Idle No More

[El Bastardo]

A while back I asked another member on Revscene just what the Idle No More movement was. From the best I could surmise it was something involving aboriginals in Canada protesting against Stephen Harper.

I'm not aware of any legislation that Harper had created to cause such ire but the movement continues and it appears that some lady is on a hunger strike because she wants to meet Stephen Harper.

Today I see that there are bridges and borders being blocked and that a ferry in Victoria is also being blocked as a result of this movement.

I can see a lot of people kicking a lot of dirt up about "rights being violated" but even after reading a bunch of articles on the issue I still don't fully understand it. Is this an #Occupy movement? Is the Native community going to demand Harper be removed from office despite his official apology for residential schools and a promise to update the Indian act? How will CharlesInCharge insist that this is somehow a Jewish conspiracy?

Can someone answer any or all of these questions? I think this warrants discussion.

[belka]

Theresa Spence is on a hunger strike, in protest to omnibus bill C45, which really doesn't do much on the Indian Act except cut out red tape should a Band want to lease to outside interests....something that has mired any development for years. DeBeers has entered into contracts with Attiwapiskat to the tune of around $40M, but it took years to broker.

She's on a hunger strike, yet is documented as drinking medicinal teas, fish and moose broth. ( No docs could be found that she's drinking boost)....so in fact, she's on a diet?....there are a lot of people who do what she's doing at this time of the year...it's called cleansing.....but ok. At the rate she's going, the so-called "hunger strike" could last for years.........and yet some people are calling her a modern day Ghandi?

Ms. Spence conveniently went on her protest at a time when she was in the centre of a growing controversy over where her band has spent millions in transfer payments since 2006. Which as of Dec 2012 amounted to $131,000,000.00 for a community of 1549. Her own people were afraid to speak out to the press, fearing repercussions. After viewing her bands financials as they have been reported for the last 6 years, I can safely say that if this were a Municipality, someone would be charged under the Municipal Act.

Hunger Strike = Misdirection. The fact that so many other bleeding hearts buy it hook line and sinker is a sad commentary on the state of peoples awareness. There's definitely a lot of mismanagement going on in Attiwapiskat. Just before they declared the housing crisis they shipped in a brand new Zamboni for their brand new arena. Let's not even get into the fact that she appointed her common law husband as Band Manager.........nepotism at it's finest......but just a wee bit of conflict of interest. I wonder what he drives?

So many of her band mates are living 3 families to a construction trailer, or in shacks that are tarped....and she's driving an Escalade.....

Fact checking a hunger strike - Ezra Levant

Too many first nations people live in a dream palace - The Globe and Mail

[SoulCrusher]

In before CharlesInCharge.
Posted via RS Mobile

[MindBomber]

El Bastardo,

If you've not read this article, you may find it heightens your understanding somewhat; an excerpt:

The letters decry a total lack of progress on problems Mr. Harper promised in January to address: education, comprehensive claims, treaty implementation, economic development and fiscal arrangements.

“There has been a loss of momentum and sense of frustration [that] is being felt by the First Nation leadership,” Mr. Atleo writes in the three-page letter to the Prime Minister.

“This is exacerbated by the federal government’s broader legislative agenda, which has the potential for harmful impacts on First Nations, including changes to environmental regulation, fisheries and criminal justice.”

First nations chief Shawn Atleo vents frustrations at Stephen Harper - The Globe and Mail

[TypeRNammer]

When I crossed earlier in the afternoon to Blaine, I saw the protest but they weren't being disruptive.

American border patrol and local Blaine police kept a close eye on them though.

[GabAlmighty]

Bahahahahahaha at everything.

[El Bastardo]

I also read this:

9 questions about Idle No More - Canada - CBC News

Which contradicts some other things I've read on Twitter and in blog postings.


I may not like that hippie Harper either but until they're sure about what they want, I can't say I support the Idle No More movement.

[MindBomber]

Well written article, worthwhile reading.

Prime Minister Harper is apparently scratching his head about where $90 million in federal funding to Attawapiskat has gone. There is much talk about lack of accountability, and no one knowing what happened to the money.

Let’s start with some simple math.

First, $90 million is a deceptive number. It refers to federal funding received since Harper’s government came into power in 2006. In the 2010-2011 fiscal year, Attawapiskat received $17.6 million in federal funds (PDF). The document linked to shows the breakdown of federal funds in case you wanted to know how much is allocated to things like medical transportation, education, maternal health care and so on.

