National Day of Transformation
Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The stated goal of the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) established in 2008 is to provide for public mourning, forgiveness, and healing.
However, Rev. Kevin Annett of the ITCCS says the government and named churches are obstructing justice, defrauding the public, and concealing crimes against humanity because the TRC is a restricted inquiry into the crimes of the residential schools which has neither the mandate nor the legal power to conduct an effective investigation.
Perhaps, that is why the Idle No More movement arose in Canada in 2012 to protest Canadian policies toward Native peoples. Canada is still not "hearing" or addressing the concerns of the Native peoples of Canada through its TRC which is primarily cosmetic.
Rev. Kevin Annett, Secretary of the ITCCS which filed the Case of Genocide in Canada shows that these are issues that concern all Canadians because the government is allowing corporations to destroy the old growth forests.
The Idle No More Movement for Dummies says:
"First and foremost, the Idle No More Movement is about protecting the Earth for all people from the carnivorous and capitalistic spirit that wants to exploit and extract every last bit of resources from the land. Therefore, anybody who cares about this Earth should be interested in the Idle No More Movement.
It was a response to Canada’s Bill C-45, which overhauled the Navigable Waters Protection Act and removed protections for many waters that go through First Nations. Changing the Act literally moves the emphasis of the protection—it morphs from protecting the waterways to protecting the navigation on those waterways.
Now, instead of 30-some thousand lakes being protected under the old Act, only 97 lakes will be protected. As Canadian Parliament Member Kirsty Duncan eloquently states, “The days when Canadians take an endless abundance of fresh water for granted are numbered…”
These mobilized Native people wanted to ensure that children two, three, and twelve generations from now would have clean water. The children who will benefit from the Native mobilization are not just Native children—it’s for all children. Lakes and rivers tend to be either clean or dirty for Native and non-Native children alike.
It’s not a Native thing or a white thing, it’s an Indigenous worldview thing. It’s a “protect the Earth” thing. For those transfixed on race, you’re missing the point. The Idle No More Movement simply wants kids of all colors and ethnicities to have clean drinking water. It’s also not a “Canada” or “United States” thing. Multinational corporations do not care about borders and neither should we.
Despite legislation to intended to prevent pollution, corporations pollute freely with almost complete impunity and our children are the ones who suffer. We likewise should not care about borders—we are mobilizing on both sides because we understand that what we do affects one another.
We will continue to aggressively organize and be Idle No More about the attempts to destroy our sacred lands, whether its Keystone XL Pipeline or Tar Sands Mining in Canada. We will be Idle No More on SSA Marine’s attempts to create a deep-water shipping terminal for water and air poisoning dirty coal in the Lummi waters near Puget Sound, WA or any disrespect to our lands. We’re not going anywhere, we’re not going to be silent, we’re Idle No More!....
This has nothing to do with race or ethnicity. Native people did begin this movement—energized by Chief Spence’s sacrifice and sparked by the Four Founders’ initiative. Yet this movement belongs to anybodywho wants to stand up for the Earth and women and also make a positive change in the community. That means that non-Natives are certainly welcome. We need non-Natives involved to save this Earth, to give our children and grandchildren the same quality of life that we have enjoyed. It’s about clean water. It’s about clean air. It’s about safety for all women. It’s about making a positive change in our communities."
