Brave Leadership Spreads Hope: Attawapiskat Takes on the Ultimate Bully

There have been countless blogs, reports, media stories and commentary on the crisis Attawapiskat First Nation located in northern Ontario on the James Bay. So many of these stories report on the current situation and few provide the historical context from which it all evolved. The purpose of this blog is simply to provide a little context and show how grass roots community members have the power to spread hope to all First Nations by their brave leadership.

http://www.attawapiskat.org/

Attawapiskat is a First Nation community of approximately 2000 of its 3335 members live on reserve. This community is part of the larger Cree Nation and the current Chief is Theresa Spence. Attawapiskat is part of the Mushkegowuck Council (a tribal council representing eight Cree communities which is currently headed by Grand Chief Stan Louttit and represents about 10,000 First Nations people.

http://www.mushkegowuk.ca/home_adm.html

At the regional level, Attawapiskat is represented by the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (formerly known as Grand Council of Treaty 9). It is headed by Grand Chief Stan Beardy and represents over 45,000 First Nations people. This organization is affiliated with the Chiefs in Ontario which is the provincial co-ordinating body for the 134 First Nations in Ontario.

http://www.nan.on.ca/article/about-us-3.asp

All of the issues surrounding the current situation in Attawapiskat did not turn up over night, nor can Canada or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) legitimately claim that they had no idea what was happening in the community. The significant challenges faced by Attawapiskat can be traced back to the diesel spill in 1979 that was never remedied by INAC. (Although INAC purported to change its name to Aboriginal Affairs, the act still says Department of Indian Affairs).

In 1979, the largest diesel spill in northern Ontario occurred from underground pipes which leaked under their reserve lands. INAC did not remediate this environmental hazard, but instead, INAC built a school for the community on these contaminated lands. The school itself ended up acting like a cap for the nearly 30,000 gallons of diesel just underneath the surface. The toxic diesel fumes made both teachers and students so ill that the school had to be closed.

http://www.nationnews.ca/index.php?option=com_zine&view=article&id=476:attawapiskat-wins

In 2000-2001, the band closed the school and also declared a state of emergency in order to get INAC to build a proper school on lands that were not contaminated. INAC refused and left children to attend school in cold, moldy, run-down portables. This is how the world came to know Shannen Koostachin - the brave little girl who would not give up on her dream of a safe, clean school for her community. Her campaign came to be known as Shannen's Dream.

http://www.fncfcs.com/shannensdream/

When NDP MP Charlie Angus was elected in 2004, he too joined the cause and advocated strenuously for Canada to act immediately and address the lack of a school in Attawapiskat. Despite all the efforts, promises made by former Ministers Nault, Scott and Prentice all went unfulfilled. This lead Shannen and her fellow community members to meet with then Minister Chuck Strahl to explain how important a school was for their community. It was this Minister, under the newly empowered dictatorial "Harper Government" (also known as Canada) that finally confirmed that NO new school would be built.

http://www.midnorthmonitor.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3349031

Minister Strahl, being too busy to meet for long with Shannen, he said that he did not have any money for a school. This did not deter Shannen or her supporters. Despite her subsequent tragic passing, grass roots members at Attawapiskat, Cindy Blackstock of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society (FNCFCS), MP Charlie Angus and others have continued to lobby for a school.

http://www.fncfcs.com/sites/default/files/docs/OurDreams-June2011.pdf

In May 2011, after much domestic and international pressure and political embarrassment, INAC seemed to reconsider its position and issued its fourth promise to Attawapiskat to build the school. There was a great deal of public celebration over this victory, but it is now 8 months later and construction for the school has not been started. INAC claims it will break ground sometime in 2013, but time will tell.

http://wawataynews.ca/archive/all/2011/5/30/attawapiskat-finally-gets-new-school_21503

The school has not been the only issuing plaguing Attawapiskat. In early 2005, the De Beers Mining company decided to dump their sewage sludge into Attawapiskat's sewage pumping station. As a result, the system was overwhelmed and sewage backed up into community homes. A subsequent engineering report noted that Canada knew about the situation and did not take steps to address the immediate crisis or to remediate the environmental hazard.

http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/12/13/de-beers-decision-to-dump-sewage-into-attawapiskat-played-role-in-current-housing-crisis/

Because INAC refused to offer emergency aid to this community is crisis, the struggling First Nation was forced to evacuate its residents and pay the bill itself, thus resulting in a major debt. NDP Member of Parliament Charlie Angus explained that the band ran up a debt from flying people out of the community and putting them in hotels. Residents simply could not stay in homes full of raw sewage, and the First Nation was forced into a tough decision given INAC's refusal to assist them.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/outsiders-flood-month-crisis-ridden-native-community-cries-175723785.html

