...because it's too true. Wrote to The Herald the other day about the fentanyl crisis on the Stoney Reserve just west of here. Apparently, 60% of the population is addicted. Great!
Lots of bleeding hearts were writing letters crying about what can be done? We have to change things! We have to help!!...etc..........etc............etc. Hey, how about nothing?! Here are those pesky and unwelcome facts I pointed out in my never-to-be-seen letter:
"Dear Editor,
"The drug crisis on the Stoney Nakoda Reserve is tragic, but is actually a consequence of The Indian Act of 1876 and Treaty Seven, 1877. The Act and the Treaty are the mechanisms by which federal funds flow to native communities; they are also the mechanisms which maintain the reserve system. Drugs always find their way to money and with little to do on a reserve, it is no wonder so many inhabitants get into trouble. Sadly, as long as native leaders continue to support the financial framework of the reserve, things won't change -- regardless of well-meaning public handwringing."
These are all just plain facts. I tried to be as gentle as I could in the hope the letters' editor might slip it in at the bottom of the page, but even these facts were a tad to brutal to be aired in the public thoroughfare. Political correctness has supplanted logic and reason here in Treaty Seven territory. I don't care what native leadership says about wanting to change The Indian Act. As long as it enables the money to flow to maintain and support the "Indian industry" they won't amend a comma.
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