It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, December 20, 2021
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Alberta animal shelter calls for adoptions, fosters, after reaching capacity limit
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Saving Grace caring for about double its available capacity, but adoptions are down 50 from last year
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Saving Grace Animal Society is seeking people to adopt or foster animals, or to donate money to the shelter to afford supplies. (Submitted by Saving Grace Animal Society)An animal shelter has been forced to close its doors because it doesn't have room to take in any more pets — despite daily calls, emails and Facebook messages asking if they'll accept more.
Saving Grace Animal Society, located in Alix, Alta., about 155 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, declared a state of emergency Friday. The shelter has experienced an increase in the number of dogs and cats it has taken in for care this month, as well as a lull in the number of adoptions.
"We are just at a point at the rescue where we literally can't fit any more animals anywhere," said Amanda McClughan, a co-executive director of Saving Grace Animal Society.
There are about 80 animals at the shelter right now — about double the capacity the shelter can fit, she said. But a news release says there are nearly 300 other animals staying with staff, foster homes or other facilities.
Meanwhile, adoptions are down about 50 per cent from a year ago, the release said.
People working at the shelter have been anxious about the situation for a couple of weeks. But they are now panicking heading into next week, as they'll have about 40 puppies available for adoption — by far the most the shelter has ever had, McClughan said.
Saving Grace cares for dogs and cats, both mature and young. (Submitted by Saving Grace Animal Society)
"This time of year, it's kind of expected that adoptions are going to be a little bit slower," McClughan said.
"But our intakes have been so high."
Part of that may be linked to the weather, she said. Alberta has been experiencing a relatively mild fall until recently. Animals that were living outside were fairing fine until the cold came.
"[There's], all of a sudden, this urgency to get those animals in because they cannot survive in those temperatures."
The key thing Saving Grace Animal Society needs is adoptions to pick up, so the shelter can free up space, McClughan said.
The shelter receives from one to up to 20 calls per day from people asking if it will accept animals, said Amanda McClughan, a co-executive director of Saving Grace Animal Society. (Submitted by Saving Grace Animal Society)
The shelter receives from one to 20 calls per day from people asking if it will accept animals, she said. Every adoption frees up space for another animal to be saved.
Saving Grace has discounted adoption fees to help pets find a new home, she added.
Also, generally, the shelter is in need of foster homes, but especially during this time of year, she added. Anyone interested in fostering an animal can apply through Facebook.
McClughan noted that people interested in fostering would have to live within about an hour from Alix or Ponoka — that's where the main vet is located.
Saving Grace also accepts donations online, through partner pet stores or at the shelter itself. The money would be used for supplies, such as pet food and pee pads, she said.
With files from Emily Fitzpatrick and Nicholas Frew
GOP becoming a cult of know-nothings
November 28, 2021· Supporters of former President Trump are seen the North Carolina Republican Party Convention on June 5
The Republican Party is becoming a cult. Its leaders are in thrall to Donald Trump, a defeated former president who refuses to acknowledge defeat. Its ideology is MAGA, Trump's deeply divisive take on what Republicans assume to be unifying American values.
The party is now in the process of carrying out purges of heretics who do not worship Trump or accept all the tenets of MAGA. Conformity is enforced by social media, a relatively new institution with the power to marshal populist energy against critics and opponents.
What's happening on the right in American politics is not exactly new. To understand it, you need to read a book published 50 years ago by Seymour Martin Lipset and Earl Raab, "The Politics of Unreason: Right-Wing Extremism in America, 1790-1970." Right-wing extremism, now embodied in Trump's MAGA movement, dates back to the earliest days of the country.
The title of Lipset and Raab's book was chosen carefully. Right-wing extremism is not about the rational calculation of interests. It's about irrational impulses, which the authors identify as "status frustrations." They write that "the political movements which have successfully appealed to status resentments have been irrational in character. [The movements] focus on attacking a scapegoat, which conveniently symbolizes the threat perceived by their supporters."