They declared a state of emergency in early 2009 to refocus attention on the nearly ten years without a school. At that time, the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), Chuck Strahl, was shocked by the declaration of the sate of emergency: "...they've issued this (state of emergency) and I'm not sure what it means or why it has been done." The declaration was made not just because of the school, but also because of the water infrastructure needs and the major environmental and health issue associated with the De Beers sewage back-up in their community.

http://media.knet.ca/node/6640

Strahl went on to express that there were no health issues, that he was aware of the situation on the ground and that "Every indication is it's all good". He went on to guarantee that INAC would ensure that everything would be fine: "I'm not sure what's going on there, but we'll work with them to make sure it's all fine," said Strahl. An interesting promise given the reaction by Minister Duncan and the "Harper Government" to Attawapiskat's third declaration of emergency on October 28, 2011.

http://digitaljournal.com/article/315974

At first, this declaration received the same amount of attention from INAC as the previous ones - no attention at all. Chief Theresa Spence, MP Charlie Angus and others were in the news nearly every day trying to bring attention to the worsening crisis in Attawapiskat. Now, given all the past disasters with diesel, sewage back-up, evacuations and no school, the community saw some of its members living in sheds and tents, and some houses were so over-crowded that they had up to 20 people living in one house. Yet for three weeks INAC did not act. It was not until the Canadian Red Cross stepped in and provided emergency services to the community that the "Harper Government" was shamed into responding.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/red-cross-to-aid-attawapiskat-in-housing-crisis/article2251378/

However, the response was not what anyone expected. Instead of empathy or compassion, the "Harper Government" came out swinging and accused the community of "mismanagement" of their federal funding.  Unlike the political reaction to any other community in Canada that has suffered a crisis like flooding or fire, the Conservatives turned their backs and decided to blame the victim for the many crises in their community.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/12/01/attawapiskat-thursday.html

The reaction from Attawapiskat, other First Nations and thousands of Canadians was outrage that the Conservatives would turn a situation of human suffering into a political battle complete with a smear campaign against the community's leadership for daring to show the world how disgustingly Canada treats its First Nations. The media swooped in and covered all the drama as usual focusing on the simplistic headlines pitting tragedy against alleged corruption - until something happened and people started asking different questions.

We had all heard the old right-wing denials of injustice and their racist focus on the alleged corruption of all First Nation leaders, their 'exhorbitant" salaries being the cause of poverty on reserves and the solutions being - be more Canadian by paying taxes, owning your own fee simple land and mortgaging your house. Yet, few had ever asked the relevant questions of how did we get here, why is there no action being taken to redress human suffering and how do we move forward. The fact that the media quickly shifted to these important questions may well have shaped the response.

Dec.2, 2011 – APTN InFocus

Part 1
http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/12/05/december-2nd-part-1/

Part 2

http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/12/05/december-2nd-part-2/

 Dec.3, 2011 – CTV’s Question Period

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/ctvs-question-period/dec-4/#clip579399

Dec.3, 2011 – Let’s Talk Native with John Kane
 http://letstalknativepride.blogspot.com/

Dec.4, 2011 – CBC Radio’s The Current

Part 1
http://www.cbc.ca/video/news/audioplayer.html?clipid=2173731301

Part 2

http://www.cbc.ca/video/news/audioplayer.html?clipid=2173734096

Dec.8, 2011 – CTV’s Power Play with Don Martin

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/power-play/dec-8/#clip582291

Dec.11, 2011 – CPAC’s Goldhawk Live

http://www.cpac.ca/forms/index.asp?dsp=template&act=view3&pagetype=vod&hl=e&clipID=6364

 Dec.15, 2011 – CTV’s Canada AM

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/CanadaAM/20111215/attawapiskat-housing-crisis-abuse-111215/

I think however, that the biggest issue is the level to which the grass roots people in Attawapiskat said enough is enough and started to advocate on their own behalf is what made the difference. Our people have been suffering for so long and have been controlled and beaten down by ongoing colonial laws and policies that resistance has been difficult. How can one stand up for themselves if they have no home, food or water and the risk to standing up could mean retaliation from INAC or Harper?

The children of Attawapiskat, led by Shannen Koostachin showed the world that the well-being of our people are worth the risks. They showed the true spirit of our Indigenous peoples and made their ancestors proud when the stood up for their people. They have inspired a generation that has learned what colonization is and are working hard at decolonizing themselves and their communities and strengthening the grass roots resistance to federal control and forced poverty.

