Iran want's to to sell in future it's oil, are the 'First nations' their 'useful tools'?

Iran want's to sell in future it's oil in North America, are the 'First nations' their 'useful Ftools'?

N.B. clash, UN investigator’s visit highlight Canada’s chronic inability to solve aboriginal problems.(Source).

It hasn't been a good week for Canada and its aboriginal peoples.

The United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people wrapped up a nine-day visit at the behest of aboriginal peoples and came to the inevitable conclusion that the country is failing First Nations.

"Canada consistently ranks among the top of countries in respect to human development standards, and yet amidst this wealth and prosperity, aboriginal people live in conditions akin to those in countries that rank much lower and in which poverty abounds," Joseph Anaya said Tuesday, according to CTV News.

The week ended explosively in a clash between aboriginal protesters in New Brunswick clashing with RCMP officers and torching police cars as the Mounties tried to break up a blockade aimed at stopping testing for natural gas-fracking exploration, which they see as an environmental threat.

Dozens were arrested for violating the court injunction against the blockade, as well as firearms charges, making threats and intimidation.

“I knew it was going to come to this because the government doesn’t want to listen to the people,” Elsipogtog First Nation member Donald Sanipass told The Canadian Press. “They didn’t handle this right at all.”

Toronto Star national affairs columnist Thomas Walkom echoed the observation that Ottawa only caters to First Nations when its own interests are at stake.

"Specifically, Prime Minister Stephen Harper needs First Nations on side if his government is to push through its ambitious resource development plans and reap the requisite political awards," he wrote this week.

"British Columbia’s native communities have the capacity to tie up — perhaps indefinitely — Harper’s proposed oil pipeline to the Pacific Coast. They have promised to do just that."

Mining development in northern Ontario's so-called ring of fire can only happen if First Nations agree, he added, which means Ottawa must pay attention to their concerns.

"Whether Harper fully understands all of this is unclear. He’s reputed to be a master tactician," said Walkom. "But with a few exceptions, the prime minister has been remarkably tone deaf about Indian, Métis and Inuit issues."

Modern First Nations now seem to recognize implicitly now that after two centuries of selling their birthrights cheaply or allowing them to be eroded, they must use what clout they have carve out a place in Canada.Read the full story here.


Related: Concern that First Nations will be ‘used as pawns’ as former chief to meet Iranian leaders

Iran using First Nations leaders as “pawns” in “sad game,” says Foreign Affairs

Canadian First Nations leaders meet with Iranian regime.

Manitoba chiefs cozying up to Iran

Video - Ontario “Burger and Fries” in Caledonia.

Video - Ontario “Burger and Flries” in Caledonia.(SunNewsNetwork).

“Burger and Fries” in Caledonia, Ontario has been allowed to remain open despite numerous health code violations and a court order to close. It’s time for the province to step in.

Video - Ezra Levant " The truth about Aboriginal sovereignty."

Barry Cooper, political science professor at the University of Calgary, busts myths on the nation to nation rhetoric heard from Idle No More leaders.HT: SunNewsNetwork.

Attawapiskat chief loses 30 pounds since going on liquid diet, claims band audit is a ‘witch hunt’.

This is NOT Chief Spence.

Attawapiskat chief loses 30 pounds since going on liquid diet, claims band audit is a ‘witch hunt’.(NP).On her hunger strike, Spence said she was willing to die and leave her children without a mother if Harper and Gov. Gen. David Johnston didn’t meet with her and other chiefs.
“I go day by day. I’m still waiting for that meeting that needs to take place with the Governor General and the prime minister and our leaders. This meeting is required,” Spence said.
Spence said it was a mistake for AFN chiefs to meet with Harper on Jan. 11 because it was considered a “working group” rather than nation-to-nation talks. She also said that First Nations leaders saw Johnston’s role as key to their concerns, despite the Governor General being a largely ceremonial figurehead that acts on the advice of the government.
“We feel his role in a different way because when this treaty was signed, it was with the Crown,” Spence said.
Spence said she has lost 30 pounds since she started her liquid diet about 40 days ago, and brushed off anyone doubting the validity of her fast saying: “There’s always criticism.”
The First Nations leader who has vowed to go without solid food until she meets with the prime minister and Governor General in the same room said in a television interview aired Sunday that a scathing audit of her band’s financial records was part of a “witch hunt.”
Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence also said she would not give up her liquid diet despite growing calls for her to do so as she defended criticism of her fast, her demands of the government and her band’s finances.
Spence told CTV’s Question Period that she met with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada officials to discuss the results of the audit and find ways to improve what auditors considered abysmal record keeping on the northern Ontario reserve of Attawapiskat.
The audit found that going back to April 1, 2005, the band council didn’t properly prepare budgets or keep minutes to support band council resolutions. About 80 per cent of the transactions analyzed — many of which took place before Spence became chief in 2010 — didn’t have proper documentation to support spending of about $104 million in funding provided to Attawapiskat during that time.Read the full story here.

