I watched a video about the health of Lake Winnipeg on cbc.ca recently because I was wondering about the causes in the rise of phospherous levels. According to the documentary, the hydro damns are the reason for the rise in the levels of algea blooms, not solely run-off from the hog farms as it seemed to be portrayed in the media. Lake Winnipegs water level flucuates in the spring naterally, which has a big effect on the lake through the marshs. The marshs act as the kidneys to the lake, and with the damn stabalizing the water levels, the plant life in them are not germanating in the spring. This also affects the wildlife, they ducks have left the marshs since the damns were built in the 70s. The damns also keep the algea blooms locked into the lake and not releasing them down the river stream and into the Arctic Ocean. Lake Winnipeg is reported to be at levels Lake Erie was at when it was declared a dead lake. The fish population is expected to crash soon, as the lake dies from the bottom up. This viseo is available to view on cbc's website.
I read in the paper yesterday(WPG SUNeditorial), a Manitoba Hydro employee defending his employer saying that MB Hydro does not control the damns, specifically Fairford Damn.
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Old Poem
Growing up my parents gave me everything, and encouraged me to pursue my dreams.
I saw the world, played in all leagues on some of the best teams.
I was a spoiled kid; there was no limit to the things for me that they did.
But they hid the trauma of residential schools, and how they had been affected
To succeed, they gave me all the tools, the wrongs of their past, corrected
For years others I have protected, my own happiness I neglected.
I made my own living, determined to succeed, I was driven
I was going to be a champion and the soul of a warrior, knew no give in,
But my career was cut short, body and mind hard ridden
Now in my own life, I still can’t get things right,
I want to come home to a wife, I don’t want to fight.
I want a girl that is all mine, although it feels like I’m chasing a dream I will never find.
I feel like I am not good enough, I never knew life after hockey would be so tough.
Problems arise, I just force a smile and say things are ok, head out the door and get on with the day.
Where am I going, I have no direction.
I thought things would be different, we had a good connection.
She better not play any fucken games,
I will fuck right off, she'll be another failed relationship memory, lost in a list of names.
Thinking I can’t wait till this schooling is done, and give my career one more run.
I can live alone; I don’t want to resort to fighting with her and bring pain.
I need to figure things out; this isn’t what I dreamed my life would be about.
I feel like a prisoner, trying to break a cycle,
Trying to move forward, and not feel like a fucken psycho.
Conservative gov't cut $127 million from FN reserve housing since '08
APTN National NewsOTTAWA–The Conservative government has cut $127 million from First Nations reserve housing since 2008, the Liberals charged in the House of Commons Tuesday.
Toronto Liberal MP and Aboriginal affairs critic Carolyn Bennett said the latest government numbers show that money invested for First Nations reserve housing is hundreds of millions of dollars below 2008 levels.
“How can the minister defend that yesterday’s budget cuts funding to Aboriginal housing by $127 million below budget 2008, before the(Economic Action Plan),” said Bennett, referring to the government’s stimulus program. “Where is the concerted action?รข€
Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan appeared to have been caught off guard by the question and had no specific response.
“Our government is building on its impressive record in major investments and unprecedented collaboration with Aboriginals to increase educational outcomes for First Nations children and to address priority areas such as water and waste water infrastructure,” said Duncan.
Former Liberal leader and Quebec Liberal MP Stephane Dion then discarded his planned question and pounced on Duncan, demanding an answer.
“Could the minister respond to the question?” said Dion.
Duncan simply repeated some of the highlights in the budget, including funding to help First Nations bands manage reserve lands, deal with the division of on-reserve assets following divorces or deaths, and investments to complete the last leg of the Dempster Highway in the Northwest Territories.
“It got good reviews from the national Aboriginal leaders and that’s good for Canadians,” said Duncan.
Duncan’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the Liberal’s claim.
Bennett said in a separate interview that the cut is based on Public Accounts numbers from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for spending on-reserve housing.
