19°c Partly cloudy
12°c Cloudy with showers
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Elder joins Spence in hunger strike
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG Free Press Cross Lake First Nation elder Raymond Robinson (left) and his son, Baptiste, at Richardson International Airport prior to their flight to Ottawa on Monday.
Related Items
A Cross Lake elder who joined Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence on a hunger strike Dec. 12 travelled to Ottawa to join her in person Monday.
"We have been drawing strength from each other," Raymond Robinson said in Winnipeg en route to the nation's capital.
The Cross Lake elder said he's been keeping in touch with Spence since their hunger strike began. With the blessing of his wife, family and First Nation, Robinson decided to take his hunger strike to Ottawa as well.
"We are, more or less, joining forces," said the Cross Lake mental-health worker.
"To meet and pool our strengths from that and energize ourselves, it will be a powerful thing," said Robinson, who started his hunger strike 10 hours after the chief from Attawapiskat.
She went on a hunger strike to get Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Gov. Gen. David Johnston to meet one-on-one with First Nations leaders and promise to live up to Canada's and the Crown's treaty obligations.
Robinson, a residential school survivor, said he felt so betrayed by the prime minister he decided to join Spence on a hunger strike.
"On June 11, 2008, Harper stood in front of Parliament extending his hand to First Nations people of Canada saying, 'I am sorry for all the atrocities done to your people... I ask you to forgive me, to forgive us. Let's forge a new relationship,' " said Robinson.
That turned out to be just a "ploy," said Robinson. "Look what he did four years later."
Bill C-45, the recent omnibus budget bill, removes federal oversight over waterways without consulting aboriginal groups. Critics say it weakens environmental protections.
"It was done without consultation and without the input of First Nations people," said Cross Lake First Nation Chief Garrison Settee, who accompanied Robinson to Ottawa. "It's disrespectful of the First Nations people of Canada and a violation of our UN rights as indigenous people... This should not be tolerated."
The passage of Bill C-45 is "more ferocious and genocidal than what's been done to us in the past," said Robinson. "This is the final assault. (Harper) wants to take full control of our lives," said Robinson. "This is the reason I'm challenging him."
And it is a challenge, said Robinson after going three weeks without food.
"My ribs hurt, my stomach aches -- it's cramping up, I'm a little wheezy and can't be on my feet too long," he said. His 21-year-old son, Baptiste Robinson, went with him to Ottawa for support.
"I was a hunter, a fairly active person and always mobile," said the elder Robinson, who has been surviving on a diet of herbal tea. "My strength is depleted from a lack of proper nourishment."
The bitter cold is harder to take, too, said the outdoorsman Monday when it felt like -28 C with the windchill in Winnipeg.
"There's a pressure in my chest, heart and lungs," he said. "It's a feeling like I have this icy water flowing through my veins and I can't get warm," said Robinson. "There's a tingly, numb sensation up and down my legs and arms... I can't make a fist and sometimes I can't feel my arms until I move them around."
But if he gets up too quickly, the room spins, he said.
Robinson has seen a traditional healer and will get checked after joining Spence in Ottawa, he said.
"I'm not going to quit till we have what we're seeking from Harper, which is a fair, open dialogue with First Nation leadership across Canada," he said. "I'm not going to stop."
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 2, 2013 A4
More Local
- Back to Top
- Return to Local
More Local
(1 of 31 articles for today)
Police searching for suspect who woke sleeping teen
4:24 PM 0Winnipeg police are searching for a man who broke into a Fort Rouge home and tried to sexually assault a ...
Poll
Most Popular Local
- City's first urban reserve born
- Woman drove into river on purpose
- City set to seize derelict hotel
- Crash victims were good friends, free spirits
- Jockey club launches $350-M civil suit against province
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Accused fraudster fights extradition to U.S.
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Witness changes story of killing
- Crash claims two young women, RCMP say
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Crash claims two young women, RCMP say
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Police identify slaying victims
- Apple trick on Ellen falls short for city woman
- 2 dead in crash near Portage la Prairie
- The end of the credit card?
- Leaving a gang isn't easy — Sidney Letandre, now a paraplegic, knows it all too well
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- A child-custody catastrophe
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Co-worker 'sick' today? Maybe it's the $17M flu
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- '2 minutes after I read the winning numbers, I retired': Winnipeg lotto winner
- Parents, community relieved and elated as missing boy found safe
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- No threat from bag found at Winnipeg Square
- City's first urban reserve born
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Jockey club launches $350-M civil suit against province
- Accused fraudster fights extradition to U.S.
- Crash victims were good friends, free spirits
- Katz plays on with golf-course plan
- Athletes could sit under new school rules
- City set to seize derelict hotel
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Fishing for fashion
- Famous city grocer loved job, customers
- Core grocer a challenge: expert
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- City's first urban reserve born
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- North End proud
- Power restored to Linden Woods after goose collides with lines
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- Mental-health patients get own ER
- A child-custody catastrophe
- An uncommon phenomenon
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Steen invests $1M in family entertainment centre
- Earls on Main going, but new one coming
- Province introduces changes to rules governing landlords, renters
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Boost same-sex curricula: union
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.