Chief Spence on day 23 of her "hunger strike".
Theresa Spence is the Chief of a G-d forsaken community called Allawapiskat in Northern Ontario. The "First Nations" band living in Allawapiskat total between 1500 and 1800 people. In the last six years the Canadian government (i.e. me, and my fellow tax payers) has given the community $104 million dollars, most of which has not been used to provide aid or assistance to the residents. In addition to the Federal money, the DeBeers Diamond Mining company has provided over 100 jobs and $325 million in contracts to local band business. More than 80% of all of these funds are unaccounted for (more about that later).
In 2011 the band pleaded for help stating that residents were living in abject poverty with inadequate housing, heating, clothing, schools and food. The band was, at the time, "co-managed" (more about that later). The Canadian government, in an effort to improve the lot of the band members, appointed a third party manager to oversee the financial management of the band. And this is where things start to get really interesting. Chief Spence objected to the appointment of the third party administrator and she took the Harper government to court over their imposition of third party management in her community – and won. The courts called the government’s implementing of third party management “unreasonable.”
Fast forward to December 11, 2012 when Chief Spence decided to move her well nourished body together with an entourage of "supporters" and "spokespersons" to an "island" in the Ottawa river (Ottawa being the seat of the Canadian Federal government) to begin a "hunger strike" (more about that later). Said strike to be in force until the Canadian PM Stephen Harper and Governor General David Johnson agree to sit down and meet to discuss her demands for no less than one week.
Returning to the unaccounted for funds,
here are the details of the damming report.
Returning
to the "co-manager" of the band, Clayton Kennedy, who also happens to be Chief Spence's common law husband. He (and she) apparently see no conflict of
interest in his co-management of the band and his relationship with the Chief.
He is quite content to invoice the band $850 a day plus expenses for his
"services". They own two vacation homes in Florida, she drives an
$80,000 Cadillac Escalade, and the band stock portfolio is estimated to be worth
almost $9 million.
Returning
to the “hunger strike” which some newspaper columnists have referred to
variously as a diet/New Years cleansing. Her liquid only “diet” and by liquid
we ain’t just talking water. In true ancestral style, Chief Spence is also
partaking daily of fish broth and moose broth. Both of which would keep an
Olympic athlete fit for months. As one astute columnist noted, Chief Spence’s
“hunger strike” has far outlasted the 21 days that Ghandi never exceeded and
the 26 days it took for the IRA strikers to look like walking skeletons.. And in true
sacrificial mode, Chief Spence has a chauffeured car pick her up from the tepee
every day to drive her to a hotel so she can shower and rest.
In a moment of what can only be explained as Christmas madness, Stephen Harper has agreed to meet with Spence on December 11, 2012.