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Exploring Stakeholder: "Government of Canada"
Updates on this page: 1020
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 25, 2024
Is Métis governance dream dead?
Group’s withdrawal of support puts process in jeopardy The Toronto Star: The Métis Nation-Saskatchewan’s announcement last week that they were withdrawing their support for Bill C-53 — legislation aimed at recognizing Métis self-governance by creating a path for treaties with some Métis governments — has created uncertainty about the bill’s future. The bill has been...
April 25, 2024
With future of Bill C-53 in doubt, Métis Nation of Ontario exploring all options
APTN News: The president of the Métis Nation of Ontario says the organization will continue to pursue self-government legislation regardless of what happens with Bill C-53. “In fact, there is a commitment to reintroducing a bill identical to Bill C-53 if it ultimately doesn’t pass,” Margaret Froh said. “We have the same option to pursue...
April 25, 2024
Secwépemc family launches human rights complaint against Correctional Service Canada
APTN News: The family of Norman LaRue, a member of Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc who is currently serving a life sentence in British Columbia, is speaking out about alleged discrimination from Correctional Service Canada (CSC) — but says the complaint process is too “manipulated” by the federal authority. In December 2022, Jenni LaRue, who is from...
April 25, 2024
Ottawa failing to meet Jordan’s Principle deadlines for First Nations kids’ care most of the time
The policy is supposed to ensure timely access to health care, social services for vulnerable children CBC Indigenous: Indigenous Services Canada is taking longer to respond to urgent requests to get First Nations children access to medical care and social services and it’s putting lives at risk, critics say. Under a program known as Jordan’s Principle, the...
April 25, 2024
Plastics industry treats Indigenous lands as ‘sacrifice zones’
Canada’s National Observer: A sign for the Aamjiwnaang First Nation Resource Centre is located across the road from NOVA Chemicals in Sarnia, Ont., on April 21, 2007. (CP PHOTO/ Craig Glover) Listen to article Days after the Aamjiwnaang First Nation issued an emergency alert due to high benzene levels in the air, members from the front-line community are...
April 24, 2024
Peguis First Nation launches $1B flood damages lawsuit against feds, province and 2 municipalities
First Nation, forcibly displaced in 1907, claims government failed to provide safe place to live CBC News: Peguis First Nation has filed a $1-billion flood-damages lawsuit against the federal government, the provincial government and two municipalities located upstream of the Ojibway and Cree community in Manitoba’s northern Interlake. In a statement of claim filed before...
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 23, 2024
First Nation sees path to ‘energy sovereignty’ in solar farm
Anahim Lake project, said to be country’s largest off-grid solar farm, will greatly reduce reliance on diesel Ulkatcho First Nation set to build largest off-grid solar power farm in Canada 15 hours ago, Duration 3:23 A First Nation in Central B.C. is one step closer to having sustainable and clean energy. The Ulkatcho First Nation is...
April 23, 2024
Canada Pushes For More Mining In Ecuador Despite Resistance
The Maple: The Canadian and Ecuadorian governments continue to forge ahead with free trade agreement (FTA) plans, despite opposition from social movements and Indigenous Peoples within Ecuador, along with rampant instability. In these negotiations, the spotlight is on the Canadian mining industry. Canadian mining investments in Ecuador are valued at $1.8 billion, with Canada’s trade...
April 22, 2024
Through generations, Mowachaht/Muchalaht fishers have been criminalized by the DFO
(Author’s note: Ray Williams, Ghoo-Noom-Tuuk-Tomlth, passed away Oct. 31, 2022, just two months after he was interviewed for this story. This story is dedicated to his memory. Like the coastal wolves Ray was named for, he was highly aware, family orientated and protective of his territory. Let his spirit live on.) Ray Williams is photographed...
April 19, 2024
The federal government must tackle water pollution from the oilsands
The government already has the necessary power. It just needs the courage to use it to stop contamination from tailings ponds. NationTalk: Policy Options – Perched on the shores of the Athabasca River in northern Alberta are a staggering 1.4 trillion litres of toxic industrial waste, stored in open pits known as tailings ponds created...
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 19, 2024
UN expert finds ‘flagrant breaches’ of First Nations rights to clean water
Special rapporteur on water decries marginalization, repression of Indigenous Peoples in Canada UN expert discusses First Nations right to safe drinking water 22 hours ago, Duration 1:39 Click on the following link to view the video: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/special-rapporteur-un-water-indigenous-1.7179387?cmp=newsletter_Evening%20Headlines%20from%20CBC%20News_1617_1516113 Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, United Nations special rapporteur on the right to water and sanitation, talks about Canada’s failure to ensure...
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
O’Chiese First Nation disappointed federal budget didn’t come with cash for roads
‘This should be about economic reconciliation’ says councillor Bernadine Coleman Bernadine Coleman from O’Chiese First Nation and Alberta Minister Devin Dreeshan/ Photo: Supplied APTN News: Bernadine Coleman travelled from her home in O’Chiese First Nation to Ottawa last week, a trip that is about 3,500 km if you were to drive, to ask the federal...
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 18, 2024
Feds mull options as Métis self-government bill threatens to collapse
Métis Nation-Saskatchewan withdraws support for Bill C-53 CBC Indigenous: The federal government is mulling a path forward after the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan dropped support for its own proposed self-government legislation, another blow to the controversial Bill C-53. If passed, the bill would recognize Métis political associations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario as Indigenous governments, but it faces...
April 18, 2024
Advocates say making First Nations accessible will cost more than AFN estimates
Estimate includes $1.6 billion to address accessibility needs in First Nations CBC Indigenous: Cathy Rice knows first hand about how inaccessible First Nations infrastructure can be. “I live in a wheelchair. There’s a certain perspective I have,” said Rice, who is from Kahnawà:ke, south of Montreal, and is a board member of Connecting Horizons, a support...
April 18, 2024
Carbon price grievances end in doubled returns to Indigenous governments — not exemptions
Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault in Canada’s delegation office at the Palais des Congrès in Montreal during COP15. Photo by Natasha Bulowski/Canada’s National Observer Listen to article Canada’s National Observer – After facing severe political blowback for its carbon tax exemption on oil last fall, Ottawa is caving to complaints for a second time...
April 18, 2024
BCAFN Regional Chief Terry Teegee Advocates for Stronger Measures in Canada’s UN Declaration Act Action Plan
NationTalk: Lenape (Lenapehoking) Traditional Territory/New York City, NY, USA – BCAFN Regional Chief Terry Teegee addressed the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) and urgently called upon Canada to develop a comprehensive, whole-of-government framework to guide the implementation of the United Nations Declaration Act (UNDA) and it’s Action Plan. In addition, he called for...
April 18, 2024
AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak and Nova Scotia Regional Chief Andrea Paul Call for Support of First Nations Elver Fishers
NationTalk: Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ottawa, Ontario) – The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak and Nova Scotia Regional Chief Andrea Paul are calling today for support of First Nations elver fishers, who are experiencing a violation of their inherent and Treaty rights as well as abuse at the hands of fisheries...
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 17, 2024
Métis in Saskatchewan withdraw support for Bill C-53
APTN News: The Métis Nation-Saskatchewan and the Provincial Métis Council say they’re withdrawing their support for Bill C-53 – federal legislation that if passed, will provide recognition of certain Métis governments in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan. The bill, if passed, also provides a framework for the implementation of treaties entered into by those Métis governments...
April 17, 2024
Liberal MP, senator call for public investigation into federal officers who stranded Mi’kmaw fishers
A Liberal MP and a Senator are asking for an independent investigation into DFO enforcement activities. Photo: APTN. APTN News: Liberal MP Jaime Battiste says an outside investigation into an incident where federal fisheries officers stranded two Mi’kmaw fishers at a gas station without their phones or shoes needs to be conducted and should be...
April 17, 2024
First Nations chiefs alarmed, disappointed by Canada’s 2024 budget
“We were told yesterday that there would be good news and there will be bad news. Good news for Canada and bad news for First Nations.” —Grand Chief Abram Benedict of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne Assembly of First National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak speaks to reporters in Ottawa April 17. From left to right...
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
Indigenous group seeks funding for HIV crisis
Toronto Star: A national organization will find out in Tuesday’s budget if the federal government will fund a multimillion dollar Indigenous-led strategy that could help slow the staggering rise of new HIV cases, as well as other sexually transmitted diseases, which are worryingly high in the Prairies. “If you look at the state of the...
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 16, 2024
Delegates at UN take aim at Canadian government and mining companies
APTN News: Concerns over how Canadian mining companies are conducting themselves in foreign lands landed squarely on the floor of the United Nations in New York on Tuesday. “We would like the Canadian government to listen to us and stop destroying our Indigenous territories,” said Zenaida Yasacama from Peru through an interpreter. “Our territories, our...
April 15, 2024
Wolastoqey Nation brings the issue of criminalization of Indigenous Peoples to the United Nations
APTN News: Hundreds of delegates from around the world converged on United Nations headquarters in New York for the opening of meetings to discuss Indigenous issues. That includes representatives of the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick who said the criminalization of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and around the world must be addressed. “One of the...
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 15, 2024
Blood Tribe ‘Big Claim’ time-barred, but Supreme Court provides declaration in Crown’s ‘dishonourable’ conduct
Supreme Court of Canada Judge Michelle O’Bonsawin WindSpeaker.com: The Supreme Court of Canada has helped to restore the honour of the Crown by issuing a declaration in the Blood Tribe’s ‘Big Claim’ on April 12. The claim asserts that Canada shorted the Blood Tribe, located in southern Alberta, 162.5 square miles of reserve land promised...
April 12, 2024
Canada broke its treaty promise, but Blood Tribe is barred from suing, Supreme Court rules
High court upholds time limits on filing of treaty-based lawsuits CBC Indigenous: Canada acted dishonourably by breaking its treaty obligations to the Blood Tribe in Alberta but the band is barred from suing by the province’s statute of limitations, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled. The high court on Friday handed down a unanimous decision...
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 12, 2024
‘Enough is enough:’ Court rulings stack up against band council
APTN News: This is how judges have described a three-member band council of a small First Nation in British Columbia over the last four years when it comes to its handling of band membership and finances. “Unfit” “Abusive” “Unlawful” “Vexatious” “Purposefully repugnant” “Motivated by their own self-interest” And it’s all squarely directed at sisters Chief...
April 12, 2024
Cree lawyer says cows and plows settlements don’t reflect spirit of treaty clause
‘It didn’t just mean cows, plows, agriculture. It meant livelihood,’ says Deanne Kasokeo CBC Indigenous: A Saskatchewan-based lawyer says “cows and plows” settlements do not reflect the spirit and intent of treaties from an Indigenous perspective. Under treaties 4,5,6 and 10, the Crown promised agricultural benefits — livestock and farming equipment — to the First Nations that signed. That promise...
April 11, 2024
Ahousaht First Nation releases findings from search for missing residential school children
Likely and potential unmarked grave locations found at schools Jackie McKay · CBC · WARNING: This story contains distressing details CBC Indigenous: Posted: Apr 10, 2024 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago ʕaaḥuusʔath (Ahousaht) First Nation released the findings from the first phase of its search for missing children who attended two residential schools in...
April 11, 2024
MP rebukes top housing official for chronic underfunding of Prairie First Nations
‘That is one of the most nefarious and deceitful things a bureaucracy could do,’ says NDP’s Blake Desjarlais CBC Indigenous: A New Democrat member of Parliament rebuked a federal housing executive on Thursday, after an audit found his organization shortchanged Prairie First Nations out of more than a quarter-billion dollars in housing cash. Alberta MP Blake...
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 10, 2024
Nearly all Indigenous communities at risk as feds prepare for busy wildfire season
Government boosts wildfire funding as climate risks rise APTN News: Officials with a number of federal departments say 2024 will likely be a busy wildfire season because of the climate crisis, and Indigenous communities in particular are at risk. On Wednesday, a technical briefing was held on the upcoming season ahead of a news conference...
April 10, 2024
Alternative financing solutions needed to close infrastructure gap, say First Nations leaders and advocates
‘We would be foolish if we didn’t look at other options,’ says Kebaowek Chief Lance Haymond CBC Indigenous: Some First Nations leaders and advocates are saying alternative financing solutions need to be explored to help close the infrastructure gap on-reserve, especially when it comes to housing. “We’re really going to be pressing the government to come...
April 10, 2024
Don’t shut Line 5: Biden administration issues long-awaited position on Canada-U.S. pipeline
U.S. submits nuanced argument in court case that, ultimately, sides against shutdown CBC News: The Biden administration has weighed in for the first time on a major cross-border legal dispute that could shut down portions of Enbridge’s Line 5 Canada-U.S. oil pipeline. The opinion came in an amicus brief that, although nuanced, argued against shutting down the...
April 9, 2024
They need new homes, roads and schools. But Indigenous communities across Canada ‘can’t catch up’ thanks to staggering $349B infrastructure gap
Ottawa has pledged to close the infrastructure gap by 2030. An official said decades of underfunding means Canada has bills “yet to be paid.” Toronto Star: In Cat Lake First Nation, there’s only ever enough money to build three new houses a year. For the community of 680 people northwest of Sioux Lookout, Ont., the...
April 9, 2024
Assembly of First Nations says $350B needed for housing, infrastructure
APTN News: A new report from the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) says $349.2 billion is needed to fix housing and other infrastructure after decades of “underfunding, failed fiduciary duties, and unfair distribution of Canada’s wealth as a country.” The report, prepared with the federal government department of Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), was released Tuesday...
April 9, 2024
$349B needed now to close infrastructure gap by 2030, Assembly of First Nations says in report
On-reserve infrastructure gap to top $500B by 2040 if federal government doesn’t act: national chief CBC Indigenous: The cost of closing the on-reserve infrastructure gap will top half a trillion dollars by 2040 unless the federal government acts now, the Assembly of First Nations says, joining a chorus of voices warning Ottawa is at risk...
April 8, 2024
Counselling cut for B.C. First Nation survivors of residential schools who don’t have status cards
2,600 providers have four weeks to terminate or transfer their non-status clients out of their care The Tyee: Vanouver Sun – The First Nations Health Authority is cutting off counselling coverage for former residential school students in B.C. and their families, as well as those of missing or murdered Indigenous women — unless they have...
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 5, 2024
RCMP C-IRG unit announces new name, mandate amid federal investigation
Community-Industry Response Group became Critical Response Unit in January, Mounties say CBC Indigenous: Dogged for years by complaints, lawsuits, alleged civil and Indigenous rights violations and now an ongoing federal investigation, the RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) officially has a new name and mandate. The outfit, originally tasked with policing protests against resource extraction in British...
April 5, 2024
First Nations leaders split on strategy amid Jordan’s Principle hearing
Leaders mull negotiation versus litigation as $20B child welfare reform deal remains outstanding CBC Indigenous: As First Nations leaders and the federal government bear down to try to seal a multibillion-dollar deal on child and family services reform, more than money is on the line. Advocate Cindy Blackstock says children’s lives remain at risk due to Ottawa’s...
April 4, 2024
Federal government has no excuse for not meeting Jordan’s Principle standards: Blackstock
APTN News: Cindy Blackstock says the federal government needs to start putting First Nations kids first and meeting its Jordan’s Principle commitments. “I would like to see a lot less focus on what is happening with the bureaucrats and a lot more focus on kids,” the executive director of the First Nations Child and Family...
April 4, 2024
PM won’t say if First Nations on Prairies will be compensated for housing shortfall
AFN regional chief hoping to make headway at meetings in Ottawa. APTN News: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won’t say whether First Nations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba will be compensated after the Auditor General found they’ve been shortchanged for years on federal housing funds. Trudeau was in Winnipeg Wednesday to announce $1.5. billion for a...
April 3, 2024
Sask. First Nation says it won’t lift long-term boil water advisory until every house has direct water line
ISC says it is committed to providing safe water, offers cost-sharing on pipe infrastructure CBC Indigenous: Leaders on a Saskatchewan First Nation say they won’t lift a decade-old boil water advisory until every home in the community has direct access to clean water from the local treatment plant. Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) can recommend that a boil...
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...
April 2, 2024
Mi’kmaw harvesters say DFO officers took their shoes, phones and left them stranded
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says there will be ‘full investigation’ into the incident. APTN News: Two Mi’kmaw harvesters say officers with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, commonly called DFO, left them at a gas station in the middle of the night after taking their shoes and cell phones. “We told them that we’re not...
April 2, 2024
Federal government failing to live up to Jordan’s Principle: Blackstock
Human rights tribunal hearings taking place all week. APTN News: The head of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society says more Indigenous children are dying because of Ottawa’s failure to meet its commitments under Jordan’s Principle. “We want Canada to abide by its legal order so that kids stop being hurt and kids...
April 2, 2024
Family of Dale Culver calling for action from the B.C. justice system
Continued delays in court cases against Mounties charged in Culver’s death Dale Culver’s family outside Prince George courthouse APTN News: The family of Arthur Culver, also known as Dale Culver, “remains unwavering” in its search for justice, despite years of waiting for justice said a statement released Thursday by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. “We...
April 1, 2024
Standing up to Enbridge over Line 5 pipeline
Tyler Bender on the Kakagon Sloughs. Photo courtesy of Richard Schultz / 50 Eggs Films Canada’s National Observer: It all started with a chance meeting. Mary Mazzio, a self-proclaimed recovering lawyer, was looking for a legal case that could provide an “amphitheatre” for a documentary showcasing the voices of Indigenous Peoples in the United States....
April 1, 2024
Federal court rules Ottawa must change Metis Nation of Alberta self-government agreement
The Métis Nation of Alberta president says she will ‘continue on the path of self government that we have been advancing for over 200 years’ A Federal Court ruling says Ottawa must make changes to a self-government agreement it signed with the Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA). APTN News: The ruling, released March 28, says...
April 1, 2024
Métis Nation of Alberta Statement on the Federal Court Decisions on Canada-Métis Nation of Alberta Self-Government Recognition and Implementation Agreement
NationTalk: Today, the Federal Court released two decisions on legal challenges made by the Métis Settlements General Council and a group called the “Fort McKay Métis Nation Association” against the Canada-Métis Nation of Alberta Self-Government Recognition and Implementation Agreement that was signed between the Métis Nation of Alberta (“MNA”) and the Government of Canada (“Canada”)...
March 31, 2024
Why Indigenous people are fighting for data sovereignty
Indigenous data sovereignty means that communities have control over their own information, researcher says Unreserved 54:00 Indigenous Data Sovereignty Data tells a story, and that’s why survivors of the notorious Mohawk Institute – Canada’s longest running residential school – are reclaiming data and sharing their truths. This week Rosanna speaks with Indigenous people who are reclaiming...
March 30, 2024
‘Native policing is community policing:’ A glimpse into Indigenous police services in Alberta
Limited resources present a challenge CBC Indigenous: For Tristan Black Water, watching police officers at work was inspiring. So, once he was ready, he decided to join the services and was sworn in as a constable in 2022. “Growing up in this community, I know that everybody is talented in their own way. Everybody has...
March 29, 2024
A year after declaring state of emergency, 11 Manitoba First Nations start self-governance plans
‘We are being shunned by the government,’ Keewatin Tribal Council grand chief says CBC Indigenous: The Keewatin Tribal Council has begun plans to move toward self-governance — one year after declaring a regional state of emergency over what the tribal council’s grand chief called “system-wide failures” in public safety, health and infrastructure. The council, which...
March 28, 2024
Native Women’s Association forced to lay off half its staff amid funding shortfall
The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press – The Native Women’s Association of Canada says it was forced to lay off roughly half its workforce due to a major shortfall in federal funding. The advocacy organization said it received grants totalling $48 million last year as part of Canada’s national apprenticeship program and other initiatives....
March 28, 2024
Doctors who perform coerced sterilizations need to be held criminally liable, says senator
APTN News: An Ontario senator says the time is now to take serious action against doctors who continue to perform sterilizations on Indigenous women without consent. “My office has counted 12,000 women that have been sterilized against their will,” Yvonne Boyer told Nation to Nation. “This bill is not meant to penalize all doctors… “The...
March 28, 2024
Canada, Manitoba point fingers at each other in response to off-reserve child welfare lawsuit
The Canadian flag flies at the Manitoba legislature in WInnipeg. Photo: Jared Delorme/APTN. APTN News: A class-action lawsuit filed by two First Nations women in Manitoba on behalf of off-reserve survivors of the child welfare system is heading to court with each of the defendants blaming the other. Both Canada and Manitoba are asking for...
March 28, 2024
Sask. First Nation a late addition to federal settlement over unsafe drinking water
(Rory MacLean / CTV News) First Peoples Law Report: CTV News Saskatoon – A new Saskatchewan community has just been included in the settlement of a class action lawsuit over unsafe drinking water in Canada’s First Nations. The settlement compensates people living in communities that were subject to a drinking water advisory of at least...
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 26, 2024
New battery plant will pave over important wetlands says Mohawk council
APTN News: The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake is denouncing Quebec and the federal government over a proposed battery plant outside Montreal. The plant is being built on a wetland that the council, and environmental groups say, is important and that neither government has been transparent about the project. “Right now, what we are deeply concerned...
March 26, 2024
CMHC won’t say whether Prairie nations will get compensation after being shortchanged $274M for housing
‘Confirms what we know’: Treaty 6 grand chief says he wasn’t surprised by AG report on housing The Assembly of First Nations estimates it would take about $40 billion to close the housing gap on reserves. Photo: APTN file APTN News: The grand chief of the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations says the auditor...
March 25, 2024
Grand chief in Alberta says his community’s housing money hasn’t changed since the ‘90s
APTN News: The grand chief of Treaty 8 in Alberta says the auditor general’s latest report on housing is an example of the federal government not honouring the treaties. On March 19, Karen Hogan issued a scathing report saying that in more than 20 years, the federal government and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation,...
March 25, 2024
Chief Na’Moks: The RCMP’s specialized C-IRG unit exists to crush Indigenous resistance
One year since a system review was launched, the hostile situation between Indigenous communities and RCMP has only got worse Nation Talk: Ricochet – This month marks one year since the RCMP’s civilian watchdog, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, launched an investigation into C-IRG. The RCMP’s Community Industry Response Unit (C-IRG) was created to police Indigenous peoples like...
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 20, 2024
Conservatives push motion to ‘axe the tax’ at committee meeting on Indigenous child welfare
NDP MP says motion was ‘disgusting’ considering the issue being studied. APTN News: A committee meeting set to discuss the federal government’s Indigenous child welfare legislation was suddenly thrust into a conversation about the federal government’s carbon tax. The meeting started with witnesses from Indigenous Services and Justice giving an overview of the child welfare...
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 19, 2024
Feds, CMHC have made ‘little progress’ with First Nations housing problems
APTN News: Four audits and 20 years later, the federal government and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, commonly called the CMHC, have made “little progress” in improving housing in First Nations communities across the country, says Auditor General Karen Hogan. “Indigenous Services Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation have been mandated to...
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 18, 2024
Ottawa to release review of ArriveCan contractor’s use of Indigenous program
The Globe and Mail: The Indigenous Services department now says it will release audit summaries of how ArriveCan contractor Dalian Enterprises used a federal government procurement program aimed at supporting Indigenous businesses, after previously saying all results would be kept secret. The department had previously said no information would be released because it was commercially sensitive. Dalian...
March 15, 2024
Wolastoqey Nation pushes back against closure of baby eel fishery in New Brunswick
APTN News: The lead fishery negotiator for the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick say the federal government is treating them like “second class citizens” when the minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada or DFO, decided to close the elver fishery for the 2024 fishing season. “They really don’t take into consideration the concerns from our...
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 13, 2024
AMC looking for answers on cuts ahead of federal budget in April
Groups are asking whether budget cuts ordered across all departments will affect First Nations, Inuit and Métis programming. Photo: APTN. APTN News: The head of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says she is looking for answers and guarantees from Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and Crown Indigenous Relations (CIR) ahead of the federal budget on April...
March 13, 2024
B.C. judge warns of ‘tsunami’ of Indigenous identity fraud cases
Baptist pastor charged with possessing child pornography claimed Métis status based on great-great-grandparent WARNING: This story contains details of child sexual exploitation and pornography. CBC News: After he was charged with possessing child pornography, Nathan Allen Joseph Legault discovered a figure from his past he hoped might help with his future. The Prince Rupert, B.C., man...
March 12, 2024
Proposal announced to address cross-border mining pollution
Lake Koocanusa is seen, June 16, 2021, northeast of Libby, Mont. File photo by: The Canadian Press/AP/Hunter D’Antuono/Flathead Beacon Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S., Canada and several indigenous groups announced a proposal on Monday to address pollution from coal mining in British Columbia that officials say has been contaminating waterways and...
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 11, 2024
First Nations, Métis and environmental groups request investigation of harmful tailings pond substance
NationTalk: OTTAWA/TRADITIONAL, UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE ALGONQUIN ANISHNAABEG PEOPLE – In January 2024, Canada announced their decision to not include naphthenic acids in the list of regulated substances in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. Environmental groups and a First Nation have submitted a formal request for the federal government to assess the harms caused by...
March 11, 2024
Painful discrimination still confronts too many Indigenous people: Ken Coates for Inside Policy
Canada has a long way to go before Indigenous peoples can be assured of fairness before the law or consistent acceptance in Canadian society. March 11, 2024 in Ken Coates, Inside Policy, Columns, Latest News, Indigenous Affairs Program, Social issues NationTalk: McDonald-Laurier Institute: Inside Policy – Most Canadians believe that life is getting better for Indigenous peoples in the country and...
March 10, 2024
After 5 years, Oneida still has no clean water. Why a class action settlement could be a ‘relief’
The federal drinking water settlement deal covers 142,000 individuals from 258 First Nations CBC Indigenous: A First Nation south of London, Ont., says compensation from the federal government in a class action settlement will be a relief for members who haven’t had clean drinking water in years. After a years-long court battle, Ottawa opened the...
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 7, 2024
Knowledge event held to share lessons learned in search for unmarked graves at residential schools
“I want to share this with our allies: As well intentioned as you are, it’s important that you work in delicate way on this and know your lane. Don’t become experts of our misery.” —Eugene Arcand Dr. Kisha Supernant, a member of the National Advisory Committee (NAC) on Missing Children and Unmarked Graves in relation...
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...
March 5, 2024
Indigenous organization levels complaint against Canadian mining company
Shuar Arutam People come together to discuss and deliberate strategies against extractive megaprojects at an assembly last year in Macuma, province Morona Santiago. Photo by LluviaComunicación Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: As the world’s largest mining conference unfolds in Toronto, a Canadian company is facing a complaint about a proposed copper mine in Ecuador. The...
