Then there are the Ontario Natives with their "great white hope' Bob Rae, a strong supporter of Israel whose wife was a VP of the CJC. Rae left the NDP in 2002 for refusing to embrace globalization and open markets, and is now the Natives' negotiator with the mining interests in the James Bay "ring of fire'. However nice elder statesman Rae may be, his common interests--economic and political--with Farber remain, and there can be no doubt that at best the Natives will get lots of millions of dollars, but you can be sure that the option of "No to chromite mining!" is not on the table.
Clearly, the Natives need a new deal with corporate Canada. That is what Idle No More is all about. But the option of "No!" must be on the table, not just "How much money will we get to let the corporations destroy our land?"
There are hints of what a new dispensation might entail, and the suddenly pro-Native Zionist supporters like Farber and Rae have nothing to contribute to it. The 1987 Gwaii Haanas National Park and Haida Heritage Site allows Haida to regulate logging and maintain their sacred forests, permitting sustainable use of some natural resources. Thomas Berger calls for re-tribalization of lands: "As long as the land is a corporate asset, it will be vulnerable."
*** A version of this article appeared at PressTV
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Eric writes for Al-Ahram Weekly and PressTV. He specializes in Russian and Eurasian affairs. His "Postmodern Imperialism: Geopolitics and the Great Games", "From Postmodernism to Postsecularism: Re-emerging Islamic Civilization" and "Canada (more...)