THUNDER BAY -- Being ignored by the federal government won’t stop the fight against Bill C-45, Idle No More protesters say.
More than 100 protesters took to the streets for a peaceful march Monday as part of the world day of action. The day coincided with the return of MPs to the House of Commons. The rally made a loop starting at city hall going down Arthur Street then back down Donald Street.
About 20 city police were on hand to handle traffic as protesters made their way along the sidewalk.
Rachel Achneepineskum attended the rally because she said she wanted to make sure her children and grandchildren had a good future ahead of them. She didn’t want Canada’s natural resource be exploited like in other countries, she said.
“Idle No More is growing,” Achneepineskum said.
“The first two movements here there weren’t that many people. Now it is just growing. The government has never listened and I don’t think they will ever listen. I don’t care. I’m just going to keep going. With me, the fire is still budayrning.”
As the movement continues to grow, Achneepineskum noticed that it wasn’t just Aboriginals who were protesting. She said all kinds of people are rally to the cause.
The 40-year-old said she’s been a victim of racism and hopes that Idle No More creates change so her children don’t have to go through the same experiences as her.
“Growing up in this town, I’ve seen a lot of racism a lot more than I care to speak about,” she said. “I want people to look at my children’s brown skin and not have it an automatic mark against them.”
Faith Dumas, a Grade 10 student at Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and Vocational, came to the rally with her mother because she wanted to protect her treaty rights.
“We’re out here to get respect from other people,” she said.
Paul Berger, a founding member of Citizens United for a Sustainable Planet, attended the rally because he said that they have similar concerns to the ones voiced by the Idle No More Protesters. The group focuses on ensuring fair treatment of Aboriginals and bringing awareness to the lack of action around climate change.
Berger said First Nation organizations have been open to non-Aboriginal groups to join in their fight against Bill C-45.
“Treaty problems are everyone’s problems,” Berger said. “We encourage non-Aboriginal people to also be involved. I think it would be great if a lot of non-Aboriginals came and gave their support to say to our government we need to protect the land and water. We need to honour the treaties. We’re not willing to let future generations inherit the problems that we’re not willing to solve now.”
Berger believes that the current Conservative government isn’t listening to the concerns raised by protesters. That only means the protests will have to grow even more in order to get the government’s attention, he said.