The most common scapegoats have been minority ethnic or religious groups. In the 19th century, that meant Catholics, immigrants and even Freemasons. The Anti-Masonic Party, the Know Nothing Party and later the American Protective Association were major political forces. In the 20th century, the U.S. experienced waves of anti-immigrant sentiment. After World War II, anti-communism became the driving force behind McCarthyism in the 1950s and the Goldwater movement in the early 1960s ("Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice").
The roots of the current right-wing extremism lie in the late 1960s and 1970s, when Americans began to be polarized over values (race, ethnicity, sex, military intervention). Conflicts of interest (such as business versus labor) can be negotiated and compromised. Conflicts of values cannot.
You see "the politics of unreason" in today's right-wing extremism. While it remains true, as it has been for decades, that the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to vote Republican (that's interests), what's new today is that the better educated you are, the more likely you are to vote Democratic, at least among whites (that's values, and it's been driving white suburban voters with college degrees away from Trump's "know-nothing" brand of Republicanism).
Oddly, religion has become a major force driving the current wave of right-wing extremism. Not religious affiliation (Protestant versus Catholic) but religiosity (regular churchgoers versus non-churchgoers). That's not because of Trump's religious appeal (he has none) but because of the Democratic Party's embrace of secularism and the resulting estrangement of fundamentalist Protestants, observant Catholics and even orthodox Jews.
The Democratic Party today is defined by its commitment to diversity and inclusion. The party celebrates diversity in all its forms - racial, ethnic, religious and sexual. To Democrats, that's the tradition of American pluralism - "E pluribus unum." Republicans celebrate the "unum" more than the "pluribus" - we may come from diverse backgrounds, but we should all share the same "American values."
One reason right-wing extremism is thriving in the Republican Party is that there is no figure in the party willing to lead the opposition to it. Polls of Republican voters show no other GOP figure even close to Trump's level of support for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. The only other Republican who seems interested in running is Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, who recently criticized "Trump cancel culture."
If Trump does run in 2024, as he seems inclined to do, can he win?
It all depends on President Biden's record. Right now, Biden's popularity is not very high. In fact, Biden and Trump are about equally unpopular (Biden's job approval is 52 to 43 percent negative, while Trump's favorability is 54 to 41.5 percent negative). Biden will be 82 years old in 2024. If he doesn't run, the Democrats will very likely nominate Vice President Harris. When a president doesn't run for reelection, his party almost always nominates its most recent vice president, assuming they run (Richard Nixon in 1960, Hubert Humphrey in 1968, Walter Mondale in 1984, George H.W. Bush in 1988, Al Gore in 2000, Joe Biden in 2020). Democrats would be unlikely to deny a black woman the nomination. There is also some talk of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg running if Biden doesn't.
The 2024 election could be a rematch between Trump and Biden. Or a race between Trump and a black woman. Or between Trump and a gay man with a husband and children. Lee Drutman, a political scientist at the New America think tank, recently told The New York Times, "I have a hard time seeing how we have a peaceful 2024 election after everything that's happened now. I don't see the rhetoric turning down. I don't see the conflicts going away. ... It's hard to see how it gets better before it gets worse."
Anti-immigrant cartoon showing two men labeled "Irish Wiskey" and "Lager Bier," carrying a ballot box. Everett Collection Historical / Alamy Stock Photo
Like Fight Club, there were rules about joining the secret society known as the Order of the Star Spangled Banner (OSSB). An initiation rite called “Seeing Sam.” The memorization of passwords and hand signs. A solemn pledge never to betray the order. A pureblooded pedigree of Protestant Anglo-Saxon stock and the rejection of all Catholics. And above all, members of the secret society weren’t allowed to talk about the secret society. If asked anything by outsiders, they would respond with, “I know nothing.”
So went the rules of this secret fraternity that rose to prominence in 1853 and transformed into the powerful political party known as the Know Nothings. At its height in the 1850s, the Know Nothing party, originally called the American Party, included more than 100 elected congressmen, eight governors, a controlling share of half-a-dozen state legislatures from Massachusetts to California, and thousands of local politicians. Party members supported deportation of foreign beggars and criminals; a 21-year naturalization period for immigrants; mandatory Bible reading in schools; and the elimination of all Catholics from public office. They wanted to restore their vision of what America should look like with temperance, Protestantism, self-reliance, with American nationality and work ethic enshrined as the nation's highest values.