March 5, 2024
Day school settlement has paid out $5.7B in claims. A Supreme Court petition says survivors were shortchanged
Multibillion-dollar deal was supposed to bring justice but brought more pain for some WARNING: This story contains details of experiences at Indian day schools. Click on the following link to read the original article and view all videos: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/day-school-survivors-supreme-court-1.7132933?cmp=newsletter_Morning%20Headlines%20from%20CBC%20News_1613_1424097 CBC News: A Cree survivor of the federal Indian day school system is asking Canada’s top court to...
March 5, 2024
Leaders from 11 Western Canadian cities issue formal request to Statistics Canada: halt release of annual Crime Severity Index rankings until formal consultations are held with smaller communities and Indigenous leadership
NationTalk: Saskatoon, SK – Elected officials from eleven municipalities, all in Western Canada, issued a public call-to-action today for Statistics Canada: an immediate stop in the publication of the Crime Severity Index (CSI) rankings for communities until consultations are held with smaller communities and Indigenous leadership. The call-to-action stems from a full-day conference initiated by...
March 4, 2024
Trade deal could put corporate profits over people, say groups
Canada’s National Observer: Amazonian women at an International Women’s Day march in Quito, Ecuador in 2020. Sovereignty of their ancestral lands in the face of mining and oil extraction is a key demand for Amazonian women. Photo by Karen Toro / Climate Visuals Countdown Listen to article A proposed Canada-Ecuador free trade agreement could put corporate...
March 4, 2024
Akwesasne residents have concerns about proposed hydrogen facility in N.Y. state
CBC Indigenous: Residents of Akwesasne are concerned about plans to develop a hydrogen facility near the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community. Air Products and Chemicals Inc., an industrial gas company, is proposing to construct the facility in Massena, N.Y., about 30 kilometres west of Akwesasne, which straddles the Quebec, Ontario and New York state borders. Dr. Ojistoh Horn, a...
March 4, 2024
Why did Indigenous-led conservation funding set off furious backlash from First Nations?
Canada gave $1.33 million to the Métis Nation of Ontario to protect land. But not everyone agrees the group should be the one protecting it. Ontario First Nations, including Temagami First Nation, are voicing opposition to conservation funding granted to the Métis Nation of Ontario who, they argue, do not have a founded claim to...
March 3, 2024
Cat Lake First Nation declares state of emergency after nursing station destroyed in fire
‘Building appears to be a total loss,’ says Nishnawbe Aski Police Service CBC News: Cat Lake First Nation’s nursing station has burned down, leaving the remote northwestern Ontario community without a central access point to health-care services. Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS) confirmed that a fire broke out at the Margaret Gray Nursing Station Saturday...
March 1, 2024
Brian Mulroney held the line on settler colonialism: activist
‘They basically threw our rights out the window’ says activist and artist Ellen Gabriel remembering Brian Mulroney’s complex legacy APTN News: Brian Mulroney is being remembered by some in the Indigenous community as a polarizing figure during his time in office, with his decisions and actions continuing to shape the country to this day. Mulroney...
February 29, 2024
Why Did Trans Mountain Dig Through an Indigenous Burial Site?
The company’s plan was to ‘micro-tunnel’ in Secwépemc territory — but that fell through. An explainer. The Tyee: Trans Mountain says it is in the process of wrapping up work to install its pipeline through a sacred Secwépemc site, bringing its expansion project one step closer to completion. The new collaborative work from Debra Sparrow...
February 29, 2024
Victim of forced sterilization in Ottawa to push law that would penalize doctors
Senator’s private member’s bill aims to put an end to forced sterilizations. APTN News: Nicole Rabbit says she came to Ottawa to deliver a message for her mother. “She would have said ‘Someone has to be accountable for the act of genocide that we Indigenous people have faced and continue to face in regards to...
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
Proposed class-action lawsuit aims to compensate children of residential school survivors
Lawyer feels it’s time to seek redress for what Indigenous leaders refer to as the ongoing effects of inter-generational trauma. Matthew Brandon (centre) is flanked by his guardians, Chris Gardiner and Shannon Berard-Gardiner. Photo: Submitted A new class-action lawsuit is being proposed to compensate children of residential school survivors for inter-generational trauma, APTN News has...
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 29, 2024
The protection of wetlands is tied to Indigenous and human rights
Despite their ecological, social, cultural and economic importance, over the past two centuries wetlands have been systematically destroyed for industrial, commercial and residential development. First Peoples Law Report: Rabble.ca, David Suzuki – In his 1972 non-fiction book No Name in the Street, James Baldwin asked, “Does the law exist for the purpose of furthering the ambitions...
February 28, 2024
Algonquins of Ontario organization removes nearly 2,000 members after ancestry disputes
AOO ‘reorganization is possible’ but not confirmed, Pikwakanagan chief says CBC Indigenous: The Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) has removed nearly 2,000 people from its certified electorate after an internal tribunal ruled against their asserted Algonquin ancestry last year. This follows years of controversy and internal protests, which flared in 2021 after CBC News reported a suspicious letter — on...
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 28, 2024
Court judgment gives Canada, Ontario 60 days to pay out $10B treaty settlement
Partial judgement ordering funds to be transferred to 21 First Nations included in 1850 Robinson Huron Treaty handed down in Ontario Superior Court this week NationTalk: SooToday.com – The $10-billion settlement awarded to Robinson Huron Treaty annuitants for past compensation is slated to be distributed to 21 First Nations included in the treaty in the...
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 27, 2024
History of Canada’s largest national park reveals exclusion of First Nations people and injustice
“Wood Buffalo National Park was the heart of the Dene homelands, and when it was removed, Dene people suffered.” —from the book Remembering Our Relations: Dënesųłıné Oral Histories of Wood Buffalo National Park Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation with the cover of the book Remembering Our Relations: Dënesųłıné Oral Histories of...
February 22, 2024
New film documents struggle of Wet’suwet’en land defenders
“Canadian police went to great lengths to silence this story. Journalists and filmmakers documenting this history have variously been blocked from accessing newsworthy events…” — filmmaker Michael Toledano Howilhkat Freda Huson is arrested during a ceremony. Photo copyrighted Amber Bracken. Provided courtesy of filmmakers for the documentary Yintah. Canada’s National Observer: Yintah is a new documentary...
February 22, 2024
Sts’ailes, frustrated with the feds, signs and funds its own child welfare agreement
APTN News: A First Nation in British Columbia First is taking matters into its own hands after what leaders say has been a lack of commitment from the federal government to help them take full jurisdiction over child and family services. Sts’ailes, a Coast Salish First Nation has been working with Ottawa for years to implement...
February 21, 2024
Wet’suwet’en Law Cannot ‘Coexist’ with BC Court Order, Judge Determines
Chief Dsta’hyl has been found guilty of criminal contempt. The Tyee: The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that a traditional Wet’suwet’en trespass law cannot “coexist” with the injunction order issued to Coastal GasLink in response to pipeline protests from the nation’s hereditary leadership. As a result, Chief Dsta’hyl, a Wing Chief of the Likhts’amisyu Clan...
February 21, 2024
Wolastoqey fishers say proposed elver fishery shutdown infringes on treaty rights
Neqotkuk chief says more commercial access could keep fishers from turning to the black market CBC Indigenous: Some Wolastoqey fishers say closure of the fishery for baby eels, or elvers, this year will infringe on their treaty rights and impact their right to earn a moderate livelihood from fishing. Last week, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) issued letters...
February 20, 2024
‘This mining is destroying us’: Alaskan tribal group applies for Canadian status
The Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission is calling on the province of B.C. and Canada to allow it to be consulted on mining projects that impact transboundary rivers. APTN News: A southeast Native Alaskan organization is petitioning the province of B.C. to be granted formal Indigenous recognition so it can be consulted on mining projects...
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 16, 2024
Grassy Narrows chief calls out feds amid ‘ridiculous’ delays to mercury treatment centre construction
Trudeau said ‘money is not the objection’ to building the centre during 2019 election debate CBC Indigenous: The chief of Grassy Narrows is calling out the federal government as a long-promised mercury poisoning treatment centre for the northern Ontario First Nation remains beset by delays tied to federal funding uncertainty. Eight months have passed since Indigenous Services Minister...
February 16, 2024
AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak calls for full implementation of National Encampments Response Plan recommendations
NationTalk: Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ottawa, Ontario – Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak welcomed the release of the Federal Housing Advocate’s final report of her review of homelessness encampments as a human rights issue. “First Nations citizens experience homelessness at disproportionate rates across the country,” said National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak. “This...
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 urge Environment Minister not to green light Chalk River nuclear waste dump
The Globe and MaIl: Ottawa – Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault was urged by First Nations chiefs Wednesday not to issue a permit to allow a nuclear waste dump on a forested site northwest of Ottawa where a variety of wildlife, including “at risk” wolves, live. Ten chiefs and members of First Nations in Quebec and...
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 14, 2024
Recovering from years of federal intervention, Kehewin First Nation rebuilds
The Accounting for Colonialism journalism consortium found that First Nations under imposed financial intervention were more likely to experience problems with crowded housing as compared to those Nations where no financial interventions were made. Photo: Brett McKay/MacEwan University APTN News: Development is moving fast in Kehewin Cree Nation. With project after project, the First Nation...
February 14, 2024
PM dismisses Algonquin concerns over Chalk River nuclear waste dump
Trudeau touts nuclear safety commission’s expertise as Bloc leader allies with First Nations CBC Indigenous: Algonquin leaders are finding the Canadian government largely unmoved, but they continue to fight construction of a radioactive waste dump on unceded territory near Deep River, Ont., roughly one kilometre from the Ottawa River. First Nations chiefs have allied with Bloc Québécois and federal Green...
February 12, 2024
Piapot First Nation demands MP apologize, retract ‘baseless’ water plant burning remark
MP Kevin Waugh’s claim ‘misleading, grossly disrespectful and entirely unfounded,’ says Piapot leadership CBC Indigenous: A Cree First Nation wants a member of Parliament to apologize for saying First Nations in Saskatchewan have burned down water treatment plants over Liberal government inaction. The water treatment plant in Piapot First Nation, about 45 kilometres northeast of Regina, burned in...
February 11, 2024
Sask. chief files class-action lawsuit over $5 annuity payments signed 150 years ago
The suit alleges Ottawa has not kept its end of the bargain over annuity payments after signing Treaty 4 CBC Indigenous: The Canadian Press – Chief Lynn Acoose says she’s taking a step elders and past Indigenous leaders in her community have long been reluctant to. The chief of Zagime Anishinabek, home to several First...
February 9, 2024
Police Reform Talks Stalled over Calls to Oust the RCMP
First Nations groups want a provincial force and expanded Indigenous policing. But BC says it’s not ready to commit. The Tyee: A working group established by the B.C. government to engage with First Nations on reforming the Police Act and bring it into line with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act has...
February 9, 2024
Algonquin Nation nuclear waste site court challenge a ‘litmus test’ for federal United Nations Declaration Act
By Matteo Cimellaro & Natasha Bulowski | News, Urban Indigenous Communities in Ottawa Lance Haymond, chief of Kebaowek First Nation, at the final licensing hearing for the near-surface disposal facility on Aug. 10, 2023. Photo by Natasha Bulowski / Canada’s National Observer Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: An Algonquin Nation is taking Ottawa to court over the approval of a nuclear...
February 8, 2024
Indigenous leaders brace for Supreme Court’s child welfare law decision
High court is expected to weigh in on self-government in potentially landmark opinion CBC Indigenous: It’ll be a pivotal decision either way. Indigenous people across the country are bracing for a potentially landmark opinion from the Supreme Court of Canada, which will decide Friday whether the Trudeau government’s Indigenous child welfare law is constitutional. Indigenous leaders...
February 8, 2024
One substantial amendment accompanies Bill C-53 to Parliament for third reading
Ron Quintal, president of the Fort McKay Métis Nation, and Nishawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler. Windspeaker.com: Ron Quintal, president of the Fort McKay Métis Nation, is pleased with what could arguably be called the only substantial amendment from INAN, the all-party Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee, on Bill C-53. Today,...
February 7, 2024
Kebaowek First Nation launches judicial review of Chalk River waste disposal project
APTN News: An Algonquin community in Quebec is launching a judicial review of a decision by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to allow the disposal of limited kinds of nuclear waste at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories campus in Deep River, Ont., located about 180 km west of Ottawa in Quebec. In its application to...
February 7, 2024
Manitoba chief proposes class action against feds over ‘effectively worthless’ $5 treaty payments
Treaty 4 signatories ‘never intended for the annuities to be frozen in time,’ Waywayseecappo chief’s suit says CBC Indigenous: A Manitoba First Nation chief is joining a growing list of Indigenous communities that allege the federal government has violated treaty agreements by not increasing $5 annuity payments to keep up with inflation over the past 150 years. Waywayseecappo First...
February 7, 2024
Feds’ labour data shows wage gap for Indigenous workers
Canada’s National Observer: Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan launched labour data tool Equi’Vision on Friday. Photo from file by Carl Meyer. Listen to article A new tool created by Ottawa to reveal potential barriers in the workplace shows a significant gap in wages for Indigenous workers. On Friday, Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan launched a tool called Equi’Vision that...
February 6, 2024
Indigenous and Environmental Groups Denounce Government Inaction on First Anniversary of Imperial Oil Tailings Disaster
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, KEEPERS OF THE WATER NationTalk: Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People – A year ago, news broke that Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine had been leaking toxic industrial wastewater for over nine months while keeping local Indigenous communities in the dark. The public only learned about the leak after a...
February 6, 2024
Funding loss threatens Indigenous language program in Victoria
In 2023, Victoria Native Friendship Centre received $266,500 in federal funding to offer classes in seven Indigenous languages NationTalk: Staff at the Victoria Native Friendship Centre has been left scrambling after losing the main source of funding for a program that teaches multiple Indigenous languages, says the centre’s executive director. The centre’s Urban Indigenous Language...
February 5, 2024
Burnell Place offers safe stay to patients from remote First Nations in Manitoba
CBC Indigenous: A recently opened lodge in Winnipeg’s West End is offering First Nations people who’ve come to the city for medical services a family-oriented alternative to staying in hotels. Burnell Place opened last October in the former Kivalliq Inuit Centre building on Burnell Street. Many First Nations people come to Winnipeg for medical services...
February 4, 2024
Calls for accountability, national Indigenous fire strategy after fatal house fire in Peawanuck
2 dead, 3 others remain in hospital as a result of the blaze, say police Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler says the chronic lack of fire-firefighting, fire prevention, and emergency services in First Nations communities contribute to fatal fires. (Marc Doucette/CBC) CBC Indigenous: Police have confirmed two adults have died as a result of...
February 2, 2024
James Smith Cree Nation tragedy ‘could have been avoided’ says AFN national chief
APTN News: The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations says the lack of First Nations policing and other justice services compounded the tragedy on James Smith Cree Nation back in 2022. “This tragedy is a systemic failure of the police and the justice system,” Cindy Woodhouse of the Assembly of First Nations said...
February 2, 2024
Métis National Council president airs frustrations after Liberal ministers meeting
‘We can’t be relying on the same promises from back in 2017 around reconciliation,’ says Cassidy Caron CBC Indigenous: The president of the Métis National Council says the council is “frustrated” with the lack of progress on some priorities, following a meeting with Liberal cabinet ministers earlier this week. Despite emerging generally happy from a summit between Métis leaders and...
February 1, 2024
James Smith Cree Nation chiefs, other leaders say funding needed to enact recommendations
Sask. chief coroner, inquest jury made 29 total recommendations CBC Indigenous: Chiefs from James Smith Cree Nation (JSCN) and other First Nations leaders say the federal government needs to provide more funding in order for the recommendations made at an inquest into the stabbing massacre at JSCN to be put into action. James Smith resident...
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 31, 2024
Funding for environmental project stokes more friction between Métis Nation Ontario and Ontario chiefs
“This is simply just the latest example of the MNO further attempting to claim a land base that historically has never existed in Ontario.” — Chiefs of Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare Chiefs of Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare and Métis Nation of Ontario President Margaret Froh. Clarification made Feb. 2 on the small area...
January 29, 2024
AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak Urges Consultation with First Nations on Chalk River Radioactive Waste Facility
NationTalk: – Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ottawa, Ontario) – Today, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief, Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, is expressing concern following the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) recent approval of a landfill site for nuclear waste at the Chalk River Laboratories (CNL), near the Ottawa River. “The CNSC decision to approve 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 26, 2024
Marlborough Hotel video sparks calls for better accommodations
Click on the following link view the video: https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/indigenous-leaders-demand-better-accommodations-for-those-travelling-to-winnipeg-for-medical-care-1.6744482 First Peoples Law Report: CTV News Winnipeg – Leaders are demanding better accommodations for those travelling from remote First Nations to Winnipeg for medical care. Cockroaches, bed bugs and mice are just some of the conditions patients face in hotels designated for their stays in the...
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 25, 2024
Attawapiskat member files UN human rights complaint over decades-long struggle for clean drinking water
Charles Hookimaw’s submission to the international organization aims to hold ‘Canada’ accountable: ‘It’s been dragging on too long’ First Peoples Law Report: IndigNews – An Attawapiskat member has submitted a 500-page human rights complaint to the United Nations over his First Nation’s lack of access to clean drinking water. For months, Charles Hookimaw has been...
January 21, 2024
Anishinabek Nation leadership confirms position on the Métis Nation of Ontario
ANISHINABEK NATION HEAD OFFICE (January 19, 2024) – The Anishinabek Nation wishes to make it unequivocally clear that the recent meeting involving former Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief John Beaucage, his former Chief of Staff Bob Goulais, and a former Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) leader did not involve the Anishinabek Nation nor represents the current...
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 17, 2024
Dogs, Snipers and Axes: Inside the RCMP’s Actions in Wet’suwet’en Territory
RCMP officers testify in BC Supreme Court hearing about potential Charter rights violations. The Tyee: RCMP officers considered shooting a security camera and sending a police dog to pull people out of a small structure as they moved to make arrests on Wet’suwet’en territory in November 2021, according to testimony in a B.C. Supreme Court...
January 17, 2024
First Nations groups concerned after delay in $20B child-welfare reform talks
Reform deal comprises half of the proposed $40-billion settlement announced in 2021 CBC Indigenous: The federal government says it’s willing to speed up negotiations to reform the on-reserve child-welfare system, after First Nations groups blamed Ottawa for a months-long “standstill,” raising concerns a final deal could be at risk. The high-stakes talks were “subject to a...
January 15, 2024
Public inquest into stabbing massacre on James Smith Cree Nation begins Monday
Purpose is to tell victims’ stories, prevent similar tragedies from happening WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: The coroner’s inquest into the mass stabbings that happened on James Smith Cree Nation in 2022 begins Monday. Its purpose is to set the public record straight about what happened during the violent attacks and to prevent similar tragedies...
January 15, 2024
Feds approve $2B loan guarantee to help TMX over finish line
Photo by Jesse Winter / Canada’s National Observer Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: The federal government has issued yet another taxpayer-backed loan guarantee — this time for up to $2 billion — to help get the massively over-budget Trans Mountain pipeline expansion over the finish line. TMX is about 97 per cent complete, but the...
January 11, 2024
Radioactive waste site ‘shoved down our throats,’ critics say
From left: Lance Haymond, chief of Kebaowek First Nation; Dylan Whiteduck, chief of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg; Algonquin elder Verna McGregor from Kitigan Zibi; and Coun. Justin Roy of Kebaowek. Photo by Natasha Bulowski Canada’s National Observer: Some First Nations and environmentalists are dismayed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s approval of a proposed storage facility...
January 11, 2024
These Ontarians rely on roads made of snow and ice. But what happens when winter is too warm?
Higher than normal winter temperatures are sparking concern among remote First Nations communities in northern Ontario that rely on winter roads made of ice and snow to transport food, fuel and building supplies. Toronto Star: OTTAWA — Higher than normal winter temperatures are sparking concern among remote First Nations communities in northern Ontario that rely...
January 10, 2024
Yukon judge sends Canada, Yukon and Kaska back to negotiating table over proposed mine
BMC Minerals’ Kudz ze Kayah project, a proposed $381-million dollar mine located 115 km south of the Ross River Dena Council (RRDC) in Ross River, Yukon. Photo: BMC APTN News: A Yukon judge says Canada and Yukon must go back to the negotiating table with the Kaska Nation over a proposed mine in the territory...
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
Ottawa is supposed to process First Nations families’ child services requests within days. Sometimes it makes them wait a year
First Nations families are waiting for as long as a year to have their applications for child and family services assessed by the federal government — even though Ottawa has been ordered to process them within 12 to 48 hours. Toronto Star: First Nations families are waiting for as long as a year to have...
January 4, 2024
Bill recognizing Métis self-government remains in limbo. Here’s what you need to know
Métis Nation of Ontario President Margaret Froh takes part in a press conference following a Métis National Council meeting in Ottawa on Thursday, June 1, 2023. File photo by The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE TAKES MANY HANDS, AND ALL OF US ARE BETTER EQUIPPED WHEN WE’RE INFORMED. Goal: $125k $98,930 Donate...
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...
January 1, 2024
Consulting Indigenous communities on critical minerals is key to net zero ambitions
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 31, 2023 UPDATED JANUARY 1, 2024 The Globe and Mail: Two years ago, First Nations leaders made clear what Canada must take to heart if it wants to be a global player in critical minerals and the energy transition: The only road to net zero runs through Indigenous lands. That is, any efforts to develop...
December 29, 2023
What it means to lead through fire
Kukpi7 James Tomma, and his wife Jay, have been staying in this hotel room for the past few weeks because their house burned in the Shuswap fires during August 2023. Photo by Jen Osborne / Canada’s National Observer THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE TAKES MANY HANDS, AND ALL OF US ARE BETTER EQUIPPED WHEN WE’RE...
December 28, 2023
Homes in four Ontario First Nations have dangerous levels of carbon dioxide, mould
A welcome sign for the Lac Seul First Nation west of Sioux Lookout, Ont., on April 24, 2018. File photo by The Canadian Press/Colin Perkel THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE TAKES MANY HANDS, AND ALL OF US ARE BETTER EQUIPPED WHEN WE’RE INFORMED. Goal: $125k $98,930 Donate Canada’s National Observer: A study has found air...
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 21, 2023
Prairie First Nations call on Ottawa to rewrite clean water bill
Ottawa dumping responsibilities on First Nations without adequate support or consultation, chiefs say CBC News: First Nations leaders in Manitoba and Alberta are calling on Ottawa to redraft proposed new clean water legislation — and warn that the bill would fail to ensure safe drinking water and wastewater services in their communities. Two groups representing more than 100 First Nations...
December 20, 2023
Alberta chiefs demand treaty table to talk about safe drinking water action
“We want clean water. We deserve clean water, but we shouldn’t have to do it this way.” — Norma Large, advisor to the Chiefs Steering Committee on Technical Services Advisory Tallcree First Nation Chief Rupert Meneen Windspeaker.com: Alberta chiefs are looking for a carve out for their nations in safe drinking water and wastewater legislation...
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 16, 2023
Manitoba First Nation sues feds, alleges unchanged $5 annuity payments violate treaty
Class-action status sought in suit against Ottawa by 36 First Nations in Treaty 5 CBC Indigenous: Fisher River Cree Nation wants class-action status for its lawsuit against the federal government, which alleges the $5 annuities paid to Treaty 5 First Nations over the last 148 years violate the agreement because they don’t keep up with inflation....
December 15, 2023
The Case of the Ghostly Trestle
On the northern Sunshine Coast, a popular lake preserves the remnants of early settler history The Tyee: A few summers ago, my friend Nola took me paddle boarding at Haslam Lake, in one of the more accessible recreational forest areas surrounding what is currently known as Powell River, B.C. We drove down a logging road...
December 15, 2023
Editorial Opinion: Too long a wait for water help
Winnipeg Free Press: In numerous news stories this week, the federal government’s new legislation aimed at improving water quality in First Nations communities was described as “long awaited.” That hardly begins to describe the decades of frustration, fury and feelings of betrayal and neglect that preceded Monday’s introduction of Bill C-61, formally described as “an...
December 15, 2023
Breaking into TMX: Secwépemc allies, wrapped in chains, drop tobacco into borehole
While some of the last of the pipeline expansion tears through Pípsell in Secwepemcúl’ecw, a last-ditch effort is made to defend the sacred site First Peoples Law Report: IndigiNews.com – Over the course of two trips in the past month, a team of journalists on joint assignment for Ricochet, IndigiNews and The Real News Network...
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
Wequedong Lodge in Thunder Bay says it’s headed toward bankruptcy
Too many clients, not enough capacity to meet needs, says executive director CBC News: A lodge that houses First Nations people from across northern Ontario who travel to Thunder Bay, Ont., for medical treatment is headed toward bankruptcy, according to its executive director. Wequedong Lodge is a 110-bed facility that has been over capacity for years....
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 13, 2023
AMC Challenges Efficacy of Federal Water Legislation
NationTalk: Treaty One Territory – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) challenges the efficacy of federal legislation to improve the quality of drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure on reserves across Canada. The First Nations Drinking Water and Wastewater Act insufficiently considers First Nations’ jurisdiction concerning drinking water, wastewater, and related infrastructure on the traditional...
December 13, 2023
The feds cut Trans Mountain a $1.8M tax break in the ’50s for a pipeline. A First Nation got just $2,400. It’s still fighting for redress
First Peoples Law Report: Global News – The Chief of a First Nation in British Columbia is angry and frustrated at pipeline giant Trans Mountain and the federal government, saying both have failed to fairly compensate his community for all the crude oil that’s been pumped beneath their land since the 1950s. And he’s not letting go. Click on...
December 12, 2023
Amnesty International Says CGL and the RCMP Violated Indigenous Rights
The human rights group is calling for the company to cease operations in Wet’suwet’en territory. The Tyee: An investigation by human rights organization Amnesty International has found that Coastal GasLink, its private security firm, the RCMP and Canadian and B.C. governments all violated the Indigenous rights of Wet’suwet’en who oppose the pipeline project. “What emerges...
December 11, 2023
‘Not true reconciliation:’ FSIN reacts to federal bill on water
The federal government claims Bill C-61 was developed through extensive engagement that put First Nations voices at the forefront, but the FSIN does not agree. (980 CJME file photo) CBC Indigenous: North East Now: CKOM – The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) is not impressed with new federal legislation on clean water. The Canadian...
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...
December 9, 2023
U.S. Indigenous group in Canada competes for territorial claims against Canadian Indigenous nations
NATHAN VANDERKLIPPEINTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT NELSON, B.C. FOR SUBSCRIBERS The Globe and Mail: PUBLISHED YESTERDAY UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO A U.S. Indigenous group has established a formal presence in British Columbia and is pushing for government recognition and funding, two years after a Canadian Supreme Court ruling declared it “an Aboriginal people of Canada.” The office of the Sinixt...
