Yukon leaders miffed by Fontaine's residential school comment

Friday, May 23, 2008 10:13 AM ET
Comments81
CBC News

Some Yukon First Nations leaders are upset after Phil Fontaine dismissed their concerns about a rise in the number of deaths of residential school survivors after receiving compensation from Ottawa.

As many as two dozen funerals for former students have taken place across the territory in recent months after the survivors collected thousands of dollars from the federal government.
Some leaders are linking the two, saying compensation compounded with recollection of their painful experiences in residential schools has caused some survivors to turn to drugs and alcohol.
But the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, who helped pen the settlement agreement that resulted in more than $27 million in compensation cheques to survivors in the Yukon since September, disagreed.

"It would be, in my view, wrong to suggest that the residential school settlement agreement [is] somehow directly responsible for the number of deaths in the Yukon," he said in an earlier interview with the CBC.
Fontaine commented that he didn't believe the deaths were directly linked to compensation payouts, but rather part of a larger tragedy of addiction and suicides among aboriginal Canadians.

Those comments have since come under fire from Yukon aboriginal leaders who accuse the assembly's national chief of not being in touch with the community.
"Maybe the national chief should put his finger a little closer to the pulse of the people that he represents," said Darius Elias, a Liberal MLA for the most remote and northern community of Vuntut Gwitchin.
"When self-governing First Nations chiefs in the Yukon say that there's a link and a problem there's a problem and we should get together and do something about it."

Elias added that he's not seeking to lay blame, but to start a discussion about the problems in hopes of solving the issue.
Fontaine's message has since shifted, with the promise to visit the Yukon and listen to the concerns of the First Nations communities.
He added, however, that the "legal and a moral obligation" to provide support for survivors lies with Health Canada.

uit de reacties:
Disappointed wrote:
Posted 2008/05/23
at 2:50 PM ET

It is sad that we are in the 21st century and the ignorance around Aboriginal issues still exists. am an Aboriginal woman who has a job, pays taxes, lives on a reserve, owns a house – that we paid for – we do understand what a mortgage is. I was raised by my grandparents, one who spent 12 years in a residential school. I became angered when reading the comments, more than the article. We are not crying for compensation for the compensation, we are calling out the continuous ignorance and disregard for the effects of the Residential school. and our entire history I guess those that make their racist comments could heal years of abuse with a cash settlement….too bad us “whining Indians” are deeper than that. You want to know what happened and why people are hurt and why the Aboriginal community is sick with addiction and poverty. Our land was taken, our children were taken, our resources were taken, and we were placed on reserves where we were only permitted to leave if an Indian agent gave us a day past. It was law to take the children and if parents resisted they were taken to jail. Children were kept from age 6 – 18 some for 12 months of the year. They were mentally, physically and sexually abused, used as slave labour, not permitted to talk their language, not permitted to talk to the opposite sex or older or younger siblings. Some had 12 years in the system and could only read at a grade three level. You want to know why the Aboriginals are in the state they are today? Look at the history of this land and its original people and educate us “whining Indians” how our societies can instantly recover from the devastation our people faced throughout history. Tell us how the effects of sexual, mental and physical abuse can be ignored and healed instantly. Tell us how we are to care for our children when no one cared for us in residential schools. You highly educated people that had such brilliant things to say in your comments…share your wisdom with us.