h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hey, Analiese:

Just found a news story I thought you might be interested in:

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/03/13/cops_jail030613

It's not enough for the dead men, but we're trying. I'm sure this story isn't over yet. Would it go this way down there, two cops kicked off the force, disgraced, and sent to jail? I hope that they find out who dropped off the guys who died (if it wasn't these two cops). If that happens there'll be a real big trial.

Again, it's far from perfect up here. Far from tolerable. But we're honestly trying. And it's the governments and the courts who are trying to make it better.

Anhaga

P.S. Analiese for world President!

If a state must have police, I think your people are on the right track in insisting that the police behave properly.

People who are given coercive power over other people by the state should be compelled to exercise that power with prudence, restraint, and respect. The officers involved in this incident are getting off easy I think but if they'd been patrolling in western Nebraska, southern South Dakota or any number of other regions of the United States, they probably wouldn't have even been brought to trial. So that's something you can be proud of.

Unfortunately, it is all too tempting for the police to identify not with those they serve but with each other to the detriment of all. Once they become alienated from the community, they are not unlike the privileged who have more in common with the privileged of other nations than their own people.

I agree. In my own city a number of years ago the police officially stopped being called the "police department" and became the "police service". A single little word can be very important. As far as getting off easy, the two officers were only tried for unlawful confinement and there victim lived to tell the tale without injury (I, too, think they got off easy). The two deaths are still under investigation. Somebody may still pay a bigger price.

Well, if it's really true that the RCMP always get their men, then you're probably right.

What's your take on the following from ICT?

"Chief calls C-7 a Waste of Time

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - Susan Custer, the chief of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, said the federal government would do better to honor its treaty obligations to members of the First Nations than waste time and money on the First Nations Governance Act.

Custer said Ottawa should focus on recognizing existing treaty rights, providing educational opportunities for Native youths and the deplorable living conditions in many First Nations.

"We don’t have that quality of life on reserves," said Custer who added that the government should forget about the act and spend the money on housing. "There is no way the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation would accept any of the First Nations Governance Act right now."

The Regional Director of Indian Affairs and Northern Affairs Canada, Roy Boyd, said many of the First Nations representatives that submitted presentations to public hearings on the act, did not understand what C-7 is all about.

Boyd said the act is intended to provide First Nations governments with the modern tools needed to operate effectively and provide accountability which would lead to a better life.

The Nisga’a First Nation of British Columbia recently negotiated a treaty that confirms their right to complete self-government exempting them from the restrictions of the Indian Act and C-7 once it becomes law.

C-7 would eliminate the opportunity for other First Nations to take the same path in favor of increased accountability to Ottawa.

Self-government Faces Opposition

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - An agreement reached on Feb 26 between the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) at the organization’s winter meeting is drawing criticism from some members even after five years of negotiations.

Alex Kennedy, a spokesman for the Battlefords Tribal Council, said the act is a threat to treaty rights because the province of Saskatchewan is a signatory and tribes would be better off negotiating their own agreements.

"We think it’s wrong," said Kennedy. "We think there is a better way. We feel we have a right in North Battleford to develop our own system that is better than the one suggested.

The nature of this objection is similar to the problems tribal governments in the United States face when state governments seek to assert authority over their sovereignty.

The agreement reached at the FSIN has been touted by some as an alternative to the controversial First Nations Governance Act. The FSIN proposal seeks to set up tribal governments based on treaties already in place while leaving control and oversight of labor, corrections, environmental protection and law enforcement to Ottawa.

Ontario Reserves get Economic Boost

OTTAWA - Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Robert D. Nault announced the grants and investments in Aboriginal communities and business total $1,010,000 (Cdn.)

The investments will allow tribal governments and Native-owned businesses to expand, explore new business opportunities and improve existing enterprises.

Funding will go to the following projects:

* Mushkegowuk Tribal Council for a human resource project to prepare members for employment in the tourism, mining, and forestry industries.

* Michipicoten First Nation to support efforts to jointly develop a hydro-electric facility at Dore Falls with Great Lakes Power Ltd.

* Chapleau Ojibway First Nation to pay for a study to determine the most effective use of 20,000 cubic meters of mature timber knocked down by storms this winter.

* T.C. Automotive and RV of Little Current, Ontario to build a new facility and purchase updated equipment.

* Batchewana First Nations to conduct a feasibility study on harvesting Canada Yew in the Algoma region as therapeutic treatment for various diseases.

* Big Vermillion Lodge to help expand existing tourism and hospitality operations in Sioux Lookout, Ontario.

* Wasaya Ma Mow Ltd. to expand float and ski-plane operations in Northern Ontario.

* Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation to explore new forestry job opportunities.

* Sandy Lake First Nation for consultation fees on proposed mineral exploration.

* Pic Mobert First Nation to develop power generation facilities on tribal land.

* Whitesand First Nation to develop small hydro-electric sites on traditional land.

* Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishnabek to revitalize fishing and fish-packing operations on its territory.

* Fort William First Nation to help develop two sugar maple stands.

Sarah Archer, director of strategic direction and policy for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada in Ontario, could not be reached to comment on the number of jobs that would be created or whether the spending spree in Ontario was to bolster regional support for Ottawa’s unpopular suite of legislation updating the Indian Act."

My take is on this is similar to what I've mentioned before: Nault aint well liked. I think the whole makeover of the Indian Act is just foolishness and backward-looking; they should be replacing the Indian Act with recognition and entrentchment of treaty obligations. I hope that this recent trend (last few years) from Nault doesn't cancel out the progress of the years previous.

I don't know if you know, but the present Prime-Minister is going to be retiring quite soon and there is expectation that his replacement (yet to be chosen) will do a major cabinet-shuffle. There is so much opposition for Nault in the aboriginal community that a new prime minister would be foolish not to move him out. He's probably only still there from inertia. I wouldn't be surprised if the revised indian act went out the window at the same time.

