The Land Human Rights Forgot

[scribblet]

I didn't realize that native victims generally have no recourse under the Canadian Human Rights Act (HRA). This situation needs to be brought out and discussed more openly.

ttp://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=450586

The land human rights forgot

National Post Published: Thursday, April 17, 2008

Can someone tell us why the Canadian media are burying our country's biggest domestic story?

This country's signature disgrace is the appalling socioeconomic conditions on native reserves. The main cause is simple: Many reserves are corrupt little kibbutzes run by -- and for the benefit of -- a tightly knit clique of leaders. For all the politically correct propaganda we hear about the "ancient wisdom" of aboriginal peoples, such reserves are the backwaters that human rights forgot. Band employees get hired and fired on the basis of their connections. Band-controlled housing, similarly, is assigned on the basis of cronyism. And women often are systematically disenfranchised: One of the most common stories you hear is the poor divorcee who gets thrown out of her band-supplied home because her better-connected husband pulls strings with a patriarchal band council.

What's worse, victims of these abuses often have no recourse under the Canadian Human Rights Act (HRA), Section 67 of which blocks the statute's application in any context that conflicts with the Indian Act. The effect is to make the HRA a dead letter for many natives.

The Conservatives, to their credit, have moved on this problem. Bill C-21, introduced last year by Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, was a simple piece of legislation that stated: "Section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act is repealed." Under the terms of the bill, native leaders would have six months to get their affairs in compliance with the CHA. In a perfectly rational world, it would have received all-party support.

Instead, opposition MPs mangled the bill with amendments. Most notably, we got this loophole, big enough to drive a truck through: "This Act shall be interpreted and applied in a manner that gives due regard to First Nations legal traditions and customary laws, particularly the balancing of individual rights and interests against collective rights and interests.

cont...

[eyeball]

Can someone tell us why the Canadian media are burying our country's biggest domestic story?

Native people haven't done enough to bring it to the media's attention. I suspect this will change as we get closer to the 2010 Olympics.

[Sean Hayward]

Native people haven't done enough to bring it to the media's attention. I suspect this will change as we get closer to the 2010 Olympics.

We shouldn't encourage the kind of action that natives usually take for media attention, such as Oka, Ipperwash, Caledonia, etc. Peaceful protest should be encouraged. The government needs to start treating native occupations like any other criminal activity and enforce the law. It is a good idea to remove the exemption for Indians from the Canadian Human Rights Act. The Specific Claims Tribunal is another good idea. These structural changes in Indian affairs will eventually lead to a more just system for natives.

Edited April 21, 2008 by Sean Hayward

[Borg]

Seems to me I have been stating this on "Deaths of Aboriginal Children" and my tall horse friend Charter Rights thinks I am full it shit - then it comes up here as fact?

Hmmm ..... c'mom tall horse - where are you?

Indians are so f^%ked up they can't organize their way out of a paper bag.

They have been bamboozled by elders and their fake wisdom and their false leadership for so many generations that they will remain on the dirty end of the stick for many future generations. And the white man as a whole is happy it stays that way.

Brain washing of a sort - and quite successful. Start them young and maintain the story - then they can line up at te Caledonias of Canada to prove my point.

Borg

[Qwerty]

Vote liberal. They had 13 years to fix this problem and they did a wonderful job didn't they?

[Qwerty]

Vote liberal. They had 13 years to fix this problem and they did a wonderful job didn't they?

[Qwerty]

Vote liberal. They had 13 years to fix this problem and they did a wonderful job didn't they?

[White Doors]

No one chooses his or her country of birth, so it's foolish to be proud of it.

Only if you think the only reason you have to be proud of your country is because you live in it.

Myself, I am proud of our ancestors for that they achieved in WW1 and WW2 for example.

What a silly signature.

[eyeball]

Only if you think the only reason you have to be proud of your country is because you live in it.

Myself, I am proud of our ancestors for that they achieved in WW1 and WW2 for example.

What a silly signature.

I'm thankful for the ability of my ancestors to survive in a hostile world. I'm proud of the home run my kid hit.

[Sean Hayward]

I'm thankful for the ability of my ancestors to survive in a hostile world. I'm proud of the home run my kid hit.