Thus, $90 million refers to the total; the average is about $18 million per year in federal funding since 2006.

[As an aside, you will often see the figure of $34 or $35 million in funding given to Attawapiskat on a yearly basis. This refers to total revenues. As noted, federal funding was $17.6 million, and provincial funding was $4.4 million. The community brings in about $12 million of its own revenue, as shown here. So no, the 'government' is not giving Attawapiskat $34 million a year.]

Okay fine, but where did it go?

Attawapiskat publishes its financial statements going back to 2005. If you want to know where the money was spent, you can look in the audited financial reports. This document (PDF) for example provides a breakdown of all program funding.

Just getting to this stage alone proves the falsehood of the claim that there is no accountability and no one knows where the money goes.

But $90 million could have built the community 360 brand new houses!

Assuming, as Grand Chief Stan Louttit of the Mushkegowyk Council has stated, that a new house costs $250,000 to build in Attawapiskat (with half of that being transportation costs), then yes, 360 new units could have been provided by $90 million.

However, this money was not just earmarked for the construction of new homes.

An important fact that many commentators forget (or are unaware of) is that section 91(24) of the Constitution Act of 1867 gives the Federal Crown exclusive powers over “Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians.”

You see, for non-natives, the provinces are in charge of funding things like education, health-care, social services and so on. For example, the Province of Ontario allocated $10,730 in education funding per non-native pupil in the 2010-2011 fiscal year. For most First Nations, particularly those on reserve, the federal government through INAC is responsible for providing funds for native education.

How is this relevant?

It helps explain why the entire $90 million was not allocated to the construction of new houses. That $90 million includes funding for things like:

education per pupil
education infrastructure (maintenan$ce, repair, teacher salaries, etc)
health-care per patient
health-care, infrastruc$ture (clinics, staff, access to services outside the community in the absence of facilities on reserve)
social services (facilitie$s, staff, etc)
infrastruc$ture (maintenan$ce and constructi$on)
a myriad of other services
These costs are often not taken into account when attempting to compare a First Nation reserve to a non-native municipality. In fact, many people forget that their own health-care and education are heavily subsidized by tax dollars as well.

What’s the point here?

How much money was actually allocated to housing in 2010-2011? Page 2 of Schedule A (PDF) shows us that out of the $17.6 million in federal funds, only $2 million was provided for housing. Yes, even $2 million would be enough to 8 brand new homes, if those funds were not also used to maintain and repair existing homes. The specific breakdown of how that money was spent is found in Schedule I.

Now, I admit I am confused about something:

According to figures providing by Aboriginal Affairs, the Attawapiskat Cree band has received just over $3 million in funds specifically for housing and a further $2.8 million in infrastructure money since 2006.
That is actually less than I estimated it would be, going by the 2010-2011 figures. I estimated $10 million for housing, but INAC (now Aboriginal Affairs) is saying it was $5.8 million.

Anyway, that isn’t too important. The point is, if INAC is correct, only $5.8 million has gone towards housing for Attawapiskat. At most that could have built the community 23 new houses, if Attawapiskat had merely let the older houses go without any repairs or maintenance for 5 years. Letting existing homes go to pieces in a remote and harsh environment is not a great strategy, however.

The point here is, $90 million sounds like a huge amount, but the real figures allocated to housing are much, much smaller.

Fine, they got $5.8 million for housing, surely that is enough?

Again, assuming 23 new homes were built, and all older homes were left without maintenance and repairs, and the people in charge of housing worked for free and there were no other costs associated with administering the housing program, Attawapiskat would still be experiencing a housing crisis.

It is estimated that $84 million is needed for housing alone to meet Attawapiskat’s housing needs (you’ll find those figures in a small table on the right, titled “Attawapiskat by the numbers”).

The Feds are just handing that money over and the Band does whatever it wants with it!

Many people seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that First Nations have self-governance and run themselves freely. This is far from the truth, but given that most Canadians are familiar with the municipal model, the confusion is actually understandable. It isn’t as though Canada does a very good job of teaching people about the Indian Act.

Section 61(1)(a-k) of the Indian Act declares that: “With the consent of the council of a band, the Minister may authorize and direct the expenditure of capital moneys of the band” for various purposes.

What this means is that Ministerial approval is actually a requirement before any capital expenditures can occur on reserve. In practice, a Band will generally pass a Band Council Resolution (BCR) authorising a certain expenditure (say on housing), and that BCR must be forwarded to INAC for approval.

