Update: Trail of Tears 2006

September 27, 2006


Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth
(Peigan Tribe, Blackfoot Confederacy)
greets you,
from One Warrior to Another ––


The Lonefighter Leader continues his travels from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, collecting Waters from the "scene of the crime" – the places where the criminal invasion of colonization began.

After reaching Salish territory, he will head back to the Oldman River, in his home Peigan Tribe territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy. As described in TOT Bulletins #1 and #2 in particular, the Peigan Tribe recently received a settlement of $64M for loss of culture and way-of-life from the damming up of the Oldman. Even more recently, they were put under Third Party Management, due to outside consultants' swindling money that was earmarked for housing, welfare, and other community needs. INAC approved the flow of these funds for the economic development projects the consultants had promised, and then INAC punished the Peigan with Third Party Management when things went wrong. Milton is demanding a full and fair Public Inquiry into how all this happened.

Milton has reached Thunder Bay, Ontario, where the offices of the Nishawbe Aski Nation (NAN) are located. The NAN is the Political Treaty Organization that represents almost 50 First Nations spread across the north of Ontario region from the Manitoba border to James Bay. For the first few days of this week, the Lonefighter Leader is in meetings with NAN Chiefs and staff. Isolated and fly-in First Nations have particular challenges not faced by other communities. They can be especially vulnerable to Indian Affairs' interference in their internal affairs. Near-north community leaders are interested in the research gathered by the Trail of Tears 2006 about Third Party Management and similar modern-day INAC policies of cultural genocide.

This week Milton is also doing some media work, so you may be hearing more about the Trail of Tears campaign through your radio or TV. Let's hope the word is finally getting out that this policy needs to be examined carefully!

Towards the end of the week, Milton hopes to travel to Grassy Narrows, a small community whose People continue their peaceful campaign to protect the land and all who live on that territory. This community has endured volumes of tragedy and pain as a result of Ottawa's policies and then further as a consequence of their courage about speaking out against these policies. Milton will to pay respects to them on behalf of the Trail of Tears 2006 campaign..

Grassroots reports continue to come in from areas already visited by Milton. People from one community (no names will be used as there are fears of reprisal) experienced Third Party Management for a couple years. All that happened is that the entire community resented the intrusion of INAC. As a protest vote against INAC's heavy handed imposition of federal control, the same bunch of incompetents got re-elected. When INAC left, no skills for better management were left behind, and nothing changed in how the band was being administered by the local leaders. In a couple other communities, it seems that Third Party Management was put in place because of social issues rather than financial ones.

Meanwhile, Canadian taxpayers and voters continue to be hoodwinked into thinking that Third Party Management policy and program is like the Knight in Shining Armour on a White Horse, rescuing the Native Peoples, and helping them have a better life ever after. In fact, what we are learning is exactly what the Canadian government's own Auditor General has said (see our Bulletin #4) – that Third Party Management policy does not ultimately help anyone! This pattern of imposition and then abandonment brings up memory of every broken promise made in every Treaty. More particularly, it brings up memories of the 1920's takeovers of FN governments by the federal government. The difference is that then it was done with RCMP force, with alcohol, at gunpoint.

We will have more to say about all this in our next TOT Bulletins – coming soon to your computer! All our Bulletins are posted on our website: http://trailoftears2006.blogspot.com You can leave your comments on the website. Check it out – at the bottom of the introduction is a place you can click to write in what you are thinking. If you do not want to receive these communications, just email us to say "no thanks." On the other hand, we ask that you pass this message on to anyone who may be interested in Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth's Trail of Tears 2006 Spirit Journey.

Respectfully,
Ann Pohl
Communications Coordinator
Trail of Tears Campaign


***************
Ann Pohl, M.Ed.
Four Directions Communications Bass River, New Brunswick E4T 1H3 (506) 785-2998 annpohl@nb.sympatico.ca
***********************
"By looking at the questions the kids are asking,we learn the scope of what needs to be done." -:- Buffy Sainte-Marie*****************************

Trail of Tears 2006: Atlantic to Pacific Oceans

Trail of Tears 2006: Atlantic to Pacific Oceans

Greetings one and all - welcome to our virtual kitchen table. This is where we can talk about the issues that Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth is raising about modern-day Indian Affairs policies. We want to hear your thoughts about these matters, so share your comments here. Thanks,
Trail of Tears 2006 Communications Team

Bulletin #5

Trail of Tears Campaign
405 Alfred Ave. Winnipeg Manitoba, R2W1X7

What has been learned so far on this Trail of Tears journey?

Report from the “Belly of the Beast”

This report comes from a stopover in central Ontario region, the place where the power of the Canadian establishment is strongest. The Trail of Tears campaign has already collected much information on how Indian Affairs financial management policies affect First Nations Peoples at the grassroots level across this land. We have learned that none of our Nations is isolated in the experience of this ongoing program of indigenous cultural genocide. We just feel that way! THAT is exactly what the Trail of Tears campaign has set out to change!

Mi’kmaq Territory

Creator puts things in front of us, and sometimes it takes a while to see what is being put there.

I came to Mi’kmaq territory to find leaders and elders who would speak to me about how Indian Affairs has implemented Co-Management and Third Party Management in that region. I went to offices and organizations, and came up empty-handed. Along the way, I met a Mi’kmaq youth named Nathan (on a park bench in Halifax). I told Nathan what I was doing, and he spent some considerable energy looking for an Elder to speak with me. Nathan was discouraged and ashamed that he couldn’t find one with the courage to speak on these serious issues. In the end, as APTN news documented, at the Opening Ceremony for the Trail of Tears, where Water was collected from the Atlantic Ocean, this youth Nathan was by my side. I told Nathan, “You are going to be a leader. The Trail of Tears is recognizing you for that.”

In some ways, the situation in Mi’kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy territory is different from the rest of Canada. These Peoples have endured the brunt of colonization for hundreds of years longer than many other First Nations in Canada. They also have a slightly different relationship with the Crown/Canada, as their treaties are much older than those of First Nations in the rest of Canada. Despite the differences, the communities are divided as badly in Mi’kmaq territory as they are everywhere else. Indian Affairs policies ensure this.

