Happy New Year!

...and buy your Bronco stocks now!

-Ian

Bigstone, the Alberta Greens, and the Majority!

What is Politics?

Politics is mainly the method and process of taking decisions for the group. The word politics integrates all the domestic and international policies. These are mainly the activities of government on state level or national level political affairs. Since these are mainly the activities of government this does not mean that only government is responsible for carrying out all politics or government alone is involved in all political matters or politics is always carried out in national or state level affairs.

Bigstone Cree Nation

I have heard very little from the Bigstone Cree Nation since Gordon T. Auger became Cheif again. I had feared that the Bronco Energy deal would end depending who ended up on council but Chief Auger has a business brain and thats a good thing for the Bronco deal. With the economic situation slowing business and bringing down oil and stock prices now is the time for Bigstone Members to spend every penny they have on Bronco Stocks!!! The markets WILL recover over the next year and we as Bigstone Members KNOW the oil is under the reserve! This is not a guessing game but it could be a lost opportunity!

The Alberta Greens

So what will become of the Alberta Green Party now that George Read has stepped down as leader? The possibilities scare me. Will the party grow and become strong as the Green Party of Alberta or will the name and spirit of the party change? I do NOT trust the new leadership and if the name is changed I will leave the party and I expect a new Alberta Green Party will be formed.

The Majority

So the Canadian people, the 60% of Canadians that did not vote Conservative will have to wait till the new year before taking power. I fully support a coalition government and I believe it can work at least for a short time. This is a historic event...now will be the time to change the way we vote! Proportional Representation is the ONLY way to get many Canadians interested in government and voting again. The next time we have an election the face of the Canadian government will have a new face...at least this is what I hope. It would be nice to see posistive changes in my lifetime.

-Ian

BCN Election - Gordon T. Auger IS Chief again!

So, Fianly after months of appeals and recounts its over.

Congrats to Gordon T. Auger on his win for Chief of Bigstone Cree Nation!

Take a peak at the comments of my last post and you will see people are frustrated enough to leave harsh messages on my blog! Thats a good thing!

Best thing we can do as members of Bigstone Cree Nation is start a campaign to get the Election Code updated. The current code has been in place for almost 20 years and has had only one real update AND that update sucked bigtime!

I may start a Facebook group about this!

If you are on Facebook or thinking of joining Facebook seach for me Ian Hopfe and add me as a friend! BUT TELL ME WHY! Like: I see the invite on your blog man!

-Ian

Bigstone Cree Nation Election Recount: Tie!

OMG

The Bigstone Cree Nation Recount today has shown that Francis Gladue and Gordon T. Auger have tied for Chief!

OMFG!!!!

What now?

Election Officer Betty Jackson is consulting the election Arbitrator to seek directions...

1) Either we will have a new election for Chief that includes all the candidates for Chief

or

2) There will be a run off election with just Mr. Gladue and Mr. Auger

Talk around town is that Mr. Auger had already sent out a memo to all BCN Departments telling them business as usual till Money and this may have been a good move when he thought he was elected. In hind sight that memo was premature. In addition word is that Mr. Auger became angry at the recount and started to blame the last Chief and Council for creating the tie.

Well, I don't know how the last C&C could have been the blame for a tie vote. It just shows Mr. Auger's anger and irrationality has already showing and maybe he is not the man for the job. He has a fire for leadership but he's burning EVERYTHING up!

That being said from a Cultural stand point Mr. Auger would be a better choice to protect BCN Culture because Mr. Gladue is a Pentecostal. In Wabasca the Pentecostal community is a large vote but they strongly oppose native culture which is a sad fact.

More to come!

-Ian

Federal Election and Bigstone Cree Nation Election Rants

First!

Federal Election Rant

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was on the TV Leaders French debate last night! Way to go I can't wait for the English debate tonight. She really seemed polite and because French is not her first language it made it a little hard for her to get into the real meat of the debate. That being said she did hit home the important Green points and the major and dangerous policies of the Harper government.

One thing I noticed at the end was that every other party seem willing or at least there is a possibility of a coalition government if the Conservatives get a minority again.

Prediction(s) - Green Party will get a boost from this debate but they will get even more from the English debate tonight. Conservatives will not get a majority and the house will look almost the same but the Liberals and NDP will lose a few seats to the Greens. More predictions coming after the weekend and the new polls come out!


Second but just as important!

Bigstone Cree Nation Election Rant

BCN elections are short, only about 2 1/5 weeks long making debates, advertising, and door to door visits hard.

On Election day we have a new (old) Chief back in office...but just. Gordon T. Auger has beaten Frances Gladue by only 3 votes and it looks like there will be a recount.

I feel Mr. Gladue lost despite the large Pentecostal vote because he has had a term and a half but has been very quite. He was not an outgoing and energetic leader despite his skill, honesty, and dedications.

This is not the first time Gordon T. Auger has been Bigstone Cree Nation Chief and for good reason. Chief Auger has a fire and flare for being Chief and he is not scared to put his neck out for what he believes. Additionally, he is a traditional Cree culture follower and this is important to protect the culture and language of Bigstone Cree Nation.

The three additional councilors elected this election are Silas Yellowknee, Mike Beaver, and Ida Alook.

Mr. Yellowknee has been reelected this time around making this his second term as BCN Councilor. Coming from an RCMP and community bylaw officer background Mr. Yellowknee will continue to bring honesty and justice to BCN.

Mr. Beaver is an ex-chief of BCN returning to council after many years off working his own business, working with elders, and various first nation organizations. I do believe that Mr. Beaver is a traditional Lodge and Pipe holder so this will also help to protect the culture and language.

