Hi,
Please note the e-mail is for the intention of the AFN (Assembly of First
Nations) Leadership.
The "initial" e-mail, the one I'm forwarding to you did NOT go through
at nco@afn.ca: that needs to be fixed. Thankfully, this has allowed me
to "touch up" the initial e-mail.
~~~
I would be grateful if someone at the AFN could forward this e-mail
to Arthur, the Chief up in Calstock -- 20 miles west of Hearst --
which is in the middle of the TransCanada Highway in Northern
Ontario. Incidentally, I went to Hearst Public School (now Clayton
Brown Public School) with him.
(At the time, I was living at Nassau Lake, a lumber camp 35 miles
west of Hearst: spent my first 13 years there. I know what the Bush
is about.)
I'll never forget, just after my Dad was killed in a car accident, I
received ONLY ONE SYMPATHY CARD from my Grade 7
classmates, and that card came from Arthur, a tall handsome guy,
now the Chief at Calstock. I have never forgotten that. How
thoughtful!
~~~
I would like to add a few more things, however.
Firstly, as a Canadian, I'm entitled to know on what fronts are we
making progress when it comes to aboriginal/Métis/Inuit issues
and on what fronts we are NOT making progress so I can -- for
myself -- assess if the Government is negotiating in good faith
or NOT.
(I say to each aboriginal/Métis/Inuit organization: let the Canadian
People know and I'm sure they will take it from there.)
(Personally, I can say I don't "really" know either. Obviously, the
information is NOT getting out.)
Secondly, how is the aboriginal/Métis/Inuit leadership preparing
their People for the future in terms of literacy programs, physical
fitness programs, healthy diet programs, etc.
Thirdly, how does the AFN define itself: as a Government lobby
group sponsored/funded by the Government to address "political
issues" that make the Government "appear" to be negotiating with
the natives? Good for appearances for the Government, but NOT
any good for those "barely surviving" on the "RESERVE" in their
poorly heated shacks with little to eat, eh?
Fourthly, the Archillie's Heel of the Government, is the Department
of Indian Affairs: it is in my view "the most despicable" of all
Government departments and the easiest department to attack and
get "international attention/support". For every injustice done to a
native, BLAME THE MINISTER AGAIN AND AGAIN AND
AGAIN. He's is PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE for any injustice
committed by the Canadian Government/People towards each and
every native person. Ask, "Mr. Minister when are you going to resign
over .... (fill in the blank). This is an outrage! This is CRIMINAL
NEGLIGENCE on the part of your Government towards our People!
YOU ARE NOT COMPETENT to do this job! We demand a
Minister that is COMPETENT!" (This diatribe is an example of
what the native leadership could be saying to the Minister so the
Government is "on the run" and NOT the natives as has been
purported by the Canadian media recently.) (I don't ever want
to hear that it's the natives that are "on the run" again.)
Fifthly, I think the future for NATIVE SELF-GOVERNMENT
good as long as the native leadership does NOT lie down on the
job. It is a matter of them asking themselves: What's our plan?
What's our NEXT move? The "international press" is on your
side. The Canadian People is on your side. The U.N. is on your
side. I am on your side.
Sixthly, doN'T play dead.
Seventhly, I have every confidence in the leadership of the
Aboriginal Peoples/Métis/Inuit. We have to MAKE PROGRESS
WITH PATIENCE OVER TIME, but we have to make progress.
So what progress are we making, eh?
In closing, let me say I have every confidence in Mr. Phil Fontaine's
leadership: he's a handsome, impressive man with experience.
Dealing with the Canadian Government is NOT easy, but progress
can and must be made.
I look forward to the day when FULL Aboriginal Self-Government
is a reality and Canadians are "properly" informed about THE
GREAT ABORIGINAL PEOPLES OF THE GREAT NORTH
so that each and every Canadian can take GREAT PRIDE IN
CANADIAN ABORIGINAL/MÉTIS/INUIT CULTURE that
makes Canada such a "welcoming" place for people from the
world over to visit and possibly decide to live.
Best wishes and continued success,
Ken
~~~
President/Leader
of the Égalité Party of Canada
Let's DEcriminalize Government: at ALL levels! :-D
http://www.eh-ok.ca
----- Original Message -----
Date: Saturday, August 30, 2003 8:37 PM
Subject: Website suggestions... + my "personal"
_______commitment.
Hi,
Your website is "alright", a bit outdated though: frames are out of date.
Plus, I can only see part of the "Fact Sheet" on the far right-hand side:
that needs to be fixed.