As I travelled north and west through Mi’kmaq territory, I did eventually find some people who were willing to speak to me, in confidence. From a large Mi’kmaq community (which is on the edge of Third Party Management as I write this), I met a husband and wife who are seen as Elders by some in their community. They said that sometimes they have to lock themselves into their home because they are afraid for their lives from speaking out against the financial corruption, social chaos and personal suffering in their community. People reported loss of jobs and loss of services, for speaking out. The “auntie” of one youth with whom I spoke worried about the repercussions for her niece, if she got too involved with the Trail of Tears campaign.

Another individual I spoke with was a grassroots community leader who was at the forefront of the recent “fishing wars” campaign for treaty-based economic rights. He stated that the kind of pressures my People are now facing is what led to that frustration erupting around fishing rights in his community. Prior to this escalation, Indian Affairs had full knowledge of the situation between the Haves and the Have Nots in that community. IA did not try to do anything. The majority of the community, the grass roots people, felt abandoned. This direction – of asserting economic rights to fish by direct action – seemed to offer hope, and the majority of the People were famished for hope of any kind.

After it was all over, when the TV cameras were gone and the fishing wars incidents became old news, the grassroots leaders involved at the forefront of that economic rights battle were ostracized. The community went right back under the thumb of IA rule again. This grassroots community leader is very concerned for the children and youth, who have tasted pride and opportunity, and now see everything that was so hard won vanishing. This leader told me that the Trail of Tears has given him and his grassroots community allies a way to see hope again. They see our demand for a public inquiry as another way to deal with these concerns.

The youth in the Mi’kmaq territory bear the burdens. I also had the chance to meet a remarkable young Mi’kmaq woman during my journey. Like Nathan, she is future community leader, I have no doubt. Young women and men like these two are very aware of what is happening in their communities around them. They know what needs to be done, and are looking for the way to do it. The Trail of Tears campaign honours Mi’kmaq youth for their courage and ability to understand that unity is a process that must be undertaken, no matter how difficult.

It is hoped that the light being shed by the Trail of Tears campaign will help the brave youth and apprehensive adults of the Mi’kmaq Nation know they are not alone.

Maliseet Territory

A communication of support for the Trail of Tears was received from some members of the Tobique First Nation. Tobique (TFN) is a community in Maliseet territory, on the western side of what is now known as New Brunswick. It has been riddled by financial mismanagement and corruption issues for a long time. A grassroots opposition has built against enduring any more suffering. They call themselves the “New” TFN (NEWTFN).

A simple glance at the website for NEWTFN shows that the epidemic of malfeasance has spread to Maliseet territory. Indian Affairs’ blind eye to local incompetence, corruption and negligence has been followed by IA takeover of the Band affairs (Co-Management, so far…). To quote from NEWTFN’s informative website:

Officials of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) met with the Chief and Council of the Maliseet Nation at Tobique to discuss issues related to the deplorable financial situation of Tobique on Monday Dec. 5/05. Department officials informed the Chief and Council that the region's Audit and Accountability Committee have completed a review of Tobique's financial situation. As a result of the review, the DIAND at Amherst (regional office) has decided that a "Co-Management Agreement" is required in an attempt "to restore the financial health of the community as quickly as possible". INAC officials further informed the council that a "co-manager" has to be in place by the next few weeks picked by the same Chief and Council who put us in this mess.

In a letter to the council dated Nov. 29,05, John Brown (Regional Director General) informed the council that the Audit and Accountability Committee considered the following issues in making its decision:

• a qualified opinion from your auditor due to the band enterprises not being audited;
• Council's self-administered (RMP) Remedial Management Plan for 2004-2005 realized a deficit of $1,208,833 which increased the cumulative deficit to $15,868,842;
• significant issues respecting capital projects and child maintenance programs;
• education tuition with the province of N.B. ;
• cash flow problems for the last quarter of the current fiscal year may jeopardize the delivery of essential services to the community.
  

http://www.newtfn.com
copyright 2004, updated as of September 2006.

See these pages in particular: http://www.newtfn.com/grass.html and http://www.newtfn.com/salar.html (look at dates).

The NEWTFN is battling to bring out the truth. Their goal is greater justice and fairness for the majority of people on their reserve. As they point out, there were three suicides in their community last year, and many more attempts, and yet the Band Council leadership is not doing enough to progress on suicide prevention project that the community has designed, according to the NEWTFN website. Suicide is a symptom of a hopeless community, more than anything else. The NEWTFN seem to be people of great courage, considering what can happen to people who speak out in many of our communities.

Cree Territory

Conversations have opened but are not yet concluded with grassroots and other community leaders among the “Quebec” or Grand Council of the Cree (GCC). Third Party Management exists there and is a “hot” issue. One community is in deficit of somewhere from $6 to 20M, even though the GCC just received a settlement of more than $3B. One has to question how a community could be in deficit under those circumstances!?!

I spoke of the chaos and misery in my home community with a Cree grassroots leader. It was obvious to both us that there are enormous similarities between what my People and his People are going through. It gave us both insight that there is something REALLY wrong going on here, and that the only way to get underneath the cheating, lies and cover-up is to hold a full, fair, independent public inquiry into the federal policy of Third Party Management. Trail of Tears is hoping that we will soon enjoy the visible support of the Cree Peoples who are experiencing this epidemic of malfeasance.

Haudenosaunee territory

When I – Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth – entered Haudenosaunee territory on this trail of tears journey, I took the same care I have taken throughout this journey. I came forward as a representative of the Blackfoot Confederacy to acknowledge the Original People of that region, on whose territory I now stood.

Following Traditional Protocols, I asked the community leaders of the Haudenosaunee, at their Eastern Door, for permission to be there and to present information about the Trail of Tears campaign. This permission was granted and I was able to meet with the People of the Longhouse at Kanehsatake.

The Haudenosaunee People must be acknowledged with great respect for their continuing strength and endurance in maintaining their sovereign position through ceremony and traditions in a continuing way, after all these years of colonization. Further, the Haudenosaunee maintain a policy of recognizing that there is still an opportunity for peaceful resolution of the conflicts between the colonizer’s government (Canada, the provinces, etc.) and First Nations. The sincere dialogue we shared around the Trail of Tears campaign reflects that commitment.

Discussion in Kanehsatake reflected on the crisis that their People had gone through recently, with the chaos in the community brought on by issues to do with conduct by the Band Council, Chief and their own FN local police – all IA delegates for local governance. This discussion revealed yet again that the Trail of Tears journey is uncovering an epidemic of malfeasance. INAC policies are directly connected to the misinformation and lack of support to the majority of Kanehsatake FN people, who have urgent, real concerns about the social and economic priorities of IA local leaders in their community.

