Noront Resources

I have heard enough debate whether First Nations should get this or they should not get that... I am going to wade into this debate with some "personal" information about who I am, where I came from and what my expectations are in this life!!!

First, I am Mennonite. My grandpa came to Canada around 1920 from the Ukraine. There is a reason they came to Canade from the Ukraine. It's called persecution and extermination... early 1900's saw the end of the Russian governmental system at the time and the turn to communism (except those in power used the base of communism to get POWER for themselves...). At the time, my people lived in the Ukraine working the land and prospering from "hard work". They did not need any handouts etc, they worked hard and built up the land that they lived on to sustain themselves quite well. Along comes the Bolshevic Revolution and all Hell (please excuse the language, it IS appropriate in this reference) breaks loose. The Red Army releases all prisoners from jail that support their movement and anarchy reigns in some regions as a result. This can be easily verified in a book I studied in High School many years ago entitled "Mennonite History". Now, according to this book, the rule of law was kinda "suspended" due to the revolution and it's efforts. When you are in a civil war, many laws go out the window. To make a long story short, these former prisoners formed a band of "bandits" and began to raid the Mennonite Settlements, as the Mennonites believed in Non Violence. This makes them very easy targets for those willing to kill for virtually "no reason".

My Great Grand Uncle was shot on the doorstep of his own house in front of his family holding a baby by these bandits because he had no more money to give them, he had been robbed to the point of having no money... This is what my Grandpa told me as he reflected on those times before he came to Canada. My Grampa is the only Wiebe to make it to Canada with some Koops from the Ukraine. The rest of the Wiebe's can no longer be found. This is the reason why...

After they were repeatedly attacked by these "Machnovites" (the bandit's name, I believe, but this is from memory and not based on having recently read that book as I have not been able to procure a copy to read lately), the Mennonite people formed a band of armed men to protect themselves from these bandits. After a time, the war raging in Russia gets very close to the region and this band is "forced to pick a side" and join the war effort... they picked the wrong side, siding with the "white army" instead of the "red army". When the war is coming to an end, this spells DOOM for the Mennonite people, my ancestors. They are systematically rounded up in the Ukraine and sent to Archangel, somewhere very far north in Russia to attend the Gulag, or for lack of a better term, Russian concentration camp. They were not "mercifully" gassed and executed like the Jews were in Germany, no, they were forced to work to death. They were given enough food to work in these camps until they died. Some made it a few years, some even made it longer, but they never saw freedom until they went to meet with God...

Those few who escaped, my Grampa included, did not talk much about this time in their lives. It was too painful and it took much prodding by me and there were tears in his eyes when he finished speaking about it... My grampa was not a mild mannered man prone to tears.

So, why do you think I am relating this story to you??? It's all about moving on... My family came to Canada to start again. The few that made it, and I believe there were some that did not survive the journey, never looked back at what happened. They never demanded to have this or be compensated for that. Many, many people were sent to the Gulags. Many people were also executed with no remorse or even a thought about it. This all happened in the EARLY 1900's, not 150 or 200 years ago...

So, I know how the first nations people feel. I know how it is to get uprooted, I have seen it in the eyes of my Grampa when he was still alive, may God give him rest for his soul... I know what it is like to have your people live off the fat of the land only to see it taken away from them so callously and without any compassion or mercy... I have made my way here in Canada. I was born and raised here, as was my Father... We have lived in Canada and found a way to make a living... my whole family has worked hard to make a living in this country... I would go so far as to say that there are many others on this forum who have also had it rough in the past, and I am not the only one... but I do not cry foul, I do not demand restitution for the land "taken away without any compensation" or the "murdered family members."

So, when Snezzer's post sparks debate and there are sides taken, it pains me to remember where I have come from, and it pains me to see blockades where people are "demanding this" or "demanding that"... I understand that these people SHOULD BE GIVEN FIRST CHANCE AT THE JOBS... or they should be given the chance to form companies to earn a living from this earth that we ALL SHARE!!! Absolutely, I believe they should be given that chance! BUT, when I hear that these people should have any more chance than perhaps I should have, I have to wonder why... My ancestors where literally SLAUGHTERED in Russia. There are none left living there... they were ALL rounded up and sent to the Gulags, not just a few to teach them a lesson. That is in the past, it's history. As long as we can learn from history, that is all that anyone should expect from it...

I have seen things in Manitoba that make me angry when it comes to the First Nations people. Things that are just not fair for them. I have also seen things that these people have done and are still doing today that make me angry as well... I had to move away from my home to work, there just wasn't enough jobs at the time I graduated to stay in my home town. I think people need to start thinking about making contributions TO their country instead of expecting contributions FROM their country. If this doesn't happen soon, this WHOLE COUNTRY is headed to Hell in a Handbasket (again, please forgive the analogy, but it is quite appropriate for the situation).

Handouts... Absolutely not! Jobs... Absolutely YES. This comes from someone who's people have experienced atrocity first hand, and not that long ago... I have zero animosity towards anyone who is not a Canadian first who makes a contribution to the world and sees his/her ethnicity or heritage second... and does not use it as a crutch, my people included in that statement!!!

Snezzer, you make some good points, but do not forget what happened to these people as well. We must not forget that... but we must move forward, ALL OF US!!!

God Bless all Noront Shareholders.

Herb