WFN rights

[zzontar]

you come across as sounding bitter that you are not First Nations.. the money they get doesn't come out of your pocket. I'm glad they have the school and that they have managed ( unlike some other tribes that got lousy land deals) to do what they have. A Treaty is a binding contract, sooner you learn that the easier it will be for you to let resentment go

Taxpayers make up for the billions of dollars in taxes not paid by status natives. Taxpayers pay for the billions of dollars lost due to status card abuse. Taxpayers pay for the billions of dollars in lost taxes due to the natives getting cheap smokes and smuggling them. Taxpayers are responsible for the billions of dollars spent on native programs and facilities. Hell, even BC taxpayers alone have forked over more than a billion dollars for negotiations with natives that had no results. It's not pocket change, and some of it comes out of my pocket.

What makes me bitter is the waste and abuse of money and privileges.

[nextimeround]

I'm curious - why do you care so much what they are doing on their own Land?

Just because it is their land does not give them, or anyone, the right to do whatever they want. Robert Pickton did his business on his own land, that doesn't mean nobody should question it. My neighbours have the right to question what I do if it impacts them and every Canadian has the right to question any group or individual that is infringing on their rights or that is otherwise discriminating.

[coffeeFreak]

Just because it is their land does not give them, or anyone, the right to do whatever they want. Robert Pickton did his business on his own land, that doesn't mean nobody should question it. My neighbours have the right to question what I do if it impacts them and every Canadian has the right to question any group or individual that is infringing on their rights or that is otherwise discriminating.

What does educating children have to do with Pickton?

[coffeeFreak]

Taxpayers make up for the billions of dollars in taxes not paid by status natives. Taxpayers pay for the billions of dollars lost due to status card abuse. Taxpayers pay for the billions of dollars in lost taxes due to the natives getting cheap smokes and smuggling them. Taxpayers are responsible for the billions of dollars spent on native programs and facilities. Hell, even BC taxpayers alone have forked over more than a billion dollars for negotiations with natives that had no results. It's not pocket change, and some of it comes out of my pocket.

What makes me bitter is the waste and abuse of money and privileges.

zzontar, your comments here have nothing to do with the OP, which, by the way, did not have a link to back up its claim.

[zzontar]

zzontar, your comments here have nothing to do with the OP, which, by the way, did not have a link to back up its claim.

My comments were a direct response to Norma's post. Do you know if the WFN's education programs like the pre-school program or the tutoring which exclude all non-WFN's are paid for with non-WFN taxpayer's money? How about the school itself?

[oneh2obabe]

Do you know if the WFN's education programs like the pre-school program or the tutoring which exclude all non-WFN's are paid for with non-WFN taxpayer's money? How about the school itself?

To answer your question regarding tutoring, and you posted this on a previous page:

Tutoring
Tutoring support is available for students attending school full-time from September through June. The student must be resident of the reserve or WFN Member.

That little word OR means one or the other ... a resident of the reserve OR a WFN member.

Don't know why you've got such a hate on for WFN but it's beginning to come across as an obsession. Here's a thought - try getting to know some of the WFN members. You'd be surprised - they're human just like you and me.

[oneh2obabe]

Taxpayers make up for the billions of dollars in taxes not paid by status natives. Taxpayers pay for the billions of dollars lost due to status card abuse. Taxpayers pay for the billions of dollars in lost taxes due to the natives getting cheap smokes and smuggling them. Taxpayers are responsible for the billions of dollars spent on native programs and facilities. Hell, even BC taxpayers alone have forked over more than a billion dollars for negotiations with natives that had no results. It's not pocket change, and some of it comes out of my pocket.

What makes me bitter is the waste and abuse of money and privileges.

And you can provide links to backup all these claims, right?

[theyeti]

and just how is it that your life would be better if the wfn did not have a school of there own ?? would u be on a big yacht somewhere with all your extra cash ?? the government would squander the extra cpl billion just like they do all the other money . dont kid yourself

[zzontar]

And you can provide links to backup all these claims, right?

