Current Problems:
Exploring Stakeholder: "Government of Canada"
Updates on this page: 441
(Filtered by Indigenous Group "Inuit")
May 8, 2024
Northern Affairs minister says ‘it’s to be determined’ if Nutrition North subsidy going to consumers
Federal government commits external review of program. The Nutrition North Canada subsidy is supposed to reduce the high cost of food in northern and remote communities. Photo: APTN. APTN News: A federal subsidy program that is supposed to make food cheaper in remote and northern communities is heading for an external review, says the minister...
May 3, 2024
ITK considers rejecting role on reconciliation oversight body
The Inuit organization calls the council ‘a melting pot of Indigenous voices’ CBC News: Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed says he’s considering pulling his organization out of its role with the new National Council for Reconciliation, calling the oversight body a “melting pot of Indigenous voices” he doesn’t want it to be a part of. The council...
May 2, 2024
The true cost of critical minerals
By Emilie Cameron, Rosemary Collard & Jessica Dempsey | Opinion | Canada’s National Observer: OPINION – Canada is positioning itself as a global destination for critical mineral extraction. Are we willing to destroy caribou herds and trample on Indigenous rights to do it? Barnabas Davoti/Pexels Listen to article The 2024 federal budget bolsters Canada’s ambitions to be a global supplier of critical minerals....
May 2, 2024
AMC Calls Bill C-29 Redundant to Reconciliation
NationTalk: Winnipeg, Treaty One Territory – May 1:The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) says the exclusion of First Nations representation from the development of Bill C-29 is a continuation of the federal government’s suppression of legitimate First Nations involvement in legislation that is intended to hold the government accountable for the implementation of the Truth...
May 2, 2024
‘We are also human beings’: Quebec court authorizes off reserve class-action lawsuit against province, Canada
A lawsuit filed in a Quebec court alleges that Quebec and Canada discriminated against Inuit children in Nunavik’s 14 communities including Kuujjuaq. Photo: APTN. APTN News: After months of waiting, a class-action lawsuit brought by two Inuit women who say they suffered harm in the province’s child welfare system is proceeding against Quebec and Canada....
April 30, 2024
Environment commissioner gives Canada failing grade on Northern contaminated sites
Federal Environment Commissioner Jerry V. DeMarco holds a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, April 20, 2023. DeMarco is giving the federal government a failing grade on reducing their financial liability in remediating contaminated sites in the north — and says they’re leaving some Indigenous Peoples out of the process altogether. Photo: Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian...
April 30, 2024
How Workplace Diversity Fails Indigenous Employees
What began with optimism and enthusiasm has curdled into exploitation BY MICHELLE CYCAILLUSTRATION BY MARIAH MEAWASIGE / MAKOOSE NationTalk: the Walrus – IN FEBRUARY 2022, a twenty-one-year-old Ojibwe and Métis woman named Christine Paquette was job-hunting online. She clicked on a posting for an entry-level position in customer service at CIBC. The call for applications, which was...
April 29, 2024
First annual poverty report card, reveals the harsh realities faced by Nunavut’s most vulnerable populations
APTN News: A report released by Amautiit Nunavut Inuit Women’s Association, (NIWA), in cooperation with Campaign 2000, an organization out of Toronto whose mission is to end family poverty, identifies the harsh realities of child poverty within Nunavut. With over 35.8 per cent of Inuit children living in low-income families—more than double Canada’s national rate of...
April 26, 2024
‘Our Mother Earth is sick’: Leaders speak out on rampant plastic pollution in the Arctic
Vi Waghiyi, environmental and justice program director at ACAT, poses with IPEN’s The Arctic’s Plastic Crisis report. Photoy by Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: Every year, Delbert Pungowiyi’s community comes together to clean up the trash on the beach of his small island in Alaska. “Name a country, any...
April 24, 2024
Nunavut court frees defrocked Oblate priest on bail
Eric Dejaeger has been convicted of dozens of sexual offences in Canada, involving children, adults and animals Former Nunavut priest Eric Dejaeger during his trial in Iqaluit. Photo: APTN file APTN News: A defrocked priest convicted of sexually abusing children in Nunavut will be flown to Kingston, Ont., to live in a federal half-way house...
April 23, 2024
Inuit leaders disappointed with budget’s lack of money for tuberculosis elimination
Budget pledges $1.1B for First Nations and Inuit health but offers nothing on TB elimination specifically CBC Indigenous: Inuit leaders are concerned with the federal Liberal budget’s lack of new cash specifically earmarked for eliminating tuberculosis in Inuit regions by 2030. Advocates say the spending plan was a missed opportunity on that front and a...
April 19, 2024
UN puts spotlight on attacks against Indigenous land defenders, journalists
Indigenous peoples around the world are harassed and killed at alarming rates. Will the world act? Tear gas is deployed by police during a Maasai rights demonstration outside the Tanzanian High Commission in Nairobi in 2022. Ben Curtis / AP Photo APTN News: When around 70,000 Indigenous Maasai were expelled from their lands in northern Tanzania in 2022,...
April 19, 2024
The Five Canada-wide Cultural Heritage Organizations Are Disappointed by Federal Budget 2024
NationTalk: In a federal budget appropriately focused on creating new housing, advancing Indigenous self-determination, combatting hate, and creating a clean economy, there is an unfortunate lack of recognition of the role cultural heritage places and existing buildings play in creating housing, wellbeing, and supporting a green economy. The five Canada-wide cultural heritage organizations – Canadian...
April 18, 2024
‘We get pennies’: NDP Idlout denounces federal budget for lack of commitment to Indigenous Peoples
APTN News: Indigenous leaders responded to Tuesday’s federal budget with frustration and disappointment. According to NDP MP Lori Idlout it doesn’t come close to erasing the inequities for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people. “We know that for too many decades there’s not been enough investments to improve the lives of Indigenous peoples,” Idlout, the...
April 17, 2024
Economic reconciliation means no green strings attached
Grand Chief Abram Benedict addressing reporters at the Chiefs of Ontario First Nations Community Wellness Conference, March 19, 2024. Photo courtesy of Declan Keogh / Chiefs of Ontario Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: The Indigenous loan guarantee program will have no green strings attached, opening opportunities for controversial development like oil, gas and nuclear projects....
April 17, 2024
Omission of reconciliation ‘glaring’ and ‘alarming’ in budget speech, First Nations leaders say
Assembly of First Nations to renew calls for a first ministers meeting this year CBC Indigenous: First Nations leaders are panning this year’s federal budget and demanding a renewed commitment from the Liberal government, after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland failed to mention reconciliation in Tuesday’s budget speech. “It’s alarming,” said National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, head...
April 16, 2024
Indigenous infrastructure gap estimated at more than $425B
National organizations estimate immense needs in advance of 2024 federal budget CBC Indigenous: As the Trudeau government prepares to release this year’s federal budget, Indigenous organizations estimate it would take more than $425 billion to close the infrastructure gap in their communities by the government’s 2030 goal. While the bulk of that staggering sum comes...
April 16, 2024
Small businesses will get a carbon levy rebate, federal budget announces — but nothing yet for Indigenous groups who were promised the same
The federal government will create a new carbon price rebate for small businesses, using $2.5 billion in revenues that have built up in recent years to funnel money through a new tax credit for roughly 600,000 companies, Tuesday’s budget announced. Toronto Star: OTTAWA — The federal government will create a new carbon price rebate for...
April 16, 2024
Federal budget’s $918M for Indigenous housing and infrastructure falls far short of what advocates say is needed
Tuesday’s federal budget committed more than $9 billion in new funding for Indigenous initiatives, focusing on education and youth, on-reserve supports and economic opportunities. Toronto Star: OTTAWA — Tuesday’s federal budget committed more than $9 billion in new funding for Indigenous initiatives, focusing on education and youth, on-reserve supports and economic opportunities. Of the funding...
April 16, 2024
Idlout warns federal budget will cut funding for Indigenous supports
Nunavut NDP MP says it’s ‘frustrating’ and warns it will hurt effort to provide better housing Nunavut MP Lori Idlout, seen earlier this month at a government announcement in Iqaluit, is calling on the federal government to reverse planned spending cuts to Indigenous services in 2024’s federal budget. (File photo by Jeff Pelletier) NationTalk: Nunatsiaq...
April 15, 2024
NDP passes motion to have CEOs appear before committee on Nutrition North food subsidy program
APTN report shows subsidy program short-changing northern consumers. APTN News: The NDP says it has passed a motion calling on the CEO of NorthWest Company and general manager of Kimik Co-operatative Association to appear before the House of Commons’ Indigenous Affairs committee and talk about the Nutrition North Canada (NNC) program. The heads of two...
April 12, 2024
Indigenous people still overrepresented in prison
Some mandatory minimum sentences repealed by Ottawa Toronto Star: When the Liberal government repealed some mandatory minimum prison sentences in 2022, it billed those changes, in part, as a response to the overrepresentation of marginalized communities — including Indigenous people — in Canadian prisons. However, experts say that hasn’t done anything to reduce the number...
April 10, 2024
Pay now or pay more later to prepare First Nations for climate emergencies
Cindy Woodhouse, the Assembly of First Nations’ national chief, at her swearing-in ceremony in December. Photo by Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer Canada’s National Observer: The price of doing nothing to adapt First Nation infrastructure to climate change will result in high costs for recovery, losses and redevelopment, according to an Assembly of First...
April 8, 2024
Federal government’s internal review of Nutrition North Canada ‘insufficient’ says NDP
Nunavut MP says she’s considering whether to ask auditor general to review subsidy program. APTN News: The minister of Northern Affairs says an “internal review” has been launched into the Nutrition North Canada (NNC) program that provides subsidies to grocery chains to make food more affordable in northern and remote communities. “Our government is absolutely...
April 2, 2024
She says this alternative to prison saved her life. So why isn’t Canada investing in more of them?
Healing lodges were proposed to Ottawa as an alternative to federal institutions. But supporters said the federal government has not done enough to support them. The Toronto Star: OTTAWA—Tania Ross spent 20 years in federal prisons, jailed at 19 when she received a life sentence for second-degree murder. Ross entered the maximum-security Saskatchewan Federal Penitentiary...
March 27, 2024
Top health officials acknowledge need to ‘refocus efforts’ on TB elimination
Nunavut Tunngavik skeptical current funding will be enough to reach elimination goals CBC Indigenous: Top federal health officials want to get tuberculosis elimination efforts “back on track” in Canada post-pandemic, as newly published data show already high rates among Inuit ticked up between 2021 and 2022. The Trudeau government and national organization Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK)...
March 21, 2024
Inuit organization calls for inquiry into how Canada handled fugitive priest
NTI says authorities knew for decades what Johannes Rivoire was accused of doing to children. Kilikvak Kabloona says her Inuit organization wants a public inquiry into allegations of child sexual abuse against a French priest. Photo: APTN file APTN News: A major Inuit organization is slamming a Catholic order’s review of child sexual assault allegations,...
March 21, 2024
Innu Nation disputes Canada’s recognition of NunatuKavut in Federal Court
Innu elder vows to fight as Labrador Indigenous identity court hearing concludes CBC Indigenous: Outside a downtown Ottawa courtroom on Wednesday, Elder Elizabeth (Tshaukuesh) Penashue speaks slowly but passionately in the language of her Innu ancestors. Inside, lawyers for the Innu Nation of Labrador were making their case against federal recognition of a group they say is...
March 19, 2024
Retired judge concludes Catholic priest Rivoire sexually abused children in Nunavut
The judge’s conclusion on Rivoire’s guilt appears to be outside the mandate he signed to review the Oblates’ policies and processes. Joannes Rivoire on the balcony of his nursing home in Lyon, France. Photo: APTN file APTN News: A retired Quebec judge has concluded what a Canadian court has not been able to, which is...
March 19, 2024
Money allocated for First Nations, Inuit policing going unspent says auditor general
Karen Hogan says federal government’s and RCMP’s actions ‘not aligned with building trust in First Nations.’ APTN News: Millions of dollars that were allocated for First Nations and Inuit policing is going unspent says Auditor General Karen Hogan in her latest report to Parliament. According to the audit, the cost of the First Nations and Inuit...
March 18, 2024
Inuit leaders, MPs urge action on TB elimination as federal budget nears
TB rate among Inuit 676 times higher than among non-Indigenous, Canadian-born people CBC Indigenous: With the federal budget approaching, Inuit leaders and New Democrat MPs are urging the Trudeau government to tackle tuberculosis in Indigenous communities. Inuit in particular face a “staggering and unacceptable reality” of tuberculosis rates more than 300 times higher than Canadian-born non-Indigenous people,...
March 14, 2024
Indigenous Services, Crown-Indigenous Relations table plans to cut spending
‘This is not reconciliation,’ says Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick CBC Indigenous: A Manitoba First Nations leader is demanding answers from the federal Indigenous affairs ministers after their departments tabled plans this month to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in spending, while forecasting a multi-billion-dollar decrease over three years. Cathy Merrick, grand chief of...
March 11, 2024
Opposition parties call for the day school settlement agreement to be reopened
NDP MPs, Green Party deputy leader want day school survivors to be able to resubmit their claims CBC News: The federal NDP and the Green Party are urging Ottawa to reopen the multi-billion-dollar federal Indian day school settlement agreement. The opposition lawmakers issued the call in response to a CBC News report about day school survivors who...
March 9, 2024
Brian Mulroney’s complicated relationship with Indigenous peoples in Canada
From laying the foundations of Nunavut to the Oka crisis, the former PM’s legacy was one of contradictions CBC News: The late Brian Mulroney’s legacy with Indigenous peoples in Canada is marked by its contradictions — failures remembered for their good intentions, successes accompanied by catastrophic disappointments. The former prime minister is praised by some Indigenous leaders for creating a...
March 6, 2024
Canada should provide Indigenous languages with constitutional protection
A book written in Inuktitut. A lack of concrete constitutional guarantees, community credibility and long-term funding has rendered the government’s efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages largely ineffective. (Shutterstock) First Peoples’s Law Report: The Conversation – Funding for the Canadian government’s legislation supporting Indigenous languages is set to expire in 2024, and so far, there has been...
February 29, 2024
NDP calls for an overhaul of Nutrition North Canada after APTN report
APTN News: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says Nutrition North needs an overhaul after seeing APTN Investigates’ episode Food for Profit that examined the program. “We’d been hearing from people already that live in northern communities that the Nutrition North program wasn’t working,” Singh said on the latest edition of Nation to Nation. “So, we knew that, but...
February 29, 2024
Senate committee hears from information commissioner on residential schools records access
Guidance on information disclosure ‘comes from the top,’ says Caroline Maynard CBC Indigenous: A Senate committee examining barriers to the release of records of deaths at residential schools heard Tuesday that federal departments and agencies should make information disclosure processes more accessible and informal. “We heard that the privacy and information regimes cannot work if the government itself does not believe...
February 28, 2024
Environmentalists push the federal government on complete ban on ‘forever chemicals’
‘Our health is being compromised,’ says Inuk health research advisor. Lucy Grey at the news conference on Parliament Hill Wednesday. Photo: Kerry Slack/APTN. APTN News: Health officials and scientists are calling on the federal government to issue a complete ban on substances known as “forever chemicals.” These chemicals, officially called PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—are part...
February 27, 2024
Feds reviewing Indigenous procurement policies as they grapple with ArriveCan revelations
‘Defining who is Indigenous is challenging in some cases,’ Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu says CBC News: Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said Tuesday the federal government is reviewing its procurement policies to determine who can claim to be Indigenous when bidding for federal contracts set aside for First Nations, Métis and Inuit people. “It’s...
February 27, 2024
Federal minister says ‘clearer data’ needed to assess Nutrition North program
NDP is calling for ‘urgent action’ to reform the food subsidy program. Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne waits to appear at the House Agriculture and Agri-Food committee, Tuesday, February 27, 2024 in Ottawa. Photo: Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press. APTN News: The federal minister of Innovation, Science and Industry says more information is needed...
February 27, 2024
‘Our guys don’t have somewhere to go’: Trudeau government criticized for taking too long to fund Indigenous housing
Housing organizations supporting Indigenous people say they are desperate for the money Ottawa’s new housing strategy is preparing to distribute. NationTalk: OTTAWA — Karl Cousineau has been living in shelters for half of his life. Raised in foster care from age nine after losing his father, Cousineau moved from Ottawa to Toronto when he was 20,...
February 20, 2024
Canada needs legislation to protect historical Indigenous burial sites: Winnipeg conference
Absence of national laws ‘simply unacceptable,’ MKO grand chief says CBC Indigenous: A Manitoba First Nation and an advocacy group are hosting a conference in Winnipeg this week to discuss the need for national legislation that would protect Indigenous ancestral remains and belongings in Canada. The Protecting our Ancestors conference is hosted by Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak...
February 15, 2024
Federal housing advocate says Indigenous people grossly overrepresented in Canada’s homeless population
APTN News: Canada’s housing advocate says a staggering number of Indigenous people are part of the country’s growing homeless population. “Manitoba reported that in Winnipeg in 2018 two-thirds of people experiencing homelessness were Indigenous and that number climbs to 94 per cent in Thompson,” Marie-Josée Houle told Nation to Nation. “In Saskatoon an estimated 90...
February 15, 2024
What does the duty to consult First Nations, Inuit and Métis mean?
And why some advocates say Canada needs to move from consultation to consent CBC Indigenous: You’ve probably heard the phrase duty to consult, or failure to consult, when it comes to governments and their relationships with First Nations, Inuit and Métis. But what does it actually mean? Stemming from three Supreme Court of Canada decisions in 2004...
February 15, 2024
Joint APTN and CBC News investigation examines the impact of rising food prices in Canada
NationTalk:TREATY 1 TERRITORY, WINNIPEG, Man. — In a joint investigation, APTN Investigates and CBC’s The Fifth Estate are speaking with industry leaders and Canadian families, farmers and food producers to understand the reasons behind soaring food prices. In March 2022, APTN and CBC/Radio-Canada signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the creation of more Indigenous content. The agreement emphasizes the need for the...
February 14, 2024
First Nations, Jim Balsillie slam government over lack of consultation on AI bill
The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press, OTTAWA – The Assembly of First Nations is warning it could take the Liberal government to court over its proposed privacy and artificial intelligence bill. And former tech executive Jim Balsillie told MPs studying the bill that he considers the legislation “anti-democratic.” The government has already been criticized...
February 1, 2024
‘No one will ever take my grandchildren again, ever’: Gathering hears from residential school survivors
By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Nunatsiaq News NationTalk: The Standard, Nunatsiaq News – On the second day of the National Gathering on Unmarked Burials in Iqaluit, survivors of residential schools and tuberculosis sanitoriums shared their stories and the pain and uncertainty of not knowing where their family members are buried. The conference, at the...
January 27, 2024
Next-generation leaders must stay in the Arctic
A new generation of Arctic leaders, from left Ashley Rae Carvill, Kristen Tanche and Megan Dicker Nochasak Toronto Star: “The Arctic affects us all,” explained Gov. Gen. Mary Simon in Finland last year, “and what happens here has far-reaching consequences for the world.” The Arctic is changing. Challenges — including climate change — require emerging...
January 25, 2024
Removing Roadblocks for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas
IPCAs mitigate climate crises and increase Indigenous sovereignty. But Canada needs to make key changes to support them. The Tyee: The Conversation – In late 2023, the federal government, British Columbia and the First Nations Leadership Council signed a $1 billion Nature Agreement to protect 30 per cent of B.C.’s lands by 2030. The agreement stressed the...
January 25, 2024
RCMP collecting race-based data is a ‘double-edged sword,’ says Indigenous leader
“If you are coming from a police lens or perhaps a white-based lens, that’s going to influence how the data is framed.’ —Dr. Kanika Samuels-Wortley, associate professor in criminology from Ontario Tech University From left to right: Dr. Mai Phan, acting director of the RCMP anti-racism unit, Fort McKay Métis Nation President Ron Quintal, and...
January 25, 2024
Reconciliation at federal, provincial levels moving slowly: Lemay
APTN News: Hill Times columnist Rose LeMay says when it comes to reconciliation, nothing has really happened at either the federal or provincial levels. “My fear is that the governments, federal government included, provinces and territories haven’t really put this reconciliation as a priority,” Lemay said on the latest edition of Nation to Nation. “Funding...
