabe Mino-Ayaawin Inc. and the one-time co-manager of the Dauphin River First Nation.

RCMP allege Cote stole more than $700,00 from the health agency between 1999 and 2004, and more than $300,000 from the First Nation between 2001 and 2004.

The health agency delivered programs and services to seven Manitoba First Nations.

Comments Part of CBC Website is under question:

I know some bloggers including myself have been under criticism because some comments do not get published. Based on this Article from Canadian Press I believe that there are times when individuals may feel very passionate about something but it borders on hatred, generalizations and feeding the misconceptions that breed racism.

Even though we are criticized there are times that criticism is worth it because this particular blog was not about trying to promote those thoughts or values.

Aboriginal leaders accuse CBC of allowing website readers to promote racism

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iX5TpB_10yt4kxunLhQu8y-Z9OSA

WINNIPEG — The CBC has failed to police its website and has given racists a forum to spew hatred, Manitoba aboriginal leaders charged Wednesday.

The Southern Chiefs Organization distributed printouts of comments left by CBC website readers in response to stories on aboriginal issues in Manitoba, British Columbia and other provinces. Dozens of the comments suggested natives were drunks, criminals or incapable of supporting themselves.

"Those (comments) definitely have no place in the public domain," said Grand Chief Morris Swan-Shannacappo.

"The world will always have racists and kooks and people who just don't know what they're talking about. But the CBC ... has provided them with a forum they can use to attack our people."
Swan-Shannacappo said he has seen similar comments on other media websites which allow readers to post their thoughts, but his organization is singling out the CBC partly because it is federally funded and should be held to a high standard of accountability.

The broadcaster said all reader comments are pre-screened by a combination of in-house and third-party monitoring agents, but admitted some comments slip through the cracks.

"Because this is a subjective exercise, sometimes those things get through," CBC spokesman Jeff Keay said from Toronto.

The CBC website allows readers to report racist or other objectionable content that slips through for a second review.

Swan-Shannacappo admitted that many comments he objected to had been removed, but said the removals sometimes take hours because they rely on public input.

The corporation is looking at ways to improve monitoring of public comments, Keay said, including a possible temporary shutdown of public comments when discussions get heated.
"If the abusive stuff starts to pile up, it may make sense to discontinue it, to let things cool off," he said.

Many of the comments that have raised the ire of the southern chiefs have come in response to news stories about aboriginal crime or tragedy.

One reader comment regarding a Manitoba aboriginal leader charged with theft and fraud said aboriginals "just want to leech from society, sell cheap smokes and drink beer."

Another reader commenting on a story about a fatal house fire on the Chemainus First Nation in British Columbia suggested aboriginals "should go out into the real world and work for a roof over their heads like the rest of us."

The southern chiefs called on the Manitoba government to step in and force the CBC to improve its monitoring of reader comments.

Steve Ashton, Manitoba's acting attorney general, called the comments offensive and racist, but said there is little the province can do. Because the CBC is federally regulated, the chiefs organization should take its complaint to the federal human rights commission, the RCMP or the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, he said.

The complaints about the CBC could serve as a warning to other media outlets that allow readers to post their thoughts on the web, said a law professor at the University of Manitoba.

"If you've got control over what messages go up ... you can be held responsible," Karen Busby said.

Busby said website comments are comparable to letters to the editor that are printed by newspapers. She pointed to a 2002 letter published in the Red Deer Advocate in Alberta that suggested gays were as immoral as pedophiles, drug dealers and pimps.

Darren Lund, a high school teacher, complained to the Alberta Human Rights Commission and in a settlement, the newspaper agreed to ban letters that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.The commission later ordered the writer of the letter, Stephen Boissoin of the Concerned Christian Coalition, to pay Lund $5,000 in damages. Boissoin is appealing that ruling.

Brazeau in the News Again

Okay – I guess I thought I did not care about his personal laundry but now I am annoyed.

Message for Patrick Brazeau:

Firstly, Patrick this so called “Native Establishment” who is that – your 14 year old son who knows you as a dead beat. The Aboriginal community that now perceives you as a less then honest person and full of hypocrisy. Have you ever heard the term our elders taught us about “Walk the Talk”?

