by Mark Kennedy
Postmedia News via
West Coast Native News
05 December 2014 |
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Canada is headed toward a confrontation with its
First Nations people that could lead to “coherent
civil action” that threatens the country’s economic
lifeblood, a new book warns.
Time Bomb, written by Doug Bland, former chair of
Defence Management Studies at Queen’s University,
argues that the conditions are present for an
uprising by First Nations people frustrated by
decades of seeing their aspirations ignored by
Canadian governments.
He urges people not to minimize the risk that this
frustration could turn into a rebellion, and that
Canada’s critical transportation links – railways
and roads – are vulnerable to protests that could
shut them down and cost the economy millions.
His sober warning comes amid deeply strained
relations between Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s
Conservative government and some aboriginal leaders.
Next week, hundreds of chiefs from the country’s
largest aboriginal group, the Assembly of First
Nations, will meet in Winnipeg to elect a new
national chief and discuss key issues, from First
Nations education, to missing and murdered
indigenous women, to treaty rights.
“If Canada’s present policies and the historic
indifference of Canadians toward the people of the
First Nations and their aspirations continue without
amendment, and if First Nations leaders continue to
assert their right to unconditional sovereignty in
Canada, then a confrontation between our two
cultures is unavoidable,” Mr. Bland writes. “The
critical questions for both societies in such a
circumstance are: what form would such a
confrontation take, and how widespread would it
become?”
Mr. Bland cites one academic theory that says that
if a rebellion is “feasible,” it will occur.
“The possibility that our two communities will
stagger into a widespread civil conflict, whether
armed or unarmed, is worrisome.”
In an interview, Mr. Bland stressed that he is “not
predicting a revolution or an armed uprising.” But
he said he is issuing a warning that a
“confrontation” could occur unless the government
and First Nations leaders find innovative ways to
prevent one.
He said part of the problem is that many
non-indigenous Canadians have dismissed recent
warning signs: grassroots movements such as Idle No
More, and threats from some aboriginal leaders to
mount protests to shut down the economy.
“People just aren’t listening to them,” he said.
“And they don’t understand how vulnerable the
country is.”
Mr. Bland writes that there is growing support among
aboriginals favouring “a unified First Nations
strategy for coherent civil action” and that people
should not ignore seemingly disjointed incidents,
such as roadblocks and political standoffs.
“There is a pattern in these events, a pattern that
is in 2014 heading in one way: toward more
demonstrations and confrontations and a gathering
confidence in the First Nations communities that
their causes can be advanced through the power of
‘activist politics.’ ” |
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Mr. Bland notes that 48.8% of the First Nations
population is under the age of 24, and that some of
those young people can be transformed into
“warriors.’’
“These young people, like most of the First Nations
population, are concentrated in areas critically
important to Canada’s resource industries and
transportation infrastructure.”
Mr. Bland writes that the railways and roads
transporting everything from oil and grain to
manufactured goods are “impossible to defend.
“A small cohort of minimally trained ‘warriors’
could close these systems in a matter of hours.”
Mr. Bland said the “flashpoint” to a crisis could
occur in many ways: for instance a single incident
that turns violent, heightened rhetoric from
aboriginal leaders, and a “backlash” from
non-aboriginals.
“All the danger is sitting out there. And getting it
wrong is for the government to try to bully its way
through this thing. Or for some of the aggressive
chiefs to try to bully their way the other way,
pushing each other back and forth. It’s going to end
up in a confrontation sometime.”
Postmedia News
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