'Twas Just Weeks Before Christmas

'Twas just weeks before Christmas, when all through the land,
Attention was aimed at a first Nation band;
Canadians heard as they'd oft heard before,
Of hardship and squalour so hard to ignore;
Of children shivering cold in their beds,
While visions of plumbing danced in their heads;
And Ma in her parka, and Pa in his cap,
Thought they'd had quite enough of this poverty crap,
Then down south in Ottawa there arose a big clatter,
MP's rose in the House to discuss the matter.
They pounded their desks, jumped up in a flash,
They shifted the topic from hardship to cash.
Forget about cold and new-fallen snow,
Harper is asking where'd the money all go,
Indignant but calm he rose to his feet,
Said, first do an audit and then you'll get heat,
Excuses, distractions and rhetoric quick,
And a lack of compassion to rival Old Nick.
More rapid than eagles his ministers came,
To defend their inaction and divert the blame;
"We're not responsible. Look what we've spent!
Fifty thousand per person for food, heat and rent!
Fifty thousand per person over five or six years!
That ought to be plenty, so wipe off your tears!
That ought to buy roads, clean water and schools,
You wasted it all, incompetent fools"
Defensive and red-faced, in rages they flew,
Denying the truth about what they knew.
And then, in a twinkling, Big Steve hatched a plan,
Of third-party management, a white business man.
He spent twenty minutes or so looking around,
And put a manager on a plane northern bound.
He was dressed all in wool, in a fine three-piece suit,
Armed with pencils and papers and a chequebook to boot;
A bundle of cash he had tight in his hand,
And he looked like a banker and that was the plan.
Harper's eyes -- how they twinkled! He wore a broad smile!
The audits and studies would take quite a while!
And time favoured Harper, he's sly as a rat,
The focus will shift from Attawapiskat;
He'd stall and he'd study and tell a few fibs,
And dig up some scandal 'bout dippers or libs;
With his pasty white face, he was suitably smug,
For poor, hungry children, he just gave a shrug.
They can shiver and shake in their tar paper shacks,
Cold arctic can winds blow through the cracks;
Christmas break's coming, there's no need for speed,
There's slop pails to take care of toiletting needs;
He spoke some big words, delegated his work,
To the third-party guy, a white southern jerk,
Then laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, on vacation he goes;
He sprang for the door, to his caucus he whistled,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, now shut up and good-night."

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Christmas
• Attawapiskat
• Canada
• Stephen Harper

[DeviousLaura]

but... where DID the money go?

[jimbobbysez]

National Post had a good explanation. How Ottawa spent $90 million at Attawapiskat. The real math behind Attawapiskat ’s $90 million

education per pupil

education infrastructure (maintenan­ce, repair, teacher salaries, etc)

health-care per patient

health-care, infrastruc­ture (clinics, staff, access to services outside the community in the absence of facilities on reserve)

social services (facilitie­s, staff, etc)

infrastruc­ture (maintenan­ce and constructi­on)

a myriad of other services

[jimbobbysez]

I have deleted comments containing foul language and racist name-calling.



[bamboodoo]

lol, yep, That sounds about right. All talk and show but no action. Would rather have the country lose money by making more prisons and less shelters. And trying to privatize the west, by getting rid of Wheat board, which helps small family farms sell what they can and don't have to compete with bigger farms. I seriously can't understand why people voted for this guy.

[sunflowerofpeace]

Shared shared and shared,lots of Native peoples here in BC who will take up the cause so we won't forget over Christmas. I heard the story,briefly, I don't watch much mainstream news.The sense I got was that the money was basically mis-managed by the Band? Now, I have to say, this I have seen with my own eyes at Sturgeon Lake in AB 15 years ago or so.The Chief in power and famliy lived in nice houses,while my X;s Grandmother & families lived in a shacks! Passing it on !!!

[dg12ification]

Ever since this crisis has happened racism in this country is rising more and more each day I wasnt surprised to see all the ignorant and racist comments. It doesn't phase me as a native man. I just feel sorry for the ones who left their dark and bleak messages, and to all the good people of this country,, thank you for being true Canadians !!!

[Gotalighter]

@bamboodoo no doubt... he's the reason why I hate this country..

[TheHeathermclean]

THis is brilliant.Clever way to explain this devastating story! I am sending it around to my friends.

[HeavyMetalCanuck]

Great video. Sad but true

[solventTV]

If Ontario natives paid HST, and all that money went to reserves, the problem would be solved without sucking more blood out of the Canadian economy.