FW: Natives vow to press poverty issues at Olympics

[Guest guest]

the conscious effort is in the air.please read below.i also want to add that to

sit around and wait for the government to act means that only a little will get

done.WE ARE THE SOLUTION.this is all of our karma,not just the governments and

the native's. The compassionate heart understands that.

 

 

 

First Nations & Aboriginal Rights

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Posted by Tjay Henhawk

 

 

 

 

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Vancouver - The federal and British Columbia governments have been warned

that the Olympic Games will be used as an international stage to highlight

native poverty unless funding is provided for economic development in aboriginal

communities.

 

 

 

Squamish Chief Bill Williams, chair of the Four Host First Nations, which until

now has shown a unified front in working to promote the Olympics, issued that

caution in an interview yesterday. Leonard Thomas, president of the BC First

Nations Forestry Council, said the same thing in letters to government

officials.

 

 

 

" The time for plain talking is now upon us. Our forest-dependent first nations

communities are no longer willing to quietly sit back and wait for actions that

never come, " Mr. Thomas said in a letter to B.C. Forests Minister Pat Bell.

 

 

 

" The fact that your government and its federal partner are spending $3-billion

to stage the Winter Olympics is merely exacerbating the frustration and anger

felt by our communities as they continue to be told that there is no money in

the pot to address their situations, which, as you are fully aware, are of a

most desperate nature. "

 

 

 

Mr. Thomas asked for an urgent meeting to resolve the issue, and said if steps

aren't taken, " the FNFC and its member first nations will reluctantly, but

without hesitation, take advantage of the intense international media interest

that will be focused on B.C. before and during the Winter Olympics. "

 

 

 

Mr. Thomas sent a similar letter to Stockwell Day, Minister of International

Trade. Copies of both letters, dated Dec. 18, were obtained by The Globe and

Mail.

 

 

 

In an interview, Mr. Williams supported the letters.

 

 

 

" There's going to be some 14,000 media people running around [at the Olympics], "

he said. " Some of them are already contacting us. They want to know, ‘What's it

like to be an Indian in today's world? How do you live?' We are going to start

letting those reporters know the reality of the poverty we face. "

 

 

 

In addition to being chair of the Four Host First Nations, Mr. Williams is

vice-president of the BC First Nations Forestry Council. He said the BC FNFC has

been seeking $6.2-million in funding from the province to help develop

aboriginal forestry businesses, and for several years has been trying to secure

$135-million from Ottawa to deal with a forest fire hazard created by B.C.'s

pine beetle epidemic.

 

 

 

But Mr. Williams said the B.C. government has offered just $620,000 to the BC

FNFC, while the federal government has failed to provide pine beetle funding,

despite promises to spend nearly $1-billion over 10 years on the problem.

 

 

 

Mr. Bell, however, said his government has been working hard to improve economic

opportunities and has completed agreements with 167 native communities,

providing logging access to 43 million cubic metres of timber and $243-million

in revenue sharing.

 

 

 

He said the BC FNFC's request for funding was not approved because the

government first wants a detailed financial plan.

 

 

 

" It's great that they are looking for $6-million, but in times of budget

restraint ... it is very challenging for me to find that kind of money, " Mr.

Bell said. " At this point, we are waiting for them to come back to us ... and

outline what it is they intend to do and how they will provide value for those

taxpayer dollars. "

 

 

 

A spokesperson for Mr. Day said the minister is aware of the concerns expressed

in the letter and plans to respond.

 

 

 

Tewanee Joseph, chief executive officer of the Four Host First Nations,

expressed continued support for the Games, despite the critical comments made by

his chair, Mr. Williams, and by Mr. Thomas.

 

 

 

He said native communities across Canada will share in an estimated $150-million

in revenues generated by the Olympic Gameswith more than 100 aboriginal

businesses working on Games-related activities.

 

 

 

Mr. Joseph said that while the lack of forestry funding for B.C. native

communities is an issue, there is still widespread aboriginal support for the

Games.

 

 

 

" Next month, Four Host First Nations is going to rock the world at the 2010

Games, " he said. " At the Aboriginal Pavilion, we're going to share, showcase and

educate about our cultures to visitors from around the world. "

 

 

 

 

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