That’s right. Most First Nations have to get permission before they can spend money. That is the opposite of ‘doing whatever they want’ with the money. Bands are micromanaged to an extent unseen in nearly any other context that does not involve a minor or someone who lacks capacity due to mental disability.

Any claims that INAC has no control over what Bands spend their money on is false.

I would hope by now you’d ask the following question:

If INAC has to approve spending, why is Harper so confused?

There is a tendency to believe that our government officials do things in a way that makes sense. This, despite the fact that most of us don’t actually believe this to be true. We want to believe. I know I do.

So upon learning that the federal government is the one in charge of providing services to First Nations that are provided to non-natives by the province, we might assume that the provision of these services are administered in a comparable manner.

Not so. And it actually makes sense why not, when you think about it for a moment. Have you ever seen a federal hospital, for example? No, because hospitals are built, maintained, and staffed by the provinces. Thus, when a First Nations person needs to access health-care, they cannot access federal infrastructure. They must access provincial infrastructure and have the feds rather than the province pick up the tab.

If only it were as easy as federal funding via provincial structures.

The Auditor General of Canada speaks up.

The Auditor General of Canada released a report in June of this year examining Programs for First Nations on Reserve. A similar report was published in 2006. This report identifies deficiencies in program planning and delivery by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), Health Canada, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

The reports also provide a number of recommendations to improve these deficiencies. The 2011 report evaluated the progress made since the 2006 report, and in most areas, gave these federal agencies a failing grade.

Don’t worry, there is a point to this, stay with me.

The 2011 report has this to say:

In our view, many of the problems facing First Nations go deeper than the existing programs’ lack of efficiency and effectiveness. We believe that structural impediments severely limit the delivery of public services to First Nations communities and hinder improvements in living conditions on reserves. We have identified four such impediments:

lack of clarity about service levels,
lack of a legislative base,
lack of an appropriate funding mechanism, and
lack of organizations to support local service delivery.
I know this is going to look like mumbo jumbo at first, so let me break it down a little for you. This will help explain why millions of dollars of funding is not enough to actually improve the living conditions of First Nations people, particularly those on reserve.

Lack of clarity about service levels

As explained earlier the federal government is in charge of delivering services that are otherwise provided by the provinces to non-natives. The Auditor General states:

“It is not always evident whether the federal government is committed to providing services on reserves of the same range and quality as those provided to other communities across Canada.”
Shockingly, the federal government does not always have clear program objectives, nor does it necessarily identify specific roles and responsibilities for program delivery, and has not established measures for evaluating performance in order to determine if outcome are actually met.

That’s right. The federal government is not keeping track of what it does, how it does it, or whether what it is doing works. The Auditor General recommends the federal government fix this, pronto. How can a community rely on these services if the federal government itself isn’t even clear on what it is providing and whether the programs are working?

Lack of a legislative base

“Provincial legislation provides a basis of clarity for services delivered by provinces. A legislative base for programs specifies respective roles and responsibilities, eligibility, and other program elements. It constitutes an unambiguous commitment by government to deliver those services. The result is that accountability and funding are better defined.”
The provinces all have some sort of Education Act that clearly lays out the roles and responsibilities of education authorities, as well as mechanisms of evaluation. There is generally no comparable federal legislation for the provision of First Nations education, health-care, housing and so on.

As noted by the AG, legislation provides clarity and accountability. Without it, decision can be made on an ill-defined ‘policy’ basis or on a completely ad hoc basis.

Lack of an appropriate funding mechanism

The AG focuses on a few areas here.

Lack of service standards for one. Were you aware that provincial building codes do not apply on reserve? Some provincial laws of ‘general application’ (like Highway Traffic Acts) can apply on reserve, but building codes do not. There is a federal National Building Code, but enforcement and inspection has been a major problem. This has been listed as one of the factors in why homes built on reserve do not have a similar ‘life’ to those built off reserve.

Poor timing for provision of funds is another key issue. “Most contribution agreements must be renewed yearly. In previous audits, we found that the funds may not be available until several months into the period to be funded.” This is particularly problematic for housing as “money often doesn’t arrive until late summer, past the peak construction period, so projects get delayed and their costs rise.”

Lack of accountability.

“It is often unclear who is accountable to First Nations members for achieving improved outcomes or specific levels of services. First Nations often cite a lack of federal funding as the main reason for inadequate services. For its part, INAC maintains that the federal government funds services to First Nations but is not responsible for the delivery or provision of these services.”
The AG also refers to a heavy reporting burden put on First Nations, and notes that the endless paperwork often is completely ignored anyway by federal agencies.