Video - "Politicization of police" - Michael Coren and Lorrie Goldstein discuss the politicization of policing during Idle No More protests.

Video - "To Serve and Protect?" - Police chiefs ask government for advice about Idle No More blockades.

HT: SunNews. TORONTO - Under fire from the judiciary and media, Ontario's police chiefs are turning to the provincial government for advice on how to proceed with enforcement of court orders to break up Idle No More protests.
In a letter dated Jan. 9, Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police president Steve Tanner asks Community Safety Minister Madeleine Meilleur for advice.
Some First Nations chiefs have declared Wednesday a national day of action with blockades planned in several locations across Ontario, including the Ambassador Bridge, North America's busiest border crossing.

"I am writing to ask you, as the minister responsible for community safety in the province of Ontario, to advise what the ministry's expectations and position is with respect to the appropriate police response in these types of protests," Tanner writes.

In the letter, Tanner says the priority of police at Idle No More protests is to "keep the peace."
"Our police leaders and the men and women on the front lines have been working hard at doing just that, despite what one might perceive from media reports."

Tanner also said previous court rulings and oversight recommendations place the priority on "peacekeeping" and give chiefs of police "discretionary powers" when it comes to enforcing court orders concerning public safety.
The same day Tanner penned the letter to Meilleur, Premier Dalton McGuinty told media the province wouldn't give direction to police on how to handle Idle No More protests. "In our democracy, we do not direct the police, that would be inappropriate," he said. "They make their own operational decisions on the ground. We'll leave that in their capable hands."

Video - IDLE NO MORE DIVIDE - Ernie Crey, advisor to the Sto:lo Tribal Council in BC.

HT: Sun News.

Video - Ezra Levant: "Natives as frontmen: Unscrupulous US groups are using Aboriginals for their environmental attacks."

EzraLevant - HT: Sun News Last week was the busiest of Theresa Spence's life. She's the chief of the Attawapiskat Indian reserve who has been on a "hunger strike."

Her week started with the release of a damning financial audit by Deloitte, which found that millions of dollars spent from her band finances had no paper trail. That kind of bombshell keeps you busy.
And then there was the big meeting of all the Indian chiefs in town, where she was a big topic of discussion.
And of course the week ended on a high note. Although she refused to meet with the prime minister, she did permit the governor general to meet with her.
All in all, a pretty exciting week for a woman who usually putters around a remote town of 1,500 people.
Which makes a press release that she sent out in the middle of last week amazing.

In the middle of all that, the chief sent out a press release about ... the Alberta oilsands?

In the middle of the most intense week of her life, which was about the prime minister, the governor general, her Indian band, the audit, her hunger strike and her, her, her, she put out a detailed press release condemning the oilsands? Attawapiskat is in northern Ontario. It's 1,900 km from the oilsands. It's the same distance from Attawapiskat to Nashville, Tenn.
Spence has never said anything about the oilsands in public. Her only possible connection is that her Indian band's stock portfolio contains a million dollars of oilsands shares.

She surely didn't write the release. So who did?Hmmmm......And is there an 'Iranian Connection'?

Video - "Enough is enough" John Robson joins Brian Lilley to discuss the confusing demands of Chief Spence.

Hmmmm.....Concern that First Nations will be ‘used as pawns’ as former chief to meet Iranian leaders.

1. ter·ror·ism

   /ˈterəˌrizəm/

   Noun The use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.

Video - Audit finds there's no paper trail for millions of dollars in Attawapiskat spending.

