Martinuk: Money alone won’t solve First Nations’ problems – Calgary Herald

February 27, 2015

Today is the highly anticipated roundtable discussion between Canada’s aboriginal leaders and top-level representatives from provincial, territorial and federal governments.

The primary purpose, ostensibly, is to address the matter of murdered and missing aboriginal women, and implement measures to prevent this ongoing problem. All of this will occur in a seven-hour meeting. Oh, to be a fly on the wall.

Let’s be honest — this meeting will not resolve the murdered/missing women problem. Even Chief Perry Bellegarde, head of the Assembly of First Nations, admitted this week that the meeting is primarily about money. He said that politicians must pay for initiatives to stop the violence against aboriginal women and that the government’s proposed $5 million per year for five years isn’t nearly enough.

Bellegarde also said that aboriginal women have a right to live in an environment that is “healthy, loving and caring.” (In a perfect world, everyone would. But is this a right that is Ottawa’s responsibility to fulfil?)

Read More: http://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/martinuk-money-alone-wont-solve-first-nations-problems