Know Nothings were the American political system’s first major third party. Early in the 19th century, two parties leftover from the birth of the United States were the Federalists (who advocated for a strong central government) and the Democratic-Republicans (formed by Thomas Jefferson). Following the earliest parties came the National Republicans, created to oppose Andrew Jackson. That group eventually transformed into the Whigs as Jackson’s party became known as the Democrats. The Whig party sent presidents William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor and others to the White House during its brief existence. But the party splintered and then disintegrated over the politics of slavery. The Know Nothings filled the power void before the Whigs had even ceased to exist, choosing to ignore slavery and focus all their energy on the immigrant question. They were the first party to leverage economic concerns over immigration as a major part of their platform. Though short-lived, the values and positions of the Know Nothings ultimately contributed to the two-party system we have today.
Paving the way for the Know Nothing movement were two men from New York City. Thomas R. Whitney, the son of a silversmith who opened his own shop, wrote the magnum opus of the Know Nothings, A Defense of the American Policy. William “Bill the Butcher” Poole was a gang leader, prizefighter and butcher in the Bowery (and would later be used as inspiration for the main character in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York). Whitney and Poole were from different social classes, but both had an enormous impact on their chosen party—and their paths crossed at a pivotal moment in the rise of nativism.
In addition to being a successful engraver, Whitney was an avid reader of philosophy, history and classics. He moved from reading to writing poetry and, eventually, political tracts. “What is equality but stagnation?” Whitney wrote in one of them. Preceded in nativist circles by such elites as author James Fenimore Cooper, Alexander Hamilton, Jr. and James Monroe (nephew of the former president), Whitney had a knack for rising quickly to the top of whichever group he belonged to. He became a charter member of the Order of United Americans (the precursor to the OSSB) and used his own printing press to publish many of the group’s pamphlets.
Whitney believed in government action, but not in service of reducing social inequality. Rather, he believed, all people “are entitled to such privileges, social and political, as they are capable of employing and enjoying rationally.” In other words, only those with the proper qualifications deserved full rights. Women’s suffrage was abhorrent and unnatural, Catholics were a threat to the stability of the nation, and German and Irish immigrants undermined the old order established by the Founding Fathers. From 1820 to 1845, anywhere from 10,000 to 1000,000 immigrants entered the U.S. each year. Then, as a consequence of economic instability in Germany and a potato famine in Ireland, those figures turned from a trickle into a tsunami. Between 1845 and 1854, 2.9 million immigrants poured into the country, and many of them were of Catholic faith. Suddenly, more than half the residents of New York City were born abroad, and Irish immigrants comprised 70 percent of charity recipients.
At the same time as this influx of immigrants reshaped the makeup of the American populace, the old political parties seemed poised to fall apart.
“The Know Nothings came out of what seemed to be a vacuum,” says Christopher Phillips, professor of history at University of Cincinnati. “It’s the failing Whig party and the faltering Democratic party and their inability to articulate, to the satisfaction of the great percentage of their electorate, answers to the problems that were associated with everyday life.”
Citizen Know Nothing. Wikimedia Commons
Phillips says the Know Nothings displayed three patterns common to all other nativist movements. First is the embrace of nationalism—as seen in the writings of the OSSB. Second is religious discrimination: in this case, Protestants against Catholics rather than the more modern day squaring-off of Judeo-Christians against Muslims. Lastly, a working-class identity exerts itself in conjunction with the rhetoric of upper-class political leaders. As historian Elliott J. Gorn writes, “Appeals to ethnic hatreds allowed men whose livelihoods depended on winning elections to sidestep the more complex and politically dangerous divisions of class.”
No person exemplified this veneration of the working class more than Poole. Despite gambling extravagantly and regularly brawling in bars, Poole was a revered party insider, leading a gang that terrorized voters at polling places in such a violent fashion that one victim was later reported to have a bite on his arm and a severe eye injury. Poole was also the Know Nothings’ first martyr.
