Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 27, 1989, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press february 1989 Page Ake locks out the first nations by Vic Savino special to the free press when considering the Meech Lake aboriginal Peoples cannot ignore their recent history in Deal ing with governments on constitutional in the provinces got together without Quebec and Cut a Deal in the Kitchen of an Ottawa restau part of that Deal was to remove the treaty and aboriginal rights clause from the cons Titu the so called gang of seven did not want aboriginal people in the it also appeared that they did not care whether Quebec was in or aboriginal people mobilized and after the biggest Battle that they have Ever faced in this Canada was shamed into reinstating the treaty and aboriginal rights this remained to be elaborated on in future constitutional unfinished business when the Mulroney government was the prime minister had two pieces of unfinished constitutional business on his the constitutional conferences which were supposed to elaborate upon those treaty and aboriginal rights in Section 35 of the Constitution act d Quebec isolation and nonparticipation in the new the requisite first ministers meetings were held with aboriginal in these constitutional con aboriginal Peoples tabled excellent proposals which would have finally brought first nations into with premiers of provincial governments collaborated and constitutional proposals of aboriginal Peoples were the terminology was too it was the provinces wanted Clear Legal definitions of such concepts As in 1987 the required process of first minis ters conferences on aboriginal issues came to an aboriginal Peoples were excluded from within a matter of a few weeks the same first ministers emerged from Meech Lake with a modern Day unanimous agree ment on a constitutional Accord that was even vaguer and had less Legal definition than anything aboriginal Peoples had Ever related events these events Are not the Meech Lake Accord once again excludes aboriginal Peoples from the constitutional process and denies their rightful place in con treaty and aboriginal rights remain undefined and the self government aspirations of aboriginal Peoples Are still untre As far As Meech lakes Basic premise is aboriginal Peoples have no neither Quebec nor the aboriginal Peoples should have been excluded As they were in the initiative to bring Quebec Back in is the problem at what Cost and who pays the Price aboriginal Peoples can con clude that the Cost is High and that they will pay in first and aboriginal Peoples Are once again left when preparations for Meech Lake the future of Canadas aboriginal Peoples is threatened by the Meech Lake Accord which win require some major were going the prime minister was asked to open the door to aboriginal participation in the pro Brian Mulroney slammed that door saying nothing in the Meech Lake Accord would Bear directly on aboriginal any analysis of the Accord itself reveals substantial direct negative impacts on aboriginal not to men Tion the indirect impacts that will become More apparent in How does Meech Lake leave aboriginal Peoples out in Many there is no guarantee that the Agenda item of aboriginal rights will Ever again be Back on the constitutional the Accord Calls for annual first minis ters meetings without any men Tion of participation of aboriginal Peoples to Deal with the fisheries and other the painful irony is at the same time As aboriginal rights Are left off the constitutional one of the issues most directly impacting upon aboriginal namely is constitutionally entrenched on the the Dif Ference is that it is those Kitchen premiers and the prime minister who Are going to carve up the fisheries pie without the participation of the original owners and still primary users of those the aboriginal Peoples of Meech Lake Calls for two first ministers meetings every one to Deal with the the other to Deal with the items on the Meech Lake aboriginal Peoples Are not on that they Are left does anyone really believe that the premiers Are going to agree to have future meet Ings on treaty and aboriginal rights not Likely not unless it is required by the it is not so required and it is widely perceived that this omission was there Are Many other ways in which Meech Lake leaves aboriginal Peoples out of the future constitutional for the requirement that All 10 provinces must agree to the admission of a new this inevitably will forever relegate the aboriginal peo Ples of the North West territories and Yukon to perpetual colonial there is no Way that the gang of three Western provinces or any other group of premiers is going to unanimously agree to a native it must be stressed that this is a major departure from Canadas constitutional this province was created As a native province in negotiations Between the Federal government and the residents of this there was no requirement that the original part ners to confederation in 1867 had to agree to the creation of another Way in which aboriginal Peoples Are left out of the Constitution through Meech Lake is the non recognition of the original Peoples As a fundamental characteristic of Canadian aboriginal Peoples have no prob Lem in recognizing that Quebec is a distinct they Why do All premiers have a problem in recognizing the first nations As distinct societies and including them in the Constitution of equal importance is the ques Tion of aboriginal que Bec argues that it needs special Powers to protect the French Lan which is said to be under being surrounded by English speaking North what then of Canadas aboriginal languages Are they not in even More jeopardy than the French Lan Guage the survival of these languages should be fundamental to our the first founding peo Ples of this country Are the first it would be a terrible tragedy if these languages were allowed to Wither and they Are a proud part of our heritage and should be Given constitutional recognition and the decentralization of Federal Powers is clearly inherent in Meech associated with that of is the right of provinces to opt out of future National pro As far As social programs Are provincial governments have always taken the position that indians Are a Federal aboriginal Peoples have grave fears about what is going to happen to them in provinces that wont share in National programs or have opted these fears Are More than justified when one considers what is happening to aboriginal Peoples in where the Feder Al government refuses to provide services to them in areas where Quebec has already opted changed method the change in the method of appointment of senators and supreme court judges also causes aboriginal Peoples to believe that they Are being left the North West territories and the Yukon Are not included among the govern ments which can submit names for appointments to the Senate or the supreme unless there Are there May never be senators or supreme court justices from the predominantly native populations of the this stands in Sharp contrast to other Commonwealth jurisdictions such As Australia and new Zea land who ensure aboriginal representation in the National govern ment by providing for certain seats to be filled by elections among their aboriginal Why should our country upper House represent Only the provinces Why Are our politicians afraid to provide for aboriginal representation