The numbers showed that CMHC spent $282.325 million in 2008-2009, and $156.340 million in 2011-2012.
Bennett said the spending may have gone up during the government’s Economic Action Plan stimulus spending, but the latest numbers show that on-reserve housing has been hit with a cut.
She said it was surprising Duncan couldn’t respond to the claim.
“He has to defend what he thinks is more important than housing on-reserve and why money got stolen from there and moved somewhere else,” said Bennett. “I hope they understand that we are serious and if he can explain it, great.”
Toronto Liberal MP and Aboriginal affairs critic Carolyn Bennett said the latest government numbers show that money invested for First Nations reserve housing is hundreds of millions of dollars below 2008 levels.
“How can the minister defend that yesterday’s budget cuts funding to Aboriginal housing by $127 million below budget 2008, before the(Economic Action Plan),” said Bennett, referring to the government’s stimulus program. “Where is the concerted action?รข€
Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan appeared to have been caught off guard by the question and had no specific response.
“Our government is building on its impressive record in major investments and unprecedented collaboration with Aboriginals to increase educational outcomes for First Nations children and to address priority areas such as water and waste water infrastructure,” said Duncan.
Former Liberal leader and Quebec Liberal MP Stephane Dion then discarded his planned question and pounced on Duncan, demanding an answer.
“Could the minister respond to the question?” said Dion.
Duncan simply repeated some of the highlights in the budget, including funding to help First Nations bands manage reserve lands, deal with the division of on-reserve assets following divorces or deaths, and investments to complete the last leg of the Dempster Highway in the Northwest Territories.
“It got good reviews from the national Aboriginal leaders and that’s good for Canadians,” said Duncan.
Duncan’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the Liberal’s claim.
Bennett said in a separate interview that the cut is based on Public Accounts numbers from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for spending on-reserve housing.
The numbers showed that CMHC spent $282.325 million in 2008-2009, and $156.340 million in 2011-2012.
Bennett said the spending may have gone up during the government’s Economic Action Plan stimulus spending, but the latest numbers show that on-reserve housing has been hit with a cut.
She said it was surprising Duncan couldn’t respond to the claim.
“He has to defend what he thinks is more important than housing on-reserve and why money got stolen from there and moved somewhere else,” said Bennett. “I hope they understand that we are serious and if he can explain it, great.”
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Treaties from 1760 - 1923: Two sides to the story
Between 1760 and 1923, the British Crown signed 56 land treaties with Aboriginal Peoples. Part of the protocol was to award a medal to the chiefs who signed certain treaties. On one side of the medal was a bust of Queen Victoria; on the other, a British officer and a native chief shaking hands.
For Michael Anderson, this handshake symbolizes the profound meaning of historic treaties. Anderson is research director of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, an organization that defends the political interests of the some 30 groups that signed treaties 4, 5, 6 and 10.
For the British Crown, the treaties offered substantial benefits, such as:
These historical treaties cover present-day Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and parts of Yukon and British Columbia.
Were the treaties signed on equal terms? Reports of the negotiations, recorded in the treaty commissioners’ diaries, would suggest not. The oral tradition, maintained by aboriginal elders, also shows discrepancies between the treaty texts and the verbal content of negotiations.
In essence, the surrender of land rights was based on the concept of private property — an incomprehensible notion in aboriginal culture.
The treaties were negotiated in a matter of days, in English, with interpreters who were not always equal to the task. They were signed by aboriginal chiefs who generally could not read English and who had not been advised by anyone. Often, the negotiation process did not respect the community’s hierarchical structure.
On several occasions, aboriginals indicated that they wanted to continue hunting and fishing. The English negotiators led them to believe they would be able to do so. In reality, the treaty texts only allowed them to hunt on lands that were not occupied by white settlers, and also included regulations that could prohibit these activities during certain periods of the year.
To make themselves understood, the British used a language very different from that used in the treaty texts. Queen Victoria was referred to as “the great white mother,” and the aboriginals, her “red children.”