Could I even begin to imagine what your latest untruth would warrant in the news now? You paid 0.089% of your income from the Congress of Aboriginal People to your 14 year old son in child support payments. You could not even bother to send the crumbs sometimes – no matter what processing excuse you chose to use as an excuse. Let us be clear – you are contributing approximately $3 per day to the well being of your child. Hardly what would be needed for bus fare to attend school. He certainly could not afford the lessons necessary to achieve a black belt in Karate. You have got to be kidding me. I am not sure what the laws are in Quebec but this is crazy. You are now paying 0.072% of your Senate income in child support – if you can be bothered to submit the payments. Let’s also be honest Patrick – the salary both at the Congress and now at the Senate does not come without other financial and personal rewards. That was only the dollar income that you reported less benefits and less expenses.

Patrick – you profess to be the great Aboriginal Leader who is going to change things from the Senate for the betterment of Aboriginal peoples and the people of Canada. Well maybe your first mandate should be to change the laws of this country so that people with no integrity can’t sit in the upper house. If you were truly the Aboriginal leader you profess to be you would not need a court to tell you to be responsible for your son’s well being. You would have increased his entitlement to a life that you chose to make him a part of when you impregnated his mother. Your child’s mother should not have to be in a position where she can demonstrate what a dead beat dad you are. (O yea – I’d like to make note that I don’t imagine she sees herself as part of the “Native Establishment” that you would like to blame for all your dirty laundry.)

In my view - the Congress of Aboriginal People should be sending a letter to Harper to firstly thank him for ridding the organization of you. Now they will work for decades to recover from the mess you have left them in – but why would you care – you will hide behind the apron of the Upper House.

Just as one last message – I am not the “Native Establishment”, Frankly, I am not sure who is – but I do know I do not have a relationship with AFN or anyone else that you perceive is your enemy and further to that – you don’t need any enemies because you definitely have one that is looking you in the mirror each day.

New senator lagged on $100 child support

Harper's controversy-plagued appointee repeatedly fell behind on payments for his son

Feb 10, 2009 04:30 AM

OTTAWA–Three times in the past five years, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's most controversial new Senate appointee fell behind in support payments for a son he has not spoken to in eight years – payments that totalled less than $100 per month.

Patrick Brazeau, the 34-year-old former aboriginal leader who was appointed to the Senate in December, missed one payment as recently as 11 months ago at a time when he was earning a six-figure income.

In an interview yesterday, he said he did not want to air any personal "dirty laundry," but he acknowledged he had been late on some payments and said he would consider larger monthly payments for the well-being of his 14-year-old son now that he was earning more than $130,000 as a senator.

Brazeau, who is scheduled to give his maiden speech in the Senate today, has faced a series of allegations since his appointment, including a sexual harassment complaint and a draft audit of expenses at the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, the congress he led, which resulted in a demand that at least $54,678 in expense claims be repaid.

Brazeau's style and penchant for luxurious trappings have also raised eyebrows, particularly his 2006 Porsche SUV.

"The child support payments are basically less than $100 a month," the son's mother, Dena Buckshot, said from her Gatineau, Que., home last week.

A spokesperson for Harper last night declined to comment on a "private matter," but a litany of charges against Brazeau has raised questions about how thoroughly the Prime Minister's Office vetted the young aboriginal leader before making the appointment.

Brazeau says many of the allegations are being brought by those who are pushing back against his bid to bring more transparency to the country's aboriginal leadership.

As national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Brazeau was widely viewed as a smart and articulate voice for aboriginal people living off-reserve, stirring the pot with talk of abolishing the Indian Act and bringing more accountability to native governments.

The former model with a black belt in karate was portrayed as a family man and spoke eloquently in the House of Commons the day Harper apologized for abuses in Indian residential schools.

Buckshot said she dated Brazeau briefly in 1993 but broke up with him soon after she discovered she was pregnant with the first of her three children.

She said she was concerned that Brazeau's visits with their son were inconsistent, so she sought to regulate matters through the Quebec courts in 2001.

