Harper Conservatives continue to ignore missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls

Posted April 21, 2010 By móniyáw

I am not a supporter of Conservative, Liberal, NDP, or Green political parties. If the Liberal party is going to put out a statement like this, then hopefully when it comes time for them to be in office they can walk-the-walk as well. – moniyaw

OTTAWA – A report released today that links social and economic inequities with the nearly 600 missing or murdered Aboriginal women should be a wake-up call to Stephen Harper, who has so far ignored calls for an inquiry and scrapped the Kelowna Accord that would have addressed many of those inequities, Liberal MPs said today.

“This is a government that has treated Aboriginal people like second-class citizens, first by cutting important social programs contained in the Kelowna Accord, and then by refusing to call a full investigation into missing women and girls,” said Liberal Status of Women Critic Anita Neville.

“We have called on this government time and again to take action on improving the living conditions for Aboriginal Canadians and to investigate missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls,” added Liberal Critic for Aboriginal Affairs Todd Russell. “But our voices, and those of our First Nations, have fallen on deaf ears.”

The Native Women’s Association of Canada’s latest report, “What Their Stories Tell Us,” states that as of March 31, more than 582 Aboriginal women and girls have gone missing or been found murdered in Canada since 1970 – an increase of 60 reported cases from last year.

Along with highlighting the socio-economic inequities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women, it also reveals that Aboriginal women experience much higher rates of violence.

Hon. Anita Neville (Winnipeg-Centre-Sud)

The Liberal Kelowna Accord sought to improve the socio-economic conditions of Aboriginal Canadians by closing the gap in education, skills development, health care, housing, access to clean water and employment.

“Across this country, Aboriginal women and girls are disappearing at an alarming rate, with many instances going unreported,” added Mr. Russell.  “The Government of Manitoba took the lead last year by coordinating a provincial investigation. But human trafficking crosses provincial and territorial boundaries, and to get to the root of this serious issue requires federal government leadership.”

Last May, the Liberal Opposition called on the Harper government to conduct a government-funded, public investigation into how and why the number of missing and murdered women and girls from Aboriginal communities is so high. Last summer, the Manitoba government established a task force to review cases involving missing and murdered women in the province.

“This week is National Victims of Crime Awareness Week and the Harper Government has not uttered one mention of the Aboriginal women and girls who are victims of these crimes,” concluded Ms. Neville. “For a government that claims to be tough on crime, justice for these women is out of reach.”

The original page is here.

Categories: Crime, Women
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Charges against Gary McHale are stayed

By móniyáw

HAMILTON, Ont. – The Crown stayed a charge Wednesday against a man it still contends was attempting to incite civil disobedience at a protest against an aboriginal occupation in Caledonia, Ont.

Gary McHale was charged in December 2007 with counselling mischief not committed over a protest in Caledonia that month that turned violent.

In court in Hamilton, the Crown said it was “mindful of the court time that will be required” for the case, as the preliminary inquiry – which began in November 2008 – was not yet finished.

A Crown attorney said Wednesday that even though it is still the Crown’s position there is a “reasonable prospect of conviction” it would stay the charge.

. . .

You can see Gary McHale’s web site here. For another perspective, see Wikipedia here.

Categories: Crime
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Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Fobister leads delegation asking for protection

Posted April 11, 2010 By móniyáw

Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Fobister led delegations to Toronto, as the community and their supporters continued to lobby for the protection of treaty rights.

“How can we have trust, and reconciliation when the government of Ontario walks away from their responsibility to make things right about the mercury pollution they permitted?” asked the chief in a prepared statement.

The demonstration came on the heels of yet another study, which showed the health of long-term residents was getting worse with time, rather than better, due to the cumulative effects of eating contaminated fish. Based on the results of examinations done during his 2004 visit, Japanese expert Dr. Masazumi Harada said the walleye from the Winnipeg River system near the community may also have a detrimental impact on pregnant women, who could pass on the symptoms to their fetus.

. . .

The province banned commercial fishing for all species except whitefish in 1970. The 2009-2010 edition of the Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish still contains warnings for “sensitive populations”, which include expectant mothers and children, who are eating walleye from the Winnipeg River system.

For many years now, both the federal and provincial governments have made contributions to healthy eating programs, including those for expectant mothers.

Health Canada has tried offering a substitute food program for residents, where frozen fish was sent by mail, but it was not successful. The federal government has also challenged Dr. Harada’s findings through the use of their own experts, who note some of the symptoms associated with mercury poisoning can also be caused by other sources, including alcohol and substance abuse.

