Attawapiskat: forget laying blame - find a solution

A great discussion in the media, people! And it needs discussing. Hubby speaks of moving across Canada for work several times. If there is no sustainability, doesn't it make sense to build homes where people can get a hand-up not a handout? I have been watching the various Habitat builds in our province. Building houses one at a time. I cover two Habitat groups: Habitat Muskoka and Habitat NCR. Investing sweat equity in an important way for a homeowner to keep up their homes.

There is a place for a forensic investigation, but that cannot replace helping people who are trying to survive -20 C. temperatures right now.

CTVNews.ca Photo Gallery - Attawapiskat: State of Emergency


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In the northern Ontario community of Attawapiskat, described by one MP as 'Canada's Haiti but with -20 degree temperatures,' many families are preparing for winter with little more than uninsulated shacks, tents or mold-infested houses to keep out the cold.That reality caused the communi…

Attawapiskat publishes its financial statements going back to 2005. Link here.




The band chief is in a live-in relationship with the band book-keeper.
So says CBC journalist Kady O'Malley. This doesn't seem right, either.

There are some non-aboriginals who profess a collective guilt. I think not. Treaties were signed, first white mistake, but it is done. The Indian Act needs revision, but PM Harper is busy getting touch on crime. (Interesting, as we have a high percentage of First Nations in penal institutions.)

Aboriginal Peoples want self-government, which sounds great, but that doesn't seem to be working, either. Electing band leaders, using wobbly democratic procedures in what was a collective, matriarcal society, isn't working.

One journalist quoted a former teacher from Attawapiskat:

“Native leadership is really bad. There is apathy and no world view. No-one sees a solution. It’s pretty depressing. I don’t see any possible way for the problems to be fixed – they’re too far gone.”

He said native communities like Attawapiskat and neighbouring Kashechewan should be moved south, as the federal government recommended when Kashechewan was hit by an ecoli outbreak in 2005. “They need to be closer to civilization to see how dysfunctional things are,” he said.

To have had an Indian Act co-manager in Attawapiskat for 10 years, and not seeing the funding for two new houses a year ($500,000) create two homes a year is wrong. I cannot imagine that a 3rd party manager will work, either. Today's news tells us that Attawapiskat sent the man home. Attawapiskat is beyond a money-management issues. If it is impossible to obtain food, clothing, shelter at reasonable cost, perhaps Attawapiskat needs to move south in winter, as their ancestors did?

Good to see Mike Holmes on board. Small bands can hire small contractors to rebuild/build homes, but unless they are spending sensible money on homes that will last in this climate, they will continue to have a short life. Holmes teamed up with the Assembly of First Nations in 2010 to create a pilot project on the Whitefish Lake First Nation west of Sudbury, Ont., to build energy-efficient, environmentally friendly homes and other infrastructure. But with each band independent of one another, this knowledge has not been applied.

There is a place for a criminal investigation. I think of lottery winners who spend millions of dollars in two years. It is a difficult thing to manage those amounts of money. I've been treasurer of many a group, and it bears careful watching. I resigned from one group as I didn't like where the money was being spent. You get inured to the spending, and so easy to put it in the wrong places.

A friend wrote:

Interesting. Yes, it is embarrassing and I taught many youth from Attawapiskat and had the sad experience of learning of their suicides when they returned home. That said, James Bartleman was very critical of the band management when I questioned him on one of his appearances as GG- quite frankly and openly critical as those who were at that session will recall. We had many male students, the females went to North Bay. in my early years in Kirkland Lake and if we think the residential school system was bad- take a 14yr old Attawapiskat male and put him in a rooming house in 'the south' with little or no support other than 'food and a roof'. We were a supportive as we could be through an 'Indian Affairs' rep but then that funding was cut and we did what we could through the school system but my heart still hurts for the ones I knew who chose not to live after returning home to the coast and I wonder how the others survived.

With money going into Attawapiskat from AAND, and from Casino Rama:
The band of 2,800 registered members received 

• $17-million in funding from the federal government last year, around half of its $34-milllion in revenues. 
• $3.4-million from the province of Ontario
• $3.4-million from the Casino Rama gaming facility near Orillia – money intended for education, skills development and health.

In the past First Nations moved to follow the migrating animals and food sources. Surely, life outside of a small city, with Ice Road truckers bringing in food, clothing, warmth, just won't work. Only 100 of the 2000-member band are employed by the De Beers, with total employment (mostly First Nations) of 500 in the De Beers mine. It's a fly-in mine, like the one my brother works in in N. Ontario. (See *Musselwhite, below.) Once the mine is up and running, employment will go down, and only the most skilled workers will make the big bucks.
The other issue is where the big profits from this land go to the Ontario Government.

So many First Nations people have found dignity, purpose, and a life. They don't make the news. This is very complex. I met James Bartleman, who lives here in Perth, last week!  His is a success story.

All photos are @Jennifer Jilks from my Lake Superior trip.

There are some resources...

*Musselwhite mine in northern Ontario. As a fly-in, fly-out underground mining operation located 500km north of Thunder Bay, it is remote. The only way in, efficiently, is by air. My brother  flies to Hamilton, to Thunder Bay, to the Lake Opapimiskan airport (see the red A!) to get into work. Talk about a commute...

The mine is a 7-8 hour drive (480 km N as the crow flies) from Thunder Bay. They are difficult working conditions. Two weeks in, 12-hour shifts, and two weeks home.
t is a great mine, with leadership in a positive relationship with Native Peoples.

5 things about Attawapiskat and 3rd party management (CBC)

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