The Ambassadors Magazine - January 2012

PROFILES

Canadian Aboriginal Women (Part XIII)

By Essam Farag

During my convocation ceremony at the University of Guelph in February 2004, a special person was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws. This woman was Dr. Roberta Jamieson, an Aboriginal lawyer and distinguished Canadian celebrity. Her powerful and moving lecture stuck in my memory and challenged me to write about the achievements of Aboriginal woman in all aspects of Canadian society - a sector of the Canadian fabric that is seldom recognized. This article is a continuation of the articles presented in the last ten issues, which was dedicated to Dr. Jamieson and all women belonging to minority groups in appreciation for their contributions.

On the historic day of June 11, 2008, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper publicly apologized to native Canadians in the House of Commons for a government policy of taking natives from their families and forcing them to attend state-funded Christian schools up until the 1970s.

This series about Canadian Aboriginal Women, seeks to make the world more knowledgeable about the Aboriginal population and challenge youth around the world to strive to achieve success regardless of the hurdles they might face, with the dream of creating a better society for future generations. Interestingly, the 2001 Canadian Census figure indicate that about 500 aboriginal people (Indians, Metis and Inuits) have doctoral degrees, about 1,500 have Masters' degrees and about 14,000 have undergraduate degrees.

These articles present the profiles of exemplar aboriginal women who are carving the way for the future of their communities. In part XIII, I present the interesting profile of Theresa Spence.

Theresa Spence is Chief of the Attawapiskat First Nation, which is an aboriginal reserve located in the northern part of Canada’s province of Ontario.

The First Nation chief has been in the limelight recently when she declared a state of emergency in October 2011 because her people are living in plywood shacks with no heating or running water. In response to this crisis, the Canadian federal government has bought 15 modular homes for the remote community through the Red Cross, but Aboriginal Affairs Minister, John Duncan, has maintained the possibility that the reserve may ultimately pay the bill. However, the management of the $1.2 million required for these upgrades has been the source of even more controversy. While both Chief Spence and Minister Duncan have said they want to work together to make sure families now living in tents, shacks and substandard housing can spend the winter in warm and safe lodgings, they are in disagreement over the federal government’s imposition of a third-party manager to control the Cree band’s finances.

Following a meeting with Minister Duncan in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Chief Spence has stood her ground in insisting that the imposition of third-party management would not be acceptable, and has filed for an injunction to boot the the third-party manager Jacques Marion of BDO Canada LLP from his post of being in charge of the reserve's finances. She is trying to prove his appointment will cause the reserve irreparable harm, particularly noting her view that he was hired after the federal government questioned "results" on the dire conditions in the remote reserve on the shore of James Bay. Furthermore, both Minister Duncan and Prime Minister Harper have alleged that previously committed federal funds of $90 million since 2006 may have been mismanaged, and have tasked Mr. Marion with handling the $17 million that the federal government provides to the Attawapiskat reserve annually.

While cooperation from Chief Spence is not necessary for Mr. Marion to do his job, he has not been welcomed onto the reserve to do so since being hired, including the purchase and delivery of 22 mobile homes to help tackle the housing crisis. Furthermore, civil disobedience and legal action against the federal government on the basis that proper protocol on consultation and research before imposition of third-party management was not followed. Despite her rejection of the third-party management arrangement, Chief Spence has added that Minister Duncan has her "full co-operation" and reiterated her desire to meet with further in order to "arrive at a compromise” to this impasse.

Theresa Spence has managed to rally support for her community’s situation from the general Canadian public and from other aboriginal reserve chiefs from across Canada to support her case. The Canadian Red Cross has confirmed that over $300,000 has been raised thanks to the generous response of Canadians to the crisis in Attawapiskat. The money collected was used to purchase immediate, short-term needs like winter clothes, sleeping bags, heaters and generators, for the 25 families living in temporary shelters.

In an aboriginal chiefs meeting held in Ottawa last December, they all stood up to condemn the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs for sending a third-party manager of finances at Attawapiskat. Chief Spence has also spoken out publicly on the flaws in the relationship between Ottawa [Government of Canada] and aboriginal people numerous times, noting that, “we have inherent and treaty rights yet we are relegated to administering our own poverty under the completely flawed Indian Act regime and the remote control of Ottawa. Instead of moving forward, Ottawa keeps dragging us backwards within the system that has failed for so long.”

She adds, “I am encouraged by the support of other leadership and I know that it is only through understanding and unity that we will achieve fairness and the respect and dignity we deserve. Right now, we need immediate help from all Canadians. At the same time, we insist that the federal government work with us not against us. But we also need a plan for the future and this is why the support of others, the Grand Chief, the Regional Chief and the National Chief is so critical to us now. We must work together and we will demand that once and for all we move on a vision for the future. No longer can First Nation poverty in a First World country be used as political football, further driving wedges within our communities and between First Nations and other Canadians.”

Essam Farag, BA Honours (Dalhousie), MA (Guelph) is the Production Editor of the Ambassadors Magazine. Email: essamfarag@ambassadors.net