Prevent the crisis

George Sorger
Hamilton
The Hamilton Spectator
(Oct 15, 2007)

It seems to me the solution to "native occupations" is not to send in the army or police to remove the protesters, but to prevent the crises from occurring in the first place.

The way to do this is:

1) Ensure the provincial government stops issuing licences and permits to build, mine, etc. on native or contested land without the permission of the First Nations concerned. In other words, obey Sections 25 and 35 of our Constitution that state we must abide by the treaties made between the Crown/Government of Canada and the First Nations; and

2) Ensure the federal government resolves outstanding land claims in a timely fashion, before a crisis occurs, leading to the violence that arises from frustration by both natives and non-natives at endless delays and dragging of feet by the federal government.

The media have an obligation here also, to report events in an even-handed fashion, giving both native and non-native versions of events and seeing to it that there is an independent investigation of a violent event before assigning blame to one party.

Most of us don't wish to see a continuation of the present situation that pits natives against non-natives, with opportunistic politicians and the media fanning the flames. This hurts everyone.