Inkless Wells

Paul Wells on all the latest out of Ottawa—along with the occasional post about jazz. Follow Paul on Twitter: @InklessPW

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Carson: the real scandal

by Paul Wells on Friday, March 18, 2011 10:05am - 74 Comments

This is very nearly the first thing Stephen Harper’s government did.

GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES IMMEDIATE ACTION ON FIRST NATIONS DRINKING WATER

OTTAWA, ONTARIO (March 21, 2006) -The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, with Phil Fontaine, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), today launched a plan of action to address drinking water concerns in First Nation communities.

“The government will ensure that First Nation leaders have access to the tools and resources they need to deliver clean water to their residents,” said Minister Prentice. “All parties with responsibilities in this area must take decisive action and achieve measurable results.”

A year later, nothing. A year after that, “deplorable” water in First Nations communities. Three years after that, if the latest reports are accurate, Bruce Carson spotted an opportunity.

Oh, yes. This is a scandal.

Tags: Bruce Carson, Water

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LdKitchenersOwn

And if history is any guide they probably announced that "immediate action" 5 or 6 other times in 2006.

NorthernPoV

They hadn't caught on to the signage thing back then.
A pity, because they could have used the website shots of Michele McPherson instead of those ugly arrows in Con-colours. ;-)

MostlyCivil

From 2003: http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/enr/wtr/pubs/watw/watw…

How to fix the problem. How much it will cost.

OriginalEmily1

If we'd actually DO something about First Nations, we wouldn't have these scams going on….because I'm sure there are more.

But yes, this is a scandal.
Toby

It would be nice if it didn't take an escort-related scandal to get us talking about Aboriginal issues.
NorthernPoV

Inspired by RedOctober over on the G&M board:
Now we've got the new slogan for the pro-democracy forces to de-brand the Harper regime:
"in contempt and incompetent" …. "oh and we're crooks too"
OriginalEmily1

That's because Martin was going with the full package, the Kelowna Accord.

AT1

The Kelowna accord was in no way a replacement for the Nault's legislation!

OriginalEmily1

No, it was an entire package involving numerous issues

AT1

Yes many issues, but it neglected the accountability aspect!

OriginalEmily1

No it didn't….but that's the only one you're concerned with.

NorthernPoV

No shame eh? Caught red-handed and all you can do is point the finger!

What this post and the chorus of rationalization over the many mis-deeds of the Harper miscreants says:
"Remember the Liberals? We can do worse"
and in just 5 years and shackled by a minority to boot!

MostlyCivil

I mean, it's not like they inspected every reserve's water system in 2003 and costed out the amount needed to fix it
http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/enr/wtr/pubs/watw/watw…

Okay, so they did. The Libs dropped the ball for 2.5 years. The Cons have been juggling it since 06.

About 500 million to ix he stuff that's broken. Shall we start with the $26 million in EAC ads?

AT1

NPoV, I wasn't defending Carson! I'm merely pointing out that the scandal Wherry is referring to above is much older that this government. Clean water supplies on reserves is not a partisan issue. My point is that native leaders, as a collective, have done little to improve the situation beyond pointing fingers.

AT1

Sorry, Wells not Wherry!

MostlyCivil

Oh, I get it. It's a problem of long-standing. Pretty much every PM since I've been alive ahs ignored it. But blaming it on "bureacratic inertia" is a cop-out. If the governmnent announced tomorrow that they're making 500 million available to First Nations to fix their water supplies, and gave them a six month window to present proposals with quotes and estimates from local suppliers, you can bet it would get done.

It's how they fast-tracked all those stimulus projects, and indvidually, most of these water systems are smallish projects, serving less than 1000 people. Throw in the competition for the work factor, and everything speeds up. The private sector loves these projects.
AT1

I agree and wish it were so.

john g

I for one welcome our new #bustyhooker overlords.

MostlyCivil

There's just so much right with that sentence.
SanDiegoDave

And as a Macleans commenter, I am uniquely well-qualified to help them round up others to toil in their underground brothels.

avr

So, correct me if I'm missing something here, but the idea is:

1. Reserves have bad water quality;
2. Government announces vague, highly bureaucratic plan to improve water quality on reserves with training and protocols and experts;
3. Said plan makes little difference to water quality, therefore private firms see an opportunity to sell filtration systems;
4. Bruce Carson profits by association with such private firms.

None of that is commendable, but unless you have some evidence that DINA's plan was specifically constructed by this government to fail and thereby give a crony an opportunity to theoretically make money in water filtration, several years down the road, this is hardly a scandal to merit giggling to yourself about how those bastards will really get nailed now, boy howdy, etc.