Kanehsatake’s People of the Longhouse support the objective of the Trail of Tears journey – that there be a full fair public inquiry into INAC involvement in FN community governance, using the Peigan situation as a case example.

The Trail of Tears acknowledges and gives credit for the ongoing diligence of the People of the Longhouse as they keep looking for peaceful and honourable solutions to the ongoing problems of colonization, which result from the government’s continuing program of indigenous cultural genocide. Their willingness to join in support of the TOT initiative demonstrates the Haudenosaunee commitment to diplomatic approaches.

Next stop on the Trail of Tears journey was the Mohawk community of Tyendinaga First Nation (MT). A meeting was held there with an individual who has been demanding justice and clarity on scandals that involve Chief and Council and outside institutions. Their situation has many similarities to that of my home community. As with the Peigan, the current situation of chaos, turmoil, and mayhem includes that the FN community of Tyendinaga is in a deficit position. The Trail of Tears was a breath of fresh air for the embattled individuals in that community, who felt totally isolated and did not know who to turn to for support. We spoke the same language about the same issues that are before us.

Trail of Tears Exposes the Hidden Agenda

In my journey through eastern Canada, I have had the company of a half-bottle of Water. Taken from the Atlantic Ocean, this Water is travelling with me to the Salish territory on the Pacific Ocean coast. There the Waters of the two Oceans will be mingled in the bottle, and I will take those Waters back home to pay respect to the Oldman River. By the time I return home, I hope to have helped many other First Nations grassroots people to break out of the fear and isolation that surrounds exposing what Indian Affairs in doing nowadays in our communities, especially the Third Party Management issue. Corruption, the mishandling of funds, negligence and incompetence are what is seen and felt in the communities. I also hope that the support of the Peoples I am meeting along this journey will help my People gain the public inquiry we are demanding. That is the only way to force the truth out of the government about what they are up to with this new policy, which has only been in place since 2001.

Trail of Tears is not making accusations, we are collecting information, using documented firsthand reports from FN communities. Our statements are based on this courageous research and action by grassroots community members across Canada. Political and urban community organizations are endorsing the Trail of Tears, including the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. The responses we are getting show that what we are asking for – a full public inquiry into Third Party Management – is the right thing to do.

Our Strategic Approach of Education and Mobilization

Along the way so far, our thinking has been reinforced on the strategy we are taking. The Trail of Tears way is to deal with this issue is through diplomatic engagement. We are demanding accountability from the grassroots up. Taking this political approach will help rebuild our faith that we can manage our own affairs. It will also avoid the build-up of tension between Canadians and First Nations Peoples, which seem to be part and parcel of INAC’s ongoing program of indigenous cultural genocide.

INAC’s hidden agenda is fuelling the negative community situation around the Six Nations’ reclamation effort at Caledonia. The underlying issue plaguing the leaders there is that information about the treaties, history, and land issues has been concealed by the Crown and Canada. Canadians invested in the land in question, which has never been ceded to Canada, without knowing that it was First Nation territory. This lack of awareness in the community continues to cloud the real issue and perpetuates the threat of community violence. The FN community leaders on the reclamation site continue to use every available opportunity to set the record straight, but really it is the government of Canada that should be doing this – should have done this all along. First, INAC violated the treaties, or allowed them to be violated. Then INAC tried to hide this fact, thus abdicating their treaty-based responsibility to show fiduciary care for First Nations within the Nation-State borders of Canada. The Trail of Tears has great respect for the People of the Longhouse at Six Nations, and their allies. At Caledonia, they are standing up for the land and for their children’s futures! We also have sympathy for the grassroots community on both sides of the Caledonia issue. We understand who the real enemy is.

Being in Ontario region at the moment, it is essential to acknowledge the tremendous sacrifice of grassroots leaders at “Ipperwash” – the territory of the Stoney Point People at Aazhoodena. A life was taken when grassroots FN people stood up for their rights there. This produced an inquiry, an inquiry that many people feel changed the political history of Canada, and some also feel has helped to protect lives at Caledonia. The FACT is, though, that this Inquiry should have been held BEFORE the police riot that led to the death of FN lands right activist Dudley George, on September 6, 1995. The full responsibility for his death lies on INAC’s shoulders. In this case as well, Indian Affairs officials in Ottawa concealed the truth about what the treaties said and who had rights to the land. INAC’s handling of issues and incidents is oriented towards only one purpose: the elimination of our distinct indigenous cultures – a very serious human rights violation.

Trail of Tears campaign wants to find a way to make change that does not involve embittered confrontation between grassroots Canadians and First Nations Peoples, as we have seen at Caledonia, Ipperwash, Kanehsatake, Burnt Church, Oldman River, Grassy Narrows, Gustafson Lake, Sun Peaks, and many other locations.

On September 18th, Canada’s Great White House – the Canadian parliament – will reconvene. On behalf of my People, and the suffering grassroots people I have met on this journey so far, I ask for your help. We urgently demand that the issue of a public inquiry into Third Party Management be put on the floor for discussion in this sitting of Parliament. This inquiry can put us on the right track so that the youth of Canada and our First Nations youth do not have to fight one another.

How You Can Help

The Trail of Tears campaign has reached the centre of power in Canada: southern Ontario – Toronto and Ottawa. The evidence collected proves that the Peigan situation with Third Party Management is not an isolated case. FN across Canada re being hit with an epidemic of great virulence and very serious consequences. This is an epidemic of corruption by public officials, at the core of which is the Government of Canada’s determination to rid itself of the “Indian Problem.” A full and fair independent public inquiry must look into INAC’s policy of putting FN under Third Party Management.

Letters, emails, faxes, phone calls, and prayers asking for a public inquiry should be directed to the four leaders of the political parties in Canada. The addresses of these leaders are provided in TOT Bulletin #1, which is easily found online at the bottom of our home page.

If you want a guide for composing your letter, TOT campaign volunteers are preparing material to help you. In the next few days, detailed information about our demand for a inquiry will be circulated and also posted on our website: trailoftears2006.blogspot.com.

