JMJ
July 17,2013
This morning John reported to me on MBC Patty Adams read that Perry Bellegarde said at a gathering at Onion Lake that “ negotiations are not going well in Ottawa. People have to remember that the Treaties were made between The Crown and each nation. Quite. John thought I’d enjoy that.. I do Atleo has said something similar.
Firstly nation did not mean sovereign country but ment tribe. The treaties were not made between two distinct countries . Neither Canadian nor British law nor legal tradition ever stated that. The idea of autonomy and sovereignty for each tribe came about through Marxist ( Communist) rhetoric begun in the late Sixties and was borrowed from the Marxist Quebec Separatists.
The Treaties were made by the Crown. Lately the Liberal Party with its branch, Federation of Sask. Indians ( FSI) have been on an anti- monarchial kick. P. Trudeau began this openly although Pearson as a Communist would have had that view as well. Now it is being promoted through the Liberal network of supposed supporters. If the Crown falls the Treaties fall. That, one has to assume, is their intent.
The Treaties were made tribe by tribe. There is no provision in the Treaties or the Indian Act for umbrella tax- funded organisations such as FSI or Canadian Brotherhood. Since Confederation and the British North America Act 1867 Indian Affairs have been designated as a federal, not provincial responsibility. It is clearly unconstitutional for FSI to get any provincial money. Recently the Supreme Court ruled that Metis are also a federal not provincial responsibility. Most Metis have lived happily on the assumprtion that they are responsible for themselves. However this makes it clear that there should be no provincial funds to Metis organisations that would not be equally accesible to any other ethnic group.
Meanwhile more on the late Melvin H. Smith’s expose. His book OUR HOME OR NATIVE LAND was published in1996. There may have been some changes since then. However the secrecry surrounding settlements, treaties and pay- outs of the past continue. .
*The territory Nunavut has 25,000 people. That is about the population of Moose Jaw, Sask. Yet it has not just a Court of Appeals but a Supreme Court. Why would 25000 people need their own Supreme Court when Sask.and other provinces don’t have one ?.
* The legislators in Nunavut have the highest salaries in Canada. They are paid by Ottaws so there is no local protest.
* There is provision for fourteen ( 14) FOURTEEN!!! different legislatures in the territory of Yukon. None of these would be self- financed but all salary and expenses would be paid by Ottawa, that is the taxpayer.
* About 1700 Sahtu and Metis have been given land around the Great Slave Lake area comparable in size to the province of Nova Scotia.
* These settlements composing hundreds of pages are to be added to the Constitution and can only be changed by the natives involved, not the government. This is clearly illegal. Any addition to the Constitution must be ratified after public knowledge and debate, with a referendum and approval of the provinces.
* The process of settlements can stretch out for 20 years with the taxpayer paying the cost of both sides.. Many lawyers and bureaucrats have based their entire career and income on making these settlements has prolonged and obscure as possible.
* Jack Anawuk, Parliamentary Secretary who delivered death threats and swore at Smith has stated publicly that all of Canada belong to the natives and it is generous that so much is still given to the government of Canada.
*It is debatable that basic human right and democracy will apply to the people living in these settlements. And much more. Gay