It is a convenient argument for Health Canada to make — take away the ability to practice a traditional form of life by poisoning the water these people rely on for their food and livelihood, then accuse the population of alcoholism and substance abuse. Raise the specter of the “dirty drunk Indian” as the straw man in the argument; tap into prejudice and ignorance to continue the suffering of Grassy Narrows. The solution to this problem is simple: make amends by fixing the problem and stop blaming the victims. There may be alcoholism and substance abuse, but is that the cause or the effect?

Read the entire news article here. Hopefully the Canadian public and people of Ontario will recognize this as a problem that can only be solved when pressure is brought on the politicians and bureaucracy.

Categories: Crime, Environment, First Nation, Rights, Water
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Slow poisoning for Grassy Narrows First Nation community

Posted April 7, 2010 By móniyáw
Wabigoon River

Wabigoon River

The health impacts of mercury poisoning in a northern Ontario First Nations community are worse now than when fishing in waters contaminated by the substance was first banned there 40 years ago, according to a report released in Toronto Tuesday.

It was exactly four decades ago, on April 6, 1970, that fishing was banned on the Wabigoon River because of mercury contamination caused by a paper mill upstream in Dryden, Ont. — owned by Reed Incorporated and subsequently Great Lakes Forest Products Limited.

The mercury poisoned fish in the Wabigoon and English river systems and continues to harm the health of more than 100 people living on the Grassy Narrows First Nation, Japanese mercury expert Dr. Masazumi Harada concluded in his report.

Harada also examined the effects of mercury contamination in another community that uses the same river system — the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations (formerly known as Islington and Whitedog).

The National on CBC showed a story about Wabigoon River and the Grassy Narrows First Nation that goes into greater depth. The government and people of Ontario should be ashamed at the damage and ongoing cost in human misery that is allowed to impact this small community. There is little evidence that the government and Great Lakes Forest Products Limited have done much beyond give some small monthly payout, but this does little to bring alternative food and water to this community, and does nothing to protect future generations. If fishing is banned, how are the people of this area going to provide for themselves and their children?

The entire news article is here. There is an effort to help Grassy Narrows First Nation here.

Categories: Crime, Culture, Environment, First Nation, Health, Water
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Government needs to take a stand and protect Aboriginal women at risk

Posted March 24, 2010 By móniyáw

The head of a national Aboriginal women’s group urged a police task force looking at the deaths of missing and murdered high-risk Manitoba women to review suspicious deaths as well.Jeannette Corbiere-Lavell, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), was in Winnipeg on Tuesday to speak about violence against women.

RCMP headquarters in Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Police Service announced a seven-officer joint task force this August, bolstered by two civilian analysts. It’s reviewing 84 unsolved deaths and missing persons cases where foul play is suspected, dating back to 1926.

The task force does not have a mandate to examine deaths that are initially classified as suspicious but are not ultimately determined to be homicides.

For example, the task force is not examining the April 2009 death of Nicole Daniels, 16, who was found in a Transcona parking lot with a condom in her pocket and high amounts of alcohol in her system.

. . .

The organization estimated as of November 2008 there were 510 cases of missing or murdered Aboriginal women and girls, and put that number at more than 520 by early this year.

Corbiere-Lavell said leadership of Native communities – who are mostly men – must treat the issue of violence against women as a governance issue, not a social problem.

She said violence against First Nations is not simply an “internal problem” for the community.

The limited scope of the task force makes sense when you consider there is a larger problem that goes beyond Winnipeg and Manitoba. The government needs to take action and begin working to protect Aboriginal women at risk in Canada. From the short sentence given to Nicole Daniels above, the reader might decide this is the story of a teenager who drank too much, but the real story is much more disturbing and begs the question: why are the authorities not investigating the case of Nicole Daniels as murder? A young girl of 16 years is found dead, bruised, with large amounts of alcohol in her system and the authorities say the case is closed? Why does the Winnipeg Free Press feel it is necessary to mention that Nicole had a condom in her pocket?

You can read the full story about the task force here and learn more about Nicole Daniels here.

Categories: Crime, Women, Youth
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Family of murdered Tanya Brooks asks anyone with information to tell the police

Posted March 9, 2010 By móniyáw

Tanya Brooks

Brooks’ family gathered at the Mic Mac Friendship Centre on Gottingen Street yesterday, only a few blocks away from where Brooks’ body was found on May 11, 2009. They traveled from the Millbrook First Nation to a press conference to mark International Women’s Day, and to call attention to the over 500 aboriginal Canadian women who are missing or have been murdered.

Brooks’ sister, Maggie Brooks, expressed her frustration that no one is in custody for the killing.

