Thread by @sunnshiiny

I watched the video. I’m not sure what you’re referring to.

https://twitter.com/CrippledU/status/1146563582139572224

Residential schools were a crime against FN community & children. We all agree on that. Harper govt suppressed the discovery documents and settled many claims of St. Anne’s for much less than what they were worth. That’s also an established fact.

At least one defence lawyer has been disbarred & several accused of over charging, or lending against the settlement and charging exorbitant fees in interest (loan sharking). An illegal practice, but commonly practiced on indigenous victims that live in abject poverty.

Crown refused to share documents, yet continues to want to settle out of court. I think that means without lawyers fees. If it doesn’t, it definitely means lawyers fees would be significantly reduced or the government would pay for the mediation services.

The lawyer in question, not the client, was forced to pay fees as a punitive measure to refrain from abusing court system. The client doesn’t pay any fees for the settlement to the lawyer in question. Meaning it does not come out of any settlement awarded to the client.

I guess it depends on whether you believe possession of those papers/report is more important than getting compensation in the hands of the victims.

St. Anne’s was one of the very worst in terms of abuse. Adjudicators were not given the files detailing the horrendous abuse.

While you can say “Government of Canada” fraudulently suppressed relevant information to reduce payouts to victims of some of the worst abuse, it actually matters WHO in government did this and which government was in power when those files were suppressed.

From MSM articles & Adjudicator files, it seems the current Liberal government wants to forego the court route and settle through mediation. But the defence lawyer pursued a court process to acquire the documents. Probably to maximize the compensation.

That is self serving, since the lawyer takes a cut of the settlement. Seems the LPC would prefer the settlement go to the client/victim. Which is why the lawyer was made to pay fees, to deter lawyers from taking advantage of victims & claiming a large portion of the settlement.

Apparently, the “60’s Scoop” settlements have similar problems with lawyers maximizing their profit without consideration of the victims.

There are several reports in MSM documenting this abuse for both residential school survivors and 60’s Scoop victims.

I can’t speak to the reluctance of LPC to share the documents. Maybe they are embarrassed or it was just to stop lawyers from hurting victims more. iDK.

Perhaps the victims can request the documents be included in any settlement they negotiate with the Government.

If they do, a book deal or documentary detailing the St. Anne residential school abuses could be produced and the profits shared by the victims of St. Anne. As well as informing the public about the horrific abuses endured by FN children.

As for Charlie Angus. He’s a failed leadership NDP MP looking to improve his own political capital and smearing the current government to inflict maximum damage to do so. Singh is an ineffective leader and won’t last long at the helm.

Angus was JWR’s loudest and most vehement critic on her performance as MOJAG, but since SNC he’s her most ardent supporter, newly convinced of her integrity, honesty and ethical principles? That seems a bit suspect, to me.

Check news reports from prior to January 2019. He criticized both Cannabis and Assisted Dying legislation and MOJAG for making so many mistakes. In fact, he criticizes every Liberal policy. Show me one he approves of.

Yesterday you & another twitter user questioned what I thought the FN agenda was. I want to clarify; it’s only the FN who are working with CPC who are facilitating this agenda.

Much evidence shows this subset of FN are self serving & have bought into the “free market” ideology.

These individuals are Consequentialist Libertarians. Selfish, greedy, self-serving; they believe in maximizing their own wealth, but, because they are indigenous, they know how to tell fellow indigenous what they want to hear.

Other individuals, settler Canadians & politicians looking to climb the ladder for power; they too are practiced in telling you what you want to believe. It’s just normal politics to them and the rewards are their own personal achievements.

I’m a 51 year old indigenous woman. It’s taken me a long time to see past my indigenous upbringing to be able to recognize mainstream cultural attitudes regarding social interactions. You could say I went to the school of hard knocks, and I have the scars to prove it.

As a child I was taught to respect others by telling my truth. Family wore their heart on their sleeve & we didn’t lie or cheat one another. We relied on each other and supported each other. I was 20 before I figured out how different and deceptive mainstream communication is.

It took me 20 years to understand how to function in mainstream society without getting used, taken advantage of and profoundly hurt. That journey was painful & difficult. But through it, I learned mainstream politics and how mainstream thinks and acts.

Actions I took quite personally were just how many people in the mainstream function. I stopped trusting everything I was told at face value like I did in my own community. I learned very few people speak their truth. It makes them too vulnerable.

It took some getting used to. My husband is white. We’ve had some wicked arguments because he learned to communicate in mainstream and I didn’t. But he kept trying and I did too.

My point in telling you my truth... Don’t trust what any politician says to you at face value.

It doesn’t matter if they are LPC, NDP, GPC or CPC. They all lie. It’s often to hide their agenda. Politicians tell you what you want them to tell you. We need to read between the lines. That’s where the truth is. Inconsistency in messaging means they are hiding something.

Angus is looking to become NDP leader & replace Singh, May wants to expand her power & prestige, Scheer is plotting the demise of all indigenous rights, Trudeau is trying to preserve a relationship with all indigenous, but he’s blind to the level of profound mistrust he faces.

Trudeau is no different than the vast majority of mainstream Canadians who are oblivious to the plight of indigenous people. Of course reconciliation means something different to him. He just wants everyone to get along.

We’re a long ways from getting along, never mind trusting one another. Does he make mistakes and take things for granted. Yes. He’s white, privileged and has no real understanding of the day to day injustices indigenous people endure.

But he’s trying.

Are we trying?

That’s all we can expect in reconciliation. Expecting the relationship to change overnight is unrealistic. But that’s what some in the indigenous community tell us we should expect. Trudeau should have turned things around by now.

That’s wishful thinking. Impractical.

There will always be people who think they are better because they are white. When you believe them, that’s when you hurt yourself.

It took me 20 years to understand White culture. It will take that long or longer before we see real change.

But change is being made. Today a lot of mainstream Canadians condemned the racist actions of Calgary basketball referees & tournament organizers for banning an entire FN community from competing in the tournament.

They don’t know what else to do. But they reject that action.

That’s progress. Five years ago, in the midst of Harper government, that wouldn’t have made mainstream news. No one would know, no one would care.

But mainstream Canadians do care. More and more are voicing their disapproval.

Of course that doesn’t change that it happened.

And even profound changes in societal attitudes towards racism won’t eradicate the racists. Is that going to make those 50 FN kids feel better? Probably not. But maybe knowing more and more mainstream people recognize what we endure and are committed to protecting them might.

You were right, we are not enemies. We are fighting the same battle. Just from different places on the battlefield. I’m trying to bring awareness to mainstream because I can speak their language. But I never forget who I am.