Great...let's support this momentum.
best, 
Elizabeth
________________________________________
From: Social Determinants of Health [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Zakus [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2012 4:32 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [SDOH] More 'Idle no More' (Chief Spence's hunger strike: Open letter to PM Harper)

Hi. While I agree with the intent of this letter, the Minister of
Indian Affairs yesterday did offer to me with Chief Spence. Best,
david


David Zakus, BSc MES MSc PhD
Director, Global Health
Division of Community Engagement
Professor, Division of Preventive Medicine
Department of Medicine
Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
University of Alberta
t:  780.492.6348   f:  780.248.1163
[log in to unmask]

2-115 Edmonton Clinic Health Academy
11405-87 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada   T6G 1C9

Sent from my iPad

On 2012-12-27, at 13:26, Elizabeth McGibbon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
> Please consider sending ('signing') this open letter to PM Harper and Governor General David Johnston .
> Also welcome: Emails from colleagues in countries outside Canada.
> Please circulate widely.
>
> TO SIGN, send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] and include the following information:  i) your name ii) position, and iii) departmental/university affiliation
>
>
> Winnipeg, MB ­ Friday, December 21, 2012
> Open Letter to the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper and the Right Honourable Governor General David Johnston:
>
> We, as academics teaching in universities, witness the courageous and
> honourable actions of Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence
> to defend the land and Indigenous peoples of Canada. Chief Spence has
> said that she is willing to die for her people, and we will not stand
> silent while she starves to death on the doorstep of our Parliament.
> We call on our government to meet immediately with Chief Spence and to
> initiate a comprehensive plan to address the urgent situation in
> Aboriginal communities across this country.
>
> On December 11, 2012, Chief Theresa Spence began a hunger strike,
> calling the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper
> and the Right Honourable Governor General David Johnston to initiate
> immediate discussions and the development of action plans to address
> treaty issues with First Nations across Canada. Chief Spence wishes
> to raise concerns about the disregard of First Nations peoples by the
> Government of Canada, such as the continued failure to address poverty
> experienced in Indigenous communities, especially those living in
> rural and isolated communities. Chief Spence also wants to discuss
> recent bills that were passed in the legislature without First Nations
> consultation, including the omnibus Bill C-45 which included changes
> that removed all environmental protection from the vast majority of
> Canadian waterways, along with many other attacks on the environment.
>
> In addition to endangering the future of all Canadians, these changes
> violate Aboriginal and treaty rights by permitting the destruction of
> hunting and fishing economies. These concerns and others are clearly
> expressed in the Idle No More movement manifesto, which we encourage
> all Canadians to read and discuss in their communities.
>
> We have been saddened and ashamed to witness the way that Chief Spence
> has been ignored by our government. We have been deeply disappointed
> to observe the refusal of both the Prime Minister and the Governor
> General‹the Queen¹s representative‹to meet with her or acknowledge the
> importance of her concerns.
>
> We stand in solidarity with Chief Theresa Spence's attempts to change
> the abusive manner in which the Canadian Government has ignored,
> threatened, and bullied Indigenous peoples. As teachers interested in
> contributing to a just and sustainable future where the rights of all
> Canadians are respected, we recognize that Canada¹s history is one of
> exploitation, dispossession and marginalization of Indigenous peoples,
> denial of their rights and sovereignty, indifference to their
> suffering, and in many cases the destruction of their land. We also
> recognize the strength, resilience, and profound respect for Mother
> Earth that exist in Indigenous communities and welcome this current
> mobilization against the government-sponsored destruction of the
> environment.
>
> We urge all people of Canada to enter into respectful dialogues about
> Aboriginal rights and treaties, and to take meaningful action in your
> communities to ensure the honouring of our treaties, respect for
> self-determination, and the protection of our environment for the
> generations to come.
>
> See here to learn more about the Idle No More Movement:
> http://idlenomore1.blogspot.ca/
> To leave, manage or join list: https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=sdoh&A=1
>

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