January 18, 2024
Chrétien-era effort to soften UN’s Indigenous language a ‘stain’ on Canada: Hajdu
‘Indigenous, First Nations people deserve so much more than that,’ says Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu. Photo: APTN. APTN News: The Canadian Press – The current federal Liberal government tried to distance itself Tuesday from the Jean Chrétien-led one that reportedly conspired with Australia to weaken United Nations language on Indigenous Peoples in the early...
January 8, 2024
Survey: Over Half of Indigenous Canadians Polled have Experienced Workplace Discrimination
62.4% HAVE EXPERIENCED BIAS WHEN APPLYING FOR JOBS NationTalk: TORONTO – ComIT.org, a registered charity that believes the democratization of education and opportunity is Canada’s best path forward, recently uncovered several startling statistics in a survey to 500 Canadians who identify as Indigenous Canadians. ComIT.org created the survey to take a pulse check of current...
January 4, 2024
Canada’s Nature Agreement underscores the need for true reconciliation with Indigenous nations
Stuckless Pond in Gros Morne National Park, N.L. Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas can complement national and provincial parks to promote conservation while also advancing reconciliation. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese First People’s Law Report: The Conversation – In late 2023, the federal government, British Columbia and the First Nations Leadership Council signed a $1 billion Nature Agreement to...
December 21, 2023
Yellowhead Institute to no longer report on TRC calls to action
Justice Murray Sinclair takes his seat at the release of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada on the history of Canada’s residential school system, in Ottawa on Dec. 15, 2015. File photo by The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld CLIMATE JOURNALISM IS URGENT. HELP US RAISE $125,000 BY DECEMBER’S END. Goal: $125k...
December 18, 2023
Feds slash support for northern hunters and fishers
Critics are decrying cuts to a federal program supporting hunters and fishers in northern Canada. Photo by Dustin Patar/National Observer CLIMATE JOURNALISM IS URGENT. HELP US RAISE $125,000 BY DECEMBER’S END. Goal: $125k $40,554 Donate Canada’s National Observer: Federal support for Indigenous hunters and fishers tackling food insecurity in northern communities is poised to fall...
December 14, 2023
Federal liabilities ‘likely’ owed to Indigenous people grow to $76B under Trudeau
‘It is a bit concerning that they have increased so much,’ parliamentary budget officer says Brett Forester · CBC News · Posted: Dec 14, 2023 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 8 hours ago CBC News: The Canadian government likely owes Indigenous people almost $76 billion for currently filed land claims and lawsuits, recent official reporting says — a sum that’s...
December 13, 2023
Indigenous people in remote communities may not see much benefit from national dental care plan
If there are no services in your community, more money doesn’t matter, says pediatric dentist CBC Indigenous: The co-founder of the Indigenous Dental Association of Canada says along with expanding coverage, the federal government needs to be improving access to dental care for those who live in remote communities to keep oral health gaps from widening. “Unless we’re dealing with the issues...
December 13, 2023
Chiefs say pan-Indigenous approach leaves Ottawa taking too much away from First Nations
“I don’t think we should be buying into this Indigenous label that they’re trying to homogenize all of our rights into a common group. I think in the long run, we will be short changed.” —Chief R. Donald Maracle Chief R. Donald Maracle of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte at the Assembly of...
December 10, 2023
Ottawa eyes change to border rules for Indigenous communities. ‘It is an injustice that continues to divide our people’
Indigenous people are hopeful that changes will respect their rights to move freely on traditional lands that cross international borders. Toronto Star: The territory where Tim Argetsinger’s ancestors once moved freely and hunted in the Arctic spanned 2.5 million square kilometres of land — about a quarter of the size of Canada. Today, that same...
November 30, 2023
Are Canada’s museums honouring their promises to Indigenize and decolonize?
Aylan Couchie explains why she drafted a statement of concern, co-signed by Indigenous artists worldwide CBC Indigenous: Following reports of Anishinaabe curator Wanda Nanibush’s departure from the Art Gallery of Ontario, more than 50 artists have signed an open letter expressing concern that Canadian cultural institutions are failing to deliver on their promises to Indigenize and decolonize...
November 30, 2023
Women and Indigenous Peoples left ‘out in the cold’ by Ottawa, say critics
NDP MP Lori Idlout rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Canada’s National Observer: NDP members are voting against Ottawa’s fall economic statement to protest gaps in funding for Indigenous Services in the midst of an infrastructure crisis. On Thursday, Lori...
November 29, 2023
Balancing Indigenous perspectives and international policies at COP28
There are a wide range of perspectives from Canada headed to the UN climate conversation People walk near a logo for the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) APTN News: A major annual international climate meeting kicks off tomorrow in Dubai, in the United Arab...
November 29, 2023
Caribou numbers will decline as long as Nunavut goes without land use plan says former premier
APTN News: Nunavut’s first premier says caribou numbers in the territory will continue to decline as long as it goes without a land use plan. Paul Okalik says one of the problems is that mining companies are allowed to operate on calving grounds. “These companies, they won’t be here in the long run,” says Okalik....
November 28, 2023
Educate or prosecute? Two Anishnaabe weigh in on how to deal with residential school deniers
Ottawa looking at different legal mechanisms it could deploy to address issue WARNING: This story contains details of experiences at residential schools. CBC Indigenous: “It wasn’t that bad, they got an education out of it.” Michael Eshkawkogan says he’s seen that exact comment and others like it when scrolling on social media. No one has...
November 27, 2023
Poor Inuit housing ‘direct result of colonialism’: federal housing advocate
Inuit right to housing not being upheld: report: A federal housing advocate is accusing every level of government in Canada of failing to uphold the Inuit’s right to housing — and therefore denying their human rights. The Toronto Star: OTTAWA – A federal housing advocate is accusing every level of government in Canada of failing...
November 22, 2023
National Association of Friendship Centres Responds to Federal Economic Statement: An Economy that Works for Everyone must include Urban Indigenous People
NationTalk: OTTAWA — The National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) is encouraged by the federal government’s goal to build an “economy that works for everyone” but fears the current plan still leaves out and leaves behind most Indigenous people due to lack of urban-specific Indigenous economic or social strategies and mechanisms. However, Friendship Centres stand...
November 20, 2023
Case of U.S. man caught with walrus tusk statue in his trunk reveals the debate over Inuit art exports
Montreal art gallery now charged with illegally selling sperm whale teeth CBC Indigenous: On July 25, 2021, Pedro Huertas, an American doctor trying to cross from Canada into the U.S. at the Highgate Springs border crossing in Vermont, told a border guard he was bringing one $2,000 stone statue with him. He was lying. A...
November 16, 2023
MKO Calls on Canada’s Justice Minister to Investigate the Indian Residential Schools System as a Crime Against Humanity
NationTalk: Thompson, Manitoba – The Grand Chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) Inc. has reiterated MKO’s earlier call for Canada to commence an investigation of the Indian Residential School system as a crime against humanity under the laws of Canada. MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee presented MKO’s renewed call for action during a meeting...
November 15, 2023
Proof Point: Closing Canada’s infrastructure gap could boost Indigenous output by up to 17%
NationTalk: RBC Proof Point Stubborn employment gap between Indigenous & non-Indigenous population persists Unemployment rate, %, prime age population; off-reserve Source: Statistics Canada, RBC Economics Canada’s Indigenous populations grapple with a huge infrastructure gap It is well-known that Canada is one of the most educated countries in the world, with the second highest share of...
November 13, 2023
Disturbing reality about our prisons
“Life, on the instalment plan.” Toronto Star: That’s the way some Indigenous inmates characterize their prison sentences. They believe they’ll be released, but they also expect to be back — again and again, for the rest of their lives. And all too often, their expectations are fulfilled. Something is therefore very wrong with our prison...
November 10, 2023
Congress of Aboriginal Peoples accuses Inuit leader of lateral violence against Labrador group
Defence comes as Nunatsiavut Government head calls group’s claims ‘an insult to the true Inuit’ CBC Indigenous: The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) is defending the NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC) against accusations the Labrador group is co-opting Inuit identity to obtain resources, lands and rights. In a statement released Friday, CAP National Chief Elmer St. Pierre accused...
November 9, 2023
‘Some of our greatest heroes died alone’: Indigenous Veterans Day takes steps towards reconciliation
A cadet salutes the wreaths laid at the Victory Square Cenotaph in downtown Vancouver to honour Indigenous veterans in Canada on Nov. 8, 2023. Photo by Pippa Norman Listen to article Canada’s National Observer -Concerns of an emerging climate enemy coupled with calls for hope at an Indigenous Veterans Day ceremony held in Vancouver. At the...
November 9, 2023
Métis and Innu nations back Inuit leader in Labrador identity dispute
Innu say ‘partisan politics’ responsible for NunatuKavut recognition — something federal minister has denied CBC Indigenous: The Métis and Innu nations are showing solidarity with Natan Obed, after the national Inuit leader released an open letter this week denouncing what he calls “illegitimate claims to Inuit rights” being made by a self-identified Indigenous group in south and central...
November 7, 2023
Trip south for medical treatment takes young Inuk mother away from her Grise Fiord community for a month
The challenges faced by Leah Audlaluk outlines the difficulties of northern medical travel APTN News: Imagine leaving your house for a doctor’s appointment and not getting home for almost a month. According to Leah Audlaluk, this is a normal occurrence for herself and others in the remote communities of Grise Fiord who leave for medical...
November 6, 2023
Indigenous Services won’t say if feds are on track to meet 2030 infrastructure pledge
Minister’s office stands by target but her department, citing $349B estimate, seems less sure CBC Indigenous: Canada’s Indigenous Services minister is standing by the Trudeau government’s pledge to close the infrastructure gap in Indigenous communities by 2030, even as her own department — citing a nearly $350-billion cost estimate — seems a little less sure....
November 6, 2023
Inuit leader warns of Labrador group’s ‘illegitimate claims’ to Inuit identity
In open letter, Natan Obed urges action against ‘perverse form of colonial racism’ CBC Indigenous: The head of the national organization for Inuit in Canada is warning the public about what he calls “illegitimate claims to Inuit rights” being advanced by a self-identified Indigenous group in south and central Labrador. Ahead of International Inuit Day...
November 2, 2023
‘A national travesty:’ Prison watchdog urges reform to tackle Indigenous over-incarceration
Correctional investigator calls for transfer of power back to Indigenous people as special probe concludes CBC Indigenous: Canada’s prison watchdog is denouncing the over-representation of Indigenous people in federal prisons as a travesty while urging significant reform, as he releases the second part of a two-year investigation. In the conclusion of his Ten Years Since Spirit Matters report, Correctional Investigator...
November 2, 2023
Correctional Investigator Releases Updated Findings on the State of Indigenous Corrections in Canada: National Indigenous Organizations Issue Statements of Support
NationTalk: OTTAWA, ON – On November 1, 2023, the 50th Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator was tabled in Parliament. The report includes the second of a two-part update of the Office’s original 2013 Special Report to Parliament titled, Spirit Matters: Aboriginal People and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. A decade after the...
November 2, 2023
Protecting Human Rights Defenders Globally: Does Canada Mean Business?
NationTalk: Slaw – Businesses are deeply implicated in abuses of human rights defenders worldwide. In 2021 more than “a quarter of lethal attacks were linked to resource exploitation,” according to Global Witness. Indigenous Peoples are disproportionately attacked. Over 40 percent of fatal attacks targeted Indigenous people who make up only 5 percent of the world’s population....
November 1, 2023
Cabinet shuffle poses challenges for advancing Inuit priorities, ITK president says
‘We often as Inuit leaders have to be the ones that educate ministers,’ Natan Obed says CBC Indigenous: The Trudeau government’s summer cabinet shakeup has created challenges when trying to advance Inuit political priorities in Ottawa, says Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) President Natan Obed. It’s a concern made more pressing as the Liberals approach their ninth...
November 1, 2023
Office of the Correctional Investigator Annual Report 2022-2023: Recommendations
ANNEX A: Summary of Recommendations Click on the following link to read the full report: https://oci-bec.gc.ca/en/content/office-correctional-investigator-annual-report-2022-2023#s9...
October 26, 2023
Government has to ‘keep focused’ and stop discriminating against First Nations kids says Blackstock
Also on the show, a discussion about state support in the face of conflict. APTN News: Canada has the answers to stop discriminating against First Nations children as ordered by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and now is the time to do it says Cindy Blackstock. “They actually have solutions on the books and they’ve...
October 26, 2023
Government of Canada Releases Interim Guidance on the Impact Assessment Act
NationTalk: Impact Assessment Agency of Canada – Attracting investment and supporting major job-creating projects requires regulatory certainty from all levels of government. Following the recent opinion by the Supreme Court of Canada on the Impact Assessment Act (IAA), the Government of Canada is setting a clear path forward for impact assessments in Canada to provide...
October 25, 2023
How Harper’s former ‘tough on crime’ adviser flipped to completely opposing prisons
Some decriminalization measures have clearly backfired. But Benjamin Perrin offers plenty of examples of alternatives to the status quo that are worth exploring NationTalk: Vancouver Sun: In the now world-famous viral video, Pierre Poilievre needled a hapless journalist by asking for examples of his supposed “populist” approach, all the while casually munching on an apple. The...
October 23, 2023
A high school in Northern Ontario reveals the long shadow of residential schools
The Globe and Mail: Sioux Lookout – Just off the side of a long dirt road, Norma Kejick, the executive director of the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council (NNEC), tells me that construction along this path leading to Pelican Falls First Nations High School is happening in stages. The reason, she says, is that the Bikiiwewining Nindawaashishiiminaanak...
October 20, 2023
Innu Nation pulling out of N.L. premier’s Indigenous roundtable
Innu leaders say premier is not fairly addressing the concerns surrounding NCC NationTalk: CBC News: The Innu Nation says it has notified Premier Andrew Furey that all Innu leaders in Labrador have withdrawn from his Indigenous roundtable. In a press release issued Friday afternoon, the Innu Nation expressed dissatisfaction with the way the provincial government is handling concerns over...
October 14, 2023
After a century in an unnamed grave, an Inuk girl finally gets her name back
After Sara Abraha Uvloriak’s story was published, church held a ceremony for a new gravestone CBC News: More than a century after her death, a young Labrador Inuk girl buried in a cemetery in London’s Chelsea neighbourhood has received a ceremony and a new gravestone. And unlike her first gravestone, this one is engraved with her name: Sara Abraha Uvloriak....
October 13, 2023
Grocers pocketing over half of federal hunger subsidy for the North
Up to 67 per cent of a federal subsidy to alleviate hunger in northern Canada is being pocketed by grocers, researchers have found. Illustration by Ata Ojani Canada’s National Observer: Grocery retailers supplying food to dozens of Canada’s most food-insecure communities are pocketing up to over half of a federal subsidy to reduce hunger, researchers...
October 13, 2023
CSIS warning Inuit leaders about covert foreign investment in Arctic, documents show
Inuit leader calling on spy agency to share more information with region’s leaders CBC Indigenous: The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has warned Inuit leaders that foreign adversaries could gain a foothold in Canada by offering to fill infrastructure gaps in the North. But Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) — the nonprofit organization that represents more...
October 12, 2023
A need for action on reconciliation
NationTalk: Winnipeg Free Press – Each year, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation prompts us to take stock of the progress we are making, as a country, on the journey towards reconciliation. Often this progress — or the lack of it — is measured by counting how many of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s...
October 11, 2023
Former Indigenous Relations minister was warned against signing 2019 MOU with Labrador group
Departments warned of risks given doubts about NunatuKavut council’s Indigenous rights, documents show The Canadian government was warned internally to hold off on signing an Indigenous reconciliation agreement with a self-proclaimed Inuit group in Labrador, but did so anyway despite concerns about the unproven nature of the group’s rights, documents obtained by CBC Indigenous reveal. In the fall...
October 6, 2023
People accused of killing Indigenous women less likely to be charged with first-degree murder: study
Several factors from funding to distrust of colonial systems may contribute to the sentencing decisions APTN News: A report from Statistics Canada shows that there’s a disparity in the way homicide cases involving Indigenous women and girls are handled in the Canadian legal system. Data between 2009 and 2021 indicated that first-degree murder charges, the...
October 5, 2023
Canada and the Culture Wars: Majority say legacy of colonialism still a problem, two-in-five disagree
Deep divisions over continued challenges from residential schools, special status for Indigenous Peoples Angus Reid Institute Poll Survey Results October 5, 2023 – Canada was officially proclaimed a dominion by the British in 1867, but this land’s history extends thousands of years prior. For most in this country, the legacy of first contact between Indigenous Peoples and early...
October 3, 2023
Trudeau Government Touted ‘Reconciliation,’ Then Lobbied To Arm States Repressing Indigenous Peoples
‘We have minister Anand platforming Canadian weapons manufacturers just a year after there was huge repression on major protests.’ The Maple: Former defence minister Anita Anand was instructed to offer her counterparts advice about “reconciliation” before encouraging Latin American governments that violently suppress Indigenous-led protests to buy more Canadian-made weapons last year. In particular, Anand’s...
October 2, 2023
Trudeau’s government tasked her with seeking justice for Indigenous children in unmarked graves. Now she says it’s stonewalling her
A federal government appointee says limits around how she conducts her work are hindering reconciliation — and feeding into a disturbing rise in misinformation about the legacy of residential schools. Toronto Star: OTTAWA—The federal government’s point person on seeking justice for Indigenous children buried in unmarked graves says Ottawa’s limits around how she conducts her...
September 30, 2023
Probing the past: residential school secrets and archival challenges
How do we balance privacy legislation with the public’s right to know? The red honour roll is based on the national student registry. Photo: Danielle Paradis/APTN. If you are feeling triggered by the events today, the Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419) is available 24 hours a day for survivors experiencing pain or distress about...
September 30, 2023
Orange Shirt Day: Canada faces rise in residential school denialism
Hate speech and confrontations are growing over the truth about missing children, graves and genocide People attend the second annual Orange Shirt Day Survivors Walk and Pow Wow on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Sept. 30, 2022. With Orange Shirt Day approaching Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, a surge in residential...
September 30, 2023
This should be a day when Canada rededicates itself to seeking justice
Toronto Star: “Hubert O’Connor: Child Molester.” That’s how the Victoria Times Colonist headlined the obituary for Catholic bishop Hubert O’Connor. He worked at the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in Williams Lake, B.C., where he began a career as a serial rapist of young Indigenous girls. In 1996, he became the highest ranking Catholic official...
September 30, 2023
Is corporate sector listening to Indigenous business leaders?
Toronto Star: Businesses aren’t exempt from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to address the ongoing, centuries-long oppression of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. The 94 calls to action cover everything from the constant removal of Indigenous children to non-Indigenous households, medical racism and the multi-generational damage done to survivors of the Canadian government’s genocidal residential...
September 30, 2023
Pierre Poilievre called out for tweet caption on Truth and Reconciliation Day photos with Inuk elder
The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press. Ottawa – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre found himself the subject of online criticism after posting photos with an Inuk elder alongside a caption about meeting with Algonquin elders on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Poilievre posted two photos to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday...
September 29, 2023
Immigration minister says he wants to make it easier for Indigenous people to cross borders
Ottawa considering amendments to immigration law, ministerial directive CBC News: Immigration Minister Marc Miller says he wants to make it easier for Indigenous people to cross the international borders that have divided their homelands and families for generations. In an interview with CBC News, Miller said Canada should recognize Indigenous people have an inherent right to move...
September 29, 2023
Aboriginal Rights as a Tool of Colonialism: Part Four: First Peoples Law report
This week I’m sharing my thoughts on how Aboriginal rights have become a tool of colonialism and why. I’ve posted an essay each day leading up to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This is the final installment of the four-part essay which can be found on our website here.I hope you enjoy reading it.Best,Bruce Aboriginal Rights as a...
September 28, 2023
Federal government needs to counter rise in residential school denialism says Kimberly Murray
APTN News: The rise in residential school denialism is directly related to how the federal and provincial governments have been handling reconciliation in Canada, according to the special interlocutor on missing children and unmarked burials. Kimberly Murray, speaking to APTN News ahead of the second annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, said the federal and provincial...
