Thursday, February 21, 2008

Well... that's mighty

...er... white of ya !

Where did that saying ever come from ? Seems to fit, more and more, with increasing "white guilt" creeping into Canadian lib-tard society. Yep, we are responsible for all that ills everyone.

Anyhow ....

This weeks EMC has a full front page article (section 2) on the new Algonquin band in the Smiths Falls area. Seems the sign erected on the 177 acres of Crown land has caused a bit of a stir .. or as the EMC puts it "a mystery".

Back to the saying: Chief Taillon was quoted "We have no intention of putting a gate on that property or a barricade" and adding "People who have been using it are still going to be able to. We're not going to deter anyone from hunting or fishing. We put that sign up because we wanted the public to know that we are going to be using that land as well."

Again, mighty white of ya ... considering the band has absolutely no title to said property.

Are they entitled to use it ?

Absolutely.

But to walk in, plunk a sign down .... with no approval from the MNR (the Crown caretaker), according to a neighbour that inquired ... well ... it's tantamount to staking it, claiming it for your very own.

At least that's how I see it. How long before we see those notorious flags flying beside the sign ?

Of course, the Record News in their usual "careful ... lets not piss anybody off" style lets the Chief away with his statement without daring to ask a tough question. Typical.

Now, if the band truly wanted to get off on the right foot with the local "colonialists" here's how they should have gone about this .... something like getting proper approval from MNR ... and then inviting MNR reps, maybe the Township Reeve and local residents to a pow-wow.

Just a thought.

Another one ... instead of going after Crown land .. uh, for free, how's about you take up a collection from your members and buy your own land ... you know, like The Fish and Game club ? Or Scouting ... they pay a pretty handsome stipend to the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority yearly for use of the Whispering Pines camp on Otty Lake. I guess Indians are more entitled to the Crowns assets for free than are our children.

In my last post on this topic, an anonymous commenter was wondering if there was any updates. In short, it's winter, nothing will happen. But here's how I see this going down:

This year ... everybody gets along. Natives and colonialists using the property. Government negotiations ensue for the next couple years and progress goes.. uh ... nowhere. Frustrated, the band (and this could be under the leadership of someone not soooo accomodating) decides to "up the ante" and block others access and occupy the land... From there ? God knows.

Sharbot Lake and Deseronto are where the action is gonna be this summer.

I'd sure like to debate some of those who have Googled the issue and landed here ... don't be shy, drop a line in the comments.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike,

I am...the "anonymous poster" and I will, from now on, be known as...AnnaBelle. NO more namelessness for me. LOL!

Mike said...

Is this the poster formerly known a "cat lover" ??

Anonymous said...

Mike, it wasn't me and I don't know who it is.

Anonymous said...

Nope. :-)

I'm the poster that asked over at Doggerel if you were going to start blogging again. (So glad you did.)

I tried putting my name in with a password, without success,,,?

AnnaBelle

Mike said...

Great ! The more the merrier.

Mike said...

BTW- the name & password field are for Google accounts ... you can use the name/url option if you don't use gmail.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhhhhhhh,,,,,,,thanks. Let's see if this works. And for the record Mike, I've been following your Blog from the beginning, and have been a poster from time to time. Always enjoyed it, for sure. :-)

Anonymous said...

I wish there was more feedback on this one. I am really interested to hear what people are thinking about this.