T2 Condones Chaos?

I almost fell off my chair when I read about this.
So much so that I almost posted this blog entry's heading as "Drama Teacher vs. Economist (Trudeau vs. Harper).

Almost.


The story concerns a woman named Charmaine Stick who went on a 13-day hunger strike as a result of Onion Lake Reservation chief Wallace Fox denying her request for an explanation of financial problems at the band.

The First Nations Financial Transparency Act requires disclosure.

The transparency act was enacted under Prime Minister Harper after years of problems with bands who were unable--and unwilling--to show where the money went.  We've all heard the horror stories of Federal money going to bands whose members live in unsafe and unsanitary housing, etc.

So what happened?  it appears that T2 (Justin Trudeau, prime minister) actually refuses to enforce the act, and has halted the court action that would've had the Onion Lake band comply with the Act.

At this point I was almost spitting nails, so will leave it to the CTF to explain the debacle:
"
Charmaine Stick and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation are taking the Onion Lake Cree Nation to court to force band leaders to tell band members what’s happening with the community’s money. Today we filed the final court documents and announced the court application to the media.

If she wins, it will set a precedent across Canada and force dozens of other First Nations bands to open their books.

Charmaine is courageous. When she heard about financial problems at her band, she demanded answers from her leaders. When they refused, she went on a 13-day hunger strike. Now, because of donations from people like you, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is a co-applicant on her court case and we’re covering all of the legal expenses.

We’ve given Onion Lake Chief Wallace Fox every chance to do the right thing, but he refuses to comply with the CTF-inspired First Nations Financial Transparency Act. The act requires First Nations to publish the salaries and expenses of the chief and council as well as the band’s basic financial information. More than 98 per cent of First Nations have complied to some degree. The disclosures show some chiefs got paid more than the prime minister and others serve as unpaid volunteers. But Chief Fox says it’s “racist” to have a law requiring transparency in First Nations communities and he won’t open the books.

It gets worse.

The previous Conservative government went to court to force Onion Lake to follow the law. When the Liberals formed government, they halted the court action and stopped enforcing the law.

The federal government may have given in, but Charmaine hasn’t and neither have we. Now Charmaine will have her day in court. And she’s getting the opportunity to tell her story to the world through the media.

It’s now time to turn the heat up on the federal government. Can you email the Prime Minister, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and the opposition critics and ask the federal government to apply to be an intervenor in this case on behalf of transparency?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s email is: justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca

Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous and Norther Affairs’ email is: carolyn.bennett@parl.gc.ca

Cathy McLeod, Conservative Party critic for Indigenous Affairs’ email is: cathy.mcleod@parl.gc.ca

Charlie Angus, NDP critic for Indigenous and Northern Affairs’ email is: charlie.angus@parl.gc.ca
"
 
Whad'ya expect from our new Prime Minister?
...remember how important legalizing marijuana was for him?
As though that's important in a world fraught with crises... but what do you expect from a Trust Fund child?

"Isn't that akin to Reverse Racism?", Kia would've asked.

Good point.
It certainly is chaos, and T2 appears to condone it.

Further reference:  Attawapiskat housing debacle