You didn't choose your kid, did you? So is it foolish to be proud of him/her?

[fellowtraveller]

Native people haven't done enough to bring it to the media's attention. I suspect this will change as we get closer to the 2010 Olympics.

That is not the correct answer, not entirely.

Think about whom the mainstream media call for interviews: Phil Fontaine and cronies, none of whom have the least interest in any substantive change that will upset the sweet thing they have going now.

[Who's Doing What?]

The whole friggin thing is a mess. From top to bottom.Land claims to leadership.

They need to get off the reserves and become part of society. This one action would destroy the power of the band leaders. If they choose to segregate themselves from society and live off the taxpayer's dime then they get what they have.

Natives need to start making changes on their own. If they have corrupt leadership, try blockading a few roads into the reserve. Or the the street that the leader lives on. They seem to think it is perfectly OK to blockade roads outside of reserves to achieve their goals, so why not pull the same tactic within their communities?

[eyeball]

You didn't choose your kid, did you? So is it foolish to be proud of him/her?

Not at all. Demonstrating pride in your kid is important to them because it helps to develop their self-esteem.

Countries are just things, they don't have feelings.

[Sean Hayward]

Not at all. Demonstrating pride in your kid is important to them because it helps to develop their self-esteem.

Countries are just things, they don't have feelings.

Countries may be just things to you, but it may surprise you that many people identify with their country and feel some sense of community with their fellow citizens.

[eyeball]

My community and country are two distinctly different things. I don't think my sense of community, that is the fellowship of people and friends that live in my region, is very different from the sense most people have about similar things in their parts of the world.

I guess I'm just concerned that the process of identification with most countries has come to mean adopting a superficial reflection of a single cultural outlook - an attachment that is just ill-placed, ironically, in a world that for all its differences seems to be crying out for a common outlook. I sense an enormous amount of pain myself. Pride just doesn't seem to be in the picture at all.

I'm sure proud of my kid though, he's setting off for Fort St James with a few of his buddies tomorrow. The world's his cherry and he's bound and determined to go pick it.

[Alta4ever]

My community and country are two distinctly different things. I don't think my sense of community, that is the fellowship of people and friends that live in my region, is very different from the sense most people have about similar things in their parts of the world.

I guess I'm just concerned that the process of identification with most countries has come to mean adopting a superficial reflection of a single cultural outlook - an attachment that is just ill-placed, ironically, in a world that for all its differences seems to be crying out for a common outlook. I sense an enormous amount of pain myself. Pride just doesn't seem to be in the picture at all.

I'm sure proud of my kid though, he's setting off for Fort St James with a few of his buddies tomorrow. The world's his cherry and he's bound and determined to go pick it.

Your country is a society of people that have built through the legacy of our ancestors, so are you not proud of what your ancestors created, maybe thats why liberals seek the degradation of society, they know nothing of our history and what we as a Canadian society stand for.

[DangerMouse]

Seems to me I have been stating this on "Deaths of Aboriginal Children" and my tall horse friend Charter Rights thinks I am full it shit - then it comes up here as fact?

Hmmm ..... c'mom tall horse - where are you?

Indians are so f^%ked up they can't organize their way out of a paper bag.

They have been bamboozled by elders and their fake wisdom and their false leadership for so many generations that they will remain on the dirty end of the stick for many future generations. And the white man as a whole is happy it stays that way.

Brain washing of a sort - and quite successful. Start them young and maintain the story - then they can line up at te Caledonias of Canada to prove my point.

Borg

Just like jerry fartin, drea, and angus, borg is going to turn out to be a miserable old fart with no hair worrying all his life about indians there should be a new ideology and call it "miserable-baldheaded-old-fartism!" Borgs spouse should check their insuance policy--hey scott peterson.... who knows what this phony whiner named borg is all about

[eyeball]

Your country is a society of people that have built through the legacy of our ancestors, so are you not proud of what your ancestors created, maybe thats why liberals seek the degradation of society, they know nothing of our history and what we as a Canadian society stand for.

I'd propbably try to dignify this with an response if I knew what the hell you were talking about. Your country is a society of people that have built through the legacy of our ancestors... What does this mean?

