KI and Kelowna

Kelowna Accord should get passed
Doug Cuthand, Special to The Leader-Post
Published: Monday, April 28, 2008

The Kelowna Accord seems to have a longer life than the Energizer Bunny. It just keeps going and going. Its latest incarnation is a bill before the Senate that was passed by the House of Commons in March of 2007.

On March 22 the senate voted in favour of the bill for a third and final time. The Kelowna Accord has now been passed by both the House of Commons and the Senate but I don't expect it will mean much since the Harper government has stated it won't implement the bill.

Remember the Kelowna Accord?
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It was a federal/provincial/First Nations agreement to provide First Nations and aboriginal communities with $5 billion for health, education and housing over a five-year period. The agreement was seen as a major breakthrough at the time but it was panned by the Conservatives and thrown in the garbage can when they took office.

All the premiers and territorial leaders have supported the Kelowna Accord and even former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney has stated publicly that he supports it

. It was Mulroney who signed the Treaty Land Entitlement Agreement and brought in more than $500,000 to the province for land purchases.

The First Nations were furious that their concerns and a signed agreement should be so cavalierly dealt with.

The poor living conditions, contaminated water and high unemployment remain major issues in our communities largely because of the government's refusal to recognize the process and support that exists for the accord.

Now, $5 billion sounds like a lot of money and it could do a lot of good for our communities. But keep in mind that the federal budget is approaching $200 billion annually and the Kelowna Accord would have been spread over a five-year period.

It's time for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to put away his partisan view of the world and recognize the legitimacy of this important agreement.

- - -

Support for the KI Six continues to grow across the country. On March 17 the chief, deputy chief and four band councillors of the Kitchenuhmayboosib Inninuwug First Nation were given six-month sentences for refusing to comply with a court order that gave a mining company permission to drill on their traditional lands. The band is awaiting confirmation of its treaty land entitlement approval and the disputed land was within the area it planned to choose.

First Nations organizations across the country have been adding their voices to the opposition to the jailing of the KI Six for defending their land rights on behalf of their people. The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, and the Dene Nation in the Northwest Territories have all made statements condemning the jailing of these leaders.

Liberal MP Tina Keeper went to Thunder Bay and met with Cecilia Begg, the only female among the KI Six. Begg is a grandmother who is committed to the future of her community. Later in the House of Commons Keeper called on the government to live up to its duty to consult and not slough it off on third parties.

A letter signed by a number of eminent persons was sent to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty asking him to intervene in the jailing of the KI Six. The letter was signed by 20 people including Stephen Lewis, Margaret Atwood, Judy Rebick and Georges Erasmus.

ast Wednesday, hundreds of people attended a rally at the Ontario legislature in Toronto. Various First Nations leaders from northwest Ontario and provincial politicians addressed the rally and called for the release of the KI Six.

Clearly this is an issue that is gaining momentum and with the Assembly of First Nations calling for a national day of action on May 29 and threats to demonstrate at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver we can expect aboriginal issues to get a higher profile.

- Doug Cuthand is a Saskatoon writer.
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