On February 24, 1855, Poole was drinking at a New York City saloon when he came face to face with John Morrissey, an Irish boxer. The two exchanged insults and both pulled out guns. But before the fight could turn violent, police arrived to break it up. Later that night, though, Poole returned to the hall and grappled with Morrissey's men, including Lewis Baker, a Welsh-born immigrant, who shot Poole in the chest at close range. Although Poole survived for nearly two weeks, he died on March 8. The last words he uttered pierced the hearts of the country’s Know Nothings: “Goodbye boys, I die a true American.”
Approximately 250,000 people flooded lower Manhattan to pay their respects to the great American. Dramas performed across the country changed their narratives to end with actors wrapping themselves in an American flag and quoting Poole’s last words. An anonymous pamphlet titled The Life of William Poole claimed that the shooting wasn’t a simple barroom scuffle, but an assassination organized by the Irish. The facts didn’t matter; that Poole had been carrying a gun the night of the shooting, or that his assailant took shots to the head and abdomen, was irrelevant. Nor did admirers care that Poole had a prior case against him for assault with intent to kill. He was an American hero, “battling for freedom’s cause,” who sacrificed his life to protect people from dangerous Catholic immigrants.
COUNT THE STEREOTYPES
On the day of Poole’s funeral, a procession of 6,000 mourners trailed through the streets of New York. Included in their number were local politicians, volunteer firemen, a 52-piece band, members of the OSSB—and Thomas R. Whitney, about to take his place in the House of Representatives as a member of the Know Nothing Caucus.
Judging by the size of Poole’s funeral and the Know Nothing party’s ability to penetrate all levels of government, it seemed the third party was poised to topple the Whigs and take its place in the two-party system. But instead of continuing to grow, the Know Nothings collapsed under the pressure of having to take a firm position on the issue the slavery. By the late 1850s, the case of Dred Scott (who sued for his freedom and was denied it) and the raids led by abolitionist John Brown proved that slavery was a more explosive and urgent issue than immigration.
America fought the Civil War over slavery, and the devastation of that conflict pushed nativist concerns to the back of the American psyche. But nativism never left, and the legacy of the Know Nothings has been apparent in policies aimed at each new wave of immigrants. In 1912, the House Committee on Immigration debated over whether Italians could be considered “full-blooded Caucasians” and immigrants coming from southern and eastern Europe were considered "biologically and culturally less intelligent."
From the end of the 19th century to the first third of the 20th, Asian immigrants were excluded from naturalization based on their non-white status. “People from a variety of groups and affiliations, ranging from the Ku Klux Klan to the Progressive movement, old-line New England aristocrats and the eugenics movement, were among the strange bedfellows in the campaign to stop immigration that was deemed undesirable by old-stock white Americans,” writes sociologist Charles Hirschman of the early 20th century. “The passage of immigration restrictions in the early 1920s ended virtually all immigration except from northwestern Europe.”
Those debates and regulations continue today, over refugees from the Middle East and immigrants from Latin America.
Phillips’s conclusion is that those bewildered by current political affairs simply haven’t looked far enough back into history. “One can’t possibly make sense of [current events] unless you know something about nativism,” he says. “That requires you to go back in time to the Know Nothings. You have to realize the context is different, but the themes are consistent. The actors are still the same, but with different names.”
KNOW NOTHINGS Push to ban books in Texas schools spreads to public libraries By Allyson Waller & Kevin Reynolds, The Texas Tribune Terry Schroth speaks against a proposal to close the Llano County Library and inventory its books.
Photo by Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune
Dec. 20 (UPI) -- When the Llano County Library shuts down for three days this week, starting Tuesday, it won't be for the holidays.
Instead, a group of six librarians in this small Central Texas county will be conducting a "thorough review" of every children's book in the library, at the behest of the Llano County Commissioners Court. Their mission will be to make sure all of the reading material for younger readers includes subjects that are age-appropriate. A new "young adults plus" section will be added to separate books written for an older teen audience from those geared toward younger readers.