OriginalEmily1

Harper called in the RCMP.

avr

And again I ask: is there some proof of intention to send business Carson's way? Without that, the angle Wells is suggesting doesn't actually stick to Harper, no matter how excited you get about it.

OriginalEmily1

Well, except that you're trying to substitute one topic for another….

The reason for Harper calling in the mounties, and the lack of clean water on reserves are two separate topics.

avr

Yes, they are. That's my point; Wells' summary that suggested it's really a scandal now because of the water quality thing makes no sense, and isn't supported by available evidence.
practical mom

I thought Well's point was the fact that the poor water quality is still an issue is the real scandal.
LdKitchenersOwn

I thought it was OBVIOUS that this was Wells' point.

Wells' isn't saying that the lobbying is a real scandal because it has to do with a lack of potable water in first nations communities, he's saying FORGET ABOUT CARSON, THERE ARE CANADIAN CITIZENS WHO DON"T HAVE ACCESS TO CLEAN AND SAFE DRINKING WATER!
criselis

Sounds barbaric to me. And I mean that sincerely.
OriginalEmily1

That's not what he said.

There is one scandal with Carson and that's political….but the 'real' scandal here is that in close to two centuries, successive govts haven't resolved First Nations issues……..so they don't have clean water

gottabesaid

I took it to mean that the 'scandal' is the fact that, despite promises to the contrary, FN communities are going without clean water. Nothing to giggle about.

MostlyCivil

Indeed. I've been to a couple dozen reserves. There is nothing i can tell you that would prepare you for the lack of basic infrastructure.

This ready-made fix-it report has been gathering dust since 2003. http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/enr/wtr/pubs/watw/watw…

Shame enough for every party. Put all these people in one spot, you have a decent sized city. Wonder how fast they'd react if Kingston, or Fort McMurray, or Duncan, or Saskatoon was on a permanent boil-water advisory.
alfanerd

indeed this is a scandal. but the actual fix for it is too politically incorrect and would have native chiefs up in arms storming the barricade.

the fix is simple: get rid of the 'reserve' system, allow individual natives to own land on what is now reserves, and require greater accountability from the chiefs on how they spend money from ottawa.

the money we send natives would be enough to give them clean water access many times over, but this money is spent by the chiefs in a most opaque manner.

TimesArrow

This was proposed as long ago as 1969 – the chiefs, and one could reasonably assume most of the individual band members simply don't want to go there. As far as i can make out the main fear is an old one – assimilation[ which i suspect is where you're really going with this] and a resulting land grab by people from outside the community.
We'll see. I believe the Nisga'a have adopted at least some measure of a individual ownership. No word on how that's working out.

alfanerd

of course the chiefs dont want to be accountable for how they spend Ottawa's billions. I dont know how anyone could "reasonably" assume the individual band members are on board or not – I would guess it would depend on whether an "individual band member" is friendly with the chief or not.

and thank you for assuming that i have racist motives. that's very typical of the lefty thinking these days. this guy doesnt think exactly in lockstep with me – he must be racist. you lefties are such a bunch of arrogant preening sissies, it's really annoying. get over your little pathetic selves and try to argue substantially without falsely accusing others of racism in order to compensate for your intellectual inadequacies.

fact is, the current system sucks, natives are suffering and it is a scandal. but any suggestion to actually fix the system so it doesnt suck, and to prevent natives from suffering are shouted down by accusations of racism – by dimwits like you (see above), or by native chiefs who benefit immensely from the status quo.

the solution is not sending more money. we already spend about 11 billion a year on natives. a fraction of that money, well spent, would provide clean water. why havent the chiefs spent their money on clean drinking water for their community? unless you can answer that, you can talk about 'assimilation' all you want you're just going to prolong the problem.
TimesArrow

projecting much.

criselis

It's my understanding that some first nations, nations, view property rights in a collective manner. If that is the case it may not be as "…simple: get rid of the 'reserve' system, allow individual natives to own land on what is now reserves"

alfanerd

it is precisely the collective property rights which are the source of the dismal state in which reserve housing, including the lack of clean water, finds itself.
criselis

The Syilx of the Okanagan Nation seem to be overcoming what you consider to be a negative.
Check out: http://www.nkmipdesert.com/
And one of their business ventures http://www.spiritridge.ca/
And if you haven't read "A Fair Country: Telling Truths about Canada" by John Ralston Saul I would suggest it might add a little more nuance to your understanding of First Nations issues. And if you have read it well…. http://www.johnralstonsaul.com/eng/non_fiction_bo…
alfanerd

i have read on native issues plenty, but not John Ralston Saul.

in any event, the fact that some tribes succeed doesnt change the fact that overall the reserve system is an abysmal failure. we wouldnt be talking on this thread if that werent the case.

