Well it's about time

Hey! First Nations' issues made it into the federal election discourse (see the previous post for the meaning of the word "discourse").

Uh, but not in a helpful way.

Yeah, politics.

Whether listening to the Greens, Conservatives, Liberals or NDP, there has been a dearth of First Nations' issue discussion.

It's not like there's nothing to discuss, under the constitution (That's the Canadian constitution, not the American constitution. You know, other countries have constitutions too.) First Nations' people are a federal responsibility.

If that sounds paternalistic, perhaps it reveals part of the problem.

Canada is a great place by all measures, until one includes the statistics of First Nations' peoples, and then it sounds like a third world country.

"Of the 462 wastewater systems that were assessed, 16 per cent (74) were classified under Category C as posing potential high risk resulting in wastewater quality problems related to sewage discharge. Repetitive incidences of not meeting the federal guidelines and frequent operational difficulties resulted in this classification.'
Source: INAC, 2003 via The First Perspective and the Drum

An assistant to Federal Minister Lawrence Cannon did more than make a black humour joke, she suggested Aboriginal protesters were drunk (again, see the post on word "discourse").

This is the first mention I'm aware of, of First Nations' people in this election and it is shameful.

There are serious issues to be discussed, and people's lives are at stake.