OPINION: TREATIES WITH FIRST NATIONS ARE NOT SECRET 'GIVEAWAYS' - by Ron Sam, Songhees Nation Chief & Chief Negotiator for Te’mexw Treaty Association Caroline Elliott looks at the Modern Treaty our Nation is negotiating with British Columbia and Canada and sees loss. I can almost understand why. If you begin where she does in 1974, with a new holiday and speeches about the “great people” who built British Columbia, then perhaps a treaty returning lands to First Nations looks like something being taken away. But my people did not arrive in 1974, or in 1858, or with the first survey stake driven into this shoreline. We were here long before there was a legislature to give speeches in. In fact, we were evicted from our village to make way for that building. So let me offer a different starting point, and a richer story than the one Ms. Elliott tells. The Treaty BC is finalizing with the Te’mexw Treaty Association (TTA) is not a whim of the current government. It is the answer to a direction from the highest court in Canada. For decades, the Supreme Court of Canada has been clear that the honour of the Crown requires governments to sit down and negotiate in good faith to resolve outstanding Indigenous claims and honour longstanding promises. As Chief Justice Lamer wrote in the landmark Delgamuukw case (1997), reconciliation is to be achieved through negotiated settlements. In 2014, the Court confirmed in Tsilhqot’in Nation that governments are under not merely a moral duty but a legal one to negotiate in good faith with First Nations to resolve claims to ancestral lands. In other words, the very thing Ms. Elliott decries is what the law asks of all of us. And we have taken that direction seriously. Songhees, together with the other members of the TTA, has been at this treaty table, in good faith, for more than 30 years. We have negotiated through NDP governments, Conservative governments and Liberal governments, through changes in Ottawa and changes in Victoria, outlasting more premiers and prime ministers than I care to count. This is not a backroom deal rushed through by one party. It is the patient work of a generation. If anyone doubts how broad-ranging the commitment to reconciliation has been, they need only look at who has sat across the table from us. When we signed our Agreement in Principle in 2015, the Liberal government of the day was represented by then Minister of Aboriginal Affairs John Rustad — the same John Rustad who went on to lead the B.C. Conservative Party, and whom Ms. Elliott herself recently sought to succeed as leader. Reconciliation through negotiation has not been a partisan project. Neither has the mandate to return certain public lands to First Nations — lands that, it bears noting, the government itself has already determined to be surplus. Ms. Elliott calls the return of land a “handout” and a “giveaway.” With respect, you cannot give someone a gift that was theirs to begin with. A treaty is not charity from the Crown. It is the lawful resolution of a debt this province has carried, unpaid, for generations. Ms. Elliott also warns readers about what Songhees “might” do with the land, what “could” happen, what access “may” be lost. The whole column runs on those words — might, could, may. When you do not know a people, it is easy to fill the silence with your fears. So let me fill it with facts instead. In 2013, the province transferred a former government liquor store to Songhees as part of our Incremental Treaty Agreement. It is now a Red Barn Market — an upscale community grocery store. Songhees has entered into several protocol agreements with local governments in the region and have collaborated with the City of Victoria on various projects. The fact is, Songhees people have lived throughout Victoria for a very long time, and the harbour, the shoreline and this city are still here. We are the city’s oldest neighbours, and we intend to remain good ones. And I would encourage anyone unsettled by this column to do one simple thing: check the sources. Follow the very link Ms. Elliott provides and you will find it leads to a public engagement slide deck from a 2023 open house series up and down Vancouver Island. This is not a leak, and it is not a backroom. It is a public process — consulted on, posted online and open for years to anyone who cared to look. There is room for discussion about the terms of any treaty — evaluations, governance, public access and the concerns of neighbouring Nations, like Esquimalt, are all worth debating in good faith. We welcome that debate. What we do not accept is the suggestion that our presence in our own territory is a threat to the beauty of a city we have always called home. The pioneers Ms. Elliott admires are praised for their courage in building something lasting. Finishing a fair treaty takes that same courage — the courage to settle old accounts fairly, rather than to keep romanticizing a fictional past. After 30 years, we are close. I would rather be remembered for finishing this work than for standing in its way.
