An Adequate Response to Attawapiskat?

A crisis in our own backyards finally makes it into the news cycle and onto our politicians' radars.

Three weeks after Theresa Spence, the chief of the Attawapiskat First Nation, declared a state of emergency in her remote, northern Ontario community over a housing and infrastructure crisis, the country has started to pay attention. The recent media focus on it is due in no small part to NDP MP Charlie Angus' dedication to bringing the matter in his riding to Ottawa and beyond, and we highly recommend you read his editorial from earlier this week to get an idea of the circumstances faced by the Attawapiskat's residents. Given that those third-world conditions are by no means limited to Attawapiskat, and are nothing new, the Toronto Star's Tim Harper questions the priorities of John Duncan, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. This week, Duncan reintroduced legislation that would force chiefs to open up their books so that the government can better track the money paid through Aboriginal Affairs. "The quarrel here is not with the substance of the legislation," writes Harper. "But with a number of files ablaze all about him, Duncan’s priorities seem askew, if not downright misplaced." So it's heartening to hear that Duncan is sending a team from his department to Attawapiskat to assess the situation. But as Harper notes, "It’s time, says Shawn Atleo, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, to stop lurching from crisis to crisis." The federal and provincial governments must enter into sustained, concentrated discussions on the deplorable living conditions on reserves, and realize that lifting them out of poverty will, yes, take a lot more money and resolve that has been absent so far.

But what measures can the various levels of government in Canada take to assist First Nations communities? The Ottawa Citizen's editorialists suggest the powers-that-be update the Indian Act into the 21st Century. "Among ideas that deserve a closer look is instilling property rights on reserves," they write. "The federal government spends millions every year on reserve, but it must be sure money is going to build a base of adequate housing and infrastructure; there should also be a better system of making sure that money gets the intended results before another crisis erupts." Duncan's legislation will help to that end, no doubt. But making sure that residents on reserves are in control of their houses and property, for example, is one area that the Toronto Sun's Christina Blizzard thinks is in need of fixing. "Ironically, the great hope for the community was the nearby De Beers diamond mine," she notes. It's the largest diamond mine in the Western hemisphere, and it employs about 100 Attawapiskat residents. "But they can’t build homes because the Indian Act prevents them from getting mortgages." Among the Harper government's finest hours was its apology to First Nations for the cruel and lasting legacy of the residential school system. Modernizing the laws that govern First Nations communities might not be much of a vote-getter, but it would be a commendable corollary to that apology.

And an interesting analysis of the media's coverage (or lack thereof) of Attawapiskat, Lynda MacGibbon of the Moncton Times & Transcript wonders why so much attention was paid to some tents – the Occupy movement – but not to those in northern Ontario:

Occupy Toronto, which has been located in St. James Park in the centre of the city's financial and shopping district, was dismantled with unbelievable civility on Wednesday of this week.

With what could only have been careful thought and planning, the city sent in busloads of police and city workers to politely ask the protestors to leave the park.

The police did not wear riot gear or appear threatening.

City workers labeled all the tents and belongings before carting them away, promising the protestors they could reclaim them if they wanted.

City social workers were available to help any actual homeless people who had become part of the Occupy community.

They were offered rides to shelters if they wanted them.

There was much that was civil about the way government officials dealt with the Occupy Toronto Tent City.

If only we could say the same for Attawapiskat.

The contrast in responses to the two scenarios is stark, as it is for the amount of ink spilled over the two. Of course, part of the problem is just how far removed – both geographically and experientially – Attawapiskat is from the major metropolises in which most of the media resides. (APTN has been an exception in its diligence in covering the file, and indeed, all aboriginal issues.) But the mainstream media's unintended ignorance – ours included – of Attawapiskat in favour of Sidney Crosby's return, protesters beating drums, and just about everything else has literally put lives at risk as the mercury plunges well below zero. We'd be in dereliction of our duty as journalists and citizens to not correct that.

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Harnessing the 'Indigenous Potential'