December 8, 2023
Behind First Nations’ demands for climate tax exemptions
Cindy Woodhouse, the Assembly of First Nations’ national chief-elect, at her swearing-in ceremony on Thursday. Photo by Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE TAKES MANY HANDS, AND ALL OF US ARE BETTER EQUIPPED WHEN WE’RE INFORMED. Goal: $125k $98,930 Donate Canada’s National Observer: Diesel can run as high as $4...
December 7, 2023
Concerns raised as compensation for children-in-care settlement set to roll out next year
“When you think about it, it’s probably one of the single most important committees that will have ever been established here at the AFN…” — Mary Teegee of Takla First Nation Mary Teegee and Regena Crowchild voice their concerns that there were no women appointed to the child services settlement implementation committee. Windspeaker.com: Children living...
December 6, 2023
Exclusive: Feds face burning questions over ‘upside-down approach’ to climate readiness
Inside Skwlāx’s north subdivision: This is one of two houses left standing after fires obliterated the area. Catastrophic wildfires hit Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw in August. Photo by Jen Osborne/CNO Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: Ottawa continues to underinvest in disaster preparedness and mitigation on First Nations despite ballooning recovery costs from the worst wildfire season...
December 5, 2023
AFN national chief candidates would back inquiry into Sixties Scoop
National inquiry into removal of Indigenous children could become a key task for next AFN leader CBC Indigenous: Some First Nations chiefs say the next national chief of the Assembly of First Nations should push for a national inquiry into the “Sixties Scoop” and the continued removal of Indigenous children from their families. About 22,000 Indigenous children were...
December 5, 2023
‘Spend as Much Lifting Our People Up as Pushing Them Down’
Adam Olsen is calling on BC to protect Indigenous people as thoroughly as it polices their opposition to resource development. The Tyee: BC Green Party MLA Adam Olsen is calling on B.C.’s minister of public safety to form a special policing unit dedicated to investigating the suspicious deaths and disappearances of First Nations people in...
December 1, 2023
100 years of the Williams Treaties in Ontario: Anishinaabeg perspectives
Agreements between First Nations and Canada in southeastern Ontario are considered ‘among the worst’ treaties in Canada by some. Their legacy cannot be forgotten Anglers from Curve Lake First Nation on Pigeon Lake, in the vast southeastern Ontario region that falls under the Williams Treaties of 1923. Photo: Fred Thornhill / The Canadian Press The Narwhal:...
November 30, 2023
Chiefs of Ontario ask for judicial review of carbon price regime
APTN News: First Nations leaders in Ontario say Canada needs to fix what they call a “discriminatory” carbon price system, arguing the federal government failed to address their repeated concerns and blocked their exemption request only to then issue a carveout targeting Atlantic Canada. A group representing 133 First Nations in the province filed an...
November 30, 2023
Minister blames ‘misconceptions’ for concerns over Métis self-government bill
Assembly of First Nations latest to express concerns about Bill C-53 CBC Indigenous: The backlash against the Trudeau government’s proposed Métis self-government legislation is “largely based on misconceptions,” the minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations said Thursday, as he appeared unmoved by a recent call for its withdrawal. “This is an opportunity to set right a long-standing wrong, when...
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 30, 2023
AHMA Position Statement: Recognizing Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Need and a Call for Equitable Funding
NationTalk: The Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA) has over 25 years of expertise in advancing housing rights for Indigenous Peoples. It is widely known that the playing field is not even due to centuries of colonial oppression. Safe, affordable, culturally supportive housing is integral to health, healing, belonging, and well-being: without it, Indigenous Peoples fall...
November 30, 2023
Indigenous Rights and Marine Spaces: Case Comment on Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation; First Peoples Law Report
In the following case comment, my colleague Kate Gunn weighs in on the Ontario Court of Appeal’s Saugeen decision and its implications for Indigenous rights in relation to marine spaces.I hope you find it informative and helpful.You can also read it on our website.Best, Bruce Indigenous Rights and Marine Spaces: Case Comment on Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation By...
November 29, 2023
After concerns, Ottawa pauses work on $2M contract for help on unmarked graves
Some of the artwork memorializing the unmarked graves discovered in Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation. Photo: APTN APTN News: The Candian Press – The federal government has paused and plans to rework a $2-million contract with an international group hired to provide advice on identifying and locating the unmarked graves of children who attended residential schools....
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 29, 2023
SON asking Supreme Court to weigh in on Bruce Peninsula claim
First Peoples Law Report: The Owen Sound Sun Times – Saugeen Ojibway Nation wants the Supreme Court to consider whether the Crown owed a fiduciary duty to them and whether it was breached when the Crown didn’t stop settlers from moving into the Bruce Peninsula, which was promised to SON. It’s asking the Supreme Court...
November 28, 2023
First Nations group says environmental impacts of B.C. salmon fish farm industry overstated
APTN News: A councillor with the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation in British Columbia says uncertainty in the open-net salmon farm industry is negatively affecting First Nations that rely upon it. “This overall industry supports a 99 per cent employment rate within my community and 51 per cent of its overall economy is represented in this sector,”...
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 28, 2023
Global Ozempic shortage affects First Nations people with diabetes
Health Canada says Ozempic shortages could last until March 2024 CBC News: The global shortage of the diabetes medication Ozempic has diabetics like Eleanor Michael from Sipekne’katik worried about finding alternatives. Ozempic has seen a skyrocketing global demand, in part due to prescriptions related to weight loss. Michael, whose Mi’kmaw community is about 50 kilometres northwest of Halifax, was diagnosed with diabetes earlier this year...
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 24, 2023
Mi’kmaq fishers say feds aren’t listening to their concerns about safety
APTN News: In the early morning hours of April 3, 2021, the fishing vessel Tyhawk launched into the icy waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence from Chéticamp, Nova Scotia. The weather was bad. Ice was accumulating on the boat because of freezing rain. Despite this, the captain and his crew of four kept going...
November 24, 2023
Canada’s Use of 1977 Pipeline Treaty to Block Recent U.S. Line 5 Shutdown Order Is Violating Indigenous Rights
Michelle WoodhouseWater Program Manager Nationtalk: Environmental Defense – Earlier this summer, we celebrated the news that a U.S. judge in Wisconsin had ordered the Canadian oil company, Enbridge Inc., to shut down the section of the Line 5 pipeline that runs through the territory of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa by June 2026....
November 23, 2023
Métis National Council president tells MPs self-government bill must pass
Cassidy Caron speaks against ‘misinformation’ concerning Bill C-53 CBC Indigenous: The Canadian government must fulfil its long-standing promise of self-government for the Métis Nation by passing Bill C-53, the president of the Métis National Council told members of Parliament Thursday. “Simply put, it’s time,” Cassidy Caron said in prepared remarks before the House of Commons Indigenous affairs committee...
November 23, 2023
Assembly of First Nations Responds to Federal Government’s Fall Economic Statement
First Peoples Law Report: Assembly of First Nations – (Ottawa, Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ontario) – The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) responded today to the Federal Government’s release of its Fall Economic Statement, which included new spending for First Nations priorities in infrastructure, safe drinking water, and social development. The AFN concluded that the commitments...
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 22, 2023
Indigenous rights collide with $35B Western Canada pipeline expansion
NationTalk: Global News – Trans Mountain, the company that’s building the federal government-owned pipeline expansion from Alberta through B.C., says its project, which is billions of dollars over budget, is now 95 per cent complete. The company hopes oil will start flowing within weeks. Except there’s a problem. Some residents of an Indigenous community are...
November 21, 2023
Living and breathing with wildfire smoke
“Uncle” Wilfred Tomma sits on his bed in the hotel room he was displaced to after wildfires hit his home area, Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw. Photo by Jen Osborne / Canada’s National Observer Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: Wilfred Tomma is no stranger to fire. Now in his 80s, Uncle Wilfred, as he’s known to many...
November 21, 2023
Scant investments in wildfire prevention in fall economic update
Inside Skwlāx’s north subdivision: This is one of two houses left standing after fires obliterated the area. Catastrophic wildfires hit Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw in August. Photo by Jen Osborne/CNO Canada’s National Observer: After Canada’s worst wildfire season on record, Ottawa’s mini-budget was scant on fresh investments to prepare and protect Indigenous communities for a new...
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
Off-reserve Indigenous children say they’ve been ‘forgotten’ by federal government, seek compensation over child-welfare system
The Globe and Mail: Thousands of Indigenous children who live off reserve have been “forgotten” by the federal government when it comes to acknowledging harms caused by the child-welfare system, the lead representative plaintiff of a class-action lawsuit says. Cheyenne Stonechild, a Cree woman who was taken from her mother at the age of eight...
November 16, 2023
Métis in N.W.T. still waiting for apology, compensation for loss of hunting rights
Canada signed a deal with First Nations in Wood Buffalo National Park but not Métis. Ken Hudson carries a moose shank from the bed of his pickup truck to a meat hook in his workshop. APTN News: However, putting country food on the table has been challenging at times. For decades, he has been tirelessly...
November 16, 2023
First Nations adults with disabilities living on reserve lack equal access to services, report finds
On-reserve services ‘underfunded, under-resourced and understaffed,’ report says CBC Indigenous: Jennifer Bercier says “an invisible line with a huge barrier” separates Manitoba First Nations like hers from the rest of the province, after her daughter lost all of her disability support and services upon turning 18. The mother from Opaskwayak Cree Nation says the disability...
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
‘We’ve been accused of being Métis deniers’: Trudeau government’s proposed law pits First Nations against Ontario Métis
A new bill recognizing Métis rights in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec is being met with outrage from First Nations and Métis groups. By Joy SpearChief Morris Ottawa Bureau The Toronto Star: A new bill recognizing Métis rights in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec is being met with outrage from First Nations and Métis groups, who say the proposed...
November 15, 2023
Nipissing researchers receive national funding to examine supports for Indigenous survivors of sexual assault
NationTalk: North Bay, ON – Nipissing University researchers Dr. Nancy Stevens, Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies, and Dr. Rosemary Nagy, Professor of Gender Equality and Social Justice, have been awarded a Partnership Engage Grant valued at $24,829 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to further their research into available supports for Indigenous...
November 15, 2023
Plugging the gaps in the Indigenous electric highway
Rural, remote Indigenous communities face unique obstacles and need adapted solutions. Illustration by Nay Drew / Indigenous Clean Energy Charge Up program Canada’s National Observer: Paving the way to an Indigenous electric highway in Canada offers opportunities, but also includes navigating communities’ unique needs and potential obstacles, especially in rural and remote areas, experts say. ...
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 14, 2023
Blackstock sees ‘imbalance’ between $55M lawyers’ bill, welfare victims’ compensation
Imbalance in cash for lawyers, victims: Blackstock Toronto Star: OTTAWA – Cindy Blackstock, one of the people responsible for bringing forward a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal case that led to a historic settlement agreement, says she is concerned about an “imbalance” between what lawyers and victims will be paid. The Federal Court approved a landmark...
November 14, 2023
Act not react: Multiple audits advised feds to help First Nations before wildfires hit
Andrea Stelter stands for a portrait near the Skwlāx band office. Catastrophic wildfires hit the Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw First Nation in August 2023. Photo by Jen Osborne / Canada’s National Observer Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: A year before First Nations experienced their worst wildfire season, Ottawa’s auditor general was calling on the federal government...
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
Supreme Court of Canada hears case on broken treaty promises with up to $126-billion award on the line
The case involving First Nations in northern Ontario could redefine what Canada and Ontario owe to Anishinaabe treaty beneficiaries. Toronto Star: OTTAWA—A landmark case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada this week could leave the federal and provincial governments on the hook for a $126-billion award to First Nations in northern Ontario for failing...
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
2 years after promised review of discrimination complaints, CIRNAC, ISC won’t say if it’s done
lso on the show, a First Nations veteran talks about his time in the military during the Oka Crisis. APTN News: In 2020, Letitia Wells left her job at Indian Oil and Gas, an agency of Indigenous Services Canada because of the discriminatory behavior of her co-workers and managers. A year later, she turned to...
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 9, 2023
Indigenous language advocates ask if universities are doing enough for language revitalization
‘I want the heart of our being, our language, to stay beating in our homes and communities’ CBC Indigenous: Indigenous language advocates are asking if universities are doing enough to support language revitalization. During a talk at Carleton University in Ottawa last month, Owennatekha Maracle, co-founder of Onkwawenna Kentyohkwa, a Kanien’kéha (Mohawk language) immersion program...
November 8, 2023
Manitoba Métis leaders warn MPs against legislation recognizing Métis Nation of Ontario
‘This is about the attempted theft of the identity of a nation,’ Will Goodon tells committee CBC Indigenous: Proposed legislation recognizing Métis self-government in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta would set a troubling precedent, if passed, by giving cabinet the power to approve future, still-unwritten treaties with Métis associations in those provinces, Manitoba Métis leaders warned...
November 8, 2023
Dakota Tipi First Nation sues federal government for $475M, alleges Manitoba air base built on unceded land
Loss of land caused economic, cultural, mental and physical suffering, Dakota Tipi lawsuit says CBC Indigenous: Dakota Tipi First Nation has launched a $475-million lawsuit against the federal government, alleging a former military base turned aerospace centre in south-central Manitoba exists on part of the First Nation’s ancestral land that was never surrendered to the Crown....
November 8, 2023
Report claims to disprove evidence of Métis community in the Sault
‘But what’s the definition of a Métis?’: New study commissioned by Robinson Huron Waawiindamaagewin claims Métis Nation of Ontario fabricated narrative of historic Métis community in Sault Ste. Marie; MNO takes issue with ‘deeply offensive’ report First Peoples Law Report: SOOTODAY.COM – As the Métis Nation of Ontario winds down a conference in Sault Ste....
November 7, 2023
Supreme Court of Canada hears Ontario’s appeal of landmark Robinson Huron treaty annuities case
The province is appealing an Ontario Court of Appeal decision in 2021 CBC Indigenous: More than six years since its first day in court, the Robinson-Huron treaty annuities case is being heard in the Supreme Court of Canada today and Wednesday. At the centre of the landmark case is a promise that annuities to Indigenous communities would increase...
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 7, 2023
First Nations from B.C. in Ottawa to lobby feds to close fish farms on west coast
Some leaders say open-net fish farms are depleting wild salmon stocks. APTN News: A group of First Nations from British Columbia is calling on the Trudeau government to make good on its commitment to phase out open-net salmon farmsby 2025. Chiefs from across the province are in Ottawa for meetings with federal officials, including Fisheries Minister...
November 7, 2023
Feds say Indigenous staff have no right to sue over alleged racism, toxicity at oil and gas agency
Internal mechanisms ‘are the preferable procedure’: Indigenous Services Canada CBC Indigenous: The Canadian government says Indigenous staff have no right to sue over alleged racial discrimination, chronic toxicity and systemic bullying, harassment and intimidation at a federal on-reserve oil and gas agency in Alberta. Two Blackfoot women have launched a proposed class-action lawsuit against Indian...
November 7, 2023
Bill to recognize certain Métis governments, ‘not controversial’ says MN-S president
APTN News: Proposed federal legislation that has drawn the ire of First Nations in Ontario, the Manitoba Métis Federation and others is not that controversial says Métis Nation-Saskatchewan President Glen McCallum. Bill C-53, an act “respecting the recognition of certain Métis governments in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan and provides a framework for the implementation of...
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 6, 2023
Anishinabek Nation kicks off Treaties Recognition Week with new public education resource
NationTalk: ANISHINABEK NATION HEAD OFFICE – Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe encourages everyone to take the time during the 8th annual Treaties Recognition Week to learn about treaties, including using the latest interactive learning tool: a wampum belt puzzle suitable for a classroom or for use with the family. “Foundational knowledge on Treaties is...
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...
November 1, 2023
Saugeen Ojibway Nation raises concerns about Metis rights in territory
First Nations Law Report: Owen Sound The Sun Times – The Saugeen Ojibway Nation is raising concerns about what it says are Metis groups asserting rights in their traditional territory and the willingness of organizations, proponents and governments to engage with those communities. On Oct. 25, SON – made up of the Saugeen First Nation...
October 31, 2023
‘Chronic underfunding’: 22 Quebec Indigenous police forces file rights complaint
APTN News: The Canadian Press – Twenty-two Indigenous police forces in Quebec have filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission accusing the Public Safety Department of chronic underfunding. Shawn Dulude, president of the Quebec Association of First Nation and Inuit Police Directors, says federal funding for Indigenous police has set forces up to...
October 31, 2023
Indigenous staff press ahead with discrimination lawsuit against on-reserve oil and gas agency
Lead plaintiff calls allegations ‘disturbing’ CBC Indigenous: Indigenous civil servants are seeking Federal Court certification for a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging systemic racism and chronic toxicity at the Canadian government’s on-reserve oil and gas agency. The plaintiffs filed a batch of affidavits last month, detailing allegations of pervasive bullying, discrimination, harassment and intimidation at Indian Oil...
October 30, 2023
Despite opposition and environmental violations, major B.C. pipeline project nearly complete
TC Energy says the 670-km Coastal GasLink pipeline has been fully installed from Dawson Creek to Kitimat CBC News: A controversial pipeline meant to transport natural gas across northern British Columbia has passed a major milestone. On Monday, TC Energy announced it has finished installing pipe on its Coastal GasLink pipeline project. “That means that all...
October 30, 2023
Cadaver dogs searching for unmarked graves at former Kenora residential school site uncover 22 ‘alerts’
The alerts in addition to 171 plausible burial sites detected at former St. Mary’s site in January Warning: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: Wauzhushk Onigum First Nation in northwestern Ontario says cadaver dogs conducting ground searches of a former residential school site have found 22 “alerts” indicating the underground presence of historical human remains....
October 30, 2023
Proposed legislation to amend the Indian Act continues discrimination it’s designed to end, say MPs
“The Liberals’ interpretation of Nicholas v. Canada is about status. Bill C-38 must not just be about status. It must be about addressing discrimination and violations of basic human rights.” — Nunavut MP Lori Idlout Nunavut MP Lori Idlout (NDP) and Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin (Liberal). Windspeaker.com: Bill C-38, containing the latest amendments to the Indian...
October 27, 2023
Why Are Indigenous Fisheries Still Drawing Anger and Violence?
Canada has spent nearly 25 years ignoring its own Supreme Court. First Nations fishers are suffering the consequences. The Tyee: Hakai Magazine – In the summer of 2000, Mi’kmaw fishers from Esgenoôpetitj, also known as Burnt Church First Nation, took to the waters of Miramichi Bay, in New Brunswick, each small boat carrying a cache...
October 27, 2023
Métis presidents urge standing committee to pass Bill C-53 without amendments
“Failing to pass C-53 will hurt all Métis people and the advancement of all Indigenous people in Canada.” —Métis Nation of Alberta President Andrea Sandmaier Métis Nation of Alberta President Andrea Sandmaier, Métis Nation of Ontario President Margaret Froh and Métis Nation-Saskatchewan Vice President Michelle LeClair. Windspeaker.com: It’s not at this stage in the process...
October 26, 2023
Limitations Legislation and Treaty Rights at the Supreme Court: First Peoples Law Report
In the following post, my colleague Kate Gunn summarizes the points raised in our submissions at the Supreme Court last week, where we had the privilege of representing the Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta in their intervention in the Jim Shot Both Sides appeal. I hope you find it informative and helpful. You can also read it on...
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
Senate Committee shocked by difficulties faced gathering residential school records from Catholic Church
“Who specifically asks for a 21-year NDA? Who within their organization needs to die within that 21 years that is being protected?” — Saskatchewan Treaty Commissioner Mary Musqua-Culbertson Saskatchewan Treaty Commissioner Mary Musqua-Culbertson Windspeaker.com: Saskatchewan Treaty Commissioner Mary Musqua-Culbertson didn’t mince words when she spoke to members of the Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples Oct....
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 24, 2023
Trudeau Weighs Limits on Oil and Gas in Indigenous Resource Loan Plan
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau , Photographer: Andrej Ivanov/Bloomberg NationTalk: BNN Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet are planning a multibillion-dollar loan program to help Indigenous groups in Canada buy equity in resource projects. But the government is still debating whether to include the oil and gas sector within it. The...
October 23, 2023
AFN Presents Final Settlement Agreement for First Nations Children and Families to Federal Court of Canada
NationTalk: (Ottawa, Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ontario) – The Assembly of First Nations’ (AFN) legal counsel, along with representatives for class action parties Moushoom and Trout, will appear before the Federal Court of Canada today to seek the approval of the Final Settlement Agreement (FSA) on compensation. This will be final step to ensure First Nations...
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 23, 2023
Canada using ‘outdated’ treaty to do end run around Indigenous rights in U.S.: court documents
This 2016 photo shows an aboveground section of Enbridge’s Line 5 at the pump station in Mackinaw City, Mich. Photo by: The Canadian Press/AP/John Flesher Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: The Canadian Press – WASHINGTON — The federal government and Enbridge Inc. are trying to exploit a “dormant” and outdated treaty with the United States...
October 23, 2023
Kwanlin Dün First Nation reacts to UN report on climate funding
‘They say, First Nations are going to help lead us … But do they put that into their practice?’ CBC Indigenous: The chief of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation in Yukon says he’s not surprised by the findings in a recent report from the United Nations. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples found that...
October 20, 2023
Community copy of Treaty 3 believed to be last in existence on display at human rights museum
Copy shows treaty ‘was about allowing access to the land, not selling the land’: elder CBC News: What is thought to be the final remaining community copy of a 150-year-old treaty that opened a gateway to what is now Western Canada is on temporary display at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. The...
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 19, 2023
A brief timeline of the First Nations drinking-water crisis
TVO Today provides a snapshot of the crisis, from 1995 to the present day A woman carries water jugs in Neskantaga First Nation, which has been under a boil-water advisory since 1995. (Jonathan Hayward/CP) CBC Indigenous: TVO Today – Ten thousand four hundred eighty-five and counting: that’s how many days Neskantaga First Nation has been under...
October 19, 2023
Allegations of Indigenous identity fraud could affect lawsuit by Native Council of Nova Scotia
Members of the NCNS are suing the provincial government for $40 million over moose hunting rights. A recent report alleging that the Native Council of Nova Scotia has members in its ranks who are not Mi’kmaw could have an effect on a class action lawsuit filed by members of the organization. The council, also known as the...
October 19, 2023
Death of Tyrone Blind triggers concerns over mental health support in prisons
By Danielle Paradis | Chris Stewart APTN News: The family of Tyrone Blind, a man who died by suicide in a federal prison in Edmonton, says more needs to be done to provide mental health services in Canada’s penitentiaries. Blind, 31, a First Nations man from Saskatchewan, died in the Edmonton Institution on Feb. 1, 2018, according to the...
October 18, 2023
B.C. imprisons people we should listen to
Swaysən Will George outside the courthouse in Vancouver. Photo by Donna Clark Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: Swaysən Will George’s name in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ means, “When he speaks, they listen.” The B.C. Supreme Court did not seem to be listening well to Tsleil-Waututh member Will George when they sentenced him to 28 days in jail for upholding his sacred responsibility...
October 18, 2023
Climate change solutions need to keep Indigenous knowledge at centre of approach
“It all comes down to resources…Resources are very important to be able to do what we need to do to work together.” —interim National Chief Joanna Bernard AFN Quebec-Labrador Regional Chief Ghislain Picard Windspeaker.com:The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) has released its National Climate Strategy and is calling on all levels of government to “make...
October 17, 2023
Delorme hopes to bridge the gap between government and witnesses for residential school records
Cadmus Delorme, former chief of the Cowessess First Nations and now chair of the Residential Schools Documents Advisory Committee Windspeaker.com: Cadmus Delorme has been tasked with bringing the “worldviews” of the Canadian government and Indigenous survivors together when it comes to identifying and acquiring all relevant records for Indian residential schools. “No one’s opposing this,”...
October 17, 2023
The Legal Fishery Sparking Arrests and Violence
Canada has spent nearly 25 years ignoring its own Supreme Court—and Indigenous fishers on the East Coast are suffering the consequences. First Peoples Law Report: Hakai Magazine – In the summer of 2000, Mi’kmaw fishers from Esgenoôpetitj, or Burnt Church First Nation, took to the waters of Miramichi Bay, in New Brunswick, each small boat...
October 16, 2023
FNTI expresses concern about lack of resources to help Indigenous students
NationTalk: A local school is speaking out about the state of learning involving Indigenous students. More information is provided below: As students across the country head back to school this fall, Indigenous learners will not have equitable access to the personal, professional, and community benefits because Indigenous-led institutions do not have adequate resources. This further...
October 15, 2023
Ottawa fighting to avoid paying $80M in First Nations child welfare legal fees
Federal government calls proposed legal bill ‘excessive,’ while class action lawyers defend request CBC News: Ottawa is opposing more than $80 million in legal fees requested by class action lawyers for their work on a historic, multi-billion dollar proposed settlement for First Nations child welfare, CBC News has learned. Five legal firms are seeking $80...
October 15, 2023
More than 50 Indigenous fish harvesters in the Maritimes face charges or on trial
Several of the accused plan to argue treaty rights have been violated CBC Indigenous: The Canadian Press – Three years after a First Nation started a self-regulated lobster fishery that sparked protests and violence in Nova Scotia, federal prosecutors are pressing ahead with charges against dozens of Indigenous fishers, some of whom are planning constitutional...
October 14, 2023
Australians vote ‘No’ to an Indigenous Voice to Parliament
The Globe and Mail: Australians overwhelmingly rejected an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in a referendum Saturday, after a months-long, often bitter campaign that some fear has left the country’s First Nations people worse off than they were before. The measure needed a national majority and majorities in at least four of six states in order...
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 13, 2023
Bloc Quebécois stands with Algonquin Nation against proposed nuclear waste site
From left: Lance Haymond, chief of Kebaowek First Nation; Dylan Whiteduck, chief of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg; and Savanna McGregor, grand chief of the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation Tribal Council at a press conference in June. Photo by Matteo Cimellaro Listen to article NationTalk: Canada’s National Observer: The Bloc Québécois has thrown its support behind Algonquin First Nations...
October 12, 2023
Ottawa woman, 97, charged with historical sexual assaults at residential, day schools
Someone went to police late last year about alleged crimes in 1960s and 70s WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC Indigenous: Ontario Provincial Police have laid three gross indecency charges against a 97-year-old Ottawa woman, alleging she was involved in sexual assaults in the 1960s and 1970s in northern Ontario residential and day schools....