in the Halls of National government Meech Lake seriously threatens the future of aboriginal it is a bad primarily because it leaves them completely out of the process but also be cause of the very serious negative consequences that it will have on their future As it May be that Meech Lake can be repaired by amendments but it is probably fair to say that Meech Lake will never enjoy the support of first nations in its present that is tragic because the first nations have a lot to offer Meech Lake would relegate them to the sidelines and As self respecting they simply should not be expected to accept Vic a Winnipeg has represented various native or the views expressed Here Are his some items for a constitutional Agenda the annual constitutional con Ference Agenda Mist include a re Newal of the constitutional process to define treaty and aboriginal rights and to provide for first tons d admission of new provinces should be Between the Federal government and the territory in ques Tion As it always has the document must contain a recognition of the distinctiveness of first nations and their rights to provi Sion must be made to preserve and enhance aboriginal d there must be a Clear state ment that decentralization of the Federal spending Power and the opting out clause will not Impact negatively on aboriginal commune d there must be a process for first nations to put toward names for Senate and supreme court appoint better we should be moving to an elected with aboriginal Peoples being involved in the discussions with a View to develop ing a form of aboriginal representation not just provincial representation in our the amending formula for Senate Reform should be the original 1982 amending for seven provinces with 50 per cent or More of the Popula d aboriginal participation should be required in All constitutional matters affecting aboriginal peo Ples and must be specifically mentioned in the fisheries and the Senate Reform items on the Meech Lake constitutional these reforms can be achieved without compromising the interests of now May be the time for Quebec and the aboriginal Peoples to get together on constitutional the interests of both since been inextricably without Quebec there can be no constitutional re form to give effect to the Hopes and aspirations of Canadas first a Quebec and the first nations share a lot of they both have been excluded from the con they share the objective of protecting and enhancing their heritage languages and interests and aspirations have in both cases been repressed by the Vic Savino in women rights Are fight for survival by Robert Stone special to the free press it is no secret that Indian society has traditionally favored males Over beginning at birth the differences Are pro if a boy comes into the lamps Are horns Are people dance and the midwife gets a big no such fanfare greets a girl and the midwife mutters apolo Gies As she slips quietly As the least revered person in the the female child moves through defining herself first As someones then As someones she is Likely to always be last in line for health education and even this neglect is reflected in the infant mortality rate much higher among girls than life is considerably lower for women than for a phenomenon that has skewed the Indian sex unlike almost any other place in the world where the opposite is True there Are More men in India than women 24 million most Indian families feel they must have at least one male heirs carry on the family perform certain unique rituals and provide for parents in their old girls on the other hand Are seen As liabilities and families with Many daughters feel their girls must be fed and looked after As they Are growing up and become a crushing expense when they for in the mainstream of Indian i when a girl leaves her own family to join that of her she brings with her known As marriage for millions of Indian families with daughters is a dreaded financial Bur a cause of debt and debt bondage and a contributor to As Western style consumerism sweeps the a unique Indian the dowry is on the once the sole property of the providing her with some future Securi the dowry has become the Domain of the brides unable to satisfy continuing demands for dowry a a More Cash increasingly under mysterious almost cases of dowry murder were recorded last almost every newspapers carry stories of desperate trapped in miserable lives by greedy who have chosen to end it All by pouring cooking Gas Over themselves and lighting a so pervasive is the prejudice against women that in the parched villages of Rajasthan and other backward pockets of the Many girls live Only a few to or strangled As soon As their sex is a Survey of a dozen villages near the Border with Pakistan found Only 50 girls out of a total population of the practice seems to Span All classes of a Case currently before the Rajasth an High court charges the family of a ruling party legislator with female now an advanced medical technique and this ancient Bias against females have combined to skew India population statistics even indians from All walks of life have begun using a medical procedure called amniocentesis for sex determination in order to abort female first introduced by the All India Institute of medical sciences As a Means of determining genetic disorders in amnio Cen can also reveal the sex of the unborn amniotic fluid is extracted from the uterus of the pregnant a Chromo Sone analysis reveals the sex of the private clinics offering amniocentesis have sprung up across the they advertise the economic advantage of having sons with slogans like better 500 rupees now than in some Rural amniotic fluid is sent in ice packs through courier services for analysis in larger marginal farm families Are paying 25 per cent compound interest on Loans to gain Access to the the phenomenon has created a profound quandary for women organizations unlike in the where opposition from conservative religious groups has made abortion an emotional political hindu ism presents no moral objections to the in such an overpopulated women groups support the idea of abortion As a Means of birth it is readily available and almost but the selective abortion of females is another a dozen women organizations recently United under the the forum against sex determination and sex calling sex determination a Frankenstein they have launched a Campaign to outlaw private amniocentesis clinics their statistics Are in a Survey of aborted fetuses in the group found that less than one per cent were that City alone has 16 private laboratories conducting tests a the group claims that Indian women Are becoming an endangered but their efforts face a hard India lives simultaneously in several Cen less than a Quarter of its women Are child marriages As Young As eight years Are in Rural girls at puberty leap from childhood to motherhood without Benefit of the development that normally takes place in court convictions in cases of crimes against women Are less than five per the women movement in India is largely restricted to the wealthy and educated daughters of the upper some women groups Here Are As progressive and enlightened As any found in the the difference is that the struggle for women rights in India is a struggle for survive doonesbury by Garry Trudeau things 6otta heft hat a skip a Pough show Viz zonked a1yoniy workin6 out up found someone w if cant Trust 6 ;