Racism robs Natives of megaproject jobs

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Racism and government bungling has robbed Native people of a chance to get involved in oil sands megaproject, Native leaders recently told a parliamentary hearing.

Native leaders are worried the same thing will happen at the proposed $4.1 billion Oslo project unless conditions and government attitudes are changed.

Robert Cree, chief of the Athabasca Tribal Corporation which represents about 4,000 treaty Indians in the region, told the House of Commons Energy Committee that the federal and provincial governments have "failed miserably" in providing training programs to help Natives take advantage of job opportunities.

Both senior governments "have refused" to participate in Native proposed tripartite - Natives, governments, and business - planning for the Oslo projects, said a tribal council brief to the committee.

Although Natives account for about 10 per cent of the population in the area, the number of Natives employed by megaprojects amounts to almost nothing, the committee was told.

"Without preplanning in the area of training, employment, and business opportunities, we can be assured that Aboriginal people will be left out of the starting gate of the Oslo project - as they have been left out of the starting gates of Syncrude, Suncor, and Cold Lake projects."

But it's not just governments that are to blame for the low number of Indians working at the megaprojects.

Tony Punko, Athabasca Tribal Corporation executive director, told Windspeaker that corporate racism must also share the blame.

"There's racism, but they don't want to admit it," he says of oil sands companies.

However, the numbers speak for themselves, says Punko. "When you have such a small percentage of Native people working .....what else can you conclude."

Those jobs are usually at the lower end of the job scale, he ways, and involve mostly simple labor and maintenance work rather than management and mechanical opportunities.

It's almost impossible for Natives to climb up the job ladder, says Punko.

He says it's time governments and the companies listened to Native requests for participation - or face the consequences.

"We're sich and tired of the same thing happening over and over," he says, warning that unless major changes are made "within the next year" Native frustration could turn ugly.

Cree echoes the warning. He told the committee that not only has Canada abdicated its responsibilities, as outlined in treaty rights, towards Natives, but is allowing energy and forestry interests to intrude on traditional Indian land.

He says this has" "severely undermined our traditional lifestyle and traditional economy" - still a vital part of Native life in central and northern regions - but has been done "without compensation, without any consultation with regard to our rights."

And Natives are mad about it, he warns.

"This creates anger, frustration, and a lack of belief that the Canadian government is prepared to respect the law or acknowledge and meets its obligations under Treaty, under law, or under any sense of morality in Canada," he says. "This must change."

Chief Dorothy McDonald, of the Fort McKay Band, echoed concerns about the lack of federal job training help for Natives, blasted the companies for polluting the air and water and complained bitterly about stalled Indian land Claims in the region.

She told the committee her band has a "valid outstanding land claim" that Ottawa is ignoring.

McDonald warns that unless Ottawa gets off its butt in areas of land claims, the environment, and Native job training, that "Oka is not an incident but a symptom of the anger and frustration all our people feel in dealing with Canada."