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"Subject: Report from a Reserve worker
"If we can clean up this mess, then there will probably be lots of dollars to settle their land claims.
"I copied this to Mr. John Duncan and Mr. Guy Lauzon
"Respectfully submitted,
"EXCERPT:
"I worked in every “poor” northern Manitoba reserve as a probation
officer for years and they are ALL THE SAME. Repeat…ALL THE SAME!!!!! And it’s
a local joke!!!! There are more new trucks and cars, skidoos, boats, ATV’s,
Flat screen TV’s, Tech toys, and designer clothes in those reserves BUT they
will not spend a dime of their own money on their house or appliances or
furniture or a broken door or a broken window because “that is the band’s
responsibility” and so they don’t, and they wait for the band to fix it – for
as long as it takes – which never happens, and the house and everything else in
it (except the TV and tech toys) falls apart in squalor. I have seen it
personally!
"Substance abuse treatment center workers all went on an “aboriginal
healing cruise” in the Caribbean from funds that were supposed to pay for
treatment patients. Another bunch flew
to Arizona for an Aboriginal awareness conference (2 weeks) in the desert
(happened to be close to Las Vegas). They all came back saying they had one
Hell of a good time sporting all the turquoise jewelry they bought (also with
band funds). As part of their expense
accounts. And it goes on and on….and if a white person questions any of
that…Yup, you are Racist!!!! Hell, I was racist for recommending sending a man
to jail for stabbing and killing his buddy in a drunken fight over a
girlfriend. This man happened to be a band counselor!!!
"Here is another local joke……lots of the summer forest fires are started
by the locals and referred to as “make work projects”. All the guys in the
community get recruited by provincial natural resources depts. to fight the
fires and get supplied appropriate clothing, boots, hard hats, gloves etc. and
get paid huge dollars (much more than on welfare or seasonal EI.
"The old folks, women and kids get evacuated to the “city” to be put up
for free, they eat out, go shopping, use recreation facilities to entertain
their kids, take cabs all over the city and make a huge mess of the hotel or
rec. complex where they are billeted. They even have the gall to complain about
the food because their food vouchers aren’t enough to eat out at restaurants
where they want to.
"The first week or two go along smoothly and all the natives are enjoying
themselves, but into the third or fourth week, the novelty is wearing off and
they now want to go home. The fire situation hasn’t changed and their community
is still enveloped in smoke but the same people who made such a uproar about
needing to be evacuated for health reasons, now want to return to the community
cause they need to go fishing or something. They have had their summer
vacation, bought everything they wanted to and now want to go home. The
airplanes that took them to the city for evacuation now have to be doubled
because of all the returning “luggage” like cases of Chips and pop,, TV’s, new
clothes and everything else they cared to buy.
"Do you know that the Air Canada Stewardesses and flight crews refused to
use a downtown Wpg. hotel anymore because of the conduct and state left behind
every summer by native evacuees. And they were called racist!!!
"The Thompson Rec. center and Norplex pool incurred literally thousands
of dollars in damages by the evacuees that they refused to billet them any more
unless the federal Government paid the bill for clean-up and damages. Fire or
any other evacuations are seen as vacations. Hell, when I send kids to southern
correctional Facilities, the kids see it as a holiday. They get all their
medical issues taken care of, teeth, eyes, etc., and schooling, and the parents
don’t send any clothes with them, they are given to other family members as
they expect the justice dept. will outfit the kid going to kiddie jail in a
whole new wardrobe to take home with the.
"And they don’t want any Wal-Mart stuff. No, they want fancy label
clothes! Most of these kids are illiterate because they don’t go to the big
fancy schools that have been built for them on the reserve. The band
administrators have the kids attend for the first week of school so the school
qualifies for their per diem Student allowances and then don’t care about what
the kids do after that. By Thanksgiving, of the 30 odd kids that started in a
classroom, less than a dozen are still attending. So the poor native teacher
who complained of being so overworked at the start of the year and needed a
teacher aid, now has 10-12 kids and a teacher aid…that is a ratio of 5/6-1. And
she is never there in the classroom because she is always traveling out of the
community to the city shopping, visiting or whatever because she earns such a
good wage, leaving the unqualified teacher aid to teach the remaining students.
No wonder they have a dismal high school graduating record.
"Hell, the students don’t even get to grade 8. And the kids don’t walk to
school, they are all bussed. They buy huge numbers of busses, drivers, fuel,
maint. people at the start of the school year because all the kids “show up”
(at the insistence of chief and council) and then by October less than half are
still attending so you have all those big expensive busses driving around the
community almost empty. And that doesn’t even begin to look at the waste at the
nursing station where people plan their illnesses and ailments to coincide with
out of town/city amusement fairs, calendar holidays or out of town family
reunions.
"They never follow through with taking medications as directed as
expensive as they are, they don’t look after themselves, diabetes is in
epidemic proportions, alcoholism and drug abuse is rampant. It is not uncommon to see the garbage can
outside the nursing station containing freshly filled prescriptions of pills or
ointments, bandages but the pain killers are usually resold. A lot of northern
community members make their own “home brew” even though it is a dry reserve.
"I had a school in one community where a full 60% of the kids from grades
K-8 were FAS/FAE! If they flew in as much fresh fruit and vegetables as they
did pop and chips and Kentucky chicken, there would be a real difference. In one northern community the nurses reported
that they could always tell when the caribou herds were near the community for
the men to hunt cause they saw such an improvement in the overall health of the
band members from eating fresh wild meat and less junk food.
"I am babbling on….I have NO…repeat NO sympathy for those poor northern
reserves and YES, the responsibility rests at the Band office and don’t let anyone
tell you different. None of them has any
training in band administration, finance or even a high school education.
"I’ve been there/done that! Funny
that the news didn’t show where the chiefs (3) and 14 counselors live!!! Bet it
wasn’t in a shack!
"$34 million a year!"
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