To the editor:
Re : Idle No More piece elicits strong responses," Letters, Jan. 13.
Mike Tropp's condemnation of the Idle No More movement focuses on money wasted by First Nations rather than the much larger sums wasted by the Department of Indian Affairs. First Nations are demanding better accountability from both their leaders and the government. Like many Canadians.
Tropp probably knows few First Nations people and little about the deadly impact of colonial policies promoting assimilation or segregation, if not extermination. He assumes that they are conveniently blaming white treatment in the past for their present shortcomings. We are all to a large extent tributary of our past and branded by it. However, the most encouraging aspect of the Idle No More movement is that the new generation is more interested in discussing the future than the past.
Settling issues regarding treaty and land rights to provide better living conditions for the First Nations would benefit all Canadians. The past needs to be reckoned with in order to move forward in the future.
Yvon Raoul, Vancouver
