Tanya's at it again

'Globe and Mail' columnist Tanya Talaga was once again on about how hard-done-by the Indigenous are.  Never mind that she's half Polish and raised in downtown Toronto, Talaga nevertheless has gone full native about how they should be "economic equals" in this country.

How can that happen, Tanya, when Indigenous funding comes from the Canadian taxpayer -- no strings attached?  Last year, we handed over $32 billion for a total population of 1.8 million.  That's our money, so how can you be major players and partners when it's our money?

"Indigenous tokenism doesn't cut it any more.  That's not partnership, it's dominance with a smile," she wrote.  Well, don't take the money and then you can be full partners.  We all know that won't be happening.  Ever.  

And you know who's standing in the way of resource development?  You know who's blocking oil and gas extraction -- the revenues from which fund the entire country?  The Indigenous.  "If Canada and its governments want to put their elbows up against the United States, they won't be able to do it alone.  They will need the more than 600 First Nations (make that 1,200 when you add in the hereditary chiefs) that can be found from coast to coast to buy in," she says.

Does anyone actually think 1,200 chiefs will ever agree on anything?  Fat chance.  

She goes on about the terrible living conditions on reserves, neglecting to mention that she's never lived on one herself, but, you know....she knows....  She also neglects to mention the high life enjoyed by the chiefs, while their people sh-t in buckets and live in tarpaper shacks.

"Indigenous knowledge is indispensable for caring for Mother Earth and in making sure the next seven generations know this land, the animals, the water," she writes.  In downtown Toronto, the only animals you'll encounter are racoons.  Here's what great stewards of the land have accomplished:

Your average "pristine" reserve.

Stoney Nakoda reserve, just down the road.

Where's the money, Tanya?  Just ask Charmaine Stick, of the Onion Lake Reserve, about how open the chiefs are to financial accountability.  They shut her down, forcing her to appeal to the courts.  They issued an order to open the books, but the chiefs defied it and nothing happened.  Still closed to scrutiny.

Bob Joseph, Indigenous author of '21 Things you May not Know About the Indian Act and 21 Things You May Not Know About Indigenous Self-Government' said, "It's time to have a serious conversation about colonization and oppression (those old saws again) and work in earnest on an Indigenous-led dismantling of the Indian."

Hello, Bob, the Indian Act is how the money flows.  And how will you get 1,200 chiefs to agree on anything -- especially if it threatens the money tree?  You won't.

I wrote an email to Talaga yesterday and attached the above pictures.  She didn't reply because they put the lie to her claims about pristine reserves.  Well, of course she didn't.

So there you have it.  Groundhog day on the Indigenous file.