I'm not very proud of the legacy of native dispossesion of land, dignity and human rights that our ancestors created if that's what you mean and if you think that's what Canada stands for today then I'd not only be foolish to be proud of it I'd be an asshole.

[White Doors]

You didn't choose your kid, did you? So is it foolish to be proud of him/her?

LOL

[madmax]

National Post Published: Thursday, April 17, 2008

Many reserves are corrupt little kibbutzes run by -- and for the benefit of -- a tightly knit clique of leaders.

HUH Kibbutzes...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kibbutz Merom Golan as seen from Bental mountainA Kibbutz (Hebrew: קיבוץ, קִבּוּץ Translit.: kibbutz Plural: kibbutzim Translated: gathering, together)

.............. is an Israeli collective community. The movement combines socialism and Zionism in a form of practical Labor Zionism, founded at a time when independent farming was not practical or, somewhat more accurately, not practicable. Forced by necessity into communal life, and inspired by their ideology, the kibbutz members developed a pure communal mode of living that attracted worldwide interest. While the kibbutzim lasted for several generations as utopian communities, most of today's kibbutzim are scarcely distinguishable from the capitalist enterprises and regular towns to which the kibbutzim were originally supposed to be alternatives. Today, farming has been partially abandoned in many cases, with hi-tech industries very common in their place.[1]

The kibbutzim have given Israel a disproportionate share of its military leaders, intellectuals, and politicians.[2] "Although kibbutzim comprise only 5% of the Israeli population, surprisingly large numbers of kibbutzniks become teachers, lawyers, doctors, and political leaders … 75% of Israeli air force pilots … came from the kibbutz movement." The kibbutz movement never accounted for more than 7% of the Israeli population

A very poor writer....... thinker..... to a very real problem

[Pliny]

Countries are just things, they don't have feelings.

Canadians are probably crushed by this statement!

Careful, your kid may grow up and say, I didn't choose my dad.......

....not only that...you didn't choose your country so it is foolish to be ashamed of it....I think you are trying to say, in a kind way, we can forget our history. Thanks for the thought but history is important.

Edited April 25, 2008 by Pliny

[Alta4ever]

I'd propbably try to dignify this with an response if I knew what the hell you were talking about. Your country is a society of people that have built through the legacy of our ancestors... What does this mean?

I'm not very proud of the legacy of native dispossesion of land, dignity and human rights that our ancestors created if that's what you mean and if you think that's what Canada stands for today then I'd not only be foolish to be proud of it I'd be an asshole.

Its very clearly laid out. Our Country is a society of people, the society was built on the the traditions and cultures of those people, that legacy was expanded on by the next generation so on and so forth up to present times. It is our history it is what defines us as a people as a culture and as a society. What Candians have accomplished as a nation is something to be proud of.

[eyeball]

I suppose. There are also some things not to be proud of.

I live next door to one of these Lands Human Rights Forgot and have acquaintances who were badly abused by one of our less stellar cultural traditions so perhaps I have a different perspective on things.

Sure history is important but what's in front of us is far more important and relevant than what's behind us. Our real legacy is the experiences of the past, good and bad, that we can apply to the things we need to accomplish now and in the future. If we only pay attention to the things that make us feel proud or good about ourselves we'll remain stuck in the past.

Unfortunately, much of the country seems perfectly content to do just that.

[Alta4ever]

I suppose. There are also some things not to be proud of.

I live next door to one of these Lands Human Rights Forgot and have acquaintances who were badly abused by one of our less stellar cultural traditions so perhaps I have a different perspective on things.

Sure history is important but what's in front of us is far more important and relevant than what's behind us. Our real legacy is the experiences of the past, good and bad, that we can apply to the things we need to accomplish now and in the future. If we only pay attention to the things that make us feel proud or good about ourselves we'll remain stuck in the past.

Unfortunately, much of the country seems perfectly content to do just that.

There is no country in history that has been perfect and you can't expect that because people are not perfect, mistakes are made from time to time

[eyeball]

There is no country in history that has been perfect and you can't expect that because people are not perfect, mistakes are made from time to time

True, but I do expect people to learn from these mistakes, and not just from time to time or when it suits them.