CHIEF SPENCE, IDLE NO MORE & ATTAWAPISKAT

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story "Chief decries audit as a "distraction". The Audit which was written by Deloitte-Touche basically states that there has been a lack of proper documentation relating to spending on the reserve. Interestingly "The audit details an abesence of accounting by the band council and ongoing indifference by federal government departments.". That certainly to me doesn't leave our federal government with clean hands in this whole scenario. Furthermore "The Deloitte audit...catalogues more than $109 million in spending over almost seven years, much of it poorly documented, undocumented, or questionable.".

So if I fully understand this, Prime Minister Harper has released a document completed last summer showing that improper accounting and documentation of millions of dollars of funds to a single reserve has been ongoing for seven years. YET THEY KEPT SENDING MORE MONEY! So just whom exactly are the bad guys here? Our government for neglect and incompetence or a band of natives for saying thank you, spending the money and not documenting their spending properly? Furthermore as serious as this may well be; is it directly relevant to the Idle No More movement and government inaction on past treaties as well as government action on their Omnibus Bill C-45? Is this as Chief Spence has indicated merely a distraction away from the larger issues?

Most intelligent governments learned long ago that shooting of citizens and protesters is bad politics. Even the Chinese government given the opportunity might come up with a better plan next time rather than duplicating the massacre at Tiannemon Square in China. Bribery usually works as does delay. Lying is an art form long perfected by governments world wide of every political stripe. Character assassination, manipulation, false testimony are all tried and true methods for governments wishing to avoid real action. Once in a very long while people get fed up with their lying leaders. Personally I can't imagine spending Christmas in a tent living on soup and liquids. Has Chief Spence and others enjoyed living well prior to this latest escalation of tensions between government and our native population. Probably and yet she is living in a tent, in the winter, in Ottawa. I think my vote has to go to her not Harper and the Conservatives. If there has been any kind of malfeasance regarding funds sent to the band then lay charges and see where it goes. If there hasn't been then our government needs to quit screwing around and honestly address the issues raised.