September 26, 2023
Proposed class-action suit alleges abuse at hands of Quebec youth protection services
Click on thy following link to view the video: Global News: A team of lawyers representing Inuit children and their families in Nunavik and Indigenous children not living on reserves in Quebec are seeking to launch a class-action lawsuit against the provincial and federal governments over discrimination they claim was suffered related to the director...
September 22, 2023
Indigenous Services should be spared from spending cuts, say New Democrat MPs
Minister says no cuts proposed to programs or services CBC Indigenous: Indigenous Services Canada should be spared from proposed federal spending cuts aimed at saving a government-wide $15.4 billion over the next five years, say two New Democrat MPs. “Not only should Indigenous Services not be cut, but we need to see further investments,” said...
September 21, 2023
Centre for Truth and Reconciliation still waiting for residential school records to be submitted, hears Senate
“It sounds to me like this might take quite considerable time, some number of years for this (documents advisory) committee to do its work,” —Senator David M. Arnot. Chair of the Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples Mi’kmaw Senator Brian Francis. Windspeaker.com: It took referencing a dozen different sources to identify children who died at St....
September 18, 2023
The Canadian government forced this woman — and many others — to move 2,000 km north in the ’50s
‘Our parents were taken to a place where there was nothing’ Elisapie Nutuara recalls what it was like to be relocated to Grise Fiord in the High Arctic | Telling Our Story – Duration 3:19 The Canadian government moved Elisapie Nutuara’s family about 2,000 kilometres north as part of the Inuit High Arctic relocation in the...
September 15, 2023
How the legacy of Canada’s tuberculosis sanatoriums haunts public health efforts in Pangnirtung
Officials battling the disease must contend with trauma caused by their predecessors and new challenges too CBC Indigenous: Sixty-five years ago, tuberculosis left Nancy Anilniliak with an invisible scar. In 1958, when she was five, Anilniliak was taken from her family in Pangnirtung and transported all by herself to a sanatorium in Hamilton, Ont., aboard...
September 14, 2023
Tuberculosis screening clinic to open in Pangnirtung, Nunavut
Clinic will operate until Dec. 1 in community dealing with TB outbreak since 2021 CBC Indigenous: Nearly two years after the government of Nunavut declared a tuberculosis outbreak in Pangnirtung, a community-wide screening clinic will open in the community of 1,500. Jointly funded to an amount of up to $4 million by the federal and territorial governments...
September 14, 2023
Ottawa’s program supporting Indigenous energy transition partnerships was so popular, it had to pause
Natural Resources Canada has hit the pause button on natural resource projects due to excessive demand from Indigenous communities and organizations. Photo by Consumers Energy (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Canada’s National Observer: By the time Ottawa paused applications, a program helping Indigenous communities join resource development was 80 per cent oversubscribed, according to a briefing note...
September 12, 2023
Racism partly to blame for unequal health care provided to Indigenous women: PHAC study
Indigenous communities are still deeply affected by the 2020 death of Atikamekw woman Joyce Echaquan in a Quebec hospital, where she filmed staff insulting her as she lay dying, Lee Clark said. The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson NationTalk: Racism and the lack of primary care providers mean off-reserve First Nations, Metis and Inuit women and girls...
September 8, 2023
Marc Miller touts progress on reconciliation, has harsh words for Poilievre
Miller reflects on leaving Indigenous portfolios after 5 years Warning: This story contains language that some readers might find offensive CBC News: Marc Miller — who held two Indigenous affairs cabinet portfolios before he was shuffled over the summer — says he believes the Liberal government has made substantial and “irreversible” progress on reconciliation, despite what he described...
September 5, 2023
Meta’s news block affecting Indigenous media say publishers
By Marisela Amador APTN News: Indigenous media outlets across the country that serve local audiences say they’ve been left scrambling after Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram started blocking news in Canada on Aug. 1. Meta’s news block was a response to the Online News Act (Bill C-18), which became law on June 22 and requires tech...
September 1, 2023
Honouring the missing children and the survivors, families and communities left behind: Senators Audette and Francis
NationTalk: When death occurs, people gather to pay respect, honour the deceased and support their loved ones. But when it comes to the thousands of children who went missing while being forced to attend Indian Residential Schools, some seem to think that Indigenous people should simply move on. Why is that? Indigenous families and...
August 28, 2023
Special interlocutor hopeful new Justice Minister will act to address residential school denialism
The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press – Kimberly Murray, the independent special interlocutor on missing children, unmarked graves and burial sites associated with residential schools, says she has met with Canada’s new Justice Minister and hopes he will move to address “denialism.” Ms. Murray, who was given a two-year mandate last year to work...
August 28, 2023
Barriers like racism, distrust may be main cause of health-care disparities for Indigenous women, study says
National study quantifying health-care inequities is 1st of its kind, lead author says Brishti Basu · CBC News · Posted: Aug 28, 2023 4:27 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 29 CBC News: Just before Tina Campbell had a minor medical procedure recently, she remembered the discrimination she says she felt while trying to access health care nearly two decades...
August 27, 2023
Indigenous females face more hurdles in health care access, study finds
The Globe and Mail: New research confirms what many Indigenous women have known all along: First Nations, Inuit and Métis females face many disparities in accessing health care. A study, led by the Public Health Agency of Canada and published in the CMAJ on Monday, found that First Nations, Inuit and Métis females have less access...
August 25, 2023
Proposed Indigenous Services spending cuts spark concern
‘The status quo … is discrimination in a lot of cases,’ says Cindy Blackstock CBC News: Advocates are concerned after the Indigenous Services minister confirmed her department is eyeing spending cuts, telling reporters in Charlottetown she plans to target bureaucratic bloat, not direct service delivery. Minister Patty Hajdu was initially vague when asked at a cabinet retreat in P.E.I. earlier...
August 24, 2023
Some Indigenous leaders reject PM’s ‘out of touch’ housing comments
‘I can’t believe he said that,’ responds Native Women’s Association of Canada head Carol McBride CBC News: Don’t tell Carol McBride housing isn’t a primary federal responsibility. As a former chief, McBride remembers being in a housing crisis when she led the Timiskaming First Nation in northwestern Quebec — and that was in the 1990s....
August 22, 2023
Hajdu pledges to maintain Indigenous Services programs despite requested cuts
Minister says she will recommend no cuts that impact the quality of life for First Nations people Patty Hajdu is the minister of Indigenous Services and Liberal MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North (TBnewswatch file) NationTalk: TBnewswatch.com – CHARLOTTETOWN — Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu plans to ensure programs directly impacting First Nations people are unaffected by spending...
August 11, 2023
Meta’s removal of Canadian news impacting Indigenous media and communities
Media outlets say they’re scrambling, while Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke sees announcements removed CBC News: The owner of an independent digital news outlet serving Indigenous communities in Atlantic Canada says she’s scrambling after Meta’s decision to remove Canadian news from its platforms. Maureen Googoo, owner and editor of Ku’ku’kwes News, from Sipenkne’katik, 31 kilometers north of...
August 10, 2023
‘Pretendian’ conference delves into how to deal with false claims of Indigenous identity
APTN News: More than 30 people attended a conference in Tsuut’ina, just outside of Calgary, to talk about the issues of people falsely claiming Indigenous identity. They have come to colloquially be called “Pretendians. ”Participants came from as far as Halifax to hear about how to deal with increasing false claims of Indigenous identity.“ You...
August 9, 2023
Settlement reached in class-action lawsuit against convicted ex-priest who abused First Nations youth
Ralph Rowe is believed to have abused up to 500 children in northern Ontario, Manitoba WARNING: This article contains details of sexual abuse. CBC News: A multi-million dollar settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit against a former priest convicted of 75 sexual crimes, his employer, the Anglican Church’s Synod of the Diocese of...
August 2, 2023
Unravelling Canada’s UN Indigenous action plan
NationTalk: Law360 Canada: The National Action Plan, the latest initiative on United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples(UNDRIP) implementation by the federal government, pledges to begin the process of incorporating UNDRIP into Canadian law. However, the plan is presently seen less as a blueprint for change and more as a source of increasing concern due...
July 27, 2023
National Indigenous agenda impacted by Trudeau’s sweeping Cabinet shuffle
“I think he’s got a very good way about him, extremely approachable and obviously very aware and informed. I found him very thoughtful.” — Margaret Froh, president of the Métis Nation of Ontario on the appointment of new Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree At left is Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare and at right is...
July 22, 2023
Inuit elders making historic healing journey from Nunavut to Hamilton’s former sanatorium
1,200 Inuit were forced to stay at Sanatorium on the Mountain for tuberculosis treatment CBC News: Over a dozen Inuit elders are making a historic healing journey to Hamilton this weekend to revisit the former sanatorium site where they were held in isolation and endured psychological abuse in the 1950s and ’60s. Naomi Tatty helped organize...
July 20, 2023
Senate committee demands to know why all residential school records have yet to be turned over
“Every time an announcement of anomalies, reflections or recoveries are made, communities are being inundated by people emailing or phoning them to attack them and saying, ‘This didn’t happen’.” — Special Interlocutor Kimberly Murray Senator Brian Francis Windspeaker.com: Senate Standing Committee on Indigenous Peoples chair Senator Brian Francis calls a report released July 19 a...
July 20, 2023
Indigenous people 17.7% more likely to be incarcerated in Sask.
Non-Indigenous people charged with crimes are more likely to receive bail than Indigenous people Jeremy Appel / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter / Alberta Native News Jul 20, 2023 10:00 PM NationTalk: Saskatoon Today: ALBERTA NATIVE NEWS — Saskatchewan has Canada’s highest rate of Indigenous over-representation in provincial custody, with Alberta in second place, according to new data...
July 19, 2023
Senate committee to question groups that have not released residential school records
Governments and churches ‘standing between Indigenous Peoples and the truth,’ committee member says CBC News: A Senate committee is pledging to hold a hearing this fall to demand answers from organizations that have not released records tied to Canada’s residential school system. In a news release Wednesday, P.E.I. Sen. Brian Francis called it “disheartening” that so many governments and...
July 14, 2023
Former justice minister pays surprise visit to AFN assembly, lambastes Liberals’ UNDRIP action plan
APTN News: Jody Wilson-Raybould has written three books about her time in politics, and her name is being circulated as a potential candidate to replace recently deposed AFN national chief RoseAnne Archibald. Jody Wilson-Raybould told the Assembly of First Nations the Trudeau government could do better on UNDRIP. Photo: Fraser Needham/APTN News Former attorney general...
July 7, 2023
Joint Statement From ITK And MNC On The Meeting Of National Indigenous Leaders And Premiers
NationTalk: Ottawa – President Natan Obed of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) and President Cassidy Caron of the Métis National Council (MNC), together issue the following joint statement on the meeting of National Indigenous Leaders and Premiers happening in Winnipeg, Manitoba, July 10. “ITK generally welcomes any opportunity to share Inuit priorities with territorial and provincial...
July 6, 2023
National Inuit leader skipping premiers’ meeting over matter of respect
Natan Obed says relationship with premiers still a ‘long ways away’ from one needed for true reconciliation CBC News: The leader of the national organization representing Inuit turned down an invitation to meet with Canada’s premiers next week over the inclusion of non-rights-holding Indigenous groups. Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapirit Kanatami (ITK), told...
July 6, 2023
Tuberculosis numbers increasing in Nunavik communities
5 communities have outbreaks; 58 cases in total this year CBC News: An annual music festival was postponed due to a tuberculosis outbreak in northern Quebec, as the Nunavik region grapples with a series of outbreaks in several communities. Salluit’s festival was supposed to start June 29, but will now happen in the fall. Salluit resident Ida...
July 4, 2023
Assembly of First Nations Welcomes Federal Court Ruling in IPCO Motion on First Nations Policing Funding
NationTalk: (Ottawa, ON) – The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is pleased with the ruling of the Federal Court on a motion filed by Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario (IPCO). IPCO filed a motion requesting emergency relief and an order requiring Public Safety Canada (PSC) to suspend application of the discriminatory Terms and Conditions of...
July 4, 2023
Canada’s Delays in Implementing Calls for Justice Costing Lives – UBCIC Advocates for Federal MMIWG2S+ Legislation
NationTalk: (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C.) Today marks four years since the conclusion of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit people (MMIWG2S+). Of the 231 Calls for Justice (CFJ), over half have not been started, and only two have been implemented (see CBC...
July 4, 2023
Loved ones still waiting for task force to investigate MMIWG cases
MMIWG inquiry called for national team to review ‘unresolved’ cases, but years later, it still hasn’t happened CBC News: Val Charlette wonders if her daughter’s death would have been deemed suspicious if an Indigenous-led task force had been called in to investigate. Angela Lavallee wonders if a task force would have determined someone was responsible...
June 28, 2023
Backlog at federal Indigenous children’s program leaves families to shoulder heavy bills
Families, service providers take drastic measures to stay afloat under Jordan’s Principle CBC News: First Nations families and service providers are covering hundreds of thousands of dollars in health-related bills while they wait for an overwhelmed federal program to reimburse them, CBC News has learned. Indigenous Services Canada says it is facing unprecedented demand under the...
June 28, 2023
Senators call on feds to bring Indigenous communities into Arctic security planning
Committee says Canada’s previous security actions in the region ‘harmed Indigenous communities’ CBC News: A Senate committee has delivered a forceful call for greater participation by Indigenous communities in shaping Canada’s Arctic defence and security. A new report released Wednesday by the standing committee on national security, defence and veterans affairs argues that the interpretation of “Arctic security” should be...
June 28, 2023
As global powers watch, Canada’s North grows more vulnerable
NationTalk: Ottawa – Canada’s North is militarily exposed, economically underdeveloped and threatened by climate change — while world powers covet its rich resources and Arctic waterways, the Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs said in a report released Wednesday, June 28, 2023. The committee’s report, Arctic Security Under Threat: Urgent needs in a...
June 26, 2023
Indigenous Justice and a New Path for Canada’s Prisons
A report offers a blueprint for fixing Indigenous overrepresentation in jails. The Tyee: When I asked Boyd Peters, a Sts’ailes First Nation member and BC First Nations Justice Council director, about the effects of long-term incarceration on Indigenous people, his brow furrowed. He exhaled and looked down before responding. “Nobody should have to go through...
June 26, 2023
Feds underfunding emergency preparation in First Nations communities says report
Emergency management monitoring is lacking, says the Auditor General in a new report APTN News: A parliamentary committee says Indigenous Services Canada is failing to provide First Nations communities with adequate resources for emergency management to help mitigate the impacts of events like wildfires and floods. The standing committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs released...
June 26, 2023
Considerations for collecting data on race and Indigenous identity during health card renewal across Canadian jurisdictions
Andrew D. Pinto, Azza Eissa, Tara Kiran, Angela Mashford-Pringle, Allison Needham and Irfan DhallaCMAJ June 26, 2023 195 (25) E880-E882; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.221587 KEY POINTS Canada’s health care systems do not routinely collect self-reported race and Indigenous identity data and often lack a standardized and consistent approach to data collection that would permit comparisons between organizations or jurisdictions. Collecting racial and Indigenous identity data is necessary for...
June 22, 2023
Ottawa releases action plan to implement UNDRIP, despite calls for more consultation
By The Canadian PressJun 22, 2023 Government criticized for releasing the plan on National Indigenous Day. APTN News: The federal government released its action plan on Wednesday to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The government had presented its draft to chiefs gathered for a meeting of the Assembly of First...
June 22, 2023
Federal action plan for UNDRIP lacks input from rights holders, the treaty nations, says Crowchild
“At no time has Canada come to talk to our treaty peoples, the rights holders. We’ve never consented to what’s on their national plan and on how they’re going to implement it.” — Tsuut’ina Nation Councillor Regena Crowchild Tsuut’ina Nation Councillor Regena Crowchild did not mark National Indigenous Peoples Day by celebrating the newly released...
June 20, 2023
Deputy minister left government weeks after Indigenous group privately called for his resignation, documents show
The Globe and Mail: A deputy minister’s recent departure from the federal public service occurred just weeks after a national Indigenous organization privately called for his resignation over an e-mail dismissing their description of colonialism as “a gross misreading of history.” Timothy Sargent’s nearly three-decade career in the federal public service – which included representing...
June 20, 2023
Residential School Denialism Is on the Rise. What to Know
And how to confront it. Because without the truth, there can be no reconciliation. The Tyee: May 27, 2023 marked the two-year anniversary of the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc’s announcement about the location of 215 potential unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in the Interior of British Columbia. In recognition of the anniversary,...
June 19, 2023
RCMP says there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to lay charges in SNC-Lavalin affair
Police service confirms it has closed the file CBC News: The RCMP says it found “insufficient evidence” to lay criminal charges related to the SNC-Lavalin affair and confirms it has since concluded its file. It’s the first time the national police force has officially confirmed that it’s no longer probing the political scandal that rocked...
June 19, 2023
Is A Genocide Taking Place in Canada? Short Answer: Yes.
NationTalk: (OTTAWA, ON) – A genocide is being perpetuated against Indigenous peoples in Canada. That was the unambiguous declaration of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. But, despite a death toll that climbs year after year, many Canadians have difficulty understanding how the Inquiry reached its finding, or accepting that...
June 16, 2023
Canada must combat residential school denialism, special interlocutor’s report says
The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press: Ottawa – The independent special interlocutor on unmarked graves says “urgent consideration” should be given to legal mechanisms as a way for Canada to combat residential school denialism. Kimberly Murray makes the call in an interim report released today, just over a year after she was appointed to...
June 15, 2023
Senate committee urges Cannabis Act overhaul to address exclusion of First Nations
Committee chair says situation ‘yet another example of how Indigenous Peoples are being let down by Canada’ CBC News: The federal health minister should amend the 2018 Cannabis Act to recognize First Nations’ right to govern the possession, sale and distribution of cannabis on their lands, a Senate committee says. In a report tabled Wednesday...
June 14, 2023
During the worst wildfire season this century, Indigenous communities need to consider their participation in resource extraction: says researcher
37 per cent of the total burned forest area in Western Canada and the United States between 1986 and 2021 can be traced back to 88 major fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers. ‘These fires are a culmination of ongoing resource extraction projects’ says climate researcher APTN News: In light of increasing extreme weather and...
June 12, 2023
Public safety minister proposes temporary funding for 3 First Nations police services operating on ‘fumes’
Lawyer for the police services in northern Ontario says filing injunction for emergency funding will proceed CBC News: Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino has proposed temporary funding for three Indigenous police services that receive money under a special program administered by Ottawa, after their funding was cut off over two months ago as negotiations for a new agreement have stalled. Mendicino...
June 12, 2023
Assembly of First Nations Supports Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario Federal Court Motion
Jun 12, 2023 (Ottawa, ON) – The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) fully supports the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario (IPCO) in their fight for equitable funding for First Nations Police services in Ontario. IPCO has filed a motion in Federal Court requesting emergency relief and an order requiring Public Safety Canada (PSC) to suspend...
June 8, 2023
John Ivison: The case for backing Indigenous loans
Canada will not achieve Indigenous reconciliation or reach net zero carbon emissions without Indigenous equity participation NationTalk: National Post – OTTAWA — Canada was formed by glacial erosion and federal government policy moves at much the same pace. Consider a hypothetical critical minerals project on First Nations land in Canada. If an Indigenous proponent signed...
June 8, 2023
‘Make a list’, NWAC CEO tells Miller as fed’s get failing grade on progress made on MMIWG plan
Windspeaker: Words spoken earlier this week by Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller have the CEO of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) riled. Miller delivered a statement June 5 marking the fourth anniversary since the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) delivered its final report. “He says it’s not...
June 7, 2023
Every Canadian has a role in ending the MMIWG crisis, advocate says
Empathy ‘must stay in Canadians’ hearts past the evening’s news broadcast’: Hilda Anderson-Pyrz This column is an opinion written by Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, chair of the National Family and Survivors Circle, as part of CBC’s “Mother. Sister. Daughter,” a project that tracked progress on the 231 calls to justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered...