“As of today with the Halifax Regional (Police) there has been no arrests made in her murder,” she said. “We urge anyone who has, or may have any information that has not already spoken to police to please come forward.”

Cheryl Maloney, president of the Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association, said the statistics of murdered and missing aboriginal women in Canada is evidence of unfair and unequal treatment.

“Aboriginal women are five times more likely to die violently,” Maloney said. “Aboriginal women need to be full partners… in the battle against violence, poverty, and discrimination.”

[...]

Read this article here.

Categories: Crime, Women
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Inspiring response to a terrible tragedy

By móniyáw

I’ve never met Dallas Courchene, but I’d sure like to.

If I did, I would tell him that his clarity of thought, his compassion and his honesty this week during a very dark period of his life is nothing short of extraordinary.

Courchene’s older brother Eric Daniels was fatally shot by police over the weekend after officers say Daniels threatened them with a machete and refused to drop it.

Daniels was aboriginal. And the temptation by some in this city when an aboriginal person is shot after threatening the lives of police officers is to accuse cops of racism, even in the absence of evidence to support the claim.

Not so for Courchene, who is also aboriginal.

In fact, he says he’s grown tired of those baseless, malicious accusations and says it’s time for people to start taking responsibility for their actions.

“My brother was responsible for his actions and he decided to do what he did even though he was drunk or intoxicated,” said Courchene. “I’ve had enough of aboriginals blaming police and saying it’s racism. I’m aboriginal myself and I’m sick and tired of it.”

[...]

A thought provoking article. Perhaps if we as a society decide to take on the same sense of values and responsibility as Dallas Courchene, then Eric Daniels might still be alive. Read the full story here.

Categories: Crime, Culture
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Classified ad hate crime

Posted March 4, 2010 By móniyáw

First Nations leaders in Manitoba are expressing outrage about an online classified ad that offered to round up and “extract” aboriginal youth from parts of Winnipeg and transport them like wild animals to reserves or an area of the city where many aboriginal people live.

The ad, titled “Native Extraction Service,” was posted on the website UsedWinnipeg.com, but was taken down by 1:38 p.m. CT on Thursday

[...]

(more…)

Categories: Crime, First Nation
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Dogs used in search for Highway of Tears victim

Posted March 3, 2010 By móniyáw

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Police were using search dogs and a backhoe Sunday in their continued hunt for the remains of a young Alberta woman who went missing more than seven years ago along British Columbia’s Highway of Tears.

RCMP were also searching for a mystery man, who they say could help them discover what happened to Nicole Hoar, a 25-year-old treeplanter from Red Deer, Alta., who disappeared near Prince George in central B.C. in 2002.

Police late last week descended on a two-hectare rural lot in the small lumber town of Isle Pierre, about 50 kilometres northwest of Prince George in central B.C. — a property once owned by a convicted murderer.

RCMP Cpl. Annie Linteau said Sunday that police had nearly finished their search at an unauthorized dumping area near Prince George but were awaiting the results of some tests before moving on.

“We’ve completed the search of the [dump] site,” Linteau said. “We’re just following up because there was a vehicle of interest at that location and we’re just continuing to examine the vehicle forensically and determine who the owner is and if there’s any relationship between the vehicle and our investigation.”

Two dogs were searching the Isle Pierre property Sunday while a backhoe was digging in the back corner of the rectangular plot of land.

Linteau said even if RCMP locate Hoar’s remains Sunday, they would likely not publicize the information until materials were analyzed in a police lab. RCMP are still seeking tips from the public on Hoar’s disappearance.

[...]

Some bloggers have commented that perhaps the Highway of Tears is only a part of a larger area, and one or more individuals are kidnapping women across North America. The RCMP and various local law enforcement groups need better financial support to build databases and coordinate their efforts.

Read the entire story here.

Categories: Crime, Women
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Throne Speech draws attention to slain, missing aboriginal women

By móniyáw

Wednesday’s Throne Speech took direct aim at Canada’s national epidemic of missing and murdered aboriginal women, saying the government will address the “disturbing number of unsolved cases” in a “pressing criminal justice priority.”

It’s a huge step forward, said Assembly of First Nations Chief Shawn Atleo, and it comes on the heels of two decades of advocacy and numerous calls to action.

The speech committed the government not only to work with aboriginal leaders to settle ongoing land claims, but also to improve water treatment on reserves, tackle gender inequalities and make education a priority – issues the Assembly of First Nations has been lobbying for as a vital investments in the country’s native communities.

It’s a stark contrast to last year’s Throne Speech, whose only mention of Canada’s aboriginals was in reference to protecting vulnerable populations and working with multiple levels of government.

[...]

Read the full article here

Categories: Crime, Culture, Women
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