Lovelace: No, absolutely not. The province sat back and allowed a
corporation to prosecute both the guys from Big Trout and myself. ...
They never once spoke out against a prison sentence. McGuinty is wrong.
I look at what's being said in the paper these days between Mike
Gravelle, the minister of Northern Development and Mines, and Michael
Bryant, the minister of Aboriginal Affairs, and what's said by the
premier - it's a cabinet that's either immensely divided, or they're
just playing a ruse that none of them will say the same thing so that
no one will understand what the problem is.
I've Seen the Best Minds of My Generation Wasted in the Billable Hours
EconomyLovelace: You know, the longer I sit in here, and the longer I think
about these things, it irks me that really great minds of this
generation have been wasted and just squandered on a relationship where
colonialism runs the show. We can't have real good negotiations to
settle issues because the government of Ontario and the government of
Canada simply want to limit their liability. They don't want to respect
aboriginal rights; the government of Ontario hires hundreds of lawyers
and academics to discredit aboriginal claims.
ICT: When you say some of the best minds have been wasted, you're
talking about aboriginal people?
Lovelace: On both sides - I've seen non-Native people just waste their
careers trying to untie a Gordian knot. They're working in an
adversarial system. And instead of working in an adversarial system,
they should be trying to solve the problem.
'Small price to pay for your conscience'
© Indian Country Today May 12, 2008. All Rights Reserved
Posted: May 12, 2008
by: Kate Harries
Click to Enlarge
File photo -- Bob Lovelace, Algonquin negotiator
A conversation with Bob Lovelace