if you want to stick to politically correct faux solutions which perpetuate the issue, you'll fit right in the culture of corruption which reigns between native chiefs and indian affair bureaucrats.

i happen to believe that natives should have the same rights as everyone else when it comes to owning property, and that the current lack of rights is at the source of many native issues today – that, and the lack of accountability of the chiefs.
TimesArrow

No. You're telling them what to think. It is their choice…that's the point.
alfanerd

if its their choice, it is also their business when they dont have clean running water. that's the trade-off.
TimesArrow

So now it's their fault the water is unfit to drink? They somehow managed to survive all those centuries without us – wonder how they managed.?
You are aware that in many cases their water was fu***d up by mining and other industrial activities, often without any consultation or regard for their concerns – ah, but they got some jobs – i get ya…trade-offs…mmm.
alfanerd

honestly, its the fault of the chiefs.

putting aside the idea of clean water source being polluted by mining – its a separate issue – the chiefs have money, we know, the Feds give it to them. and they could have spent some of that money on clean water supply – they didnt.

its not that native chiefs are particularly corrupt, it's that they are put in a position that would make anyone particularly corrupt – loads of $ received from the federal government, and no accountability on how to spend it.

this is the status quo which the chiefs benefit from, and which perpetuates the dismal state of reserves.
TimesArrow

I think you're partially right. I lived one a reserve for almost 3 years, that doesn't make me an expert, but it does give me license to generalize – certainly more then 95% of the population.
There is a great deal of nepotism on reserve; this is the source of a lot of the corruption. But it's cultural – not that different then you might see in a small town. And the chiefs aren't always the problem; often it's the band council – something we foisted on them
There are no easy solutions imo [ my main objection to business/idealogical type solutions often proposed by mostly cons and libs] It's evident they are a broken people[ i'm extrapolating from my experience, but i'm not far off] Broken for a lot of complicated reasons ir., loss of culture, repression of culture, smallpox and tb [the real killers] residential schools, alcohol…the sad litanty goes on.
TimesArrow

They have a saying that it take 7 generations to fix anything seriously wrong with society…they just need more time, some understanding and patience and of course encouragment to make the right choices for themselves. But they have to make the choices. All too often even when we meant well, we were just telling them what to do.
If you haven already read it i can recommend an intersting look at the clashing of two cultures – A Small and Charming World – forget the author. It's beautifully written, not mindboggling, but interesting. It was written in the sixties[?] so you may have to hold you nose occasionally, but not too much.
By the by i don't think your a racist – racists are stupid people. I was trying to make the point that fee simple, for instance, from their pov looks a lot like assimilation via the back door. I really have no way to judge if they're right about that or not.
criselis

Could try real self government for first nations and get rid of the paternalistic federal government agency that control and dispense the money you refer to alfanerd.

TimesArrow nails it. (update clarification – by "nails it" I'm referring to his comment above "No. You're telling them what to think. It is their choice…that's the point."

To believe as Fukuyama stated in "The End of History and the Last Man":
"What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of postwar history, but the end of history as such… That is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government."
strikes me as hubris. As a friend once stated to me – "Capitalism hasn't been around all that long actually". This led me to realize that human kind will continually adjust how it organizes itself. Even today we collective property rights. Examples are roads, parks, etc. And really no one – at least in Canada – have absolute property rights. There are constraints on what one can do with and on ones property.

Wilder

we will have to wait for APTN's investigative report on March 25th. The show is APTN Investigates. that is when the evidence collected by the APTN news team will be broadcast. Then we will know what they actually have on Carson and any others connected I suspect…

sourstud

Wait for evidence? Are you mad?! But there are conclusions that must be jumped to NOW!

http://dougsamu.wordpress.com dougrogers

Am I truly watching things fall apart for this government?

OriginalEmily1

Yup.
danby

While we may actually be witnessing that, I am doubtful that it will stick with the public.
If there is an election coming, the Conservatives will carpet bomb the airwaves with ads and will bury much of what's happening here.
Stephen Harper is organized, has a lot of money to buy ads, and has no qualms about airing anything he needs to win. This is Republican style politics: gloves off, anything goes.

http://dougsamu.wordpress.com dougrogers

I am afraid you're right. Harper is covering his butt real fast with that RCMP investigation toilet paper. How long can a person stand around a cesspool and claim it doesn't smell?

LdKitchenersOwn

Probably not.

