[Indigsol] No Justice, No Peace: IPSMO Letter Writing Night, Monday, Feb. 1 at 7pm

[Indigenous Peoples' Solidarity Movement -Ottawa]

No Justice, No Peace: IPSMO Letter Writing Night

Monday, Feb. 1 at 7pm
Exile Infoshop, 256 Bank St.
Contact us if want to attend and have mobility issues.
http://www.ipsmo.org
ipsmo at riseup.net
Snacks will be provided

The IPSM Ottawa will be holding monthly letter writing nights where we
invite people to come and to write letters about various indigenous
issues, as well as to beging corresponding with prisoners and political
prisoners.

Our first letter writing night will be focusing on writing letters about
the current situation in Barrier Lake, as well as writing to prisoners and
to political prisoners.

We will provide contact information for different prisoners and political
prisoners.

Some Background on Barriere Lake and section 74:

http://barrierelakesolidarity.blogspot.com/

"On Friday, October 30, 2009, Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl sent
notice to the Algonquins of Barriere Lake that he will not recognize their
legitimate leadership, but instead impose elections on the community in
April, 2010 by invoking a section of the Indian Act that would abolish the
customary method they use to select their leaders.

The attempt at assimilation would be a violation of Barriere Lake's
constitutionally-protected Aboriginal right to their customary system of
government."

Section 74 of the Indian Act gives INAC the power to unilaterally impose
band council elections regardless of whether the community wants them.
Barriere Lake is one of 25 indigenous communities that governs itself
according to it's traditional governance system.

The use of section 74 by INAC is something that hasnn't been seen recently
and underscores the fact that, despite all of the empty rhetoric on the
part of the Canadian government about "new relationships" and
"reconcilliation" between the Canadian government and Indigenous Nations,
Canadian colonialism is alive, well and more than happy to assert control
over indigenous people.

For more information on political prisoners:

http://www.abcf.net/

http://breakallchains.blogspot.com/

On Section 74 of the Indian Act:

(for the full Indian Act) http://laws.justice.gc.ca/PDF/Statute/I/I-5.pdf

ELECTIONS OF CHIEFS AND BAND COUNCILS

Elected councils 74. (1) Whenever he deems it advisable for the good
government of a band, the Minister may declare by order that after a day
to be named therein the council of the band, consisting
of a chief and councillors, shall be selected by elections to be held in
accordance with this Act.

(2) Unless otherwise ordered by the Minister, the council of a band in
respect of which an order has been made under subsection (1) shall
consist of one chief, and one councillor for every one hundred members of
the band, but the number of councillors shall not be less than two
nor more than twelve and no band shall have more than one chief.

Regulations (3) The Governor in Council may, for the purposes of giving
effect to subsection (1), make orders or regulations to provide (a) that
the chief of a band shall be elected by

(i) a majority of the votes of the electors of the band, or
(ii) a majority of the votes of the elected councillors of the band from
among themselves, but the chief so elected shall remain a councillor; and
(b) that the councillors of a band shall be
elected by
(i) a majority of the votes of the electors of the band, or
(ii) a majority of the votes of the electors of the band in the electoral
section in which the candidate resides and that he proposes to represent
on the council of the band.

(4) A reserve shall for voting purposes consist of one electoral section,
except that where the majority of the electors of a band who were
present and voted at a referendum or a special meeting held and called for
the purpose in accordance with the regulations have decided that
the reserve should for voting purposes be divided into electoral sections
and the Minister so recommends, the Governor in Council may
make orders or regulations to provide for the division of the reserve for
voting purposes into not more than six electoral sections containing
as nearly as may be an equal number of Indians eligible to vote and to
provide for the manner in which electoral sections so established are to
be distinguished or identified.

-- 
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