LETTER: Reserves need better plans

To the editor:

The governments led by Jean Chretien, Dalton McGuinty and Stephen Harper mastered the art of money squandering with their numerous boondoggles.

In eight years a prime minister, Chretien poured billions of dollars in the First Nations reserves countrywide, with zero per cent accountability. Those huge sums were easy come, easy go. When government cannot demonstrate fiscal responsibility, why would anyone believe that a small remote reserve could do so?

Why did Attiwapiskat Chief Donna Spence wait until winter to raise the alarm? It was a cheap political ploy to embarrass the government and to seek worldwide sympathy, using the 25 families as pawns. Of the $90 million for five years, $62 million was allocated for infrastructure and education. There is not much to show for those dollars.

Attawapiskat has 16 councillors for 2,000 people and sky-high administrative costs. Compare that with Thunder Bay’s council of 12 and 110,000 people. The differential in those two sets of numbers is 25 and 5,500 per cent.

I believe that deplorable conditions on many reserves can be attributed to the reckless spending by the leadership. The government must take blame4 for allowing this to fester for so many decades.

In Manitoba, a drug and alcohol treatment centre was shut down because the whole staff had been treated to a Carribbean cruise. I read about another band that sent a delegation to an educational conference – in Florida. An acquaintance to worked in the North told me of seeing houses where interior doors and baseboards had been ripped out for firewood. These examples must hinder their efforts to obtain justice for legitimate grievances.

I have driven through or past reserves in Manitoba and Ontario. The most common sights are almost always dilapidated houses and litter. On a trip to Churchill, the last leg of my journey was by CNR high-railer from Thompson, Man.

Along the way there were a few shacks, all within a stone’s throw from the tracks and miles from each other. There was lots of litter, including propane fridges, on both sides of the tracks. The driver pointed out some Ski Doos on the tundra, saying they were abandoned for running out of gas.

I have often heard the grand chiefs talking about their sacred lands. So why don’t First Nations treat those lands with more respect?

One day at Great Bear Lake our fishing party was gathering firewood for a shore lunch and came upon a littered camp site. The bottles, cans and cartons were widely scattered along with a grat amount of heavy-duty plastic, which was probably used for ground sheets and lean-tos. We cleaned up the mess and took it back to the lodge. There we learned an Aboriginal caribou hunting party, led by their chief, had stopped by hours ahead of us.

On three separate occasions I’ve been to Kugluktut, Nunavut and was appalled and saddened to see ragged kids under 10 smoking cigarettes or pot with their mothers, another child using the washroom on the sidewalk along the northern shore.

The following is a proposed plan of action for the grand chiefs. Get out to the reserves. Organize work parties to collect all the garbage and move it to a single site at least a mile away. Together with the teachers, organize sporting events, contests, hikes and barecues. Bring them seed potatoes, pea, bean and carrot seeds to plant gardens. Keeping people active will help instill pride in their communities.

By way of this letter, I urge Prime Minister Stephen Harper to take action as follows. Enlist the help of Phil Fontaine and Shawn Atleo. Mandated them to recruit a team of highly skilled and competent people from a prosperous reserve to replace all the third-party managers. Their job descriptions should include the following terms:

1. For each reserve, produce a report listing all the problems with the recommended solutions.

2. Produce quarterly progress reports and financial statements with all necessary invoices and receipts.

3. Impose a limit on administrative size and spending.

The only other option is for the 99 per cent and the bottom to take their cue from the Arab world and surround the band offices.
Good luck to both sides.

O.E. Olynyk,
Thunder Bay