Editor:
Chief Theresa Spence was never the founder of the Idle No More movement, she only endorsed the concept and road the idle no more coat tail.
Although the Idle No More Movement is largely an Aboriginal women’s movement, all Canadians and non-Canadians tend to get involved, as these issues affect non-Aboriginals and Aboriginals worldwide, not just in Canada.
Now of course the idea of race has been made obsolete in the scientific community as it’s more of a sociological invention of culture.
Land claims by Aboriginals are based on the grandfather clause of inheritance from forefathers.
It isn’t a race issue nor was it ever.
So whenever we as a community hear that taxpayers pay Aboriginals for housing or what not, it’s not that they get free money that’s owed somehow through some outdated obscure ancient law written years ago that should no longer apply.
This didn’t happen thousands of years ago.
This land grab for resources just happened a few generations ago and is still happening.
There are even people still alive from the original treaties (if any were ever made).
The money we hear the conservative government complain about that’s being tossed to aboriginals in the form of Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) money, is taken from resources sold from Aboriginal land and given to Aboriginals for housing, education and what not.
All Aboriginal money comes from usage of resources belonging to Aboriginals.
Today Aboriginals, Canadians (non-Aboriginals), and world citizens every where are concerned about the state of the world’s environment and waterways.
We as citizens of the earth are tired of corporations pushing everyone around telling us we need to use these resources for the greater good now.
The fact of the matter is it’s economically smarter to wait until legal issues are settled around who actually has rights to what resources.
According to a Bank of Novia Scotia study, if Aboriginal resources were settled, Canada and many non-Aboriginal communities could increase in profits and business interactions.
Red tape would disappear and the DIA would shut down if land claims were settled once and for all.
We would all profit, make money and have clean air and water.
We have to think in the terms of jobs for the next 100 years not the next election.
No one buys into this old way of colonial thinking anymore.
Andrew Merritt
Williams Lake