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But the issues go well beyond Attawapiskat, Spence said in a statement.

The Harper government has embarked on an “aggressive, assimilatory legislative agenda” that flies in the face of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, she complained.

And she accused Duncan’s office of misleading the public about the social realities facing Canada’s First Nations.

Spence, whose northern Ontario community was at the centre of an international media storm last year because of a winter housing crisis, is calling on Ottawa to withdraw recent legislation that she says was imposed on aboriginals, and to reverse its decision to cut funding to First Nation organizations and communities.

Thousands of protesters in cities across the country took to the streets Monday in what has been dubbed the Idle No More movement against what they say are unilateral actions by the Harper government.

They are angry over a number of bills before Parliament, including one that would force First Nations to disclose their financial statements and the salaries of chiefs and councillors.

They are particularly upset with Bill C-45, the government’s omnibus budget legislation, which they say weakens environmental laws.

For Spence, the pain of watching her people suffer through a lack of housing and inadequate water supplies proved a tipping point.

“The treaty’s been violated [for] so many years and it’s time for the prime minister to honour it and respect our leaders,” said Spence, who is staying in a cabin on an island in the Ottawa River while she goes without food.