Attawapiskat Remains Centre Stage

The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations says struggling native bands need to use whatever means they have to ensure improvements in their quality of life.
Shawn Atleo is telling the Assembly’s Annual Meeting of Chiefs that he stands with Chief Theresa Spence of the troubled Attawapiskat First Nation.
He says there is only one struggle for First Nations and that is to build a better life for their people.
Atleo says progress will be based on respectful treaty implementation and an equitable share of resources.
Atleo notes his summit meeting with Prime Minister Harper in late January may be a moment of reckoning that gives First Nations greater control over their affairs.
Meantime, the MP whose riding includes the troubled Attawapiskat First Nation says the Federal Government is provoking a political showdown with the reserve.
The NDP’s Charlie Angus says it’s no wonder the band council turfed Ottawa’s financial appointee on Monday.
He says the council sees the third-party manager as part of a deliberate attempt to divert attention from their housing crisis.
Angus says it’s a power play that Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan then compounded with exaggerated claims in the House of Commons.
Duncan said Ottawa was sending supplies and emergency help, as well as the outside financial surveillance.
But Angus says the only extra supplies Ottawa has delivered are a couple of boxes of doughnuts that the third party manager brought with him when he tried, unsuccessfully, to set up shop in the
community.