National chief supports civil disobedience over Attawapiskat

While tensions continue to grow between the federal government and the First Nations community of Attawapiskat, National Chief for the Assembly of First Nations Shawn Atleo says civil disobedience is one form of action that could be used to draw attention to the current crisis.

In an interview with CBC Radio's The House, National Chief Shawn Atleo tells host Evan Solomon that "remote-control decisions, unilaterally imposed decisions," like imposing a third-party manager on the community of Attawapiskat, are not the answer.

A number of chiefs have told Atleo "we need to use every tool that is available to us."

Atleo acknowledges that civil disobedience "certainly has been one of the tools" he has used in the past, specifically when trying to bring attention to the plight of his own community on the west coast of British Columbia.

"Attawapiskat is not the only one" under a third-party manager, said Atleo.

"Again this is about decisions made by remote control, by individuals who have no deep-vested interest in these communities — they're operating from cities elsewhere or Ottawa, for that matter."

Part of the challenge in this crisis is getting past the blame game, and according to Atleo there's only one of two ways to do that: "it's hard or harder."

"Are we going to work separately and have it harder, or are we going to get on with the hard work of working to reconcile our respective jurisdictions," said Atleo.

Feds aware of Attawapiskat crisis for years

The federal department responsible for First Nations has known about the worsening living conditions at Attawapiskat for years, says former Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl.

In an interview with CBC Radio's The House, Strahl tells host Evan Solomon the crisis at Attawapiskat "has been a slow moving train-wreck for a long time."

However, the current Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development John Duncan said this week that officials in his department were unaware of Attawapiskat's housing problems until Oct. 28, despite having visited the community several times in the past year.

But Strahl, who retired from politics earlier this year, paints a different picture.

"It was not good when I was there, and I don't think it's appreciably, or any better now. That was well known, everybody knew it was a very difficult community for a bunch of reasons."

Attawapiskat "was always a problem," said Strahl.

The federal government put the community of Attawapiskat in Northern Ontario under third-party management, and ordered an audit to find out how federal funds have been spent in the commmunity of about 1,800.

The government says it has given Attawapiskat roughly $90 million since 2006. However, documents from the department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada show Attawapiskat only received $4.3 million in funding for housing since 2006.

"Sad to say that in some of these communities, because some of the other needs are equal or greater than housing, that's how difficult it is, and arguably every one of them is a crisis," said Strahl.

Greg Rickford, Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, told The House the government's decision earlier in the week to place the Attawapiskat First Nations under third-party management is the "most reasonable and responsible way to move forward."

"We have a legal basis for proceeding with third-party management given the pressing health and safety issues," he said. "Over the medium term, any funds from the department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development will necessarily involve our role in any final decisions with respect to those resources."

Band Chief Theresa Spence has objected to what she says is the government's focus on money and blaming band members for living conditions.

"I guess as First Nations, when we do ask for assistance and make a lot of noise, we get penalized for it, so to put us in third-party [management] while we're in crisis, is a very shameful disgrace from the government," she told CBC's Tom Parry.

"They should be focusing on the crisis that we're going through, not blaming anybody. I'm very disappointed and discouraged and I'm sure the other First Nations are going to be discouraged. If they have problems in their communities and if they ask assistance and you have to go to the media, they're going to get penalized like we are right now," Spence said.

Rickford said neither side should be assigning blame.

"I think we both have a shared desire and a shared responsibility to work through this," he said.