October 12, 2023
Supreme Court hears arguments on time limitations to bring claims of treaty obligation breaches
“The Treaty 8 First Nations submit that the Crown’s treaty promises must always be fulfilled. And that limitations legislation should not ever be used as basis to prevent the fulfillment of those obligations.” — Kate Gunn, legal counsel for Treaty 8 First Nations in Alberta Supreme Court of Canada Justices (from left to right): Hon....
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
We do not want pity, we want parity
Toronto Star: The most important table for talking about reconciliation is the kitchen table. This is the third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — our annual day as Canadians and Indigenous Peoples to acknowledge what we all inherited and the actions needed to assure the relationship gets stronger. In the spring of 2021, the...
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...
October 2, 2023
How a First Nations school in Thunder Bay, Ont., combines traditional and land-based learning
Matawa Education and Care Centre brings in students from Matawa’s 9 First Nations CBC Indigenous: It’s been years in the making, but construction has finally finished at the Matawa Education and Care Centre in Thunder Bay, Ont. The centre invited community members and dignitaries to a grand opening ceremony on Friday to mark the completion...
September 30, 2023
Ottawa needs to step up to make Indigenous economic reconciliation a reality
There’s a consensus among Indigenous investors, corporate leaders and government decision makers that federal loan guarantees are the answer to First Nation investment difficulties, writes Heather Scoffield. Toronto Star: Fred Di Blasio is a walking, talking embodiment of where economic reconciliation is at right now. He is an Indigenous investment banker armed with lots of...
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
How Wilfrid Laurier’s Liberals grabbed reserve lands in the Prairie west
Bill Waiser and Jennie Hansen are historians based in Saskatchewan and co-authors of Cheated: The Laurier Liberals and the Theft of First Nations Reserve Land. The Globe and Mail: Contributed by BILL WAISER AND JENNIE HANSEN In June of last year, at Alberta’s Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood next to Chief Ouray Crowfoot and...
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
‘I grieve for the ones that didn’t come home’: St. Anne’s survivor helping to search for unmarked graves
There are plans to search the old St. Anne’s property with ground-penetrating radar this winter WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC Indigenous: Rick Wabano was sitting in his Grade 2 classroom in Moosonee when a priest came in, took him home to pack a bag and then brought him down to the float plane dock....
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
First Nations lawyer says new bail legislation unfairly targets Indigenous women
APTN News: First Nations lawyer Christa Big Canoe says Canada’s new bail reform legislation will result in more Indigenous women behind bars. “That there is potential harm, particularly to Indigenous women as it relates to prior charges of intimate partner violence,” Big Canoe of the Indigenous Bar Association told a Senate committee on Thursday. “Knowing...
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 27, 2023
Aboriginal Rights as a Tool of Colonialism: Part Two: First Peoples Law Report
Aboriginal Rights as a Tool of Colonialism: Part TwoBy Bruce McIvorYou can read Part One of Aboriginal Rights as a Tool of Colonialism here. The Constitution Act, 1982 held the promise of a new day for the recognition of Indigenous rights. Section 35 recognized and affirmed the existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of Aboriginal people. But when the...
September 27, 2023
Sask. First Nations among many in Canada continuing to fight for safe drinking water
A woman carries water jugs on the Neskantaga First Nation in Northern Ontario in September 2021. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward) NationTalk: NortheastNow: It’s something that you might take for granted in your home or office, but imagine that something as simple as a glass of water was not readily available to you. As Canada marks...
September 26, 2023
Deciding to dig
Pine Creek First Nation was among the first in Canada to excavate a site with potential unmarked graves — a journey that may provide tough lessons for others weighing the same step. WARNING: This story includes distressing details. CBC News: They emerge from the bowels of an old stone church, two figures clad in white...
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 25, 2023
Regulator rules in favour of Trans Mountain route change
Workers place pipe during construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on farmland in Abbotsford, B.C., on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Canada’s National Observer: CALGARY — The Canada Energy Regulator has approved Trans Mountain Corp.’s application to modify the pipeline’s route, a decision that could spare the government-owned pipeline project from...
September 22, 2023
B.C. First Nation research finds 158 child deaths at four facilities
MISSION, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press – An investigation into unmarked graves and missing children by British Columbia’s Sto:lo Nation has revealed at least 158 deaths, most of them at a hospital. But representatives from the Sto:lo Nation Chiefs’ Council and Sto:l Research and Resource Management Centre said Thursday...
September 22, 2023
First Nations in northern Ontario seek over $100B to honour treaty promise
APTN News: The Canadian Press -A legal battle playing out in a northern Ontario courtroom this month has seen an alliance of First Nations argue they are owed upwards of $100 billion for the Crown’s failure to honour a 173-year-old treaty promise, while the federal and provincial governments claim they are either owed far less,...
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 20, 2023
‘Kill the bill on the hill’: First Nations in Ontario voice their opposition to Métis self government bill
APTN News: Algonquin Elder Claudette Commanda wasted no time letting the small gathering know what she thought about Bill C-53. “Kill the bill on the hill,” said Commanda, an Elder from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg north of Ottawa. First Nations in Ontario are united in their opposition to a new piece of federal legislation that formally...
September 20, 2023
The Canadian Parliament must Reject Bill C-53 of the Trudeau Government
NationTalk: WENDAKE, QC – The AFNQL denounces the self-proclaimed “Métis” groups and the federal government’s intention to recognize to grant them rights. Only the First Nations are holders of Aboriginal rights and titles. The AFNQL strongly supports the resolution adopted during the AFN Annual General Assembly that was held last week in Halifax, under the...
September 19, 2023
Barbara Kentner has been failed again, says family after Brayden Bushby gets day parole in trailer-hitch death
First Nation victim’s family says they weren’t told man convicted in her Thunder Bay death was up for parole WARNING: This story contains disturbing details of violence against Indigenous women. CBC Indigenous: Melissa Kentner is angry. The man convicted of manslaughter in the death of her sister, Barbara Kentner, has been released from prison on day...
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
Calls for people to stop posting images and GPS co-ordinates online
CBC Indigenous: Land advocates and Native Americans are calling for better protection for sacred sites, as their locations are being distributed online. Deidra Cinclaire, a land advocate and enrolled member of the Navajo nation in Arizona and Apache nation, said she’s noticed more damage caused by visitors to the sacred sites her grandmother taught her...
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 13, 2023
Staggering mental health, addiction stats push northern First Nations to call for emergency declaration
Band members 6 times more likely to be hospitalized for mental health, addictions than rest of Ontario CBC Indigenous: Chiefs of First Nations in northern Ontario are calling for a public emergency and social crisis to be declared, emphasizing the disproportionate mental health and addictions issues facing their communities compared to the rest of the province....
September 12, 2023
Frantic escapes, damaged homes and lost time: First Nations hit hardest when wildfire season comes
First article from the Special Report: Nations on the front lines of fire A portrait of Debbie Rupke (Tomma), who was evacuated alongside other Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw community members in August. Photo by Jen Osborne / Canada’s National Observer Listen to article Canada’s National Observer – Debbie Rupke (Tomma) heard a rattle at her door. It was...
September 12, 2023
Final arguments begin in a lawsuit that could award Ontario Indigenous groups billions
The Globe and Mail: First published September 11 – It has the potential to be the biggest litigation award in Canadian history and it all hinges on a clause scrawled 173 years ago. First Nations located around the resource-rich northern shore of Lake Superior are asking for $126-billion in compensation for the Crown’s failure to pay...
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 11, 2023
RCMP Spent Record Amount to Protect CGL Pipeline Last Year
Tyee exclusive: The force spent $11 million to patrol a remote road in Wet’suwet’en territory. Amanda Follett Hosgood is The Tyee’s northern B.C. reporter. She lives in Wet’suwet’en territory. Find her on Twitter @amandajfollett. The Tyee: The RCMP’s costs for patrolling a remote resource road on Wet’suwet’en territory to protect a pipeline project rose almost 60...
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 7, 2023
Pimicikamak Cree Nation worries it won’t have enough staff to run new health centre
First Nation’s leaders say nursing station running with less than half of staff it needs Manitoba First Nation struggles to find staff for new health centre: Duration 1:38 Pimicikamak Cree Nation is pleading for more government support for health care. The community in Cross Lake says it’s struggling with few local health services and a severe...
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 4, 2023
Searching for solace a year after tragedy in James Smith Cree Nation
Members of First Nation look for ways to heal 1 year after mass stabbings in Saskatchewan CBC News: Rickety wheels slice through the undisturbed gravel of the race track in Prince Albert, Sask. A man in a cowboy hat declares that the first chariot race will start soon. After donning helmets, vests and a need for...
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...
September 1, 2023
Federal Court rules 2022 elver quota transfer to First Nations fair and reasonable
HALIFAX — The Federal Court has affirmed Ottawa’s move in 2022 to transfer part of the lucrative elver fishery quota in the Maritimes to First Nations fishers. In a written decision dated Aug. NationTalk: Alaska Highway News: HALIFAX — The Federal Court has affirmed Ottawa’s move in 2022 to transfer part of the lucrative elver...
August 29, 2023
93 possible unmarked graves discovered at former Beauval residential school
‘Schools should come with playgrounds, not graveyards,’ says Saskatchewan chief. Chief Wolverine and Dawn McIntyre speak to media about potential unmarked graves Warning: This story contains information that may be distressing to residential school survivors. APTN News: English River First Nation in Saskatchewan announced Tuesday it has discovered nearly 100 potential unmarked graves at the...
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 28, 2023
AMC Concerned Over Proposed Cuts to Indigenous Services Funding, Urges Adequate Investment Based on AMC’s Alternative Budget
NationTalk: Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) expresses deep concern and frustration in response to the recent announcement by Indigenous Services Minister, Patty Hajdu, regarding spending cuts within her department. “The assertion that the proposed cuts will exclusively target bureaucratic inefficiencies and not affect service delivery is a gross mischaracterization...
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 25, 2023
Ottawa confirms it changed land claim process, mulls Indian Act changes
The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press – Canada changed the way it settles First Nation land claims, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada confirmed Friday. The department is also mulling over possible amendments to the Indian Act and the Specific Claims Tribunal Act, though it didn’t say what those changes would be. The response...
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 23, 2023
Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Calls for Support for First Nations Communities Affected by Wildfires in B.C. and N.W.T.
NationTalk: Ottawa, ON – The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Interim National Chief Joanna Bernard is urgently calling for increased support in response to wildfires in British Columbia (B.C.) and the Northwest Territories (N.W.T.), for the affected First Nations individuals and communities, including in the city of Yellowknife, nearby communities of Ndilo, Dettah, and the...
August 22, 2023
Marten Falls chief wants housing and water issues fixed ahead of Ring of Fire mining
Bruce Achneepineskum and community won’t be satisfied with the ‘bare minimum’ in consenting to James Bay development NationTalk: Northern Ontario Business – The chief of Marten Falls First Nation isn’t opposed to mine development, he’s just cautious about what should be included in any future agreement connected to the Ring of Fire. Bruce Achneepineskum wants...
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 21, 2023
Algonquin members organize in fight for identity, land and nationhood
‘We’re all starting to feel considerably more threats,’ says professor Veldon Coburn CBC News: It’s almost like a game of colonial whack-a-mole. Everywhere Algonquin Nation members look these days, it seems a new problem pops up. If it isn’t declining moose stocks, it’s a proposed radioactive dump on unceded land, and if it isn’t a controversial Ontario land claim or...
August 21, 2023
First Nations group hold benefit for awareness of declining moose population
Moose population sees a rapid decline: Sport-hunting, logging and climate change are some of the reasons behind it, says report. APTN News: About 70 people gathered at the Saw Gallery in downtown Ottawa on Friday night to take part in a benefit concert for the Anishnabe Moose Committee. The First Nations-led committee has been working...
August 19, 2023
Federal underfunding of Indigenous housing leads to years-long wait-lists, frustration
Assembly of First Nations said last year $44B needed for current on-reserve housing requirements Nojoud Al Mallees, Alessia Passafiume · The Canadian Press · Posted: Aug 19, 2023 12:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 19 CBC News: The Canadian Press – Stefania Giesbrecht was hoping that by the time she finished her studies, she could move back to her...
August 18, 2023
Algonquins get green light to sue over recognition of Ontario Métis groups
Province in ‘open water’ on competing First Nations-Métis claims, appeal court holds CBC News: The Algonquin Nation is free to sue the Ontario government over the 2017 recognition of Métis communities on unceded Algonquin territory, the province’s top court has ruled. In a unanimous decision rendered Thursday, the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected a bid...
August 16, 2023
Feds blamed AFN for delays, slow progress on First Nations policing bill: documents
PM promised government would bring forward new First Nations policing law in 2020 Stephanie Taylor, Alessia Passafiume · The Canadian Press CBC News: Federal officials worried long-promised legislation declaring First Nations policing an essential service was being delayed by Assembly of First Nations hesitations about the bill, newly released internal documents show. Records obtained by The Canadian Press...
August 16, 2023
Ottawa won’t regulate how lawyers bill First Nations clients after concerns raised over ‘unfair’ fees
PATRICK WHITE The Globe and Mail: One of Western Canada’s largest law firms has petitioned Ottawa to legislate “unfair and unreasonable” legal fees that it says some rival firms are charging First Nations involved in historic claims against the government. In June, two lawyers from MLT Aikins, which has more than 300 lawyers across Western Canada,...
August 14, 2023
Métis senator calls for coerced sterilization to be a Criminal Code offence
The Globe and Mail: Senator Yvonne Boyer is on a mission to change the Criminal Code to establish an offence for forced and coerced sterilization procedures – an issue her office has received numerous calls and messages about and one that keeps her up at night. The Métis lawyer, who has also worked as a...
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
English River First Nation finds potential unmarked graves in, around school cemetery
12 radar findings appear to be consistent with burial of infants, First Nation says WARNING: This article includes distressing details. CBC News: A Saskatchewan First Nation has found what it believes to be dozens of graves in its initial findings from a radar search in and around the cemetery at a former residential school. English River...
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 10, 2023
Proposed radioactive waste dump in Deep River met with opposition at final hearing
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission heard final arguments Thursday CBC News: The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) held its final hearings in Ottawa on Thursday into a proposed radioactive waste disposal site further north in the Ottawa Valley that is fiercely opposed by Algonquin First Nation groups. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) wants to build an engineered mound near the...
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 8, 2023
‘Very little’ government help for 11 Man. First Nations months after declaring state of emergency
Government approved $300,000 in extra funding but chief says that’s not enough CBC News: More than four months after declaring a state of emergency First Nations in Manitoba say the current federal support offered fails to address numerous long-term issues in their communities. The Keewatin Tribal Council — representing 11 communities spread throughout northern Manitoba — declared a state of emergency...
August 7, 2023
Sask.-based lawyer welcomes Guatemalan group’s offer to support search for unmarked graves
Group offers to train Indigenous communities on how to excavate graves and recover remains WARNING: This story includes distressing details. CBC News: The Canadian Press – A Guatemala-based forensic anthropology organization is extending its hand to Indigenous Peoples looking to potentially recover remains of children on the grounds of former residential schools in Canada. Fredy Peccerelli,...
August 4, 2023
Mi’kmaw nation, lobster harvesters suing feds for treaty violations
Theft of Mi’kmaw harvester’s lobster caught on video. APTN News: Sheyanne Francis is used to being hassled by enforcement officers with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, also known as DFO. But a theft of her catch left her speechless. “Gut wrenching, sick to my stomach, disgusted, wow,” she said. After Francis and her crew...
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...
August 2, 2023
Sipekne’katik First Nation sues federal government for seizing lobster traps
Lawsuit says fisheries officials, coast guard violated right to moderate livelihood fishery CBC News: Sipekne’katik First Nation is suing the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard for seizing some of its members’ lobster traps earlier this month in southwest Nova Scotia. The statement of claim, filed in the Supreme Court of...
August 1, 2023
NDP calls for emergency preparedness funding for First Nation communities
APTN News: The NDP is calling on the federal government to urgently invest into more emergency preparedness in First Nations communities. Last week, Nunavut MP Lori Idlout and Manitoba MP Niki Ashton sent a letter to Minister of Indigenous Services, Patty Hajdu, outlining First Nation’s urgent need for funding of emergency preparedness resources amidst the...
July 30, 2023
TABLE: Residential Schools that have discovered unmarked graves
Sites of unmarked graves at former residential schools Indian Residential School Date of Discovery # of unmarked graves Official recorded deaths First Nation Kamloops IRS, BC May 27, 2021 200 51 Tk’emlüps te Secwépemc FN Muscowequan IRS, SK June 1, 2021 35 – Muscowequan First Nation Brandon IRS, MB June 10, 2021 104 78 Sioux...
July 28, 2023
Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Calls on New Federal Public Safety Minister to Prioritize First Nations Policing
NationTalk: Ottawa, ON – The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) congratulates Dominic LeBlanc on his appointment as Minister of Public Safety and urges him to prioritize the safety and security of First Nations communities across the country. During the AFN Annual General Assembly in Halifax earlier this month, several resolutions were passed to enhance the...
July 28, 2023
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Applauds Historic $23 Billion Settlement for First Nations Children and Families
NationTalk: Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) is proud to stand alongside First Nations across the nation in celebrating a momentous milestone in the pursuit of social justice and reconciliation for First Nations children across Turtle Island. “Since the days of the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood, First Nations leadership in Manitoba...
July 28, 2023
National Indigenous agenda impacted by Trudeau’s sweeping Cabinet shuffle
(Screenshot of newly appointed Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree. Courtesy of CPAC) National Talk: MBC News – Reaction to a wholesale Cabinet shuffle yesterday by Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which included the removal of two ministers integral to the national Indigenous agenda, demonstrates a divide of perspectives between First Nations and Métis in Ontario....
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 27, 2023
Caring Society Statement on CHRT Letter-Decision Approving Revised FSA on Compensation
NationTalk: July 26, 2023 – Canadian Human Rights Tribunal approves $23.4 Billion Compensation package for First Nations children, youth and families This thoughtful landmark Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision approving compensation recognizes the egregious harms flowing from Canada’s willful and reckless discrimination against First Nations children, youth and families and ensures all victims receive the...
July 26, 2023
Human rights tribunal approves revised First Nations child welfare deal
APTN News: The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) has approved a revised deal between the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and Canada over compensation for thousands of First Nations children on reserve who were caught up in the child welfare system. “The Tribunal finds that the revised First Nations Child and Family Services, Jordan’s Principle...
July 26, 2023
Human rights tribunal approves revised First Nations child welfare deal
APTN News: The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) has approved a revised deal between the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and Canada over compensation for thousands of First Nations children on reserve who were caught up in the child welfare system. “The Tribunal finds that the revised First Nations Child and Family Services, Jordan’s Principle...
July 25, 2023
Shoal Lake 40 sues Canada, Winnipeg for years without drinking water, road access
‘We shouldn’t have had to risk our survival just so Winnipeg could divert water,’ says chief. An old barge that would ferry people and goods from Shoal Lake 40 to the mainland. Photo: APTN file APTN News: A First Nation, whose lake supplies drinking water to the city of Winnipeg, is suing for a century...
July 24, 2023
Haudenosaunee mark 100th anniversary of Deskaheh’s attempt to speak to League of Nations
Deskaheh has become a symbol for Indigenous rights at the United Nations A hundred years ago, Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ (Cayuga) chief Deskaheh travelled to Geneva, Switzerland, to defend the rights of Indigenous Peoples. He was prevented from speaking to the League of Nations — the predecessor of the United Nations — and now a century later, his successors...
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 21, 2023
Anishinabe nation in Manitoba prepares to excavate 14 anomalies
Minegoziibe Anishinabe suspects there may be unmarked graves underneath Catholic church and site of former residential school A First Nation plans to excavate the basement of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Roman Catholic Church in northwestern Manitoba. Photo courtesy Justin Richard Warning: This story contains details about child abuse and residential schools that may be...
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 19, 2023
This First Nation’s youth attempt suicide at alarming rates. A new study suggests it’s linked to residents’ exposure to dumped mercury
A study found significant association between inter-generational exposure to mercury and Grassy Narrows’ high rates of youth suicide attempts. WARNING: This story contains sensitive subject matter, including suicide and self-harm, that could be triggering for some readers. Mercury dumped upstream of Grassy Narrows First Nation decades ago has contributed to the community’s youth attempting suicide...
July 19, 2023
Chiefs continue to press feds on its land back and NRTA shortcomings
“It is a broken system and it’s something that needs to be fixed. It is probably the poorest form of getting land back to your communities and control over those.” Marc Miller, minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Black River First Nation Chief Sheldon Kent speaks about the 1930 Natural Resources Transfer Act and how jurisdiction over...
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 14, 2023
Wildfires are disproportionately harming Indigenous communities
CTV News: Canadian wildfires are disproportionately affecting Indigenous people at a greater rate than non-Indigenous Canadians, a recent report finds. The audit published in June by Indigenous Services Canada and authored by a Metis fire researcher, found that in the past 13 years, Indigenous communities had more than 1,300 wildfire-related emergencies leading to more than...
July 13, 2023
Stefanson fires back at federal minister, calls his comments on landfill search inflammatory
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller called decision not to search landfill ‘heartless’ CBC News: Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson says a federal minister was reckless and inflammatory when he criticized the province Wednesday over its decision not to search a landfill for the remains of two First Nations women. Premier Heather Stefanson said last week Manitoba won’t support a search of the Prairie Green landfill...
July 12, 2023
Recognition of First Nations rights a ‘sticking’ point in new policing law plan: AFN
Police tape marks a scene on the James Smith Cree Nation. Photo: APTN file APTN News: The Canada Press – A lawyer for the Assembly of First Nations says including the recognition of rights is a “sticking” point as the organization negotiates a new policing bill with Ottawa. Julie McGregor updated chiefs gathered in Halifax...
July 12, 2023
First Nations-In-Assembly Support Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario
NationTalk: (Halifax, Nova Scotia) – First Nations-In-Assembly have voiced their unwavering support for Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario (IPCO) and the push for First Nations Policing to be declared an essential service across Canada. Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario filed a Federal Court Motion earlier this year. On June 30, Justice Denis Gascon ordered Public...
July 11, 2023
DFO says it has enough resources to monitor Indigenous lobster fishing in Nova Scotia
Pledge comes in wake of illegal catches of baby eels by Indigenous and non-Indigenous harvesters CBC News: Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) says its enforcement branch will be on the water and adequately equipped to monitor compliance of First Nations lobster fisheries this summer. The pledge follows the chaotic fishery for baby eels this spring...
July 11, 2023
Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief welcomes Federal Court decision on First Nation policing
NationTalk: HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA (July 11, 2023) — Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe is relieved with the recent Federal Court ruling on a motion filed by First Nation Police Chiefs of Ontario regarding their funding agreements. The Federal Court has ordered funds to flow to the First Nation police services that were without funding...
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 6, 2023
Funding victory a ‘game changer’ for First Nations policing: lawyer
Lawyer for three First Nations police services says 12-month court-ordered funding extension will force Ottawa to fix ‘mess’ of discriminatory Indigenous policing agreements NationTalk: SooToday.com: A lawyer who successfully fought to temporarily extend funding for three First Nations police services — after a lack of funding threatened to shut them down — says the win in...
July 5, 2023
Judge in ruling says Indigenous police chiefs have strong human rights case against Canada
“…basically erecting a concrete wall in terms of any willingness to negotiate the underlying terms and conditions, Canada acted inconsistently with its obligations in reconciliation and acted dishonourably in terms of its honour of the Crown obligations.” — lawyer Julian Falconer WindSpeaker: Three First Nations police services in Ontario have had their funding reinstated, albeit...
July 5, 2023
UNESCO report on Wood Buffalo National Park shows urgent need to fix problems, First Nation says
Document reaffirms threats from dams, oilsands development and climate change. But of 14 objectives for the park, UNESCO says only two are improving, with five stable and seven deteriorating. CBC News: A report from a United Nations body on environmental threats to Canada’s largest national park shows the urgency of the problems, says a spokesperson...
July 5, 2023
Wood Buffalo National Park still on environmental threat list; UNESCO calls for action on oilsands
NationTalk: Canada’s National Observer – A United Nations body has affirmed earlier findings that Canada’s largest national park remains under environmental threats from dams, oilsands development and climate change. The UNESCO report, issued Friday, concludes that the vast Wood Buffalo National Park on the Alberta-Northwest Territories boundary shouldn’t lose its place on the list of World Heritage Sites at this time. Some things in the...
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 29, 2023
Leaked report on searching landfill for women’s remains shares how 60,000 tonnes of material could be examined
Proposal includes using temperature-controlled unit to secure possible remains found at Prairie Green landfill WARNING: This story contains distressing details. A search through as much as roughly 60,000 tonnes of materials for the remains of two First Nations women at a landfill near Winnipeg could involve moving thousands of truckloads of garbage, hiring dozens of...
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 23, 2023
Quebec wildfires: Cree community orders evacuation of 4K due to heavy smoke
By The Canadian Press | APTN National NewsJun 23, 2023 Almost 4,000 people fleeing nearby wildlife. Since the beginning of June, firefighters have been battling a record number of wildfires including this one outside Algonquins of Barriere Lake. Photo courtesy: Charlie Papatie A Cree community in northern Quebec was being evacuated Friday because of heavy smoke from a...
June 22, 2023
Federal justice minister orders new trial for First Nations men convicted of 1970s Winnipeg murder
APTN News: Federal Justice Minister David Lametti has ordered a new trial for two First Nations men from Manitoba who were convicted of the 1973 murder of Ting Fong Chan. Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse were convicted in 1974 and sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 10 years. “The Minister has determined...
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 21, 2023
What fake Indigenous ‘Pretendians’ say about the endurance of colonialism
Novelist and essayist Michelle Good examines how what she calls ‘playing Indian’ allows settlers to “create us in their own image and to expect our collaboration in their effort to do so.” Book Excerpt Good is of Cree ancestry and is a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. Her novel Five Little Indians...
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
Grassy Narrows chief questions federal commitment to mercury care home amid delays, soaring costs
Facility could now require an estimated $80M to build — 3 times what was initially pledged CBC News: More than three years after the Canadian government agreed to fund a in-community mercury poisoning care home for Grassy Narrows First Nation, construction hasn’t started, estimated costs are skyrocketing, and the chief is questioning the prime minister’s commitment. “It makes...
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 20, 2023
Proposed Chalk River nuclear dumpsite violates UNDRIP, says Algonquin chiefs
‘We never agreed to this and it continues to be operated on our unceded territory.’ APTN News: Algonquin First Nations are calling on the federal government to abandon a proposed radioactive waste dump site on their unceded territories. On Tuesday, the Chiefs of Kebaowek First Nation, Kitigan Zibi First Nation, the Algonquin Secretariat and the...
