[van-announce] November 24th & 25th - Solidarity Days of Disruption

[Anti-Poverty Committee]

[Please post & forward]
November 24th & 25th

Solidarity Days of Disruption Against Canadian Colonialism


Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement, Montreal, is calling on all allies
to participate in a phone, fax and email campaign to disrupt the First
Ministers Meeting in Kelowna, BC, in solidarity with the newly founded
"People's Grassroots Coalition". The Coalition will be running a parallel
meeting to unite Indigenous Nations in developing grassroots strategies
for implementing Indigenous rights on the ground. They will demonstrate
their resistance to this "collaborative" effort to off-load federal
fudiciary responsibilities, undermine Aboriginal & Treaty rights, and set
the process in motion for the municipalization of reservations.

Phone, fax, email the Grand Okanagan Lakefront Resort. Demand an end to
Canadian colonialism.


Disrupt the First Ministers Meeting
Say "No More" to Colonial Business-as-Usual
**************************************
When? November 24th & 25th
Who? The Grand Okanagan Lakefront Resort
Phone: (250) 763-4500   Fax: (250) 763-4565
Toll Free: 1-800-465-4651

Email: reserve at grandokanagan.com

**************************************


Indigenous Peoples' Solidarity Movement, Montreal: ipsm at resist.ca




Grassroots People's Coalition Pamphlet:



"The dispossession of their traditional territories is one of the root
causes of the contemporary social and economic ills and inequities that
exist amongst Aboriginal Peoples in Canada."

(Source: Liberal Party of Canada's 1993 Electoral Platform)





FIRST MINISTERS' MEETING

------

A VERY BIG LIE!







The First Ministers' & Phil Fontaine (AFN) are Committing a Fraud on the
Canadian People!



The First Ministers' Meeting on Aboriginal Issues, to be held Nov. 24, 25,
2005, in Kelowna, B.C. is being orchestrated by the Paul Martin government
with the support of Phil Fontaine (Assembly of First Nations) and the
other National Aboriginal Organizations, for at least three main goals:



  a.. Cooperate with capping and off-loading federal constitutional &
fiscal responsibility for "Indians and lands reserved for the Indians"
onto the provincial, territorial and municipal governments. b.. Try to
convince the Canadian public and national media that more money in Health,
Housing,  Education and Economic Development will fix the
problem of First Nations poverty. c.. Try to sideline and ignore the
issues of Aboriginal and Treaty rights, First Nations ownership of lands
and natural resources in Aboriginal title/Treaty territories.
Cause of First Nations Poverty



The FMM in Kelowna is deliberately dealing with the symptoms not the
causes of First Nations poverty, because there is a lack of political will
by the federal and provincial governments:



To respect and recognize Aboriginal and Treaty rights.



Recognize the right of First Nations to self-determination.



To re-distribute lands and resources illegally taken by Crown governments,
or provide compensation for taking the lands and resources.



Federal-Provincial Deal-Making



The FMM is another public federal-provincial negotiation session about the
escalating costs of delivering programs and services to First Nations (and
other Aboriginal peoples), and which level of government will pay.



The federal government is now using the term "Aboriginal-Canadians" to
lump First Nations in with the Inuit, Métis and urban Aboriginals in order
to disguise the off-loading of federal constitutional and fiscal
responsibilities for "Indians and lands reserved for the Indians" onto the
other levels of government.



The provinces, particularly B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba, are
considering the take over of First Nations if Canada pays them enough in
transfer payments.



No Mandate from the People



The federal government has co-opted the Assembly of First Nations and the
four other National Aboriginal Organizations by giving them large budgets
and a "seat at the table" as Aboriginal and Treaty rights are traded off
for the modern day equivalent of "trinkets and beads".



The grassroots people from First Nations communities have not been
involved in this top down,  undemocratic process, and are only now
learning of the consequences.



Our actions in opposing the FMM are just the start of a larger political
movement of reform taking place within our First Nation communities,
Governments and organizations, to get out from under the colonial, racist
Indian Act system.



Background on First Ministers Meeting



At the last federal-provincial conference on "Indian Welfare" in 1964, the
Pearson Liberal Government rewrote history by claiming that the provinces
have always been responsible to fund Indian programs and service on and
off reserves. The provinces rejected this attempt to offload costs that
are 100% federal jurisdiction. First Nations mobilized and formed the
National Indian Brotherhood to fight this threat to treaty and fiduciary
rights.



What followed was four decades of offloading until the federal government
had withdrawn from most off-reserve funding. Canada now funds only a
subsistence level of on-reserve services. Former INAC Minister and Prime
Minister, Jean Chretien, wrote that this is "on humanitarian grounds"
because the provinces won't pay. The offloading occurred in waves, and the
fiscal shocks on the provinces and on First Nations were tremendous.



The Martin Liberals claim they are Aboriginal friendly. Then why do they
hire Reform Party Aboriginal advisor Tom Flanagan as legal expert witness
to dispute claims that Ottawa has an obligation to fund services? Why have
they spent over $50 million in the Samson Cree case (in Alberta) alone,
denying the existence of any obligation?



This conference and its 10 year plan are about putting a ceiling on the
federal fiscal obligation at a level far below what is needed to equalize
health and socioeconomic conditions. Signing the agreement will commit
First Nations to 10 years of making do with funding that has been withheld
since the Liberals took power.



*************************

What Can You Do?



On November 24/25th, join the Grassroots Peoples' Coalition protesting in
Kelowna by adding to the disruption of this "historic" event taking place
at the Grand Okanagan Lakefront Resort and Conference Centre. Phone, fax
and/or email as much as you can. Le Frigo Vert, at 2130 Mackay, has
offered their fax machine for all those who need access.



Disrupt the First Ministers Meeting
Say "No More" to Colonial Business-as-Usual
**************************************
When? November 24th & 25th
Who? The Grand Okanagan Lakefront Resort
Phone: (250) 763-4500   Fax: (250) 763-4565
Toll Free: 1-800-465-4651

Email: reserve at grandokanagan.com

**************************************




For more information about the Grassroots Peoples' meeting and demonstration:



Arthur Manuel, Spokesperson, Grassroots Peoples' Meeting:

Cell: (250) 319-0688, email: amanuel at telus.net



Dixon Terbasket, Okanagan Organizer:

Phone: (250)809-0557, email: terbasket at nethop.net



Stop the Canadian Colonial Agenda. Decolonize Canada Now!