Tales from the comment section

As far as taxes go FIRST NATIONS pay the EXACT same taxes you do and yes on the cell phones purchased and pay 911 fees as everyone else in this country monthly, so the tax dollars everyone talks about First Nations pay the exact same taxes.

So says Patricia M on this post.Funny, when I tried asking why Makwa couldn't raise funds for their own fire department it was made very very clear to me that people on reserves don't pay the same taxes. You two need to coordinate your efforts.

Anyways, Pat isn't done.

The people of this reserve should ban purchasing or using any of you fine upstanding citizens businesses.First of all WHO sits there and says well the call came in lets just sit here and calculate DO THEY OWE US let me pull out the log books and calculate then MAYBE I shall call my local town of fine upstanding men of our beautiful community to see if we should MAYBE go support a local reserve who OH, MY GOD owes us a measly 3,200.00 dollars. Wow really this band should completely ban your God Loving, God Fearing Community.

I'm not sure where this false caricature of Mayor/Fire Chief Hess comes from, but a lot of the #ShutdownCanada morons are parroting it around so much they should be perched on a pirate's shoulder. Of course he wasn't sitting there calculating "do they owe us". He already had in his hands the signed contract where Chief Ben knew full well failure to pay meant failure to respond. Everybody knew what that meant, and everybody knew the bill hadn't been paid. The sum isn't "measly" either: it represents a whopping 22% of the Loon Lake firefighting budget. Seeing how Perry Bellegarde, President of the Canadian Red Indian Association (AFN) is complaining that Makwa Sahgaiehcan couldn't possibly afford to fight a fire with a mere 2% annual budget increase it's not unreasonable to expect that a $3200 chunk of missing dollars in Loon Lake would be missed.

Non Native peoples enjoy many other amenities that First Nations DO NOT, clean water, running water, proper housing that have furnaces vented properly as to not allow fires to happen as in this case, if anyone is to blame its the lack of funding, health First Nation receive the worst care across CANADA, education absolutely underfunded it all in the number check it out, roads ride on one, sewage enjoy the use of a pail on most reserves, facilities for children to be active are almost NONE your children enjoy safety local RCMPs and rec. centres, bowling alleys, movie theatres school gyms, etc. Access to healthy food in almost every community is a trip to such fine places as LOON LAKE, wow who would seriously want to go to a community filled with so much distain and arrogance audacity to feel they are privileged to be so determining who gets service and who doesn't.

Do you know why white communities have all these services? They went out and built them. Running water, furnace vents, recreational facilities: all of these aren't innate things the government just drops on your lap. You have to go out and create them. In some cases, we've created them and since passed their operation onto the government. I fundamentally disagree with doing this, of course, but they still had to be built from scratch by the men and women who care about the community they live in. These things were, of course, one of the many great things about the British culture that came over from Europe. They existed in many cases before Chris Columbus took a trip to Plymouth Rock, and almost certainly wouldn't exist in Canada today unless the Brits landed on these shores.

Patricia is one of those people who make you wish the Chinese had discovered North America first.

Okay, what other nonsense do we...no...you're joking...

Who's to say the fire truck they have may have had no gas due to theft from the surrounding area from one of your fine upstanding community members or a local member who needed gas to start a fire in home for warmth from this severely cold weather

I am. I'm totally going to say that this didn't happen. Seriously, of all the possible answers to "where did all this missing gasoline on the reservation go" the last possible answer you would come up with was "maybe people in the white town down the road stole gasoline from our trucks to start a fire in their home for warmth". Especially since this has been a relatively mild winter on the prairies.

Another scenario could have been what about a flat tire, also vehicles of this nature need a warm building to start immediately. Now, my personal truck cost 60,000. years ago needs to be plugged in and run awhile to get going thats outside. Insurance is over 1,000. a month maintaining it runs thousands a year. Gees I guess I could have bought a fire truck, built a building to house it, insure it, maintain it, purchase protective gear, train eight or so men what was I thinking I could be like a friggen Super Hero. if I could do all that on 41,000. plus 11,000. on maintenance. Main point is where is compassion even if the bill wasn't paid or fire truck available.

I already replied to her earlier spammy comment that no matter what her personal experiences are, Loon Lake's budget is available online and we've seen how much their fire services cost. By the way, that cost factors in the amortization of the equipment which Makwa got for free from the feds. Hey, do you know what else they got for free from the feds? A warm building to put their fire truck in. For those curious as to what happened to it, read on.

