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I cannot see how this is compatible with the oft-proclaimed intention not to push white solutions on aboriginal communities, and instead let them rely on the famous wisdom of the ancestors. Wasn’t that the point of former Attawapiskat chief Theresa Spence’s theatrical, if unconvincing hunger strike against imposing Eurocentric notions of accountability on her people?

The glitterati rushed to be photographed with her, including, Justin Trudeau, and she more or less won her battle. But nothing changed for the better. And nothing will as long as political correctness stifles debate.

The only prominent person to speak sense was former prime minister Jean Chrétien, who happened to be in Ottawa on Tuesday and said, “There is no economic base there for having jobs and so on, and sometimes they have to move, like anybody else.” The final phrase is crucial. Chrétien, you may recall, was Pierre Trudeau’s second minister of Indian affairs and northern development responsible for the infamous 1969 White Paper promoting assimilation. And in an emergency Commons debate Tuesday night he was again duly pilloried as “assimilationist” by the NDP’s Niki Ashton.

Predictable voices were also heard blaming the crisis on the racist Indian Act of 1867 and residential schools. But sitting around feeling sorry for yourself will not improve your life, even if you dwell on legitimate grievances. And your real friends tell you so.

The “ancestors” lived lives that were very hard in some ways and very rewarding in others. But they did not sit around counselling one another when the game dwindled and hope faded. They went where there was food, and did whatever it took to support themselves, their families and their community. That is what residents of this community must do too, under very different circumstances. Modernity has washed over all of us, for better or worse, and they must face it just like anyone else.