Take, for example, this speech by commissioner David Laird, who negotiated Treaty 7 with the Blackfoot:
The land has been developed since the treaties were brought into effect. Some of it has been turned into immense wheat fields. The subsurface is rich in oil, uranium, copper, gold and diamonds that are lining the pockets of oil and mining companies. Forests feed the lumber and pulp and paper industries.
The First Nations who live in these areas maintain that their ancestors would never have surrendered their rights to the land and its resources. They continue to hope that the dialogue started at the time of the original negotiations will be continued.
Once again, the Supreme Court can play an important role. Two judgments rendered in 2004 (Haida and Taku River Tlingit) ruled that the government must consult with Aboriginal Peoples when their ancestral rights could be undermined by development, and must accommodate them, if applicable. These ancestral rights are tied to the practices, traditions and customs of aboriginal societies before contact with the Europeans.
For Michael Anderson, the research director of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, this duty imposed by the Court is a means to renew the tie established between the Crown and Aboriginal Peoples at the time the treaties were signed: “We see the duty to consult as a central mechanism to operationalize the treaty relationship in the 21st century.”
The notion of a tie of trust is at the heart of the strategy titled Sacred Treaties, Sacred Trust: Working Together for Treaty Implementation and Advancing our Sovereignty as Nations, adopted in 2010 by Canada’s Assembly of First Nations.
This strategy seeks to support treaty signatories and their efforts to have their rights recognized. Planned measures include setting up an independent tribunal and developing mechanisms to share resource development revenues.
For Michael Anderson, this handshake symbolizes the profound meaning of historic treaties. Anderson is research director of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, an organization that defends the political interests of the some 30 groups that signed treaties 4, 5, 6 and 10.
"The essence of the treaty was to create a nation together that will exist in perpetuity, for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the waters flow. The core concept is to share the traditional land of the First Nations who have entered into a treaty with the Crown and the Canadian settlers, and also to benefit from the Crown’s resources, such as medicine and education."But the text of the written treaties tells a whole other story. According to these documents, native groups surrendered all of their rights to the land in exchange for small reserves and meagre compensation.
For the British Crown, the treaties offered substantial benefits, such as:
- freeing up land for loyalists who had supported the British during the American War of Independence;
- advancing colonization in the west;
- providing agricultural land and natural and mineral resources.
These historical treaties cover present-day Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and parts of Yukon and British Columbia.
From oral to written treaties
Were the treaties signed on equal terms? Reports of the negotiations, recorded in the treaty commissioners’ diaries, would suggest not. The oral tradition, maintained by aboriginal elders, also shows discrepancies between the treaty texts and the verbal content of negotiations.
In essence, the surrender of land rights was based on the concept of private property — an incomprehensible notion in aboriginal culture.
The treaties were negotiated in a matter of days, in English, with interpreters who were not always equal to the task. They were signed by aboriginal chiefs who generally could not read English and who had not been advised by anyone. Often, the negotiation process did not respect the community’s hierarchical structure.
On several occasions, aboriginals indicated that they wanted to continue hunting and fishing. The English negotiators led them to believe they would be able to do so. In reality, the treaty texts only allowed them to hunt on lands that were not occupied by white settlers, and also included regulations that could prohibit these activities during certain periods of the year.
To make themselves understood, the British used a language very different from that used in the treaty texts. Queen Victoria was referred to as “the great white mother,” and the aboriginals, her “red children.”
Take, for example, this speech by commissioner David Laird, who negotiated Treaty 7 with the Blackfoot:
The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized the need to interpret the treaties in light of what was said before they were signed. “The treaties, as written documents, recorded an agreement that had already been reached orally and they did not always record the full extent of the oral agreement,” reads the Badger judgment, handed down in 1996. This judgment states that it is necessary to interpret treaties “in the sense that they would naturally have been understood by the Indians at the time of the signing.”"The Great Spirit has made all things—the sun, the moon, and the stars, the earth, the forest, and the swift running rivers. It is by the Great White Spirit that the Queen rules over this great country and other great countries. The Great Spirit has made the white man and the red man brothers, and we should take each other by the hand. The Great Mother loves all her children, white man and red man alike; she wishes to do them all good."