OTTAWA - An independent firm hired by the federal government to comb through Attawapiskat's financials found there's no paper trail for millions of dollars in band spending. The highly anticipated audit by Deloitte, ordered by the government last year during the remote northern Ontario reserve's housing crisis, was leaked to several media organizations, including QMI Agency, Monday morning.
The feds had vowed to formally release the report in early 2013.
Among its criticisms, audit documents show much of the approximately $104 million provided to the reserve between April 1, 2005 and November 31, 2011, wasn't thoroughly documented.
Deloitte said more than 400 out of 505 financial transactions lacked proper documentation.
The firm sent a letter to Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence on Aug. 28 to outline some of the issues identified by the review.
"An average of 81% of files did not have adequate supporting documents and over 60% had no documentation of the reason for payment," Deloitte partner Serge Desroches wrote. "There is no evidence of due diligence in the use of public funds, including the use of funds for housing. In our opinion, having 80% of selected transactions lacking any or proper supporting documentation is inappropriate for any recipient of public funds."
Desroches maintained the audit was "not designed to discover weakeness or ineffectiveness" in the accounting systems at Attawapiskat.Read the full story here, more here.

Ezra Levant: "Chief Spence knew what she was doing pulling her dieting stunt in Ottawa."

Attawapiskat While Chief Theresa Spence is on her hunger strike in Ottawa, her home, seen here, is being cared for by a girl who lives in the community.Photo by SPENCER WYNN/TORONTO STAR.

Ezra Levant: "Chief Spence knew what she was doing pulling her dieting stunt in Ottawa."EzraLevant.Journalists are skeptical of politicians, unless those politicians are called Indian chiefs. Then reporters turn into stenographers, or even cheerleaders.
Take a politician named Theresa Spence. She’s been the toast of the Media Party for the past 26 days, the length of time she’s been on a hunger strike. Which is amazing, because even Gandhi never lasted more than 21 days on his hunger strikes. The IRA hunger strikers looked like skeletons by 26 days, and started dying weeks later. Not Spence — she’s still Rubenesque, walking around, doing interviews, all with her trademark double chin.
That’s not a comment on her attractiveness. It’s a comment on the Media Party’s love affair with the Idle No More protests. Reporters have simply stopped asking critical questions of politicians because they’re Indian.Last year, when Toronto’s conservative mayor, Rob Ford, announced he was going on a diet, the media mocked him, demanded to know his weight every day, and the Toronto Star proudly uploaded a video, taken on a cellphone, catching Ford going into a KFC.
Spence has admitted she’s snacking, even detailing her menu (fish soup and moose soup) but that hasn’t stopped the Media Party from reporting her hunger strike as not only true, but putting the saint precariously close to death.
The CBC actually quoted a medical doctor — who had never examined her — saying she was in grave danger. That’s not just journalistic malpractice, it’s questionable medical ethics, too.
Idle No More is just an Aboriginal reboot of Occupy Wall Street. It has the same vague demands, summarized as “give us more free stuff.” It has the same low-level criminality — Occupy illegally squatted in parks and was heavy into drug use and public sex, while Idle No More prefers blockades of railroads. And they have the same supporters and organizers: Canada’s left-wing labour unions. And, of course, the Media Party.
Spence is a master media manipulator; she knew better than to do her dieting stunt up in Attawapiskat, where it hit -33 C this week, and was accessible only by airplane. She flew to Ottawa and pitched a teepee for the benefit of the bored Parliamentary Press Gallery. She also stayed in a hotel, but that was never shown on camera — it contradicted the narrative of a chief willing to make every sacrifice for her people.
That’s what a hunger strike is: A public declaration that you are willing to commit suicide in slow motion to achieve a higher purpose. What was Spence’s purpose? She demanded a meeting — a week long — with the prime minister and governor general. And, to Stephen Harper’s discredit, he caved in on Friday and will meet with First Nations leaders, including Spence, on Jan. 11.
There are more than600 Indian chiefs in Canada, the average reserve having about 1,000 people. Will everyone be able to command the PM’s appearance? Can others do that, too? But, again, for what? Why would Spence die for a meeting? What’s on her agenda?It couldn’t possibly be for more money — her Attawapiskat Indian band has received $90 million from Harper so far, and has just 1,500 people there. It’s just 300 homes.

