In the Financial Post online, read the whole article. Foster makes several good points—which I summarize in my own way; for example
***43,000 aboriginals of the NWT, of which Kakfwi is Premier,
***have been given a huge land mass by our government, and
***own or control vast potential mineral resources ***are getting the Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline which will bring massive construction and development
***receive $1 billion—yes, one billion dollars from Canadian taxpayers—for 43,000 aboriginals (You do the math.)
and so Kakfwi goes to meet representatives of de Beers in New York
***to negotiate a BIGGER share of the resource revenues in a mining contract, and
***insults them because his information about DeBeers and dirty diamonds is incorrect ***wants to maintain traditional aboriginal culture--which has already been forever eroded because of
***the death of the fur industry ***massive government handouts ***aboriginals’ desire for consumer goods ***and probably other factors
and now Kakfwi wants
***to deprive the 50% of the population of the NWT which is non-native from having their share in self-government
for Kakwi also wants
***70% of local government to go exclusively to aboriginals ***and dignity and respect for aboriginals
My Commentary: Updated Sept. 13 am
Mr. Kakfwi must be a Liberal; he forgets that though he leads the natives, once elected Premier, he is the Premier of ALL residents of the NWT and is duty bound to represent ALL residents--residents who should have EQUAL rights in each province or territory. Once he learns this, perhaps he could teach the Liberals how it is done.
The problems of all native bands are the result of race-based policies which have been going on, forever, it seems—supported by both the PCs and the Liberals—and no matter how much land or money they get, they seem dissatisfied.
It is amazing what the rest of Canada’s tax-paying citizens experience that the aboriginals should try--to see if they could forget bellyaching for a while and begin to feel responsible for their own progress and feelings of success. The government should get out of the business of aboriginal affairs and treat aboriginals like the rest of Canadians--no more race-based policies. The aboriginals themselves might, for example, try
***holding down a job and coming to work—even when they don’t feel like it (Most of the world’s work is done by people who don’t feel very well. Churchill)
***paying taxes the same as everyone else ***being publicly accountable for taxpayer handouts and the dispensation of moneys; this accountability includes these aspects:
***that the chief be ethically and publicly responsible and responsive to ALL band members for his reserves' finances
***that the chief and others responsible use currently acceptable accounting procedures to keep ALL the reserve's inhabitants and the taxpayers of Canada informed concerning how taxpayers' money is dispensed
***that the chief serve ALL natives on the reserve, not just his family and friends
***that the junkets to exotic places be stopped and that the money involved be dispersed where it should go--to needy native members of the reserve
***that the chief has a duty to lead for the betterment of ALL band members of the reserve--not just for his coterie
***looking after their families themselves--without government handouts that come with their implied apartheid policies, and without social agencies picking up the slack ***concentrating on schools that would teach their children necessary skills like reading, writing and the rest--skills that would allow their children to leave school equipped to choose to stay in the North, or to leave their communities because they have skills to sell in the open market--instead of worrying about whether there is anyone left who speaks the aboriginal language and taking school time to teach it until the basics are provided for (It won't help the children be economically productive in the 21st century, I would bet.)
***choosing to rear their children responsibly, instead of leaving them while drinking away the endless, taxpayer-funded largesse (I know, not everyone does it -– but enough do.)
***repairing their own homes—perhaps not damaging them in drunken debauch in the first place—instead of waiting for that great repairman out of the sky, the Ottawa Cargo Cult, to fly in with ‘dat repairman manna’ ***and a few other responsible citizenship duties
Why, I’ll just bet they would be too busy working, getting and spending to whine—or waste their hard-earned dollars at the local watering hole. They, themselves, could even afford to support the dissemination of their aboriginal culture and language amongst their own. Don't they understand that their emphasis on maintaining the old ways and their languages dooms their children to lack the skills to do anything but stay in the North and wait for someone else to provide for them?
I'm on a rant but if the truth as I see it hurts -- feel free to respond!
