The chief of northern Ontario’s Attawapiskat reserve is holed up inside a teepee on a small island in Ottawa near Parliament Hill, subsisting on lemon water and fish broth since Dec. 11 as part of a stunt to force Prime Minister Stephen Harper or Gov. Gen. David Johnston to meet with her over her concerns with the Conservative government’s relationship with First Nations and the omnibus Bill C-45. To his considerable credit, Johnston very quickly made it clear it is a political matter, and as the Queen’s representative, he wouldn’t be talking with Spence.
It’s fair to say that many other Canadians have concerns about First Nations and the Tories’ unwieldy Bill C-45, but only Spence — and a few others who are now fasting in her support — is taking such extreme measures and trying to link her state of health to the prime minister’s actions.
Apart from Spence’s inexcusable blackmailing of the prime minister, it’s evident she’s unreasonable. Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan has expressed a willingness to meet with Spence, but he has been rebuffed. Surely, a personal meeting with the senior member of cabinet tasked with managing the Crown’s relationship with First Nations would have been a good place for Spence to start.
But what must be made clear is that the prime minister of Canada can’t be compelled to respond to the threats of protesters, whether they number in the single digits or the thousands.
It’s time for Spence to fold up her tent and stop behaving so badly.
Calgary Herald
