A Useful Partner

Replicating the neocolonial model used in Alberta, the Canadian government is undermining First Nations solidarity in northern Ontario by offering money and promising plans that will guarantee continuity of their essential ways, in exchange for ceding environmental protection for half their territory. Of course, any forthright examination of treaty making north or south of the 49th parallel, will show that over time the government comes back to demand half of the half ad infinitum, but in the current case in Ontario, the promises are already being broken before the plan can even be written. Of particular note in this official charade is the heavy handed backing, by the Pew Charitable Trust, of government approved environmental NGOs selected to greenwash the process; as guarantor of NGO compliance in major mining and energy developments, Pew — itself the creation of Sun Oil Company — has proven itself a useful partner to industry.