It seems to me your URL would be "clearer" if instead of being www.afn.ca
it would be www.assemblyoffirstnations.ca: in fact, it would be a good idea
to use both, one could be used as a redirector, www.afn.ca to the other
www.assemblyoffirstnations.ca: the benefit here is that it is more easily
recognized by search engines.
"About AFN", "Tecumseh's Vision", Tecumseh was invited to England
where he was invited to be a Freemason which he was pretty much was
obliged to do as the whole British governmental apparatus was run by
Freemasons even to this day and that is where the problem for settling
natives issues "expediently" lie in my view. (It's even safe to say the
that the first French-Canadian Prime Minister also "had to" become
a Freemason in order to become Prime Minister.)
Once, we understand that the Canadian Government -- AT ALL
LEVELS -- like in all the Commonwealth countries -- are run by
Freemasons (I call them "gangsters".), we will all be ahead of the
game.
To my credit, I worked 9 years on Parliament Hill, the Senate of
Canada, and got the Union in singlehandedly in 1984 with the help
of Yolande Viau, union organizer for the Public Service Alliance
of Canada. (She went on to teach labour law at the Faculty of
Law at the University of Ottawa.) What was good about that
is that it helped to make Parliament LESS OF A "CLOSED"
SHOP.
The problem with Government agencies/departments and
parapublic sector institutions like hospitals, colleges, universities
is because they are "CLOSED SHOPS": they each have a level
of PARALLEL CRIMINAL ACTIVITY -- in my view -- that
benefits those that run those institutions and when this level is
"really bad" you AUTOMATICALLY have the "SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN" as we do in our hospitals --
again, in my opinion.
Can that be changed? Yes. I strongly feel with each passing
day, people have an ever greater thirst for social justice --
worldwide! This trend in my view is very positive and the
Canadian Native Leadership should capitalize on it by
informing the Canadian Public of its concerns regarding
the lack of progress being made on native issues "over
the decades" and strongly suggest that such a lack of
progress is nothing short of an "ACTIVE" POLICY
OF PASSIVE GENOCIDE.
Let's NOT forget Canada's drop in the U.N. standing of
the top countries was due to the disastrous situation and
dreadful conditions of our native people on the "RESERVES".
The natives live in squalor and eat poorly because they
are poor. Is this EXTREME POVERTY "designed" by
bureaucrats bent on continuing an "ACTIVE" POLICY
OF PASSIVE GENOCIDE AIMED AT REDUCING
THEIR LIFE SPAN THAT IS "KILLING THEM
OFF"?
In my view the Canadian Government has put the Native
Leadership on a leash and every so often IT YANKS
THE LEASH like it did when it cut the AFN budget in
1/2 after the Grand Chief Matthew Coon Comb spoke
out against the Canadian Government in South Africa
at the world forum on racism. I think the AFN should
ask Nelson Mendela to "renounce" his honorary
Canadian citizenship in light of the fact there has been
NO IMPROVEMENT in the lives of natives living
ON THE RESERVES FOR DECADES now.
Shame on the Canadian Government! SHAME!!!
The Canadian Government SEEMS to be letting the
aboriginal leaders via the Aboriginal Congress, the AFN,
etc. PRETEND TO PLAY BALL when these CROOKED
Government BUREAUCRATS are the ones that have
TAKEN GREAT PAINS TO INVENT AN "ELABORATE"
IMAGINARY GAME OF DISCUSSIONS AND
NEGOTIATIONS in which the native leaders IMAGINE
they're participants, but are they really? Or is it mostly
"imaginary"?
What the Canadian native leaders -- in union with the
other native organizations of the Americas -- ought to
do, I believe, is go to the Pope, the U.N.., the various
Churches, the Canadian Public, the International Press,
and report on the progress and and the lack of progress
on native issues in the Americas and let the World decide
if this is "GENOCIDE BY PUBLIC POLICY" DESIGNED
TO "ETERNALIZE" NEGOTIATIONS on "most" issues
while allowing the natives a "few, VERY FEW wins": it's
seem to me that THE GOVERNMENT'S GENOCIDAL
TACTIC HAS BEEN ONE OF WEARING THE NATIVES
DOWN AND WEARING THEM OUT like the U.S.
Government did with Geronomo.
I promise I will do everything possible to change this and
hope the leadership of the Aboriginal Peoples -- across
Canada -- WILL FIGHT BACK and ensure that it's the
Canadian Government that is "on the run" and NOT the natives.
Let's bear in mind that the Archillle's Heel of the Canadian
Government is the Department of Indian Affairs: in my eyes,
it's a Nazi-SS-style outfit that is designed to benefit NOT
the natives, but THEIR AGGRESSORS, those who are
HANDSOMELY REWARDED FOR "HORSING THE
NATIVES AROUND" DECADE AFTER DECADE