rabble.ca Canadian federal election blog

We Don’t Mean to Interrupt Your Election, But…

by Ben Powless

Obviously oblivious to the ongoing elections occurring and the need for patriotism therefore, Aboriginal groups in Canada remained up-in-arms over the past week.

On Monday, the Walk for Justice finished its walk from Vancouver to Ottawa with a rally on Parliament Hill. Their demands? Justice. Specifically, justice for the thousands of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and their families who fall through the cracks of the justice system.


(Pictures here)

Thursday saw the (sadly predictable) revelation that Harperites are harbouring racists [video/background]. Not that the Liberals have been much better, with some of their candidates dropping out. A sad reality that this is the only way Native issues get into the media, and a daily reminder of the racism that still manages to surface, but so what? How about the actual policies being pursued by the government? One such policy has been the recently passed Specific Claims Act Bill, dealing with specific claims and grievances of Native communities (as opposed to those non-specific claims, the comprehensive type).

Despite assurances by top Native and government leadership, it has been criticized for not helping to resolve fiery disputes like Caledonia (after the issue again heated up Saturday). The government remains judge, jury and defendant in a still biased system that equates Aboriginal rights (and wrongs) to government money, as if that will resolve the issues.

The government has also been pushing through racist and patronizing legislation on matrimonial property rights that have been roundly criticized by Native women’s groups among others.  Its ultimate goal seems to be the ability to make reserve land sellable to non-Natives, effectively destroying the reserve system.

And Sunday night, as the Olympic “Spirit Train” made its debut in BC, Native protestors and allies effectively shut the show down, voicing longstanding and unmet concerns about how the Olympics was taking over unceded Native land (ignited by the arrest and subsequent passing of Native elder Harriet Nahanee), and causing homelessness throughout downtown Vancouver. Is the Spirit Train coming to your town?

This brief reality check on the real state of Aboriginal Affairs now subsiding, we return you to your regularly scheduled election programming.