Response to Radio Show on CIUT called "Indigenous Waves"

Here is my commentary in full to a show that aired on the U. of Toronto's CIUT radio station, called "Indigenous Waves." This particular episode of the show involved a discussion of the Idle No More movement, with guest Ian Campeau aka DeeJay NDN. Following the show, I expressed my opinion about the movement so far, and some of the antagonism voiced by Idle No More supporters towards any and all criticism leveled at Chief Spence. For those who don't know, Spence pretended to go on a life-threatening hunger strike, which turned out to be a mild form of sacred fast. She continued this manipulative protest action for 44 days, starting December 11, 2012, and ending on January 24, 2013. Throughout this period, Spence claimed to be approaching a state of imminent death, which became less and less believable as the weeks wore on.

Here is my response to the show that aired on January 21, 2013, on CUIT.

I listened to the entire show you aired on Mon., Jan. 21, 2013. I was very annoyed by the fact that the host (Susan Blight?) said some critics of Chief Spence (who you ALL carelessly label as trolls) have few followers on Twitter. Well, I am a critic of Spence for falsely advertising her hunger strike as a fast unto death and I happen to have fewer than 80 followers, because I am not famous, don’t use tricks to get followers, and wait for followers to follow me. The medicinal tea, lemon water, moose and fish broth, and vitamins that Chief Spence ingested over 44 days were never that harmful to her health, as proven by her very short visit to the hospital over the days 23 to 26 January. She tried to fool the media into exaggerating her precarious state of health, playing her “victim” role to the hilt. Maybe she can get an Academy Award for best Actress!

If she was serious about her sacred fast, and her supposed reverence for its significance, she would not have abused it as a tool for political advantage and deception. She shamed herself and all that indigenous people stand for, by abusing this sacred fast.

Please stop labeling any critics who abhor this shameful behaviour by Chief Spence, as trolls. I am not a troll. I am an intelligent, thoughtful, deep-thinking individual who happens to have a very good sense of what is honest and good vs. what is dishonest and crooked. Chief Spence is a self-absorbed, power-hungry individual who happened to go on a fake hunger strike, and thus duped everybody into thinking she was a saint, like Gandhi or Mother Teresa. Well, I have some news for you! Chief Spence is a fraud and a skunk, who deserves no honour and no praise for misusing her position as Chief to threaten a Prime Minister and a Governor General with suicide if they don’t comply with her wishes. 

I am so angry with this whole sordid situation, but instead of spreading hate and vitriol, I have simply used my rights as a citizen of Canada to express my opinion freely via social networks, to lay out the facts and the truth as I see it. All my criticisms were directed at the sham of a hunger strike that was falsely promoted into some sort of Jesus-like sacrifice unto death. It was far from that. In fact, my honest opinion is that Chief Spence knew she had failed as a Chief — failed her own people — and was looking for a sneaky way out of the mess, namely duping an entire nation into thinking she could be a martyr for indigenous people. Never was the Press and the Canadian populace more deceived than this.

Finally, I listened carefully to what DeeJayNDN had to say and was very impressed with his dedication to helping the cause of indigenous rights. My only concern is that he has a slightly inflated ego if he thinks that labeling all critics of Chief Spence as racist is OK. It is not OK, at least not with me. I had every right to be critical of the methods that Chief Spence employed to pull the wool over the eyes of ignorant Canadians. Let’s hope that this exercise in futility — staging a hunger strike when it was supposed to be a sacred fast — has woken up Canadians to the deviousness of some First Nations Chiefs, and will encourage them to realize that people like Atleo, Coon Come, and other sensible leaders are the ones who will finally be the mediators of solid progress in Indigenous Rights in Canada. The approach that Idle No More has taken thus far is far short of effective in garnering the sympathy of most Canadians, who, like me, think for themselves, do their own research and are skeptical of the mainstream media. Beware of your enemy, for if you continue to take Canadians for granted as ignorant, boorish and racist, your worst enemy is yourselves, since you have lost all credibility for solving the real problems of the 21st Century for indigenous peoples of Canada.

I posted the above comments on the website for Indigenous Waves, at Ian Campeau aka DeeJay NDN talks Idle No More racism in the mainstream and social media.