From then to now
The land has been developed since the treaties were brought into effect. Some of it has been turned into immense wheat fields. The subsurface is rich in oil, uranium, copper, gold and diamonds that are lining the pockets of oil and mining companies. Forests feed the lumber and pulp and paper industries.
The First Nations who live in these areas maintain that their ancestors would never have surrendered their rights to the land and its resources. They continue to hope that the dialogue started at the time of the original negotiations will be continued.
Once again, the Supreme Court can play an important role. Two judgments rendered in 2004 (Haida and Taku River Tlingit) ruled that the government must consult with Aboriginal Peoples when their ancestral rights could be undermined by development, and must accommodate them, if applicable. These ancestral rights are tied to the practices, traditions and customs of aboriginal societies before contact with the Europeans.
For Michael Anderson, the research director of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, this duty imposed by the Court is a means to renew the tie established between the Crown and Aboriginal Peoples at the time the treaties were signed: “We see the duty to consult as a central mechanism to operationalize the treaty relationship in the 21st century.”
The notion of a tie of trust is at the heart of the strategy titled Sacred Treaties, Sacred Trust: Working Together for Treaty Implementation and Advancing our Sovereignty as Nations, adopted in 2010 by Canada’s Assembly of First Nations.
This strategy seeks to support treaty signatories and their efforts to have their rights recognized. Planned measures include setting up an independent tribunal and developing mechanisms to share resource development revenues.
By Isabelle Montpetit, CBC News
Posted: May 26, 2011
All you hear about is the Jets in Manitoba, only WPG Free Press wrter Bartley Kives acknowledged the problem recently.
A five-year study of Lake Winnipeg sows phosphorus levels are approaching dangerous levels for human health.
Dr. Peter Leavitt’s study of Lake Winnipeg, commissioned by the province, establishes a clear benchmark for restoring the health of the lake, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger said, promising action on preserving the lake.
In an interview, Leavitt said phosphorous levels in the lake must be reduced by 50 per cent. "If nothing's done then you have the potential of having algae that are toxic within the lake, not potentially toxic. There's human health risks associated with liver disease and even potential for cancer in some instances.
"Phosphorous levels in the lake are now worse than they were in Lake Erie when people were describing that lake as dead," said Leavitt, Canada Research chair in environmental change and society, department of biology, University of Regina.
"We’re at a tipping point and if something isn’t done now, the consequences will be dire," he predicted.
Increased phosphorous levels are entering the lake from livestock farming, pollution from cities and through wetland loss.
"It’s the challenge of the next decade," said Dr. David Schindler, Killam professor of ecology, department of biological sciences, University of Alberta.
"Large reductions in phosphorus loading are necessary to save Lake Winnipeg and for Manitoba’s sustainable development," said Dr. Hank Venema, director of the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Water Innovation Centre.
"Like potash, phosphorus is an increasingly scarce and strategic resource essential to world food security, which should be intercepted, recycled and transformed into high-value products rather than allowed to foul Lake Winnipeg," said Venema.
"We all have a part to play if we’re going to stop the death of Lake Winnipeg; the stakes are just too high," said Selinger.
Dr. Peter Leavitt’s study of Lake Winnipeg, commissioned by the province, establishes a clear benchmark for restoring the health of the lake, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger said, promising action on preserving the lake.
In an interview, Leavitt said phosphorous levels in the lake must be reduced by 50 per cent. "If nothing's done then you have the potential of having algae that are toxic within the lake, not potentially toxic. There's human health risks associated with liver disease and even potential for cancer in some instances.