June 6, 2023
Spring wildfires costing Indigenous services ‘millions’ says minister
APTN News: The minister responsible for Indigenous services says her department is spending millions of dollars to support First Nations dealing with the early wildfire season. “The forecast doesn’t look good, it’s all across the country and the scientists are predicting severe wildfire risk for the months of June, July and August,” said Hajdu. According...
June 6, 2023
Advocates decry ‘unacceptable’ inaction on MMIWG inquiry’s calls for justice following 4-year anniversary
CBC’s ‘Mother. Sister. Daughter.’ project found more than half of 231 calls not started — and only 2 are done CBC News: Advocates say they’re disappointed to see so little progress has been made four years after the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released its 231 calls for justice. For Heidi...
June 6, 2023
‘Have some respect’: International involvement in residential school burial work not wanted, needed
“I think what was really quite offensive to a lot of people across the country is this suggestion that we somehow needed international oversight to do the work…” — Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux Windspeaker.com: The National Advisory Committee on Missing Children and Unmarked Burials will not participate in an internationally-led engagement process for DNA collection, which...
June 5, 2023
Search for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls hampered by police apathy: Researchers
‘The problem of Indigenous women being overpoliced and underprotected is all across Canada’ Participants walk in the Women’s Memorial March in Vancouver to remember missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua via Getty Images) Content warning: the following contains disturbing subject matter. NationTalk: University of Toronto – In Canada, research shows...
June 5, 2023
Indigenous coalition urges Canada’s healthcare system to ‘Rise Above Racism’
NationTalk: themessage. Who: A coalition of Indigenous health organizations (First Nations Health Managers Association, First Peoples Wellness Circle and Thunderbird Partnership Foundation); with NationTalk for strategy, creative and media (supported by Cleansheet Communications). What: “Rise Above Racism,” a new government-funded awareness campaign highlighting the issue of anti-Indigenous racism within the Canadian healthcare system. This is the second...
June 1, 2023
Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson requests that the Canada Revenue Agency improve the information it provides to Indigenous Peoples
NationTalk: From: Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson – OTTAWA – The Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson, Mr. François Boileau, has sent a service improvement request to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), asking it to update its information for Indigenous Peoples on Canada.ca. Right before the CRA began the 2023 tax-filing season, the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson (OTO) reviewed the CRA’s web pages...
June 1, 2023
They say Canada’s health system is broken. But can First Nations leaders create a new one in the shadow of colonialism?
“We’ve been very clear with Canada that any federal health legislation that moves forward must recognize the Treaty and Inherent Right to health,” says Vice Chief David Pratt Toronto Star: First Nations leaders are wrestling with what the future of Indigenous health care should look like as they piece together legislation meant to deal with...
May 30, 2023
Advisory committee on residential school graves says it won’t work with Netherlands-based NGO
Ottawa announced contract with International Commission on Missing Persons in February CBC News: A group dedicated to supporting Indigenous communities as they look for children who went missing at residential schools says it will not participate in an engagement process on DNA collection to identify unmarked graves at the former school sites. In a statement released...
May 30, 2023
Prison isolation units detrimental to the mental health of young Indigenous offenders: report
Young Indigenous prisoners placed in isolation units in prison are more likely to have mental health issues. APTN News: Young Indigenous prisoners who are placed in isolation units in prison are more likely to have mental health issues and be more adversely affected than non-Indigenous populations says a federal panel’s report. According to the report,...
May 30, 2023
Fireside Chats on Indigenous Health – Improving the health of Indigenous Peoples
Credit: Canadian Medical Association NationTalk: Canadian Medical Association President Dr. Alika Lafontaine joins Dr. Paula Cashin, Canada’s first Indigenous radiologist and a member of CMA’s board of directors, and Dr. Sarah Williams, CMA’s strategic advisor for Indigenous health, to discuss improving the health of Indigenous Peoples. This is the second event in a CMA series on...
May 28, 2023
Isolation cells in women’s prisons used almost exclusively for Indigenous prisoners, panel finds
The Globe and Mail: Isolation cells in federal women’s prisons are being used almost exclusively for Indigenous prisoners, according to statistics collated by a government-appointed panel that show Indigenous peoples are seriously disadvantaged by a prisoner segregation regimen introduced in 2019. The government established Structured Intervention Units (SIUs) after courts in B.C. and Ontario ruled that a...
May 27, 2023
‘We were anything but primitive’: How Indigenous-led archaeology is challenging colonial preconceptions
The field of archaeology changing. So are the ways some young Indigenous people see themselves CBC News: When she was about eight years old, Jennifer Tenasco moved from her home community of Kitigan Zibi, Que., to Ottawa. Changing schools meant she’d lost an important place to learn about her culture: her classroom on reserve. “It...
May 25, 2023
Sexual assault organizations struggling to help victims post-pandemic: study
APTN News: The preliminary findings of a new national survey is highlighting how frontline sexual assault organizations are struggling to provide timely services to victims and survivors post-pandemic. The report, which was conducted by national organization Ending Violence Association of Canada, surveyed more than 100 sexual violence organizations (SVOs) across Canada on how the pandemic impacted...
May 23, 2023
The Treaty Right to Health and the Legacy of the Indian Health Policy (1979)
Contemporary Legislative and Policy Considerations EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This document provides a succinct overview of the health-related legal and policy frameworks that frame and limit the potential for self-determination and self-government of First Nations people. This review is informed by recent developments such as the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the associated Calls...
May 19, 2023
‘It needs to be a day of reckoning:’ Parliamentary committee studying land back
‘I think this study will really explore the connection of Indigenous people to land in a way that people don’t naturally equate to property.’ A school bus rests on the road at 1492 Land Back Lane Blockade in Caledonia, Ont. Photo: APTN file APTN News: The standing committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs is undertaking...
May 16, 2023
There’s been a lack of implementation on MMIWG calls for justice says FSIN vice chief
APTN News: As the fourth anniversary of the release of the final report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls approaches, Aly Bear believes the crisis has only deepened. Bear, who is 3rd vice chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations in Saskatchewan (FSIN), recently had the opportunity to...
May 13, 2023
Trudeau schooled on the North’s pressing infrastructure needs during first trip to remote community
Visit marks first time a prime minister has landed in Newfoundland and Labrador’s northernmost community CBC News: Inuit leaders had frank conversations with the prime minister and federal cabinet ministers on Friday about the urgent need to address a lack of housing and other basic infrastructure across Inuit homelands. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Nain,...
May 12, 2023
More than 6 years later, Moses Beaver’s means of death ‘undetermined’, inquest jury finds
Jury delivers 63 recommendations focused on improving mental health care for Indigenous people WARNING: This story discusses mental distress and suicide. CBC News: The jury overseeing the inquest into the death of Moses Beaver has deemed the means of his death to be undetermined — which is the finding his family was hoping for. The...
May 12, 2023
Chiefs, families push for search for remains at Winnipeg landfill that could take years, cost up to $184M
Police believe remains of 2 First Nations women are in Prairie Green landfill Landfill search for remains of First Nations women could cost $183M: study WARNING: This story contains distressing details. To view the video, click on the following link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/landfill-feasibility-study-results-manitoba-1.6840411?cmp=newsletter_Evening%20Headlines%20from%20CBC%20News_1617_1050297 CBC News: A search for the remains of two First Nations women at a...
May 11, 2023
Opinion: To get Indigenous murder and suicide rates down, first face facts
Canadians need to agree on the hard fact of modern life that education is a prerequisite for economic success NationTalk: Financial Post – From 2017 through 2021, 1.45 non-Indigenous Canadians in 100,000 died from homicide. Among Indigenous Canadians the rate was six times that: 8.88 in 100,000. That average masks a stark regional difference, however....
May 2, 2023
MPs call for national emergency declaration on violence against Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit people
Motion was presented by NDP MP Leah Gazan of Winnipeg Centre CBC News: The House of Commons adopted a motion on unanimous consent Tuesday calling on the federal government to declare ongoing violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people a national emergency. The motion was presented by Winnipeg Centre NDP MP Leah Gazan. It also...
May 2, 2023
Climate change solutions becoming a ‘new way of colonizing’ Indigenous peoples, Inuit rep says
“We recognize our responsibility to our lands, waters and ice and future generations, and to our natural environment, so we have to be a part of this conversation with (the government) in equal ways.” —Dr. Amy Hudson WindSpeaker.com: Dr. Amy Hudson has returned from the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) with renewed...
April 28, 2023
Inuit want access to loss and damage fund, Inuit Circumpolar Council president says
NationTalk: Canada’s National Observer – Inuit want direct access to a global fund dedicated to addressing destruction caused by climate change, the president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council’s Canadian arm says. Lisa Koperqualuk says loss and damage funding is needed in Inuit Nunangat, the homeland for Inuit, which is warming four times faster than the global average. Canada’s...
April 27, 2023
Even without new dedicated federal dollars, minister expects Indigenous tourism to continue to grow
WindSpeaker.com: Indigenous tourism in Canada is a growing attraction, said federal Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault, with at least one-third of international travelers and one-third of Canadian travelers wanting the “Indigenous authentic experience.” Despite those statistics, there were no dedicated dollars in last month’s federal budget for Indigenous tourism in the $158 million set aside for...
April 26, 2023
First Nations leaders in Treaty 9 say their message is clear — no development without us as partners
Chiefs from 10 communities in the region launch lawsuit, arguing Crown can’t make unilateral land decisions Treaty 9 First Nations leaders say their message is clear, no development without us as partners To view the above video click on the following link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/first-nations-lawsuit-ring-of-fire-development-1.6822920 CBC News: First Nations leaders in northern Ontario are ramping up political...
April 25, 2023
This Ojibway man served his sentence, then says the Crown tried to put strict conditions on his release
Case of Shaldon Wabason, who fought and won peace bond attempt, raises concerns involving Indigenous people CBC News: A man from an Ojibway First Nation in northwestern Ontario says Crown lawyers wrongfully tried to impose unnecessarily strict conditions on his release from jail. Shaldon Wabason, who’s from Whitesand First Nation, and his lawyers say prosecutors in...
April 24, 2023
Women’s shelters across Canada are losing nearly $150 million in federal funding
Money was earmarked to help during pandemic but shelters say extra dollars have become ‘lifesaving’ CBC News: The more than 600 women’s shelters across Canada will soon lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding they say has kept them afloat during the pandemic and is still desperately needed. Since April 2020, Ottawa has provided $300...
April 24, 2023
CRA must tackle trust issues, discrimination against Indigenous clients, report says
CBC News: The Canada Revenue Agency must do more to build trust and prevent discrimination when interacting with Indigenous clients, according to a report that became publicly available last week. The report, prepared by Earnscliffe Strategy Group, sought to gather data on Indigenous Peoples’ experience when engaging with CRA tax services and accessing benefits and credits. Its...
April 21, 2023
Report calls on feds to strip $1B from Correctional Service of Canada budget
Prisoner’s Legal Services says money should be shifted towards community healing. APTN: A prisoner advocacy organization in British Columbia says the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) should have a third of its budget stripped away and that money should be diverted towards Indigenous governments and organizations. In its report, Decarceration through Self-Determination, Prisoner’s Legal Services argues...
April 21, 2023
‘Mohawk Mothers’ reach agreement with McGill to search hospital grounds for unmarked grave
APTN: A group of six women from Kahnawà:ke calling themselves the Mohawk Mothers, or Kanien’keha:ka Kahnistensera, reached an agreement with McGill University and Quebec’s infrastructure society (SQI) April 20 to find out if there are unmarked graves on the campus. Kwetiio, one of the Kahnistensera, said the agreement is “for the archeology. It’s not for either side. It’s not for people fighting amongst...
April 20, 2023
shíshálh Nation says 40 unmarked graves believed found at residential school site, more are expected
St. Augustine’s Residential School in Sechelt, B.C., operated from 1904 to 1975 CBC News: The shíshálh Nation says ground-penetrating radar has identified what are believed to be 40 unmarked graves of children on or near the site of the former St. Augustine’s Residential School. A statement from the nation on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast says it listened...
April 19, 2023
Delegates from Canada highlight land rights, safety for Indigenous women and girls at UN forum
‘We deserve to be valued,’ says FSIN vice-chief Aly Bear CBC News: Indigenous delegates from Canada did not mince words addressing the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York this week. The theme of the 22nd session of the forum, which runs until April 28, is “Indigenous Peoples, human health, planetary and...
April 19, 2023
First Nations high-speed internet access lagging behind Canadian average
Less than 43 per cent of households on reserve had access to high-speed internet in 2021 CBC News: High-speed internet access on First Nations continues to lag well behind the Canadian average, according to a recent report, prompting calls for more government subsidization of internet access. “Ideally, it would be something similar to our highways...
April 18, 2023
Advocates call on Canada to establish multi-year funding for Indigenous youth organizations
New report launched at side-event for United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues CBC News: Indigenous youth advocates are turning to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to put pressure on the federal government to better fund Indigenous-led youth groups. Representatives from five Indigenous youth groups travelled to New York City this week...
April 17, 2023
COVID-19 pandemic stalled progress on eliminating tuberculosis among Inuit: officials
CTV News: Nunavut’s health minister says the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted efforts to eliminate tuberculosis in Inuit communities, and questions remain over whether targets to stamp out the disease can be met. “COVID has had a huge impact on every area of health care, and that includes TB,” said John Main. “While we were putting so much effort...
April 16, 2023
Justice miscarried
Book explores convictions where accused entered false guilty plea EXCERPTED FROM “WRONGFULLY CONVICTED: GUILTY PLEAS, IMAGINED CRIMES, AND WHAT CANADA MUST DO TO SAFEGUARD JUSTICE” BY KENT ROACH. PUBLISHED BY SIMON AND SCHUSTER CANADA. COPYRIGHT © 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Toronto Star: Beyond the infamous cases, Canada has a major problem with wrongful convictions, argues...
April 16, 2023
The painful legacy of tuberculosis in Canada’s North
Historical trauma and distrust in health-care system persist among many Inuit people today A History of Colonial Human Rights Violations Toronto Star: Joshua Idlout has never had tuberculosis, but the disease has cast a long shadow over much of his life. As a six or seven-year-old Inuk boy passing through Resolute Bay, the second northernmost...
April 13, 2023
Instead of seeking reconciliation, politicians manufacture crises for partisan gain
The Globe and Mail: The ridiculous overreaction by Prairie premiers and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to remarks from Justice Minister David Lametti deepens fissures that politicians should be trying to heal. In the partisan crossfire, real issues involving the lives of real people get lost – in this case, the well-being of First Nations. At...
April 13, 2023
Missing, murdered Indigenous men and boys need to be part of the discussion
An Indigenous man is four times more likely to be a victim of homicide when compared to Indigenous women and seven times more likely than non-Indigenous males, reads a resolution at last week’s Assembly of First Nations special chiefs assembly. Windspeaker.com: Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller says he is “absolutely willing” to discuss with chiefs...
April 12, 2023
Indigenous Screen Office on edge of ‘funding cliff’ after being excluded from federal budget
The Globe and Mail: The Indigenous Screen Office of Canada, an independent funding organization designed to support the telling of Indigenous-led stories across film, television and digital media, has issued a “letter of disappointment” to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez after the ISO was excluded from the latest federal budget. In the ISO’s letter,...
April 12, 2023
Trudeau says premiers’ claims about natural resources power grab have ‘no grounding in truth’
Premiers criticized justice minister for saying Ottawa will look at resource agreement CBC News: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing the premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba of misinterpreting remarks by a federal minister on whether Ottawa might review agreements that give those provinces control of natural resources. “Let me be very clear. The minister of...
April 12, 2023
Trudeau says premiers’ claims about natural resources power grab have ‘no grounding in truth’
Premiers criticized justice minister for saying Ottawa will look at resource agreement CBC News: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing the premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba of misinterpreting remarks by a federal minister on whether Ottawa might review agreements that give those provinces control of natural resources. “Let me be very clear. The minister of...
April 11, 2023
Western premiers blast Lametti for suggesting Ottawa might ‘look at’ provinces’ power over natural resources
Lametti told an AFN meeting he would examine calls to rescind Natural Resources Transfer Act CBC News: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and three western premiers are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to disassociate his government from comments made by his justice minister — who promised last week to “look at” a decades-old law that...
April 11, 2023
Western premiers blast Lametti for suggesting Ottawa might ‘look at’ provinces’ power over natural resources
Lametti told an AFN meeting he would examine calls to rescind Natural Resources Transfer Act CBC News: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and three western premiers are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to disassociate his government from comments made by his justice minister — who promised last week to “look at” a decades-old law that...
April 11, 2023
Analysis of anti-Indigenous racism in hospitals reveals pattern of harm, no tracking mechanism
Canada’s National Observer: “Sakihitowin means love,” Pearl Gambler says, recalling the day she gave her daughter her name. It was the day Sakihitowin was born — and died. From Bigstone Cree Nation, Gambler entered Edmonton’s Misericordia Hospital on June 11, 2020, and experienced a series of events that she can only characterize as traumatic and...
April 8, 2023
Canada is sitting on a critical minerals motherlode. But is it ready for the new gold rush?
Proponents say Canada must do more to turn aspiration into action CBC News: Drive two hours north of Ottawa, put on a hard hat and bright orange vest, descend into a pit — and you find yourself on the frontline in the fight to be part of the new, green economy. A mining project might not...
April 7, 2023
Repudiating a racist doctrine
Words don’t just hurt. Some words kill. THE STAR’S VIEW The Toronto Star: Consider, for example, the authorization “to invade, search out, capture, vanquish and subdue” a group of people, and “to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.” Those words aren’t just hurtful; they’re downright deadly. Nonetheless, those are the words of Romanus Pontifex, the...
April 5, 2023
Justice minister pitches Assembly of First Nations with ‘imperfect’ UNDRIP plan
Draft plan gets chilly reception at chiefs assembly in Ottawa CBC News: Justice Minister David Lametti admits his Liberal government’s draft plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples isn’t perfect but he wants First Nations to support it anyway. “The draft plan is just that: It’s a draft. It is...
April 4, 2023
Anti-racism policies in health care should be led by Indigenous staff: report
Federal report blasts anti-Indigenous racism in health care CBC News: More Indigenous practitioners are needed to address systemic racism, but that can’t happen without a supportive education system that also envisions them in leadership roles, says a report commissioned by Health Canada and touted as the first comprehensive review of the health-care workforce. The report, released...
April 3, 2023
Budget erred by suggesting Ottawa backing away from Inuit TB eradication, minister says
ITK president worried about meeting 2030 goal to eliminate TB in Inuit Nunangat CBC News: The Indigenous services minister says the Liberal government made a mistake in the federal budget by appearing to back away from its promise to eradicate tuberculosis in Inuit communities. In the document released last week, the government announced $16.2 million...
April 3, 2023
First Nations chiefs to debate Trudeau government’s draft UNDRIP action plan
Assembly of First Nations to meet this week in Ottawa CBC News: As the Trudeau Liberals approach eight years in power, David Lametti acknowledges much is riding on his government’s upcoming plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in Canada. The Liberals will paint a detailed picture of their current...
March 28, 2023
Budget 2023 continues ‘repetitive injustice’ of underfunding First Nations, says national chief
RoseAnne Archibald welcomes money for MMIWG supports despite frustrations CBC News: The Assembly of First Nations national chief is calling the prime minister a “performative reconciliationist” and wants an economic new deal for First Nations following the delivery of a 2023 federal budget that she says continues a long-standing pattern of underfunding First Nations. RoseAnne...
March 28, 2023
National Inuit organization seeking $1.6B for school food program
‘It’s a true investment in our community and our people’ CBC News: A national Inuit organization is calling for about $1.6 billion in federal funding over 15 years to set up a co-ordinated school food program in the North. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami released a report last week, developed through the Inuit-Crown Food Security Working Group, advocating for a...
March 28, 2023
Budget 2023 Includes Some Investment but Must Fully Address Urban Indigenous Realities in the Near Future
MEDIA RELEASE Budget 2023 Includes Some Investment but Must Fully Address Urban Indigenous Realities in the Near Future FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 28, 2023 OTTAWA, ON – The National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) receives this 2023 federal budget with measured acknowledgement and urges future engagement. While the NAFC believes that Friendship Centres and urban Indigenous people will...
