Attawapiskat... It's about the people Stephen

What in the name of all things Holy are they doing in Ottawa?

The people of Attawapiskat are in dire need of help and Stephen and his boy John send an Accountant up to help? A freaking accountant?

Hey guys, it’s not about the money… it’s about the people.

The Indian Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan says his people were in Attawapiskat as recently as October and saw nothing wrong. Did they even get out of the plane? Seriously, people living in sheds and tents in October on the shores of James Bay and your people are OK with that?

John Duncan and Stephen Harper like to tell us that Attawapiskat has received on the order of $90 Million dollars in Harper’s time in office and that the money must have been mismanaged in some way. If that is really the case then the accountant needs to be in Ottawa, specifically in the offices of the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs to find out what kind of people could be so inept at handling money that they mail out cheque after cheque and never bother to check on how the money is spent.

But he doesn’t have to do that, Attawapiskat posts their audited finances on the internet on a regular basis. I can see how much Chief Spence gets, and other members of the council, maybe the PMO should follow her lead and post the salaries and perks of the PMO staff.

This is so typical of the Stephen Harper Party. They are so busy pointing fingers, blaming everyone in sight they don’t have time to do a damn thing to help.

Now John Duncan boasts that Ottawa still controls the purse strings for Attawapiskat even if they threw the third party manager out. News Flash for John Duncan, you had that power last week, last month and last year and it still made no difference. There are still people in sheds and tents who need houses to live in. There are still people living in houses that in Ottawa would be condemned.

And apparently you didn’t know until Charlie Angus told you.

It is not about the money. It is about making sure that the people of Attawapiskat are able to get through the winter safely and in good health.

And that is the bottom line.

Does it not bother you John or you Stephen that the conditions at Attawapiskat have gotten so bad that the Red Cross had to step in and help because no one else would? I think that it is disgraceful.

But what is worse is the finger pointing and placing the blame when a competent manager would be gathering as many experts as he can to create a plan and get it implemented.

Not our Stephen, he schedules more meetings in January, Mr. Dithers indeed.

The issue is simple. These people need adequate shelter, heat and fuel to see them through the winter. If this is done intelligently then the supplies can be reused in the construction of new homes and the repair of existing ones. They need access to clean water and a school would be nice too.

Here’s a thought, send up another manager. Maybe the nice people in Attawapiskat can set him up with a family in a shed. Let him use a slop bucket for a toilet and boil his water for three minutes so he can have coffee. Then maybe he can explain to you what is going on.

Then in the spring, when the new housing initiative gets started and the infrastructure is repaired and they start building the new school you can go looking for scapegoats and do all the finger pointing you like.

But just remember, whenever you point your finger at someone, three fingers are pointed back at you.

Attawapiskat needs your help.

Something unusual happened about three weeks ago.

Chief Theresa Spence took steps to declare a State of Emergency in the Attawapiskat reserve, a small community in Northern Ontario.

Did you see it in the news? Probably not, I certainly didn’t. No one really seemed to care until Charlie Angus, the NDP MP for the region wrote about it at the Huffington Post.

Attawapiskat is the home to the James Bay Cree, a home that is in crisis.

Currently there are families in this community living in tents and sheds without such basic necessities as running water, having to use plastic buckets for toilets and dumping them in a ditch behind their “homes”.

This is not a recent development but a problem that has been growing for years. These people live at a junction between three governments, the Ontario, federal and native governments and no one has stepped forward to address these issues.

The indifference to the plight of these people is a crime.

Imagine if you can, in a country such as Canada, the Red Cross having to step in to help because the governments have not. This is not a natural disaster where you expect the Red Cross to help but a disaster of indifference. A preventable disaster.

The saddest part in this is that Attawapiskat is not alone, there are other native communities in the North across Canada facing similar problems. Lack of housing, inadequate housing, people living without things that most in Canada take for granted such as clean drinking water at the turn of a tap. The children of Attawapiskat don’t even have a school any more. Theirs was closed 12 years ago because of toxic fumes from contaminated soil the school sat upon.

These same children embarked on a plan to try and shame the government into providing a school. Their message has made it all the way to the United Nations.

Because these people live on reserve, they are limited as to what they can do. Even if they can afford to build a house, they cannot have a mortgage because they live on a reserve. What these people really need is an end to the political indifference at all levels of government.

With winter rapidly approaching, these people are going to be living in crowded conditions in places that are heated with woodstoves and the like. The dangers of contagious disease or tragedies involving hot woodstoves and children or house fires are very real. These people need our help.

If you want to help during this time of need, you can reach the Canadian Red Cross here for ways to donate.

If you wish to contact Charlie Angus the Member of Parliament for this region to voice your support in his efforts to have this addressed, his email is charlie.angus@parl.gc.ca .

Let us tell the people of Attawapiskat that people care and that people want better for the peoples of the North.

Maybe we can make something unusual happen too.