[CAH] Community Events and Announcements: National Day of Action

[Darcy Harvey]

Hello members,
 
Here is an event happening this week in the community that may be of
interest to you. Please use the email contact provided with this listing for
more information as this event was organized outside of CAH.
 
 
Thanks,
 
 
Darcy
  _____  


METRO COALITION FOR A NON-RACIST SOCIETY

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

 

Invitation to an 

Action in Solidarity with All Aboriginal Peoples 

on the 

National Day of Action, 

June 29, 2007



The Metro Coalition for a Non-Racist Society invites you and your
organization to stand with us at a vigil on Friday, June 29 from 7am to 9am
on the grassy median at the Halifax entrance to the MacDonald Bridge.  

 

The vigil is in solidarity with Aboriginal Peoples and their non-Aboriginal
supporters who will take various actions across Canada.  These actions will
bring attention to this country’s unjust and shameful relationship with
Aboriginal Peoples, both past and present.   Injustices include unresolved
land claims and on-going disrespect of treaties, killing the Kelowna accord,
and the failure to address the poverty of Aboriginal Peoples. 

 

We will be distributing information about these injustices and postcards to
Prime Minister Harper supporting the Kelowna Accord on the Dartmouth side of
the bridge near the toll booths. 

 

We will have placards available that morning.  You can also help make
placards.    

 

Email barkley at ns.sympatico.ca to volunteer, to let us know you will join us,
to get more information.  

 

A copy of the information brochure we have put together is attached and also
below.   The information comes from the AFN and research by the Metro
Coalition.

 

LAND CLAIMS: A recent Senate Report found that at the rate the federal
government is negotiating land claims, it will take 90 years to settle the
currently outstanding ones. In some cases, it has taken 28 years just to get
the claims before a court. The Assembly of First Nations is calling on the
Federal government to   

*         Immediately reform the land claims process within Indian and
Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) by implementing administrative efficiencies
to fairly and expeditiously address all specific claims.

*         Acknowledge meritorious specific land claims as legally
enforceable debts owed to First Nations

*         Take immediate measures to address existing specific land claims
inventory by setting an objective to resolve these claims within 3-5 years
and invest the resources necessary to accomplish this

*         Outline its intentions with respect to specific land claims
through a formal response from the Minister

*         Engage in discussions with the Assembly of First Nations about how
to achieve the 3-5 year objective

TREATY RIGHTS: In its 10 year audit of the Federal government’s
implementation of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People’s
recommendations, the Assembly of First Nations gave the government a failing
grade for not implementing any these recommendations: 

 

*         Fulfill, implement and renew treaties

*         Replace existing claims policy with a process that recognizes a
broad base of issues to be considered when negotiating new treaties

*         Promulgate a Royal Proclamation recognizing treaty rights, and
enact companion treaty legislation

*         Establish treaty commissions that are permanent, independent and
neutral (federal, provincial, territorial)

*         Develop  a Canada-Wide Framework Agreement with First Nations to
guide treaty negotiations 

 

THE KELOWNA ACCORD is a set of agreements concerning standards of living and
basic human rights. It sets targets and allocates money to reduce
disparities between Aboriginal communities and overall Canadian averages.
The Accord includes agreements and targets in health, education, housing
economic opportunities and relations between Aboriginal peoples and the
government of Canada.

 

The scope of this agreement is unique in Canadian history: it included
federal, provincial, and territorial governments, as well as representatives
from five national organizations of Aboriginal peoples.  The current
conservative government under Prime Minister Harper has refused to implement
the Kelowna Accord.

 

Examples of the commitments made:

*         Accelerate the safe drinking water process for all reserves

*         Invest in college/university bursaries, scholarships, and
apprenticeships

*         Achieve specific targets of students to be graduated from high
school and university within 5-10 years

*         Reduce infant mortality, youth suicide and the on-reserve housing
crisis within specific target dates

*         Increase numbers of Aboriginal peoples with permanent jobs and
median incomes within 5-10 years 

*         Implement First Nations jurisdiction over on-reserve education

*         Create an Inuit Secretariat within the Department of Indian
Affairs and Northern Development

*         Explore with the Métis options for objectively verifiable Métis
identification

*         $5.1 billion committed by the Federal government

 

MAKE POVERTY HISTORY: The Assembly of First Nations has a national campaign
to Make Poverty History for First Nations.   First Nations poverty is one of
the great social issues facing Canada.  The key to ending poverty, according
to the Assembly of First Nations, is for stable and action-oriented First
Nations Governments to be established.  The Make Poverty History Campaign
outlines what causes and perpetuates this poverty: 

Lack of political will:  Last year was the 10th anniversary of the Report of
the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. It provided a roadmap out of
poverty but it was shelved, and its recommendations have been ignored

Deliberately missed opportunities for investment. An example is the
rejection of the Kelowna Accord. It was an historic breakthrough – a
decision to invest in $5 billion in children, healthcare, education and
sustainable development.  

Less than 10% of Indian and Northern Affairs annual budget is spent on
economic development

Inadequate, discriminatory funding for basic necessities. First Nations
citizens receive less than half of the amount allocated to other Canadians
for programs and services.

22% less funding per child is now provided by Indian and Northern Affairs to
First Nations agencies than is received by provincial agencies. 

First Nations communities have lost over $10 billion in the past 10 years
because core services are capped at a 2% rate of annual growth while
provinces receive more than double that amount.  Community budgets can’t
keep up with a growing population and inflation.

Lack of land bases. Unsettled land claims entrench the poverty of First
Nations.  Without resolved land claims, First Nations cannot develop
economically and take advantage of natural resources and business
opportunities. In many cases, the land in dispute has either a sacred or an
economic development value to First Nations

 

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