Article content continued

“There is no economic base there for having jobs and so on, and sometimes they have to move, like anybody else,” he said.

Chrétien isn’t the first non-aboriginal to offer the suggestion; politicians and pundits have made similar comments and arguments in recent months and over the years, after reports of “suicide epidemics” in other First Nations communities across Canada.

Continue reading…

[/np_storybar]

This is more or less how all officials are expected to react after visiting aboriginal reserves reeling from tragedy. It is not enough to lament the horrors on display. There must always be some ennobling sense of optimism that things will get better. The idea of hope — of human progress and redemption, even in the face of epic loss — is embedded in our optimistic Western liberal culture.

In fact, there is little hope for Attawapiskat. Hoskins probably knows this as well as anybody. But a Canadian politician simply isn’t allowed to speak plain truths — not on this subject. He has to pretend we can put in place some bright, shiny plan of action that will transform all our Attawapiskats into healthy, vibrant, productive communities.

This is the giant institutionalized lie that sits at the heart of Canada’s official policy toward First Nations. The only politicians with the privilege to flout this dogma are those who are out of the game — such as Jean Chrétien, who flatly declared this week the people of Attawapiskat need to relocate. “There is no economic base there for having jobs and so on,” he said. “And sometimes they have to move, like anybody else.”