home  re. Tories cut $1B despite surplus Regardless of what one thinks about Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Afghan war mission, his cancellation of child care funding or his backing out of the Kyoto Protocol, his government's recent actions with respect to aboriginal peoples are so shameful that Canadian citizens should be rallying in the streets calling for his resignation. In less than one year in office, the Conservatives have betrayed the Kelowna Accord (a $5 billion deal for aboriginal housing, education, and health care), refused to sign the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and now have cut funding for the First Nations and Inuit Tobacco Control Strategy. As the Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine points out, this pattern of behaviour reeks of discrimination. After centuries of oppression, exploitation, and forced assimilation, the aboriginal peoples of Canada deserve better. Jeff Denis, Toronto |