“My mother, sisters and brothers and my children all need more attention than I have been able to provide”, Saganash said in his announcement. “I am unable to devote enough time to them, my constituents or my party and run the kind of campaign that I would like to run”, he added.

The M.P. for Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou noted that he had received “a warm reception and support from party members, but it is impossible to run a winning campaign as the favourite second choice. People send you good wishes, but they don’t send their money”, he said.

The first Indigenous person to run for leader of a major political party, Saganash noted ...]]> Citing several competing demands on his time and insufficient support to continue, Romeo Saganash announced today that he is withdrawing from the race to lead the New Democratic Party.

“My mother, sisters and brothers and my children all need more attention than I have been able to provide”, Saganash said in his announcement. “I am unable to devote enough time to them, my constituents or my party and run the kind of campaign that I would like to run”, he added.

The M.P. for Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou noted that he had received “a warm reception and support from party members, but it is impossible to run a winning campaign as the favourite second choice. People send you good wishes, but they don’t send their money”, he said.

The first Indigenous person to run for leader of a major political party, Saganash noted that there had been tremendous reaction among Aboriginal people, but the effort of reaching communities across Canada required an infrastructure that was impossible to build in a single campaign. “There remains much work to do to bring this community to the party, but a strong foundation of hope and engagement now exists. I am sure this will continue”, he said.

“I will endorse whichever candidate can best move the vision forward that I have for our party”, Saganash said. “Building on the support we have gained in Quebec, reaching out to rural and suburban voters, and engaging the forty percent of Canadians who did not vote in the last election will all be important steps for the next leader”.

“My run for leadership may be over, but my run against Harper’s politics is just starting”

Saganash concluded by offering his deepest thanks to the many volunteers who worked on his campaign, to the NDP members and MPs who backed his candidacy, and to the people who joined the NDP to support him and share his vision of a better Canada.

“I want to offer a strong sense of how I lead,” Saganash said. “This is my vision. These are the principles that I apply in making decisions, the approach that I take when working with others, and my priorities for action.”

Some of these priorities include: stopping violence against women; the need for a national energy strategy; ending the stigma of disability; supporting new Canadians; the importance of unity. It also warns of the dangers when people lose faith in nation building.

“I want a system that allows Canadians to feel that they are forming government,” he said, “If ...]]> When will Canada prosper? When we build new relationships with each other. Today, New Democratic Party leadership candidate Romeo Saganash released an exceptional statement. Not a typical platform – filled with program promises for every issue – Saganash instead starts a conversation with Canadians.

“I want to offer a strong sense of how I lead,” Saganash said. “This is my vision. These are the principles that I apply in making decisions, the approach that I take when working with others, and my priorities for action.”

Some of these priorities include: stopping violence against women; the need for a national energy strategy; ending the stigma of disability; supporting new Canadians; the importance of unity. It also warns of the dangers when people lose faith in nation building.

“I want a system that allows Canadians to feel that they are forming government,” he said, “If there is one thing above all else that my life experiences have taught me, it is that if we act with respect for all our relations, we will come together to share in a more prosperous future.”

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For more information, please contact: Jude MacDonald jude@saganash

“We absolutely need a fair tax system in this country” said Saganash. “But potential revenue also comes in the form of exemptions, deductions, deferrals, concessions, credits, and rebates. We can’t ignore this part of the issue.”

There are currently 236 such loopholes on the books in Canada. Canada’s parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page estimates these loopholes cost as $152 billion last year alone.

“Under my plan, each Canadian could earn a moderate living before paying any tax,” Saganash said. “The system would never again drive a hard-working person into poverty.”

“Through taxes, we gain a country and neighbourhoods where we look after each other. It’s only fair that the richest among us, who benefit the ...]]> NDP Leadership candidate Romeo Saganash outlined his plan today to keep over a hundred billion dollars from slipping through the loopholes that drain the Canadian economy.

“We absolutely need a fair tax system in this country” said Saganash. “But potential revenue also comes in the form of exemptions, deductions, deferrals, concessions, credits, and rebates. We can’t ignore this part of the issue.”

There are currently 236 such loopholes on the books in Canada. Canada’s parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page estimates these loopholes cost as $152 billion last year alone.

“Under my plan, each Canadian could earn a moderate living before paying any tax,” Saganash said. “The system would never again drive a hard-working person into poverty.”

