Idle Your Facebook Likes No More

TheBestInOpEdJournalism
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If you've spent any time poking around this little ol' F-Troop list blog you might think I have a real problem with advocacy journalism.

The fact of the matter is that I do not.

Especially when the writer's real point-of-view and true agenda are both spread out on the table, face-up, for all to see.

And that is what precisely what Pamela Palmater did with her OpEd  on the 'Idle No More' movement that was published in the Ottawa Citizen earlier this week.

As a result, regardless your own thoughts on the subject, it is a piece worth reading and thinking hard about, with or without the more than 8,000 Facebook recommendations.

The following is just a chunk, but the entire thing is highly recommended:

...In order to understand what this movement is about, it is necessary to understand how our history is connected to the present-day situation of First Nations. While a great many injustices were inflicted upon the indigenous peoples in the name of colonization, indigenous peoples were never “conquered.” The creation of Canada was only possible through the negotiation of treaties between the Crown and indigenous nations. While the wording of the treaties varies from the peace and friendship treaties in the east to the numbered treaties in the west, most are based on the core treaty promise that we would all live together peacefully and share the wealth of this land. The problem is that only one treaty partner has seen any prosperity.

The failure of Canada to share the lands and resources as promised in the treaties has placed First Nations at the bottom of all socio-economic indicators — health, lifespan, education levels and employment opportunities. While indigenous lands and resources are used to subsidize the wealth and prosperity of Canada as a state and the high-quality programs and services enjoyed by Canadians, First Nations have been subjected to purposeful, chronic underfunding of all their basic human services like water, sanitation, housing, and education. This has led to the many First Nations being subjected to multiple, overlapping crises like the housing crisis in Attawapiskat, the water crisis in Kashechewan and the suicide crisis in Pikangikum...


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