Kelly McParland: Theresa Spence’s carefully woven cause starts to unravel

Kelly McParland | Jan 9, 2013 6:47 PM ET | Last Updated: Jan 9, 2013 10:02 PM ET
More from Kelly McParland | @KellyMcParland

• One of the first rules of trench warfare is to keep your head down. Stick it above the parapet and there’s likely someone out there ready to take aim.

Politics is a lot like trench warfare, but maybe no one told Theresa Spence. The Attawapiskat chief has been tempting fate for some time, inviting public examination of her remote native community and her leadership of it. For a while it worked in her favour. Lately she has appeared less “inspirational,” to borrow a word from former prime minister Paul Martin. On Wednesday, she just looked foolish.

Chief Spence announced she won’t attend a meeting Friday with other First Nations leaders and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, because Gov. Gen. David Johnston won’t there.

“We have sent a letter to Buckingham Palace, requesting that Queen Elizabeth II send forth her representative, which is the Governor General of Canada,” Chief Spence said in a statement.

“I will not be attending Friday’s meeting with the prime minister, as the Governor General’s attendance is integral when discussing Inherent and treaty rights.”

If she’d set out to deliberately provide ordinary Canadians with a glimpse of why successive governments have found it so difficult to deal with the very real problems facing Canada’s aboriginals, she couldn’t have done a better job. There is no reason on earth for the Governor General to attend a meeting at which public policy is to be discussed. Mr. Johnston is the Queen’s representative in Canada, but as any student armed with the most rudimentary understanding of Canadian government could tell you, his is a ceremonial position with no input into decision-making. He’s not the boss of the prime minister, nor is the Queen likely to offer instructions on how he should behave. The monarch, apparently unlike Chief Spence, has a firm grasp of Canada’s authority structure and constitution, and would never presume to intrude on its operation.

Chris Jackson/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II would never presume to intrude in Canada's affairs.

Again, maybe no one told Chief Spence. Or maybe she sensed her one-woman protest was in trouble, and was looking for an out. She has been huddled in a teepee on an island in the Ottawa River since Dec. 11, getting by on fish broth and tea. She vowed she wouldn’t give up her hunger strike until the Prime Minister agreed to meet her face-to-face. After resisting for several weeks, Mr. Harper agreed to the meeting this Friday. Chief Spence might have been wise at that point to declare victory and leave the details to others. Instead she continued to entertain visiting politicians like Mr. Martin and declaim on Canada’s failure to abide by its responsibilities to her people.

To her chagrin, someone leaked an audit on Appawapiskat’s financial records, which reflected badly on her and her co-manager and romantic partner, Clayton Kennedy. It found that tens of millions of dollars can’t be tracked, due to faulty record keeping. Although more than $100-million was poured into the community over a six-year period, it’s hard to track where it all went because there’s little or no record. Though a lack of records doesn’t necessarily mean fraud, it also can’t be dismissed if the money can’t be traced. If it there is no fraud, losing track of money on that scale suggests a worrying degree of sloppiness with tax dollars.

Upset at the revelations, Chief Spence quit accepting visitors, and some nosy journalists found they were no longer welcome on the island. Ottawa, she said, was “not acting in good faith.”

“This is a time of crisis and this government of the day is not taking indigenous peoples concerns seriously,” said spokesman Danny Metatawabin.

Canadians understand that $100-million buys a lot of housing, sanitation and health care, even on the shores of James Bay

But the government does take them seriously. You wouldn’t send someone $100-million if you didn’t take them seriously. Canadians also take native issues to heart. Very few of them have more than the most tentative understanding of the difficult issues, but they’re inclined towards sympathy based on the obvious poverty and hardship of life on many reserves, and a sense of historic guilt at their share of the responsibility. They want to do what’s right and they’re prepared to go a long way to correct the wrongs of the past.

However, they’re not completely gullible, and they understand that $100-million buys a lot of housing, sanitation and health care, even on the shores of James Bay. They appreciate that accountants may not be plentiful in native reserves, but losing track of tens of millions of dollars takes some doing. They know that the Prime Minister and his government run the country, not the Governor General or the Queen. And they know that if you demand to meet the Prime Minister, and succeed in forcing him to agree, you don’t just suddenly refuse to show up.

One of the complaints made about dealing with First Nations is that nothing is ever enough. No agreement ever solves problems. There’s always something more, some other offence, often intangible and difficult to comprehend, the origins lost in time. Chief Spence complains about a lack of respect, but fails to respect authentic efforts to help. After demanding to meet Mr. Harper, she refused a proposed session on Jan. 24. The date was moved up to suit her, and she agreed to attend. After some uncertainty, her spokesman confirmed Wednesday morning she still planned to be at the meeting. Then the release was issued saying she wouldn’t. How do you comply with conditions that keep changing?

Canadians still want to see justice for First Nations and a better life in places like Attawapiskat. But Chief Spence isn’t helping.

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