“Through taxes, we gain a country and neighbourhoods where we look after each other. It’s only fair that the richest among us, who benefit the most, are willing to respect the same rules.”

For more information contact: Jude MacDonald, jude@saganash.ca

“I get asked about this a lot more than people might think. It¹s a big issue among New Democrats and I’m surprised that it hasn¹t come up at our debates so far, especially when you look at the Conservative government’s short-sighted and clumsy approach to diplomacy,” says Saganash.

TThe statement is available here.

There were two visions for the Crown-First Nations relationship at the summit meeting yesterday in Ottawa: assimilation and reconciliation.

And there was one over-riding concern: trust.

From Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development John Duncan, we heard self-congratulation for the Conservative record over the past six years and a desire to implement incremental change under the framework of the Indian Act. Their suggested changes include privatization of reserve lands and legislation that, rather than supporting self-government, imposes provincial rules on reserves.

As Regional Chief Jody Wilson-Raybould eloquently rebutted, such changes are unilaterally imposed, emphasize individual rights and continue the colonialist, racist regime established in the 1876 Indian Act. For so long as the Indian Act governs, the policy of assimilation will not change.

As anyone paying attention to the diminishing quality of life ...]]> Media Release: Crown-First Nations Summit

There were two visions for the Crown-First Nations relationship at the summit meeting yesterday in Ottawa: assimilation and reconciliation.

And there was one over-riding concern: trust.

From Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development John Duncan, we heard self-congratulation for the Conservative record over the past six years and a desire to implement incremental change under the framework of the Indian Act. Their suggested changes include privatization of reserve lands and legislation that, rather than supporting self-government, imposes provincial rules on reserves.

As Regional Chief Jody Wilson-Raybould eloquently rebutted, such changes are unilaterally imposed, emphasize individual rights and continue the colonialist, racist regime established in the 1876 Indian Act. For so long as the Indian Act governs, the policy of assimilation will not change.

As anyone paying attention to the diminishing quality of life on many reserves knows, the Conservatives have nothing to be proud of in their record. That does not build trust.

From National Chief Shawn Atleo, we heard a desire to reset the existing dynamic, with a return to the original nation-to-nation relationship embedded in the treaties, the Royal Proclamation of 1763, Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. These are the source documents of reconciliation.

And as my friend Ovide Mercredi’s speech on behalf of the treaties pointed out, the answer is not to be found with incrementalism, it is about honouring promises long-since broken. It is about rebuilding trust.

While the Prime Minister says he has endorsed the UN Declaration, his accompanying language claims, wrongly, that it has no legal force and effect in Canada. Such an assertion fatally undermines the endorsement. That does not build trust.

The continued imposition of a Conservative legislative agenda that can only result in the assimilation of first peoples does not build trust.

The Penner Report in 1983, the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in 1996, and the repeated words of First Nations citizens and leaders year after year have pointed the same way forward. There must be empowerment of First Nations and an end to interfering control from distant bureaucrats. As Chief Wilson-Raybould said, we are not wards of the state. Only in rejection of paternalism can we move toward reconciliation.

The Prime Minister is right about one thing. There must be concrete action, and that is the basis upon which this federal government will be judged.

There must be mutual agreement toward a better future and that means collaborative legislation, self-government agreements, and honouring the treaties.

There must be a sharing of the wealth of resource development on traditional territories and that means resource revenue sharing on a government-to-government basis, not a passing of responsibility to private interests.

There must be an abiding attention to protecting our fragile environment and its impact on the health and livelihoods of the people who live on the land.

There must be respect for the legal and historical rights of First Nations, just as First Nations continue to respect the rights of all Canadians.

There must be reconciliation and an end to assimilation.

That is how trust will be built.

Building trust between peoples has been my life’s work. I believe it can be done.
That is why I am running to become Leader of the Official Opposition and Canada’s next Prime Minister.

This is not unusual.

People may recall the stories about Kashechewan that were in all the media a few years ago, or Pikangikum. There are many others. Sandy Bay First Nation in Manitoba wants people to know they are in similar circumstances.

Estimates are that 80,000 new houses are needed and similar numbers are in need of major ...]]> I was born and raised on the Quebec side of James Bay, across from Attawapiskat, a community that has been in the news lately. A lot of credit goes to people like my colleague, Charlie Angus, for raising the profile of the housing crisis there and getting people involved. If you haven’t heard yet, Attawapiskat is a First Nation where many people are without homes for the winter. They will go without running water. They have gone without a school for a generation of children.

