Native chief over 20 days in hunger strike to protest Budget Bill

[Bryan]

Do you have proof of that ?

The judgement is the proof.

[g_bambino]

The judgement is the proof.

I showed you how it's not.

[g_bambino]

Going by the Governor General's speech to the First Nations gathering at Rideau Hall tonight, Spence did make it there.

I wonder if she snuck any canapés into her purse...

[Bryan]

I showed you how it's not.

Not even close. You showed me the transcript of the political pontification by the judge.

Edited January 12, 2013 by Bryan

[g_bambino]

Not even close.

Closer than you.

[g_bambino]

Poor Spence sill isn't happy; but is still hungry.

Spence left Rideau Hall early with the sense that the gathering had accomplished little.

"It didn't feel too good inside that house … but we stood up for your rights," Danny Metatawabin, who speaks for Spence, told gathered First Nations chiefs as he described the meeting as "a show, a picture opportunity."

"Sadly," he said, "the hunger strike continues."

Chief Spence vows to continue hunger strike after GG meeting

[Smallc]

WTF did she expect from a ceremonial meeting with an impartial viceroy? Do any of these chiefs even understand how things actually work in a Constitutional Monarchy?

[Canuckistani]

WTF did she expect from a ceremonial meeting with an impartial viceroy? Do any of these chiefs even understand how things actually work in a Constitutional Monarchy?

Why would they? It's not their country, nor their form of government.

[Smallc]

Yes, as soon as I hear people start talking about nation to nation agreements, I stop listening.

[g_bambino]

WTF did she expect from a ceremonial meeting with an impartial viceroy? Do any of these chiefs even understand how things actually work in a Constitutional Monarchy?

I already posted Ibbitson's apt words about this in The Globe and Mail, which Spence obviously didn't read.

[ed.: url]

Edited January 12, 2013 by g_bambino

[Smallc]

It's almost like the way my Western Civilization professor described the peasants in early Britain who were so loyal to the Crown. If only the King knew, they thought, none of this would be happening...of course, that was as delusional then under Britain's Absolute Monarchy as it is now under Canada's Constitutional Monarchy.

[Smallc]

But here lies the real issue:

For all the noise about hunger strikes, boycott threats, railway disruptions and an audit leak, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s historic meeting with Indian chiefs was nearly derailed by a quirk of constitutional theory — the notion that Canada and its aboriginal groups are separate and equal nations.

http://news.national...d-idle-no-more/

Edited January 12, 2013 by Smallc

[Smallc]

I find it interesting how so much of the editorial media has turned on this movement:

Meanwhile, unrealizable demands for sovereignty, robust “aboriginal rights” and the quest for a “nation-to nation relationship” keeps aboriginal policy in a perpetual state of suspension, where never ending negotiations always result in more demands for legal clarification and “consultation”. The continuation of aboriginal deprivation that results from such obfuscation then justifies the need for the distribution of more government transfers.

http://www.theglobea...article7158684/

Edited January 12, 2013 by Smallc

[eyeball]

WTF did she expect from a ceremonial meeting with an impartial viceroy? Do any of these chiefs even understand how things actually work in a Constitutional Monarchy?

Maybe the point you're missing is that they just don't care. They want their country back.

[Smallc]

It isn't their country. That's probably the point they're missing.

[bush_cheney2004]

Who's country is it then? The Crown's ? If so, how did The Crown get it? Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes ?

[Michael Hardner]

The judgement is the proof.

So - the judgement would have shown that they mismanaged things no matter what the ruling. There was something about bad faith on this thread earlier.

[g_bambino]

Maybe the point you're missing is that they just don't care. They want their country back.

Their country? You mean, each of the 600 or so nations want a country? Do you know they all want their own country "back"? It not all, do you know how many? And how is it you've come to be their spokesperson? So many questions.