Yes, right indeed. Here are some:

http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/110010 ... 0100016459

How much money does the Government of Canada as a whole spend on Aboriginal programs and services?

In terms of fiscal investments, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Health Canada and numerous other government departments and agencies are now spending more than $10 billion each year to fund programs directed to Aboriginal people living on and off reserve.

http://www.gov.bc.ca/arr/reports/thornton.html

Assuming the costs associated with other treaty settlements are similar to the Nisga'a settlement, the total benefit to BC's First Nations is estimated to be between $6.3 and $6.8 billion.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/cheap-smokes-floo ... s-1.601307

Cheap smokes make it hard to quit the habit and there's a financial cost to governments as well. The federal and provincial governments lose $2 billion a year in tax revenue when people buy tax-free native cigarettes.

There's nothing illegal about natives selling tax-free cigarettes to other natives on the reserve. It's when they end up off-reserve that's causing the problem. And native cigarettes are ending up off the reserves. Available on-line, under the counter from some convenience stores, or even as W5 discovered from the back of vans.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... ocess.html

More than $1 billion has been spent on negotiating treaties with B.C. First Nations with little success, says a report released Monday by the Fraser Institute.

Does providing links change anything for you?

[zzontar]

Don't know why you've got such a hate on for WFN but it's beginning to come across as an obsession. Here's a thought - try getting to know some of the WFN members. You'd be surprised - they're human just like you and me.

Sorry, but I don't think that there should be an uproar like crazy when taxpayers have to spend 1 billion dollars on the gun registry, but when there are many billions of dollars involved we should be hush hush and look the other way because it involves natives and we don't want to look politically incorrect. I'm also not falling for the old "you must hate all natives because because you don't like how the money's being spent" line anymore than if the liberals waste billions I must hate everyone who's a liberal.

[normaM]

I read the BC article as that BC was never ceded, so I would then think it is cheap if the Natives actually still OWN the entire province.

[zzontar]

I read the BC article as that BC was never ceded, so I would then think it is cheap if the Natives actually still OWN the entire province.

I've asked this before on these forums and have never had a response. Would natives prefer that their land wasn't taken, but instead people just emigrated here, so things now would basically be the same except they would all be on the same playing field as non-natives? If they actually still legally owned BC, then no one here actually stole their land, hence no compensation any more than one has to pay for compensation to the indigenous people of other countries you might emigrate to.

[oneh2obabe]

Sorry, but I don't think that there should be an uproar like crazy when taxpayers have to spend 1 billion dollars on the gun registry, but when there are many billions of dollars involved we should be hush hush and look the other way because it involves natives and we don't want to look politically incorrect. I'm also not falling for the old "you must hate all natives because because you don't like how the money's being spent" line anymore than if the liberals waste billions I must hate everyone who's a liberal.

Thanks for the links but to put it into perspective one only has to look at the 2010-2011 fiscal budget for Canada to see where all the money is going. Granted, native affairs gets a portion of the monies collected but it's a drop in the bucket compared to other departments. I might grumble about how the government spends our tax money but do I begrudge it being spent on CCP, GIS, EI benefits, Children's Benefits, Indian Affairs, etc., etc. In a nutshell, NO.

35.6B - transfer to persons - elderly benefits
19.9B - transfer to persons - EI benefits
12.7B - transfer to persons - CCTB and UCCB (children's benefits)
3.8B - transfer to persons - GST credit

10.0B - your figures showing funding of programs directed to Aboriginal people living on and off reserve

Your Tax Dollar: 2010-2011 Fiscal Year
http://www.fin.gc.ca/tax-impot/2011/html-eng.asp

[zzontar]

^^ ^^You're not taking into consideration money lost, (e.g. the 2 billion a year from the cigarette trade or status card abuse) so that should put a new perspective on your perspective.

[oneh2obabe]

^^ ^^You're not taking into consideration money lost, (e.g. the 2 billion a year from the cigarette trade or status card abuse) so that should put a new perspective on your perspective.

You want to talk about money lost? Ok, how about Canada's underground economy which, according to reports, topped $30-billion in 2011. How much tax money isn't being collected?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... le2078228/