This community Loon Lake does not deserve the economic benefits the First Nations they have enjoyed in the past, millions of dollars spent, yes they payed TAXES the same as they did and in return no benefits what so ever only refused to help all over 3,000. Who sits there after a wake up call for help, oh,well let me see I need to wake up (or wake up from my last night beverages YA the alcohol you consumed could have made your head NOT think, well lets just sit here and disiffer oh yah they owe us, and crawl back to bed. WHO does that?????. Yes you may have been too late but at least you showed an initiative and compassion with a glass of water.

All the economic benefits from Indians we've enjoyed in the past? Well, those beaver hats were really nice, thanks. You showed up for the War of 1812, yes. Is there a more recent economic benefit Pat can share with us? I'm at a loss. Meanwhile, Loon Lake's money comes from the taxes raised on the residents of Loon Lake. That's 300 people. The 900 people on Makwa Sahgaiehcan don't pay taxes in Loon Lake. I'm pretty sure the mayor has to drink a lot more than in Pat's bizzar-o-world fantasy here to forget that salient point.

So Pat's out there, fine. It looks like a couple dedicated #IdleNoMore'ers on Facebook pushed for a rash of comments, by the way: this post is now the most commented post in Third Edge of the Sword history and it may not have escaped your attention that such a feat usually means a dedicated effort. Still, lots to work with.

Take Brenda, for example. No, literally, please, somebody take Brenda.

I think some one needs to take a history lesson... I will not deny that there "might" have been mismanagement of federal funding but this so called article does not explain why these issues keep coming up in the headlines.

She's right. This articled does, though!But Brenda probably wouldn't enjoy reading it...

I question why history cannot be the answer to numerous dysfunctions in the Indigenous communities. It was 150-200 years of complete and utter colonization of an entire race. Starvation, disease, lies, men and women of the Church having sexual relations with children, experimentation on Indigenous children, loss of language and culture...and on and on.

The reason history can't be the answer is simple: not a single thing that happened to the Red Indian was unique in human history. Europe was decimated by starvation, disease, and lies more than a couple of times: it motivated the people to build an empire. Sexual relations with children goes back to freaking Sparta. Loss of language and culture usually happens when an inferior culture butts up against a superior one. This argument would be rightfully thrown away as full of holes if we use it to describe, say, Morocco. Why would we accept it anymore about the Red Indian?

Families were sitting at home(stuck on the reserve) because they weren't allowed to leave without permission, and the representative of the government barges in (because he has a right to?) and rips a small child out of it's mothers arms, never to be heard from or seen again. I think that's called kidnapping. When Indigenous people were FORCED to stay on the allocated land the feds created as reserves, they could not hunt or sustain themselves because they were not allowed to! Given small pox infested blankets (on purpose, mind you).

It wasn't so much "kidnapping" as "education". I don't know if Brenda has clued in, but to be a successful functioning member of an advanced society in a civilized country in the 21st (or, indeed, the 19th) century requires education. If the "culture" of the Red Indian which didn't do any educating wasn't "broken" then none of its children would ever be able to function in an advanced and civilized society. We're seeing right now that kids on the reserves aren't getting this education and the cultural imperative to receive it (which, let's be frank, Muslim and Asian cultures do even better at than white cultures). In this context, of course education is something desirable, even if the parents disagree. As for the hunting and sustaining, the land that was negotiated to be reserve land in the various treaties was more than enough for the population to sustain fishing and hunting. The problem, of course, is the population grew and also wanted some of this cool new shit that all these Europeans had come up with, like pots and pans or rifles or snowmobiles or big screen TVs. Unfortunately, "sustaining themselves" evolves in time, and the reservations didn't evolve along with it. And smallbox blankets, Brenda? Seriously? There were never any smallbox blankets and the suggestion that before Louis Pasteur was even born his controversial Germ Theory of Disease was being applied by low-class folks on the opposite side of the planet is daft.

You can't get any worse Brenda can...ohgod...

Told that their culture, traditions and ceremonies were bogus and witch craft. An entire race told everything they know and believe is wrong! Indigenous people had governance, laws, and an amazing relationship with the lad and animals. A sense of spirituality, and I don't mean man made religion, I mean a true culture that has always been pure and simple.

That's right, folks, only the Red Indian has ever been told their culture/traditions/ceremonies were bogus and their beliefs were wrong. As for the "governance, laws, and an amazing relationship with lads" goes, I'm afraid Brenda is confused.