June 19, 2023
’15 years too long’
Bernice and Wilfred Catcheway’s daughter Jennifer disappeared in 2008. They say the MMIWG inquiry’s calls for justice need to be taken seriously WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: Bernice Catcheway walks up to a glass armoire in her living room and pulls out a tiny pair of white and pink baby shoes. The...
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
Ontario First Nations chiefs protest federal Métis self-government bill
Métis Nation of Ontario responds by accusing chiefs of ‘Métis denialism’ CBC News: Ontario First Nations leaders held a protest Monday on Parliament Hill against proposed federal legislation to implement a self-government agreement between Canada and the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO), which is expected to be tabled this week. The Chiefs of Ontario (COO) ramped up a...
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 19, 2023
Feasibility study says short timeline important for landfill search
The study says one of the most important factors is the time between when a victim’s remains end up in a landfill and when a search begins. A photo of a truck at work at the Prairie Green Landfill near Winnipeg. Photo: Jesse Andrushko/APTN News APTN News: Searching a landfill in Manitoba for 30 days...
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
Métis Nation British Columbia Committed to Positive and Respectful Relations with First Nations
NationTalk: June 14, 2023 (Surrey, British Columbia) Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) is committed to positive and respectful relations with First Nations and acknowledges, upholds, and respects the rights and title of First Nations in British Columbia. MNBC recognizes that Métis rights in British Columbia are different from the rights of First Nations. We acknowledge,...
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 13, 2023
Judge reserves decision on motion to extend Indian day school claims deadline
Six Nations chief calls Justice Canada’s arguments against extension ‘a slap in the face’ CBC News: Indian day school survivors who haven’t claimed compensation under a national class-action settlement will have to wait a little longer to learn if they’ll ever get the chance. Federal Court Justice Sébastien Grammond reserved his decision Tuesday after a two-day...
June 12, 2023
Canada’s continued ‘failure’ to provide adequate housing led to lawsuit says chief
First Nation in Manitoba proposes class action against Ottawa for housing conditions. APTN News: The chief of a remote First Nation in northern Manitoba is proposing a national class action lawsuit against the federal government for failing to address the housing crisis in Indigenous communities. Chief Elvin Flett of St. Theresa Point First Nation is seeking $5...
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 12, 2023
First Nations, federalism and lessons from the fight against COVID-19
To be ready for future challenges, we need to build a path forward that brings First Nations into the heart of Canadian federalism NationTalk: Policy Options – The fight against COVID-19 in First Nations communities had many successes. Vaccination rates were high – nearly 93 per cent of individuals aged 12+ years received a second dose and...
June 10, 2023
Long lineups for treaty annuities at The Forks spark discussion about ‘insulting’ $5 payment
Working group calls for modernization of payments through land-based model CBC news: Dozens of First Nations people braced long lineups and a humidex of 30 on Thursday afternoon to get their treaty annuity payments at The Forks in Winnipeg, leading to conversation on whether the $5 payments are outdated. The federal government doles out the $5...
June 9, 2023
3 Indigenous police services in northern Ontario could cease operating due to lack of funding
The police services collectively serve around 30,000 people across northern Ontario CBC News: Three Indigenous police services that serve 45 First Nations across northern Ontario say they are at risk of shutting down due to a lack of funding. The Treaty Three Police Service, UCCM Anishnaabe Police Service and Anishinabek Police Service have not received funding from...
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
Algonquins of Barriere Lake members evacuated from territory as Quebec wildfires burn
‘It’s just a scary time for our community,’ says Chief Casey Ratt CBC News: As wildfires continue to blaze in several regions of Quebec, members of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake are on the frontline protecting their territory. “It’s devastating at the moment because we don’t know which way the fire will go today because of...
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 6, 2023
Opinion: To finally kill colonialism, give property rights to First Nations individuals
It’s not enough to give First Nations communities full title to their land. They also need to be able to parcel it out to people NationTalk: Financial Post – Canada needs to end colonialism and grant the country’s 630 First Nations title to their reserve lands fully and unconditionally. Doing so should no longer be controversial and...
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...
June 1, 2023
Lawyer clears up ‘confusion’ around two day school settlements
Claims opened in January and survivors have six months left to apply for $10,000 payment Students and staff outside the former Ucluelet Indian Day School on Vancouver Island. Photo: APTN File APTN News: There’s confusion about two day school settlements with similar sounding names, but a lawyer familiar with both says they compensate Indigenous survivors...
May 31, 2023
Minister to delay plan for closure of B.C. salmon farms after pressure from industry, Indigenous chief
The Globe and Mail: The federal Fisheries Minister is delaying a decision on closing the remaining ocean-based salmon farms in British Columbia, after pressure from First Nations and the fish-farm industry. Joyce Murray had been expected in June to release a transition plan to move open-net fish farms out of B.C’s coastal waters, to land-based...
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 26, 2023
After spending 7 years detained in Turkey, Charman Smith is now home
Carcross/Tagish First Nation citizen Charman Smith denies she had any knowledge of the illegal substance found in her possession. A First Nations woman from Yukon charged with drug trafficking in Turkey has returned home after being detained there for seven years. Charman Smith, a Carcross/Tagish First Nation citizen, was greeted by loved ones at the Whitehorse airport...
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 20, 2023
Court dispute between First Nations and Métis Nation of Ontario highlights longstanding issues
‘We need structures that allow us to have those disputes aired’ that aren’t the courts, says Daniel Voth CBC News: An ongoing court battle between the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) and several First Nations is highlighting longstanding conflict over recognition of Métis communities and rights. After the MNO signed a self-government agreement with the federal government in February, several First...
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 19, 2023
Inaugural First Nations First Responders Gathering held in Ottawa, First Nations Fire Protection Strategy updated
NationTalk: Indigenous Services Canada – The Assembly of First Nations hosted the three-day event in Ottawa to focus on advancing First Nations fire protection priorities An inaugural First Nations First Responders Gathering was held in Ottawa over the past three days. The event brought together Indigenous fire protection and emergency responder leadership to explore how...
May 18, 2023
Garden River First Nation launches new lawsuit against Ontario and Canada
Chief Andy Rickard says “it’s time to right the wrongs of the past” CBC News: Members of the Garden River First Nation traveled hundreds of kilometers to go to Queen’s Park on Thursday and announce a lawsuit against Ontario and Canada for breaching the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850. The community, which is home to...
May 17, 2023
Trial Begins for a Hereditary Chief Charged in the CGL Pipeline Conflict
Chief Dsta’hyl says he was acting as an enforcement officer for the Likhts’amisyu Clan when he seized construction equipment. The Tyee: Security was unusually tight at the courthouse in Smithers on Monday, with sheriffs using metal detectors and searching the bags of those who attended the first day of the trial of a Wet’suwet’en Hereditary...
May 17, 2023
New hope for flood-prone Peguis First Nation means evacuees could come home
Nearly a third of the ‘refugees’ from last spring’s flood still haven’t returned to the community. The Nation hopes a new collaboration will help it better prepare for future natural disasters The Narwhal: A year after a historic flood ravaged Peguis First Nation, there’s hope on the horizon. The spring thaw passed without incident this...
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 9, 2023
Canada accused of stonewalling in court challenge to Métis Nation of Ontario self-government deal
Federal government withholds documents, MNO wants to have case dismissed CBC News: The Canadian government is being accused of stonewalling in a court challenge by the First Nations of the Wabun Tribal Council against a recently signed Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) self-government agreement. Lawyers for Crown-Indigenous Relations are refusing to release internal documents tied to the deal,...
May 9, 2023
Federal Court of Appeal Allows Judicial Review of Bait-and-Switch Approval of Emergency Towing Vessel Contract on BC’s Coast
NationTalk: BELLA BELLA, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Heiltsuk Horizon is welcoming a Federal Court of Appeal ruling that allows a judicial review of a complaint the company filed against the federal procurement process to acquire two emergency towing vessels meant to protect BC’s coast against marine oil spills and other maritime accidents, as part of Canada’s Oceans...
May 8, 2023
To achieve reconciliation, Canada needs to recognize the Métis as a self-governing nation
The Globe and Mail: OPINION: MARGARET FROH AND AUDREY POITRAS Margaret Froh is the president of the Métis Nation of Ontario. Audrey Poitras is the president of the Métis Nation of Alberta. The Métis story is one of resistance and resilience. In recent years, we have been writing a new chapter to our story with Canada based...
May 4, 2023
Canada opens formal investigation into Imperial’s oilsands tailings leak in northern Alberta
Imperial first found discoloured water seeping from one of its tailings ponds in May CBC News: Federal environmental authorities have launched a formal investigation into a tailings leak at Imperial Oil’s Kearl oilsands mine in northern Alberta. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) announced Thursday it is investigating a suspected contravention of the Fisheries Act,...
May 4, 2023
Opposition from First Nations mounts over Métis Nation of Ontario self-government deal
Denying the existence of Métis communities in Ontario is ‘deeply offensive,’ says MNO First Nations opposition to a Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) self-government agreement is mounting as chiefs throughout the province urge the Canadian government to freeze implementation of the deal until their concerns are addressed. The leaders are speaking out after the Wabun Tribal Council...
May 4, 2023
Community support ‘overwhelming’ after fire destroys 8 homes on Sask. First Nation
Mosquito Grizzly Bear’s Head Lean Man First Nation band hall packed with donations CBC News: On April 24, Ameilia Young woke up to a loud sound at her home on Mosquito, Grizzly Bear’s Head, Lean Man First Nation, 125 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. “The shingles from my roof were flapping or something,” she said. “I thought...
May 4, 2023
Federal Government’s Failure to Fix Dikes Sees Fort Albany Evacuated Due to Flooding Threat
NationTalk: FORT ALBANY FIRST NATION: The Chief and Council of Fort Albany First Nation have been forced to declare a community-wide evacuation as rising water from the winter break-up on the Albany River threatens to breach the community’s aging dike system. “The dikes that protect our community have failed twice over the years, and there...
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...
May 2, 2023
UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues calls on Canada to shut down the Line 5 pipeline
NationTalk: THE GREAT LAKES | ANISHINABEK TERRITORY – Last Friday, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) recommended that Canada and the United States decommission the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline. In the Final Report of its annual session, issued last week, the UNPFII recognized that Line 5 “jeopardize[s] the Great Lakes” and...
May 2, 2023
AFN BULLETIN – United Nations Water Conference 2023
NationTalk: SUMMARY: The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) sent a delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of the International Decade for Action or the “UN Water Conference” in New York, from March 22 to 24, 2023. The AFN’s delegation was led by Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse...
May 1, 2023
Indigenous leaders from U.S., Canada ramp up pressure for probe into toxic mining runoff from B.C.
The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press – Indigenous leaders in Canada and the U.S. are turning up the pressure on Ottawa for an investigation of toxic mining runoff from B.C., despite high-level bilateral promises of an agreement by this summer to “reduce and mitigate” its impact. Tribal and First Nations leaders were in Washington,...
April 30, 2023
Teachers in Six Nations ask Canadians not to forget impact of federal strike on Indigenous students
1,100 kids in Six Nations have been out of school since April 19 CBC News: As the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) strike continues, students at the five federally run elementary schools in Six Nations of the Grand River face another week without class. The five schools — Jamieson Elementary, J.C. Hill Elementary, Emily...
April 28, 2023
Experts, family say many questions remain unanswered in James Smith Cree Nation tragedy
Professor questions why RCMP divulged so much about the offenders and victims, but not the RCMP’s own actions CBC News: RCMP gave a detailed summary of the James Smith Cree Nation mass stabbing this week, but some family members and observers say many questions remain unanswered. For nearly three hours Thursday at a presentation in Melfort, Sask., RCMP revealed...
April 28, 2023
Lennox Island, DFO agree on 2023 moderate livelihood lobster fishery off P.E.I.
PEIFA critical, says DFO tried to buy back licences but was unwilling to pay the price CBC News: The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says it has reached an “understanding” with Lennox Island First Nation for a treaty-protected lobster fishery off P.E.I.’s North Shore for the 2023 spring season. In a statement to CBC News, DFO says...
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 26, 2023
10 First Nations sue Ontario and Canada over resource extraction and broken Treaty 9 promises
Arguing that resource extraction has violated Indigenous jurisdiction for over a century, the case could stall the Ontario government’s plans to mine the Ring of Fire The Narwhal: Ten northern First Nations launched a lawsuit against the Ontario and federal governments Wednesday, arguing that resource extraction on their territories has infringed upon their jurisdiction for...
April 26, 2023
Can the Crown make land decisions without First Nations consent? Treaty 9 lawsuit argues no
Lawyer calls lawsuit ‘frontal attack’ on colonial idea governments have ‘supreme right to rule’ CBC News: Several First Nations have announced their intention to take the Ontario and Canadian governments to court, in a lawsuit their lead lawyer says could fundamentally change the way resource and land management decisions are made in the Treaty 9 area. Leaders...
April 25, 2023
Lennox Island to fish 1,000 lobster traps off P.E.I.’s North Shore, with or without DFO signoff
‘If you want to protect rights, you have to practise them. You can’t shelve them.’ CBC News: The chief of Lennox Island First Nation says it will fish 1,000 traps in the spring lobster fishery off P.E.I.’s North Shore this year as part of its treaty-protected fishery — whether or not the Department of Fisheries...
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 25, 2023
Mikisew Cree First Nation declares state of local emergency following multiple suicides
‘We can feel the grief amongst the people, the hurt,’ says Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro CBC News: A First Nation in northern Alberta has declared a state of local emergency following a string of suicide and suicide attempts among community members. The Mikisew Cree First Nation says immediate medical intervention is needed in Fort Chipewyan, Alta.,...
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
Northern Ontario chief says his community continues to ‘fear’ flooding because of neighbouring First Nation
Fort Albany chief not commenting, federal government only says it’s still committed to relocation CBC News: The chief of Kashechewan says his Cree community on Ontario’s James Bay Coast remains at risk of flooding every spring because of the neighbouring First Nation. Kashechewan has been talking to the federal government about moving off the flood...
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 21, 2023
Coastal GasLink faces new fines for filing ‘false and misleading’ information
When B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office reviewed reports filed by the pipeline it found discrepancies; now it says the company should pay up for misleading the government The Narwhal: Coastal GasLink is facing a new fine for allegedly misleading enforcement officers and sending them false information about the company’s efforts to protect an area around the...
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 20, 2023
Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief carries strong message to United Nations on behalf of E’Dbendaagzijig
NationTalk: NEW YORK, NY (April 20, 2023) — Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe joined an international delegation including representatives from the Bay Mills Indian Community, Center for International Environmental Law, EarthRights International, and Environmental Defence Canada this week at the 22nd United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) carrying a strong message to...
April 19, 2023
Search for unmarked graves at Blue Quills finds 19 sites that could be unmarked plots
Ground-penetrating radar search guided by survivor testimonies WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: A search for unmarked graves at the former Blue Quills Residential School in eastern Alberta found 19 sites that contained anomalies consistent with burial plots. The property, located about 150 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, was once a Roman Catholic-run institution....
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
First Nations blast Alberta Energy Regulator at hearing; minister promises reform
Imperial first detected discoloured water near the oilsands site last May CBC News: Chiefs of First Nations affected by releases of wastewater from an oilsands mine excoriated Alberta’s regulator at a House of Commons committee hearing, calling it a system that serves the industry and not the public. “The [Alberta Energy Regulator] has zero credibility outside...
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
Lucrative baby eel fishery shut down
Federal agency shelves elver production for 45 days amid poaching and safety concerns Toronto Star: Federal fisheries officials shut down the lucrative baby eel fishery in the Maritimes on Saturday amid growing concerns of illegal poaching and violence. Fisheries and Oceans Canada said the elver fishery in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick would be closed...
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 13, 2023
NAN, NAPS Support CHRT Complaint Against Canada on Underfunding of First Nations Policing
NationTalk: OTTAWA, ON: Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum, Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS) Chief of Police Roland Morrison, and NAPS Board Chair Mike Metatawabin have released the following statement supporting the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal complaint filed by the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario against the Government of Canada: “This...
April 12, 2023
Staffing shortages in northern Manitoba nursing stations a ‘life or death’ matter, advocate says
Indigenous Services Canada says it’s working to recruit and retain nurses CBC News: A shortage of nurses across the country is hitting hard in remote and northern First Nations like Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Manitoba, where nursing stations are typically the only place people can access health care close to home. Chief David Monias said the nursing station in Pimicikamak...
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
A curious photo from 1885 captures what Indigenous reconciliation could have been
The image of an Indigenous ceremony from the 1880s, discovered in the attic of an old home, was strange, given what it depicted. It proved to contain great symbolism for reconciliation BILL WAISER: SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Bill Waiser is a historian and the author of A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905,...
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 6, 2023
Assembly of First Nations wants federal UNDRIP plan overhauled, slams consultation process
Emergency resolution says there’s been ‘grossly inadequate time’ for First Nations to provide input CBC News: The Assembly of First Nations is urging the Canadian government to overhaul its action plan on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), after a working draft of the plan met with disappointment and resistance at...
April 5, 2023
Ottawa backs away from timeline for law to make First Nations policing essential service
The Globe and Mail: The federal government is backing away from setting a timeline to introduce legislation that would declare First Nations policing an essential service, but at least one regional chief hopes to see it this spring. Ghislain Picard, a member of the Assembly of First Nations executive, says it has been fighting for improvements to...
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 police launch human-rights complaint against Ottawa over funding
The Globe and Mail: Police chiefs presiding over First Nations police forces in Ontario have launched a human-rights complaint alleging that the federal government is placing reserves in crisis by failing to deliver adequate funding. The claim, which was obtained by The Globe and Mail, was filed last week at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal...
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...
April 3, 2023
Northern Manitoba chiefs call for immediate federal action on health-care crisis
Recent deaths linked to inadequate medical care include mother of 5 from Manto Sipi Cree Nation, chief says CBC News: A group of Manitoba chiefs is calling for immediate action from the federal government to address what they call a health-care crisis causing preventable deaths on northern First Nations in the province. That action needs...
March 31, 2023
NACCA Response to 2023 Federal Budget – Disappointment
NationTalk: OTTAWA, ON – The National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) expresses disappointment in the Liberal Government 2023 Federal Budget, as it fails in addressing and supporting the growing needs of Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs across Canada. This budget will stifle the significant, positive advancements that have been made toward economic reconciliation in recent years and it is...
March 29, 2023
Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse (Manitoba) Calls for Support of First Nations-Led Water Priorities and Realizing the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water
NationTalk: OTTAWA — Assembly of First Nations’ Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse spoke at the United Nations Water Conference, taking place in New York, to highlight the rights of First Nations in any action on water governance and the need for intensified action to realize the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation for...
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
Alberta has 8 Métis settlements. None of them have full-time doctors
Health board pushing for more doctors, nurses and other health-care providers CBC News: Every Wednesday, a registered nurse travels 39 kilometres from the northeastern Alberta city of Cold Lake to see patients on the Elizabeth Métis Settlement. Alberta Health Services rents an office inside the settlement’s community hall for appointments. A counter near the door...
March 27, 2023
Saskatchewan Indigenous groups sound alarm on crime-wave crisis
The Globe and Mail: An Indigenous leader in Saskatchewan says the province’s First Nations are struggling to confront a crime wave as they await legislation and government funding to bolster policing. Edward (Dutch) Lerat, a vice-chief of Saskatchewan’s Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, said many First Nations are trying to determine how to start up...
March 27, 2023
Ottawa’s slow rollout of internet to First Nations creating economic rift, Auditor-General says
The Globe and Mail: The federal government’s slow rollout of high-speed internet to rural areas is putting First Nations at an economic disadvantage while billions of dollars earmarked to fix the issue remains untouched, says Canada’s auditor general. The lack of internet access continues to exclude First Nation reserves from accessing education, work and medical...
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 26, 2023
My visit with Odelia Quewezance — jailed for a murder she says she didn’t commit — stirs up hope but opens old wounds
Quewezance, convicted with her sister in a killing her cousin confessed to, may be on the cusp of freedom. Why a visit to her home stirred old emotions. The Toronto Star: RHEIN, Sask.—Odelia Quewezance knew she had to stay strong, at least for a few more weeks. The slender 51- year-old Salteaux woman smiled often...
March 24, 2023
Who pays for First Nations policing, and who benefits? Saskatchewan’s struggles point to problems with funding models
After last year’s stabbings at James Smith Cree Nation, reserves are rethinking how to keep themselves safe – and how to navigate a maze of jurisdictions that Ottawa plans to redesign The Globe and Mail: The first 911 call, after the attacks began at James Smith Cree Nation, was made at 5:40 a.m. It was...
March 24, 2023
MNBC Starts a Judicial Review Against the Minister of Indigenous Services
NationTalk: Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) has started a Judicial Review against the Minister of Indigenous Services to exercise jurisdiction over Métis child and family services. Canada is denying MNBC an opportunity to design and deliver child and family service solutions that best suit the needs of Métis kids in BC, saying MNBC does not...
March 23, 2023
11 northern Manitoba First Nations declare state of emergency to urge government intervention
State of emergency to be placed indefinitely: Keewatin Tribal Council grand chief CBC News: The Keewatin Tribal Council declared a regional state of emergency on Thursday afternoon to draw attention to the “dire” situations on the northern Manitoba communities and to urge immediate government action. The tribal council is made up of 11 communities, including Shamattawa First...
March 23, 2023
Northern B.C. First Nations say they need more resources to deal with the illicit drug crisis
Distance a barrier to accessing addictions treatment, say communities Members of B.C.’s most northern communities are saying they need more resources to deal with the impacts of the province’s drug crisis, at a forum in Prince George, B.C., this week. More than 200 First Nations leaders and health-care workers met to talk about harm reduction,...
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 22, 2023
B.C. First Nations file court case against federal decision not to renew salmon farm licences
The lawsuit says the federal government failed to respect Indigenous rights to self-determination CBC News: Two B.C. First Nations and a British Columbia salmon farmer company are going to court to challenge the federal government’s decision not to renew the licences for its open-net farms off Vancouver Island. The We Wai Kai Nation (Cape Mudge Indian...
March 21, 2023
Emergency Management in First Nations Communities
NationTalk: Auditor-General released Report 8 on Nov. 15, 2022 May 8.1 Emergencies such as floods, wildfires, landslides, and severe weather events are happening more often and with greater intensity throughout Canada. These emergencies disproportionately affect First Nations communities—groups of First Nations people living on reservesDefinition 1—because of their relative remoteness and socio-economic circumstances. In addition, many First Nations communities were...
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 16, 2023
In Brief: Jim Shot Both Sides, et al. v. His Majesty the King
In Brief: Jim Shot Both Sides, et al. v. His Majesty the KingBy Kate Gunn and Tyler SwanWhat it’s AboutThe Supreme Court of Canada will decide whether First Nations can be barred from bringing claims based on breaches of the Crown’s treaty obligations under provincial limitation periods. What happenedThe Blood Tribe brought an action against Canada for...
March 16, 2023
New Survivors Secretariat logo features the apples Mohawk Institute students weren’t allowed to eat
Secretariat hopes that more survivors’ stories will help inform their investigation CBC News: The Survivors’ Secretariat in Six Nations, Ont., has started a new campaign to introduce a logo and increase its social media presence. The Secretariat was established in 2021 to support survivors of the Mohawk Institute, Canada’s longest running residential school. The former residential school in...
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 15, 2023
Former Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations chief unhappy with lack of progress after papal visit
NationTalk: Global News: George Arcand Jr., the former grand chief of the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations, says more than six months after Pope Francis visited Canada to deliver an apology on his people’s land, contact between First Nations leaders, Ottawa and the church has been almost non-existent. Ahead of his departure from the...
March 14, 2023
First Nations sue Canada over child-welfare system’s destruction of culture, language
Proposed class action seeks collective compensation for community-level harms CBC News: Ten Prairie-based First Nations are suing the Canadian government over the loss of language, culture and tradition inflicted on communities by the modern First Nations child-welfare system. Chief David Crate of Fisher River Cree Nation north of Winnipeg is the lead plaintiff in the proposed class-action lawsuit filed...
March 14, 2023
Haldimand Tract Litigation New Website and Update
NationTalk: Six Nations of the Grand River Band, under the direction of Elected Council, is suing the governments of Canada and Ontario in a court case that started in 1995. The Band says that under the 1784 Haldimand Proclamation, which it considers a treaty, the British Crown set aside about 950,000 acres of lands along...
March 14, 2023
Billions have been made on Robinson Huron Treaty lands. First Nations could finally get a fair share
For 173 years, Canada has failed to truly share profits from nickel, copper, uranium, lumber and fish. Now, courts will weigh in on fair payback for First Nations in northeastern Ontario The Narwhal: In northeastern Ontario, a treaty dispute over 170 years in the making might finally be coming to a close. A legal trust...
March 13, 2023
Shamattawa First Nation declares state of emergency
2nd Manitoba First Nation to declare a state of emergency in the past week CBC News: A First Nation in northern Manitoba, recently hit by a major fire that left several families without homes, has declared a state of emergency. Shamattawa First Nation Chief Jordna Hill has called a news conference for 1:30 p.m. Monday in Winnipeg....
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 9, 2023
Stop the discrimination and prevent it from re-occurring: Updates on the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal case – Caring Society
NationTalk: INTRODUCTION: In 2007, the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society (Caring Society) and the Assembly of First Nations(AFN) filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission alleging that Canada was discriminating against First Nations children by improperly funding child welfare on reserve and in the Yukon and failing to implement the full...
March 9, 2023
Chiefs ban RCMP’s ‘militarized’ squadron from Gitxsan lands in northern B.C.
Community-Industry Response Group not welcome on Gitxsan lands, say chiefs First Peoples Law Report: Clearwater Times – Gitxsan hereditary chiefs issued a notice this week prohibiting the RCMP’s ‘militarized squadron’ called the Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) from Gitxsan lands centred in the Hazelton area, effective immediately. “While we embrace safety measures for our community, the...
March 8, 2023
‘If we lose this fight, we lose everything’: Naskapi, Innu nations oppose Quebec mining project
‘This area is what’s left for us to find peace,’ says resident of Kawawachikamach CBC News: A mining company wants to set up a large operation in Labrador, producing 2.5 million tonnes of iron annually and building a transportation corridor to help get the material from northern Quebec to Sept-Îles. Century Global says its venture,...
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 8, 2023
‘A better way’: An Indigenous alternative to Ontario’s faltering child-welfare system
Global News: Ethan Pokno’s knee shakes nervously as he recalls the moment he says his whole life flashed before him. He was 12 years old. He and his three younger brothers were sent to foster homes and — for Ethan and the second-oldest brother — ultimately a group home a 10-hour drive away. “Still scars...
