Upperdate On the Body Bag Conspiracy

Of course the apology (see Shoot First, Ask Questions Later) was not accepted.

"Horrified chiefs returned many of the bags to Health Canada on Wednesday, calling them an affront toward aboriginal values that say preparing for death is akin to tempting fate.

"It was insulting," said David Harper, Grand Chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents 30 northern aboriginal communities. "Body bags may be part of flu preparations, but so is medications. Why do we get body bags before we get medication?"" (emphasis mine)

Look, folks, you want to talk about "affronts"? All this stupid conspiracy theorizing is an "affront" to ordinary intelligence. What does it matter the order in which they arrive as long as they get there in time? You're doing yourselves more harm than good by turning this into a media circus.

"Mr. Wolfe explained that the shipment was part of a "routine" but "excessive" restocking of nursing stations. "In this case, we overestimated," he said. "It's unfortunate that this has been linked exclusively with H1N1. Whether it's a nursing station in a remote first nations community in northern Manitoba, or a hospital in downtown Vancouver, supplies are constantly being restocked to prepare for unknown and unforeseen events, whether it be a plane crash, environmental disaster or pandemic.""

And what the hell's wrong with being "overestimated"? Would it be better to have been "underestimated"? What's your answer to that, oh great chiefs?

"The mild flu outbreak in spring erupted into a full-blown disaster on many aboriginal reserves in the country. At one point, two-thirds of all Manitoba flu patients on respirators were aboriginal, and aboriginal leaders were clamouring for supplies to fight the virus. With many experts forecasting a fall resurgence of the illness, some chiefs expect the worst is yet to come.

"To send 30 bags to one community is enough to frighten us all," Mr. Evans said. "Not just first nations.""

Hmmm. Let me see. Thirty bags to a community with three, four or five thousand members, when an epidemic is threatening and when past epidemics have proven to be particularly hard on First Nations communities. Doesn't seem excessive to me. You would expect some people to die over the next few months in any case, with or without an influenza outbreak. Just as a measure to contain the spread of the disease, it makes sense to have extra stock. I call it good planning.

No, instead of an apology, what they should have received is a good tongue lashing for all these demands that we prostrate ourselves before them. Playing political games with an issue that is life threatening is disgusting. Enough of the kow-towing! It's time to tell them so.