The Trail of Tears journey now moves into Anishnawbe and Cree territories, then will cross the land, through Blackfoot territory, on the way to Salish territory. This is one human spirit’s journey taken out of love for our youth and the Peoples of this land now known as Canada. If this journey can instil hope, confidence and courage in grassroots people across this land, it will be a success. From this seed of hope will grow unity in strategy and action.

Join in our Campaign through the Internet

If you are “virtually” capable, “bookmark” our website: trailoftears2006.blogspot.com.

Visit us often and add your “comments” us to our Bulletins to share what you think about the issues we are raising. I can be emailed at trailoftears2006@gmail.com. It may take a while for me to answer you, depending where I am in this journey. However, TOT’s Communications Coordinator, Ann Pohl, checks email and speaks with me everyday.

In God’s name, you came.
In the Great Spirit’s name, we have always been.

Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth

Bulletin #4

Trail of Tears Campaign
405 Alfred Ave. Winnipeg Manitoba, R2W1X7

An Epidemic of Malfeasance: Canada’s Auditor General Agrees!

Why the Trail of Tears Journey Began

I, Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth, of the Peigan Tribe within the Blackfoot Confederacy, decided to take this journey to raise awareness of what my People have experienced and to learn if other First Nations across Canada were having the same kinds of experiences as we were, back on Blackfoot territory.

Beginning about 15 years ago, my People suffered a huge hit to “who we are as a People” when the Oldman River was dammed up. We have always regarded the River as Sacred to our cultural identity. Before the dam was built, a network of groups tried to protect the Oldman. These Aboriginal, environmental, faith and other groups eventually ended up in the Supreme Court of Canada in 1992. Although the dam was not stopped, the damage done by the dam to Peigan culture and way-of life was affirmed by the courts. As a result, the governments of Alberta and Canada gave the Peigan a sizeable cash settlement in payment for that loss ($64M). In the past few years, a large chunk of this was taken from my People by fraud.

This fraud happened because of apparent corruption and incompetence among some of our representatives in tribal government, as well as apparent massive deceptions and shortcomings among the consultants, financial institutions and Indian Affairs officials who were supposed to be acting “in our interest” in regards to the flow and investment of these funds. Closing the proverbial barn door after the horse is out, in December 2005 Indian Affairs declared our Band Chief and Council election to be invalid. The Peigan First Nation was put under Third Party Management by Indian Affairs.

Since I have been away on this Trail of Tears Journey, my family tells me that the situation for the poorest of the poor in my home community has become worse. Anger and frustration at our situation is to be found everywhere among our People, especially our youth. This outside influence of polarization – this divide and conquer strategy – is affecting my People very much.

An Epidemic of Malfeasance

“Malfeasance” is a very special word. It means corruption by a public official. In place of the old smallpox blankets and residential schools, we now see a new deadly epidemic emerging: Canadian government takeover of our First Nations governments, through Third Party Management. The trouble is that it was Indian Affairs policies – including apparently overt negligence – that led to the crises for which Third Party Management is presented as the solution. This all amounts to malfeasance of the worst kind.

Auditor General of Canada is Concerned

The AGC’s report of May 2006 speaks for itself in supporting the rationale and objective of the Trail of Tears campaign:

“According to numerous sources, including the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Canada's First Nations communities face persistent challenges such as high rates of unemployment, poverty, and health problems. The federal government is responsible for fulfilling treaty and fiduciary responsibilities to First Nations people—lawful obligations that arise from treaties, the Indian Act, and other legislation. It is also responsible for delivering to First Nations communities social and economic programs that can directly improve the lives of the people living there—programs similar to those provided by the provinces, territories, and municipalities elsewhere in Canada. However, even though the federal government spends billions of dollars a year—just over $8 billion in 2004–05—on 360 programs and services targeted to Aboriginal peoples that address issues such as housing, health care, education, and economic development, the conditions in many First Nations communities and of many Aboriginal peoples remain significantly below the national average….

“Overall, the federal government's progress in addressing our 37 recommendations on First Nations issues has been unsatisfactory. While the issues are extremely complex, [five] federal organizations had agreed with most of our recommendations and had committed to taking action….

“5.13 Overall, we were not satisfied with the progress made … We found that they made unsatisfactory progress in implementing 15 recommendations—generally those most likely to improve the lives of First Nations peoples. Although progress in implementing 22 recommendations was satisfactory, implementation was not complete for all but 3 of them. These 22 recommendations tend to be more administrative in nature and to have less direct impact on the lives of First Nations people…

“5.27 We found that some of the recommendations that would likely make a significant difference in the lives and well-being of First Nations people and Inuit were not being implemented or that progress was unsatisfactory. These include recommendations on conducting prescription drug use analysis and analyzing prescription drug-related deaths, developing a strategy and action plan for addressing mould in houses on reserves, eliminating unnecessary reporting required of First Nations communities, implementing land claim agreements, and addressing gaps in the Third Party Manager Policy [emphasis added]…

“5.47 When a First Nations community delivering a program or service under a funding arrangement with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada fails to meet its obligations, the Minister has the right to intervene. At the highest level of intervention, the Department selects a third party to take over the management of the funding arrangement until the problems are resolved. In 2003 we identified various deficiencies in the Department's administration of the third-party management process. One of these was the lack of a strategy for building the capacity of First Nations management to end third-party management (emphasis added - ed).

“5.48 We recommended that the Department address missing elements from its Third Party Manager Policy, adopted in 2003—namely, provision for a dispute resolution mechanism, building of capacity of chiefs and councils, and provision for First Nations input in the third-party manager selection process.

“5.49 In this audit, we found that the Department has not revised its 2003 policy. Instead it has proposed to have provisions for these missing elements in a new policy expected in April 2006. Similarly, the Department has not evaluated the effectiveness of third-party manager intervention as we had recommended. As such, the new policy being developed does not benefit from a formal evaluation of the third-party management process. Further, the present policy still does not include a strategy to build the capacity of First Nations management to end third-party management (emphasis added - ed)…

“5.55 The federal government's success in implementing many of our recommendations has depended in large part on the capacity of the First Nations to carry out the implementation of programs in their communities. In our chapters in housing on reserves, third-party intervention, and economic development, we noted the need for more effective capacity development of First Nations. The government agreed with our recommendations and has started to work with First Nations to develop the institutions required to provide them with the technical support they need to deliver effective programs. Federal officials we interviewed stressed the importance of capacity building and development as a means to improve delivery of programs…

“5.62 Federal organizations have made unsatisfactory progress in implementing almost half of our recommendations, generally those addressing issues having the greatest impact on the lives of First Nations people and Inuit. These include recommendations on… addressing gaps in the Third Party Manager Policy.”