So too did Chief Theresa Spence who risked everything to continually highlight the injustices in her community. In most political realms, the squeaky wheel often gets the grease - but in a "Harper Government" which is all about control and domination - the squeaky wheel is more likely to be removed and replaced or thrown out. Judging Harper's actions in Attawapiskat, it is obvious that they were punished for their advocacy efforts and vilified in Parliament and the media until a wiser Canadian public wanted to know more.

The sustained efforts of Chief Theresa Spence and her councillors, the leaders before them, their community members and youth, have been nothing short of heroic. They stood in the face of criticism, unfounded allegations of mismanagement and the most racist and heartless political response ever to a crisis in Canada and stood firm on justice for their community. Canada's response to impose further colonial controls on the community through a third party manager at $1300 a day to be paid from the band's overwhelmed budget is yet another attack on the community in an effort to subdue them.

While Canada has been critiqued, so has the Assembly of First Nations for their lack of advocacy for the most impoverished communities in Canada. Where was Shawn Atleo when Chief Spence was declaring her THIRD state of emergency? Why was he not screaming from the steps of Parliament to raise awareness and demand action? Atleo's political strategy of "playing nice with the Conservatives" has only brought woe upon those First Nations who are most in need. He has set the stage for non-resistance which does not bode well with most First Nations.

http://www.timescolonist.com/life/Harper+heading+trouble+native+issues/5876694/story.html

But we all have hope and have been inspired by the efforts of Attawapiskat to refuse to give up - to refuse to believe that they are not entitled to justice and basic human rights. Strong grass roots youth like Shannen Koostachin and strong Indigenous women leaders like Chief Theresa Spence have shown the world that resistance is now at the heart of our identities as Indigenous peoples and that we - the grass roots - have the power to change our future. We do not have to wait for elected leaders to act on our behalf. True leaders step in when there is a void and take real steps to address it.

Attawapiskat has done more to raise awareness about our issues than many leaders who are paid to do just that. But they took a risk in acting. There will always be risks associated with decolonizing and resisting federal control over our Nations. We could have our leaders discredited or removed, we could lose valuable funding or be publically vilified by Harper's thugs. There are even risks associated with the inevitable change that comes with something other than the "status quo". But these risks are worth taking on behalf of our communities who expect and deserve so much more than what they survive now - lack of housing, water, sewer, food, education, employment and for some, a lack of identity, culture, language, history, context and pride.

This is not to say there are no good leaders - there are many and I have the privilege of working with some of them who also believe that things need to change. My main point is that the most vulnerable in our communities - Indigenous women and children - are also a source of strength and leadership for our people. Our grass roots Indigenous people know a better life is possible - one that honours the sacrifices of our ancestors and protects our culture, identity, land and resources for our future generations.

Let Attawapiskat be an example of hope - one that proves that brave leaders, who are prepared to take risks can come from anyone, at anytime, under any conditions. Our people will rally around these kinds of leaders and collectively we have the power to change our futures and take back control over our Nations.

Rise of the Eastern Empire: Lavallee's Plan to Dismantle the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples

This blog is about CAP's demise and to ask whether anyone cares? I would love to hear from folks about this blog and CAP in general. I worried about using "Congress of Aboriginal Peoples" as the title to this blog because I assumed that most of you would be thinking "Who?". Seriously though, some of you may be wondering what the heck has happened to the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP). In my last blog, I wrote that they have essentially fallen off the face of the earth.

http://indigenousnationhood.blogspot.com/2010/11/slow-painful-death-of-cap-can-it-be.html

We (those who live off-reserve in Canada) do not ever hear from CAP or its President Betty-Ann Lavallee in the media, in the community, or anywhere else for that matter. On APTN's InFocus (Jan.21, 2011 edition), the political panel talked about how irrelevant organizations like CAP are when they do not reach out to the people they claim to represent.

http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/01/24/january-21-2011/

Aside from CAP's lack of engagement with the substantial Aboriginal population that lives off-reserve in Canada (50% of total Aboriginal population), CAP's current President is taking the organization on a nosedive into oblivion and if those who care about the organization don't do something soon, it could be gone forever. Many of you who have contacted me have indicated that it is your opinion that President Lavallee simply doesn't have the skills or capacity to lead a national organization because as many have commented, she nearly tanked her own provincial organization in New Brunswick - the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council (NBAPC) and at the very least, made it politically irrelevant.

http://www.nbapc.org/

I appreciate the feedback from grassroots folks and I can definitely relate. In fact, I used to be a member of the NBAPC and watched the organization grow over the last 40 years and have actually seen it when it was a strong political voice and engaged with the off-reserve community. Sadly, I have also seen it in the last 10-15 years slowly become less effective as a political voice, less engaged with the off-reserve Aboriginal people and become an elite club that would rather spend money on lawyers against their own membership than use those lawyers to defend our Aboriginal and treaty rights.