Lack of organisations to support local service delivery

This refers once again to the fact that there are no federal school or health boards, no federal infrastructure and expertise. Some programs are delivered through provincial structures, while others are provided directly by the federal government, with less than stellar results.

As the Auditor General states, “Change is needed if meaning full progress is to be realised”. There is extreme lack of clarity about what the federal government is doing, why, how, and whether it is at all effective. No wonder Harper is confused.

Tired yet? Just a few more points.

The Chief of Attawapiskat made $71,000 last year while her people live in tents!

Apparently we are supposed to be outraged at the excess involved here. This of course follows on the heels of a report by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation about ‘jaw-dropping’ reserve salaries. It’s become fashionable to rant about chiefs making more than premiers (though no one could make that claim here).

Attawapiskat publishes its salaries, travel expenses and honorariums (again, nothing being hidden). Chief Theresa Spence was paid $69,575 in salary and honorariums in 2010-2011, and had $1,798 in travel expenses for a total of about $71K.

If you are like most people, you don’t spend a lot of time looking at what public employees actually make. What number wouldn’t shock you in the absence of such context? $50,000? $32,000? I suspect any amount would be offered as some sort of proof that…something’s not right.

Well okay. Why don’t we take a look at some other salaries? Ontario Premier McGuinty made $209,000 in 2010, and apparently over 100 public service executives made more than he did.

It is difficult to do a really accurate comparison of salaries, because Ontario’s Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act (doc) of 1996 only requires that salaries over $100,000 be reported. (In addition, if the salaries are reported elsewhere, they are not necessarily included in this report) However, the annual reports are a fantastic resource. Here is the list of various public sector employees making over $100,000 a year. I offer this merely in order to ask…were you aware these people were making this amount of money?

I sure wasn’t. These are salaries paid by tax dollars too. I have no idea if the Director of Quality Services for the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation should be paid $147,437.58 a year (sorry to single you out, sir, I chose randomly). If this corporation were in the news and having financial difficulties, I have no doubt this salary would be brought up as somehow relevant…but is it?

I don’t know. That’s the point. I don’t think the people bringing it up know either. I haven’t been able to find a source listing the salaries of mayors of municipalities in Ontario to compare to Chief Spence’s salary. Then again, I doubt anyone would seriously claim that if she worked for free, the housing crisis in Attawakpiskat would be over.

A good comment was sent to me recently on the issue of salaries that I’d like to share. “Whenever one is talking about the salaries of say a [premier or a] prime minister versus someone else, two things: 1) parliamentarians get very good pensions and for a relatively short time of service; 2) more particularly, a post like the prime ministership or the presidency of the United States opens up all kinds of doors for later life. So even if the salary is $200,000, the person is virtually guaranteed a very comfortably post-office life. Counsel in a big law firm. Paid corporate director. University professor. Etc. etc. I don’t think we imagine that the Barrick Gold Corporations of the world will be banging down the door of a past chief of Attawapiskat in a comparable way.”

I wonder what kind of pension Chief Spence can count on?

The more you know…

I’m sure I’m forgetting some of the common accusations and arguments being made about Attawapiskat on various forums and comment sections of online news articles. I might update if necessary to address them, but I think you now have at least a base to begin with, whether you honestly just want to understand the situation a little better, or want to fight those comment battles.

How Ottawa spent $90 million at Attawapiskat | Full Comment | National Post

[Ronin]

Seems like more Occupy bullshit to me.

Seriously, she's been on hunger strike for three weeks and hasn't lost a pound? Gandhi damn near died. This lady is just bullshitting us.

[Ronin]

WAIT...

Looking through the financials, they own shares of Enbridge, which I believe is the corp bringing that pipeline through BC?

...and they're complaining about pipelines?

They're also bigger Apple shareholders than I am.

[flagella]

Pretty good article on G&M

Too many first nations people live in a dream palace - The Globe and Mail

[Manic!]

Does anyone know whats in bill c-45? The thing is 400 pages long. How the hell has time to read all that.

[Recon604]

what have natives done for this country anyways?

[dinosaur]

[KingDeeCee]

Originally Posted by El Bastardo

A while back I asked another member on Revscene just what the Idle No More movement was. From the best I could surmise it was something involving aboriginals in Canada protesting against Stephen Harper.