I suspect the money is an attempt to buy support. I don't think it will buy that support, but it will benefit the communities it goes to. Out Provincial Government (Alberta) does the same thing here. Just before the last election they sent everybody in the province a "rebate cheque" to help citizens vote the right w -- I mean to help citizens with their high power bills. In Alberta it works. I don't think it will in Ontario and most particularly, not with the First Nations. They'll say "thanks for the money. Let's talk about the treaties."

I suspect you're right. Things seem to be moving ahead, however haltingly. Your people are to be commended for that. I hope they don't become complacent in their self-righteousness, however. There's still quite a bit left to do don't you think?

Yes, there is an inconcievable amount left to do. I was thinking the other day, wouldn't it be great if a government actually had a native minister in charge of native issues. But then I realized that it would be a horribly thankless job for the individual involved as there would be no way to satisfy everyone on all sides in the time available to one person. It is better for a white man to get the blame at this point. But someday, when things are more as they should be, when there is only tinkering left. . .

By the way, did you know that our Cabinet Ministers are not appointed like the guys that make up a President's cabinet? Up here you have to be elected to the House of Commons (or appointed to the Senate, but Senators rarely get to be Cabinet Ministers) before you can be a Cabinet Minister. This hopefully leads to much more accountability. So Mr. Nault, as well as being a Cabinet Minister, is the elected representative for a constituency, like an American Representative or Senator.

Again, a long way to go . . .

I can see how your way of governing has some advantages. Unfortunately, you've probably noticed what American style electioneering and such has done for the British. It'll probably work in Canada too if somebody tries it, if they haven't already.

In my admittedly backward view, true representation is provided at the local clan and tribal levels by people who know by name and are related to the people they speak for. Whenever this system has been subordinated to so-called democratic principles, the representatives have ended up representing strangers who bribed them not the people they were supposed to represent.

This is one of the pitfalls of large scale government. It's probably just not a very good idea and isn't really necessary unless you're into large scale conquest and such.

I really liked something you wrote awhile ago about "come and join us".

That's sort of how any attempt at centralization should be promoted, keeping in mind that the less the central government actually does the better.

People have been minding their own business just fine for millenia. I wonder how they got so stupid in the last few centuries that they need large, expensive, coercive central governments to mind their business for them? I don't think they got stupid but somebody sure did.

We're trying to get caps put on election spending (really low caps). It's a big issue here.

Your comment about central government reminded me of an incident that happened to me a few weeks ago. My daughter (nine years old) and I were driving downtown. Because of the arangement of the city and the river valley that cuts it in half, the main federal government building in town (Canada Place) is visible from very near my house, although it is actually way on the other side of the river. My daughter said to me, "what do they do in that building?" and I was stumped. I mean, I have a pretty good idea of how our constitution divides responsibilities between Provincial and Federal levels of government but I was stumped as to what they would be doing in that building or how to explain it. I mean, the federal government here takes care of foreign affairs and the military, and they take care of something called "transfer payments" which is basically a robin hood tax: every province pays into the pot what they can afford (ideally) and then the federal government divides it up to make things okay for everybody (ideally). But really, it's the Provincial government and the Municipal government that really have the effect on lives. They build the roads, provide the healthcare, provide the schools. The federal government seems to really only be there to make sure everybody gets a fair shake (they don't, of course, succeed in that goal very often, but that seems to be the noble ideal).

As for "come and join us": that seems to be the vision of Canada that Pierre Trudeau left for us and it has served us exceptionally well, as I've mentioned before. I just hope that recent events and the resultant pressure from the south on our imigration system doesn't trash the dream that we've started to make a reality. Canada should never go back to being the true (white) north.

I wish I didn't have this sinking feeling that certain OWGs (Old White Guys) weren't trying to reverse what was accomplished by the civil rights movement, AIM, and the opposition to the Vietnam War in America. But I think that's exactly what they're trying to do and I suspect they've got some allies on the other side of the border too, so watch out. We're in the middle of a revolution of the privileged against everybody else I think.

Yes. I'm looking out.

Hey, Analiese, I started a new thread on ask H2G2. Its about problems you've mentioned with unwanted infestations in your large water vessel.

This post has been removed.

Yes, I wonder who in fact that might be. Certainly not one of the self-appointed vigilantes maybe? Surely the people of the world don't tolerate such lawlessness in their midst?

But then, in a govenment by television poll, practically any inanity is possible, no?

Want to hear something funny? my last post here was posted word for word on the opinions about war with iraq thread and it got yanked! Go look at the thread. They left my next post in where I named all sorts of countries.

I think you'll find that they are being tipped off by certain parties who frequent certain discussions but not others. Moderation in the absence of complaint would, even among these mental giants, be considered censorship.

So if we were to be of that ilk, we could patrol our favorite discussions and have things that offend us stricken from the record too I suspect. Although, I also suspect, it might take a little longer, since the content would have to be thoroughly examined by at least three inspectors and a line judge. AAAAYYYYY!!!!

I've put the entry in my journal as a koan. there's a conversation on my page for people to offer solutions.

I just realized, I think, why you've been putting the "AAAAYYYYY!!!!" at the end of your posts. Jeez I'm slow. I gotta get back to listening to Buffy. (I don't mean the vampire slayer).

They just Yanked another one of my posts. This one talks about my country, my parliament, my prime minister, my parents, 9/11 and resolution 1441. They're just yanking them because they closed the thread, but it still hurts a bit with this one.

Can this be considered censorship when they own the venue and it isn't the media?

I could invite the neighbourhood to paint messages on the side of my house and have a discussion in the garden. Who would I be wronging when I threw everyone out for my vacation and painted the walls?