Do the math: The Attawapiskat band received $34 million in 2011. And the local diamond mine spent $51 million in town. That’s $85 million, for 300 families. That’s $280,000 per family. Tax free.So how come so many in Attawapiskat live in leaky, cold shacks?

Not the chief of course; she has a sturdy, well-heated house and drives an Escalade. Her boyfriend is the band manager — his contract is for $850 a day, plus expenses. Why does the band have $8.9 million in the stock market, in shares like Google and Pepsi and Exxon, but not enough money to fix some leaks? Why are there 21 politicans on the payroll of a tiny town? Why did Spence once bill the town $8,000 a month to manage the daycare?
Those are questions reporters might ask white politicians. But lucky for Spence, she’s Indian, so they don’t.

Video - Ezra Levant with proof that Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence's boyfriend gets paid $850/day in band money... plus office space, plus travel...

Video - Ezra Levant - WHAT'S NEXT FOR IDLE NO MORE?

Video - Ezra Levant shares some inconvenient facts about Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, and her "hunger strike".

Canada - 'Idle No More' founders distance themselves from Native chiefs.

Canada - 'Idle No More' founders distance themselves from Native chiefs.(CC).

"Of course there are chiefs and people who show up at an event, get their picture taken and then they go back behind a desk,"

In a matter of weeks, a series of teach-ins on a small Saskatchewan reserve took on a life of their own - becoming a nationwide aboriginal protest movement.
But now it appears the rapidly growing Idle No More movement is experiencing its first real growing pains. On Monday, the founders of Idle No More issued a statement distancing themselves from Native chiefs who claim to be acting on behalf of the campaign.

"The Chiefs have called for action and anyone who chooses can join with them, however this is not part of the Idle No More movement as the vision of this grassroots movement does not coincide with the visions of the Leadership," said the statement, released on Idle No More's official website.

"While we appreciate the individual support we have received from chiefs and councilors, we have been given a clear mandate. to work outside of the systems of government and that is what we will continue to do."
The statement also says the Idle No More founders received word that aboriginal "leadership" had been "calling for action" in the name of the campaign, and that they claimed to have met with the representatives of the group who support this call. "We would like to state that this is FALSE," the statement reads.
Idle No More has been inextricably linked to a hunger strike led by Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence. The northern Ontario chief hasn't eaten in three weeks and says she'll starve herself to death if Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn't agree to negotiate better living conditions for the nation's aboriginal people. The fast has garnered support among all of Canada's opposition parties. It has inspired blockades on highways throughout the country and ongoing disruptions to railroads in southern Ontario-including delays to over 2,000 passengers bound for Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa Sunday.
But the founders of Idle No More made it clear that while they recognize Spence's support and sacrifice, the movement is about all of Canada's aboriginal people not just its chiefs. Spence's hunger strike began after rallies, teach-ins and a national day of action organized on Dec. 10.
"Chief Spence decided she would fast on that day as part of her action to support the Idle No More movement. It is very important this history is known," the statement said. "We are very greatful for Theresa Spence's honourable and courageous support, we also need to remember the face of Idle No More is also the grassroots people."
Melissa Mollen Dupuis, who co-founded Idle No More's Quebec branch, said she's seen aboriginal leaders try to co-opt the movement because of its growing popularity within First Nations communities.
"Of course there are chiefs and people who show up at an event, get their picture taken and then they go back behind a desk," said Mollen Dupuis, a 34-year-old Innu artist. "But we know this is about all of us and not about them..Also it's worth noting that plenty of chiefs travel from far and wide just to give us support. We have our own internal governing problems on reserves but this is larger than any of that."
"(Idle no More) seems to be a rejection of aboriginal leadership, a rejection of local chiefs and chiefs on the national stage," said Daniel Salée, a professor at Concordia Univsersity's School of Community and Public Affairs. "People seem to feel as though their leaders aren't working in their best interest or that they simply aren't getting the job done.
"In some cases, communities have been negotiating land claims with the government for decades without any progress. People are fed up with the conventional way of doing things." Hmmmm......"Speaks with Forked tongue?"Read the full story here.

First Nations sainthood - Canadian Mohawk woman to become Catholic saint.