"Phosphorous levels in the lake are now worse than they were in Lake Erie when people were describing that lake as dead," said Leavitt, Canada Research chair in environmental change and society, department of biology, University of Regina.
"We’re at a tipping point and if something isn’t done now, the consequences will be dire," he predicted.
Increased phosphorous levels are entering the lake from livestock farming, pollution from cities and through wetland loss.
"It’s the challenge of the next decade," said Dr. David Schindler, Killam professor of ecology, department of biological sciences, University of Alberta.
"Large reductions in phosphorus loading are necessary to save Lake Winnipeg and for Manitoba’s sustainable development," said Dr. Hank Venema, director of the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Water Innovation Centre.
"Like potash, phosphorus is an increasingly scarce and strategic resource essential to world food security, which should be intercepted, recycled and transformed into high-value products rather than allowed to foul Lake Winnipeg," said Venema.
"We all have a part to play if we’re going to stop the death of Lake Winnipeg; the stakes are just too high," said Selinger.
Monday, 30 May 2011
Monday, 23 May 2011
Hockey Fighting Thoughts
It was a tough job, dealing with the pressure, worrying about getting beat up in front of thousands of people, your friends and family, & representing my people. I started to smoke weed to deal with the pressure, and the pain. Now there is no doubt in my mind the carcinogens from the THC will have effects on my health in the future. I am thankful I never began to abuse prescription pain pills with alcohol, and use steriods to get an edge on my competition. I been in over 300 hockey fights, took more than ten thousand punches to the head over the course of sparring, boxing, in my ten plus years of fighting. I take comfort in living a clean lifestyle now, eating a good diet which includes oatmeal, flax seed, and a fish oil pill every morning. Also the fact that I am stimulating my brain in school, which is like exercise. Most of all, I take comfort in the teaching that sage keeps the brain young. I smudge with it often.
I read that a hockey player was dismissed of assault charges from a fight at a bar because of his previous concussion history. It was a hard thing to deal with the fact that the hockey/ fighting career comes to an end. I had dreams unfulfilled, and it left me angry to not reach them in my first couple years of being back from playing. I tried chasing past glory and go out with a bang in Ice Warriors in Finland, I felt fine when I got there, ready to rumble, until I saw the draw. I had to go through the two favorites to get to the final. Sean McMorrow and Derek Parker. I had a mental breakdown before the tourny started, beatdown with self-doubt. I later came to rationalize, in talking to another fighter, that it wasn't a weakness that that happened. It was my bodies way of protecting itself, a strength. A way of telling me I had enough.
I feel like I got out of fighting early, I look on a website and see the number of fights others who are still competing are putting up, and its numbers that make me think. Joel Theriault, 300, Mike Brault, 500, Jacques Dube, 400. Did I get out too early and will regret not pursueing my dream later in life. Or will I see friends and others I have fought suffering the effects later in life, hear tradgic stories about early deaths, brain damage, and so on.
I read that a hockey player was dismissed of assault charges from a fight at a bar because of his previous concussion history. It was a hard thing to deal with the fact that the hockey/ fighting career comes to an end. I had dreams unfulfilled, and it left me angry to not reach them in my first couple years of being back from playing. I tried chasing past glory and go out with a bang in Ice Warriors in Finland, I felt fine when I got there, ready to rumble, until I saw the draw. I had to go through the two favorites to get to the final. Sean McMorrow and Derek Parker. I had a mental breakdown before the tourny started, beatdown with self-doubt. I later came to rationalize, in talking to another fighter, that it wasn't a weakness that that happened. It was my bodies way of protecting itself, a strength. A way of telling me I had enough.
I feel like I got out of fighting early, I look on a website and see the number of fights others who are still competing are putting up, and its numbers that make me think. Joel Theriault, 300, Mike Brault, 500, Jacques Dube, 400. Did I get out too early and will regret not pursueing my dream later in life. Or will I see friends and others I have fought suffering the effects later in life, hear tradgic stories about early deaths, brain damage, and so on.
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