Elijah Harper, in thought

 I viewed a movie today entitled "Elijah".  It was about the the passing of the Meach Lake Accord during the Mulroney period when he was Prime Minister of Canada.

The Meach Lake Accord needed to be ratified be every province before it could become law.  The accord gave Quebec special status as a "nation with in a nation" while at the same time never recognizing the First Nations people of Canada.

Elijah Harper was a member of the Manitoba provincial legislature and he recognized that if the accord was passed, it would exclude all First Nations from any further negotiations in any Canadian dealings with Canada's First Nations.

Since each provincial parliament needed to ratify the accord, Manitoba and New Foundland were the only two provinces left to ratify the accord. 

 Elijah Harper voted against the Meach Lake Accord and caused it to be reintroduced to the legislature through the proper proceedings and rules.  The accord was not introduced in the legislature according the parliamentary rules, so the accord had to go back to the beginning in order to be properly introduced.

The time table was very close and by the time it was reintroduced and once more voted against by Elijah Harper, the accord failed to become law in Canada.

The accord was seen only as a means to keep Quebec from separating from Canada.  Quebec was being given special status, which would not have been given to First Nations people.  The side agreement to the accord only paid lip service to First Nations, and did absolutely nothing except see Quebec as one of "two founding nations" being recognized in Canada.  

Amongst personal threats from people against his life, Elijah Harper stood strong to make a better place for First Nations through out Canada.  He was threatened by individuals, threatened by Mulroney when he sent his "boys" who were told to solve the problem and in a hurry.  On the final day, it was understood that the Manitoba legislature would not be passing the accord, they also took offense to the tactics used by Mulroney in his attempt to sway members of the Manitoba legislature.

The result of the "death" of Meach Lake was not a drastic as Mulroney would vow it would be.  Yes Quebec attempted to separate but in the two and perhaps three attempts, the people of Quebec have always voted in favour of staying part of Canada.

In the federal election after the accord, Mulroney resigned as leader and appointed Ms. McDonald to Canada's first female Prime Minister.  The end result of the federal election saw the conservative party reduced to only two seats in the House of Commons, and the Reform Party take the lead to become the Opposition in the House of Commons.

Elijah Harper was elected to federal politics under the Chretien government and served his constituency well and was an outspoken advocate for Indigenous Rights in Canada and abroad.  

At the rededication of the Canada's War Memorial at Vimy Ridge, Prime Minister Steven Harper recognized First Nations People as a third founding nation of Canada.  That was something that no other Prime Minister had ever done.

I don't know how the Honorable Elijah Harper would see the First Nations people and their disunity, which seems to be seen all over Canada in that the elected councils are being challenged by the hereditary councils and others who claim not to recognize the elected councils.  It would be difficult for me or anyone to really say how Elijah would see this.

He saw himself as a First Nations first, a Canadian second.  There are difficulties at this time and what we actually need is a man like Elijah Harper to step in.