Mrs. Alook is a long time employee of BCN and the loss of her in this capacity will surely be felt. Mrs. Alook joins long time councilor Clara Moberly as the only two female councilors and I think this is the first time in BCN that 2 women will be on council at the same time.

Prediction(s) - There will be many staff changes over the next few months and possibly non-native staff members will be hit hardest. There will be more media releases and information from the Chief's office on oil and gas development. There will be a shift to old council procedures. BCN owned companies will be reborn with new boards or C&C will take direct control but they will receive more support.

Lastly...

Crime in Wabasca by Natives

I got a very interesting comment about crime in Wabasca on my post about the last BCN election. Seems that a non-native person was assaulted and his truck damage by a Native person that works for a BCN company. I don't know any of the real hard details but its sad to things like this happen in our community.

IT MAKES ALL NATIVES LOOK BAD!

Alcohol, drugs, and crime are very high in Wabasca and anyone that say different is lying! My own business gets broken into or vandalized at least one time a year. It's interesting how some many First Nations people are fighting for native rights and justice against past and present prejudice but there is a high rate of prejudice toward non-natives! It works both ways!

If any doesn't know I'm half Cree and half German! I see and feel both sides of the conflicts and it hurts. Some days you don't know were you fit in.

I Challenge the new Chief and Council to fight hard against alcohol, drugs, and crime!

GREENS in the Debate!

That was a crazy few days!

First we were not in the debate...

Then the public outrage and backlash came...

Then the other parities found out how important the Green Party is!

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May broke into the boys club and is now allowed into the debate. We need more women in power...come on ladies get out and vote Green!

Even if we don't get any seats we have been a major factor in this Election.

We are stealing a lot of votes from the NDP and everyone knows it.

We are stealing votes from the Liberals and they know it because they borrowed the basis of their Green Shift Policy from us. Unfortunately, they don't have the understanding to make it work properly. The Liberal plan is only a part of the Green Party Platform that works together to prevent people from attacking a weak link. The Green Party Platform is strong as a whole because we have spent years and years developing it. The Green Party will save the planet AND protect the people AND make the economy strong!

The Conservatives are walking a fine line to hide their true colors of extreme right wing reforms. It's sad that the Conservatives are making western Canada especially Alberta look like a bunch of right wing bigots. 60% of Alberta did NOT vote for the Conservatives and I hope the rest of Canada can accept our apologies. Canada, help us fix the Harper mistake...vote Green.

Ian

Green Party Edmonton Team Running

Looking for volunteers in Edmonton!

Edmonton and area candidates and supporters met yesterday in Edmonton. We have a good group of people with varying skills that will make this a great campaign. If you would like to join this dynamic team that is working for the future of the planet here in Edmonton contact me or

Alberta Organizer

Marie Read

403-288-8127

marie.read@greenparty.ca

Right now the team is working to get all our candidates nomination paperwork in place. In the next week the team will have an overall Edmonton and area plan in place and individual candidates will be running at full sprint.

Virtual Online Office

By the weekend we will have a webpage built for the Edmonton and area candidates so everyone can interact and find information. This virtual online office will center on local candidates and events with links to the Green Party website for policy information.

When the website is up and running with the candidates you will be able to find all the events for each campaign.

Untill the new virtual office is up visit www.greenparty.ca for more info!

Ian

Canadian Federal Election 2008

So an election will be called this Sunday in Canada!

I will be supporting the Green Party in the Edmonton and Northern Alberta area this Election but I will not be running. I sat out the last Alberta Provincial Election because I was tired and burnt out from running in several Federal, Provincial, Municipal, and First Nation elections in a very short time. Now I'm back with energy and want to help real bad...or good...or...whatever...you know what I mean!

Organization meeting in Edmonton

Sunday September 7th, 2008 at 2pm!

If you want to be a part of the team in the Edmonton area contact me and I will give you the meeting address. It's at a candidate’s house and I don't want to post that information in a public place.

If you can't make it to the meeting but have issues you would like to bring up get them to me and I will do my best to address them.

ian@wabasca.com
or phone my cell
780-891-0154

Election Issues

This is an illegal election!
Steven Harper is braking his own election law by calling this election. I cannot stress how important it is to send the Conservatives a message by not voting for them this election. Time to vote for your second pick and the logical second pick of all Canadians no matter what your first political choice is...is the Green Party!

Northern Alberta Pollution is getting out of hand!
From the Fort McMurray Tar Sands to the Swan Hills Waste Treatment Plant to continued clear cut logging to all the pulp mills the Athabasca Watershed is being destroyed! Just look at this disturbing news story!

First Nations need to support the Green Party!
The traditional land use areas around all First Nations in Alberta and Canada are being attacked by slack government rules on the environment. This is directly hurting traditional First Nations culture in all areas. The Green Party is based partly on traditional First Nations ways of life and respect for the land. Stand with the Green Party and together we will protect the land! More news Aboriginal, environmental activists talk water at northern Alta. Gathering, Fort Chipewyan rails at oilsands company over water quality, and 'Comprehensive' review of Fort Chipewyan cancer rates announced.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May must be included in the televised Leaders Debate!
Over 700,000 people in Ontario voted Green in the last provincial election, over 600,000 people in Canada voted Green in the Federal Election before that, and before this election the Green Party has one official Green MP. All these people need proper representation in the House and deserve to hear/see what Elizabeth May and the Green Party have to offer. They can't deny the Green Party a place in the debate! Click here to sign the petition and let Elizabeth speak!

Vote Green!

Ian Hopfe