Launched in the shadows of Parliament Hill two weeks ago, the hunger strike by Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence goes on. There is little to be heard from the federal government or Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but a cowardly silence.

Chief Spence said she is willing to die in an attempt to get the federal government and aboriginal leaders to discuss the treaty process and make fundamental changes.

Spence’s protest was ignited by the recent passage of the government’s second omnibus budget bill and has the support of "Idle No More." Through flash mobs and round dances in shopping centres around the country, they have shown their ability to disrupt, to make noise, celebrate and engage thousands of people across the country.

Miloon Kothari is the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing. In 2007, Mr. Kothari led a mission to Canada to evaluate its human rights record related to housing.

Q. Now that you have been away from your former role as the UN's Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, what are some of your reflections on how the international human rights system supports the right to adequate housing?

In a country like ours, we have little history of participating in collective mourning. It is neither fashionable, nor rooted in our traditions. For nations are built on founding myths which often distort history and deny certain historical suffering.

Today, Jack allowed us to cry together, to feel together, to mourn together -- to think of another world together.