i am slowly getting out into the world more on a daily basis about 3-4 times per week for a couple hours of work its been slow and steady but I just listen to some confidence and stress release affirmations while I am out have an anxiety pill hahaha and just try my best going into new places and homes and a large amount of trust in me to enter these peoples places I just focus on the cleaning and most people I find dont bite my head off or anything they are actually pretty nice and happy to get their home cleaned but it is hard with my complexities and social anxiety to sit on a crowded bus all across town but I have done it enough times its starting to be actually okay and I am not as crazed about it but I sometimes just start sweating due to heat so I pull out my magnetic fan and I am about good to go after the job is done and I am not going to a wealthy persons house somewhere else in town I kind of breathe a sigh of relief and try and find my way back home but the heat here is supposed to die down in a month and a half I just hate summers hahaha I am glad I did not waste another year never leaving my room and just doing art and blogging and stuff that does not get me anywhere but like I mean money wise so at least i can have a few paydays a month now and I really wanted that for the last year since I quit the church job due to a perversity there hahaha but like I kind of want to take on another job soon but it has to be right and yeah I have to keep in mind I am starting my studies soon for the next couple years so I already work already its a pretty cool care app and nothing but nice people with various injuries that cant or dont like to clean :) its a good path just cleaning some strangers toilet does not even phase me anymore like after doing the church for a few years i just know how a proper toilet should look for the comfort of the next person using it hahaha
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AT WHAT POINT DOES “HELPING SOMEONE” BECOME AN EXCUSE FOR TAKING AWAY THEIR AUTONOMY? We say we want to save lives. And obviously, we should. But there’s a complicated question underneath that conversation: Who gets to decide what makes a life worth living? People who use drugs are often treated as though their substance use automatically invalidates their other decisions. If they use drugs: “They can’t make rational decisions.” If they’re homeless: “They don’t know what’s best for themselves.” If they refuse treatment: “They don’t understand what they need.” If they decline abstinence: “They’re in denial.” If they choose harm reduction: “They aren’t serious about recovery.” Notice the pattern. The moment somebody makes a choice we don’t agree with, we sometimes stop treating that choice as a choice. We reinterpret it as evidence that the person is incapable of choosing. And that’s a dangerous line. Because autonomy doesn’t mean we have to agree with someone’s decision. It means recognizing that adults have the right to make decisions about their own lives even decisions we think are bad. Healthcare already operates around this concept. We inform. We educate. We explain risks. We recommend. We obtain consent. And when a competent adult makes a decision we disagree with, we don’t automatically declare them incapable. People with substance use disorders deserve that same dignity. This doesn’t mean ignoring overdose risk. It doesn’t mean pretending every choice is safe. It doesn’t mean abandoning people. It means recognizing that care and control are not the same thing. You can say: “This decision worries me.” without saying: “You aren’t capable of making decisions.” You can offer treatment without coercing someone into believing your definition of recovery. You can provide naloxone without demanding abstinence. You can provide safer use education without approving of drug use. You can keep a door open without forcing someone through it. Saving someone’s life should never require convincing them that they have lost the right to have a say in it. Written by Meggz
BREAKING🚨 Armed men in uniforms with American flag patches just bombed three Ecuadorian fishing boats with drones, hooded the badly injured crews, and handed them to El Salvador's navy as "shipwreck survivors." Captain Hernán Flores was 170 miles off the Galápagos when a drone roughly the size of a pillow crashed into his boat. "We heard the explosion — boom. It was the kind of blast that left my ears ringing. Right then, I felt blood running down me," he said. His nephew Jordyn's foot was torn open. Another crewman's back was burned by the flames. Ecuador's coast guard had inspected that same boat and cleared it, finding nothing illegal. The 16 crew jumped into small auxiliary boats and headed for a blue ship that had been shadowing them, hoping to be rescued. The men aboard pointed rifles, then bound them, hooded them, and left them on deck overnight with open bleeding wounds and no medical care. They spoke English, wore brown camouflage, and some had a U.S. flag patch on the arm. They asked whether the fishermen were carrying anything illegal. When one injured man answered that they had just been inspected by Ecuador's coast guard, the armed men started arguing among themselves. In a separate strike, drones hit the Don Maca. "I went flying and slammed into a diesel tank that was sitting there," said Jaime Rubén Cervantes Macías. "People were shouting, 'Drone, drone, drone!'" Both crews were handed to El Salvador's navy, described by their captors only as shipwrecked. A third boat, the Fiorella, vanished at sea with eight men aboard. The U.N. presumes them dead. Flight data shows a maritime patrol plane based at a military airfield in El Salvador flew toward all three boats beforehand, including toward the Fiorella on the day it disappeared. The plane is on no Pentagon aircraft list and is registered to a company using a private mailbox in a Richmond, Virginia parcel store. The Pentagon says Southern Command was not involved. The CIA's answer: "We do not have any guidance to offer on this."