See: http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/20060505ce.html
See
also: http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/*20031110ce.html#ch10hd3c
(November 2003, Chapter 10)

INAC is Not Qualified to Manage First Nations

INAC has all the mighty power of the state behind them. They vest this power in our IA Band Chiefs and Councils, many of whom who are not prepared for the work they have in front of them, as the Auditor General of Canada has pointed out. This feeling of omnipotence explains why INAC was so unwilling to include investigation of themselves in the terms of the Public Inquiry they offered me in July 2006 (see Bulletin #2).

Apparently INAC feels invincible enough that they can choose not to respond to the Auditor General of Canada on serious issues like this. We can therefore be certain INAC will not change on the first push by one Blackfoot leader. As described in the next TOT Bulletin (#5), corruption, mishandling of funds, negligence and incompetence are what is being seen and felt in First Nation communities. We must build a movement to change things.

In God’s name, you came.
In the Great Spirit’s name, we have always been.

Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth

Request for Support

Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth
(Peigan Nation, of the Blackfoot Confederacy)
wants you to know about the Trail of Tears Campaign

This 2006 Trail of Tears campaign is specifically about Indian Affairs' Third Party Management and other Co-Management policies and takeovers of First Nations (FN) across Canada. The federal government dresses up "Third Party" in "accountability" and "fiscal responsibility" clothes, saying that federal financial takeovers will make FN government services work better for the People. With this "spin" on things, some grass roots FN people and Canadians could be tricked by INAC's propaganda -- even those who really care about justice and self-determination for First Nations.

The Trail of Tears campaign challenges this type of SOFT thinking...

INAC must not be involved in running First Nations' governments. This is just another of Indian Affairs' extermination policies -- just another way of doing indigenous cultural genocide.

Exposing the truth about Third Party and Co-Management is very important for all who support unity, justice, peace and Right Relationship.

After reading the attached first three information Bulletins from the Trail of Tears campaign, you may be interested in supporting the efforts of Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth. You can help by taking one or more of the following steps:

1) Share this message and the attached information around to others. The Trail of Tears campaign is about community education, grass roots mobilization, and action! INAC does not want the Truth about their policies brought out into the light across Canada and FN Territories. The more people who know what Milton is doing, and why he is doing it -- the better for all of us!

2) If you -- or an organization you belong to -- agree with the purpose of this campaign, we ask you to endorse our demand for a Full and Fair Public Inquiry into Third Party Management. Send us an email saying that you support this campaign, and we'll put you on our network list.

3) Write personally, or through your group, to the leaders of Canada's political parties to ask for this Public Inquiry. Full contact information for these leaders is provided in Bulletin #1. Kindly send us a copy of what you write, for our records.

4) Make a financial or in-kind donation to our campaign. We are in the process of setting up the administration systems. However, the campaign is already underway. At the moment, all the work is being done on a voluntary and donated basis. If you can contribute ANYTHING at all, please reply to this email address -- Milton will
respond directly to you.

Thanks for taking the time to read this material. Let us know what you think about the issues.

Respectfully in solidarity,

Ann Pohl
Communications Coordinator
Trail of Tears Campaign

Four Directions Communications
Bass River, N.B. E4T 1H3
(506) 785-2998
trailoftears2006@gmail.com

Bulletin #3

Trail of Tears Campaign
405 Alfred Ave. Winnipeg Manitoba, R2W1X7

Planting the Seed of Hope

“The children and the ground they walk on will be the ultimate victors in receiving the fruits of everlasting peace.”
Milton Born-With-A-Tooth

A Journey for Our Future

The future of any People, any cultural group, is the children and the grandchildren. Those yet to come will inherit the problems and the solutions we leave behind. Adults have a Sacred Responsibility to pass Hope for the Future onto our Children. Without that, they are lost.

Today far too many of our youth are without hope.

This is a volatile situation. Suicide is the most obvious way some of our youth show the hopelessness they feel about the future. Drugs, solvent sniffing, street gangs, alcoholism, dropping out of school, settling into a life of feeling useless and welfare dependency, imprisonment, domestic violence – these are some of the very common early-warning signs of hopelessness. Our children feel hopeless because of Canada’s 139 year old policies of cultural genocide.

Planting the Seed of Hope

As Leader of the Lonefighters, I – Milton Born-With-A-Tooth – have set out on this Trail of Tears to plant a seed of hope. I ask for your support to address the hopelessness that plagues our youth. Hope will grow in our children’s hearts as light is shed on the Truth of why things are as they are. Hope will grow when our youth see that we adults are working together to do something about these things.

Hope was stolen from our children when our Sacred Water, the Oldman River, was twisted and tortured, and put into prison by dams built to contain the Power of the Water. This was a brutal attack on the culture and way of life of my People. Everything that has happened to us since has further diminished our children’s futures: the silencing of some of our leaders and elders, bribing of other leaders, and mismanagement and fraud of the funds paid to us by Canada’s federal and provincial governments for these acknowledged losses.

The truth about what happened to the Peigan Tribe has much in common with the situation in many of the more than 630 apartheid-style “Indian Reservations” inside this nation called Canada. Bringing out the full truth about what has happened to my People will shed light on what is happening to Indigenous Peoples across this land

Hope can not be found in the declaration of solutions by one leader or spokesperson – not me, and not anyone else. Hope is not found from dressing up in fatigues or gang colours. Hope is not found by taking up a gun. Taking up a gun is only merited in the greatest extremity of self-defence of our children, and then it is called “war” not “hope”.

Hope begins to bloom when Truth is spoken. True solutions are reached in dialogue – when all those affected and all those who have the power to affect outcomes sit down, together, to talk as equals. Together we must talk through the problems, reach conclusions, make decisions, and act on them. A full and fair public inquiry is the best way available to get started on this work.

A public inquiry into the imposition of Third Party Management on the Peigan Nation will shed light on two things: (1) what went wrong that led to Third Party Management; and (2) why Indian Affairs protocols and policies lead to putting First Nations under Third Party Management. Our Truth of what went wrong, why this must not happen again, and how we can act to prevent this happening again, will shed light on many of the root causes of hopelessness amongst our youth – and about the ongoing destruction of our Earth.

