Atleo: First Nations people have reason to feel “angry and betrayed”

APTN National News
OTTAWA–-Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo called the Attawapiskat crisis a “national disgrace” and said First Nations people have “reason to feel angry and betrayed,” during his opening speech to chiefs gathered for a special assembly in Ottawa Tuesday.

Atleo painted a picture of the lives of First Nations people as being mixed with hope and despair.

Atleo said First Nations people have more university graduates, professors and entrepreneurs, yet still too many live in communities burdened by squalor where children go to schools in cold and mouldy classrooms and the country’s prisons continue to have a disproportionate number of Indigenous people behind bars.

“It remains a tragic, frustrating and even terrifying time,” said Atleo. “We have reason to feel angry and betrayed.”

Atleo said the Attawapiskat housing crisis that played out across television screens across the country was a “national disgrace,” but it showed Canada the reality that exists in many First Nations communities across the country.

“Canada saw for the first time last week what we see every day. What our people live with day in and day out,” said Atleo. “Some of our communities–too many of our peoples–live in appalling conditions. This is a national disgrace.”

Atleo said First Nations continue to face obstacles imposed by the Canadian government and its policies, primarily reflected through the Indian Act which still governs daily life on reserves.

“The Indian Act bureaucracy and rules stand in our way and punish our people,” said Atleo. “So we have pressed Canada to commit to work with First Nations, guided by the principles that recognize and affirm our inherent and Treaty rights and not in a manner that is pan-Aboriginal, pre-determined or a closed door agenda set by the government.”

This is Atleo’s final December special assembly before next summer’s elections for national chief. Concerns have surfaced over the AFN’s response to the Attawapiskat crisis, with some chiefs saying that the organization should have been more aggressive.

Atleo, however, also secured a long sought-after meeting between the prime minister and First Nations leaders on Jan. 24.

“Canada has now committed to a First Nations-Crown gathering,” said Atleo. “The prime minister has signalled a willingness to work towards a gathering…It is critical that, at this moment, we say to Canada: this is about all of us. This is about all First Nations.”

Atleo called for all federal politicians to work together, despite political stripe, and help change things for First Nations people.

“We encourage this to become an all party movement, avoiding blaming, finger pointing and certainly not using the plight of our people to score political points,” said Atleo.

Attawapiskat played a prominent role in Atleo’s speech, and he singled out Chief Theresa Spence, who is engaged in a battle with Aboriginal Affairs over its decision to impose a third-party manager to take over the band’s finances.

The third-party manager was kicked out of the community Monday, and Spence said the consultant would not be allowed back in. Atleo said the department’s decision was “punitive” and “unilateral,” which failed to respect the relationship between First Nations and the Crown.

“When I spoke with Chief Spence and leadership across the north, we discussed the urgent needs, but also that the way forward is based on respectful treaty implementation and an equitable share of resources from their land, not imposed punitive unilateral action,” said Atleo.

He also mentioned Shannen Koostachin, a teenager from Attawapiskat that began a campaign to build a new school in the community after a spill contaminated their previous school, forcing children to attend classes in portables. It took over a decade before the department agreed to build a new school.

Koostachin died in a car crash last year.

“I recall so clearly the day when I stood listening to her on the steps of Parliament Hill as she spoke clearly, intelligently with conviction and with great wisdom beyond her tender years,” said Atleo.

Atleo said he hoped the report expected early next year by the national education panel he helped create with Duncan will bring a “new awareness across Canada to move this forward…turning Shannen’s dream into funded, stable, decent schools.”

The issue of housing is expected to be pushed up the agenda during the three days of meetings. Six Nations Chief Bill Montour said he wanted to see more focus on the issue and there are behind the scenes calls for the AFN to make it a top priority.