First Nations sainthood - Canadian Mohawk woman to become Catholic saint.(Yahoo).A Mohawk woman is set to ascend to sainthood in a ceremony at the Vatican's St-Peter Basilica next Sunday, 300 years after her death. Tekakwitha will become the first ever First Nations person from North America to be canonized, and it's an occasion being celebrated by the survivors of church-run residential schools — an unusual group given the terrible legacy of residential schools in Canada, where physical and emotional abuse was common. The former students say it was Tekakwitha's spirit that gave them the strength to live through their childhood traumas. In all, about 150,000 children were removed from their homes and forced to attend the government-run schools since the late 19th century.
Just south of Montreal this week, Kahnawake was preparing for next Sunday's celebration with several members of the Mohawk First Nations community flying to Rome to attend Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha's canonization.
"If you look at her tomb, blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, on top is a word [that reads] Kaiatanoron … to the traditional people, that means 'a lady of quality,' she's special, a rose, it's spotless," said Ron Boier, the Deacon at St-Francis Xavier Mission in the Mohawk territory.
Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in Ossernon, now known as Auriesville, NY. But she died while serving the Catholic church in Kahnawake, Que., and has for centuries since been a symbol of hope for aboriginals in Canada. According to reports, she suffered from smallpox at the age of four and was left scarred and partially blind. Tekakwitha was ostracized for wanting to devote her life to God. She left her village and made her way to the Catholic Mission of St. Francis-Xavier in Sault-Saint-Louis, Que., where she eventually received her First Holy Communion in 1677.
The devout woman made a vow of virginity and decided to remain devoted to Jesus Christ for her entire life. She died at the age of 24 after years of self-flagellation and deteriorating health. People who witnessed her death nearly 300 years ago said her scars disappeared shortly after her passing and her face was left beautiful and intact. She was then occasionally named "Lily of the Mohawks." She was declared "venerable" by the Catholic Church in 1943 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980. To this day, Tekakwitha is the first Native American to be blessed by the church. The Catholic Church has four important steps to follow before allowing someone to become a saint. According to the church, the subject must have been a worthy follower of God and been washed away of all sins. Once a Bishop has reviewed the person's life, the subject becomes a "Servant of God." In order to become a "Venerable," one must have lived their life in virtue of the church and testimonies documenting the person's life are presented to officials at the Vatican to review. Tekakwitha was "blessed" by Pope John Paul II, which means substantial evidence proves that a miracle was performed by the candidate. In her case, Tekakwhita is credited with curing a boy of flesh-eating disease. Finally, a person can become a saint once a second miracle is attributed to them after being "blessed." However, a Pope has the right to waive this requirement if he sees fit.Read and see (Video) the full story here.

Canada's First Nations people and IRAN continue their attacks on Canada’s human rights record.

Canada's First Nations people and IRAN continue their attacks on Canada’s human rights record.(Yahoo).In recent weeks, Press TV, Iran's state-run global television network, has spent an inordinate amount of time attacking the Canadian government's record on human rights. With former Manitoba chief Terry Nelson now in Tehran, they seem to have stepped it up a notch. Nelson, and his small delegation, arrived in Tehran late last week for meetings with Iranian officials to discuss Canada's treatment of its First Nations people.
On Sunday, Nelson and former Dakota Tipi First Nation chief Dennis Pashe were the station's special in-studio guests."The Indian Act...basically makes indigenous people living on the government reservation to be legally incompetent in the same category as children, alien enemies," said Nelson, seated in front of an ominous background. "There's no real economic development on reserves. The reservations have between 60 and 95 per cent unemployment. This is the root cause of the artificial poverty that's on reserves. It is economic sanctions. It is enforced by the Canadian government."
Pashe was a little more inflammatory with his comments evoking concepts such as extermination and concentration camps when describing Canada's approach with First Nations' communities. "It's part of the ongoing effort by the Canadian government to exterminate us," he said when asked about the high incarceration rates of Aboriginal women. "In the past they used a gun and [a] disease infested blanket to wipe out our people, to take our resources, to take our lands and to exploit them for their own profit. Today they use legislation as the gun, alcohol and drugs is the bullet so to speak. And they use alcohol and drugs to cause a lot of of social evil in our families and our communities to undermine our family values," he said.Hmmmm........US First Nations turn to Turkey, Canadian First Nations turn to Iran?Read the full story here.

