From: Aboriginal Multi-Media Society
By Barb Nahwegahbow Windspeaker Contributor TORONTO
According to Chief Shining Turtle, Franklin Paibomsai, Bill C-10, the Tobacco Bill, is yet another government attack on First Nations.
The chief of Whitefish River First Nation in Ontario said the government has told Canadian taxpayers the Bill is aimed at getting contraband tobacco off the streets, but “it’s really aimed at prevention of First Nations trade and economy. It’s about jailing more Aboriginal people and keeping our economy suppressed. It doesn’t pay attention to Indigenous rights, the inherent rights of First Nations to exercise their economy as we have been doing for a very, very long time.”
Bill C-10, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code, according to the November 2013 backgrounder published by the federal Department of Justice, creates a new Criminal Code offence to combat the trafficking and cross-border smuggling of contraband tobacco.