March 27, 2023
Amnesty International report pans Canada’s record on Indigenous rights
Canada is ‘significantly failing’ on multiple fronts, says official with NGO in Canada CBC News: Global non-governmental organization Amnesty International is denouncing Canada’s record on Indigenous rights as it releases its latest annual analysis on the state of human rights worldwide. In the report released on Monday, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization expresses concern that Indigenous people in Canada...
March 27, 2023
Indigenous groups hope for infrastructure dollars and economic development in budget
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami looking for 35-year, $75B commitment for community infrastructure CBC News – The Canadian Press – Prominent Indigenous organizations are making major requests of the federal government in its upcoming budget, seeking billions in investments for infrastructure and economic development. But with affordability issues at the top of the agenda and Finance Minister...
March 22, 2023
Supreme Court hears important federalism case without its only Indigenous member
The Globe and Mail: The first Indigenous judge in the Supreme Court’s 148-year history has been left off a case with important consequences for Indigenous peoples, so the court could avoid the possibility of a tie vote. With one of its nine members caught up in a disciplinary process, Chief Justice Richard Wagner chose to hear a...
March 21, 2023
Adviser on unmarked graves says some landowners are refusing access for searches
NationTalk: CTV News: OTTAWA – As some private landowners restrict residential school survivors from performing ceremony or searching their properties for possible unmarked graves, a federal minister says Ottawa is open to legislating new protections for the possible burial sites. Kimberly Murray, who was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to provide it with advice...
March 20, 2023
Committee grills minister on failure to support First Nations during climate emergencies
‘The government should be ashamed,’ says NDP MP Blake Desjarlais as committee examines audit CBC News: Members of Parliament accused Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu of ducking accountability on Monday after the auditor general criticized her department’s ongoing failure to help First Nations deal with climate emergencies. Hajdu began the week flanked by her top...
March 15, 2023
International commission looks to ease fears over unmarked graves contract
UN Indigenous rights expert heard ‘numerous concerns’ about deal during official visit CBC News: The top official at the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) wants to ease concerns the organization’s contract with the federal government could compromise its independence as it works with Indigenous communities in Canada. “I don’t have those concerns,” said Kathryne Bomberger,...
March 13, 2023
Years of abuse in Cambridge Bay group home went ignored, lawsuit alleges
Eight people say they were sexually assaulted and beaten by a couple who ran the home in the ‘70s, ‘80s WARNING: This story discusses the physical and sexual abuse of children. CBC News: On a dusty plot of land in the western Arctic community of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, sits a slightly out-of-place modern looking building...
March 13, 2023
BC First Nations highlight human rights concerns to UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, seeking resolution through UN mechanisms
NationTalk: (xʷməθkʷəyə̓m (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – This week, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (SRRIP), Francisco Calí Tzay met with various First Nations and Indigenous organisations in BC, including representatives of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, the Office of The Wet’suwet’en, former Chief of Neskonlith Indian Band,...
March 10, 2023
‘Appalling’ legacy of residential schools tops UN Indigenous rights rapporteur’s early findings
Guatemalan expert’s Canada visit ends, report expected in September CBC News: Despite positive measures taken by Canada, Indigenous people continue to face obstacles to fully enjoying their individual and collective human rights in this country, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples says. José Francisco Calí Tzay delivered his preliminary findings...
March 10, 2023
Canada, home to a massive boreal forest, lobbied to limit U.S., EU anti-deforestation bills
Canada’s boreal forest covers 270 million hectares, spanning from Yukon through to N.L. CBC News: Canada is facing international criticism for undermining efforts to protect one of the world’s last primary forests — our own. Jennifer Skene, natural climate solutions policy manager for the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), accuses the Canadian government of...
March 8, 2023
Governor General shares abusive comments she received through social media
Mary Simon’s office shut down comments on her official social media accounts last month after a wave of abuse WARNING: This story cites racist, sexist and abusive comments directed at the Governor General. CBC News: Nearly a month after turning off comments on her official social media accounts, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon is sharing some of...
March 8, 2023
Assembly of First Nations national chief highlights MMIWG at UN on International Women’s Day
Winnipeg case ‘speaks volumes’ of views on Indigenous women, says RoseAnne Archibald CBC News: On International Women’s Day on Wednesday at the United Nations in New York, the Assembly of First Nations national chief said her number one focus is missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, as well as gender-diverse people. RoseAnne Archibald spoke specifically about the case of...
March 5, 2023
‘You’re not alone’: Guatemalan anthropologist offers support for unmarked graves searches
Fredy Peccerelli says Indigenous communities can and should develop own forensic anthropology capacity Warning: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: The head of a Guatemalan forensic anthropology group is offering his support for Indigenous communities in Canada as they investigate unmarked burials linked to residential schools. When he was nine, Fredy Peccerelli’s family fled Guatemala’s...
March 4, 2023
Canadian history was overdue for a rewrite
The Globe and Mail: The Governor-General of Canada usually chooses her words with careful, unsmiling deliberation. But her anger at the way that Canadian history has, until recently, been taught in our schools was unmistakable. “It has been uneven and it is unfair,” Mary Simon said. “This country is so diverse, but for the longest...
March 2, 2023
NWAC to UN Special Rapporteur: The Genocide Against Indigenous WG2STGD+ People Continues with Little Progress Made
NationTalk: Native Womens’s Association of Canada: Ottawa – UN Special Rapporteur José Francisco Calí Tzay received a mixed message about Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit, Trans and Gender-Diverse (WG2STGD+) People’s progress on human rights in Canada from the Native Women’s Association (NWAC) during a meeting yesterday, March 1. The good news is that Canada is making...
March 1, 2023
UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples starts 10-day visit to Canada
Visit will focus on MMIWG, unmarked burials at former residential schools, and implementing UNDRIP CBC News: For the first time since being appointed as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, José Francisco Calí Tzay is making an official visit to Canada. Calí Tzay, who is Mayan Kaqchikel from Guatemala, was appointed...
February 24, 2023
New registry shows Indigenous Peoples largely shut out of wrongful conviction cases
Reporting by APTN News helped inspire new Canadian Registry of Wrongful Convictions APTN News: A team of Indigenous law students have built Canada’s first registry of wrongful convictions. Their database, which went live this week, confirms that mostly white, middle-class men have been exonerated so far. “It does not reflect the most vulnerable people in...
February 23, 2023
Researchers fill data gap on police-involved killings
‘When these numbers are not tracked, it’s a lot easier to dismiss the magnitude of the problem’ CBC News: Joanne MacIsaac recalls the day in 2013 when she found out police had shot and killed her brother Michael. “Something like that changes you,” MacIsaac said. Michael MacIsaac was shot dead by a Durham police officer...
February 23, 2023
Anishinabek Nation trusts Indigenous Survivors, communities, and experts to guide unmarked burial searches regardless of federal deal with international group
Trigger warning: readers may be triggered by the recount of Indian Residential Schools. To access a 24-hour National Crisis Line, call: 1-866-925-4419. Community Assistance Program (CAP) can be accessed for citizens of the Anishinabek Nation: 1-800-663-1142. NationTalk: ANISHINABEK NATION HEAD OFFICE (February 23, 2023) – Anishinabek Nation leadership is confounded by the recent announcement of a $2...
February 23, 2023
How missing Indigenous women could be saved with ‘Red Dress Alert’
Nation Talk: CTV News – One Winnipeg MP is calling for a system, similar to the existing Amber Alerts, to be established to notify the public about missing Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. “We currently have crisis of violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people in this country. Something that our current prime...
February 22, 2023
Provinces lag behind Ottawa in offering crucial supports to those who’ve been switched at birth
The Globe and Mail: A man who was the first known switched-at-birth case in Manitoba says if it weren’t for the independent review and mental-health support ordered by the federal government, his life would’ve fallen apart. Luke Monias of Garden Hill First Nation said he would likely be unemployed and struggling with addiction. “I wouldn’t be...
February 20, 2023
Winnipeg-based group ‘deeply concerned’ by federal contract with international group to advise on graves
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation says decision seems to undermine Indigenous-led work in the area CBC News: The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation says there are many problems with a $2 million contract Ottawa signed with an international group to give advice on unmarked graves. The Winnipeg-based centre said it is “deeply concerned” with...
February 20, 2023
Canadian registry of wrongful convictions shines light on cases the headlines miss
The registry shows a significant number of cases were due to false guilty pleas and “imagined” crimes or “dirty thinking,” such as the victims of disgraced coroner Dr. Charles Smith. Also, the number of Indigenous people wrongfully convicted represent roughly one in five of the documented cases. The Toronto Star: A first-ever comprehensive Canadian registry...
February 18, 2023
NDP MP calls for hate speech law to combat residential school ‘denialism’
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller interested in reviewing proposed bill WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: Some Indigenous academics and activists say they’ve become the targets of a growing backlash against reports of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential school sites — and they want Parliament to do something about it. They...
February 18, 2023
First Nations discuss best practices in Thunder Bay as searches of residential school sites continue
Nishnawbe Aski Nation hosting gathering of 18 communities this week CBC News: As searches for potential unmarked graves at former residential school sites in Canada continue, representatives of First Nations from across Ontario gathered in Thunder Bay this week to discuss best practices. The Residential School Site Search Forum took place at the Best Western Plus...
February 17, 2023
Indigenous leaders and MMIWG families want movement on Calls for Justice
Assembly of First Nations’ national MMIWG gathering wraps up in Vancouver CBC News: Assembly of First Nations Regional B.C. Chief Terry Teegee says families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) are frustrated with the lack of progress since the national inquiry ended nearly four years ago. The AFN’s National MMIWG2S+ Gathering wrapped up two...
February 17, 2023
Feds will manage group providing options on residential school unmarked burials
$2M deal with International Commission on Missing Persons comes with significant oversight CBC News: The Canadian government will heavily supervise an international group hired to provide Indigenous communities with options on unmarked burials at former residential school sites, a contract released Friday shows. Publication of Ottawa’s $2-million technical arrangement with The Hague-based International Commission on Missing...
February 16, 2023
Liberals on pace to miss First Nations housing targets by ‘between 58 and 141 years,’ NDP says
First Nations built 4,200 new homes through federal program since Trudeau won power, documents show CBC News: Liberal government spending for on-reserve housing is on pace to leave First Nations out in the cold for decades, if not more than a century, two New Democrat MPs charged on Thursday in Ottawa. Newly released figures obtained...
February 13, 2023
‘These are real people’: NDP MP slams Correctional Service Canada over systemic racism
Canada’s National Observer: On Thursday, the NDP MP for Edmonton Griesbach spoke at a public accounts committee meeting after the release of an auditor general’s report on systemic barriers facing prisoners in federal jails. “(Correctional Service Canada) acknowledged in November 2020 that systemic racism is present in the correctional system; it’s long overdue that CSC remove the...
February 11, 2023
It’s everyone’s job to help end the MMIWG crisis, advocates say — and here’s how
‘It starts with everybody taking responsibility,’ says author of inquiry’s final report WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: Lorelei Williams is exhausted. The Coast Salish woman has been on the frontlines of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls crisis in Vancouver since 2012, when she founded Butterflies in Spirit to raise awareness about...
February 10, 2023
Would you pay $40 for a bag of flour? Some remote First Nations in northern Ontario have no choice
Federal government promises $4.5M to tackle food security in 5 remote communities CBC News: Food costs are going up everywhere, but in remote First Nations communities, sticker shock at the store is the norm. In at least one community, Marten Falls First Nation, there isn’t even a store for in-person shopping. In Neskantaga First Nation, about...
February 9, 2023
For 50 days she stood vigil at a Winnipeg landfill. The alleged serial killer charged in her mother’s death goes to court today
Daughter of one of four slain Indigenous women, alleged victims of Jeremy Skibicki, wants to ensure “the landfill isn’t their final resting place.” Toronto Star: WINNIPEG—The red dress trembles in the wind as it clings to a chain-link fence. The symbols of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls are draped all along the perimeter...
February 9, 2023
Interlocutor on unmarked graves ‘very concerned’ by feds’ $2M deal with international organization
Kimberly Murray flags lack of transparency on agreement to UN Indigenous rights rapporteur CBC News: The special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked burials at residential schools is calling out the federal government over a deal with an international group tasked with locating missing people lost through armed conflict, human rights abuses and other causes. Kimberly...
February 8, 2023
Manitoba First Nations man sues federal government for $11B over ‘unfulfilled’ treaty annuity payments
Zongidaya Nelson argues Crown failed to meet treaty obligations with 7 Treaty 1 nations dating back to 1871 CBC News: A First Nations man is seeking $11 billion from the Canadian government on behalf of Treaty 1 status members he argues are owed “full and fair” annual payments promised by the Crown as part of...
February 7, 2023
First Nations leaders pan Trudeau letter ducking request for seat at health-care talks
PM pledged to advocate for Indigenous partners to be included in health-care talks but didn’t extend invite CBC News: First Nations leaders are denouncing the prime minister’s pledge to advocate for Indigenous people during health-care talks with premiers this week — offered in lieu of an actual seat at the table — as an insult. An exchange of letters...
February 6, 2023
Feds unable to list Indigenous communities consulted on reconciliation council bill
Liberal parliamentary secretary says ‘esteemed’ Indigenous leaders led engagement on C-29 CBC News: The Canadian government says it’s unable to list the Indigenous communities that participated in the drafting of the proposed National Council for Reconciliation Act, because no such list exists. Bill C-29 would create an oversight body to monitor, report and make recommendations on the...
February 4, 2023
Digging for answers
The families of an alleged serial killer’s victims want this landfill searched. But how, and by whom? The Globe asked forensics experts, who saw hope that the right techniques could unearth buried remains The Globe and Mail: For months after police determined Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were likely buried at the Prairie Green Landfill,...
February 4, 2023
Doug Cuthand: First Nations’ right to health care is being compromised
Health care is a right that has been steadily eroded and integrated into the mainstream health system. Saskatoon StarPhoenix: Our relationship with the federal and provincial governments is under threat even though our treaty rights are recognized in the Canadian constitution and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that has been...
February 3, 2023
Opinion: How to stop the Indigenous brain drain
The Calgary Herald: The term “brain drain” refers to the effects of government policies, taxes or world events that cause highly skilled workers to leave their homes (cities, provinces or countries) and relocate elsewhere in search of work. While this global phenomenon is well studied and understood, it is also appropriate to apply this term...
January 30, 2023
RSV is still a threat, especially in Canada’s North. But new treatments and vaccines are on the way
“We’ve known for a long time that Inuit babies have four to eight times the rate of hospital admission due to RSV, compared to the premature babies or the cardiac babies” with RSV, Banerji said. In the Arctic, the peak is usually February/March to June. One doctor is calling for an expedited review of a...
January 25, 2023
Caribou summit asks a burning question: What’s the future of the Porcupine herd?
The Porcupine is ‘one of the biggest herds in the world.’ Will it stay that way? CBC News: The Porcupine caribou is one of the few barren-ground herds in the circumpolar world that remains strong and healthy — and the communities who rely on it want to make sure it stays that way. This was...
January 25, 2023
First Nations groups upset with exclusion from health-care funding talks
‘There is no reconciliation for First Nations when we continue to be excluded from these crucial discussions’ CBC News: First Nations groups are criticizing their exclusion from an upcoming meeting between federal, provincial and territorial governments aiming to reach a funding deal to improve the country’s ailing health-care system. The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations...
January 18, 2023
Residential school records needed to answer ‘hard questions’: special interlocutor
The records are important because they represent ‘a path to the truth,’ says Kimberly Murray. The fight is not over to find records that could answer “hard questions” about unmarked graves at Canada’s residential schools, including who the missing children were and how they died, said the woman appointed to work with Indigenous communities in...
January 17, 2023
Open Letter to Prime Minister Trudeau on Perpetuating Climate Injustice Against First Nations
NationTalk: Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, Canada bears responsibility for the climate crisis that is driving humans to the precipice of a global catastrophe. While the Government of Canada has begun to acknowledge this crisis and has enacted some measures to try to help pull humanity back from the edge, two major problems characterize government action....
January 14, 2023
What should Queen’s Park do with its statue of John A. Macdonald?
An 1894 statue of the country’s founding prime minister has been boarded up since 2020 following several incidents of vandalism. Toronto Star:What to do with Sir John A. Macdonald? An 1894 statue of the country’s founding prime minister that towers over the top of University Avenue on the grounds of the legislature has been boarded...
January 12, 2023
Ground search at Sask. First Nation gets 2,000 ‘hits,’ more work required to determine which are graves
Star Blanket Cree Nation will now begin core sampling and DNA tests Warning: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: Ground penetrating radar searches at the site of the former Lebret Indian Industrial School found more than 2,000 “hits” over the past year, the man leading the search for Star Blanket Cree Nation announced Thursday. The...
January 12, 2023
Rights group releases scathing report on Canada’s violations of Indigenous rights
NationTalk: CTV News, NEW YORK — A prominent human-rights group says Canada is failing to address long-standing abuses, delivering a rebuke of what it calls the federal government’s inadequate climate policy and violations of the rights of Indigenous people and immigration detainees. Human Rights Watch says more than two dozen First Nations remain under long-term drinking...
January 9, 2023
‘Indian boarding home’ survivors in the North eligible to receive thousands of dollars in compensation
Canada, lawyers reached agreement-in-principle for class action last month CBC News: Indigenous northerners who were housed in private boarding homes to attend public schools in the latter half of the 20th century could soon be eligible to receive thousands of dollars in compensation. The Canadian government and lawyers for survivors reached an agreement-in-principle last month to...
January 9, 2023
Indigenous group seeks control of $300M housing fund
Funds are part of a new federal $4.3 billion Indigenous Housing strategy to support improvements to First Nation and Metis housing By Frank O’Brien | January 9, 2023, 10:40am NationTalk: BIV – A new Indigenous group is seeking control of $300 million in federal government funds meant to deliver housing to remote and rural Aboriginals across Canada....
January 7, 2023
Here are 3 places to watch the Land Back movement unfold in 2023
Calls for a return of Indigenous sovereignty over traditional territories have gained momentum in recent years CBC News: It was a hot, muggy July day when Nick Tilsen and about 200 other Lakotas blocked the way to a sacred mountain. The mountain is part of the He Sapa and is the centre of the Land...
January 6, 2023
Sixties Scoop survivor reconnects with birth mom, discovers her culture, decades after separation
It took many years for the pair to develop a mother-daughter relationship WARNING: This story contains distressing details CBC News: Tauni Sheldon remembers the first time she saw her biological mom. Sheldon was 23 years old. It was 1993 and she was in the Winnipeg airport, having just flown in with her adoptive parents, Jim...
January 4, 2023
The Sacred Balance: Learning from Indigenous Peoples
We are no more removed from nature than any other creature, even in the midst of a large city. Our animal nature dictates our essential needs: clean air, clean water, clean soil, clean energy. NationTalk: Rabble.ca. David Suzikii The following is adapted from the prologue to the 25th anniversary edition of The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our...
January 2, 2023
2023 will be a pivotal year for Indigenous child welfare on both sides of the border
Two cases could establish who has the right to decide what’s best for Indigenous kids in North America CBC NEWS: The highest courts in Canada and the United States are expected to decide child welfare cases this year that could have far-reaching implications for Indigenous rights on both sides of the border. In Brackeen v. Haaland,...
January 1, 2023
Make this the year of safe and clean water on every First Nations reserve
The Globe and Mail: OPINION – Globe Editorial Board Too often, a resolution to improve is a three-act tragedy. It begins with a hopeful desire to reverse bad habits. In Act 2, resolve falters and progress sputters. And finally, in Act 3, there is resignation. Ah well, there’s always next year. Act 3 is where...
December 15, 2022
When their child’s doctor is 2,800 km away, Inuit families face tough choices
Nunavut mother says some Inuit who leave territory for health care don’t return CBC News: Medical travel between the remote community of Clyde River, Nunavut, and Ottawa has been an essential, but difficult journey for Tina Kuniliusie and her 14-year-old daughter Tijay. The toll has been high and after almost a decade and a half of...
