New Media » Canada

Disband the First Nations Reserves. Start with Attawapiskat

jnarvey — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:36:32 +0000

Imagine you’re the slumlord owner of a rent-controlled bedbug-infested hotel in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. You’ve pocketed big bucks over the years from the government that was supposed to pay for essential renovations. Your welfare-dependent tenants usually don’t complain too loudly about the mold or the rats or the lack of working toilets, for fear of being tossed out on the street.

But this time, they couldn’t help themselves, when a wall fell down, exposing several families to the elements and the shocked stares of onlookers from Hastings Street. They spilled the beans. Reporters from all over the country started talking about the deplorable crisis. It’s downright embarrassing.

An independent auditor comes knocking to go over your financials. He wants to find out what you’ve done with the millions of dollars that you were supposed to use to fix the leaky plumbing and the crumbling brickwork and rotten wood and broken windows. You tell him to take a hike. When he objects, you physically throw him out.

Then you get an epiphany. Oh, this is brilliant. You file a grievance with the United Nations over your ill treatment.

How do you think this story ends? With you keeping your hotel? With the United Nations giving you a badge of honor? With your long-suffering tenants patting you on the back for your courageous stand? With you not going to jail?

No.

No, no, no, no.

The crisis of Attawapiskat has thankfully helped put the entire system of First Nations reserves under more scrutiny. Band leaders on many (most?) reserves operate with impunity and an explicit rejection of democracy. The nepotism, corruption and wastefulness not merely of money but of human beings is something that people in the rest of the country would never stand for.

I’ve been ambivalent about this problem over the years because I don’t live next to it. I see the conditions on reserves in the news from time to time. The places do look awful. But that’s not the fault of the government shoveling cash into these places. No amount of cash can paper over this perpetual horror show. Not with band leaders demanding 280 new houses at $250,000 a pop, according to the NDP — houses in the middle of nowhere that are just going to fall apart again after a few years because under the rules on reserves, no one actually owns the property.

Think about that figure again: $250,000 per house. That’s just to build a house, since the land has no value. This is a house that will stand in an isolated community with no jobs, no schools, no hospital, no reason to live there at all. Why does it cost that much to build a house there? Because that’s what the band council says it costs… for houses that are going to end up as firewood.

This problem needs to be solved yesterday.

The solution? Simple. Stop the flow of money. There are some examples of well-run, prosperous reserves that are closer in development to Whistler than Attawapiskat. They will survive, maybe even thrive. But those reserves like Attawapiskat that cannot survive without massive infusions of funds (or fail even with such generous support) need to be dismantled. Let the people living on those reserves migrate to places with education, jobs and a hope for a future.

No more money. No more reserves.

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Coolest New Canadian Blog

jnarvey — Thu, 05 May 2011 04:49:16 +0000

Earnest Canuck. Written by an overeducated East End gentleman, 41, heterosexual and beefy, frequently charged but never convicted, who keeps his hand in literature, politics and comedy.

What are you waiting for? Put it in your damn RSS Google Reader, already. Sheesh.

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Our Country

jnarvey — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 06:29:35 +0000

Opponents of the Conservative Party of Canada will be hard pressed to point to this as a negative election campaign ad.

If The Green Party Gets Into The Debate Then logically, all of these other registered Canadian political parties...

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If The Green Party Gets Into The Debate

jnarvey — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 06:29:11 +0000

Then logically, all of these other registered Canadian political parties that haven’t won a single federal riding ought to be included in the debate, too:

Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada
Canadian Action Party
Christian Heritage Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
First Peoples National Party of Canada
Libertarian Party of Canada
Marijuana Party
Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada
People’s Political Power Party of Canada
Pirate Party of Canada
Progressive Canadian Party
Rhinoceros Party
United Party of Canada
Western Block Party

It’s ShanesWorld! It’s Party Time. It’s Excellent! My good friend and Vancouver blogger extraordinaire Shane Birley (yes,...