Hundreds of Cherokees form new group to challenge "Dances with Deceit" a.k.a. Elizabeth Warren.

Hundreds of Cherokees form new group to challenge "Dances with Deceit" a.k.a. Elizabeth Warren.(LI).By William A. Jacobson.A new group of over 150 Cherokees and growing has formed with the purpose of forcing Elizabeth Warren to give up her false claim to Cherokee heritage.
The group has a new blog, Cherokees Demand Truth from Elizabeth Warren, and corresponding Facebook page:Mission Statement

Cherokees Demand Truth from Elizabeth Warren is a group of authentic Cherokees and descendants devoted to sharing the truth about our history. Our mission is to help people understand what a real Cherokee is and to show why Elizabeth Warren claiming to be Cherokee without proof is harmful and offensive to us.

The group presently consists of 156 Cherokees and is growing:

We are a group of concerned enrolled Cherokees and descendants from the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes; the Cherokee Nation, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; who demand that Elizabeth Warren tell the truth about her “Cherokee” ancestry and identity. Our group, 149 members strong and growing each day, is in it’s infancy so we are, at this time, an informal one with no specific organizational structure. Spokespeople for the group are Twila Barnes and David Cornsilk….
This is NOT a political group, but instead, a group that demands Elizabeth Warren and others like her understand OUR history belongs to us and no one has the right to try to rewrite it or make up fictitious stories so they can fit in it or take advantage of it. Only those who meet the requirements under Cherokee law should claim to be Cherokee. We hope to help educate the public on what is and is not true about our history and also why the false claims like Elizabeth Warren is making are harmful to the Cherokee people.

The first blog post is Elizabeth Warren – The Cherokees Will Not Be Silenced:

Many wonder why we Cherokees are so insistent on Elizabeth Warren coming clean about her false claims of Cherokee ancestry. This is not a political issue to us. We don’t care if Elizabeth Warren is a Democrat, Republican, or an Independent. We do care, though, if she goes around claiming to be Cherokee and has tried to benefit from that claim….

Hmmm....As i said before i hope the Indian Nation go's after her with all legal means to their disposal.Read the full story here.More here @ Breitbart.

Video - The odd couple, Canada's First Nations people to join forces with Iran.

"Dances With Nukes"?Former Manitoba First Nation chief asks Iran for help with a human rights matter

"Dances With Nukes"?Former Manitoba First Nation chief asks Iran for help with a human rights matter.(Yahoo).When you need assistance on a human rights matter, where do you turn? The courts, the Human Rights Board, the United Nations? How about Iran?A former Manitoba First Nations chief who says the federal Aboriginal Affairs department orchestrated a "coup" against him is turning to the Iranians for help.
According to APTN News, the former chief of Roseau River is upset over the Aboriginal Affairs department's decision to postpone a referendum on how the First Nation chooses its leaders.
Roseau River band members were to vote this week on whether to elect a band government based on a custom code or one under the Indian Act. Terry Nelson said the department's decision to cancel the plebiscite was aimed at ensuring he could not return to power."This was a coup at Roseau River," Nelson told APTN."They are not allowing people to make any decisions…there is no democracy."
Nelson told QMI Agency that he intends to lead a "caravan of cars" to the Iranian embassy in Ottawa. He plans to thank Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his condemnation of Canada's treatment of aboriginal people and to ask him for help in bringing attention to the issue of missing and murdered women."I will go to Iran if they want me to address the issue of economic sanctions and what is happening with our Indigenous peoples in Canada," said Nelson."The chiefs continue to go meet with [Prime Minister Stephen Harper] and don't do anything more than leave their people suffering."This is the second time in as many weeks that Canadian chiefs have called out to countries with dubious human rights records.Last week, a First Nations group from British Columbia wrote an open letter to the Chinese government, suggesting that the Canadian government was violating aboriginal communities' human rights."We are writing to you to request that you raise our human rights concerns with Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. We understand that you will meet with him in China this week," noted the letter signed by five chiefs."From previous public reports we know that Prime Minister Harper always challenges your country on the human rights record. Open dialogue around human rights is a very positive way to create change."Read the full story here.