Okay, fine, she meant land, I heard you. Of course, she's wrong about that. They didn't have an "amazing relationship with land and animals", they had a brutal one where far-superior nature routinely kicked their ass. This has been a factor of much of human history, of course, but the tale of successful civilizations was one where we showed nature up: she was a whiny bitch, nature, and we smacked her until she was in her place. A skilled culture is really really good at raping nature. The Red Indian would have loved to rape nature just like every person in human history would have. Only lately have we really gotten good at it. To demonstrate the point, let's at some beaver. [okay, you may be taking the "raping nature" analogy a little past its tipping point. -ed]

Specifically lets look at beaver hunting. When Europeans began trading for beaver pelts, suddenly the Indians started hunting beavers lots more than they'd ever done. They now had an economic system that rewarded it: there was a market (most interesting to our point, alcohol and metal pots and pans) that motivated it. Unfortunately, the Indians started wiping out the beaver in areas that white men had never even come across. As a result of this unsustainable situtation, Europeans started teaching Indians how to hunt sustainably. Concepts like moving from area to area, and avoiding mothers with children, were things that the Europeans had had to learn centuries earlier when they got better at raping Mother Nature. Once they had the economic motivation to hunt more (and the technology to do so), it turns out Brenda's Indians had a shitty relationship with the land and the animals all along: they just hadn't been in a position to test it out.

So now today, we have entire communities dealing with a loss of identity. Imagine... just imagine being told that because you are brown or white or any color of the rainbow, that you are and always will be less than. Then imagine that you cannot give up. You can't end your pathetic existence because there is still a spiritual reason to persevere. All the while trying to learn the histories of your race and searching for some sort of break in a society that has been taught incorrect truths about the history of this so called great country. A country that was built on lies, murder, and Euro colonialism.

If you believe Canada was "built on lies, murder and Euro colonialism" than you have been taught an incorrect truth. Sorry, Brenda. You're gonzo even before these weird "imagine there's no heaven" bromides you're passing along as some sort of inspirational message.

British culture has property rights, the rule of law, and democracy. That is objectively better than collective tribal concepts, pseudo-spiritual claptrap, and rule by 'elders'.

Why did these Europeans come to Turtle Island anyways? When they got here; they were starved homeless and didn't know how to live on the land. Well it's a good thing the Indians help, being 2 million and more strong in population.

Wait, you don't know why Europeans came to North America? Well, after Columbus came back with the news, everybody got excited because we found more land. You know that phrase, "real estate: they aren't making anymore of it"? Well we just found more of it. We found 10.5 billion fucking acres of it. That's a lot of land. For context, the (2nd) Battle of of St. Albans took place in 1461, a couple decades before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. 25,000 men were involved in that battle, and there were 6,000 casualties. St. Albans was the lead city in what's now the county of Hertfordshire, and whoever controlled the city basically controlled the county. In other words, two forces (as a larger part of the War of the Roses) sacrificed 6,000 men just for a piece of land that totaled half a million acres. You don't think that they'd be putting any energy into getting almost 26,000 times more land? Seriously?

Yet... In my 36 years, I have only seen these Treaties broken. Not by the Indigenous peoples of the great Turtle Island, but by the government and the Crown.

Guess what, Brenda? Canada hasn't 'broken' anything, but as per the treaties Indians are not to rise up against Her Majesty or Her Majesty's government. So by initiating #ShutDownCanada, you've violated the treaties. You also mentioned earlier that people had to stay on the reserves because "they weren't allowed to leave without permission". That's also in the treaties. By leaving the reserves, you're also in violation. Guess what, I'm sure you've seen many such violations over the past 36 years. You just didn't recognize them as such.

There is a big shift that is happening and it's coming fast. As a descendant of Europe. You can sit and complain about it or you can help the process of this fact to move smoothly along. Regardless, It's happening.

We can (and should) stop it. We've seen at Makwa how these people run their lands. I don't want to see all of Alberta look like Hobbemma. If you do, you're insane.

You also have to question the federal government where the money comes from that the Indians receive annually. It sure isn't supposed to be taxpayer's money. But darn! that's what the feds keep telling citizens, isn't it. Like I said, go and do the research about the Treaties and learn that there is supposed to be specific Trusts in place pertaining to the Treaties, sort of like rent White people pay to live in Canada.

Yeah, guess what, you can read the treaties up and down. That isn't in there. I dare you to find that passage. Meanwhile, of course the federal government has taxpayer money. They don't, ultimately, have anything but taxpayer's money.

Speaking of money, let's move on from Brenda. Were there any other insane commenters in that post? Hey, welcome to Third Edge of the Sword new poster Sickofit! Come, tell us what you're sick of.

If your one of those people that think that Indians in Canada are free loading of your hard earned tax dollars you need to be educated! Seriously!

Indians do not need your money. They never needed it, they don't use it now and I can't see them using it in the future. Think I'm delusional, hardly!

Let's break your argument down into chunks.

1. Indians do not need my money.
   Funny then that Indians just demanded more of my money
   
2. Indians never needed my money
   Again, Perry Bellegarde is calling for an increase beyond 2%, which tells me that the money they got in the past wasn't as much as they wish it was. I'd say that disproves that theory.
   