March 7, 2023
Métis Nation B.C. in court after feds say it doesn’t qualify as ‘Indigenous governing body’
Canada sparked dispute by rejecting MNBC bid to opt into Indigenous child-welfare law CBC News: The Canadian government is blocking a bid by the Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) to opt into federal Indigenous child-welfare law on the grounds MNBC doesn’t qualify as an “Indigenous governing body,” Federal Court files show. The decision sparked an ongoing...
March 7, 2023
Métis Nation B.C. in court after feds say it doesn’t qualify as ‘Indigenous governing body’
Canada sparked dispute by rejecting MNBC bid to opt into Indigenous child-welfare law CBC News: The Canadian government is blocking a bid by the Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) to opt into federal Indigenous child-welfare law on the grounds MNBC doesn’t qualify as an “Indigenous governing body,” Federal Court files show. The decision sparked an ongoing...
March 7, 2023
Indigenous chiefs fly to Ottawa in rival moves as salmon farm battle intensifies
The Globe and Mail: Indigenous chiefs representing B.C. Indigenous communities came to Ottawa on Tuesday to make opposing arguments about whether open-net salmon farms should be able to continue off the coast or be closed and moved to tanks on land. As the battle over the future of ocean-based salmon farms off the coast of British...
March 7, 2023
Neskantaga First Nation says it wasn’t adequately consulted in key Ring of Fire environmental study
First Peoples Law Report: The Globe and Mail: Neskantaga First Nation says it wasn’t adequately consulted in a key Ring of Fire environmental study, and is warning Ring of Fire Metals, the Australian mining company bent on developing the region, that it will have to use force against members of the First Nation before they...
March 6, 2023
Île-à-la-Crosse, Sask. boarding school survivors push for recognition in their lifetimes
Hundreds of Sask. boarding school survivors want recognition, compensation like residential school survivors Warning: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: William Caisse thinks about dying more often than he’d like. “I could go at any time,” the 72-year-old said calmly, gently rocking on his living room armchair. Caisse spent nine years at a boarding...
March 6, 2023
Ontario approves environmental assessment terms of reference for 3rd and final road to Ring of Fire
Plan co-developed and submitted by 2 First Nations in the area, but faces pushback from others in region CBC News: The province has approved the terms of reference for an environmental assessment (EA) on the third and final road leading to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire in northern Ontario. The terms of reference lay out the work...
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 28, 2023
‘They’re the Ones That are Warriors’
Guided by survivors’ memories, the Tseshaht First Nation is uncovering horrific truths about Alberni Indian Residential School. [Editor’s note: This story discusses deaths of children in Indian residential schools. It may be triggering to some readers.] HELP IS AVAILABLE If you need support, call the Indian Residential School Survivors Society at 1-800-721-0066 or 1-866-925-4419 for...
February 27, 2023
Federal government has resumed talks with Ontario about the Ring of Fire: document
Internal emails obtained by The Narwhal appear to show a shift in relations between the two governments on the Ring of Fire. But some First Nations leaders say they’re still being left out The Narwhal: After a years-long stalemate over the far northern Ring of Fire, the federal government appears to have extended an olive...
February 26, 2023
Long overdue for federal government to recognize Ontario Métis
NationTalk: The Métis story in Ontario is one of resistance and resilience. In recent years, we have been writing a new chapter to our story with Canada based on reconciliation. This spring, we hope to solidify the progress we have made as a people with the passage of federal recognition legislation by Parliament. In order...
February 25, 2023
One dead, two unaccounted for after house fire in Pikangikum First Nation
The Globe and Mail: A remote northwestern Ontario First Nation lacked the facilities to extinguish a house fire that left one dead and two others missing, two local leaders said as they implored the federal government for help bolstering fire services. The CEO of the Independent First Nations Alliance, a group that represents five communities...
February 24, 2023
Métis Nation of Alberta mounts court challenge to Manitoba Métis self-government deal
Judicial review against Manitoba Métis Federation and Canada was launched fall 2021 CBC News: The Alberta branch of the Métis Nation has signed an updated self-government deal with Canada, even as it is in court challenging a similar agreement between the Manitoba Métis and Canada. In a Federal Court judicial review filed in 2021, the Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA)...
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 24, 2023
One fish, two fish, red fish, dead fish? Feds fail to disclose Coastal GasLink data on salmon eggs, habitat
Pipeline contractors estimated there were at least 273,000 salmon eggs in a Wet’suwet’en river crossing. Fisheries and Oceans Canada said it was ‘impossible to confirm’ The Narwhal: Shannon McPhail said she felt like the “world’s biggest schmuck” after reading an email from a senior official at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The official told her it...
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 21, 2023
Suspected grave sites, children’s deaths found in probe of B.C. residential school
Ground-penetrating radar has detected 17 suspected grave sites around the former Alberni Indian Residential School. The Toronto Star: PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – A Vancouver Island First Nation has announced the detection of 17 suspected unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school, in an emotional event that combined science and ceremony on Tuesday. ...
February 21, 2023
First Nations Drinking Water Settlement Claim Period Extended to March 7, 2024
FIRST NATIONS DRINKING WATER SETTLEMENT CLAIM PERIOD EXTENDED TO MARCH 7, 2024. Eligible First Nations and Individuals now have more time to submit their claim. NationTalk: Impacted First Nations and Individuals affected by long-term drinking water advisories that lasted for at least one year between November 20, 1995, and June 20, 2021, now have until March...
February 21, 2023
Challenge of the Decision Rendered on December 15, 2022 in Favour of Mashteuiatsh
NationTalk: MASHTEUIATSH, QC – The Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation and the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) deplore Quebec’s decision to challenge before the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) the judgment rendered by the Court of appeal of Quebec on December 15, 2022. The Attorney General of Quebec has filed an application for leave to appeal to take the case to the highest court in...
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 19, 2023
Hereditary Chief refuses to leave job, but band members have voted to oust her
The Globe and Mail: The Chief of a tiny Fraser Valley First Nation is refusing to leave the job her father appointed her to 30 years ago, saying the band’s oral laws mean she is its legitimate leader. But a group of opponents within the Kwantlen First Nation are escalating their four-year fight to fire...
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 17, 2023
Ex-national chief who helped create Assembly of First Nations says organization now ‘in limbo’
Del Riley enshrined Indigenous rights in Constitution while rallying chiefs under a new banner CBC News: The Assembly of First Nations has lost its way and is now “in limbo,” having over its 40-year history slowly come under the influence of the Liberal Party of Canada, says the former national chief who created it. Del Riley...
February 17, 2023
Fisheries Department to shut 15 salmon farms off B.C.’s coast to protect wild fish
The Globe and Mail: Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray has announced the federal government will not renew licences for 15 open-net Atlantic salmon farms around British Columbia’s Discovery Islands. Murray says in a news release the Discovery Islands area is a key migration route for wild salmon where narrow passages bring migrating juvenile salmon into close...
February 17, 2023
Fisheries department to shut 15 salmon farms off B.C.’s coast to protect wild fish
The Globe and Mail: Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray has announced the federal government will not renew licences for 15 open-net Atlantic salmon farms around British Columbia’s Discovery Islands. Murray says in a news release the Discovery Islands area is a key migration route for wild salmon where narrow passages bring migrating juvenile salmon into close...
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 15, 2023
A new approach to flood mapping could be on the way for Manitoba First Nations
With floods affecting almost 90 per cent of Manitoba First Nations, new flood management could put Traditional Knowledge first The Narwhal: Before the flood waters overwhelmed Peguis First Nation last spring, local trappers noticed the beehives had been built much higher than in years past. The beaver dams looked different; the foxes and raccoons they usually snared...
February 15, 2023
Mi’kmaw First Nations expand Aboriginal title claim to include almost all of N.B.
Claim expands on 2016 Elsipogtog claim that covered a third of province CBC News: Mi’kmaw communities in New Brunswick are once again asserting Aboriginal title to land in the province — and it’s a lot more land than in the previous claim. In fact, according to a map released on Wednesday, the most recent claim covers nearly...
February 14, 2023
First Nations child-welfare talks yield ‘substantial progress’ toward amended settlement
Drafting of revised $20B deal to be finalized over the next few weeks, letter says CBC News: The Canadian government and the Assembly of First Nations are reporting “substantial progress” toward revising a proposed $20-billion settlement package for victims of the chronically underfunded on-reserve child-welfare system, court records say. All parties in the ongoing class-action lawsuit “have agreed...
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
They fought for decades to be recognized as Indigenous. Now they want to take the federal government to court
NationTalk: Canada’s National Observer: Daphne Young is Ojibwe. But she grew up in Nipigon, Ont., estranged from her culture and people at Red Rock First Nation. Her family was removed from band lists more than a century ago when her great-grandfather, Frank Hardy, joined the Canadian Armed Forces before the First World War. Like most...
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 7, 2023
Indigenous Housing Coalition calls on the federal government to commit to funding a National Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy
NationTalk: TERRITORY OF THE ANISHINAABE ALGONQUIN PEOPLE, OTTAWA – In a press conference held today, the National Urban Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Coalition, an organization representing Indigenous housing providers across the country, called on the federal government to commit $6 billion in the 2023 federal budget to meet its commitment to develop an Urban,...
February 7, 2023
First Nations owed over $100B under 1850 Ontario treaty: Nobel-winning economist – National Post
Joseph Stiglitz is testifying in a Sudbury, Ont., courtroom why First Nations may have been short-changed under a revenue-sharing treaty signed in 1850 NationTalk: National Post – He is a Nobel prize winner, former vice president of the World Bank and one of the globe’s most famous economists. And this week Joseph Stiglitz is testifying...
February 7, 2023
The Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal in a case involving Treaty rights and limitations law
First Peoples Law Report Summary 40153 Jim Shot Both Sides, et al. v. His Majesty the King (Federal) (Civil) (By Leave) Keywords Aboriginal law – Treaty rights, Limitation of actions – Aboriginal law — Treaty rights — Treaty 7 — Breach of treaty as cause of action — Limitation of actions — Whether limitation periods...
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 6, 2023
‘I don’t have a home to go to’: Peguis First Nation evacuees left in limbo 9 months after flooding
More than 900 evacuees still not able to return home, chief says CBC News: More than 900 evacuees from Peguis First Nation still can’t return to their community nearly nine months after floodwaters ravaged the reserve. Nearly 300 homes are uninhabitable and many have been given no timeline for when they may be able to go...
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
Pacific Coast Indigenous nations see a glimmer of hope for the future of salmon
Habitat loss decimated salmon populations. Indigenous communities are working to bring them back CBC News: Brook Thompson grew up along the shores of the Klamath River in Northern California, where her family would spend their summers camping and catching salmon. “It’s where I got a lot of connection about my culture and my family history,”...
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
Ontario First Nation hires outside firm to investigate 28-year boil water advisory
Neskantaga has lived under a boil water advisory longer than any other First Nation CBC News: A northern Ontario First Nation that has lived under a boil-water advisory for nearly three decades has hired an outside consultant to find out once and for all what ails the community’s water system. Neskantaga First Nation, roughly 450...
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...
February 2, 2023
Ontario says it doesn’t owe First Nations seeking compensation for broken treaty
The Globe and Mail: Indigenous communities are in court seeking billions of dollars in compensation after almost 150 years of receiving small annual payments in return for ceding an area the size of France. But the Ontario government is arguing they are owed nothing, or at most $34-million. The wide divergence in claims was on...
February 2, 2023
People from First Nations 10 times more likely to die in a fire, says Indigenous Fire Marshal
On Jan. 28, a 10-year-old girl from a remote Cree community died in a house fire CBC News: People in First Nations are 10 times more likely to die in a fire than people from other communities in Canada, according to the Indigenous Fire Marshal Service. On Saturday, Jan. 28, a 10-year-old girl from the...
February 1, 2023
AFN BULLETIN – Repeal and Replacement of the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act
NationTalk: The Assembly of First Nations issues regular updates on work underway at the national office.More information can be found at ww.afn.ca Repeal and Replacement of the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act (SDWFNA) SDWFNA came into force on November 1, 2013. First Nations criticized it for lack of meaningful consultation, imposing unjust liability...
February 1, 2023
Healing lodges, designed for Indigenous inmates, are failing the people they’re meant to rehabilitate, say prison reform advocates
NationTalk: National Observer – Have healing lodges lost their way as a medicine to Indigenous over-incarceration? It’s a question the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), which represents urban and non-status Indigenous Peoples, is asking after the tragic death of Cassandra Fox, a 27-year-old inmate who died by suicide last Wednesday at the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge in Saskatchewan. “The Congress...
January 31, 2023
10-year-old girl killed in fire in remote Cree northern Ontario community with no fire services
Peawanuck has bought a fire truck but it’s stuck in Winnipeg CBC News: A 10-year-old girl died in a house fire in the remote northern Ontario community of Peawanuck, Ont., which does not have access to fire services or basic firefighting equipment. Alison Linklater, grand chief of Mushkegowuk Council, said the small community is “in...
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 27, 2023
SCO Urges Prime Minister to Include First Nations Leaders in Health Meeting
NationTalk: ANISHINAABE AND DAKOTA TERRITORY, MB — Today, the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) is calling on Prime Minister Trudeau and the Government of Canada to ensure that First Nations leaders are included in health discussions on February 7, 2023. “Health care systems are in crisis. They are not meeting the needs of First Nations people, and...
January 26, 2023
Indigenous identity at core of Qalipu membership challenge trial in St. John’s
Final arguments are to be heard next week NationTalk: SaltWire – ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Testimony has wrapped up, but observers across the country are interested to see what comes of a court case in St. John’s involving a group of Mi’kmaw residents whose memberships in the Qalipu First Nation were revoked when a new point system was brought...
January 25, 2023
Ottawa to begin ‘intense’ talks to rewrite First Nations child welfare compensation deal
The goal of the two-day meeting next month is to reach a partial or complete resolution CBC News: Ottawa will attempt to renegotiate its $20-billion compensation package for people affected by the First Nations child welfare system, court records say. Federal officials are expected to begin “intense confidential discussions” on Feb. 7 and 8 to re-work...
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
66 more potential burial sites discovered at former B.C. residential school
Williams Lake First Nations has revealed the results of phase 2 of its search WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: The lead investigator for a B.C. First Nations has announced its ongoing probe has revealed at least 28 children died on the grounds of a former residential school and identified 66 more potential burial sites. Whitney Spearing,...
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 24, 2023
Tainted milk led to deaths of Alberta residential school children, group says
First Nation group intends to excavate what it believes to be a mass grave WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find distressing. CBC News: A new report suggests tainted, unpasteurized milk was responsible for the deaths of many First Nations children at an Alberta residential school. The conclusion comes from a preliminary report...
January 24, 2023
Métis survivors sue Saskatchewan, Canada over residential school
Class-action suit launched over the Île-à-la-Crosse school in northern Saskatchewan after Métis were left out of previous settlements. Toronto Star: For survivors of one of the oldest residential schools in Canada, it’s been a long time coming. Métis survivors who attended the Île-à-la-Crosse residential school in northern Saskatchewan have launched a class-action lawsuit against the...
January 23, 2023
‘No partners willing’ to support fire codes on First Nations, Ottawa says
NationTalk: The federal government does not have a willing partner to find a way to introduce fire codes on First Nation reserves, a newly released document shows. The senior director for the Indigenous Fire Marshal Service, however, says there are steps Ottawa can take now to better protect communities. “Doing nothing is not an option,” said Blaine Wiggins. “Analyzing...
January 23, 2023
Feds commitment to Onedia water supply met with hope and uncertainty
Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu hopes the deal will be signed this spring CBC News: Monday’s announcement that the federal government intends to pay for an 18-kilometre pipeline extension to bring clean drinking water to Oneida Nation of the Thames earned a mixed response from leadership in the Indigenous community. In an interview on London Morning, Indigenous Services...
January 18, 2023
Canada, Ontario, and Robinson Huron Treaty Leadership Announce two-week mediation
Robinson Huron leadership assembled at a closed-door Special Chiefs Meeting in Sudbury, Ont., on Jan. 16 to confer with their legal team from Nahwegahbow Corbiere Genoodmagejig Barristers & Solicitors in preparation for the historic mediation NationTalk: ANISHINANBEKNEWS.ca: SUDBURY — Canada and Ontario were in a tight corner: staring down a dispassionate, nonpartisan court set to...
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
Bail hearing scheduled for Saskatchewan sisters who say they were wrongfully convicted
The Globe and Mail: Two sisters who have spent nearly 30 years in prison for what they say are wrongful murder convictions hugged and smudged before walking into a courthouse for a bail hearing Tuesday. Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance were convicted in 1994 of second-degree murder in the death of 70-year-old farmer Anthony Joseph Dolff,...
January 17, 2023
‘A tragic first for Ontario’: 171 plausible burials found at Kenora residential school site
A survivors group is investigating the site of the St. Mary’s Indian Residential School, which operated under different names from 1897 to 1972. Article was updated 10 hrs ago Toronto Star: A survivors group that has been investigating the site of the former St. Mary’s Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ont., says ground-penetrating radar has...
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 16, 2023
Federal fisheries officers investigate Coastal GasLink pipeline project
The Globe and Mail: Work on the contentious Coastal GasLink pipeline is under investigation by federal fisheries officers, as construction pushes through sensitive salmon-bearing rivers. The B.C. Environmental Assessment Office has already issued dozens of regulatory warnings and orders, as well as fines, for the 670-kilometre-long, $11.2-billion project. Dan Bate, spokesman for the Department of...
January 16, 2023
Qalipu First Nation enrolment controversy reaches ‘pivotal point’ as court challenge begins
Group wants 2013 supplemental agreement abolished CBC News: The long-simmering fight over membership in Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation is entering a new chapter Monday, as a group of people rejected in a controversial enrolment process head to court. The Friends of Qalipu Advocacy Association is challenging a 2013 supplemental agreement between the federal government and...
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
Radar search finds more than 2,000 anomalies at Saskatchewan residential school site
More work needs to be done to determine what exactly the ground-penetrating radar has found at the former Lebret Indian Industrial School site. Toronto Star: A Saskatchewan First Nation says a ground-penetrating radar search at a former residential school has revealed more than 2,000 anomalies, while a physical search also found what is believed to...
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 11, 2023
RCMP, Coastal GasLink deny conspiring to intimidate, harass Wet’suwet’en members
Mounties acted ‘reasonably’ while enforcing injunction, B.C. legal defence says CBC News: The RCMP denies it conspired with a natural gas pipeline builder and a private security firm in a campaign designed to harass Wet’suwet’en people off their unceded territory in northern British Columbia, court filings say. The RCMP, Coastal GasLink and Forsythe Security, named...
January 9, 2023
Indigenous land defenders criminalized, surveilled and harassed as pipeline construction continues on Wet’suwet’en territory: Amnesty International
NationTalk: Four years on from the first large-scale police raid on Wet’suwet’en territory, Indigenous land defenders in Canada are still experiencing serious human rights violations as the construction of the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline continues on their unceded, ancestral and traditional territories, said Amnesty International today. The Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs – the authorities of the...
January 9, 2023
RCMP has spent nearly $50M on policing pipeline, logging standoffs in B.C.
Cash for operations on 3 resource projects flowed through Community-Industry Response Group CBC News · Posted: Jan 06, 2023 1:59 PM ET | Last Updated: January 6 CBC News: An RCMP squad charged with policing resistance to resource extraction in British Columbia spent nearly $50 million enforcing injunctions obtained by the petroleum and forestry sectors in its first...
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...
January 1, 2023
Denial rates of services and supports for First Nations children varied drastically by region during the pandemic
The Globe and Mail: Marsha McLeod In 2007, just before the House of Commons rose for its Christmas break, parliamentarians voted unanimously to adopt a principle meant to put the needs of First Nations children ahead of bureaucratic government conveniences. Jean Crowder, the then-MP who brought forward the motion to adopt Jordan’s Principle, warned her parliamentary colleagues...
December 27, 2022
Oji-Cree First Nation frustrated as majority of community members ineligible for drinking-water settlement
Wunnumin Lake has until March 7 to choose if it will opt in to the agreement CBC News: Leaders from an Oji-Cree First Nation in Treaty 9 in Ontario say they want the Canadian government to take action to properly compensate all their community members enduring a long-term boil-water advisory, after learning most of them won’t...
December 22, 2022
Human rights tribunal says Indigenous Services minister, AFN misled public on $20B child welfare deal
Federal minister, national First Nations advocacy organization didn’t say some victims would be left out CBC News: Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu and the Assembly of First Nations misled the public by not disclosing the fact that their $20-billion child welfare compensation deal left out some victims and reduced payments for others, says the Canadian...
December 21, 2022
Indian Day School (IDS) Survivors Demand Fair Timeline to Seek Compensation
NationTalk: SIX NATIONS OF GRAND RIVER, ON, Dec. 21, 2022 – Legal action has been launched against the federal government over a class action Settlement Agreement (The Agreement) providing compensation for systemic abuse suffered by First Nations children attending government-run IDS. The Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council (Six Nations) and class member Audrey Hill (Ms. Hill) assert...
December 21, 2022
Unanimous Decision of the Quebec Court of Appeal: Governments urged to end underfunding of Indigenous police services across Canada
NationTalk: MASHTEUIATSH, QC, VANCOUVER, BC and WENDAKE, QC, Dec. 21, 2022– The federal and provincial governments are being called upon to accept the findings of the Quebec Court of Appeal in the matter of the underfunding of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan police services and to end the chronic underfunding of Indigenous police services across the country. In response to the ruling...
December 20, 2022
State of emergency declared amid water shortage in Oneida Nation of the Thames
It’s costing $20K per day to ship water into the community, officials say CBC News: Leaders of an Indigenous community near London, Ont., are calling for the federal government to work with them to help solve chronic water supply problems after a state of emergency was issued Tuesday due to low water levels. Residents of Oneida...
December 19, 2022
Conflict over new Indigenous lobster fishery continues to smoulder amid some progress
Toronto Star: HALIFAX – Federal conservation officers have seized more than 7,000 lobster traps in the two years since violence flared in Nova Scotia when a First Nation tried to assert a treaty right by fishing out of season. Earlier this month, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans confirmed it had confiscated almost 2,000 traps...
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
Matawa Chiefs’ Council Call on the Government of Canada to Stop the Colonial Backroom Deals and Establish a Dedicated Federal Crown Table to Prepare for the Development of the Ring of Fire Region and Critical Minerals
NationTalk: THUNDER BAY, ON: At their meeting today, the Matawa Chiefs Council issue the following statement related to the activities of the Governments of Canada, Ontario, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) who are compromising the positions of Indigenous rights holders: “We have watched...
December 15, 2022
Residents from dozens of Saskatchewan First Nations qualify for compensation
Lawyers are encouraging residents and band councils from impacted First Nations to apply before the deadline of March 7, 2023. NationTalk: SaskToday.ca: SASKATCHEWAN – Numerous people who lived on a First Nation in Canada – including Saskatchewan – that had a long-term drinking water advisory for more than a year are eligible to submit a claim...
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 13, 2022
Documents raise concerns feds backing off commitment to phase out fish farms in B.C. by 2025
Critics say they fear an ongoing public consultation about open-net pen fish farms has a ‘foregone conclusion’ to leave fish farms in the water, to the detriment of wild salmon The Narwhal: Biologist Stan Proboszcz remembers Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 2019 election campaign commitment clearly: to develop a plan to get fish farms out of...
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 9, 2022
AFN First Nations-in-Assembly pass resolution by consensus on compensation for children and families
Assembly of First Nations: Ottawa, ON) – The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) announced that First Nations-in-Assembly have passed two crucial resolutions this week directing the AFN on a path forward on compensation and long-term reform. One resolution advances the AFN’s priorities on securing compensation for First Nations children and families who experienced egregious harms...
December 9, 2022
Coastal GasLink protesters sentenced after pleading guilty to criminal contempt
3 protesters receive $500 fines; 25 hours of community service for 2 others CBC News: A B.C. Supreme Court judge sentenced five protesters Monday who pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of court for ignoring a court order forbidding them from blocking access to a controversial northern B.C. pipeline. Justice Michael Tammen accepted a joint submission...
December 8, 2022
Tahltan’s decades-long struggle to protect Sacred Headwaters
David Suzuki Foundation: That’s just one of many revelations in the powerful new film The Klabona Keepers, about the Tahltan Nation’s struggle to protect the Sacred Headwaters, or Klabona, from mining. (The film, co-directed by my grandson Tamo Campos, is a collaboration between non-Indigenous filmmakers and Indigenous elders, who were given ownership of the intellectual property....
December 8, 2022
First Nations leaders reject Trudeau’s proposed gun law, citing risk to treaty rights
AFN chiefs reject Liberal gun-control bill The Canadian Press: OTTAWA – Chiefs at the Assembly of First Nationsvoted Thursdayto publicly oppose the Liberal government’s proposed gun-control legislationand stand against sovereignty bills in Alberta and Saskatchewan’s legislatures. All three bills would infringe on treaty rights, the First Nations leaders said. An amendment to Bill C-21, which...
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 8, 2022
First Nations demand withdrawal of proposed Alberta Sovereignty, Saskatchewan First acts
CBC News: Standing at a podium in Ottawa with several treaty chiefs behind her, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations called for the proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act and the Saskatchewan First Act to be withdrawn. Chiefs connected with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, Treaty 6 and Treaty 7 say the acts infringe...
December 7, 2022
Individuals who lived on a First Nation that had a long-term drinking water advisory for more than a year are encouraged to submit a claim for compensation
Resources are available to help navigate the claims process and submit a claim before March 7, 2023 NationTalk: DECEMBER 7, 2023 – The First Nations Drinking Water Settlement provides compensation for First Nations impacted by long-term drinking water advisories that lasted continuously for at least one year between November 20, 1995 and June 20, 2021. Compensation...
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 5, 2022
AFN Stands With Kiashke Zaaging Anishinabek (Gull Bay First Nation) In Action Against Canada For Inequitable Funding And Support For First Nation Police Services
NationTalk: (Ottawa, ON) – Today, Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (Gull Bay First Nation) Chief Wilfred King has launched a legal action in Federal Court against Public Safety Canada and other federal departments in response to the inequitable funding of First Nations Police Services. King, along with Legal Counsel Chantelle Bryson (Potestio Law) announced the legal action...
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
Caring Society Briefing: Canada and AFN seek judicial review of the CHRT Letter – Decision on the class action Final Settlement Agreement
NationTalk: On October 24, 2022, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (Tribunal) issued a Letter-Decision stating that the class action Final Settlement Agreement (FSA) signed by Canada, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), and other class action parties, does not fully satisfy its compensation orders stemming from 2019 CHRT 39 and upheld by the Federal Court...
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 28, 2022
Update on Compensation and Long-Term Reform to the First Nations Child and Family Services Program and Jordan’s Principle
Assembly of First Nations: SUMMARY: On November 23, 2022, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) filed an application for judicial review of the recent Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s (CHRT) decision regarding a proposed settlement on the payment of compensation to victims of Canada’s discrimination under the First Nations Child and Family Services Program and Jordan’s...