“We must be united… We must fight each other’s battles.”
Tecumseh’s speech to the Osages, Winter/1811-1812

I did not suddenly spring, full-grown, into the public role I have had since 1990. When I stood up against global capital and the governments of Alberta and Canada, to protect the Oldman River, I had already spent many years learning how and why it was important to do this.

In 1978, I was one of many young people, from many First Nations, who joined The Longest Walk, which was in Affirmation of Sovereignty for the Indigenous Peoples of the Western Hemisphere. We crossed the continent to develop awareness about the ongoing cultural genocide policies and practices being inflicted on Indigenous Peoples. We brought the world’s attention to the fact that colonial and neo-colonial governments of North America have never abandoned their genocidal goal. They have always found ways to re-invent, reconstitute, and intensify. Their goal is to eradicate our Indigenous cultures, our worldviews, our Peoples – from this Earth.

At that stage in my life, I was a young Blackfoot Warrior. Three respected Elders, from three different Indigenous cultures, were among the teachers who most influenced me: Thomas Banyacya (Hopi), Phillip Deere (Muskogee Creek), and Wallace “Mad Bear” Anderson (Tuscorora, of the Haudenesonne (Iroquois) Confederacy).

Three Perspectives on Unity

Mad Bear had a strong voice that cleared away all the confusion. He said:

“It's a mistake to think of any group or person as an opponent, because when you do, that's what the group or person will become to you. It's more useful to think of every other person as another YOU – to think of every individual as a representative of the universe. Every person is plugged into the whole works. Nobody is outside it or affects it any less than anybody else.”

In speaking of how the prophecies of his People can be understood as a Declaration of Peace, Thomas Banyacya said:

“The True Hopi People Know how to fight without killing or hurting...
Know how to fight with Truth and Positive Force In The Light Of The Great Spirit...
Know how to Educate by clear thoughts... good pictures... and by carefully chosen words...
Know how to show to all the world's Children the True Way of Life by setting an example... by working and communicating in a way that reaches the minds and hearts of all people…”

As we stood outside the national government offices, Phillip Deere said:

“People in this society have been driven away, and have been taken away so far from reality that they will not sit down under a tree and talk to us. They won't even sit down in their office to listen to the Indian. We have experienced this all this time, even in the local offices at home. Those who are holding positions through the government refuse to listen to the grassroots Indians…

their minds are controlled. They can't make decisions for themselves…

“Every tribe has a trail of tears. We wonder when it is going to end. I would like to
see the time come when we can act like human beings and be able to sit around and iron our problems out…

“We are the believers in the truth, and not in facts as this society follows. We believe in the truth. Many times you may want to know how many people I represent. I represent the truth. And I represent the future generations of my people.”

Need for a Full and Fair Public Inquiry

With the power imbalance as it is between Canada and my People, there is only way I see for us to have the dialogue that is needed to reach positive, genuinely hopeful solutions. We must shed bright light to bring out the truth about how we got into the difficulties my People now face. Third Party Management is the mask Canada presently uses to covertly carry out its program of genocide in the current times. Our Peoples have an unalienable right to govern ourselves. No other Nation has the right to interfere with that process.

I, Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth, ask for support. I journey on behalf of my People. My community has suffered endless scandals and abuse. We have had enough. I ask every First Nation person, from shore to shore, to join our effort. Demand that a full public inquiry be commissioned to look into Third Party Management policies and the present situation with the Peigan Tribe of the Blackfoot Confederacy. Phone, fax or email the following leaders of the political parties in Canada’s Parliament, to set forth the demand for a public inquiry:

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister
(Conservative Party of Canada)
T: 613-992-4211 ~ Fax: 613-941-6900 ~ E: pm@pm.gc.ca

The Right Honourable Paul Martin (Liberal Party of Canada)
T: (613) 992-4284 ~ Fax: (613) 992-4291 ~ E: Martin.Paul@parl.gc.ca

Gilles Duceppe, M.P. (Bloc Québéçois)
T: (613) 992-6779 ~ Fax: (613) 954-2121 ~ E: Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca

Jack Layton, M.P. (New Democratic Party of Canada)
T: (613) 995-7224 ~ Fax: (613) 995-4565 ~ E: Layton.J@parl.gc.ca

In God’s name, you came.
In the Great Spirit’s name, we have always been.
Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth

Bulletin #2

Trail of Tears Campaign
405 Alfred Ave. Winnipeg Manitoba, R2W1X7

An Open Letter to the Honourable Jim Prentice - Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

Dear Minister,

Greetings from one Warrior to another. You will know by now – as your assistant promised to advise you – of the seriousness of the condition of the Peigan Band, of the Blackfoot Confederacy. I am Lonefighter Leader, Milton Born-With-A-Tooth, of that Band. It is my sovereign right to do whatever is necessary, use whatever means, to uphold the Peigan way of life and protect us from any danger which may come or lie within.

My history, as you know, has been confrontational to the point where I faced a clear possibility of dying. Today I say: “No more!” The serious and fragile condition of my people has led me to know that confrontation cannot end this battle. The Peigan people have endured countless scandals and corruption. I will not add to that hurt and pain. The scandals continue to divide us – loss of our right to govern ourselves is the last straw. Drastic measures have to be taken.

As Minister of Indian Affairs, I say with respect, you are the last stone to overturn for a peaceful and just solution. Though your office’s offer of a limited inquiry is encouraging, I continue to demand a full public inquiry that will yield benefits for all First Nations.

Our own internal efforts to resolve the crisis were thwarted. Councillor Edwin Small Legs diligently took every political step possible to raise the issues in a diplomatic way with Council, to Indian Affairs (IA), and all other involved parties (CIBC, Raymond James). But, after ex-Chief, Peter Strikes-With-A-Gun had resigned, and the election to replace him was sabotaged, we faced anarchy. Our people were in total disarray – voters fled the election hall not knowing why the RCMP had stopped the election. The petitioners, three innocent Peigan women, were blamed for the RCMP action – further dividing the community. Small Legs’ inquiry immediately after the RCMP action got no response from Ottawa. By December 2005 we had still received no political response from the local or national bodies. There was clearly no agency, protocol or officer we could trust to intervene – the IA-recognized Council had no mandate, could not make quorum, and was led by a Chief who had legally resigned.

