Reserve Your Comments

Alrighty..bear with me..my technological incompetence has cause me to have to delete this whole damn thing, and begin again.
  So this morning I click into Facebook, as I do every morning, to see what the world has been doing while I slept. Most of the time, it is clearly diddly squat..or nothing of interest. This morning the first post that caught my eye, was about a serious problem with suicide in a remote #Manitoba Reserve. Certainly not the first Reserve with this horrible issue, and sadly, not the last.
  O.K. there it is, out for the rest of this Liberal country to see. This country that apparently has immediate issues with anyone being politically incorrect about refugees. This country that suddenly assumes all homeless have options, and all mentally challenged chose to be out on the streets, and every single mother has the ability to support their children. This country that feels that those who suffer within it, do so because they refuse to access the massive support system sitting there, just waiting for them to show up at the door. Those struggling Canadians, are not a priority..the folks landing from war-torn countries, are somehow more deserving. Honest to goodness, as one who has followed this from the very outset, I am mind boggled. I have been branded racist on more than one occasion, and coldhearted. Two things I really never considered myself to be, but..now I question myself.
  Today the question is ginormous! Why when I read this sad article did I feel compassion for those struggling in #Manitoba? I did..and I still do. I do not feel this same compassion for a refugee, who decided he did not want to live "Bomb-free" in #Winnipeg Manitoba, he wanted to stay in one of 3 places he had Googled. This person was deemed newsworthy, and his complaint was seen all over the country with what appears the expectation of pity, and as insane as it seems, he got pity. However, while this poor fellow and his family sit in a city hotel, kept by our tax dollars, a community of #First Nations is watching their people die, not from bombs, but from lack of #mental health care, and lack of the basics of life.
  First, let me say, I wanted to comment on this post, but, as most of you have realized, when I feel the need to enter into a debate, I need far more room than Facebook allows, so instead this is the forum I have chosen, because, although I do not wish to offend a beloved friend, I cannot let this go.
  My friend's  comments included their belief that because it is a Reserve, these folks do not live in Canada. O.K. lets deal with that..I know there is a whole whack of folks out there, including myself, that feel Reserve are nightmares. There are some Reserves that are beautiful places, but the majority of them are filled with problems. So my friends solution to this, was for those suffering poverty to simply pack up and move..apparently to Canada. Well, Canada is the source of the problem. Saying they don't live in Canada, well..in some respects this is true.
  See, when my children's Great Grandfather left his reserve back in 1944, to go off and fight for Canada, when he came home, imagine his surprise to be told he could NOT live back on the reserve with his wife and children, because..wait for it..."He gave up ALL (and I mean ALL) his rights when he went to fight for a country that was NOT his!!(trust me I have a letter sitting in my desk from Mr. Ghostkeeper stating this as fact) Joining the war effort denied not only him his rights, it removed the rights from his wife and any and all children. So, where did this leave this family in 1945? It left them in no man's land..They were not allowed to be with their extended family, and...obviously they were set adrift in a country they didn't belong to. I don't care who you are, you don't have to think hard to imagine the difficulties this man went through, basically left in limbo. To understand what the government of our country did to First Nations, one has to take some time and research, and while researching, remember..this did not happen 200 years ago, this happened within the lifetime of many still with us.and..they should simply accept, and forget?
  Fine, so those on Reserve do not pay taxes..well..believe it or not, most Reserves do not have a ton of work opportunities, so..even if they did indeed pay taxes, it wouldn't be much,  lets just look at it from a perspective of clumps of land the government designed for populations to live on welfare. Because our country segregated these folks, again, have a read of the Indian Act from 1867, and if you spend a wee bit of time, you can read stuff from 1967 and even later, which continued the segregation (and I know my friend was alive then).
  Those living on the Reserves have been doing so for generations. They were born and raised there, surrounded by all the horrible cycles created by Canada..the country that isn't theirs. The cycles of despair, sexual abuse, alcoholism. If one really takes the time, one can understand, this was a result of what our country committed. So, to say, educate yourself, pack up and leave..how simplistic. It is like saying..put your coat on, go out the door, and forget everyone you hold close. Because, the reserves, horrible as some are,  are families, and if not families, life long friends. So, to save one's self, one is expected to leave everything, to walk into another Country (I suppose exactly like those poor refugees, living off the tax dollar) and get a life!
  I agree, these people need help. They need Mental Health care, they need a government that ensures they are warm, and have food to eat, and water to drink. Why? Because, again.....Our country promised them this!! I don't give a crap about how much money INA claims is spent on reserves, we all freaking know..the Indian Agent is still a fact, even if the name has changed, that money is NOT going to the populations on reserves, and our government knows damn well what is happening! Again, do you trust your government? If so, fine, but I do not. I look outside the box, I look beyond the enormous amounts they claim First Nations are receiving, yes there is something wrong, but is anyone stepping up to fix it? Nope..they like it this way, they like it when discrimination runs rampant, and blame is placed elsewhere..Canada is to blame for it all...and until we accept, and until we force those in power to do what is right, and begin the process of acknowledgement, and make right on the promises made when they wanted something...We have no right in the world to focus on another frigging country, and decide they deserve promises..this is just all so F*cked up!!
  O.K. I know I flit about, bad habit. leads to a lot of wasted typing, but pretty much what I want to say is..the problems on this Reserve, and every single other Reserve, do NOT belong to them, they belong to Canada. This country designed prisons called Reserves, and the results of these mistakes are occurring in massive proportions...and our country is fully responsible for their actions. We cannot allow those we demanded live where our country decided they would live, be punished for our governments actions. We cannot welcome people who have no connection to our land, and give them all they need, while stating those who were here first, paddle their own canoes (after removing their damn paddles). We need to clean up our own yard first!