The Star cannot publish information contained in documents from Quebec family court.

As a result of that process Buckshot said she began receiving bi-weekly child support, which is now $46.90 after it was raised by 2.5 per cent at the beginning of this year. Brazeau sends cheques to Revenue Quebec and the ministry sends a cheque to Buckshot twice a month.
Revenue Quebec has suspended these payments three times – twice in 2004 and once in 2008.

"We are writing to inform you that the debtor of support has not paid the amounts required under the act to facilitate the payment of support and that the (ministry) is taking steps to rectify the situation," says a letter dated Feb. 10, 2004. "In the meantime, however, the (ministry) has had to suspend your support payments."

She received a letter with an identical message dated Dec. 10, 2004 and a letter dated March 6, 2008 again says her support payments were suspended.

The letter lists a number of reasons why Revenue Quebec could not forward the payments – such as the debtor not having any income or the creditor not living in Quebec – but do not specify which applied to her situation.

Buckshot said gives her son the child support to use as pocket money. "I remember telling him this is how much he pays and I think (my son) was upset because he couldn't believe he drives a Porsche," she said.

The vehicle made waves when Brazeau started driving it around Parliament Hill but he said it is second-hand and he bought it before he learned of his appointment.

Brazeau said he does not want to discuss the issue of his relationship with his son.

"I'm not going to use the media from my vantage point to try and iron out this dirty laundry, so to speak," he said.

"My goal is still to develop a relationship with my son in the future, because it is true that I have not seen him in the last eight years, but the reasons for that are beyond my control and so I don't think that this is in the best interests of my son," he said.

He said he was aware some payments have been late "in terms of processing, but I have always issued cheques to Revenue Quebec in which they internally deal with forwarding the payment to the mother of my child."

He added that he has been paying the amount he was ordered to "and if there's any adjustments that need to be made in the future. ... I will pay accordingly."

Buckshot said friends and family have told her over the years to take Brazeau – who now makes $130,400 as a basic Senate salary – to court to increase his payments. She started the process when he first started working as a legal researcher at the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, but decided it would cost her too much time, stress and money.

NORTH AMERICA'S ONLY " TRUE " INTERNATIONAL METIS RENDEZVOUS

METISFEST

http://www.metisfest.com/

We have added this to the sidebar links. Please watch as they add the latest news and confirm artists for the upcoming event.

We want to support our Metis community in anyway that we can. I received this comment earlier today and thought it needed its' own special post. For all those that can get out and support our Metis. I was told once that it is our responsibility to share our rich culture and heritage and that we were one of Canada's best kept secret for far too long. Here is a chance to assist in changing that:

Post from Dan Goodon read as follows:

Hello Metis Mama

We've been reading your blog over here in Manitoba for about a year now, keep up the good work and articles.

The reasoning i'm posting is to get the word of our newly formed Metis festival , henced the name " METISFEST". Held at the International Peace Gardens in the Majestic Turtle Mountains of Manitoba.

"NORTH AMERICA'S ONLY " TRUE " INTERNATIONAL METIS RENDEZVOUS "

We are very excited in getting things going and have a good buzz happening here in Manitoba but need to keep getting the word out, in your neck of our Metis Nation . Please check our website , that just started up a week and a half ago.

I looked this morning and our count was over 500 hits, very happy with the interests. It is http://www.metisfest.com/ there is info on the site to get a hold of me, if you like.

But please visit the site or even better yet, please come and visit us in Manitoba this aug 28-30 and see how we fest here.

