Chief
Theresa Spence will continue to forgo solid food, spokesman says
Theresa
Spence, the controversial First Nation chief whose month-long hunger
protest has helped to fan the flames of the Idle No More movement,
will continue to forgo solid food, a spokesman declared Friday.
11
January,, 2013
Spence,
who surprised many when she emerged from her island encampment to
attend a ceremonial meeting with Gov. Gen. David Johnston, left
Rideau Hall early with the sense that the gathering had accomplished
little.
"It
didn't feel too good inside that house ... but we stood up for your
rights," Danny Metatawabin, who speaks for Spence, told gathered
First Nations chiefs as he described the meeting as "a show, a
picture opportunity."
During
Friday's ceremony, a wampum belt — a traditional aboriginal symbol
of diplomacy and partnership — was mishandled, Metatawabin added.
"Sadly,"
he said, "the hunger strike continues."
Spence,
chief of the troubled Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario,
has been on a liquids-only diet for the past month, camped out on
Victoria Island in the Ottawa River, in hopes of securing a meeting
with Johnston and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
A
group of First Nations leaders did indeed meet with Harper on Friday
for several hours prior to the chiefs descending on Rideau Hall to
meet with Johnston. But Spence wants to meet both men at the same
time.
When
she joined her fellow chiefs at a downtown Ottawa hotel, Spence
looked frail and tired, and walked gingerly with the help of several
handlers.
At
one point, she stood briefly in a room full of chiefs, wearing a
headdress, to be feted by a group of aboriginal drummers. Her health
is diminished, Metatawabin said.
"She's
tired, she's weak. She's weakening. Got cramps in her stomach. We're
all praying for her," he said.
"The
body's stressed right now because of all the commotion of today."
Johnston
offered Spence a "special welcome" and said he wanted "to
say how concerned I am about your health and that of Raymond Robinson
and Jean Sock." Robinson and Sock are two aboriginals who are
also staging hunger protests.
"My
deepest wish is for the well-being of all Canadians, and for dialogue
to always take place in a safe and healthy manner," said
Johnston, in prepared remarks released Friday night by Rideau Hall.
The meeting wrapped up shortly after 9 p.m. ET, a spokesperson said.
Robinson
said he approached Johnston "man to man" and urged him to
have an open dialogue with Harper in order to forge a relationship
with First Nations that's truly "nation to nation."
"I
am not going to quit," he said. "The hunger strike
continues."
Aboriginal
Affairs Minister John Duncan and several of Spence's fellow chiefs
were among those publicly urging her to end her protest, saying her
health is in danger and she accomplished what she set out to do.
"I
had a personal friend who went on a hunger strike years ago, and it
did great detriment to his health," Duncan said.
"I
have been very much wanting to have a conversation with Theresa
Spence, I've offered multiple times, and I expressed concern again
today; there were many people in the room who expressed major
concern."
Harvey
Yesno, Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which also includes
Attawapiskat, said it's up to Spence whether she wants to continue
her protest. But her reserve needs a leader, he noted.
"We're
concerned about that, if she carries on," Yesno said in an
interview. "That's probably the most important thing."
Stan
Louttit, grand chief of the Mushkegowuk Council, told CBC he's urging
Spence to call a halt to her protest.
"I
... told her, 'Look, you've made your point. You've won this victory.
You've made Canadians aware .... You have done good for your
people.'"
But
Louttit said Spence is still holding out for a meeting with both
Harper and the Governor General at the same time. "That's the
bottom line."
Earlier
Friday, a sprawling crowd of protesters swirled outside the Prime
Minister's Office in the shadow of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill
as Friday's controversial meeting between Harper and First Nations
leaders got underway.
There
were similar, smaller demonstrations across the country, including a
rail blockade in Nova Scotia.
A
crowd of about 3,000 people, according to police estimates, gathered
outside the sandstone building known as Langevin Block where the
meetings were taking place, chanting, drumming and waving makeshift
banners.
Many
then crossed Wellington Street and rallied in front of the Centre
Block, brandishing flags and chanting along with the rhythmic beat of
skin drums.
A
sporadic cold drizzle fell all morning and into the afternoon,
failing to dampen the spirits of protesters, even if it did leave
some of the feathered headdresses in the crowd looking a little
bedraggled.
The
demonstrators began their march on Victoria Island, a nearby outcrop
in the Ottawa River where Spence has been camped out. They returned
to the island later in the day.
Aboriginal
people now have an opportunity to hold the government to account for
years of broken promises, Spence said before the rally began. "This
meeting's been overdue for so many years."
Supporters
of the Idle No More movement were also showing strength in numbers
during protests in other parts of the country as well.
In
Edmonton, Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca-Chipewyan First Nation
joined a gathering of several hundred people, where he warned of
imminent economic disruption if steps aren't taken to rescind the
Conservative government's controversial omnibus legislation.
"Highway
63 to the oilsands will be shut down. That will happen and I
guarantee this," warned Adam, whose reserve is near the
oilsands. "I fear for the worst if the prime minister doesn't
retract some of the bills that were passed."
More
than a dozen people blocked a Canadian National rail line between
Halifax and Truro by placing wooden pallets and a car on the track in
Truro. Via Rail said it took 53 passengers to Truro from Halifax by
bus.
A
noisy crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators also showed their support
for First Nations in front of the convention centre in downtown
Montreal.
Young
people, union representatives and provincial politicians were in the
group. Some waved Mohawk and Quebec flags and danced to the beat of
native drums.
In
Toronto, a few hundred gathered in Toronto's Dundas Square, drumming
and chanting.
Stephanie
Hashie, a member of the Ginoogaming First Nation who lives in
Toronto, said she was there to celebrate her culture.
"It
means our future," she said of the Idle No More movement. "It
means what's going to happen. We're not standing idle no more. We're
not going to stand around and just let things happen."
Spence,
who has come under fire over a leaked audit report that found fault
with bookkeeping practices in Attawapiskat, also spoke for the first
time about how her Ontario reserve spends government money. She said
most of what flows to the isolated James Bay community actually gets
spent outside the community.
The
money, she said, goes towards supplies and to pay contractors,
consultants, lawyers — and to taxes.
"Most
of the funding that we have, it goes back to you, to taxpayers,"
she said.
A
government-ordered audit, leaked earlier this week, concluded there
was little documentation to back up Attawapiskat's spending.
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