I'm not aware of any legislation that Harper had created to cause such ire but the movement continues and it appears that some lady is on a hunger strike because she wants to meet Stephen Harper.

Today I see that there are bridges and borders being blocked and that a ferry in Victoria is also being blocked as a result of this movement.

I can see a lot of people kicking a lot of dirt up about "rights being violated" but even after reading a bunch of articles on the issue I still don't fully understand it. Is this an #Occupy movement? Is the Native community going to demand Harper be removed from office despite his official apology for residential schools and a promise to update the Indian act? How will CharlesInCharge insist that this is somehow a Jewish conspiracy?

Can someone answer any or all of these questions? I think this warrants discussion.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by Recon604

what have natives done for this country anyways?

Find it. Give the white people maple syrup do they didn't die and killed Nazi's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnvh66A1Wvc

But really what a dumb post you made.

[dinosaur]

And just to add to Manic's post:

Thousands Volunteer - Veterans Affairs Canada

Two Decades Later - Veterans Affairs Canada

Veterans Return - Veterans Affairs Canada

The Canadian Contribution - Veterans Affairs Canada

Aboriginal Contributions to the War of 1812

[theevilslave]

I smh at Chief Spence. And CBC just reporting half the story in their articles, clearly sticking to their own agendas rather than the truth.

Playing with propaganda, that's what they are.

[Recon604]

Originally Posted by Manic!

Find it. Give the white people maple syrup do they didn't die and killed Nazi's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnvh66A1Wvc

But really what a dumb post you made.

You're right I did make a dumb post.

I wanted to say is that what have they done for the Country to where it is at now? All I can see is that they just keep wanting more $$ from the gov because we took their land.

Sure, they are part of Canada's history, but the history is constantly changing so they got to LET GO.

This is total out of whack.

In 2006, Aboriginal people in Canada - First Nations, Métis and Inuit - surpassed the one-million mark, reaching 1,172,790. A lot of them don't live in Native reserves. With population increase and what not, let's say 1,200,000 for 2012.
File Not Found | Fichier non trouvé

In 2011, Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development had a yearly budget of 7.4 BILLION dollars.
http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/13...6/1315184508951

That's about $6168 per person per year spent on top of all the regular stuff a Canadian citizen gets. (plus extra benefits Aboriginal person is entitled to)

Just what is being done with this money?

[El Bastardo]

This is why I started this thread. Revscene has thousands of members and most of us have no idea wtf is going on. This thread has almost two dozen posts and we're still confused.

Part of the reason I didn't support the #Occupy movement is because the objective was unclear beyond people just yelling 'RICH BAD! RICH BAD!'

This right here is the #Occupy movement in a single (and local) news clip

CTV News at 6: Mi-Jung Lee gets confronted by an Occupy Vancouver idiot - YouTube

"We're mad at the establishment but we're too lazy to try to get elected to enact change from within. Yelling at news cameras and choking public areas out with our masses is much easier"

[MindBomber]

Originally Posted by Ronin

Seems like more Occupy bullshit to me.

Seriously, she's been on hunger strike for three weeks and hasn't lost a pound? Gandhi damn near died. This lady is just bullshitting us.

Ghandi had spent the prior two years in prison, essentially on starvation diet during that time. The condition of Ghandi and Spence's body entering the hunger strike make your comparison irrelevant. I've also not seen a news report featuring Spence stepping on scale daily, so your thesis that she's not lost a pound is also irrelevant since its indefensible.

Originally Posted by Ronin

WAIT...

Looking through the financials, they own shares of Enbridge, which I believe is the corp bringing that pipeline through BC?

...and they're complaining about pipelines?

They're also bigger Apple shareholders than I am.

I've looked through the financials, but must have missed the one including the details of a stock portfolio. Regardless, I don't need to see them to correct you.

Attawapiskat is pro-development, the contract they have with De Beers is evidence of that position. It is not at all surprisingly that Attawapiskat invests in development companies, it's consistent with the general position they take on resources. Not all Bands are Pro-Development, and some of them have spoken out against the Enbridge pipeline.

[belka]

Idle no more is a cranky child at dinnertime who declines all offered food and complains they aren't being fed while asking to eat candy instead. They want 'something done' or 'changes' then proceed to shutdown any and all changes that aren't just wheelbarrows of cash then complain that nothing is being done or things never change.

While real nations negotiate trade deals and cooperate to enhance economic development too many native nations are unwilling to do either.