December 15, 2022
At this rate, Canada won’t meet Truth and Reconciliation calls until 2065, report suggests
Seven years after the TRC released its final report, Canada has much work to do, Yellowhead Institute says. The Toronto Star: Canada has completed only 13 of 94 calls to action outlined by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, seven years after its final report, a new update shows. “Survivors (of residential schools) are ageing, and many...
December 13, 2022
Indigenous Peoples have been the most effective stewards of animals and nature since time immemorial
Canada’s National Observer: About a million animal and plant species around the globe are on the verge of extinction — more than ever before in human history. As the world gathers in Montreal for COP15 (the UN biodiversity conference) to negotiate a deal to halt and reverse nature loss in the coming decade, calls to put Indigenous...
December 12, 2022
N.W.T. says federal Indigenous child and families act infringes on territorial authority
CBC News: N.W.T. government leaders are defending a decision by the territory’s attorney general to join a Supreme Court of Canada challenge of the federal law that gives Indigenous governments power to control their own child and family services. That law includes a provision that Indigenous law prevails in disputes with a province or territory. The Northwest...
December 11, 2022
Delgamuukw 25 years on: How Canada has undermined the landmark decision on Indigenous land rights
The Conversation: Shiri Pasternak, Assistant Professor of Criminology, Toronto Metropolitan University This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada’s Delgamuukw case on Aboriginal title. In 1997, the Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan Nations brought the watershed case before the Supreme Court, yet a countrywide battle remains over implementation of the Delgamuukw decision involving all First nations. The...
December 8, 2022
AFN Stands With Family Of Morgan Beatrice Harris And All Mmiwg2s+ Demanding Dignity And Justice
Assembly of First Nations: (Ottawa, ON) – The Assembly of First Nations stands with the families of Morgan Beatrice Harris and Marcedes Myran, who were honoured with a blanketing ceremony by AFN Women’s Council Vice Chair Doris Anderson and Knowledge Keeper Dr. Gwen Point in a ceremony during the AFN Special Chiefs Assembly. Before the...
December 6, 2022
Race and Gender Discrimination Fuel Violence against Indigenous Women
NationTalk: Thunder Bay, ON – The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (White Ribbon Day) is a Canadian movement of men and boys working to end violence against women and girls, promote gender equity, healthy relationships and a new vision of masculinity. Indigenous women have the right to a future free from...
December 6, 2022
Tŝilhqot’in Question Amendments to Bill C21
NationTalk: Williams Lake, B.C.: The Tŝilhqot’in National Government is questioning the recent amendments to Bill C21, which will now include hunting rifles and semi-automatic shotguns. Hunting rifles are necessary tools for hunting and exercising the Indigenous right to hunt as affirmed by Section 35 of the Constitution. The TNG recognizes the need to address gun...
December 6, 2022
New details coming to light says special interlocutor on unmarked graves and missing children
APTN News: Kimberly Murray is a little more than six months into her new role, but it’s become clear that new truths are being spoken. In June of 2022, Murray was working with residential school survivors looking to search the grounds of the Mohawk Institute at Six Nations of the Grand River. That’s when the...
December 5, 2022
Native women’s association calls out Canada for doing little to stop genocide following killing of four women in Winnipeg
Canada’s National Observer: The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) is not mincing words following the killing of four Indigenous women in Winnipeg at the hands of one man. “Let’s be clear, these crimes are part of the genocide that was declared in 2019 by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and...
December 4, 2022
Investments in Inuit housing inadequate, federal watchdog says
Toronto Star: From a family living for seven years in a condemned home that was meant to be temporary to people with disabilities having to be carried in and out of their bathrooms, Canada’s housing advocate says during a tour this fall of several Inuit communities she got a glimpse into the dire living conditions...
December 2, 2022
Government of Canada invests $3.8 million to support barren-ground caribou conservation in the Northwest Territories
Environment and Climate Change Canada: Caribou is an iconic species for Canadians and plays an important role in the culture and history of Indigenous peoples. The Government of Canada is determined to halt and reverse Canada’s biodiversity loss, and the decline of this species, by working in collaboration with the provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous...
December 2, 2022
Government of Canada announces nearly $10 million to support Indigenous communities address substance-related harms
Improving health outcomes for Indigenous people at risk of substance-related harms and overdose across Canada Health Canada: The ongoing effects of colonialism and institutional racism are closely linked to the disproportionate harms that the overdose crisis and increasingly toxic drug supply have had on Indigenous Peoples. The Government of Canada is committed to addressing these...
November 24, 2022
The Impact of Inaction – New Publication Reveals Not All of Canada is on Track to Meet Global Hepatitis C Elimination Goal
Timing of elimination of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Canada’s provinces indicates 70% of provinces could reach the World Health Organization’s (WHO) HCV elimination target of 2030, however three of Canada’sprovinces — two of them the most populous in the country — are off track to achieve this hepatitis C elimination goal.1 Timely elimination would save 170...
November 21, 2022
World leaders must come out of their bubbles and hear other voices — especially Indigenous women — in climate-change debates
Indigenous people have unique relationships with their environment. If they listened, leaders would hear us urging a just transition away from fossil fuels. Toronto Star: World leaders making decisions around climate change must consider ideas originating beyond their own bubbles — especially those proffered by Indigenous people — if the problem is to be tackled...
November 18, 2022
AFN hasn’t ruled out court challenge to tribunal’s child welfare decision, regional chief says
Legal clocks are ticking for Ottawa, AFN following tribunal’s refusal to declare compensation order fulfilled Brett Forester · CBC News · Posted: Nov 18, 2022 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: November 18 The Assembly of First Nations hasn’t ruled out taking the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to court over its rejection of a multi-billion-dollar proposed class-action settlement with...
November 17, 2022
NTI Welcomes the Federal Government’s Decision on Baffinland’s Phase 2 Proposal
NationTalk: Iqaluit, Nunavut) Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) welcomes the decision of the Honourable Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs, on behalf of responsible ministers, on the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s (NIRB) Reconsideration Report on Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation’s (Baffinland) Mary River Project Phase 2 Proposal issued on May 13, 2022 (the “Report”). The NIRB determined...
November 17, 2022
Medical advice shouldn’t be different for Indigenous kids
The Globe and Mail: Tony Talaga – When the COVID-19 pandemic first struck, remote and northern Indigenous communities – which already lacked doctors, properly stocked and supplied health clinics and clean running water – had to scramble. First Nations leaders had to create public-health systems out of thin air. And in Northern Ontario, it seemed...
November 15, 2022
25 years after the Delgamuukw case, the fight for land is more contentious than ever
Judges ruled that Indigenous people had ancestral land rights but stopped short of declaring Aboriginal title Angela Sterritt · CBC News · Posted: Nov 15, 2022 4:00 AM PT | Last Updated: November 15 Twenty-five years after the Delgamuukw verdict was handed down, First Nations’ leaders behind the historic case are still ruminating about how the land they fought for is still largely...
November 1, 2022
Federal prison watchdog sounds alarm over treatment of Indigenous inmates
Globe and Mail: Efforts to improve conditions for Indigenous inmates have stagnated over the past decade, the federal prisons watchdog says, perpetuating the disadvantages of a group that is vastly overrepresented in the prisoner population. Correctional Investigator Ivan Zinger found that facilities established specifically to meet the needs of Indigenous prisoners, called healing lodges, are...
October 31, 2022
Canada’s attempts to change the Indian Act without adequate consultation must stop!
NationTalk: On October 21, 2022, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs (Assembly) was made aware that the Government of Canada is intending to make changes to the Indian Act. This information was brought to their attention by a third-party, not by the Department of Indigenous Services Canada (ISC). The Assembly is frustrated and angered,...
October 30, 2022
Seeking justice for missing children and unmarked graves has uncovered ‘larger’ concerns, special interlocutor says
Kimberly Murray says an impending bill making Indigenous policing an essential service could make the process of searching burial sites much safer for Indigenous communities. Toronto Star: OTTAWA—For Kimberly Murray, many challenges lie behind the difficult work of crafting a legal framework that would seek justice for children who faced abuse and lost their lives...
October 25, 2022
Ottawa’s $40B First Nations child welfare deal torpedoed by Canadian Human Rights Tribunal
Tribunal says Ottawa’s deal leaves some children out, short-changes others CBC: A key part of a $40 billion dollar First Nations child welfare agreement described as “historic” by the federal government could unravel following a ruling Tuesday by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. The tribunal rejected Ottawa’s $20 billion offer to compensate First Nations children...
October 25, 2022
Update on Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Decision on the Final Settlement Agreement on Compensation
SUMMARY: On October 25, 2022, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) released a letter decision, a summary of its reasons for its decision, confirming that it would not endorse the Final Settlement Agreement (FSA) on Compensation. The CHRT found that the FSA substantially, but not completely, satisfies its orders related to compensation of certain groups...
October 21, 2022
Healing lodges help reduce Indigenous overincarceration. Why has Canada allowed them to wither?
Indigenous-run healing lodges are a successful model for rehabilitation, but they are underfunded and underused across the country Globe and Mail: Conrad Johnson entered prison a teenager, and figured he’d leave a dead man. In 1995, he committed one of Winnipeg’s most shocking gang crimes, shooting 13-year-old Joseph Spence in the back with a sawed-off...
October 20, 2022
NTI calls on governments of Canada and Nunavut to increase their efforts to strengthen Inuktut in Nunavut Territory
At their Annual General Meeting, NTI calls on governments of Canada and Nunavut to increase their efforts to strengthen Inuktut in Nunavut Territory NationTalk: Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.,Rankin Inlet, Nunavut – The Membership of the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) Annual General Meeting (AGM) passed a resolution calling on the governments of Canada and Nunavut to take...
October 17, 2022
Very paternalistic: National chief voices concerns with proposed reconciliation council
Bill C-29 gets mixed reviews from leaders as House of Commons committee begins study CBC – Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald says it’s “very concerning” that the federal Crown-Indigenous Relations minister would get to appoint the majority of the proposed national council for reconciliation’s first board of directors. Archibald, testifying with other...
October 13, 2022
‘Salmon are the heartbeat of our coast, our people, everything around us’
Coastal First Nations Community Storyteller Emilee Gilpin in conversation with Haíɫzaqv cultural leader and conservation manager Dúqva̓ísḷa, William Housty on Oct 11, 2022. Audio clips of the interview are included throughout the story. NationTalk: A shocking video of over 65,000 dead pink and chum salmon in Heiltsuk territory spread across social media last week and...
October 13, 2022
How stereotypes led to the deaths of two Indigenous men in Thunder Bay police custody: expert
CTV News: A physician with expertise in Indigenous health care told a coroner’s inquest Wednesday that she heard stereotypes kick in from the first 9-1-1 call that led to a man being arrested for public intoxication before he died from medical conditions in Thunder Bay police custody hours later. Dr. Suzanne Shoush testified as an...
October 12, 2022
Young Indigenous leaders give voice to Truth and Reconciliation at the Senate
As a child growing up on a farm in Nova Scotia, Dr. Meghan Beals knew little about her Mi’kmaw identity or where she came from. It was not until she started her medical degree at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine in Thunder Bay that she learned more about her culture. During those four years,...
October 12, 2022
Supreme Court to hear case on whether Indigenous governments are subject to Charter scrutiny
NationTalk: The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) has been granted leave to intervene in a landmark case dealing with the scope of section 25 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and how this provision’s guarantee of rights for Indigenous people interacts with the Charter. Section 25 of the Charter provides that “[t]he guarantee in...
October 5, 2022
Justice Department Shuts NWAC Out of FPT Meeting with Indigenous Leaders; Ignores Expertise on Critical Gender-based Issues
NationTalk: OTTAWA – The federal Justice department has closed the door on Canada’s largest national Indigenous women’s organization when it meets with provincial and territorial ministers next week, effectively opting not to address Indigenous gender-based issues in any meaningful way. Though Canada recognizes five National Indigenous Organizations (NIOs), including the Native Women’s Association of Canada...
October 4, 2022
Put out wildfires before they begin with Indigenous fire stewardship
The Keremeos Creek wildfire southwest of Penticton, British Columbia on July 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Don Denton Canadian governments need to better engage with Indigenous fire stewardship to counter increased wildfire occurrence and severity Policy Options: by James Michael Collie, Hannah Verrips After the Keremeos Creek wildfire swept through the southern Interior of British Columbia in August,...
September 30, 2022
‘Why aren’t we talking about it?’ The forgotten cause of missing Indigenous men and boys
Indigenous men are much more likely to be victims of homicide than Indigenous women, but families say they don’t get the same kind of attention. Toronto Star: ENOCH CREE NATION, Alta.—There is no word for goodbye in Cree. Instead people say êkosi mâka, or “That’s it for now.” The belief is that loved ones will always...
September 29, 2022
Canadian Federation of Library Associations Calls for the Release of all outstanding residential school records
First People’s Law: The Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) has sent an open letter to federal Cabinet Ministers calling on their support for the full public release of outstanding residential school records currently being withheld by the Catholic Church and other orders of government. Following calls from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR),...
September 28, 2022
Ministers Honour Joyce Echaquan and Re-Affirm Commitment to Addressing Anti-Indigenous Racism in Canada’s Health Systems
Indigenous Services Canada: Ottawa, Ontario (September 28, 2022) – The Minister of Indigenous Services, Patty Hajdu, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Marc Miller, and the Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, issued the following statement today: “Health care is a human right, and should be free of racism and discrimination. But the systemic discrimination and racism that...
September 21, 2022
‘The bond is broken’: Data shows Indigenous kids overrepresented in foster care
Statistics Canada released data from the 2021 census showing Indigenous children accounted for 53.8 per cent of all children in foster care. Toronto Star: WINNIPEG – A Winnipeg mother says she was scarred for life when her first child was taken away at birth by social workers, who told her she was unfit to parent...
September 15, 2022
First Nations Child & Family Caring Society Statement: September 15, 2022
The following is in response to the Attorney General of Canada (Canada) and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) compensation motion being heard by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal today and tomorrow. In February of 2021, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) ordered Canada to pay $40,000 in human rights compensation to First Nations children,...
September 6, 2022
The beast of addiction in Indigenous communities remains untamed
Globe & Mail: Tanya Talaga – Over the past week, a Thunder Bay hotel’s conference room has become home to a land-based healing and recovery program. There, 17 women from one northern First Nation about two hours down the highway – women who are addicted to opioids, alcohol, crystal methamphetamine (jib) and/or methadone, which is...
August 30, 2022
‘Trying to save our fish’: B.C. First Nations appeal a court ruling in an attempt to restore the Nechako River
Saik’uz and Stellat’en First Nations have been fighting for the health of the watershed for over a decade. A dam operated by Rio Tinto Alcan and regulated by the province continues to devastate sturgeon and salmon populations The Narwhal: Seventy years ago, B.C. approved a hydroelectric project that would irreversibly alter an entire watershed and...
August 20, 2022
Deal freeing Catholic entities from $25M campaign for residential schools released
Canadian Press: OTTAWA – Canada agreed to “forever discharge” Catholic entities from their promise to raise $25 million for residential school survivors and also picked up their legal bill, a final release document shows. The Canadian Press obtained a signed copy of the 2015 agreement through federal Access-to-Information laws, marking what appears to be the...
August 18, 2022
Ontario is resisting Canada’s plans for Indigenous-led conservation areas
The federal government is starting to fund Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. An internal document shows Ontario has ‘concerns’ The Narwhal: In the face of provincial resistance, the federal government is urging Ontario to cooperate with plans to establish Indigenous-led conservation areas, according to an internal briefing. The document from Natural Resources Canada, obtained by...
August 15, 2022
Native Women’s Association of Canada calls for the return of Dawn Walker to Canada
“The fear and lack of choice that Dawn Walker says drove her decision to flee to the United States is reflected in the thousands of testimonies heard by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls who faced systemic discrimination on all fronts – we need to act on the Calls to...
August 14, 2022
Ottawa should offer Indigenous-language training, exemptions to public servants
Toronto Star: OTTAWA – Senior civil servants explored offering Indigenous-language training to federal employees and possible exemptions to those who already speak one from requiring fluency in both English and French, newly released documents show. Deputy ministers from several departments discussed the issue last fall. A memo, released to The Canadian Press under federal access-to-information...
August 9, 2022
A damning Parliamentary Budget Office report reveals a gaping disconnect between money spent and successful outcomes
Canada’s paternalistic mindset toward supporting Indigenous communities just doesn’t work. A damning Parliamentary Budget Office report revealed a gaping disconnect between the government’s aspirations and the amount of money spent on the one hand, and the actual consequences on the other. Globe & Mail: Ken Coates – McDonald-Laurier Institute Despite a decade of dramatic increases...
July 22, 2022
CMA condemns forced and coerced sterilization
In response to the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights’ report The Scars that We Carry: Forced and Coerced Sterilization of Persons in Canada – Part II Opens in a new window, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) unequivocally denounces the practices of forced and coerced sterilization. As the report details, forced and coerced sterilization have...
July 18, 2022
How a conservative US network undermined Indigenous energy rights in Canada
This story is a collaboration between Floodlight, The Narwhal and the Guardian. The Narwhal – Internal documents explain why oil and gas interests would benefit from a key Indigenous declaration being ‘defeated’. A U.S.-based libertarian coalition has spent years pressuring the Canadian government to limit how much Indigenous communities can push back on energy development on their own land,...
July 11, 2022
Canada needs to implement pandemic preparedness in dealing with TB
The goal to eliminate TB by 2030 can happen if lessons learned from COVID are implemented. This includes investing in health and telemedicine. Policy Options: by Elizabeth Rea, Tina Campbell, Petra Heitkamp Because of the pandemic, tuberculosis deaths globally have increased for the first time in over a decade. Concerning considering that before COVID, TB was the leading...
July 5, 2022
How Commonwealth universities profited from Indigenous dispossession through land grants
The Conversation – Animated by social movements such as #RhodesMustFall and #BlackLivesMatter, universities today have entered a period of critical self-reflection on their histories. The renaming of campus buildings, removal of statues and re-branding of whole universities are all evidence of this trend towards uncovering higher education’s colonial legacies. Yet this emphasis on campus iconography, or even on the campus...
July 4, 2022
Final settlement agreement reached in $20B First Nations child welfare class action
Deal signed following six months of confidential negotiations but still must be approved by the court and human rights tribunal APTN: The Canadian government and class-action lawyers have reached a final settlement agreement that, if approved, would see $20 billion paid out to victims of the country’s purposefully underfunded First Nations child-welfare system. Thousands of...
June 27, 2022
MPs study resource extraction and violence against Indigenous women
CabinRadio: The Standing Committee on the Status of Women, made up of Liberal, Conservative and New Democratic MPs, announced the study in April in response to calls to justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Karen Vecchio, a Conservative MP and shadow minister for women and gender equality, is chair...
June 27, 2022
AFN Regional Chief Presses Urgent Action at Meeting with Federal, Provincial, Territorial Ministers of Housing
(Ottawa, ON) – Assembly of First Nations: AFN Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse participated in a meeting today with Federal/Provincial/Territorial (FPT) Ministers of Housing and National Indigenous Organizations (NIOs), calling for more investments and support for First Nations housing and challenging Provincial and Territorial governments to work in partnership with First Nations. “I believe we...
June 23, 2022
Not Enough: All Words and No Action on MMIWG: Interim report of the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Relations
The following report will discuss the Government of Canada’s implementation of the Calls for Justice and the committee’s intention to seek an Order of Reference from the Senate to further study oversight mechanisms for the Government of Canada’s implementation of the Calls for Justice. We believe accountability is vital to ensure that families and survivors...
June 22, 2022
Anishinabek Nation and the FSIN call for action on the Indian Day School Class Action Settlement
ANISHINABEK NATION HEAD OFFICE (June 22, 2022) – The Federal Indian Day School Class Action Settlement is set to close forever in July 2022. As this date quickly approaches, Survivors and their families are in distress, outwardly excluded from a process established to find them justice. First Nations and Indigenous representatives have called for amendments and...
June 21, 2022
Off-reserve Indigenous children’s class-action approved
Toronto Star: The Federal Court of Canada has certified a class-action lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of off-reserve Indigenous children who were taken from their families and placed in non-Indigenous care. In a decision released online Monday, Federal Court Judge Michael Phelan ruled the class period will cover from Jan. 1, 1992 to...