The three-day closure of the library system in Llano County, about 80 miles northwest of Austin, also means a temporary shutdown of its virtual portal through the online book provider Overdrive.
"I think we owe it to all parents, regardless if it's a school library or a public library, to make sure that material is not inappropriate for children," Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham said.
The Llano County community's push to scrutinize the local library's book stacks comes two months after a Texas lawmaker first questioned the inclusion of more than 850 books about race, equality or sexuality in public school libraries.
And Llano County is not the only community in Texas asking harder questions.
Library book complaints
Local public libraries in Texas, including those in Victoria, Irving and Tyler, are fielding a flurry of book challenges from local residents. While book challenges are nothing new, there has been a growing number of complaints about books for libraries in recent months. And the fact that the numbers are rising after questions are being raised about school library content seems more than coincidental, according to the Texas Library Association.
"I think it definitely ramped it up," said Wendy Woodland, the TLA's director of advocacy and communication, of the late October investigation into school library reading materials launched by state Rep. Matt Krause in his role as chairman of the House Committee on General Investigating.
In response to Krause's inquiry, Gov. Greg Abbott tapped the Texas Education Agency to investigate the availability of "pornographic books" in schools. In the weeks since, school districts across the state have launched reviews of their book collections, and state officials have begun investigating student access to inappropriate content.
As more residents began turning their sights on local libraries, the state library association set up a "peer counseling" helpline for librarians to get support from others more familiar with book challenges.
"A library may get one or two [book challenges] in two years, or some librarians have never had challenges," Woodland said. "So this is very rare and very unusual and different from the way challenges have been brought forth in the past."
In Victoria, about 100 miles southeast of San Antonio, Dayna Williams-Capone says the number of complaints about books is the most she's seen in her nearly 13 years working at the Victoria Public Library.
In August, Williams-Capone, the director of library services in Victoria, said her office received about 40 formal requests for review of books, primarily books for children and young adults that touch on topics of same-sex relationships, sexuality and race.
After Williams-Capone and her staff reviewed the requests, they decided to keep the books in the library. Residents who filed the complaints pushed forward, appealing the decision to the library's advisory board for about half of the books, Williams-Capone said.
"I don't think there's a danger in asking the questions and having a civil conversation and learning from each other," Williams-Capone said. "I think that the danger is when we lose that big-picture view of who all is a part of our community, and that the needs of some members of our community might be very different than what we think our own personal needs are or our own family needs."
One Victoria resident who pushed for book removals was Cindy Herndon.
"It's nothing that I have against anybody in any community," said Herndon, 64. "I don't have any resentment or lack of respect for them. It's just about protecting the children and exposing them to things that they really don't need to see right now."
One of the books she wanted removed was The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, a coming-of-age novel about a mixed-race gay teen who becomes a drag artist.
After reading the book, Herndon said she was opposed to it because to her it seemed to "sexualize children, especially into alternate lifestyles, and make them want to be someone else than who they were born to be."
Another Victoria resident, Amy Garvel, joined other residents, and the group combed through the library's online catalog. They compiled a list of more than 200 books they found inappropriate, ranging from picture books to young adult books, Garvel said. Garvel submitted two requests for removal for the books If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo and Rick by Alex Gino.
Garvel, who describes herself as a conservative and has a 9-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, said she's been very careful about what content they consume.
"My goal is really to protect the children in our community in general, not just my own children," said Garvel, 43. "I'm hoping that [the library] sees that we're not trying to censor books that we're trying to protect our children. I mean, the library was one of the last places that we could feel safe."
How process works
Local public libraries are not regulated by the state. Instead, they are usually part of a county or city budget funded by local taxpayers.
Williams-Capone, the Victoria library services director, described how books are selected in the first place, and her library's process is typical for most. Staff members peruse lists of bestsellers and literary award winners. They scan literary journals. Library staffers also consider how often visitors check out certain titles or subjects to determine future purchases.
Rules for public libraries, including complaints about content, are determined at the local level.