[g_bambino]

But here lies the real issue:

http://news.national...d-idle-no-more/

Yes, that is an issue. Interesting the strong echoes of the pure laine Quebec souverainistes; they were conquered unjustly, they're still colonialised, their special satus isn't being recognised as it should be, they should be sovereign (yet still receive money from the Canadian Crown). The only real difference seems to be that these radical First Nations individuals expect the Crown (which I strongly suspect they still think is British in this country, an extention of the power of the parliament and cabinet in Westminster over Canada) to save them from the tyranny of the colonizing Canadian government, whereas the Quebec souverainistes reject the Crown outright (though they do look to France for some form of support).

[ed.: c/e]

Edited January 12, 2013 by g_bambino

[TimG]

Maybe the point you're missing is that they just don't care. They want their country back.

No. They are just greedy SOBs like those wall street types who seek to exploit laws in order to maximize their personal profit. In the case of natives, they have convinced themselves they deserve the life of a trust fund brat and seek to exploit history in order to achieve those aims. 'idle no more' is meant to be ironic because they only thing the protesting natives want is an idle life paid for by others. the natives that actually want to work are already quietly signing deals with the governments and companies (e.g. the Osoyoos band). Edited January 13, 2013 by TimG

[Political Smash]

As an activist, ultimately I respect Theresa for getting an audience with the Prime Minister. However having fasted, it's not like she is at her best meeting with him under such strain.

David Jeffrey Spetch

Ps. be good, be strong!

[eyeball]

No. They are just greedy SOBs like those wall street types who seek to exploit laws in order to maximize their personal profit. In the case of natives, they have convinced themselves they deserve the life of a trust fund brat and seek to exploit history in order to achieve those aims. 'idle no more' is meant to be ironic because they only thing the protesting natives want is an idle life paid for by others. the natives that actually want to work are already quietly signing deals with the governments and companies (e.g. the Osoyoos band).

It seems to me that most native people distrust their leaders and greedy SOBs as much as most Earthlings and that's the voice that seems to be attempting to find it's expression in this movement. Another very human ingredient in all this is how the leaders and SOB's see a shift in the wind and are attempting to maneuver ahead of it, co-opt it and steer it in direction more to their liking but more likely it'll fall off a cliff.

Just look around the planet, you can see the same thing pretty much going on everywhere. This movement will finally find its stride and find a common voice and it will be coalesced around doing something about that nexus where power and wealth mix, which is at the very heart of the problem you've identified. The only difference between you and most Earthlings is that you're still on the wrong side.

Edited January 13, 2013 by eyeball

[Political Smash]

I can Hardly wait until my Composition presently upcoming here is presented to this forum. I can see it but I suspect until it gets approved no one else can.

I'm all over this issue and beyond this issue the whole bigger picture and I mean thoroughly!

/ David

Edited January 13, 2013 by Political Smash

[Accountability Now]

No. They are just greedy SOBs like those wall street types who seek to exploit laws in order to maximize their personal profit. In the case of natives, they have convinced themselves they deserve the life of a trust fund brat and seek to exploit history in order to achieve those aims. 'idle no more' is meant to be ironic because they only thing the protesting natives want is an idle life paid for by others. the natives that actually want to work are already quietly signing deals with the governments and companies (e.g. the Osoyoos band).

They want their country back? They never had a country. They had bands who often warred with each other as well as the settlers. It wasn't until they realized they were going to lose that they struck treaty deals. In those deals it clearly states they give up all their lands and rights for compensation. If they want their land back then will they be prepared to pay back all the compensation? Maybe that's where Spence is funneling the money. Into some elaborate savings account to buy back the property.

This was a deal done amongst men. Its time for Natives to live up to that deal and realize they are getting a fair shake. If they only treated each other the way the government treats them, then they'd be ok.

[g_bambino]

Well, this wen't just about as I expected:

The Queen has rejected an appeal to intervene in Chief Theresa Spence's liquids-only protest, but says she is taking "careful note" of concerns for the chief's health.

"As a constitutional Sovereign, Her Majesty acts through her personal representative, the Governor General, on the advice of her Canadian Ministers and, therefore, it is to them that your appeal should be directed."

Queen declines to intervene in Chief Spence's protest

A movement should be mounted demanding Spence meet with Peter Hogg, Peter Russell, or maybe just a good Grade 10 civics teacher.