This is not unusual.

People may recall the stories about Kashechewan that were in all the media a few years ago, or Pikangikum. There are many others. Sandy Bay First Nation in Manitoba wants people to know they are in similar circumstances.

Estimates are that 80,000 new houses are needed and similar numbers are in need of major repair across the country. There are over 100 communities living under boil water advisories. There are over 40 First Nations that have no school for their children to attend.

Embarrassed by the media and public attention, the Harper government leapt into action this week and immediately blamed the people of Attawapiskat. Basically, they said that big money had been spent there, so we’ll solve the situation by sending in an accounting firm to run the government.

Others have analyzed that spending to demonstrate the fallacy on which Harper is relying, an argument that really shouldn’t need to be made. Does anyone think people would choose to live this way? Or is it just that Indians can’t be trusted to manage money?

Outside the government, people are mobilizing, donating items of use, and the Red Cross has gotten involved. Most are treating this as the crisis it is, pointing to the avoidable tragedy and urgently pleading for help to stop it from happening. Let’s hope that succeeds.

But what about the dozens of communities where the media aren’t paying attention? Will crises come and go relatively unnoticed? And what about stopping this from happening over and over again?

That is where people need to see the bigger picture and focus on solutions.

The bigger picture explains why Attawapiskat should not be seen in isolation. The situation there is the result of deliberate policies.

It begins with the Crown breaking the partnerships with First Nations that formed the basis of the treaties and ignoring their own laws, like the Royal Proclamation of 1763. Yes, history matters if you want to understand how we got to this point.

It is followed by a policy of segregation. They invented the idea of “status” Indians, as defined by the Crown, and created reserves, where the Crown chose what it thought was valueless land and compelled people to stay there.

That was followed by the policy of assimilation, where the Crown reversed itself and started encouraging people to leave reserves to join the rest of Canadian society. Encouragement took the form of legislation that stripped people of their “status” and denied them the right to live with their families and communities if they did things like get an education.

The policy of assimilation is still in place. Only now, the Government of Canada uses talk of formal equality — treating everyone exactly the same — to justify treating First Nations like they have no Aboriginal or treaty rights, despite the Constitution of Canada and the UN Declaration.

So, there will be no partnership with First Nations to support them in self-government. There will be no co-operation in planning and implementing effective long-term strategies to make reserves liveable. There will be no money to help catch up from decades of neglect and mismanagement by a distant bureaucracy. There will be red tape and catch-22s and bureaucratic inertia. The plan is that the reserves will fail and people will have to move away. Those who don’t die first.

That plan is what John Duncan is hinting at when he talks about “unviable reserves.” They’re pressing to close them down and send people into the cities as they tried with Kashechewan. They are introducing legislation to privatize reserve lands so that they can be sold or taken in default of loans. The fact that this will make resources, like the diamonds around Attawapiskat, more readily and cheaply available to developers is pure coincidence, I’m sure.

There are solutions. Working in the original spirit of partnership, supported rather than constrained in self-governance, First Nations can move forward. The deal that I helped negotiate between the Grand Council of the Crees and the Government of Quebec called La Paix des Braves has achieved some of that and is benefitting people from all communities in the area, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, right now. It is not the only example. That is what is meant by reconciliation.

On the other side of the same bay from Attawapiskat, their Cree cousins are not living in the same squalor. It can happen elsewhere.

LONDON – Three years ago, Stephen Harper bragged about giving a $5 million federal tax break to US manufacturing giant Caterpillar. This New Years Day, the company’s subsidiary locked out 400 employees in London, demanding that they accept over 50 per cent in wage cuts and other benefits. The future of the plant is now in question.

Where is Prime Minister Stephen Harper, now that he is needed?

According to New Democrat leadership candidate Romeo Saganash, “The Harper Government likes to talk about families, about safety, about support for communities. But here we have people in real danger, families threatened, a community in crisis. But the Harper Government isn’t in Ottawa for the people. Instead, it’s business as usual.

“Whether it’s the housing crisis in Attawapiskat or the lockout in Alma – or ...]]> Conservatives’ corporate culture benefitting profitable companies but costs Canadians too much

LONDON – Three years ago, Stephen Harper bragged about giving a $5 million federal tax break to US manufacturing giant Caterpillar. This New Years Day, the company’s subsidiary locked out 400 employees in London, demanding that they accept over 50 per cent in wage cuts and other benefits. The future of the plant is now in question.

Where is Prime Minister Stephen Harper, now that he is needed?

According to New Democrat leadership candidate Romeo Saganash, “The Harper Government likes to talk about families, about safety, about support for communities. But here we have people in real danger, families threatened, a community in crisis. But the Harper Government isn’t in Ottawa for the people. Instead, it’s business as usual.

“Whether it’s the housing crisis in Attawapiskat or the lockout in Alma – or struggling communities anywhere in Canada – it’s clear that these Conservatives do not share our values. New Democrats know that people matter. We want to see a country that works together, not one where we are pitted against each other.”

Romeo Saganash will be in London, Ontario on Saturday, January 14 at 10 am. Joined by London-Fanshawe NDP MP Irene Mathyssen, he will walk shoulder-to-shoulder on the picket lines with the locked out working people of Electro-Motive Diesel, a subsidiary of Caterpillar. The NDP stands with Londoners, asking this profitable global corporation to return in good faith to the bargaining table – the same company that Stephen Harper once used as an emblem for his policies.

• Caterpillar’s Inc.’s worldwide third-quarter profits grew by 44% over last year, coming in at $1.14 billion.
• The company has seen similar growth in sales and orders, and expects sales for the year of $58 billion, and projects further growth in the coming year.
• Electro-Motive Diesel’s last offer to employees would cut wages by more than half, from $35 to $16.50, as well as slashing pensions and benefits.
• 780 Rio Tinto Alcan workers in Alma have been locked out of their plant since December 31, 2011.
• Attawapiskat declared a state of emergency due to substandard housing in October, 2011.

Please contact Cam Holmstrom, 613-292-8109 for more information, or to set up an interview with Mr. Saganash.

Under Laferriere’s candidacy the Brant NDP won the 2010 leader’s challenge for signing up the most new party members and was named most-improved riding by former NDP Leader Jack Layton. Laferriere was cited by a Global News/Politwitter.ca study as “the most engaged” New Democrat on social media in the 2011 race. Laferriere, a social worker, was also nominated for a J.S Woodsworth Award in 2011 for anti-racist community development work done in Brantford, Six Nations and Thunder Bay.

“I believe in the NDP as a unifying force in Canadian politics. I believe in ...]]> Marc Laferriere, the 2011 Federal NDP Candidate for Brant, announced today his support for NDP Leadership Candidate Romeo Saganash. The announcement was made as the two were visiting youth at the Ontario New Democratic Youth Convention in Sudbury, On.

Under Laferriere’s candidacy the Brant NDP won the 2010 leader’s challenge for signing up the most new party members and was named most-improved riding by former NDP Leader Jack Layton. Laferriere was cited by a Global News/Politwitter.ca study as “the most engaged” New Democrat on social media in the 2011 race. Laferriere, a social worker, was also nominated for a J.S Woodsworth Award in 2011 for anti-racist community development work done in Brantford, Six Nations and Thunder Bay.

“I believe in the NDP as a unifying force in Canadian politics. I believe in the grassroots and I believe New Democrats can become government and deliver on the promise of a new kind of politics for all of Canada. I know that Romeo Saganash shares that vision. He’s a man of action who can get the job done,” Laferriere said. “Today I am not just announcing my endorsement of Romeo but I will also be backing up that endorsement with diligent work as an active member of his leadership campaign team.”

”I am very grateful for the support of a terrific organizer like Marc Laferriere. He is the kind of candidate – and Brant the kind of riding – that is an example of how the NDP will win the next 60 seats and form government in the next election,” said Saganash who will be the first leadership candidate to visit Brant Riding.

Saganash will be visiting Brantford and Six Nations on Monday Nov 21st and will be holding public events including a Town Hall-style meeting at Woodland Cultural Centre’s Orientation Room beginning at 6:30pm.

The deals Romeo Saganash helped negotiate for Cree communities in northern Quebec improved conditions for aboriginal Canadians and are models for the rest of the country, according to the NDP leadership contender.

Saganash said in a recent interview with CBC News he wants to introduce what he helped accomplish in northern Quebec to the rest of Canada to boost the economy while protecting the environment and taking other social interests into consideration.