Dan Goodon Co-cordinator Metisfest

"Where the Fiddle and The Mountain Unite"

Back to Patrick

CTV has given Senator Brazeau an opportunity to respond to the allegations and stories that seem to be haunting him. There appears to be a great deal of “No Not Me” but very little to back up the claims. It would seem like a simple matter to disclose correspondence from Health Canada saying that the $200,000 plus in expenses that he now claims are allowable have been accepted by Health Canada as legitimate. In addition, it would seem like things like $7,000 plus cheques going to each of the Board Members including himself would be explained.
If the reports are sealed to protect the complainant why is the complainant asking for them to be made public and pursuing the matter to other judicial reviews? Just a few things that seem to not have answers – but also recognizing that some of the more personal things – like child support and relationships with kids is not information that should be a part of public domain in my view. Those issues need to remain with his son and he needs to be answerable to him – in my view it is not part of the package of being transparent and accountable. I do recognize that media has a way of going after all public figures and I guess it makes them a target for all their dirty laundry to be aired but personally I do not find any great satisfaction in trying to assess his personal life character based on hearing a 5 second clip on his value as a father. This segment aired on Question Period if you have time to watch. By the way - I also do not buy into the belief that we all need to drive an old rusted out vehicle because we are Aboriginal. If he is the one buying the Porsche why would we care? I do not think we expect to see our leaders driviong thier red river cart around Ottawa.

Brazeau dismisses 'personal attacks'

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090208/senator_brazeau_090208/20090208?hub=TopStories

Embattled Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau defended himself against allegations of corruption and sexual harassment Sunday, saying the personal attacks are the byproduct of his ongoing fight against what he called the "native establishment."

08/02/2009 1:02:07 PM

CTV.ca News Staff

During an interview on CTV's Question Period, Brazeau answered questions about allegations of sexual harassment and misuse of public funds during his time as leader of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.

Brazeau said that while he would not speculate on "who may or may not be after me," he did say the attacks on his character signal a backlash against his willingness to challenge how native leaders are dealing with the plight of Canada's aboriginal peoples.

"Many times when you attack the native establishment and you demand for more accountability, obviously I have not made many friends," Brazeau said. "And so I have always been open, transparent and always invited people to criticize my policies. Unfortunately, it's more in the realm of personal attacks now than professional attacks."

During the interview, Brazeau faced a barrage of questions about a series of allegations that critics have leveled against him since his appointment to the Senate late last year.

Brazeau, 34, is one of the youngest senators to ever be appointed to the upper house.

The father of three children has faced criticism for not having a relationship with his 14-year-old son. In Sunday's interview, Brazeau said the matter was "hurtful" and acknowledged that he has not seen his son for eight years.

"But there are reasons beyond my control for that," he said, adding that he has paid child support over those eight years.

When asked about his desire to keep his six-figure salary as head of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples while getting a six-figure paycheque as a senator, Brazeau said that he had just been re-elected in November for a four-year term with the Congress and had hoped to continue his work with the organization.

He said he consulted with the Senate ethics officer and others before deciding that keeping the job would have led to the appearance of a conflict of interest.

"I have invested a lot of time into that organization and I was looking forward to continuing the hard work I started," Brazeau said. "So whether it would have been a full-time paid position, a half salary or no salary at all, I was looking into that possibility. But the bottom line is I made the personal choice to step down because I foresaw some potential conflict of interest and even perceived conflict of interest."

In addition to the allegations that he was trying to double his salary, it also came to light that a former Congress employee launched a sexual harassment complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

According to Brazeau, the complaint is against the Congress, not him personally, and the allegations were first dealt with in a third-party investigation.

"There was a full investigation that was conducted by a third party who has expertise in dealing with these issues," Brazeau said. "And the conclusion of the investigation was that there was no wrongdoing on my part and there was no harassment done on my part."

The final report issued by the investigators, who Brazeau did not name, has not been made public. Brazeau said that even he has not read it, but understands it has been sealed to protect the privacy of the complainant.

Office drinking

Brazeau also defended his decision to bring with him to Ottawa two former Congress staffers who co-workers witnessed drinking in his office.

"The two individuals who have come to work for me at the Senate are highly qualified people, people that I certainly trust, and will have a lot to contribute not only to myself but to the Senate and for all Canadians as well," he said.

Brazeau said that one employee had seen the two drinking in his office on one occasion, after office hours, and not long before Christmas.

Following the incident, Brazeau and the Congress's board of directors established a no-alcohol-on-the-premises policy, he said.

On allegations that he and other Congress staffers misappropriated nearly $260,000 in funds, which was discovered during a Health Canada audit, Brazeau countered that the agency was merely asking for supplementary documentation to justify about $200,000 in expenses, which the Congress did.

