Hardly united

Cindy Woodhouse

"To Canada: We are coming for you."  Those were the first words the newly-elected chief of the Assembly of First Nations uttered when she was finally confirmed as leader in the middle of the night after six ballots, numerous procedural battles, resolutions and omnibus motions.

Yep, that's Cindy Woodhouse magnanimously calling for "unity" in the face of the fractious process that saw her elected.  Never mind the evident disunity among the chiefs, there won't be any unity with Canada either.  I mean, how can you achieve consensus when you have to deal with 634 chiefs and 900,000 people?  That's why they were on the verge of a seventh vote, when David Pratt finally caved and withdrew.

Chief Woodhouse, you will remember, was part of the gang that wrestled a $40 billion settlement around the class action suit over racial discrimination in child welfare.  This "Battle of the Cindy's" pitted her against Cindy Blackstock, head of the First Nations Family and Caring Society, who wanted even more money.

Tanya Talaga weighed in this morning, as predicted, calling for Woodhouse to summon the backbone to, "Look the Crown and Canada in the eye, refuse to give an inch on treaty rights and reject bills such as C-53 that would extend treaty rights to a community that had appropriated First Nations history, i.e., the Métis.  But wait, Tanya, aren't you a Métis yourself?  Aren't you half Polish?  Ah, but never mind those annoying details.

So, with the long history of unruly and unmanageable infighting among the AFN, don't look for unity any time soon.  Look instead for more lawsuits for more money.  If she doesn't get enough, I predict she be unceremoniously dumped in the tradition of poor, old RoseAnne Archibald.  

p.s.  Why does Woodhouse dye her hair blonde?  Natives all have black hair, so why does she not want to identify as one?  Makes no sense.  Illogical.