When a resident challenges a book, "there's a process in place," to handle that complaint, said Woodland, the TLA spokeswoman. That process is typically crafted in writing by local governments with input from library staff.
But in these latest challenges, there have been complaints from some local residents that the process may give library staff too much of an upper hand.
Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) by L. C. Rosen, which follows a gay teenager who starts a teen sex advice column, has seen challenges in Irving and elsewhere.
At the urging of local residents, City Council members were meticulously briefed on how the Irving Public Library handles complaints against books kept in its libraries. After the book underwent a "request for consideration," which included an initial staff review and an appeal, it was kept in circulation.
Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer said he read the book in full, and even though he didn't particularly care for parts of the book, he understood the need for it.
"If you read the full book, it tells you that you can have a loving relationship with a person of your same gender," Stopfer said during an Oct. 14 meeting. "Everybody's not going to like everything. It's not something that I enjoyed reading, but I understood what the purpose of it was, and what the outcome was supposed to be."
In that same Irving City Council meeting, Flory Malloy, a self-described mother of seven with a doctorate in biblical studies, told council members she felt the library system and its appeal precess seemed pointless because in the end, books that are challenged remain on the shelves.
"The process ended with a denied appeal to remove the book," she told council members as she described one challenge that appeared to go nowhere. "It seems to be a point of pride for the Irving Public Library that they have never removed a book as the result of this process, so what's the purpose of this time-consuming review process?"
In Tyler, city spokeswoman Julie Goodgame confirmed that library officials there have been informed about "concerns" regarding book content. But there's been no specific complaint about a particular book, she said.
More changes for libraries?
Back in Llano County, Cunningham, the county judge, said the library system's three-day closure is the first of perhaps many changes for the library. He said the county plans to soon establish a library advisory board that will help establish policies on requests to reevaluate books in circulation.
Although parents and lawmakers have stressed they are attempting to protect children from inappropriate content, authors of works that have been at the center of these disputes see the fights as a way to stifle and censor diverse representation in literature.
And librarians see their role as offering reading material for a wider audience.
"These efforts to mute or censor diverse voices in books is part of the just overall extreme divisiveness in our country that was really just exacerbated by the pandemic, [and] the actions taken by Rep. Krause and others have added fuel to that," Woodland said.
She understands there will be those who may not like all of the books in a library. That's not the point of a public library, she said.
"No book is right for everyone, but one book can make a big difference in one person's life," she said. "That's what libraries are about -- providing those windows and doors and mirrors to the community."
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
Former, current ministers won't say who dropped residential school case against Catholic Church
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Advocates decry 'conspiracy of silence,' say survivors
People arrive at Parliament Hill in August as shoes representing unmarked graves discovered at former residential school sites cover the ground. Advocates say survivors have a right to know exactly which federal official decided to relieve the Catholic Church of its financial obligations to them in 2015. (Ben Andrews/CBC)
In the fall of 2015, someone in the federal government decided to drop a multimillion-dollar residential school compensation case against Catholic Church groups.
CBC News recently reached out to more than a dozen current or former ministers and senior bureaucrats. No one would say who gave the order, although several admit they likely have relevant information and documents that they refuse to share.
That includes both current Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller and Bernard Valcourt, who served as minister of aboriginal affairs and northern development in the Conservative government from February 2013 until his defeat in the October 2015 federal election, won by the Liberals.
Miller's director of communications, Renelle Arsenault, wrote in an email that a document requested by CBC News would not be provided because "it's secret." When asked to elaborate, she did not respond. Miller declined repeated interview requests.
Valcourt, reached this week by phone at his home in New Brunswick, was asked to provide his notes or emails from that period, but he declined.
"It's filed far, far away," he said.
A spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller declined to release a document that may show who released the Catholic Church from its financial commitments to residential school survivors in 2015. Miller declined a CBC News interview request. (David Kawai/The Canadian Press)
Advocates say survivors, their families and the public have a right to this information immediately. They say it's the latest slap in the face to survivors by the federal government, the courts and the Catholic Church.
"Everybody is covering their butts. You have a conspiracy of silence from mostly white males. It's so disappointing," said Tom McMahon, the former general counsel for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Angela White, executive director of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, agreed.