Originally Posted by MindBomber

I've also not seen a news report featuring Spence stepping on scale daily, so your thesis that she's not lost a pound is also irrelevant since its indefensible

Whatever diet she is on, its not working. She is still fat. Could be all that room service she is eating...

Chief Spence heads to hotel “to shower and nap” – Is that where she’s really been staying? « BC Blue: One BC Conservative's view on it all…

[MindBomber]

Originally Posted by Recon604

You're right I did make a dumb post.

I wanted to say is that what have they done for the Country to where it is at now? All I can see is that they just keep wanting more $$ from the gov because we took their land.

Sure, they are part of Canada's history, but the history is constantly changing so they got to LET GO.

This is total out of whack.

In 2006, Aboriginal people in Canada - First Nations, Métis and Inuit - surpassed the one-million mark, reaching 1,172,790. A lot of them don't live in Native reserves. With population increase and what not, let's say 1,200,000 for 2012.
File Not Found | Fichier non trouvé

In 2011, Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development had a yearly budget of 7.4 BILLION dollars.
http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/13...6/1315184508951

That's about $6168 per person per year spent on top of all the regular stuff a Canadian citizen gets. (plus extra benefits Aboriginal person is entitled to)

Just what is being done with this money?

The Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development budget is allocated to cover the cost of health care, education, social services, infrastructure, and I believe ongoing legal costs involved with treaty negotiations.

The Indian Act defines an Aboriginal person as a ward of the Federal Government, and thus, costs related to social expenses normally covered at the Provincial level are shifted to the budget you cite. The $6168 average per person does not contribute to a slush fund, it covers elementary, highschool, and post-secondary education (where applicable), health care costs, including clinic and hospitals visits, social services, and yes, a limited measure of funds to cover the cost of housing. The funds are not for special and dedicated to reparations, rather they are little different than those received by ordinary Canadians except allocated through a different agency. Just to elaborate further - Aboriginal people are required to pay taxes under all but select circumstances. Aboriginal people are only tax exempt if employed on land held by a Reserve; I'm not positive, but under certain circumstances, ordinary Canadians would receive the same exemption employed on a reserve.

Aboriginal people also are not merely seeking ongoing payments from the Federal Government. Tsawwassen is a good local example, they've volunteered to relinquish any special funding, and taking it as step further, begin paying the Federal Government taxes on revenue generated on the reserve.

Originally Posted by belka

Whatever diet she is on, its not working. She is still fat. Could be all that room service she is eating...

Chief Spence heads to hotel “to shower and nap” – Is that where she’s really been staying? « BC Blue: One BC Conservative's view on it all…

Spence does look to have lost weight, but she was quite ample when the protest began, so its to be expected that she wouldn't be thin after only 25 days.

Spence has not been secretive about trips to shower, and anything other accusation is conjecture.

Spence isn't Ghandi, she's not too hard off given the showers and moose broth, but she's also not compared herself to any other protester or exaggerated her own duress.

[subordinate]

When I first heard of "Idle no more", I assumed that it was something about drivers reducing/eliminating idling.

Lol.

From what I can interpret, this "Idle No More" protest was about the new proposed Bill as people have mentioned. And why it relates to Theresa Spence? She wanted to use her past fame/notoriety to bring more light to the proposed Bill.

And it wouldn't be surprising if she wants to be bring more support for more funding for Attawapiskat. Those financials....the administration/employee payables are definitely up there. The sad fact is, none of us will actually know what most of those band members actually do. For all we know, they could be shuffling papers and being paid 50,000.

And the administration fees on some of those programs...Jesus.

TL DR:

1. Idle No More: Started by a group of 4 concerned about the proposed Bill (Infringing on their rights and abilities to say no)
2. Day after the first call to action protest, Theresa Spence joins in with her crazy antics of Starvation.
3. Theresa Spence's fame of Attawapiskat drastically overshadows the main "Idle No More" protest. i.e//funding, housing crisis, mismanagement.
4. >20,000 facebook likes and protestors don't have no fucken clue what they are protesting about. i.e// Kony 2012,2013, Occupy, Yolo

What's up with that Band Member being paid just over 120,000. I want to know his responsibilities.

[StylinRed]

ezra levant... really? really? never thought id see anyone remotely reasonable quoting the Ann Coulter of Canada

as for that blog

and she is subsisting on fish soup
as for any other remarks on her hunger strike you could read this first How a hunger strike affects the body - Canada - CBC News