3. Indians don't use my money now
   Well, seeing how Makwa Sahgaiehcan was given my money to pay for their firetruck and instead blew it on contract payments to Ronald Mitsuing, you may have a point with that one!
   
4. Indians won't be using my money in the future
   Oh, how I wish that one was true! But at the very least Makwa has finally paid their bill

Have you ever sat back and truly wondered why a government department like INAC has so many employees? As of March 31, 2009, INAC employed 4 967 employees, 46% of whom were employed in the National Capital Region, while the remaining employees were located in 10 regions across the country. Thats a lot of government workers to look after so few Indians.

It is a lot of government workers. Of course, bureaucracies like expanding, so you aren't telling me anything new. Also, we've seen between Chief Ben's inability to spend his grant money properly, and the pushback to publishing audited financial statements online, that it does take a lot of government workers to look after so few Indians, since the Indians aren't looking after themselves with anything approaching competence. You might think that Sickofit was done, but he did that charming reply to his own posts thing. I thought IntenseDebate gave my blog commenters a lot of room to run with. It seems not.

ndian Moneys generally represent all moneys collected, received or held by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of First Nations (FN) and/or band members. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada ("INAC" or the "Department") is responsible for the management of Indian Moneys in accordance with specific (moneys management) provisions of the Indian Act. Indian Moneys, held within the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), are managed pursuant to specific sections of the Indian Act, the Financial Administration Act and associated regulations, which provide the legislative framework for the responsibility of the collection, maintenance, expenditure and accounting of Indian Moneys. Band trust accounts relate to two types of Indian Moneys held within the CRF, including: Capital moneys – Money derived from the sale of surrendered land or capital assets of a First Nation. This includes, but is not limited to, royalties, bonus payments and other proceeds from the sale of timber, oil, gas, gravel or any other non-renewable resource. Revenue moneys- All Indian Moneys which are not capital moneys. Sources of revenue moneys include interest earned on band capital and revenue moneys, fine moneys, proceeds from the sale of renewable resources, band leasing activities and rights-of-way. Indian Moneys are also held within the CRF on behalf of individuals pursuant to sections 42 to 52 of the Indian Act. Individual moneys include the administration of property of on-reserve minors, adoptees, mentally incompetent Indians (dependent adults) and decedent /missing heirs' estates.

Are you tired yet? I know I'm tired. He keeps going though. It's okay to skim through this.

At March 31, 2009, the Indian Moneys trust account represented approximately $1.2 billion in the CRF. This is one of five. Now this is amount is not that big I think but.......let's look deeper and see just how many different trust accounts were made to look after Indians, and you will come to the realization that billion dollars is only the tip if the iceberg! You have to remember The department of INAC sole purpose is to look after Indians, so any trust account administered and guarded by them is for Indians only! That being said, the First Nations Trust Fund isn’t the only money that belongs to First Nations peoples that is handled by the AANDC. This is the new INAC abbreviation. According to the website, the Department “may issue licences, permits, and other instruments to individuals and organizations that propose to undertake resource exploration and other types of development projects.” That money also belongs to First Nations peoples, doesn’t it? If the resource exploration and development projects weren’t on First Nations property, there wouldn’t be any need for AANCD to involve itself ergo the revenues generated from “licenses, permits and other instruments to individuals and organizations” is First Nations revenues, is it not?

Again, going with what Makwa has taught us, resource revenue from reserves had better go through DIAND, otherwise you'd sell the entire rights lock stock and barrel to China in return for a case of Tsingtao. You know what? You could just click here and read the rest of his rant. God, after all this I miss Patricia. Patricia, come back! Ah good, here you are.

Bitch and complain all you want about a little 3,000. dollars your community members decided to not go to a fire in a neighbouring community. LET'S JUST SAY, you came upon a road side collision and the person had no drivers license or they were drunk at the time of the accident, would you just walk away or would you assist or ask for their insurance policy or drivers licence while they were knocked out. Really thats how a community or a decent human being would respond.

First off, the assistance I could offer at the side of the road is pretty minimal. In fact, if I tried to do too much I could find myself in more trouble than even Agent Gibbs could help get me out of. On a similar vein, without a valid contract to cover them outside their jurisdiction, Loon Lake FD could find themselves in trouble as well. What if they failed to save the kids (highly likely) and some money grubber possibly named Mitsuing tried to sue them for harm? They aren't covered by their policy, and could be looking at ridiculous legal bills. Likewise, if a member of the FD got injured their insurance might fail to cover them. You may disagree with this being how the world works, I wouldn't say you were wrong. But there is some practical downsides to the level of help you're offering.