Corruption and Greed in Attawapiskat

[Ccrider]

As we see the news unraveling about the tragedy in Attawapiskat, we ask ourselves how can a great country like Canada allow this to happen. We see the poverty that the First Nations people live in, and ask ourselves, why doesn't the government do something to help. I couldn't find any concrete answers in the news articles, so I decided to do some research on my own.
Wikipedia has a very informative article on the Firt Nation, and one interesting fact stood out. According to a 2011 census, Of the 2800 members of the Attawapiskat First Nation, only 1549 actually live on the reserve. See the article:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attawap ... rst_Nation

Next I went to the Attawapiskat Community website to see if I could find out more about their plight. I came upon 2014/2015 financial statement of the First Nation.

http://www.attawapiskat.org/wp-content/ ... ements.pdf

I was surprised to see that the First Nation received over $38,000,000 in funding last year, and had an accumulated surplus of over $100,000,000 at the end of the year. My question is, why are they not using this money to help their own people, and how much of the money is being siphoned off by the band members that don't even live on the reserve. Another question is, why aren't we doing something to address the corruption that is so blatantly present on the First Nation reserves across the country?

[logicalview]

Another question is, why aren't we doing something to address the corruption that is so blatantly present on the First Nation reserves across the country?

The Conservatives tried in 2013, but guess who screwed that all up.

The act, passed in 2013, requires that First Nations “make their audited consolidated financial statements and a Schedule of Remuneration and Expenses of chief and council available to their members as well as publish it on a website.”

Non-compliant First Nations risked having their federal funding withheld.

As of September 1, 2015, 197 of 581 First Nations — 34 per cent of the total — had declined to make their chiefs’ salaries public, resulting in court action and a freeze on federal funds.

Addressing the First Nations’ concern over funding shortfalls during the last election campaign, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau promised to repeal the law.

A formal repeal is not necessary for Bennett’s measures, however. The act left it to the minister’s discretion whether to “develop an appropriate action plan to remedy the breach” or “withhold moneys payable” for any non-compliant First Nation.

The Conservatives’ indigenous affairs critic, Cathy McLeod, criticized the Liberals for the move.

“The government is functionally abandoning the First Nations Transparency Act without repealing it. This is a sad day for those First Nations community members who called for enhanced financial accountability and transparency,” McLeod said. “Now with no compliance measures in effect, it’s a safe prediction that the compliance rate will collapse, and financial information will again be shrouded in secrecy from community members.”

The Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation also expressed outrage in a statement Friday afternoon.

“This government was elected on a promise to improve transparency and accountability, and this decision does exactly the opposite,” said CTF Federal Director Aaron Wudrick. “Suspending enforcement of this law is wrong, and completely undermines the very principles this government claims to be advancing.”

[maryjane48]

so let me get this straight . the whole world knows about the suicide attempts there and you try and paint every first nation person as corrupt ? oooooookay there .

[maryjane48]

Why a 17-year-old says she wanted 'the pain to go away'
http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/attaw ... -1.3532441
Shared via the CBC News Android App


i dont see this person saying anything about money or lack of being a millionaire as being the cause of her grief

[FreeRights]

so let me get this straight . the whole world knows about the suicide attempts there and you try and paint every first nation person as corrupt ? oooooookay there .

Nobody said they are all corrupt, but obviously some are, and none of them are doing a single thing to fix the issue.

[Ccrider]

so let me get this straight . the whole world knows about the suicide attempts there and you try and paint every first nation person as corrupt ? oooooookay there .

I never tried to paint every First Nations person as corrupt. I'm saying that the "Leaders" of our First Nations are corrupt, and that the citizens of Canada are complicit in the condition of the First Nations communities by turning a blind eye to this "fact". Just like you are doing now.
These poverty stricken people don't need more money thrown at them. They need to be freed from the tyranny of their corrupt leaders.

[maryjane48]

start naming these lesders with links to proof ?

[Bsuds]

start naming these lesders

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_Spence

[dontrump]

so let me get this straight . the whole world knows about the suicide attempts there and you try and paint every first nation person as corrupt ? oooooookay there .

no not every, every 3rd one

[dogspoiler]

so let me get this straight . the whole world knows about the suicide attempts there and you try and paint every first nation person as corrupt ? oooooookay there .

This would be a great time to share your views on what is going wrong and how to fix it.

[Treblehook]

There has been so much information available about the amount of money that has been provided by the Federal government to the Attawapiskat Reserve, that it would be near impossible for any right thinking person not to come to the conclusion that there is something seriously wrong with the allocation of those funds by the Chief and Council. Not only has that reserve received significant funds from government, but I believe they also received significant sums from the company mining gold on their "traditional" lands. Speaking the truth is the road to correcting injustices, abuse and social problems regardless of where they are occurring. Unfortunately, political correctness has emerged as an effective obstacle to the truth being told. Our current PM has opted to reverse the previous governments requirement for fiscal transparency pertaining to the funds being allocated to Reserves.... and that is not going to help anything. When we have Chiefs making more than mayors of our largest cities, right across the country, there is something seriously wrong. Some would call it corrupt.

[zzontar]

so let me get this straight . the whole world knows about the suicide attempts there and you try and paint every first nation person as corrupt ? oooooookay there .

Kind of like painting all Christians with the same brush.

[Glacier]

Jean Chretien, the man who tried to abolish the Indian Act some 40 years ago, was saying today that the solution is for the natives to move to where the jobs are. Similarly, the Trudeau government is hinting that it's time to abolish the Indian Act.

[Rosemary1]

This comes in the wake of a similar emergency called at Cross Lake with about 8,300 members, (about 5800 living on the reserve ) (see thread on that one).

Whatever the reasons, whether corruption, favouritism, or just mismanagement of funds on some reserves, it does seem that funds are not effectively used to turn things around.

Nor does it seems that more funds alone can solve the very profound socio-economic problems faced in isolated communities, and the toll on families and youths. Maybe it's time for such communities to ask themselves if traditional attachment to land that cannot sustain a community in the 20th century world is worth the harm that it's causing their youth.


The comments from the 17 year old girl from Attawapiskat shed some light on understanding that toll.http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/attaw ... -1.3532441.
Jordan Tootoos book also provides heart wrenching insight of life in northern communities.

[the truth]

so let me get this straight . the whole world knows about the suicide attempts there and you try and paint every first nation person as corrupt ? oooooookay there .

the band has been given more than enough money to hire the right people to help them with there problems , if the chief desides to keep the money how is that are govt's fault