June 20, 2022
How familiar are Canadians with the history of Indigenous residential schools?
Toronto Star: One year after more than 1,000 unmarked graves were discovered on the grounds of former residential schools — putting a global spotlight on Canada’s horrific history of assimilation and abuse of Indigenous children — Canadians are barely any more familiar with the painful legacy of the institutions, new research shows. According to data...
June 15, 2022
The effects of the housing shortage on Indigenous People in Canada
Report of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs APTN: Indigenous Services Canada is on track to miss its 2030 target to close the infrastructure gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, according to the House of Commons committee on Indigenous affairs. The committee’s latest report says the department should revise its housing investment strategy...
June 14, 2022
Federal Housing Advocate will receive two urgent human rights claims from Women and Indigenous groups
NationTalk: On June 14, the Federal Housing Advocate will receive two urgent human rights claims from Women and Indigenous groups raising the growing housing emergency for women and gender-diverse people – a first in Canada Today, the Women’s National Housing & Homelessness Network (WNHHN) and the Indigenous women-led Keepers of the Circle have submitted two Human Rights Claims to...
June 14, 2022
Anishinabek Nation response to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child report on welfare of Indigenous children
ANISHINABEK NATION HEAD OFFICE (June 14, 2022) – On behalf of the Anishinabek Nation, Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe and Children’s Commissioner Ogimaa Duke Peltier have issued a statement in response to the recent report released by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child expressing deep concerns about the welfare of Indigenous children...
June 3, 2022
MMIWG: NWAC Report Card on National Action Plan finds little progress
Native Women’s Association of Canada: A comprehensive analysis of the federal government’s National Action Plan to address violence against Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people finds little progress has been made over the past year to reduce the shocking number of murders and disappearances. The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) assessed the National Action Plan...
June 3, 2022
First Nations Leadership Council troubled by lack of progress on implementing the MMIWG Calls to Justice
NationTalk: (Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) – On the third anniversary of the release of the National Inquiry’s Final Report and Calls for Justice, the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is deeply troubled by the lack of progress to implement the Calls for Justice. Despite the finding of genocide made by the...
June 3, 2022
Correction Service Canada fails to eliminate systemic barriers against Indigenous people
NationTalk: NISHINAABE AND DAKOTA TERRITORY, MB — The Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) is calling for major changes in how First Nation people are treated in the current colonial justice system. This following Tuesday’s release of a devastating report by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) that found Corrections Services Canada has once again failed...
May 20, 2022
Treasury Board rejects proposal for mandatory training on anti-oppression and discrimination
Jan. 22, 2022: Public Service Alliance of Canada – PSAC is renewing its call for mandatory training that would address systemic racism, harassment, and discrimination in the federal public service after Treasury Board outright rejected the proposal at the Common Issues bargaining table in December. This training for all employees and managers would be facilitator-led with an intersectional approach, and cover important issues such as anti-oppression and discrimination, harassment...
May 3, 2022
Department of Justice states that UNDRIP is ‘Interpretive aid only” and cannot override Canadian law
APTN National News: The Canadian government claims the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is an “interpretative aid only” that can’t be used to strike down federal laws even though Parliament has passed legislation requiring they be in sync. Lawyers for Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) made the argument in response to a Federal...
April 28, 2022
Update to Safe Drinking Water Settlement Agreement
Indigenous Services Canada: Chief Wayne Moonias of Neskantaga First Nation, Chief Doreen Spence of Tataskweyak Cree Nation and Chief Emily Whetung of Curve Lake First Nation, along with the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services, provided an update on the progress underway and announced that the claims period is open for the historic settlement...
April 25, 2022
Federal IRS records
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada: “Recently, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada officials were made aware of a third-party secure storage locker in the Northwest Territories that contained claimant documents from the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) Independent Assessment Process. The storage locker belonged to a not-for-profit organization that provided health supports to...
April 18, 2022
Multiple Threats to Pacific Salmon Fishery
NationTalk: The First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance (“FNWSA”) is deeply troubled with the revelations set out in an article featured on the front page of today’s Globe and Mail which identifies that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (“DFO”), under the Harper administration, withheld critical science related to the existence of a highly transmissible...
March 26, 2022
Is denial of conditional sentences for Indigenous people systemic racism? The Supreme Court will decide
The Toronto Star (Windspeaker.com) – The Supreme Court of Canada will be weighing the arguments it heard March 23 to determine whether the inability to make conditional sentencing available in some cases amounts to systemic racism for Indigenous offenders, infringing on their Charter rights. In 2012, the Criminal Code was amended through the Safe Streets...
March 17, 2022
Québec Constitution Challenge to Bill C-92: AFN supports appeal to Supreme Court
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) announced today that it stands with First Nations in Quebec and all First Nations’ jurisdiction over child and family law. “Taking the Act to the Supreme Court presents an opportunity for the full recognition and affirmation of First Nations Inherent rights, as well as the exercise of this jurisdiction,...
March 15, 2022
Union backs Indigenous bureaucrats suing feds for systemic discrimination
APTN News: The head of one of the country’s largest labour unions promises support for Indigenous bureaucrats advancing a class-action lawsuit against the federal government. The claim, filed in 2021 by two First Nations women, alleges widespread systemic discrimination and harassment at the two departments responsible for Indigenous affairs. “We’re certainly supporting the class action,” said Chris...
February 15, 2022
Fort Pelly IRS and St. Philip’s IRS
Toronto Star – The discovery of 54 potential graves of children forced to attend two residential schools on Keeseekoose First Nation land was announced to a silent gathering of community members and media… Meanwhile, Chief Bobby Cameron of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations said the Catholic Church, and others who ran the school, must...
February 11, 2022
Québec Constitution Challenge to Bill C-92
CBC – The Quebec Court of Appeal issued a decision yesterday finding the law constitutional apart from two key sections that relate to Aboriginal self-government and child and family services that it ruled are unconstitutional. The court took issue with the section of the law that allows Indigenous child welfare laws to supersede provincial laws...
February 10, 2022
Quebec Court of Appeal rules against two sections of Bill C-92
The Court of Appeal of Québec ruled on Feb. 10, 2022 that Bill C-92 “is constitutional, except for ss. 21 and 22(3), which are not”. These sections deal with the right of Aboriginal self-government and the regulation of Child and Family Services. As Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, professor of law at the Peter Allard School of Law at...
January 26, 2022
CHRT Judicial Reviews
First Judicial Review: Ruling on immediate relief concerning Jordan’s Principle, cited as 2017 CHRT 14 (“the May 26th Orders”). On June 23, 2017, Canada filed an application for judicial review of certain aspects of the May 26th Orders, seeking to quash paragraphs thereof prohibiting Canada from engaging in case conferencing and requiring Canada to complete...
January 4, 2022
Two Agreements-in-Principle
Federal Government – In a total settlement package valued at $40 billion, the AFN, the Government of Canada and other parties signed two Agreements-in-Principle on December 31, 2021. First Agreements-in-Principle proposes a total settlement of $20 billion in compensation to First Nations children and families impacted by discrimination through the FNCFS program and the improper...
December 17, 2021
Incarceration rates of Indigenous people
Correctional Investigator – The Correctional Investigator, Dr. Ivan Zinger, released new data that shows that the proportion of incarcerated Indigenous women has continued to increase unabated, and is nearing 50% of all federally-sentenced women. On January 21, 2020, the Office of the Correctional Investigator reported that the proportion of Indigenous men and women in federal...
December 14, 2021
Call for a Miscarriage of Justice Commission
APTN – Women and people of colour “urgently” need a commission to review claims of wrongful conviction, say two retired judges. Harry LaForme, the first Indigenous lawyer on an appellate court in Canada, and Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré, the first Black judge in Quebec, were tasked with helping formulate a new Criminal Case Review Commission for Justice Canada....
December 6, 2021
Federal IRS Records
APTN – Crown-Indigenous Relations minister says the federal government will soon release some of the residential school records it’s been criticized for withholding to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation NCTR). Among the missing records, it said, were what’s known as school narratives – reports compiled by Ottawa outlining an individual institution’s history, including...
November 21, 2021
25th Anniversay of the RCAP Final Report
Prime Minister’s Office – “25th anniversary of the final report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples”. The five-volume landmark document outlined 440 recommendations on Indigenous governance, nation rebuilding, lands and resources, treaties, economic development, and social policy, and called for the renewal of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and all orders of...
November 18, 2021
Arrest of Indigenous journalists at Wet’suwet’en protests
Toronto Star – Two journalists reporting from the Wet’suwet’en territory were among 15 people arrested and detained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia Friday night. Both remain in custody. Since last year, media has covered RCMP raids in the territory, Indigenous rights and police removal of defenders of the land who are...
October 29, 2021
Federal Government’s Protective Appeal
Toronto Star – The federal government has launched a “protective appeal” of the Federal Court’s Sept. 29, 2021 decision dismissing Ottawa’s appeals of two human rights tribunal rulings concerning First Nations child welfare compensation and protection. The court upheld a 2019 ruling of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal that ordered Ottawa to pay $40,000 —...
October 19, 2021
Federal IRS Records
NCTR – In his statement yesterday at Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc, the Prime Minister indicated that the Government of Canada has handed all records on residential schools to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR). Unfortunately, this is not accurate. At present, we are still waiting for Canada to provide the final versions of school...
October 19, 2021
National Council is still waiting for federal government to hand over residential school records
NCTR – In his statement yesterday at Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc, the Prime Minister indicated that the Government of Canada has handed all records on residential schools to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR). Unfortunately, this is not accurate. At present, we are still waiting for Canada to provide the final versions of school narratives...
October 4, 2021
SCO Survey on MMIWG Calls for Justice
Southern Chiefs Organization (SCO) – “Only 53% of murder cases involving [Indigenous] women and girls have led to charges of homicide. This is dramatically different from the national clearance rate for homicides in Canada, which was last reported as 84%” (NWAC, 2011). Governments and Canadian institutions now need to fully implement the Calls for Justice....
September 30, 2021
Prime Minster Trudeau vacation on first National National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Toronto Star – Prime Minister Trudeau on the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation “to remember the legacy of residential schools” chose instead to go on a family vacation to Tofino in BC. “With all such firsts, part of the struggle is to make people take it seriously. It should not be just a...
August 30, 2021
Access to Drinking Water and Sanitation Infrastructure
“Inuit Tapariit Kanatami – A Joint Submission by Inuit Circumpolar Council and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation documents barriers to clean drinking water and sanitation among Inuit in Alaska, Canada and Greenland. The Submission provides recommendations to the UN Special Rapporteur as...
August 26, 2021
Compliance and Procedural Orders
On August 26, 2021, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal issued a letter-decision to clarify and reinforce previous rulings for the purpose of ongoing negotiations and communication between all the parties. The CHRT confirms that funding of buildings and additional capital assets that support the delivery of FNCFS and Jordan’s Principle programs and prevention services must...
July 22, 2021
Appeal to International Criminal Court
Nunantsiaq News: Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq and her fellow NDP MP Charlie Angus held a press conference on Parliament Hill Thursday to ask federal Justice Minister and Attorney General David Lametti to reach out to the International Criminal Court to launch an investigation into a system they said “represents a crime against humanity.” “We need...
June 19, 2021
Systemic Discrimination in Nunavut
Toronto Star – Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, MP for Nunavut criticized the federal government for its ongoing failure to address the worst living conditions in the country in the Inuit homeland: • Highest suicide rates in the world • Housing cots beyond the reach of Inuit • Mouldy and overcrowded public housing • Lack of clean water...
June 15, 2021
AFN/Canada Race Race Relations Foundation poll
Assembly of First Nations – Thirteen years after the Government of Canada offered a formal apology to the survivors of the residential school system and families, 68 percent of Canadians polled still say they were either unaware of the severity of abuses at residential schools or completely shocked by it. A poll conducted by the...
June 14, 2021
Lack of updates from the Federal Government on what’s happening to establish the National Council for Reconciliation. Since the Interim Board submitted their Final Report to Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett with detailed recommendations on June 12, 2018 there has been only two updates: Sept. 5, 2019 – One of the updates included in...
June 11, 2021
Misleading update on official Government of Canada TRC and Reconciliation website
The Official website of the Federal Government: “Delivering on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action” stated that the content had been “Modified” when in fact not a single work had changed from the previous update posted on Sept, 5, 2019. Those updates, beginning on June 7 began just 11 days after the discovery...
June 11, 2021
The Official website of the Federal Government: “Delivering on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action” stated that the content had been “Modified” when in fact not a single work had changed from the previous update posted on Sept, 5, 2019. Those updates, beginning on June 7 began just 11 days after the discovery...
June 11, 2021
Misleading Update Information
The Official website of the Federal Government: “Delivering on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action” stated that the content had been “Modified” when in fact not a single work had changed from the previous update posted on Sept, 5, 2019. Those updates, beginning on June 7 began just 11 days after the discovery...
June 11, 2021
Misleading Update Information
The Official website of the Federal Government: “Delivering on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action” stated that the content had been “Modified” when in fact not a single work had changed from the previous update posted on Sept, 5, 2019. Those updates, beginning on June 7 began just 11 days after the discovery...
June 7, 2021
Government posts misleading update on their official TRC Calls to Action site
The Official website of the Federal Government: “Delivering on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action” stated that the content had been “Modified” when in fact not a single work had changed from the previous update posted on Sept, 5, 2019. Those updates, beginning on June 7 began just 11 days after the discovery...
June 4, 2021
MMIWG Inquiry – OAS Complaint
The Native Women’s Association of Canada -NWAC is taking immediate steps to file a Human Rights complaint in Canada and to request International intervention and investigation by the Organization of American States (OAS) and United Nations (UN) in forcing the federal government to take the steps necessary to end the genocide against Indigenous women, girls and...
June 3, 2021
MMIWG Inquiry – Government Action Plan Complaints
NationTalk – Ontario Native Women’s Association, Québec Native Women, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, Chair in Indigenous Governance, Feminist Alliance for International Action – A consortia of Indigenous women’s advocacy groups representing 49% of Indigenous women’s voices in Canada finds that the National Action Plan and Federal Pathway on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and...
May 25, 2021
COVID-19 Health resources
Healthy Debates – “Indigenous health services often hampered by legislative confusion“. The federal and provincial governments negotiate health transfers based on the Canada Health Act, which specifies the conditions and criteria required of provincial health insurance programs. It doesn’t mention First Nations and Inuit peoples, Métis and non-status or off-reserve Indigenous peoples who are covered...
March 26, 2021
Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
The AFN, based on direction from the Chiefs-in-Assembly, intervened in this case, as well as court cases in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta, arguing the Government of Canada has a direct legal obligation to recognize Aboriginal and Treaty rights in any legislative efforts to address climate change....
March 25, 2021
Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
Supreme Court finds that the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act 2018 is constitutional....
March 25, 2021
Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
Westaway Law Group – The majority judges noted that climate change “has had particularly serious effects on Indigenous peoples, threatening the ability of Indigenous communities in Canada to sustain themselves and maintain their traditional ways of life.” [para 11] They also acknowledged that, “the effects of climate change are and will continue to be experienced...
February 18, 2021
Bill C-22 : An Act to amend the Criminal Code….”
Toronto Star – Bill C-22 “An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act” although a step in the right direction does not go far enough, critics say. The fact that the bill does not remove mandatory minimums for more crimes and does not repeal simple drug possession from the...
January 28, 2021
Emergency Meeting on Indigenous Health
Assembly of First Nations – AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde reiterated recommendations and called for urgency in addressing systemic racism in Canada’s health care systems at a two-day virtual meeting with federal, provincial and territorial ministers and Metis and Inuit leaders that ended today. The meeting, convened by Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, Crown-Indigenous Relations...
January 26, 2021
Women’s Shelters in Iuit Nunangat
Indigenous Services Canada – Commit to fund the construction and operations of shelters for Inuit women and children across Inuit Nunangat as well as in urban centres. Funding for the new shelters will be part of the $724.1 million for a comprehensive Violence Prevention Strategy as announced in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement. The government...
January 12, 2021
Custody Rating Scale lawsuit
Globe and Mail – A class-action lawsuit filed in federal court challenges the Custody Rating Scale, a 12-question risk assessment tool developed by Correctional Services Canada in the 1980s and in widespread use. The suite is file on behalf of tens of thousands of inmates over systemic bias in its security classifications which affect inmates’...
January 6, 2021
Federal Prisoners
The Tyee – Erin O’Toole, leader of the Conservative Party, disagrees with Canada’s vaccination effort that includes a plan to immunize high-risk prisoners in federal prisons — people who are old or sick. The initial wave of vaccinations will reach 600 inmates, about four per cent of the prison population. His comment: “Not one criminal...
December 15, 2020
TRC Commissioners comments about pace of Reconciliation
APTN – The three commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Senator Murray Sinclair, Chief Wilton Littlechild, and Dr. Marie Wilson, are issuing a public statement expressing their concern about the slow and uneven pace of implementation of the Calls to Action released by the TRC five years ago today… While they acknowledge important and...
December 4, 2020
Six provinces urged Ottawa to delay tabling UNDRIP legislation, but were rebuffed by Justice Minister
The Globe and Mail: Ministers from six provinces asked the federal government last month to delay legislation that would apply the principles of the foremost international commitment on the rights of Indigenous peoples to Canadian laws, but were rebuffed by Justice Minister David Lametti. Earlier this fall, the federal government sent a draft of the...
December 3, 2020
Letter requesting UNDRIP delay
National Post – On Nov. 27, Indigenous relations ministers from Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick sent a joint letter to David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett that protested the six-week time window they say they were given for input on the draft bill...
November 19, 2020
Problems with Indigenous COVID-19 data
Toronto Star – COVID-19 is negatively impacting both on-reserve and off-reserve Indigenous populations. “Hospitalizations and intensive-care rates are sky high for off-reserve populations and testing is low. Both on and off reserves, about 18% of tests come back positive. The issues identified by Janet Smylie, research chair in Indigenous health knowledge and information at Well...
November 12, 2020
Systemic Racism at federal, provincial, territory ministers human rights meeting
NationTalk – 24 civil society groups attending the third ever meeting of Federal, Provincial, Territory Ministers responsible for human rights “condemned the obstructive attitude of some governments” in advancing international human rights obligations. Groups had pressed governments to commit to nation-wide law reform that will legally require governments to adopt a collaborative, accountable, consistent, transparent,...
November 12, 2020
Federal, Provincial, Territory Ministers responsible for human rights
NationTalk – 24 civil society groups attending the third ever meeting of Federal, Provincial, Territory Ministers responsible for human rights “condemned the obstructive attitude of some governments” in advancing international human rights obligations. Groups had pressed governments to commit to nation-wide law reform that will legally require governments to adopt a collaborative, accountable, consistent, transparent,...
November 2, 2020
Canada’s Constitution embeds discrimination
Policy Options – Canada’s history of colonization has laid the foundation for the implementation of racist health policy and the delivery of culturally unsafe health care, resulting in health disparities that are disproportionately experienced by Indigenous Peoples. Since the establishment of the Indian Act in 1867, Canada’s Constitution has continued to support and maintain discriminatory...
October 21, 2020
Food Insecurity
The Narwhal – Human Rights Watch released “My fear is Losing Everything: Climate Crisis and First Nations’ Right to Food” in Canada. The report details how longer and more intense forest fire seasons, permafrost degradation, volatile weather patterns and increased levels of precipitation are all affecting wildlife habitat and, in turn, harvesting efforts. The report...
October 20, 2020
Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
Toronto Star – The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) reserved judgement on whether the federal government’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act 2018 (GGPPA) is constitutional following hearings on September 22 and 23 with the United Chiefs and Councils of Mnidoo Mnising (UCCMM), along with the Anishinabek Nation (AN), granted intervener status. The GGPPA sets minimum...
October 16, 2020
Emergency Meeting on Indigenous Health
Emergency meeting on racism in Canada’s healthcare system. AFN recommendations to all levels of government: Work directly with First Nations to ensure that Indigenous Peoples feel safe accessing health care services. Quebec needs to work with First Nations to fully implement the Viens Commission Report’s recommendations. Canada must conduct an immediate review of the Canada...