November 28, 2022
‘Stonewalled’: Trans Mountain hides dealings with private security and spy firms
Federally-owned pipeline company refuses to release contracts or reports First Peoples Law Report: CBC News – A federally owned pipeline company is withholding records that would expose its dealings with private security and intelligence firms by citing blanket exemptions under access-to-information law. Calgary-based Trans Mountain responded to a request to see its contracts with these agencies,...
November 25, 2022
Update on Compensation and Long-Term Reform to the First Nations Child and Family Services Program and Jordan’s Principle
SUMMARY: On November 23, 2022, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) filed an application for judicial review of the recent Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s (CHRT) decision regarding a proposed settlement on the payment of compensation to victims of Canada’s discrimination under the First Nations Child and Family Services Program and Jordan’s Principle. The AFN signed...
November 24, 2022
‘Contrary to reconciliation’: Ottawa sending mixed message about deal to compensate First Nations children, advocate charges
Ottawa says its latest move doesn’t mean compensation will be blocked from flowing to children and families harmed by Canada’s discriminatory on-reserve child welfare system. Toronto Star: OTTAWA—For Cindy Blackstock, the federal government’s move to seek a judicial review of a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling that rejected part of a First Nations child welfare...
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 23, 2022
Canada to seek judicial review of tribunal ruling on child welfare deal
APTN News: Indigenous Services Canada: The minister of Indigenous Services Canada (ISC)says Canada will seek a judicial review of a ruling from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) that refused to endorse a $20-billion deal that was reached with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). The money in the Final Settlement Agreement, or FSA, was...
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 17, 2022
Matawa chiefs push back against U.S. military agenda in the Ring of Fire
First Nation leaders demand a big say over any industrial development on their James Bay homelands First Peoples Law Report: Northern Ontario Business Staff Nov 17, 2022 1:00 PM Toronto media reports about talks between the U.S. military, mining interests and government about funding development in the Ring of Fire has angered Indigenous communities in Ontario’s...
November 15, 2022
Indigenous Services Canada did not provide First Nations communities with support to manage emergencies
Auditor-General of Canada: Ottawa —A report from Auditor General Karen Hogan tabled today in the House of Commons found that Indigenous Services Canada did not provide First Nations communities with the support they need to prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies such as floods and wildfires, which are increasing in both frequency and intensity. Over the...
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 9, 2022
BCAFN Honours Important Contributions by Indigenous Veterans
(Lheidli T’enneh Territory – Prince George, BC) – The BC Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN) is grateful and honours the many First Nations in British Columbia who made significant and important contributions to Canada’s military service. Over the years, First Nations displayed incredible strength, determination, generosity, resilience and courage, and are a source of immense...
November 8, 2022
Robinson-Huron Treaty annuities case: Ontario seeks stay – lawyer
Robinson-Huron Treaty Litigation Fund says Ontario has asked for a stay in final stage of court case while it appeals previous court decision on treaty annuity payments Sootoday.com: The third and final stage of an ongoing court case over treaty annuity payments launched by signatories to the Robinson-Huron Treaty is slated to begin early in...
November 8, 2022
Canada and Fox Lake Cree Nation mark key step toward reconciliation and renewed nation-to-nation relationship
Crown – Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada: Today, Chief Morris Beardy of Fox Lake Cree Nation and the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, announced that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance shared work at a Recognition of Indigenous Rights and Self-Determination table. This co-developed Memorandum of Understanding will help guide...
November 2, 2022
‘Pandemic of suffering:’ Manitoba chiefs press governments to fund regional hospital
Toronto Star: Chiefs of four remote First Nations in northeastern Manitoba are calling for the provincial and federal governments to build a health facility that can treat ongoing mental health and addiction crises for their growing populations. The chiefs from the Island Lake region estimate 15,000 to 18,000 people live in the area, but none...
November 2, 2022
Tensions rise as Coastal GasLink blasts a creek near a Wet’suwet’en camp
Questions and concerns about salmon, steelhead and the health of the river remain unaddressed as TC Energy continues construction of its gas pipeline The Coastal GasLink pipeline crosses more than 700 watercourses on its 670-kilometre-route. The crossing of Ts’elkay Kwe (Lamprey Creek) involves blasting to clear a path and excavating a trench directly through the...
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...
November 1, 2022
Results of First Nation suicide study show need for improvement, offer hope for change
NationTalk – CKOM News: Chief Margaret Bear of the Ochapowace First Nation remembers sitting in the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations’ previous building three years ago, filled with emotion and sharing much of the plight her community is facing today. “I expressed some tears,” Bear said of that day. The heavy emotions came then as...
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 26, 2022
FNLC calls on Canada to reengage with negotiating parties in light of the CHRT’s decision regarding the Final Settlement Agreement
NationTalk: (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has released its decision regarding the Final Settlement Agreement (“FSA”) regarding compensation for the victim/survivor class members of the child welfare system. There were two key aspects of the CHRT’s decision, one is confirmation that not all classes of victims/survivors are...
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 25, 2022
Federal government moving closer to funding Ring of Fire mining roads: document
An internal briefing document obtained by The Narwhal shows that Ottawa has flagged Ring of Fire development as a possible ‘priority.’ Without Indigenous consent, it’s unclear what will happen next The Narwhal: The federal government has quietly marked the Ring of Fire region of northern Ontario as a potential “priority” mineral deposit, signalling it may be...
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 20, 2022
Supreme Court will not hear from St. Anne’s residential school survivors
OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday it will not to heara case of residential school survivors who have fought a years-long battle against Ottawa to release thousands of records. The group of survivors from St. Anne’s residential school in northern Ontario had looked to the country’s highest court after spending the last...
October 19, 2022
‘Long overdue’: First Nations Police Chiefs respond to plan to expand Indigenous policing
Reaction is coming out swiftly to the federal government’s plan to make First Nations policing essential across the country. Saskatchewan has just one First Nation-administered police service: File Hills First Nations Police in Balcarres. The service has been in operation for about 20 years, serving five different First Nation communities in Treaty Four Tribal Territory....
October 18, 2022
Governments of Saskatchewan, Canada and Prince Albert Grand Council Affirm Commitment to Public Safety
The Government of Saskatchewan, the Government of Canada and the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) have signed an agreement to explore new, community-oriented ways to deliver police services and improve safety in First Nations communities. Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister Christine Tell, Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety, and Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC)...
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 17, 2022
NWAC Wants Nomination of Board Member to Reconciliation Council to Be Legislated; Calls for Rewrite of Bill C-29
OTTAWA – The President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), Carol McBride, appeared today before the House of Common’s Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs (INAN) to demand that her organization be given a say in the composition of a new council on reconciliation. INAN is studying Bill C-29, the National Council for Reconciliation...
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
Nations of Blackfoot Confederacy File Claim Against Alberta Persons with Development Disabilities
NationTalk: On September 1, 2022, the Siksika Chief and Council, on behalf of Siksika Nation, Kainai Nation (Blood Tribe) and Piikani Nation, filed a complaint against Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) for systemic discrimination against adult members of the Blackfoot Nations living with developmental disabilities through the Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) program. The Claim has...
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
Call for Restructuring Medical Transportation System After Delayed Medical Response for First Nation Infant
NationTalk: Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) and the Assembly of First Nations Manitoba (AFN) issued the following statement after an infant was not given prompt transportation from Pimicikamak Cree Nation to Winnipeg for emergency care. The ill infant waited 24 hours after triage at the nursing station because Medevac...
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 6, 2022
The complicated truth about pipelines crossing Wet’suwet’en territory
Alberta-based energy giant TC Energy frequently points to its agreements with 20 First Nations along the route of the Coastal GasLink pipeline. This is true, but look a little deeper and it’s a lot more complex The Narwhal: Three years after starting construction on a gas pipeline in northern B.C., Calgary-based energy giant TC Energy...
October 6, 2022
AMC sues Manitoba, Canada for $1B over damage caused by child welfare system
The lawsuit seeks to compensate children who were taken off reserve. APTN: The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) is suing the federal and Manitoba governments over what they say are far-reaching and damaging effects of the child welfare system. “Manitoba and Canada received consistent advice and warnings, including from their own experts, that they were...
October 5, 2022
New Reports Reaffirm Trends of Poor Health Outcomes and Under-Funded System for First Nations
Under the direction of the Chiefs-in-Assembly, Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority (SLFNHA) has released its Diabetes and Childhood Vaccination Coverage reports. The reports highlight the disproportionate burden of health outcomes and health inequities within northern First Nations. SLFNHA calls for improved resources to support diabetes and vaccination programs. “We are calling on the Federal...
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
Make Indigenous policing essential
Toronto Star: In the early morning hours of Sept. 4, Saskatchewan RCMP received a call reporting a stabbing on the James Smith Cree Nation. Three minutes later, two officers were dispatched to the scene. In most communities, that response could be quick enough to save some lives. But since the officers had to travel 45...
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 22, 2022
AFN Bulletin – Update on First Nations Child and Family Services and Jordan’s Principle Compensation
Assembly of First Nations: SUMMARY: The AFN appeared before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) on September 15 and 16, 2022, to seek the CHRT’s endorsement of the $20-billion Final Settlement Agreement to compensate First Nations children and families harmed by discriminatory underfunding of the First Nations Child and Family Services Program and for the...
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 12, 2022
1492 Land Back Lane dispute over proposed development near Caledonia and Six Nations returns to court
NationTalk: Newmarket Today – The legal saga around a two-year occupation of a proposed development site by a group of Indigenous people returned to an Ontario court on Monday with another attempt to remove the protesters. The company behind the planned housing development near Caledonia, Ont., and Six Nations of the Grand River is again...
September 11, 2022
James Smith Cree Nation chief calls for drug treatment centres in wake of knife attacks
Crystal meth addiction is rampant in community, support needed, leaders say CBC: The chief of James Smith Cree Nation and other Indigenous leaders are calling on the provincial and federal governments to fund on-reserve addiction treatment centres following the horrific stabbing rampage on the Saskatchewan First Nation and neighbouring town of Weldon. “We’ve got to protect our...
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 30, 2022
Federal and Ontario governments settle decades-long flooding claim with First Nation
Globe And Mail: More than a century after a small First Nation in Northwestern Ontario was flooded by a dam on the Rainy River, the community has reached an $84-million land claim settlement with the federal and provincial governments. Chief Janice Henderson of Mitaanjigamiing First Nation said the recent settlement is life-changing for her community,...
August 25, 2022
Minister Guilbeault is visiting regions in Quebec to discuss protection of the caribou
Environment and Climate Change Canada: The caribou is an iconic species for Canadians. It is at the heart of the boreal forest ecosystem and plays an important role in the culture and history of Indigenous Peoples. The Government of Canada is determined to work in collaboration with the provinces, Indigenous Peoples, and all stakeholders to...
August 23, 2022
Multiple Threats to Pacific Salmon Fishery: Canada and BC double funding and extend pacific salmon program
Vancouver, BC – Improving the health of Pacific salmon and ensuring a sustainable fishing sector is a priority for both the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia. Today, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Joyce Murray and the BC Minister of Land, Water, and Resource Stewardship,...
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 17, 2022
Canada’s takeover of First Nations finances left a legacy of substandard homes and contaminated water
NationTalk: Canada’s National Observer: Gull Bay First Nation is finally starting to recover. For decades, the Ojibway community north of Thunder Bay, Ont., has suffered through a series of disasters nearly unparalleled among non-Indigenous communities. In 2004, an assessment found about half of the First Nation’s 100 homes were dilapidated and unlivable, mostly due to...
August 17, 2022
UNESCO team in Alberta to judge if Wood Buffalo Park should go on endangered list
CityNews Everywhere Ottawa: A United Nations body that monitors some of the world’s greatest natural glories is in Canada again to assess government responses to ongoing threats to the country’s largest national park, including plans to release treated oilsands tailiBob Weber, The Canadian Press a day ago EDMONTON — A United Nations body that monitors some...
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 11, 2022
NAN Chiefs Endorse Housing Strategy look to Canada and Ontario to Address Housing Crisis
TIMMINS, ON: Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) will seek support from the governments of Canada and Ontario for a new First Nation-designed strategy endorsed by Chiefs-in-Assembly to address the housing crisis in NAN First Nations and improve the health of community members. “The NAN Housing Strategy was developed by our members as a solution to the...
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...
August 8, 2022
New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council calls for equal access to health supports for all Indigenous people
NationTalk: Fredericton, Revised – The New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council has, once again, been confronted by the federal government’s discrimination against our members. This time, the federal government’s discrimination takes the form of denying Indigenous people who live off reserves and non-status Indigenous people access to health benefits that the federal government provides to reserve...
August 3, 2022
The Government of Canada Formally Apologizes to Peepeekisis Cree Nation for File Hills Colony Scheme
Crown – Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada – The File Hills Colony Scheme, which was in place from 1898 to 1954, involved the involuntary relocation of graduates from residential schools and industrial schools in Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the Peepeekisis Cree Nation’s reserve. The federal Agent arbitrarily allocated agricultural land on reserve without the...
July 22, 2022
Letter from National Chief and Regional Chief to Prime Minister and Governor General on Papal Visit
Governor General of CanadaRideau Hall1 Sussex Drive Ottawa, OntarioK1A 0A1 Sent via email The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P.Prime Minister of CanadaLangevin BlockOttawa, OntarioK1A 0A2 Sent via email Re: Apostolic Journey of His Holiness Pope Francis to Canada Dear Excellency and Prime Minister, I am grateful for my invitation to the Citadelle upon the...
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 13, 2022
Federal government is failing First Nation fishers, Senate Committee on Fishing and Oceans finds: REBUTTAL
NationTalk: HALIFAX, NS – The Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance (UFCA) is voicing its grave dissatisfaction and frustration over a study released by the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans earlier this week on Indigenous rights-based fisheries, specifically those affirmed in the 1999 Marshall decisions. The report dismisses over twenty-two years of work by the...
July 12, 2022
Federal government is failing First Nation fishers, Senate Committee on Fishing and Oceans finds
NationTalk: Halifax – More than 23 years after a Supreme Court of Canada ruling affirmed the treaty fishing rights of certain First Nations, the federal government has failed to fully implement Indigenous rights-based fisheries, according to a new report by the Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. Peace on the Water: Advancing the Full Implementation...
July 11, 2022
First Nations Health Managers Association to launch “RISE Against Racism” campaign
Akwesasne, Traditional Mohawk Territory, Ontario — Indigenous Services Canada: Accessing quality health services can be a stressful experience. Anti-Indigenous racism in Canada’s health systems, such as discriminatory language in interactions with patients and negative stereotyping that influences care decisions, can have a negative impact on health outcomes. That is why the First Nations Health Managers...
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 29, 2022
Enforcement operation near Lake Cowichan
NationTalk: Since early June 2022, the BC RCMP, through the Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) and Division Liaison Team (DLT), have been involved in ongoing discussions with the impacted First Nations communities – Ditidaht, Huu-ay-aht and Pacheedaht – regarding their concerns over a protest camp that has been placed across Haddon Main and Carrmanah Mainline Forest...
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
Protesters Ordered to Remove Illegal Camp and Respect Indigenous Sovereignty and Provincial Authorizations
Nitinaht, Traditional Ditidaht First Nation Territory, B.C. – Indigenous leaders from the Ditidaht, Huu-ay-aht and Pacheedaht First Nations met with protesters today to give final notice to immediately dismantle an illegal camp built across a main logging road on Ditidaht Traditional Territory in Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 44 on Vancouver Island. The Nations’ elected and hereditary...
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 23, 2022
Robinson-Huron Superior treaty annuity payments appeal heading to Supreme Court
Supreme Court to hear Ontario case on treaty payments to Anishinaabe APTN: The Supreme Court of Canada says it will hear a legal battle over Crown payments to beneficiaries of two Robinson treaties which cover the upper Great Lakes in Ontario and 21 Anishinaabe bands. The Ontario government sought to challenge a ruling by the...
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 19, 2022
Neskantaga First Nation marks 27 years under a Boil Water Advisory – 10,000 days!
NationTalk: LANDSDOWNE HOUSE, ON – The community of Neskantaga First Nation (NFN) marked today as the 10,000thconsecutive day of being under a Boil Water Advisory (BWA). Causing 27 years of anxiety, frustration, and hardship in the community and a major challenge for the federal government to resolve—the current BWA was first declared on February 1,...
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 13, 2022
Matawa Chiefs’ Council work towards solidifying approach to Ring Of Fire Regional Environment Assessment
NationTalk: TORONTO, ON: Chiefs of the Matawa First Nations of Northern Ontario announced today they are working towards solidifying a regional approach to the federal Impact Assessment (IA) in the Ring of Fire. This announcement was made during the Matawa Chiefs Council’s participation in the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s 2022 convention which was...
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 11, 2022
Alberta Court of Appeal finds federal Impact Assessment Act unconstitutional
NationTalk: The Indian Resource Council – IRC, an organization representing over 130 First Nations who produce or have direct interest in the oil and gas industry, was gratified by the opinion handed down by the Alberta Court of Appeal determining that the federal Impact Assessment Act is unconstitutional. The Indian Resource Council was an intervenor...
May 8, 2022
Legacy of 1907 illegal land transfer leaves Peguis First Nation struggling with recurring flooding
Peguis FN was moved off of their original territory through an illegal land transfer in 1907 to their current location on Fisher River where they have been subject to continuous flooding. Toronto Star: The marshy delta of Manitoba’s Fisher River was not the original home of Peguis First Nation. But having been relocated there more...
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 16, 2022
Opposition to Ottawa’s Ring of Fire Environmental Assessment
Mar. 16, 2022: Timmins Today – A coalition of conservationists, environmentalists and lawyers want Ottawa’s Ring of Fire environmental assessment process to be broadened in size and scope to include industrial centres like Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury. In a March 15 letter sent to three federal cabinet ministers, the group is calling for a...
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...
March 8, 2022
Nuchatlaht Nation Aboriginal Title case with BC Supreme Court
Windspeaker.com – The Nuchatlaht Nation began its legal battle in 2017 fighting BC and the federal government to get their land back. Their territory includes a large part of Nootka Island off the west coast of Vancouver Island. It has been impacted by industrial logging and fishing for almost a century since Nuchatlaht was displaced...
March 1, 2022
St. Bernard’s IRS (Grouard Mission)
Globe and Mail – The Kapawe’no First Nation in northern Alberta announced on Tuesday the discovery of 169 potential unmarked graves on the former grounds of the St. Bernard’s Indian Residential School (1894-1961), another in a growing number of school burial sites. Kapawe’no First Nation, located near High Prairie, about 350 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, worked...
March 1, 2022
Grouard IRS (St. Bernard’s IRS)
Grouard IRS (AKA – St. Bernard’s IRS – The Kapawe’no First Nation in northern Alberta announced the discovery of 169 potential unmarked graves on the former grounds of the St. Bernard’s IRS...
February 23, 2022
Matawa Chiefs Council Opposition to the Regional Assessment for the Ring of Fire
Feb. 23, 2022: The Matawa Chiefs Council and Matawa First Nations Management (MFNM) – representing (9) member First Nations call on Canada to begin the collaboration, negotiations and investment process – in partnership with Matawa member First Nations – to maximize the benefits of the development of the north. The land Ontario refers to as the Far...
February 15, 2022
Keeseekoose First Nation
Fort Pelly Residential School and St. Philip’s Residential School Feb. 15, 2022: 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...
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 26, 2022
St. Josephs’ Mission Residential School
William Lake First Nation Toronto Star – Chief Willie Sellars of the William Lake First Nation delivered preliminary results from the first phase of an investigation into St. Josephs’ Mission Residential School. 93 potential human burials have been found in an area near a historic cemetery at the school site. Current data suggest that 50...
January 7, 2022
Robinson-Huron and Superior Treaties, 1850
CBC – Ontario will appeal the Robinson Huron Treaty Annuity Case to the Supreme Court. The case was upheld by both the Ontario Superior Court and then the Ontario Court of Appeal. The 21 First Nations involved said that amount needs to be re-negotiated, and the courts have agreed....
January 6, 2022
Bearskin Lake COVID Crisis
Toronto Star – Last week Bearskin Lake declared a state of emergency due to the high number of COVID-19 cases in the community. On Monday morning Chief Lefty Kamenawatamin issued a press release requesting the Government of Canada provide military assistance for the beleaguered community: “Currently, the majority of households are under quarantine and require...
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 23, 2021
Federal Court and the Court of Queen’s Bench approve an agreement to settle class-action litigation
APTN – Yesterday, the Federal Court and the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba issued a joint decision approving an agreement to settle class-action litigation related to safe drinking water in First Nations communities. An appeals period of approximately 60 days will follow the courts’ approval of the settlement agreement. The class-action lawsuits could see...
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 11, 2021
24th anniversary of Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa decision
Union of BC Indian Chiefs – UBCIC marks the 24th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada’s ground-breaking Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa decision, which confirmed the continuing existence of the Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan Title and Rights, contrary to provincial claims that their Title, if it had existed, had been extinguished. On December 11, 1997 the six members of...
December 11, 2021
24th anniversary Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa decision
Union of BC Indian Chiefs – UBCIC marks the 24th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada’s ground-breaking Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa decision, which confirmed the continuing existence of the Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan Title and Rights, contrary to provincial claims that their Title, if it had existed, had been extinguished. On December 11, 1997 the six members of...
December 11, 2021
Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa decision,
Union of BC Indian Chiefs – UBCIC marks the 24th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada’s ground-breaking Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa decision, which confirmed the continuing existence of the Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan Title and Rights, contrary to provincial claims that their Title, if it had existed, had been extinguished. On December 11, 1997 the six members of...
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 24, 2021
Coastal First Nations vs Government of Alberta and 2 Métis organizations
Coastal First Nations – In the wake of the news that two Métis groups received funding from the Alberta Government to legally challenge the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, Coastal First Nations (CFN) will continue to fight to protect our waters, lands and resources from potential oil spills. “We will do whatever it takes to protect...
November 24, 2021
Coastal First Nations vs Government of Alberta and 2 Métis organizations
Coastal First Nations – In the wake of the news that two Métis groups received funding from the Alberta Government to legally challenge the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, Coastal First Nations (CFN) will continue to fight to protect our waters, lands and resources from potential oil spills. “We will do whatever it takes to protect...
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
Wet’suwet’en Coastal GasLink protests
Toronto Star – Fifteen people, including Indigenous elders, media and legal observers, had been arrested by the afternoon, according to Jennifer Wickham, a spokesperson for the hereditary chiefs and their supporters. Wickham stressed they had been acting peacefully. Wickham said armed RCMP officers in tactical gear with canine units and heavy machinery moved into the...
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...
November 5, 2021
Robinson-Huron and Superior Treaties, 1850
The Manitoulin Expositor – The Ontario Court of Appeal releases judgment on Ontario’s Stage 1 and 2 in Robinson–Huron Treaty Annuities Case that affirms much of the trial decision and only disagrees with the trial judgment on a limited number of issues. As we explain, we unanimously reject the majority of the arguments raised on...
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 21, 2021
First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study
Assembly of First Nations – Built on collaborative research with 92 First Nations across the country – 7,000 participants over 10 years – the FNFNES highlights that traditional foods remain foundational to First Nations’ health and well-being, and that the quality of traditional food is superior to store bought food. However, due to environmental degradation,...
October 20, 2021
Mi’kmaw Netukulimk Moderate Living Fishery
Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office – Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs (Assembly) met with Minister Bernadette Jordan, Department of Fisheries and Oceans; Minister Carolyn Bennett, CIR and Minister Marc Miller, ISC to further discuss how the Mi’kmaq will be exercising their right to fish for a moderate livelihood. The Assembly pushed for Canada to accept...
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 18, 2021
Kamloops Indian Residential School
Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation Globe and Mail – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was publicly reprimanded by the chief of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation after a ceremony in which he paid his first respects to missing children believed to be buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. Ms. Casimir said the First...
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....
October 1, 2021
Supreme Court validates Honour of the Crown
Métis Nation of Ontario, Métis Nation of Alberta – The Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in City of Toronto v Ontario (Attorney General). This case was about the fairness of a municipal election in one city, but the decision also raised the issue of how Canada’s Constitution is to be interpreted and the...
September 30, 2021
Marievale Indian Residential School
Cowessess First Nation Toronto Star – Cowessess First Nation Chief Cadmus Delorme announced the discovery of 751 unmarked graves at the site of the former Marievale Indian Residential School in southeastern Saskatchewan “which operated from 1898 until 1997, and was run by the Catholic Church for most of its history”. “We will find more bodies...
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...
September 21, 2021
Mi’kmaw Netukulimk Moderate Living Fishery
Global News – …a flotilla of non-Indigenous fishermen removed about 350 lobster traps off the coast of southwestern Nova Scotia…under the watch of RCMP, coast guard boats and police helicopters. “The gear that we were collecting was what was in violation of the law,” Colin Sproul, President of the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association...
September 14, 2021
Native Women’s Association of Canada Political Party Report Card
Native Women’s Association of Canada – NWAC commissioned Nanos Research to compare the parties’ platforms with the 11 policy issues NWAC determined to be of primary importance. Those policy issues include: human rights self-determination reconciliation environment clean water housing child welfare justice and policing employment and economic development, and health care. The result is a...
September 14, 2021
Native Women’s Association of Canada Political Party Report Card
NDP Liberal Green Conservative Bloc Québecois A B B D D Rights of Indigenous Women & MMIWG2S 4 5 5 2 1 Self Determination & Decision-Making 5 5 5 4 5 Reconciliation & residential Schools 5 3 4 3 3 Environment & Climate Change 5 4 4 1 1 Clean Drinking Water & Public Services...
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...
August 16, 2021
Robinson-Huron and Superior Treaties, 1850
Wawa News – The Government of Canada has completed their mandating process and are prepared to negotiate and settle the ongoing annuities case. Canada has stated that the negotiation and settlement process requires participation from the Government of Ontario. “Now, we need the province to come to the table to make this settlement happen,” said...
August 10, 2021
Peepeekisis Cree Nation
Government of Canada – The Peepeekisis Cree Nation and the Government of Canada have concluded their negotiated settlement to resolve the File Hills Colony Specific Claim. The century-old claim concerned Canada’s breach of fiduciary obligations when it implemented the File Hills Farm Colony Scheme with its first transfer and settlement of industrial school graduates onto...
July 30, 2021
Tataskweyak, Curve Lake and Neskantaga First Nations sign an historic Agreement-in- Principle
“Tataskweyak Cree Nation, Curve Lake First Nation and Neskantaga First Nation, together with the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services, announced that an historic Agreement in Principle has been reached through a successful negotiation process to resolve national class action litigation related to safe drinking water in First Nations communities. This Agreement in Principle...
