A Man on a Mission

Shawn Brant probably will not be happy till the land is covered in blood. The unfortunate part is, it more than likely won't be his...

It will be that of innocent by standers, police officers doing their duty or his blind followers.

Let me be perfectly clear. I am a white man. A first generation Canadian on my fathers side and forth generation on my mothers side. My heritage may not be long in this land but my roots are deep. Both my great grandfather and my grand father came to Canada a did pretty much exactly the same things. They purchased land in undeveloped parts of what is now Alberta and homesteaded. They cleared the land mostly by pure physical labour. They worked long hard hours to turn forest into farm land. They built homes from the timber they cut and then worked the fields hoping to make ends meet. They became Canadians and were very proud of doing so. Their goals were simple, to make a better life for themselves and their families. It was not easy, nor did they expect it to be. They never went looking for handouts. When things did not work out for my grandfather in farming, he turned back to what he knew, coal mining. He packed up the family and moved clear across Alberta to a small coal mining community and started over again. Our families may not have had the greatest of lives but they never suffered, as they were always willing to do what needed to be done. It is known as working for a living. It seems to have rubbed off on all the generations that followed as we all have done the same thing. I can happily say that none of my relatives have ever gone looking for handouts to get them by.

I tell you all of this, as I simply cannot fathom the attitude of the "you owe me" crowd. I don't care if it comes from the First Nations people or anyone else in Canada. No one owes you anything! You get what you earn. If you want a free ride, then you should live in poverty and struggle. If you want a better life, get off your ass and earn it, the same way the rest of do! Yes there are exceptions... eg: the severely handicapped... although I do know a couple of people who are just that and they work harder than a lot of people out there including myself.

A year or so ago I worked out what each First Nations member would receive if the tax dollars allotted for INAC were divided up evenly amongst them instead of going into the bureaucracy. It worked out to something like $12,000.00 to every single man woman and child. A family of four would receive $48,000.00 tax free dollars. Now add the average Income of a single earner family household of $46,699.00(2001 statcan) and you have $94,699.00. That is $21,879.00 more than the average family with two income earners ($72,820.00 2001 statcan)

Tell me now that the Canadian government does not give enough to the people of First Nations. The money is not the problem if you ask me. It is the system that is the problem. Ever seen a poor bureaucrat? How about a poor Chief? Me neither...

The whole focus of this issue is wrong. Dead wrong. Face up to the facts. No matter how much Natives receive, it will never be enough for some. They will always demand more. They will not settle for anything less than getting the whole country back. Like any of it actually belonged to them in the first place. Natives and non natives have fought for, won and lost land as long as man has walked on this earth. It continues to this day. Anyone remember the USSR?

Canada still has no property rights. No one in this country can legally own anything. We are allowed to have possession of things as long as the government allows it. We are all screwed, natives and non natives alike.

Get use to it...