Pikangikum faces ideological foe

Today the Globe offers a poignant snap shot of Pikangikum, microcosmic representation of a social crisis far larger than itself. One Grade Seven class in one year sees six suicides. I daren't suggest that some sort of governmental action might be called for, lest the Taxpayers Federation reign scorn and indignation down upon my head.

The story at Pikangikum is housing, though. And Tom Flanagan, close friend and confidant to our Prime Minister, presents his version of the problem:

"Paradoxically, housing on Indian reserves is on average much newer than the general supply of housing in Canada, but it is also in much worse condition. People do not respect what they do not have to pay for, and they do not invest in the upkeep of what they do not own.

A drive through a reserve will show the sad results. Even though there may be a current housing shortage, derelict homes stand vacant, no longer habitable because they have not been maintained over the years."

It ain't our fault, get it! With some swift strokes of the pen, 308 Ottawa-based consciences are mericfully unburdened.

And it only gets better. If community ownership is the problem, the solution is of course a private housing market. So we parcel off pieces of treaty-guaranteed Reserves and sell them to the residents. You'd better believe it's going to work. If I steal your car and sell it back to you at a premium, you're going to appreciate it that much more. And if I make a pretty penny in the doing, so much the better.

The dispassionate political end of this is I believe there is an ideological battle raging within Indian Affairs. Thus far, Jim Prentice has lost more than he has won. The new housing agreement with Pikangikum will be a good indicator of who's really running this show.

On the human end, smarten the hell up Canada.

- Mike (SCG)