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Plan for the future

Cece Hodgson-McCauley
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Monday, June 23, 2008

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All the best to Fred Carmichael on his retirement. He is like my friend Harry Deneron. They are like two giants as leaders in the aboriginal world.

Retirement? What is that? Just watch Fred, he will no doubt become busier. He deserves a big thank-you from us all.

I enjoyed his speech. Reading the paper my only surprise is he didn't mention the Mackenzie road, which needs to be completed, and he didn't mention the Mackenzie Aboriginal Corporation (MAC). I know it was an oil and gas show, but they could have squeezed the road in, right?

I always enjoy Russel Newmark's comments in the paper. He holds no punches. Anyhow, I attended a resource development impact group meeting in Norman Wells on Thursday.

They had tons of information on everything, on the Joint Review Panel, exploring the delays and more delays and the frustrations. It is not entirely the panel's fault. Fault lies at many levels - industry, aboriginals and government. Politics. Everyone must do their homework and be aware of what the left and right hand is doing.

One big question from the aboriginals is, are the aboriginal representatives they put on these boards qualified? There are many issues and arguments and are all the applications in? Are they really ready?

Another important issue is the creation of new parks. Someone has to really sit down at the grassroots level and explain to the aboriginals the pros and cons of parks. Once a park is created it is forever.

In the future your generations will lose their way of life as trappers and hunters and lose their taste for wild meat, which many of our young people already have, preferring pizza, hotdogs and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Even I have almost lost my taste for rabbit.

And, you will need the oil, gas, iron, copper, etc. that is in the park and you need to mine it because your generation will need a wage economy to make a living.

But they cannot touch all the wealth underneath the park because it is set in law. You must think of the next generation. Times are changing, the old ways are dying. The whole world is changing and the NWT is, they say, the future of Canada. The world is also over-populated, so you must think realistically when planning for the future.

With the mentality of leaders in the Sahtu we hear no companies really want to work there. Why? You people at the grassroots better take a good hard look at your so-called leaders. They are not leaders, they don't plan for the future. They only plan for today - how much money will they make sitting on a board, or spend on trips to meetings, travel, stays in hotels, honorariums, casinos, shopping, eating like kings. This is what people from little communities' images are. They stay at home and never get a chance to go someplace, only the lucky few. I've heard this so many times.

So you people who live in communities and never get a chance to get involved, be brave, speak up for your future generations.

By the way, we hear the premier and our MLA the honorable Norman Yakeleya are coming to Norman Wells on July 4. If they are going to talk about the highway and tell us it will be built, I don't want to hear that it will be built in 10 years or so. Studies on the job have been done for many, many years now.

All the GNWT has to do now is put all their support behind the MAC group and convince the prime minister that he must produce that irrevocable letter of agreement and support to the MAC groups so they will have our road complete in two years. My dream.

- Cece Hodgson-McCauley is the founding chief of the Inuvik Dene band and will remain honourary chief for life. She can be reached at fax (867) 587-3003 or by phone (867) 587-3037.