Start with stats
The government of Canada doesn't gather unemployment statistics on First Nations reserves because it's too costly and too hard to find people to interview? (Statscan Jobless Figures Exclude Reserves – Jan. 23).
I live on a reserve and I could find them lots of people to interview. There are only 400 residents in our reserve and I estimate 75 per cent of employable adults are currently unemployed. So, is it too hard to gather the information? Or too inconvenient? Including real information about the unemployed on reserves might reveal how big a problem it really is. Is this another case of "ignore the problem and it will go away"?
Unemployment is a real problem on reserve, as is low levels of education, housing conditions, poverty, food security etc. These problems won't go away if ignored. Acknowledging a problem is a first step to the solution.
If the government can provide employment subsidies to immigrant workers, should it not also provide employment subsidies for First Nations workers?
Sally Venne, Lac La Ronge Indian Band, Sask.
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To be clear. Not
Our PM confidently states: Canada Will Not Scale Back Operations In Iraq (Jan. 23). "But let me be clear, this a robust mission …"
In October, Canadians heard Chief of Defence Staff Tom Lawson comment: "I should be very clear, our special forces are a contingent of 69 over there …" Then just last Thursday, Gen. Lawson said: "To be clear, the situation on the ground has evolved …"
What Canadians are quickly understanding about our "robust" military mission in Iraq is that it is not "clear." While our PM plays cowboy, flippantly stating, "If those guys fire at us, we are going to fire back and we are going to kill them," Canadians may have to wait for body bags to return home before our mission becomes perfectly "clear."
Leo J. Deveau, Halifax
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Cold logic on Alaska
High marks to Trade Minister Ed Fast and the Harper government for moving quickly to put a stop to the misguided bid by Alaska's neophyte Governor to require that only U.S. steel and other materials be used in rebuilding the Alaskan ferries terminal on Canadian soil (Alaska Puts Ferry Terminal In B.C. On Hold Amid Trade Dispute – Jan. 22).
One can only imagine the outcry if the Canadian government had applied a comparable "buy Canadian" requirement to the portion of the massive Windsor-Detroit bridge project to be built on U.S. soil but financed by Canada. Ironically, U.S. regulations would've required that the project be limited to U.S. steel and other materials if the Governor of Michigan had not sensibly sought and quickly obtained a waiver.
Kudos to Canadian officials who promptly nipped this nonsense in the bud. Too bad Alaska ferry passengers will have to suffer.
Gordon Ritchie, former ambassador for trade negotiations, deputy negotiator of the Canada-U.S. free-trade agreement; Ottawa
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Race takes wing
Re Race Is On To Pick A National Bird (Jan. 23): Really? If an eminent ornithologist – named Dr. Bird, no less – says that the grey jay is also known as the whiskey jack, how can there be any doubt about the choice of Canada's national bird?
Allan Q. Shipley, Parksville, B.C.
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I nominate the diamond-throated gold digger. This "species" is found across Canada, is very adaptable, and shows no signs of becoming extinct.
Charles Crockford, Waterloo
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As Canadian snowbirds flock to warmer climes, I suggest the brown pelican as our national bird. By adapting what is already the national bird of the Turks and Caicos, we strengthen our relationship with those beautiful islands and give all Canadians a warm destination to view our new national symbol – killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.
Peter Dymond, Brampton, Ont.
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Just wondering: Were First Nations consulted? I bet the raven would have ranked higher.
Patrick Dwyer, Calgary
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David Bird said, "Just because people vote democratically doesn't mean they always make the right choice." What a hoot. I nominate wise old owl for national bird and hope it gets elected.
Barbara Parrott, Kingston
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Sharing's not enough
Re Resource Sharing Is An Idea Whose Time has Come (Jan. 23): The infusion of more capital will not help those on reserve who are chronically unemployed, unless it is directed to individuals and families for education, skills training and business development. With so many chiefs, consultants, lawyers and various hangers-around on the payroll, the money has and will continue to evaporate.
Also, with resource-based industries in decline, perhaps a manufacturing tax should be considered as a primary funding source.
Richard Zylka, Calgary
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However desirable resource revenue sharing may be, it is a necessary but not sufficient condition for securing the acquiescence of aboriginal communities in resource developments in their territories. Put bluntly, it's not only about money.
It is clear that many aboriginal leaders want to be real partners in what happens to the land, and that means having an important say in land use and development decisions – you could call it co-management, some degree of which is already present in modern treaties, but of course still unaddressed in huge swaths of Canada. Governments find it easier to share money than power, so will resist co-management until they are persuaded it is the only effective and fair way to make the notion of partnership real, and thus enhance the prospects for sustainable development of the nation's resources.
George Tough, former Ontario deputy minister of natural resources, Peterborough, Ont.
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Man, slammed
As a frequent observer of people's public behaviour (they are a fascinating bunch, generally, whether behaving badly or well), I agreed with much of what Kelli Korducki wrote about gender and public space entitlement (The Battle for Space – Life & Arts, Jan. 23).
Yes, women generally contain themselves more on transit or walking, but not always. When my partner and I approach a man and a woman together on the sidewalk (which is generally too narrow to accommodate four people side-by-side), I find that nine times out of 10, the woman won't move over. At all. Period.
Further breakdown of the statistics shows this pattern is heightened when the couple is holding hands.
I confess this has led to periodic episodes of shoulder-bumping on my part, and increased incidences of my hand slipping into my partner's when we approach one of these apparently oblivious couples and prepare to duke it out for the limited sidewalk space. Is it strength in numbers that inspires this phenomenon? The blindness that comes from love? I will leave that to other researchers to test.
Jim Gough, Toronto