October 15, 2020
Canada Health Act fails Inuit
Pauktuutit Women of Canada – President Kudloo calls for additional funding to improve health determinants for Inuit women and girls and a focus on youth to increase Inuit health providers. She will also will highlight how the Canada Health Act is failing Inuit women and girls when she participates in a national meeting to address...
September 29, 2020
Beyond Hunger – The Hidden Impacts of Food Insecurity in Canada”
Community Food Centres (CFC) – Release of “Beyond Hunger – The Hidden Impacts of Food Insecurity in Canada”. Even before COVID-19, food insecurity affected nearly 4.5 million Canadians. In the first two months of the pandemic, that number grew by 39 per cent. Food insecurity now affects one in seven people, disproportionately impacting low-income and...
September 29, 2020
Beyond Hunger
“Community Food Centres (CFC) – Release of “Beyond Hunger.” Even before COVID-19, food insecurity affected nearly 4.5 million Canadians. In the first two months of the pandemic, that number grew by 39 per cent. Food insecurity now affects one in seven people, disproportionately impacting low-income and Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities. “Beyond...
September 25, 2020
MMIWG Class Action Lawsuit
Southern Chiefs Organization – Strongly disagrees with the federal government’s arguments that Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people do not face a “special threat from a special source” and are not unique victims of criminal violence. SCO believes they fly in the face of the findings of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous...
September 21, 2020
Supreme Court on Indigenous laws
Clarification and validation of Indigenous rights and treaty as asserted by the Supreme Court of Canada in Delgamuukw, 1997. Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) – AMC will be intervening at the Supreme Court of Canada…to argue that First Nation constitutional orders are distinct but equal to Euro-Canadian laws. The Court will address the most fundamental...
September 14, 2020
Women’s Shelters in Iuit Nunangat
Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada – Inuit communities are not eligible to access funding for shelters through the federal government’s Family Violence Prevention Program for Indigenous women, children and families. In its recent pre-budget submission to the Standing Committee on Finance (now paused due to the prorogation of Parliament), Pauktuutit reiterated its shelter ask as...
September 10, 2020
Arrest of Indigenous journalists at protests
Toronto Star – Increasing arrests of Indigenous journalists including: Karl Dockstader at Land Back Lane Haudenosaunee occupation regarding a housing development near Caledonia Courtney Skye, Yellowhead Institute researcher and Ryerson Fellow award-winning journalist Justin Brake was arrested and charged with criminal and civil contempt and criminal mischief while covering a protest at Muskrat Falls in...
September 8, 2020
Unicef “Innocenti Report Card 16”
NationTalk – Release of Unicef “Innocenti Report Card 16: Worlds of Influence – Understanding What Shapes Child Well-being in Rich Countries” where Canada placed in the bottom 10 of 38 countries. In fact, all four countries with large Indigenous populations – who all initially opposed The United Nations Declaration the Rights of Indigenous People –...
September 3, 2020
Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers
TVO – An updated edition of “Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers” by Carmen Robertson, a Scots-Lakota professor who currently holds a Canada Research Chair in North American Indigenous Visual and Material Culture at Carleton University. Her research centres on contemporary Indigenous arts and on constructions of Indigeneity in popular culture. The...
August 31, 2020
McDonald-Laurier Report on Systemic Racism in Policing
MacDonald-Laurier Institute – “Systemic racism in policing in Canada and approaches to fixing it,” argues that the fault for this lies primarily with political leaders who set the framework conditions and constraints for the delivery of police services. This commentary is based on the author’s written submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on...
August 17, 2020
Québec Government opposition
NationTalk – Premier François Legault indicated that, on the one hand, the Indigenous Nations must be recognized, but on the other hand, there is a risk of “giving” them a veto over Québec’s development. The Assembly of First Nations Quebec and Labrador proposes to begin discussions between the provincial government and First Nations right now...
July 23, 2020
McDonald-Laurier Report on Systemic Racism in Policing
The CBC “Deadly Force” database indicates that the RCMP are 3x more likely to use lethal force than other police forces in Canada. The CBC data found that 68 per cent of people killed in police encounters were suffering with some kind of mental illness, addiction or both. “When we get broader statistical information that...
June 2, 2020
Women’s Shelters in Iuit Nunangat
Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada – Historically, the Minister of Indigenous Affairs has only had authority to provide funding for shelters on First Nations reserves, resulting in a glaring policy and program gap for vulnerable Inuit women and children. Inuit women face violence at a rate 14 times greater than other women in Canada. Of...
May 12, 2020
“Colonialism of the Curve: Indigenous Communities and Bad Covid Data”.
Yellowhead Institute – release of Policy Brief: “Colonialism of the Curve: Indigenous Communities and Bad Covid Data”. There is wide discrepancy on COVID-19 related health data from Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and provincial health authorities: There is no agency or organization in Canada reliably recording and releasing Covid-19 data that indicates whether or not a person...
April 23, 2020
Release of at-risk Indigenous inmates
The Indigenous Bar Association (IBA)– Calls Upon Federal, Provincial and Territorial Justice Ministers and Attorneys General to Immediately Release low-risk Indigenous Inmates over COVID-19.Specifically, we call for the immediate release of incarcerated Indigenous people and the following actions: Immediately and minimally, carry-out the release of Indigenous inmates that are low-risk, non-violent, nearly eligible for parole,...
April 20, 2020
Incarcerated prisoners
First Nations leadership across BC is united in calling for immediate action to protect incarcerated peoples amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak at the Mission Institution is now the third largest outbreak in the Province of BC, with the first inmate tragically passing away on April 15, 2020. Senior health and corrections officials have...
April 20, 2020
Indigenous prisoners in federal prisons
BC First Nations Justice Council – First Nations leadership across BC is united in calling for immediate action to protect incarcerated peoples amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak at the Mission Institution is now the third largest outbreak in the Province of BC, with the first inmate tragically passing away on April 15, 2020....
March 17, 2020
H1N1 and Systemic Racism
Globe and Mail – Despite accounting for just under 5 per cent of the Canadian population, Indigenous people were 25 per cent of those admitted to ICUs during the first wave of H1N1. First Nations children were 21 per cent of the paediatric patients admitted to ICUs during both waves. This led to sad and...
February 13, 2020
Criticisms of Federal Impact Assessment Act
FACETS – “Indigenous knowledge and federal environmental assessments in Canada: applying past lessons to the 2019 impact assessment act”. Even the most contemporary federal Environmental Assessment framework in Canada ultimately fails to ensure the engagement of the critically important knowledge of Indigenous peoples in environmental decision-making. While we identify that Impact Assessment Act fails to...
January 7, 2020
8 Ways to champion Human Rights
Toronto Star – Toronto Star identified eight ways that Canada can champion human rights in the 2020s, including the following: First step is to adopt overdue legislation making the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Canada’s framework for rights and reconciliation. And to show we truly mean it: address mercury poisoning at...
December 11, 2019
Statement on National Urban Indigenous Housing Strategy
In Canada 79.7% of Indigenous Peoples live in urban centres yet an Indigenous Urban Housing strategy has yet to be developed. Aboriginal Housing Manager Association (AMHA) applauds the Federal government efforts in the National Housing Strategy to address the needs of Metis/First Nations/Inuit groups on a distinction basis, it has failed to recognize the majority...
October 29, 2019
Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation
CBC: Failure to approve funding requests over 20 years ago to build infrastructure and capacity in mental health counselling, social work, education etc. in a community whose average age is now 21, less that 50% of the average age of the broader population of 46. Chief Eugene Hart declared a suicide crisis in the Labrador...
October 1, 2019
Increase Indigenous business procurement spending
The “Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business (PSAB)” has accounted for an average of less than 1% (0.32%) of total annual federal procurement spending since 1996. Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business released “Industry and Inclusion: An Analysis of Indigenous Potential in Federal Supply Chains” calling on the federal government to increase the dollar value of its...
September 27, 2019
Cree Nation imput into climate change policy
Cree Nation Government – Proposed government action must be inclusive of Cree observations and efforts in the fight against climate change. Our privileged relationship with the territory is fundamental to the proper and meaningful development of government policies on climate change for Eeyou Istchee. Government policies must take into account the experiences of Indigenous communities...
September 17, 2019
National Paper on Youth Suicide
The Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates (CCCYA) published “A National Paper on Youth Suicide” that calls on governments at the national, provincial and territorial levels to take concrete action to prevent youth suicide in Canada. Failure to address the multi-faceted issues impacting indigenous communities has led to a suicide epidemic. The paper consolidates...
August 14, 2019
Qikiqtani Truth Commission
Government of Canada – The Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations delivered an official apology on behalf of the Government of Canada to the Qikiqtani Inuit for the Government’s actions in the Qikiqtani region between 1950 and 1975. To move forward, Minister Bennett announced that Canada and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) have established a Memorandum of...
July 26, 2019
Toward a Plan – Strengthening Canada’s Position in the Arctic
Failure to take a leadership role in positioning the Canadian arctic for success in a rapidly evolving arctic political landscape. “As the effects of climate change increase access to the Arctic, the global geopolitical context for the region is changing. With enormous untapped opportunities for shipping, research and resource development, many countries are looking to...
July 11, 2019
The Council of The Federation, bi-annual meetings of the Federal, Provincial and Territory Premiers
Refusal to allow leaders of the Assembly of First Nations, the Métis National Council, the Inuit Tapariit Kanatami and the Native Woman’s Association of Canada to participate in the main body of meetings with a primary focus on climate change within each jurisdiction. As has been noted by numerous media, Indigenous peoples are on the...
July 9, 2019
Towards Justice: Tackling Indigenous Child Poverty in Canada
Upstream – Failure to reduce the level of poverty among Indigenous children. Tracking Indigenous child poverty and non-Indigenous child poverty trends between Census 2006 and Census 2016, it’s clear that these differences have not markedly changed over that 10-year period. “Towards Justice: Tackling Indigenous Child Poverty in Canada” co-authored by the Assembly of First Nations...
July 9, 2019
Nunavut Self-Government and Inuktuk
The aspiration of Nunavut is a step closer as Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) seeks guidance for self-government from Inuit Elders and commits to becoming an Inuktut language workplace announced President Aluki Kotierk from Kugluktuk today. Inuktut language assessments have been completed with NTI staff. All staff will receive on the job training and support based...
July 9, 2019
Barriers to Reconciliation
“Youth Reconciliation Barometer 2019, Final Report”, Environics Research Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth identified a number of barriers to reconciliation, notably: myths and stereotypes about what Indigenous Peoples receive from Canada a lack of political leadership to implement real change, and too little understanding among non-Indigenous people The national survey reveals how Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth...
June 26, 2019
ITK and NTI objections to Bill C-92
Nunatsiak News – Inuit Tapariit Kanatami and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc raised the following objections: Bill does not recognize Inuktut as an official language within the 4 regions of Inuit Nunangat and requires Inuit to use English or French to access federal services Federal departments and agencies do not have to offer services in Inuit language...
June 20, 2019
ITK disappointed in Bill C-92
Inuit Tapariit Kanatami (ITK) regrets that Bill C-91, “An Act respecting Indigenous languages“, passed into law without inclusion of any Inuit-specific priorities. In its current format, this law does not affirm Inuit language rights or close the legal and policy gaps that contribute to the erosion of Inuktut as the first, only or preferred language...
June 3, 2019
MMIWG Inquiry – Final Report
“National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girl Final Report (MMIWG)” states: Indigenous women and girls are 2.7 times more likely to experience violence than non-Indigenous women. ]Homicide rates for Indigenous women were nearly seven times higher than for non- Indigenous women. One quarter of all female homicide victims in Canada in 2015...
May 8, 2019
Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting (Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC)
CBC – For the first time, the final declaration of the Ministers of the 8 countries that make up the ICC did not include the views of the Arctic Council’s permanent Indigenous organizations, Unlike the usual declarations, which are developed with their input, the compromise joint ministerial statement – which did not include any reference...
May 1, 2019
Lack of access to capital for Indigenous business
“Evening the Odds: Giving Indigenous ventures access to the full financial toolkit” Restricted access to capital impedes indigenous entrepreneurs from developing business opportunities. Some First Nations have unlocked greater economic development on reserve lands by opting out of the Indian Act system of lands management in favour of the First Nations Land Management Act. Those...
April 12, 2019
Bill S-215 An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Sentencing for Violent Offences Against Aboriginal Women)
Native Women’s Association of Canada – As a supporter of this bill, Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) hoped it would be an important step forward with respect to the urgent issues Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people face today such as heightened likelihood of disappearance, human trafficking, violent crimes, and forced and coerced...
April 10, 2019
Bill S-215 An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Sentencing for Violent Offences Against Aboriginal Women)
Defeat of “Bill S-215, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Sentencing for Violent Offences Against Aboriginal Women)” in the House of Commons during the second reading on April 10, 2019. The Bill would have required a court to take Indigenous female identity into account during the sentencing of offenders. Those “in favour” of Bill...
March 21, 2019
Yellowhead Institue Critique of Bill C-92
“Bill C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Métis and Inuit children, youth and families” was graded as follows by the Yellowhead Institute of Ryerson University based on analysis by five Indigenous legal scholars. (See also First Nations Child and Family Caring Society Information Brief in C2A # 4) GRADES: National Standards: …………………… C Funding: ……………………………………..F...
March 20, 2019
Funding for Inuktut vs English and French
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. President Aluki Kotierk. With this budget, the Government of Canada has strengthened funding for minority language service for English and French, yet, failed to invest equitably in Indigenous languages. NTI seeks recognition that Inuktut is the majority language in Nunavut and must be the language of public services, including education, justice and...
March 20, 2019
Budget 2019 investments ignores housing crisis in Nunavut
Nationally, Budget 2019 makes major investments in housing. However, the Inuit housing crisis in Nunavut remains largely unaddressed. Housing is a social determinant of health and linked to the on-going tuberculosis epidemic, mental illness, educational outcomes and violence. https://www.tunngavik.com/2019/03/20/nunavut-inuit-left-out-of-the-canadian-middle-class/...
March 19, 2019
Funding for National Council for Reconciliation
Deferring the budget decision to fund the National Council for Reconciliation until AFTER the next election. The Interim Board of Directors appointed in Dec. 2017 submitted their interim report to Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs on June 12, 2018. The 2020 fiscal year beginning April 1, 2020 will be almost five...
February 28, 2019
Firing of Jody Wilson-Raybould over SNC-Lavalin
Firing Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould for refusing to grant SNC-Lavalin a “Deferred Prosecution Agreement”. As she stated in her testimony to the Justice Committee: “I was taught to always hold true to your core values, principles and to act with integrity…I am a truth teller in accordance with the laws...
February 5, 2019
Inuit recommendations for “Indigenous Language Act ignored
Inuit Tapariit Kanatami – Failure to incorporate Inuit specific recommendations into the Indigenous Language Act. “Inuktut speakers make up the majority of the population in Inuit Nunangat yet the federal government allocates a larger share of public sector resources for the English and French speaking minority populations,” the position paper prepared by ITK states. ITK...
January 31, 2019
Qikiqtani Truth Commission
Qikiqtani Inuit Association – QIA releases “Action on the Qikiqtani Truth Commission” report which sets out a plan for a formal acknowledgement, apology and action on the recommendations outlined in the Qikiqtani Truth Commission. Specifically, QIA is seeking a three-fold commitment from Canada, to be negotiated and concluded as soon as possible. • A formal...
December 4, 2018
Bill S-215 An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Sentencing for Violent Offences Against Aboriginal Women)
Toronto Star – When there’s a large-scale industrial development, when there’s construction camps that are co-located, we have documented increases in the rates of sexual assault, the rates of sexualized violence, the rates of prostitution, the rates of sexually transmitted infections,” said Ginger Gibson, director of the Firelight Group, which does research in Indigenous and...
April 3, 2018
Aboriginal Sports Circle Snubbed
The Conversation: The federal government selected “Right to Play” a non-indigenous led partner to be the prime delivery organization for indigenous sports programming in communities across Canada when an indigenous led alternative already exists: The Aboriginal Sports Circle (ASC) is Canada’s national voice for Aboriginal sport, which brings together the interests of First Nations, Inuit...
March 2, 2018
Food Sovereignty and Harvesting
Qukiqtani Inuit Association: “Food Sovereignty and Harvesting” – Food sovereignty for Inuit means the right to nutritious locally-sourced food. In Nunavut this translates to country food. Harvesters play an integral role in Inuit food sovereignty. They provide country food that feeds communities, reinvigorates Inuit cultural practices and stimulates local economies. Food sovereignty incorporates Inuit knowledge,...
February 16, 2018
Native Women’s Association of Canada
Collectively, NWAC represents a multitude of Nations of Indigenous women who are First Nations, Métis, Inuit. These women represent non-status women and girls and rights holders with Treaty rights, inherent rights, Métis rights, human rights and gender-based rights. As a representative of Indigenous women, NWAC will provide the required gender-based perspective. In order to achieve...
December 7, 2017
Parliamentary Budget Office
The parliamentary budget officer estimates it will cost at least $3.2 billion in capital investment to bring First Nations water systems up to the standards of comparable non-Indigenous communities in order to eliminate boil-water advisories by 2020. The spending watchdog’s latest report estimates the cost of updating drinking water systems at $1.8 billion, with another...
September 21, 2017
Canada Health Act flaws
Healthy Debates – “Indigenous health services often hampered by legislative confusion“. The federal and provincial governments negotiate health transfers based on the Canada Health Act, which specifies the conditions and criteria required of provincial health insurance programs. It doesn’t mention First Nations and Inuit peoples, Métis and non-status or off-reserve Indigenous peoples who are covered...
September 12, 2017
Failure to reach Inuit employment targets
A full set of Inuit employment plans with targets and timelines for expanded Inuit employment were supposed to have been completed for each federal and territorial department by 1996. The Nunavut Inuit Labor Force Analysis (NILFA) report issued on Aug. 27, 2018 offers details on relevant issues and background A recent report by Nunavut Tunngavit...
July 20, 2017
NWAC excluded from Council of the Federation discussions
Native Woman’s Association of Canada requested the Council of Federation to include NWAC in all Nation-to-Nation discussions, the work of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (National Inquiry) in the scope of improving the socio-economic status of Indigenous women, and the need for a community-based prevention model to drive the...
July 17, 2017
Indigenous leaders boycott Council of Federation meetings
National Chief Perry Bellegarde, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) President Natan Obed and President Clément Chartier of the Métis Nation of Canada (MNC) held a press conference today in a show of unity over their concerns regarding the full and effective participation of Indigenous peoples in intergovernmental forums, including the Council of the Federation meeting taking...
June 7, 2017
Funding for Inuktitut vs French
CBC – Inuktut language services in Nunavut Tunngavik receive similar funding to French services despite nearly 50 times more speakers The federal government funds $14.25M over 4 years to support 435 french-speaking people (2011 census) vs. $15.8M to support 21,515 people who speak Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun as their mother tongues. On a per capita basis...
June 1, 2017
Breaking Point: The Suicide Crisis in Indigenous Communities
Report of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs Testimony from witnesses provided members with a deeper understanding of the ways in which the suicide and mental distress, along with the social determinants of health, such as housing, educational attainment, poverty and unemployment affect Indigenous peoples. Addressing the social determinants of health was identified...
October 8, 2016
Qikiqtani Truth Commission
The intergenerational trauma associated with the slaughter of sled dogs and the forced movement of Inuit from seasonal camps to permanent settlements still lingers in communities across Nunavut’s Baffin region. But the Inuit who endured long periods of poverty and separation from family members say they are ready to forgive. Nearly three years ago, the...
January 26, 2016
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) released a ruling (2016 CHRT 2) that found Canada discriminates against First Nations children by providing less child welfare funding to help keep them safe and by not implementing Jordan’s Principle to give them the services they need, when they need them. The CHRT ordered Canada to immediately stop...
April 1, 2014
Qikiqtani Truth Commission
April, 2014 – Failure to implement recommendations or provide progress reports on implementation of the Qikiqtani Truth Commission. The Commission was charged to begin a broader truth and reconciliation process to promote healing for those who suffered historic wrongs, and heal relations between Inuit and governments by providing an opportunity for acknowledgement and forgiveness. Qikiqtani...