Why has the NBAPC gone downhill after such a strong history? Many of you have commented that the reason is Lavallee's poor leadership skills, her lack of knowledge on Aboriginal issues, her lack of connection to our First Nation communities, her lack of political experience, and some have even suggested that she has other, more sinister motives. While I respect everyone's opinions, I always base my opinions on fact versus conjecture, but in this case, they proved to be one in the same.

I personally can speak to a time when the mood of the community was to have a non-confidence vote and remove Lavallee as President of NBAPC, so instead of dealing with the issue, she skipped the Annual General Meeting (AGM). At subsequent meetings, she claimed that she could not be removed as President because she was an employee of NBAPC and not a political leader. Her lawyer started appearing at more and more meetings, which had the effect (for many) of effectively silencing them.

If that does not say it all, I don't know what does. Our people elect leaders to speak for them, not to be lead by lawyers, consultants, or staff. The situation had become so bad, many people simply stopped participating. I for one, resigned as a member so that I could exercise my voice without fear of retaliation.

AGMs became more predicatible as Lavallee did not report on significant accomplishments she made for NBAPC each year, instead we got a copy of her calendar which said which days she was in the office and which days she was out sick. As members started to speak out, ask questions and demand more, Lavallee started to attend AGMs and board meetings with her lawyer.

We knew then that there was no getting rid of her unless she left voluntarily. Then when Patrick Brazeau jumped ship to become a conservative Senator, Lavallee set her sights on CAP. As I explained in my last blog, many off-reserve folks thought that the only way to get rid of her in NB was to vote her in as President of CAP, because CAP's Constitution and By-laws had a specific provision that would allow votes of non-confidence.

http://www.abo-peoples.org/CAP/About/CAP_ByLaws_Constitution_2007.pdf

As expected, Lavallee was voted in as President and CAP has been dying a slow death ever since. However, while I used to think it was a capacity issue: poor leadership skills and a lack of knowledge and experience - I was shocked to find out it was her plan all along. It is no accident that CAP is dying, in fact when Lavallee was President of the NBAPC AND the Vice-President of CAP, she called for CAP to be dismantled!

It gets worse than this - not only did she want CAP to be dismantled, but she wanted the financial support to be funnelled back east to support her organization and that of those affiliated with the Maritime Aboriginal Peoples Council (MAPC) an organization that represents the NBAPC, Native Council of Nova Scotia (NCNS) and the Native Council of PEI (NCPEI).

http://www.ikanawtiket.ca/

How do I know this? Well, today I was sent a copy of a letter dated May 28, 2009 that was addressed to Fred Caron, ADM of the Office of the Federal Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians, and signed by Lavallee when she was President of NBAPC and Vice-President of CAP. It is not posted online anywhere, so I will reproduce the text below (all the grammar and spelling mistakes are from the letter itself):

"As you know, for many years now we have discussed the idea of ways we could make the Maritime Aboriginal Peoples Council more recognized as a real credible organization. In the East, we have run it so far as a formal group but now I think it is the right time to go further and officially recognize the important role it plays for Aboriginal people here in Eastern Canada.

It is the right time to do this now when you consider the problems that CAP is facing now as a National organization. We seen the failure of OMAA in 2005 and also the addition of some affiliates in the West that are very questionable.

We are very concerned that the new affiliates in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan still don't get core funding and do not have real membership. This hurts the national organization in terms of credibility as well as reputation and it is not fair for the Eastern PTO's. We should not have to suffer because these groups cannot get their organizations running effectively.

Maybe the time has come to turn away from CAP and to regroup around the east where the affiliates are running very well and have real and successful operations. We have a long and successful history compared to those in the West and we play by the rules. I am worried that if we continue to be a part of a national organization with serious and many debt and governance problems that other PTOs have created we in the East will ultimately be severely affected."

Not only was Lavallee trying to tank CAP when she was one of its provincial affiliates, but according to the Board, she was also the Vice-President of CAP at the time. I wonder if Brazeau was aware he was being stabbed in the back? That letter alone should have prevented her from running for the position as President of CAP given her obvious bias towards tanking it. It should also be at the top of the list for bringing about an immediate vote of non-confidence.

