McKnight does 'first rate job' of embarassing Canadians

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EDITORIAL

This week Bill McKnight came to Calgary, apparently to announce a new negotiator for the Lubicon Lake claim, but in fact to deliver a long diatribe on the government's new western diversification scheme.

The minister spent approximately three to four minutes on the Lubicon announcement before regaling Calgary businessman with a long and laborious speech on if/maybe schemes based on his government's right-wing philosophy of "trade cures all."

One concerned Indian mother who was watching these proceedings interrupted the reporters and asked McKnight to speak with the organizers of the Aboriginal child conference who were only yards away.

McKnight not only refused to meet with the organizers but actually walked passed the booths and delegates without even acknowledging their presence.

Embarrassed Canadian delegates scurried to apologize to the overseas visitors who were naturally affronted by this action. And indeed, once again Canadian Aboriginal peoples are left with egg on their faces by the action of senior politicians.

Surely it is not too much to ask for a government minister to at least pay common courtesy to delegates of an international conference of which Canada is the host. Surely McKnight could have cut ten minutes off his long speech to spend with the delegates.

In his discussions with reporters, McKnight denied appointing a negotiator because of fears that the Lubicon Lake band would "embarrass" overseas visitors to the Calgary Olympic Games.

However, he needn't fear that the Lubicon Lake band will embarrass Canada. It appears McKnight has already done a first rate job of that.

Planet dies, in the name of progress?

Each week our small blue planet loses another species of plant or animal and this extinction continues to escalate as mankind and "civilization" pushes back the trees and the forests, in the name of progress.

This week the last of a unique species curled up and died at the bottom of a Banff marsh. But there was no mourning, no funeral, and no bell tolled as mankind erected a tombstone on the Banff long-nosed dace ? because it was only a fish.

This unique fish that boasted an extra vertebra was discovered in 1885 and only lived in one particular marsh adjacent to the hot springs in Banff.

Although most of us assume that animals that live in national parks are protected, it appears that although there were many factors that lead to the death of the species, the cholorinated water from the man-made pool was very hard on the fish.

But Native people and our traditional love of nature and animals should not be complacent. We at Windspeaker frequently get reports of Native hunters killing for the fun of the hunt, or taking more than they need.

We must not emulate the ignorant non-Native hunter. We know better. We all know we cannot just keep taking from the earth without replenishing; we also know that every man, woman and child on this planet is much poorer today because of the death of that last little fish in a marsh in Banff national park.