It’s always about the money: VANOC and the aboriginal torch relay
The Globe and Mail
13th January, 2010
Summary: The B.C. First Nations Forestry council has said that it will use the Vancouver Olympic games as an opportunity to showcase the plight of aboriginal people in Canada after being refused millions of dollars in government grants. Gary Mason claims that this attitude is killing the prospects for prosperity in First Nations communities. He praises the independent economic efforts of some Native communities and calls for the end to economically stifling “dependency spending.”
Excerpt: “Let’s face it: Dependency spending doesn’t work. That’s surely been proved by now. And many of the more enlightened native leaders in Canada understand that. The way to halt the cycle of welfare addiction, with the societal and health-related issues it promotes, is through the stability provided by economic independence.”