"Survivors have a right to know what happened and exactly why it happened — and why their voices are not being heard," she said.
Government abandons appeal
Catholic entities made three promises totalling $79 million under the landmark Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement of 2005. A recent CBC News investigation has led many survivors, lawyers and First Nations leaders to say the church reneged on all three.
The first pledge was to provide $29 million in cash, but this was not met after millions of dollars were spent on lawyers, administration and other unapproved expenses.
The second was to give "best efforts" to fundraise $25 million nationally. Less than $4 million was raised during a period when Catholic officials spent more than $300 million on church and cathedral building projects.
WATCH | Demands for Catholic Church to pay settlement before papal visit:
Demands for Catholic Church to pay residential school settlement before any papal visit
1 month ago
Duration2:03
Residential school survivors and advocates say they want the Catholic Church to pay the remaining amount of how much it owes to survivors under a 2005 settlement deal. It’s estimated at about $60 million, which is also how much a possible visit by the Pope could cost Canada. 2:03
The third was to provide $25 million worth of "in-kind services" to survivors. CBC News obtained the list of services, and survivors say most of the money provided was for inappropriate colonial religious services such as Bible study courses or sending priests and nuns to preach in Indigenous communities.
In July 2015, the Catholic Church asked for a buyout. The federal government refused, and the matter went to court. Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench Justice Neil Gabrielson approved the Catholic buyout proposal of less than $2 million.
The federal government appealed the decision, claiming Gabrielson had made "palpable and overriding errors in his assessment of the facts." Ottawa then asked that the July decision be quashed.
But for some unknown reason, someone in the federal government decided to abandon the appeal. The case was then closed.
Ex-deputy minister denies making decision
In October, CBC News asked officials in the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations for an explanation. In an email, they said the decision to drop the appeal was made by the deputy minister when it was known as the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
But speaking publicly for the first time to CBC News, that former deputy minister, Colleen Swords, denied making the decision.
In an interview, Swords said it appears the decision to abandon the appeal was made during the "caretaker period" after the 2015 federal election. Stephen Harper's Conservative government had just lost the election to Justin Trudeau's Liberals.
Bernard Valcourt, who was minister of aboriginal affairs in the Conservative government from February 2013 until his defeat in the October 2015 federal election, says he likely has emails and documents relevant to the appeal but declined to release them. (CBC)
Valcourt and other ministers remained responsible until the new cabinet was installed. But during this transition period, bureaucrats and ministers "generally practised restraint whenever possible" in deference to the incoming regime, Swords said.
That's why she isn't sure why the appeal was dropped at that time.
"I would assume this was considered significant.... This would have been major," she said. "They wouldn't do that. Not if they could wait."
Lori Turnbull, director of the Dalhousie University's school of public administration, agreed. She said no major decisions should be made during the caretaker period.
"If there was nothing urgent here, nothing pressing. You could have waited another month," Turnbull said.
Swords suggested contacting Andrew Saranchuk, the assistant deputy minister at the time who was in charge of the residential schools file. Saranchuk is now a senior official in the Department of Justice, but an official said he would not be available for an interview.
Church says it fulfilled obligations
After CBC News informed Crown-Indigenous Relations that Swords denied involvement, they issued an amended statement. The statement now points in general to "the Harper government."
CBC News then requested an interview with Peter MacKay, who was Harper's justice minister at the time.
"Just got this. What can I do for you ?" MacKay replied by email.
A detailed explanation and questions were then sent to MacKay, but he did not reply. David Lametti, the current justice minister, also declined an interview request.
"You can trust her. She's a very straight person," he said.
But while Valcourt said he likely has emails and documents relevant to the appeal, he's not interested in reliving those events.
"I'm afraid I cannot help you on that. I have resolved to never mingle or comment on the past," he said.
Angela White, executive director of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, says it was wrong for the federal government and the Catholic Church to make compensation decisions without survivors present. (Jon Hernandez/CBC)
Jonathan Lesarge, government and public relations adviser with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, said its officials dealt with the minister, deputy minister and assistant deputy minister on the compensation file during the relevant period, but it's unclear who made the specific decision to abandon the appeal.