I am honoured by your office’s offer to look into:

1. The Chief’s resignation;
2. Interference in our election;
3. The questionable financial advisors.

I am relieved that your office at least acknowledges, to some degree, that there is a serious problem. It is a beginning. But please realize that this issue has led to a total breakdown of faith and accountability in my community. As I have outlined to the office of the Minister before, my community has lost faith in the electoral process due to the direct interference of the RCMP in our election. I believe that the only way to restore faith in my community to the point where a real long-term solution can be achieved, one with real transparency and accountability, is a full independent public inquiry. As you know, your department has a fiduciary responsibility to the Peigan people, as agents, to ensure transparency and accountability, and to expose real threats from outside or within. Unqualified advisors and promoters, some obviously so, manipulate our political process to go down a road which ultimately leads your department to authorize ‘Third Party”. This dead end was inevitable from the beginning, as documented by Councillor Edwin Small Legs’ diligence in raising red flags at all critical junctures. Respectfully to you, my people saw this coming – our loss of faith came only because IA did not have the same reaction and did not let our democracy work. Where does the fiduciary responsibility begin? When the crime begins or when it finishes? We, the Peigan people, believe that the fiduciary responsibility of IA should begin when the first red flag is raised – at the first failure of protocol. For instance, the lack of quorum (only five signatures, not the required seven) on the “resolution” of December 23, 2004, which legally never passed.

IA policies aggravated our problem and impeded our attempts to resolve this issue early. Bank and Trust officers were aware of confidentiality breaches and bizarre requests to initiate suspicious transactions. However, no alarm system exists to warn officials or citizens even when they are targets of obvious scams, or are asked to sign over powers of attorney to unqualified persons or those on watchlists such as diligizer.com. The US Comptroller General has warned local officials in the US against scams that leverage blocked accounts. All local officials need basic risk education to recognize deals “too good to be true”, that offer vast payoffs at low risk or even smaller payoffs at no risk. Pricewaterhousecoopers UK outlined a “secret market” sales pitch that many fraudsters use, involving investments for “ a year and a day”, a party accepting a huge loss (or “haircut”) to gain access to funds, and demands to prove the victim’s money is of “non-criminal origin”. All of these elements were present in attempts to access the Peigan trust or leverage it. These were obvious scams.

Canadian municipalities collaborate on best practices including management protocols. Why, then, are Native communities left so helpless? Process enforcement, forensic help, risk education and best practice exchange could all be offered long before a crisis or any petition to invoke “Third Party”. Struggling Native leaders need to hear from their peers about the solutions already in place in better-run Bands. Some First Nations have met ISO 9000 standards, run their own banks and reliably expelled scammers and exploiters. The people we elect, if fully informed, will guard our interests with very little help and no confiscated ballot boxes. We ask only for the advisories and warnings that North American local governments and well-run trust funds receive. For instance, when banks are asked to forward account information to people already charged with fraud or being sued, multiple persons should be warned automatically. In the Walkerton water crisis, a single official was able to delay a health warning – lives were lost. This situation is similar – our trust fund preserves our lives and necessary investments are now being delayed due to failures to propagate very standard warnings or heed common red flags.

As in Walkerton, a full inquiry into a complex case is the only way to shed light on all the issues and produce convincing recommendations that will end the abuses and convince my people that we will not be victimized again. Nor are we the only victims: taxpayers will always pay more for late interventions than early ones. Conflict will reliably arise from any drastic action that comes too late or which is seen to subvert Band democracy.

Mr. Minister, your obligation and mine is to prevent recurring aggravations. We need to avoid repeating mistakes that put our people at odds. Never again can any First Nations’ election be interrupted, even if there is a petition against the sitting Council. Especially not if it is for the exact issue that the election was called to resolve. If our election had not been interrupted, the matter would be over by now with no third party intervention.

Your new government has a chance to set a new course that respects Native democracy and whistleblowers. If you act now and call the inquiry, the previous Liberal government will
bear its share of the blame for neglecting First Nations governance, risk education and Royal Commission advice. If you wait, and scams propagate at public or vulnerable peoples’ expense, all blame will fall on you and your government. Your chance is now.

Conflict may be inevitable if the integrity of First Nations’ electoral processes and due diligence on First Nations’ funds is not guaranteed. Only a full public inquiry can justify deep changes and produce those results. IA policies and habits, bank procedures, and the training of elected Band officials all need to change. Fraud is global; Bands with trust funds are easily targeted. Those cheated of funds or votes are likely to react violently.

A full public inquiry may be able to justify necessary measures that offend some Native leaders. For instance, tests and simulated scams to determine which Bands are vulnerable and need risk education. Under present conditions, one unwise response to a Spam email from Nigeria could lead a band to ‘Third Party”. Isn’t it better for a Native-led governance commission to send that email, as a test, before the fraudsters get a new Chief’s address? Private talks with naïve or greedy officials are cheap – dozens of Bands in ‘Third Party” are expensive. The frauds get more sophisticated every year – Band Councils must also get more sophisticated. IA would be less resented if it offered real education and advisories, and was first to offer assistance to concerned Councillors seeking to expose wrongdoing.

A full public inquiry would also clear IA of any blame for interfering in our recent election. However, this is impossible if IA’s role is not in the inquiry’s mandate and there is no reliable report on what IA officials knew, when, and why they did not act.

In conclusion, Mr. Minister, to every extreme action there has to be an end which is separate from the battle. There will be a winner. If you are real, as I am, then the end is obvious. The children and the ground they walk on will be the ultimate victors in receiving the fruits of everlasting peace.

In God’s name, you came.
In the Great Spirit’s name, we have always been.
Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth

Bulletin #1

Trail of Tears Campaign
405 Alfred Ave. Winnipeg Manitoba, R2W1X7

To all the Warrior-Minded People…

In 1990, I, Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth, of the Peigan Tribe within the Blackfoot Confederacy, took direct action to save the Oldman River. The Oldman River passes through our territory in what is now known as southern Alberta. Many people are already aware of the history of this struggle. The Oldman River action was taken in defence of our Culture and our Way of Life. I was defending my homeland under my rights as a Human Being who has been given Responsibility to protect my Sovereign Nation. The action lasted 37 days and ended in an armed confrontation that led to my arrest and imprisonment. As well as these outcomes, my supporters and I were tangled up in 4½ years of intense court battles.