Landlords in 2006: “$500 rent, $250 deposit. You got a job? Cool, here’s the keys.” Landlords in 2016: “$850 first, $850 last, $850 deposit… don’t ask questions. This is a deal.” Landlords in 2026: “Alright so boom — • 3x the rent (before taxes, after taxes, spiritually too) • $2500 first month • $2500 last month • $2500 deposit (non-refundable if we vibe check you wrong) • 680 credit score minimum… but we prefer 750+ • No pets. (Yes for $100monthly a pet)No kids. No candles. No smoking. No vaping. No breathing. No existing. • $85 application fee (we will ghost you btw) • $300 late fee if your payment blinks at 12:01 • 6 references, 4 pay stubs, your horoscope chart • Background check, foreground check, side quest check • Fee for utilities. Apartment: 550 sq ft (including the emotional damage) Carpet seen 3 recessions Fridge hums like it’s fighting demons Stove got a lean like it’s tired too Listing says: ✨“Luxury living”✨ 😭💀 Stupid mfs
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BREAKING🚨 ICE was just FORCED to TURN THEIR PLANE AROUND mid-flight to FREE an active-duty Army sergeant's wife. Maisa Lopes Eliaser is married to Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo, who trains soldiers in Louisiana. But when she voluntarily showed up for a routine immigration appointment, ICE took her into custody, locked her up for over a month, and put her on a flight out of the country. Somewhere over the ocean, everything changed... Officers received a sudden phone call mid-air and asked Maisa if she wanted to continue or return. They landed in Brazil, let every other detainee off the plane, kept her on board, and flew her all the way back to Louisiana. Guards told her she was "Famous" after viral videos brought national attention to her case. "Who made the call? We don't know," Sgt. Jaramillo said. "But someone made the phone call, and then she came back." While she was detained, Jaramillo had to step away from his military duties to care for her 5-year-old son, a U.S. citizen. DHS says she had overstayed a 2019 tourist visa, with zero criminal allegations against her. Eliaser says she was treated like "an animal" in detention: "I could not believe what was happening until I returned to my house. Day by day, I'm trying to recover from this trauma."
BREAKING🚨 A Cuban immigrant who told his daughter to vote for Trump is now locked in an African maximum-security prison even though he has never been charged with a crime there. Roberto Mosquera, a 59-year-old plumbing foreman from Miami, has been inside that prison, Matsapha, for more than a year, according to reporting by Nicholas Casey for The New York Times Magazine. In June 2025 he walked into his routine annual immigration check-in in Florida with his company truck parked outside so he could head to a job afterward. He never got back to the truck. Agents held him at Krome in Miami, then in El Paso, where he couldn't reach a lawyer for nearly two weeks. Then they loaded him onto a jet with four other men, transferred them to a military cargo plane at a U.S. air base in Djibouti, and didn't tell them where they were going until it was landing. All five refused to sign the removal papers. Thirty hours after a hot Texas afternoon, Mosquera stepped into a cold winter morning in Eswatini, a kingdom he had never heard of. The government there received $5.1 million from the USA. Homeland Security posted that the men were "depraved monsters" who were "so uniquely barbaric their home countries refuse to take them back." Jamaica said it had never refused to take back its citizen on that flight. Mosquera came from Cuba at 12 on the 1980 Mariel boatlift. He took a plea deal for attempted murder in his 20s, served nine years, and had lived legally under supervised check-ins since 2002, married, four daughters, a born-again Christian. His sister remembers him on the patio saying Trump was going to change everything. He told his daughter to vote for him. In prison he developed glaucoma. A doctor told him he had lost half the vision in one eye and 80 percent in the other. He stopped eating for nearly a month demanding a lawyer and a reason. Eswatini officials said he was on a voluntary religious fast. A federal judge ruled the program unlawful in February, writing that it is "not fine, nor is it legal." The Supreme Court stayed the ruling. Eleven more men landed in Eswatini on July 8. If you appreciate my posts, it would mean the world if you followed my page. Thank you for being here.
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