What I fail to understand is why my government repeatedly chooses to reneg on its treaty obligations and even basic human obligations--hello, drinking water!!! for crying out loud. Many communities have no insulation in homes, no indoor plumbing and many more serious problems that would never occur (Walkerton excepted), much less be ignored, in other communities.

My mind boggles.

Yes the issues are complex. But I can't help thinking that if these were white families, *someone's* emergency budget would cover renewable clean water, insulation, furnaces that don't leak CO etc etc. This issue is probably the single biggest one that makes me feel profound embarrassment to be Canadian. Minor lip service is occasionaly paid during election campaigns, after which promises are broken or shown to be wholly inadequate whle the problems drop off the public radar for years at a time and nothing improves, much gets worse. WTF!!!