Lesarge added that the bishops are "confident" they fulfilled all obligations under the compensation agreement.
Meanwhile, McMahon and White say these refusals, changing stories and conflicting accounts are not acceptable. They say Canada's 150,000 residential school survivors and their descendants are again being traumatized by ongoing secrecy and that someone needs to be held accountable.
"Have we not promised to stop treating survivors this way?" McMahon said.
Indigenous women make up almost half the female prison population, ombudsman says
Indigenous people account for 32 per cent of of all those held in federal prisons, despite accounting for less than five per cent of the total population. (Fred Thornhill/Reuters)
Indigenous women now account for almost half of the female inmate population in federally run prisons, says a new report from Canada's correctional investigator.
Indigenous people make up about 32 per cent of the federal prison population, despite accounting for less than five per cent of the total population. Indigenous women, meanwhile, account for 48 per cent of the population in women's prisons.
Federal corrections investigator Ivan Zinger called the situation "appalling and shameful."
"It's just trending always, year after year, in the wrong direction. And this is irregardless of what various governments have done," he said.
The Indigenous inmate population has increased roughly 18 per cent over the past decade, while the number of non-Indigenous inmates has dropped by 28 per cent in the same period, says Zinger's report.
Cree lawyer Eleanore Sunchild said the rising numbers are disturbing but not surprising because she doesn't think the Canadian justice system sees Indigenous people as "human beings."
"These numbers just reflect the ongoing systemic racism and battle our people face in the criminal justice system," she said.
While the percentage of non-Indigenous offenders has dropped, Zinger said, there hasn't been a corresponding drop among Indigenous inmates because they are more likely to serve longer portions of their sentence and are less likely to be granted parole or conditional release.
In an emailed statement, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) said it shares Zinger's concern and pointed to a number of initiatives it's undertaking, such as healing lodges that offer culturally appropriate services to Indigenous offenders.
"We are making progress but recognize there is more work to do. CSC will continue to work with its criminal justice partners and Indigenous communities to support the rehabilitation of Indigenous offenders," the statement says.
Government not doing enough, critics say
But Zinger and a number of advocates said the government needs to go much further.
In the 10 healing lodges operated in part by CSC, there are only 200 spaces available. Zinger said that's not enough and the lodges need more funding.
Marion Buller, who served as the chief commissioner of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, echoed Zinger's point.
The inquiry's final report offered 13 recommendations to address over-incarceration of Indigenous women, including calls for more Indigenous-run and culturally appropriate rehabilitation programs.
"The programming that's there isn't available as much as anybody would like, especially the inmates," Buller said. "And the programming that is available more often than not isn't culturally appropriate, and the culturally appropriate programming is underfunded and understaffed."
Mandatory minimum sentences
Before joining the Red Chamber, Sen. Kim Pate was executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, which works on issues affecting women in the justice system.
She said the government also needs to look at the underlying causes of Indigenous overrepresentation in federal prisons.
"Just putting more Indigenous programs and services, or saying you're doing that — and largely that's been performative anyway — is not going to solve it," she said.
Justice Minister David Lametti cited the recently tabled Bill C-5 — which would cut a number of mandatory minimum sentences from the Criminal Code — as a tool to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the prison system.
"C-5 is an important step in addressing the distressing statistics in the Corrections Investigator's report," Lametti said in a media statement.
But Pate said the government needs to go further and allow judges more discretion on mandatory minimum sentences in cases involving Indigenous offenders.
Sunchild said the government needs to put more emphasis on so-called Gladue reports — pre-sentencing and bail hearing reports that inform judges of the backgrounds of Indigenous offenders, including instances of trauma.
"The jails are full of Indigenous people who are survivors of Indian residential schools, or the children of survivors," she said.
Zinger said he is optimistic that the government will start making meaningful changes. He pointed to the fact that Lametti's mandate letter — his marching orders from the prime minister — task him with addressing the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prisons.
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