Idle No More
Idle No More
By: Tessa Lavallee
To: Mr. Kirkpatrick
Date: May 7th
In this 1500 word essay I thought that I would talk about what has been one of the top talks in Canada for the last couple of months, Idle No More. Idle No More is an ongoing protest movement originating among the Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprising the First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples and their non-Aboriginal supporters in Canada, and to a lesser extent, internationally. It has consisted of a number of political actions worldwide, inspired in part by the liquid diet hunger strike of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence and further coordinated via social media. I want to make the people aware of what is happening. I want them to realize what the Aboriginal people are doing to help and how others can also help. |
A reaction to alleged legislative abuses of indigenous treaty rights by the current federal government, the movement takes particular issue with the recent omnibus bill Bill C-45. After the May 2, 2011 Canadian Federal election, the federal government led by Stephen Harper proposed a number of omnibus bills introducing numerous legislative changes. While omnibus bills had been presented to parliament by previous governments, the perceived ideological nature of the changes proposed in Bill C-45 played to fears of a right-wing agenda held by the Conservatives, particularly concerning the removal of the term "absolute surrender" in Section 208, among others. A number of these measures drew fire from environmental and First Nations groups. In particular, Bill C-45 overhauled the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) of 1882, renaming it the Navigation Protection Act (NPA). The NWPA had mandated an extensive approval and consultation process before construction of any kind could take place in or around any water which could in principle be navigated by any kind of floating craft. Under the new NPA, the approval process would only be required for development around one of a
By: Tessa Lavallee
To: Mr. Kirkpatrick
Date: May 7th
In this 1500 word essay I thought that I would talk about what has been one of the top talks in Canada for the last couple of months, Idle No More. Idle No More is an ongoing protest movement originating among the Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprising the First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples and their non-Aboriginal supporters in Canada, and to a lesser extent, internationally. It has consisted of a number of political actions worldwide, inspired in part by the liquid diet hunger strike of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence and further coordinated via social media. I want to make the people aware of what is happening. I want them to realize what the Aboriginal people are doing to help and how others can also help. |
A reaction to alleged legislative abuses of indigenous treaty rights by the current federal government, the movement takes particular issue with the recent omnibus bill Bill C-45. After the May 2, 2011 Canadian Federal election, the federal government led by Stephen Harper proposed a number of omnibus bills introducing numerous legislative changes. While omnibus bills had been presented to parliament by previous governments, the perceived ideological nature of the changes proposed in Bill C-45 played to fears of a right-wing agenda held by the Conservatives, particularly concerning the removal of the term "absolute surrender" in Section 208, among others. A number of these measures drew fire from environmental and First Nations groups. In particular, Bill C-45 overhauled the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) of 1882, renaming it the Navigation Protection Act (NPA). The NWPA had mandated an extensive approval and consultation process before construction of any kind could take place in or around any water which could in principle be navigated by any kind of floating craft. Under the new NPA, the approval process would only be required for development around one of a