Is it about rights? Is it about the land? Is it about the money? Read this article and think:
1) Who truly owns this land?
2) How far back in history do we have to go? Shouldn't we just move forward from here?
3) Forget about history and look at today. Who owns the rights to these lands? Canadian citizens? Does that include/exclude Natives? Shouldn't we all benefit from the resource profits?
4) Why is this case so important?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/grassy-narrows-takes-logging-fight-to-supreme-court-1.2643719
This is my weekly post:
ReplyDeleteI think that the argument over who owns the rights to property, and if the government is able to over-rule their decisions with cause has always been a debate, not only in native areas, but also farmers in situations of urban sprawl, or families next to a widening highway. The fact is that as you look deeper into these issues you can see that somewhere money has become a motive. In this situation, Ontario’s government has allowed Toronto to profit from the trees up north. Unfortunately, for Grassy Narrows First Nations a large group of trees that they wished to clear-cut was located in their trapping lines. Now that the tree cutting has been completed, Grassy Narrows has gone to Supreme Court to fight the rights for other communities to clear cut the trees in their trapping lines that drive away the animals they eat.
In terms of the rights to the lands, and who should control it, I think that if Grassy Narrows is a reserve then they should have the rights to the land, just as they do to have their own government, but I think that the argument that comes into play is whether or not we see them as a municipal power, where the provincial government can overrule, or a separate “nation”, with full control.
I think that at this point as the government does currently hold the power to overrule their decisions, it is the government that has to hold the responsibility to review both sides: the need for the wood vs. the dependence on the trapping lines, to make the allowance. If the government doesn’t do this responsibly then they should have to own up to their actions, I think at the time however the government may not have seen the threats to the trapping lines, but have been pressured by profiting companies for allowance.
Here is a link about the general health of native adults ( is our lifestyle better?):
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/surveill/nutrition/commun/aboriginal-aborigene-eng.php#a19
Here is a document on priority land use appeals and information: http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=10254
I really liked your first link, and I do believe natives have a better diet because they have no processed foods what so ever!
DeleteSuper post, Ruth! I believe that Reserve land truly belongs to the Natives and the government has not right to dictate their decisions.
ReplyDeleteThis is my post for the week:
ReplyDeleteThis is in my opinion an outrage. It is very frustrating that the government can change the rules in order to benefit certain people without looking at the other side. For many reason the natives should be able to keep their way of life exactly how it has always been; firstly they were here first and have lived off this land sustainable for thousands of years, secondly their way of life is more sustainable and less harmful to environment and other species. the government should not be allowed to take their land because that is their only way of life, as the article said a moose will feed a family for the whole winter, without the land to catch the moose they will have no food. for these reasons I believe the treaty rights should be left in place and the natives may live peacefully in harmony with the environment.
here is a link that shows a little more about the traditional native lifestyle
http://www.grassynarrows.ca/
her is an other article from the Toronto star on the same topic of hypocrisy with the logging company.
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/03/25/grassy_narrows_first_nation_greets_ontario_lumber_firms_decision.html
I totally agree, Michael. The disrespect that natives receive from their own country's government is just ridiculous and not at all acceptable!
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