Health Canada is currently seeking re-payment of about $52,000, Brazeau said, but the Congress is in the process of justifying those expenses, as well.

Brazeau also dismissed critics who complain he should not be driving a Porsche SUV around Ottawa when he represents an impoverished segment of the population.

He said he bought the car second-hand, and before Prime Minister Stephen Harper called him with the offer to sit in the Senate.

Metis National Council responding to call from feds for economic development advice

This article came out in today’s Grassroots News. It is stale dated and so the part that the Federal Budget gave no stimulus is not reported here. We have heard that the bureaucrats in Ottawa under the Minister have advised the MNC that the Minister is disappointed that there was nothing for the Métis but he would work to help them find other resources if he could. We will have to wait and see what that exactly means. Does that mean that after the Board of Governors contribute their present economic stimulus and extra dollars to pay for the 1.8 million dollar deficit the Minister will find ways to continue to support them or does that mean he will forgive them their indiscretions – wipe clean the money and not publish the embarrassing facts like they did with the Congress of Aboriginal People?

http://www.grassrootsnews.mb.ca/article.php?article_id=229

By GRN Staff

The Metis National Council took an important step in responding to a call for advice on ways to undertake economic development from the federal government by holding a Working Group Meeting at the Clarion Hotel in Winnipeg on January 13 – 14, 2009. Delegates from Manitoba and Saskatchewan fine tuned policy papers covering topics ranging from the need for a holistic approach to integrating economic opportunities and initiatives, to support services such as child care, financial institutions including venture capital corporations, and even bursaries and greater access to gaming revenues.

"To assist in the development of a new framework for economic development, we need to hear from you," said Chuck Strahl, Federal Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians. "My Department will engage people like you across the country to seek views on how the federal government can help secure the economic well-being and prosperity of Aboriginal peoples."

The Gathering in Winnipeg was co-ordinated by Mark LeClair, Metis National Council, who was pleased with the progress which was made.

"This meeting was critical to moving forward with our stimulus package tabled with the federal government as they complete their economic development framework for the country by the end of March this year," said LeClair. "By bringing together Metis economic leaders from Human Resource Departments and Capital Corporations from Ontario to British Columbia, we achieved consensus on the package while adding some great new ideas."

LeClair added that the MNC has recommended $200 million each year for the next two years of Metis economic initiatives to be included in the new federal budget (again, please check today's newspaper as the federal budget was released as GRN went to press).

The bottom line for these "high-falootin' meetings" is the impact the discussions and decision will have at the grassroots level – for the independent, Metis who actually run a small business and create the jobs and profits which will sustain the Metis Nation economy. One such business is Bluesky Bed and Sled – a dogsled experience package run by Gerald Azure out of Churchill, Manitoba. Grassroots News asked Gerald if his attendance at the summit in Winnipeg was as un"fur"gettable as the catchy slogan he uses to market his very unique business (a bed and breakfast combined with a dog sled run).

"It is good that the federal government is finally recognizing and is willing to work with the Metis and build on what we do as individuals so that positive results can be achieved on a more massive scale," said Azure. "The meeting in Winnipeg and the package we created gives us credibility."

Azure's business has grown from two sled dogs providing 15 sled rides during his first season to 1,100 rides last year. They found a six bedroom house in Churchill and the maximum four bedrooms which are allowed to be used for rental accommodations by the town of Churchill are routinely full during the long, winter season up north.

"We not only have to work harder, we have to work smarter," says Azure. "And everything you make has to be invested back into the business. But the satisfaction of being your own boss is worth it.""We don't want the Metis to be left behind when it comes to the business end of things so we welcome the opportunity to provide practical advice to the politicians (MNC) who have to negotiate with the federal government on our behalf."

Even if that practical advice includes things like, "Bluesky Mush" is not a theme park like Disney World. I carry a rifle with me when we go out on a ride. Those are real bears and wolves out there on the trail."

Adventurous types who want to learn more about cruising the cool north on a dog sled can check out blueskymush on the internet.

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.