Indian Affairs minister shouted down and frozen out by angry native crowd (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Indian Affairs minister shouted down and frozen out by angry native
crowd

Tue, 2006-12-05 20:08
National News
By: SUE BAILEY
http://www.cjad.com/node/448333

OTTAWA (CP) - Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice was booed and jeered
Tuesday as he tried to speak to about 400 native protesters on
Parliament Hill.

Organizers of the rally say anger over perceived Conservative
backtracking on First Nations rights has reached the boiling point.
Over shouts of "Liar!" and "Shame!" Prentice tried to explain that his
department was not responsible for cutting $160 million meant to
preserve native languages. That cash was recently eliminated by
Canadian Heritage and replaced with $5 million a year for seven years.

The Tories say they'll use the money to craft more effective programs to
keep about 50 fading languages from dying.

But Prentice, the only federal minister to brave the placard-waving
crowd as it huddled in a -5 C breeze, bore the full brunt of its
frustration.

He was almost drowned out by catcalls.

The Conservatives, he said, have earmarked more money for native issues
than previous regimes.

"This government is trying to do real work to improve the living
circumstances of aboriginal Canadians," he offered over a protester who
countered: "Kelowna does that!"

The national $5-billion Kelowna Accord reached a year ago to improve
native education, housing and economic conditions was scrapped.
Canada's long-standing support for a United Nations declaration on the
rights of Indigenous Peoples, which first wavered under the Liberals,
was pulled back under the Tories over concerns it would run counter to
the constitution, defence laws and existing land deals.

Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine says the Tory
government has broken promises while making progress in very few
specific areas.

Prentice is being disingenuous when he includes in federal spending the
$2.2-billion settlement to compensate former students of native
residential schools, he said.

"It's not a program or a service," Fontaine told chiefs from across
Canada who began a three-day meeting here Tuesday.

The Conservative budget actually committed just $450 million in new
spending for 630 First Nations, Fontaine said. He reached that figure
after subtracting the residential schools settlement along with $600
million promised for off-reserve and northern housing.

"Our people are frustrated and angry," he said. "And they have a right
to be.

"We feel betrayed and we simply can't be silent about this betrayal."

Fontaine said he'll keep trying to negotiate with federal politicians of
all stripes.

Another prominent leader said polite talks "have gotten us nowhere," and
issued an urgent call to action.

"This government has done nothing but lie, break promises and distort
the truth at the international level," said Stewart Phillip, president
of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs.

Aboriginal people across the country must set aside political
differences and mobilize to exert united political pressure, he said.

"For too long we've been too nice."

Taking it all in was a 16-year-old girl from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
just east of Belleville, Ont.

Her name, Kenhnonnianions, means "she who makes patterns," a Mohawk
reference to buckskin and leather adornments.

She is an immersion student who hopes to one day speak her native
language fluently. People in her community are tired of being passed
over and ignored, she said.

"I just think it's time for them to listen," she said of the government.