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What’s Next For Japan?

jnarvey — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 02:25:22 +0000

Earthquakes. A Tsunami. A volcano eruption. Mass destruction. A possible nuclear meltdown, perhaps narrowly averted only thanks to the heroic and self-sacrificing efforts of nuclear plant staff, not to mention ordinary Japanese citizens. You almost expect Godzilla and Mothra to show up, just to top it off.

We stand with you, Japan.

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Strong Sign Of Change For RCMP

jnarvey — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:38:43 +0000

The RCMP’s reputation has been tarnished in recent years by bungled police investigations of their own employees. A perfect example is the case of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, killed during a police call at YVR in October 2007. Strong change is needed to restore credibility. And change is coming:

“We’re coming down with a washable pant,” a senior officer said, adding that this is a long-standing beef among members. “That is very important stuff to the front line. I think folks underestimate that this is a very strong sign of change.”

Well, that’s reassuring.

H/T to Backseat Blogger

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God Ordered This Census, You Say?

jnarvey — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:51:28 +0000

You’ve got to be kidding. First, just about every hard-boiled secular (or at least non-Christian) political opponent of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already implied he’s some kind of nefarious theocrat with a hidden evangelical agenda that’s sort of modeled on Iran’s Islamic Republic.

But what’s the latest criticism of Steve-O? The PM is ignoring the will of God by making the census voluntary.

Our government is wrong-headed in its policy direction because it refuses to be influenced by cherry-picked verses from the Old Testament? What?

You can’t make this stuff up. Thanks, Globe and Mail.

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No Whites Need Apply

jnarvey — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:32:18 +0000

Now I know why all my applications to the federal civil service were turned down years ago. I should have ticked the box marked “non-white Latin American” or perhaps “Japanese”.

My civil rights have been violated. I demand justice. And it looks like it’s on the way thanks to the Conservatives “throwing their base some red meat”.

“We have perhaps the most multicultural, inclusive, egalitarian society on the planet. It’s time to end state-sanctioned racism against pale-faces in the form of affirmative action.” Discuss.

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Why Do Terrorists Keep Coming To Canada?

jnarvey — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:37:08 +0000

Because we let them.

A ship suspected of being connected to the Tamil Tigers and carrying as many as 300 migrants has weighed anchor and set a course for Canada, according to reports in the Sri Lankan media.

But why do they think they can come here and we’ll just let them in? The precedent couldn’t be clearer:

Last October, for instance, 76 Tamil refugees landed in British Columbia in another ship believed to be connected to the Tigers. The migrants have been freed while their claims are processed, which could take several years.

Hell, if I were in there position, I’d do the exact same thing. So long as this is how our border controls work, we can expect a continuing inflow of dead-enders, terrorists and assorted weirdos cutting in line ahead of legitimate immigrants and refugees.

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Mayor of Vancouver Uses Swear Word

jnarvey — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 03:20:39 +0000

And beats up a reporter.

Oh, wait. He didn’t actually beat anyone up. He really just said “fuck”? When he didn’t realize the recorder was still working? That’s it? That’s all?

With all due respect to my friend Mike Klassen, this may — may — be a human resources issue. It ain’t a political one. Or at least, it ought not to be. But then, what do I know? As Mike noted:

Hundreds of views of the video already, plus CKNW ran the story at top of their 10am newscast, the Vancouver Sun is running the story at the top of their web page.

So there is a story here. Maybe I’m just a bit immunized to harsh language to see it after hanging out at the Ivanhoe Pub the other night. You might say I just don’t give a fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

Great. Now I’ll never get elected in this town.

UPDATE: In retrospect, the real reason this thing seems to be blowing up is the combination of arrogance and ignorance displayed by the Mayor. As Michael Smyth puts it:

Does he really think anyone who takes a serious interest in how their communities grow and change are just “f—ing hacks”? It’s not only an incredibly insulting comment; it also reveals the mayor’s ignorance of how concerned people are about his agenda…

Ironically, one of the people he lumped in with the expletive-deleted “NPA hacks” was Randy Helton, a key leader of the West End Neighbours group so concerned about the mayor’s rental-housing agenda. Helton is a member of Vision Vancouver and worked to get Robertson elected!

Now, that is an issue.

See What All The Fuss Was About

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