However, the issue that I am most concerned about regarding Lavallee, relates to the lack of voice by the grass roots people. They say that Lavallee NEVER consulted with her membership in NB about writing such a letter or taking such a position. Other members from other affiliates say they were never consulted by her keeping in mind she was the Vice-President at the time. To call for the end of the NBAPC's national organization should have been an agenda item at an AGM, it not a special consultation meeting in and of itself. I would also venture to guess that this should have been an agenda item at CAP's own board meeting.

What also strikes me is the hypocrisy of the letter. As former Vice-President and board member of CAP, it was her job to support the other affiliates and to direct resources towards assisting the other affiliates in obtaining core funding so that they could build capacity. Currently, as the President of CAP, the buck stops with her. If her affiliates are struggling, it is her job as a leader to make assisting those affiliates her number one priority. Instead, Board members report that she takes trips to places like Bolivia or the Olympics instead of taking care of what appears to be urgent business at CAP.

If CAP is failing, Lavallee need only point the finger at one person - herself, seeing as she is the President, Chief AND CEO of CAP.

I am told by members of the Board, that at CAP's recent governance training, the person who conducted the training was surprised that Lavallee was the President, Chief and CEO of CAP. They felt that this was highly unusual and apparently the discussion centred on the fact that it felt like a dictatorship. CAP has apparently mixed both the political side of the house with the administrative side which means that CAP mixes politics and business. I am also told that all employees must report to her and that politics often factors into daily administrative decisions. This might be one of the reasons why there are pending lawsuits against CAP - but I can't say for sure as I don't have copies of those lawsuits.

I am further told by various Board members that the level of dysfunction within CAP has increased ten-fold as Lavallee has been the centre of much in-fighting among the board. I have copies of e-mails and letters from Lavallee and the NBAPC President Kim McKinley which are appear to be particularly targeted at certain affiliates. If you read the above letter, it is no surprise that Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan bear the brunt of Lavallee's scorn.

The hypocrisy continues at the financial level as well. At CAP's last AGM it was reported to the members that CAP was in a major deficit of over $1.2 million dollars. Yet, no debt reduction strategy was presented to the AGM. Some board members of CAP estimate that CAP's deficit may well be close to $2 million dollars at this point. Assuming for a minute that the deficit is "only" $1.2 million, then CAP has a great deal of work to do to get back on track. There is no way to tell for sure, as CAP's website link to its "financial reports" does not contain any information:

http://www.abo-peoples.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25&Itemid=35

How has CAP done this? Well, aside from Lavallee's trips to Bolivia and the Olympics, the board reports that she also gave herself a salary increase. While she wanted a much bigger increase, she did come away with a significant raise. Similarly, at Christmas time, the Board indicates that she gave herself a nice bonus of $1000 dollars and gave staff members all $500. At the same time, I had former staff contacting me saying they were being laid off due to budgetary issues. Something doesn't add up in CAP's math?

I am sure members of CAP's affiliates will be left wondering how Lavallee could possibly justify her own base salary given her lack of productivity for CAP, let alone salary increases, trips, and bonuses when CAP is in such serious financial troubles.

The Native Council of Canada used to mean something. It was part of the constitutional talks and intervened on many important matters for Aboriginal peoples living off reserve. Its name change to CAP has not brought with it a strong vision for uniting its affiliates across the country, nor has it engaged with the people who need it most - the off-reserve grass roots people. Instead, Lavallee has transported her dysfunctional, anti-CAP form of leadership from NB to Ottawa, and the grass roots people are paying the price.

Based on the information that I have been receiving about its internal dysfunction, I can only guess that CAP is slowly imploding - but not due to a lack of capacity. In fact, some might argue that this sad situation is not fate, but is being actively promoted by its own President - Betty-Ann Lavallee. In December 2010, CAP sent a letter to the Indigenous Peoples Confederacy (CAP's Manitoba affiliate) and said they were no longer in good standing with CAP. It appears as though CAP may be doing the same thing to Saskatchewan and one wonders if OACP is next? Some fear that Lavallee is well on the way to seeing her stated goal to fruition - the end of CAP and the rise of her Eastern Empire.

Lavallee: "the time has come to turn away from CAP and to regroup around the East"

I am not sure what the answer is, but surely it must involve the grass roots shaking the rotten apples from the tree and getting their organization back to where it used to be. I'd be happy to hear any feedback about the information in this blog or whether anyone cares about CAP anymore.