What has happened in my community since then?

The Oldman River was dammed up while I was incarcerated. In 2002, our Band Council signed an agreement with the governments of Alberta and Canada for $64,000,000. This amount of money was to pay off our community for the damages done to our way of life and our People as a result of the dam.

Six (6) months ago, I filed legal charges for fraud and misconduct against a consortium of financial advisors and consultants associated with various speculative corporations, four (4) Peigan Band Council members, three (3) officials from Indian & Northern Affairs Canada, two (2) financial institutions, and our Peigan Band Council Chief. At the centre of these charges was the squandering of $22,000,000 of this trust fund. The reason I included Indian Affairs in these criminal charges is because I believe they have shown themselves to be directly negligent in their fiduciary responsibility to our People, as per our Treaty with Canada. Further, they appear to have been involved in political interference that has undermined our community’s ability to self-govern.

When I filed these charges, I was asked to keep silent, on the premise that the wheels of justice would quietly act to effectively apprehend these criminals and lay the charges as filed. In the intervening time, the responsible authorities have taken no steps to do so. To make matters worse, during this time, one of the criminal parties, Indian Affairs, has now taken control of my community and placed us under Third Party Management.

Why am I targetting Indian Affairs?

Indian Affairs’ fiduciary responsibility to First Nations flows from the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and is enshrined in all our Treaties. 139 years ago, when the country of Canada was formed, the “Indian Problem” was a central policy concern. Just a few years later, various pieces of repressive legislation were amalgamated and added to, in order to deal with the “Indian Problem.” This legal policy still stands today, and is called the Indian Act. The Indian Act unleashed a holocaust of oppression on our Peoples: starvation, residential schools, forced removal (sometimes at gunpoint) of Traditional Leaders and governance, criminalizing many of our Spiritual Rituals, the “pass” system our People had to use to travel off the reserve territory, stripping our mothers and grandmothers of their rights to belong to our First Nations, and much more.

Even though Indian Affairs looks different today, this policy of cultural genocide continues. The goal is to exterminate our ability to function as a People. Today, after these 139 years, this policy still often appears as direct intervention in our administration of our own communities. Indian Affairs presents an image of being a Knight on a Shining White Horse, when they gallop in to “save us” from issues such as financial mismanagement. I view Third Party Management as the ultimate crime against the sovereign rights of our Peoples. When our right to self-govern is stolen from us, their original policy goal is right on track! With this approach, Indian Affairs is dealing –once and for all – with the “Indian Problem”

Why am I using a different strategy?

In 1990, I stood up in the name of our ancient protectors to defend the Oldman River. As I said at that time, it was my “duty to give a voice” to the issues of the river, and to awaken Human Beings to what is happening with the Earth. That issue required the confrontational approach that was used.

I believe that confrontation is not the solution with this issue.

This Trail of Tears will educate, mobilize, and unify people.
We all need to understand that, within Canada, it is only in Indigenous communities that this type of criminal activity is common. The issues my People, the Peigan, struggle with are experienced in virtually every First Nation community across this land. This campaign will build awareness among First Nations that are in the same threatened or vulnerable position, called “Third Party Management.”

Call for a Public Inquiry

Our only alternative is to find a way to expose the truth about what is happening to us. I demand a full public inquiry into Indian Affairs’ decision to put my People, the Peigan, under Third Party Management.

The Trail of Tears campaign will “give” our Peoples “a voice” to speak about how Indian Affairs continues to pursue its goal of Indigenous cultural genocide. We will also shed light on how others – even friends, neighbours, and relatives within our communities – are duped or bribed into going along with this deceitful policy. It is hard to bring out this truth because so many officials have a vested interest in silencing the specifics and the goals of this policy.

My Journey began July 5, 2006. I started by knocking on the doors of the leaders of the four political parties represented in Canada’s Parliament. I personally went to alert them to the fact that social, cultural and economic crimes were being committed against First Nation Peoples under the guise of this “Third Party Management” process. I demanded that these leaders protect us from government corruption and abuse, just as they would if our communities were seen as “Canadian” ones.

In taking this Journey, I knew I must begin where the crime began, on the shores of what Europeans have termed the Atlantic Ocean, here in the territory that the Mi’kmaq People have called home since Time Immemorial. As I travel this Trail of Tears, I am gathering evidence about the 139 years of Canada’s covert and overt war against our Peoples. My Journey will end when I reach the Territory of the Salish People, on what is now known as the Pacific Ocean. The Waters of this Earth are Sacred to me.

From this Trail of Tears will emerge a unified movement that will put serious pressure on Canadian politicians. A full public inquiry into Indian Affairs’ use of “Third Party Management” must occur.

Our Young People are at Terrible Risk

The frustration and anger of our youth towards our leaders is explosive. Our youth must see that confrontation is not the only way. The diplomatic approach of the Trail of Tears campaign acknowledges these realities. We set forth a different way of dealing with Canada’s crimes against our Peoples, and with those among us who are complicit with these crimes.

I, Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth, ask for support. I Journey on behalf of my People. My community has suffered endless scandals and abuse. We have had enough. I ask every First Nation person, from shore to shore, to join our effort. Demand that a full public inquiry is commissioned to look into Third Party Management policies, in specific with the Peigan Tribe. Phone, fax, write, or email the political leaders represented in Canada’s Parliament to set forth this demand:

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Office of Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street, Ottawa ON, Canada K1A-0A2
T: 613-992-4211 ~ Fax: 613-941-6900 ~ E: pm@pm.gc.ca

The Right Honourable Paul Martin
House of Commons (Liberal Party)
Ottawa, ON , Canada K1A-0A6
T: (613) 992-4284 ~ Fax: (613) 992-4291 ~ E: Martin.Paul@parl.gc.ca

Gilles Duceppe, M.P.
Chef du Bloc Québéçois, Chambre des communes
Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A-0A6
T: (613) 992-6779 ~ Fax: (613) 954-2121 ~ E: Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca

Jack Layton, M.P.
Leader of the New Democratic Party, House of Commons
Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A0A6
T: (613) 995-7224 ~ Fax: (613) 995-4565 ~ E: Layton.J@parl.gc.ca

In God’s name, you came.
In the Great Spirit’s name, we have always been.
Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth