From Leonard Peltier to Wab Kinew: how the hang-around-the-forts have commandeered the Indigenous narrative

One of Canada’s pre-eminent public intellectuals, a small pond to be sure, wrote a book about eight years ago positing that Indigenous Canadians, often colloquially referred to as “Indians,” were poised to make a great comeback. And here we are today, with a provincial government led by an official, card-carrying, Canadian Indian. Wab Kinew, Premier of Manitoba. The ten Canadian Preems have been meeting in Halifax to build a common front against PM Fluffy’s non-stop incursions into areas of provincial jurisdiction, like health care and education, among others. So the CBC headline Manitoba Premier urges Trudeau to move up NATO spending caught my attention. Whoa! What’s this? Isn’t Wab straying into Justin’s lane? After all, national defence is strictly a federal file. What gives? What gives is that the Preems are in a sweat because they’re afraid of a Trump presidency. Trump has made some serious anti-NATO noises, and in order to not alienate Trump, and thereby impair their provincial economies, we should ramp up our NATO contributions pronto. Really? The Farm Manager and I were enjoying the late afternoon sun out on the stoop, and got into a lengthy debate about the state of our education system. I spent 25 years teaching in that system, and the FM still works there as an ed assistant with “challenged” kids. She gripes non-stop that the system no longer serves the needs of those students. Twenty-five years ago there were serious supports for kids. That’s no longer something we can afford. Just one example; the waiting list for one-on-one support for autistic kids is so long, most of them will age out of the system before they get any. But Wab Kinew, who should know a thing or two about kids needing more support, thinks we should bust a nut to hit NATO’s 2% of GDP spending targets. And the Trudeau-Blair brain trust is pushing hard in that direction, at least in their PR. Just during the NATO summit, we heard about 12 new submarines and 90 icebreakers! Really? Between that and our commitment to 88 F-35s and a new surface combatant fleet, we’re looking at perhaps $500 billions in spending! And this while we can’t provide support for autistic kids? While we can’t solve our housing crisis? While millions of Canadian don’t have a family doctor? While food banks and tent cities are ever-growing? C’mon, Wab… you can do better! But maybe it’s not that simple. Maybe there’s a price to pay to sit at the master’s table. The “comeback” might require you to leave your principles at the door. Which brings me to another CBC headline, the one announcing the Assembly of First Nations stepping away from their support for Leonard Peltier. Peltier has been locked up for 50 years after Fluffy’s father, the much celebrated champion of human rights, succumbed to US pressure to extradite him on a very dubious charge that he murdered two FBI agents. In making this decision, the AFN sides with the FBI against the substantial documentation from Peltier defenders. Check out this CBC Fifth Estate episode from 1987. So much for “The Comeback.”