And more's the pity.

avr

Grandpa Layton was too principled, too conservative and too Anglo to stick with the Duplessis government. Try to keep up.
burlivespipe

So Harper's rote plan is to: put up trial balloon promise, then ignore it; when problem becomes worse, Harper Government buys bigger signs and takes out more ads; if problem persists, secret ex-PMO scuzzy waltzes in to do a 'private fix' on behalf of the gov't.
Problem still isn't addressed.
How the heck did the media tag Martin with Dithers and remain compliant (besides this obscure macleans website) on Harper's repeated flaws/ethical lapses?
Forget floride — Harper wants viagra in the water!
Guest

Question: what kind of "services" would a call girl be providing to justify the 20% she would make on the sale of those water filtration systems. And just what kind of "experience" does she bring to the job?

john g

I have to admit I found myself wondering exactly that as I pondered her role as "agent and the face of the company when dealing with the native people". What exactly have we stumbled onto here?
LdKitchenersOwn

what kind of "services" would a call girl be providing to justify the 20% she would make on the sale of those water filtration systems

I believe she's actually a FORMER call girl but regardless, presumably the question to be addressed is whether or not the service she was expected to provide for her 20% commission was "access to her new fiance".

Guest

Former or current – you still have to wonder what "experience" "Leanna" brings to water filtration systems to warrant the 20% she was poised to make. And at whose expense? Those are millions of dollars for her "services" that won't be going to clean water for First Nations kids.

LdKitchenersOwn

True, but again, the implication would seem to be that she was being paid not for her experience, but for her fiance's (though, of course, there will need to be an investigation to prove that). It's about plausible deniability, is it not? The idea is, I think, that the fact that the commission was Leanna's is, arguably, just the means that was used by the parties involved to enable the company to be able to truthfully say that they have no business relationship with her sugar daddy.

(Was that last bit too far? LOL).

Brooke (f u reza)

Former… sure. there are reviews about her that date back only a few months ago. she has a pimp her pimp used to run me as well when i was known as sexy brooke. somehow, i feel the real scandal has yet to surface. somehow i doubt leanna will see a dime of that money and carson will get the good ole kick to the curb once pimp reza cracks his whip.

Biff Biffster

This doesn't even rate as a "political sex scandal" despite the fact that's how it's being hyped. Where's the airport bathroom stall sex? The cocaine? The love child? The sex tape? The hush money. God, it's so unsexy it's boring. It's the political sex scandal equivalent of staring at the ceiling for 20 hours, that's how lame it is. Americans … now THEY know how to do a good sex scandal!!! We could learn a lot from them, actually.

http://dougsamu.wordpress.com dougrogers

God, it's so unsexy it's boring.

It's Canada

sourstud

Captain Obvious to the rescue.
LdKitchenersOwn

That's it.

I'm bringing sexy back.

TimesArrow

Thankyou Paul for making what should be an obvious distinction – this is the real scandal. Conditions in native communities have been a scandal and a shameful black eye for Canada for a very long time now. If just we had some form of the non partisanship tradition of the US it might help. I wouldn't swop our system for theirs, but many of us, perhaps naively, saw minority govt as an opportunity to practise our own brand of that, where we could focus on fixing cases such as this – that one's gone for a burton too. I think it was civil who pointed out above that we have no problem finding the energy and resources to implement a focused nation wide action plan when the political fortunes of the incumbent party coincides with a need for one; but lack the will otherwise. It's a pity for them that FNs couldn't get their act together and vote en masse either Tory or liberal – then we'd see the pointy heads in Ottawa take real action – maybe?
"There are no promises to the Belgians in Canadian politic" You may have never spoken a truer word.
FVerhoeven

Who are these people

who cannot fix a water-drinking problem this day and age!!

who cannot keep their hands out of the cooky jars!!

who cannot stand up for what's the right thing to do!!

Who are these people?????

Patchouli

I find your ignorance embarrassing.
TimesArrow

Who are these people?????

Seven year olds…they should be banned!!!!

sourstud

The real scandal in Canada is that we have a reserve system for natives in the first place. Equality for all, I say.
chet

A day late and a dollar short Mr. Wells.

The conditions on reserve did not suddenly become deplorable under Harper.

Indeed, since the enactment of the Indian Act and the creation of reserves, that which you now cry out as a recent scandal!!!! is the decades and decades old twofold constant:

1) the government's proclaimed desire to improve reserve conditions
2) the continued deplorable conditions on reserve.

….In other breaking news…..the Sun rose in the East today….I suggest Paul get right on that scoop.
http://twitter.com/matwilson6 @matwilson6

I don't think there has ever been a bigger scandal than this:

http://ahabit.com

When is the Government going to restore the dignity of these women who have been trashed?
katie smith

Thanks Paul. Agreed. Though I didn't think I could get any more disgusted,
http://twitter.com/matwilson6 @matwilson6

Behind every scandal worth exposing, you will find the denial of human dignity, and it is the responsibility of this government to restore it.