July 29, 2021
Saugeen First Nation Treaty 72 signed 1854
Saugeen Ojibwat Nation – Ontario Superior Court ruled on SON’s claims: an Aboriginal title claim to parts of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay and a claim that the Crown breached its promise to protect forever parts of the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula for SON. The claim to “waters” was denied based on a lack of evidence...
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...
July 16, 2021
Kamloops Indian Residential School
Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation Toronto Star – Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation released a report on the preliminary findings of their search of the 215 unmarked graves: Revising the initial estimate to 200 “targets of interest” – probable graves Calling on the federal government to help identify any remains in the unmarked graves Demanding...
July 16, 2021
Lac Seul First Nation
iPolitics –The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 8-1 that a $30-million award to the Lac Seul First Nation, located in northwestern Ontario, to cover the federal government’s intentional flooding of its reserve land in 1929 was insufficient, and has sent the case back to trial to be re-evaluated. In doing so, the top court...
July 14, 2021
Tataskweyak Cree Nation
“Global News – Manitoba’s Tataskweyak Cree Nation declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, after nine young people were lost to suicide in the last 14 months alone. They asked federal and provincial authorities for urgent help and “immediate” supports for mental wellness and long-term solutions for its community. The community, which is connected by...
July 13, 2021
Kuper Island Indian Residential School
Penelakut First Nation Toronto Star – Penelakut Tribe Chief Joan Brown “has told surrounding First Nations that it has found the unmarked graves of 160 or more people on the grounds of the former residential school”. Kuper Island School on Penelakut Island was operated by the Catholic Church until 1969. Outbreaks of deadly disease were...
June 30, 2021
Jordan’s Principle Funding
The Matawa Education and Care Centre (MECC), – formerly, the ‘Matawa Learning Centre,’ yesterday released their report entitled ‘Matawa Education and Care Centre 5th Annual Report on the Seven Youth Inquest – Academic 2020-2021.’ For the first time—it included an alert regarding MECC’s potential inability to meet inquest recommendations 64, 71, 81, 83, 84, 85,...
June 30, 2021
Exclusion of Métis from Residential School Settlement Agreement
Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak / Women of the Métis Nation (LFMO) – the National Indigenous Women’s Organization representing Métis women across the Métis Nation Motherland, is calling on the Federal Government to commit to a distinctions-based process and supports for Métis Residential School survivors and their families to heal in this unprecedented time of grief and...
June 30, 2021
St. Eugene Mission School
Ktunaxa Nation, community of Aq’am Toronto Star – Chief Jason Louie of The Lower Kootenay Band announced that they had discovered “182 sets of human remains in unmarked graves…flagged near the location of a former residential school – St. Eugene Mission School – in Cranbrook, B.C…from the member bands of Ktunaxa nation, and neighbouring First...
June 30, 2021
The Matawa Education and Care Centre
The Matawa Education and Care Centre (MECC), – formerly, the ‘Matawa Learning Centre,’ yesterday released their report entitled ‘Matawa Education and Care Centre 5th Annual Report on the Seven Youth Inquest – Academic 2020-2021.’ For the first time—it included an alert regarding MECC’s potential inability to meet inquest recommendations 64, 71, 81, 83, 84, 85,...
June 29, 2021
Marten Falls First Nation
Marten Falls First Nation – has agreed to join the class-action litigation on drinking water advisories in First Nation communities, which will be led by Olthuis, Kleer, Townshend (OKT) LLP and McCarthy Tétrault LLP. Marten Falls has decided to participate in this class-action lawsuit because it has been under a boil water advisory for over...
June 26, 2021
Marievale Indian Residential School
Cowessess First Nation Toronto Star – Chief Cadmus Delorme said the First Nation has since identified about 300 unmarked graves. Not all were believed to belong to children. Catholic Church parishioners are thought to have been buried there, as well as members of neighbouring communities. The First Nation worked with historical records from the Roman...
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 6, 2021
Kamloops Indian Residential School
Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation Toronto Star – The Missionary of Oblates of Mary Immaculate “says it will disclose all historical documents in its possession… They operated 48 schools in Canada, including the Marieval IRS and the Kamloops IRS…In the statement, the Oblates said the work is not complete because of complications with provincial and...
June 5, 2021
Kamloops Indian Residential School
Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation Toronto Star – The federal government, so far, has refused to legally compel the Catholic Church to release all documents relating the residential school system. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate who operated the Kamloops Residential School “have yet to release any records about the Kamloops school. The Catholic order,...
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...
June 3, 2021
Kamloops Indian Residential School
Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation Murray Sinclair, who led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission “called for an independent investigation of the broader question of unmarked sites across the country and demanded it not be conducted under the auspices of the federal government.”...
June 2, 2021
Kamloops Indian Residential School
Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) and the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) at UBC – NCTR and IRSHDC re calling on the federal government to work in collaboration with residential school Survivors and Indigenous governments to establish a national framework for investigation and protection of...
June 1, 2021
Kamloops Indian Residential School
Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation Toronto Star – In 2009 – when Conservatives were in power – there had been a request for $1.5 million, which would have been used to help locate gravesites, among other things. The request was denied. The landmark Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report on the legacy of the residential school...
June 1, 2021
Muskowekwan Indian Residential School
CTV News – In 2018 and 2019, the First Nation worked with the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Alberta to use ground-penetrating radar to find unmarked or unidentified graves of children who attended the school. Through that process, along with water line construction done in the 1990’s, the First Nation has identified at...
May 28, 2021
Kamloops Indian Residential School
Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation Toronto Star – The bodies of 215 Indigenous children were discovered in unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Residential School located in the territory of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation. The Truth and Reconciliation records the death of 51 children dying at the Kamloops Residential School between...
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...
May 12, 2021
Mi’kmaw Netukulimk Moderate Living Fishery
Ku’ku’kwes News: In a letter dated April 30, the chair for the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) asked Leslie Norton, Canada’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland to explain what Canada has done to: Investigate alleged acts of racism, violence and vandalism against Mi’kmaw fishers and supporters Investigate...
May 11, 2021
Mi’kmaw Netukulimk Moderate Living Fishery
Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office – The community of Potlotek First Nation has now filed a legal proceeding against DFO challenging the validity of the DFO regime in its limitations of Mi’kmaw livelihood harvesting activities. “We are filing for a declaration that the Fisheries Act and Regulations are invalid as against authorized Mi’kmaw harvesters who are...
May 11, 2021
Giant Mine Remediation
CBC – The Yellowknives Dene First Nation says the federal government’s response to the Giant Mine petition “reflects some progress,” but when it comes to remediation contracts, the response “falls short.” They say the response fails to reflect over three months of discussions between the Yellowknives Dene and government representatives. It also points out that...
April 28, 2021
Robinson-Huron and Superior Treaties, 1850
Wawa News – the Ontario Court of Appeal concluded its hearing of the Government of Ontario’s appeal of the Stage 1 decision in the Robinson Treaties annuities case. The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision on the Stage 1 appeal, which it will likely release in the months following its hearing of the Stage...
March 30, 2021
Mi’kmaw Netukulimk Moderate Living Fishery
APTN – Mi’kmaw lobster harvesters in Nova Scotia have launched legal action against Canada’s attorney general, RCMP, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), and 29 non-Indigenous fishers including the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association (BFIFA) for the events around the launch of the Moderate Living Fishery in September 2020...
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...
March 24, 2021
No national fire protection code that mandates fire safety standards or enforcement on reserves
“NationTalk – There is no national fire protection code that mandates fire safety standards or enforcement on reserves. All other jurisdictions in Canada including provinces, territories, and other federal jurisdictions (such as military bases, airports, and seaports) have established building and fire codes. The Aboriginal Firefighters Association of Canada (AFAC), National Indigenous Fire Safety Council...
March 3, 2021
Mi’kmaw Netukulimk Moderate Living Fishery
Department of Fisheries – Introduced a path forward for Moderate Livelihood Fishing Plans based on three key principles: implementation of First Nations Treaty rights conservation and sustainability of fish stocks, and transparent and stable management of the fishery. The Sipekne’katik First Nation and the The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs reject the plan The...
February 26, 2021
Auditor-General Report on Drinking Water Issues in First Nations
A report from Auditor General Karen Hogan tabled today in the House of Commons concludes that the support provided by Indigenous Services Canada has not been adequate to address long-standing problems with safe drinking water for many of Canada’s First Nations communities. Drinking water advisories remain a part of daily life in many of these...
February 20, 2021
Clean Water, Broken Promises
APTN – “Clean Water, Broken Promises”, a collaborative investigation into water issues in First Nations. Concordia University’s Institute for Investigative Journalism (IIJ) consortium has been investigating problems in water quality nationwide since September 2018. In November 2019, the group’s videos and articles revealed that in a half-dozen Canadian cities, lead levels in the tap water...
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...
February 3, 2021
Mi’kmaw Netukulimk Moderate Living Fishery
Global News – The Sipekne’katik First Nation has filed a court action against the Attorney General of Nova Scotia to challenge a provincial regulation on purchasing fish products, saying it’s unconstitutional. This regulation orders that any fish products sold in Nova Scotia must be caught and registered under a commercial licence with the Department of...
February 3, 2021
Giant Mine Remediation
CBC – The Giant Mine operated from 1948 to 2006, displacing the Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YNDFN) from the western part of Yellowknife Bay, affecting their harvesting rights. The mine contaminated the water and led to long-term negative social impacts among the YKDFN. The YKDFN and the federal government agreed to set up a formal...
January 28, 2021
Racism against Indigenous womern
Native Women’s Association of Canada – At a two-day meeting at which the issue of anti-Indigenous racism in Canada’s healthcare systems will be addressed by federal, provincial, and territorial governments as well as representatives of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit, NWAC is not being permitted to give more broadly based opening remarks Wednesday, along...
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 22, 2021
Beaver Lake Partial Advance Cost Award
LAC-LA BICHE, AB: Beaver Lake First Nations – The Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal the decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal overturning Beaver Lake Cree Nations’ partial advanced cost award. After ten years of litigation, including 5 years where Alberta and Canada unsuccessfully tried to strike its claim, the Beaver Lake...
January 22, 2021
Partial Advanced Cost Award
CISION – LAC-LA BICHE, AB – The Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal the decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal overturning Beaver Lake Cree Nations’ partial advanced cost award. After ten years of litigation, including 5 years where Alberta and Canada unsuccessfully tried to strike its claim, the Beaver Lake Cree could...
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 21, 2020
Mi’kmaw Netukulimk Moderate Living Fishery
The Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance (UFCA) – a newly formed alliance of commercial fishery stakeholders, is calling on the Government of Canada to establish clear, lasting, responsible, regulatory oversight for all fisheries – commercial, food, social, and ceremonial. Established in Nov. 2020, the UFCA represents thousands of multi-species commercial fishermen, fishery associations, and associated businesses from...
December 17, 2020
Failure to extend consulting period
CBC – Five First Nations in Northern Ontario – Neskantaga, Attawapiskat, Fort Albany, Kashechewan and Weenusk First Nations – sent a letter on Dec. 10, 2020 to the federal Impact Assessment Agency demanding more time for the consultation process announced on Nov. 12, 2020 with a deadline of Jan. 21, 2020. They wanted the date...
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 8, 2020
Shamattawa First Nation
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc – Letter to PM Trudeau – With 264 confirmed COVID-19 cases in a community of just over 1000 people, Shamattawa First Nation in northern Manitoba immediate assistance from your office to help us evacuate the Elders of Shamattawa to ensure they are able to safely isolate in closer proximity to health...
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 18, 2020
DFO cancels consultation with Mi’kmaw over fish passage in Avon River
Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office (KMKNO),– this week the Consultation Department received notice – without explanation – from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) that a Ministerial Order (MO) that DFO developed to address concerns with the Avon River was no longer being issued. This MO was to be implemented weeks ago and instead...
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 5, 2020
Jordan’s Principle Expenses
Oakville Beaver – This past June, Jordan’s Principle abruptly cut funding for his daughter’s treatment, saying it was “too expensive,” said the girl’s father, Stephen Paquette, Indigenous Knowledge Guide for the Halton District School Board. Despite repeated requests, Indigenous Services Canada has so far refused to provide any budgetary guidance so he can find less...
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 28, 2020
Lac Seul First Nation
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) – Supreme Court of Canada grants intervener status to AMC, along with many others, in the Southwind case. Lac Seul Band launched the suit against the Federal Government for breaching their fiduciary duty when they flooded reserve land to advance a hydro-electric project. This project would see massive profits for...
October 23, 2020
Mi’kmaw Netukulimk Moderate Living Fishery
Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office – Representatives of the DFO Conservation and Protection (C&P) officers, who seized traps from Potlotek and Eskasoni authorized harvesters, refused to attend the consultation discussions (between DFO and Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs) to explain their actions and DFO representatives in attendance said they would not exercise authority over C&P...
October 22, 2020
Neskantanga First Nation
Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) – Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler and Neskantaga First Nation Chief Chris Moonias have demanded a coordinated response to the State of Emergency declared by the remote community as immediate heath threats from the water system has forced the community to evacuate its members. Indigenous Services Canada has refused to acknowledge the...
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 21, 2020
Climate crisis and First Nations Right to Food
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 21, 2020
Mi’kmaw Netukulimk Moderate Living Fishery
Sipekne’katik First Nation awarded an interim injunction “authorizing police to arrest anyone whose interference, blockades or threats keep the community from carrying out its fishery… Chief Michael Sack has indicated that “The plan…includes conservation measures, regulations for the boats and their safety and compliance officers”. The main concern for the non-Indigenous fisherman is the sale...
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
Wet’suwet’en protests against Coastal GasLink
Union of BC Indian Chiefs – Coastal GasLink called in the RCMP to remove a group of Wet’suwet’en women and community members who are holding ceremony at a proposed drill site for Coastal Gaslink’s pipeline. UBCIC stands in solidarity with the Indigenous land defenders who are protecting the Wedzin Kwa, the river that sustains and...
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...
October 15, 2020
Saugeen First Nation Treaty 72 signed 1854
NationTalk – SON’s claim is that the Crown could have protected the Peninsula and misled SON in the negotiations of a surrender of the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula. SON’s claim is that this was a breach of the Crown’s fiduciary duty. What SON is seeking is a declaration the Crown breached this duty. If successful, in...
October 1, 2020
Mi’kmaw Netukulimk Moderate Living Fishery
Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office – Mi’kmaw harvesters from the Potlotek Mi’kmaw community will exercise their inherent right to fish for a moderate livelihood under their communities own self-governed fisheries plan. The harvesters will take to the waters of St. Peter’s Bay on the annual celebration of Treaty Day, a date to recognize and honor the...
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 27, 2020
Indigenous Police Forces
Toronto Star – Indigenous Police Forces only police force in Canada not classified as an essential service. The federal government has promised four times “to speed up the development of a legal framework to recognize First Nations policing as an essential service”: after the 2019 election, after the Coastal GasLInk protests in BC in the...
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 25, 2020
Saugeen First Nation Treaty 72 signed 1854
Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) and Grey County – The Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation and the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation reached an agreement settling Grey County’s involvement in SON’s long-standing legal action in relation to parts of the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula. The agreement settles a claim launched by SON approximately 25 years ago...
September 25, 2020
Lac Seul First Nation
Dryden Now – In 1929, the Ear Falls Dam was built to supply hydroelectric power to Ontario and Manitoba, but flooded over 11,000 acres of Lac Seul First Nation’s reserve lands and burial sites that same year. Chief Derek Maud says it’s disappointing and unacceptable that Canada has not addressed the outstanding issue, and he...
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 21, 2020
First Nation constitutional orders are distinct but equal to Euro-Canadian laws
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) – will be intervening at the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in a significant and potentially transformational hearing to argue that First Nation constitutional orders are distinct but equal to Euro-Canadian laws. On the surface, the case is about the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, the federal government’s carbon tax,...
September 20, 2020
Alberta’s 150th anniversary on entering Confederation
NationTalk – On the day celebrating Alberta’s entry into Confederation 115 years ago, Premier Jason Kenny acknowledged that “Alberta’s history of human habitation dates back more than 10,000 years when the first Indigenous people migrated to Alberta to find a land rich in bounty. Albertans have celebrated years of growth and economic prosperity despite the...
September 18, 2020
Mi’kmaw Netukulimk Moderate Living Fishery
Toronto Star – “In its 1999 Marshall decision – borne of a court case against Mi’kmaw fisherman and icon Donald Marshall – the Supreme Court affirmed the right of First Nations to hunt, fish and gather in pursuit of a “moderate livelihood.”” 21 years later, the federal government has failed to define “moderate livelihood. The...
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 9, 2020
Indigenous Journalists
Toronto Star – Increasing arrests of Indigenous journalists including: Karl Dockstader at 1492 Land Back Lane Haudenosaunee occupation regarding a housing development near Caledonia Courtney Skye, Yellowhead Institute researcher and Ryerson Fellow arrested as well Award-winning journalist Justin Brake was arrested and charged with criminal and civil contempt and criminal mischief while covering a protest...
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...
July 8, 2020
Robinson-Huron and Superior Treaties, 1850
Manitoulin Expositor – Since the Ontario Government launched their appeal of the Dec. 24, 2018 decision, the Superior Court has sided with the Anishinabek Nation in two of three challenges: Phase 1: Established that the original treaty created a ‘sui generis fiduciary relationship’ (meaning the colonial government was required to manage the lands and act...
July 2, 2020
Supreme Court: Trans Mountain Pipeline appeal
BIV – Business in Vancouver – The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear an appeal of the federal government’s approval of the $12.6 billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which is already under construction. The Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish First Nations and Coldwater Indian Band had appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada to hear...
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 23, 2020
Lac Seul First Nation
First Peoples Law -The Supreme Court of Canada granted Lac Seul First Nation’s application for leave to appeal the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in Southwind v. Canada. The Supreme Court is expected to clarify how equitable compensation is calculated where a First Nation’s reserve lands have been taken or damaged by the Crown in...
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 31, 2020
Laurentian University Research on Indigenous Homelessness
CBC – A team of researchers at Laurentian University is compiling research about homelessness among Indigenous people — with the hopes it could influence government policy decisions, and contribute to reconciliation. Last fall, the university hosted a conference, called Reclaiming Home, which focused on issues of homelessness, housing, and reconciliation. “Just looking at the rates...
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...
February 6, 2020
Wet’suwet’en Coastal GasLInk protests
Union of BC Indian Chiefs – RCMP began aggressively raiding Wet’suwet’en traditional and unceded territories under the watch of the Provincial and Federal Governments. Chief Don Tom, Vice-President of the UBCIC concluded “Using armed force to take Indigenous peoples off their unceded and traditional territories against their will is not reconciliation, it is colonialism in...
February 3, 2020
Cutting emergency funding to evacuated First Nation
CTV News – People from a Manitoba First Nation destroyed by flooding nearly nine years ago met in Winnipeg on Monday after a federal court upheld a decision by the federal government last week to end benefits for evacuees still waiting to go home Chief Adrian Sinclair has expressed concern some people, who have been...
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...
January 6, 2020
Wet’suwet’en Coastal GasLInk protests
Hereditary Chiefs of all five Wet’suwet’en clans have rejected BC Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church’s decision granting an interlocutory injunction, which criminalizes Anuk ‘nu’at’en (Wet’suwet’en law), and have issued and enforced an eviction of CGL’s workers from the territory. “Canada and the B.C. government have both pledged to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights...
December 20, 2019
Québec Constitution Challenge to Bill C-92
Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Perry Bellegarde says the Government of Quebec’s decision to request that the Quebec Court of Appeal rule on the constitutionality of Bill C-92, the Indigenous child welfare act, is a setback that will further harm First Nations children and families. This move could lead to delay and conflict,...
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...
December 2, 2019
Tataskweyak Cree Nation proposes class-action lawsuit
National Post: A chief of a Manitoba First Nation is proposing a class-action lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of her community and other reserves that have experienced long-term boil water advisories. Tataskweyak Cree Nation Chief Doreen Spence said in a statement of claim filed last month that people are unable to practise their...
November 26, 2019
Oneida Water Distribution System
Toronto Star/ Ryerson School of Journalism: The water distribution system on Oneida territory (with 2,200 residents) – operated by the community with regulatory oversight from Indigenous Services Canada – has failed to meet provincial standards dating back to 2006. Upstream, the nearby City of London dumps millions of litres of raw sewage into the Thames...
November 7, 2019
Cutting emergency funding to evacuated First Nation
Government of Canada – announcement by the Government of Canada to cut off funding for emergency aid to residents of Lake St. Martin First Nation in Manitoba on Dec. 31. 2019 with the expectation that new housing stock – needed due to the massive 2011 flood – will be finished by then to accommodate all...
November 6, 2019
Cutting emergency funding to evacuated First Nation
Nov. 6, 2019 – While some have returned to newly constructed houses, 991 people are still waiting for a place to live, 400 of them children. (CTV)...
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 23, 2019
Declaration of Public Health Emergency
Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Resolution 16/04 Call for Declaration of Public Health Emergency. NAN is a political territorial organization representing 49 First Nation communities within northern Ontario with the total population of membership (on and off reserve) around 45,000 people. The Sioux Lookout Chiefs Committee on Health and the NAN Executive declared a Health and...
October 21, 2019
UN Special Rapporteur report on Indigenous housing
CBC – In Canada, close to half of all First Nations people live on reserves, and more than 25 per cent of them live in overcrowded conditions, constituting approximately seven times the proportion of non-indigenous people nationally. More than 10,000 on-reserve homes in Canada are without indoor plumbing, and 25 per cent of reserves in...
October 15, 2019
Okanagan Indian Band : Other First Nations join lawsuit
Water Canada – Ermineskin Cree Nation, Sucker Creek First Nation and two other Alberta First Nations have joined forces with Okanogan First Nation to coordinate legal actions to confirm First Nations’ – and other Canadians – human right to safe drinking water. Ermineskin Cree Nation will also be presenting to the Assembly of First Nations...
October 6, 2019
Federal Government asks for Judicial Review of CHRT decision
The federal government has asked for a judicial review of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) decision to award $2B in damages to approximately 53,000 Indigenous children and youth wrongly removed or denied essential services. The CHRT panel found that the government racially discriminated against First Nations children in care in a willful and reckless manner. As a result, the CHRT ordered...
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 25, 2019
Deaths of Indigenous Children in Child Welfare
72 Indigenous children connected to child welfare died in northern Ontario, where three Indigenous agencies covering most of the territory were underfunded approximately $400 million over a five-year period. The number of deaths jumps to 102 Indigenous children when looking at the entire province between 2013 to 2017. Almost half of the deaths, 48 in...
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...
September 6, 2019
Federal Government asks for Judicial Review of CHRT decision
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Citation: 2019 CHRT39, File No.: T1340/7008 We believe that the Creator has entrusted us with the sacred responsibility to raise our families…for we realize healthy families are the foundation of strong and healthy communities. The future of our communities lies with our children, who need to be nurtured within their families...
August 26, 2019
Budget 2019 invests in creation of Indigenous Fire Marshall Office
Government of Canada – Today, the Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Indigenous Services, announced Budget 2019 funding of $9.97 million over three years, starting in 2019–2020, to support the creation of an Indigenous Fire Marshal Office (IFMO). The funding will support Indigenous partners in the next steps in establishing a new IFMO, including how the...
August 19, 2019
Okanagan Indian Band files suit in federal court over drinking water
Water Canada – Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) filed a suit in Federal Court against the federal government over its failure to ensure the safety of drinking water. An expert assessment commissioned by the federal government in 2010 by firm Neegan Burnside produced a startling result. All of the drinking water systems were ranked an 8...
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...
August 14, 2019
People of the Longhouse
CBC – The Federal Government continuing to rely on a Specific Claims process that according to Peter Di Gangi, a board member at the First Nations-led research centre Yellowhead Institute, is the federal government’s conflict of interest. “The claims are against the federal government. At the same time, it controls the negotiation process, controls the...
August 7, 2019
Saugeen First Nation Treaty 72 signed 1854
CBC – In 2014, a tentative agreement between the First Nation and the Town of South Bruce Peninsula was proposed that would have recognized Saugeen’s ownership of the strip of beach. During the municipal election that fall, former councillor Janice Jackson unseated the previous mayor, running on a platform that the town would not settle...
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 19, 2019
Exclusion of Métis from Residential School Settlement Agreement
Métis Nation of Saskatchewan – Île-à-la-Crosse boarding school was operated by the Province of Saskatchewan and the Catholic Church from 1906 to 1976. Former students of the school were not eligible for compensation under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, as the school was never federally operated or administered. Former Île-à-la-Crosse students filed a class...
July 16, 2019
Budget Cuts Claims Research Units
Letter to Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada: The National Claims Research Directors – NCRD is a national body of specialized technicians who manage thirty-five Claims Research Units (CRUs) mandated to research and develop specific claims against the federal government. Collectively we have developed and advanced over 1500 claims. We repeat...
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 11, 2019
Abandoning Denesuline First Nation and Sayisi Dene First Nation Land Claim negotiation
The Denesuline First Nation and Sayisi Dene First Nation Canada were on the verge of initialing a land claim agreement. Then on June 12, 2019, without warning, the Minister put off signing and claimed more consultation was required with Indigenous peoples in NWT. At the negotiating table, Canada had previously agreed to initial the agreement...
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...
July 9, 2019
Attawapiskat First Nation
CBC – Attawapiskat declares a state of emergency over state of drinking water. Tap water shows potentially harmful levels of disinfection by-products. Pro-longed exposure to THMs and HAAs can cause skin irritation and could increase the risk of cancer, according to a consultant report prepared for the community. THMs and HAAs cannot be cleared through...
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 6, 2019
Treaty 6, 7, and 8 insist on FPIC
The Chiefs of Sovereign and Treaty Nations from Treaty 6, 7 and 8 have consistently told Canada, “Nations don’t make laws for other Nations”. Despite numerous attempts to work with the Federal Government, Canada continues to unilaterally develop laws and policies without our right to free, prior and informed consent. Alexander First Nation, Chief Kurt...
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...
February 2, 2019
Delgamuukw decision and the Tsilhqot’in decision
Policy Options – Continued refusal to accept Aboriginal title as defined by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Delgamuukw decision and the Tsilhqot’in decision. The Supreme Court of Canada similarly recognizes in Delgamuukw that constitutionally protected Aboriginal title is not created by Canadian law; rather, Aboriginal title “arises from the prior occupation of Canada...
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...
January 22, 2019
Robinson-Huron and Superior Treaties, 1850
The Government of Ontario appealed the Robinson-Huron and Robinson Superior Treaties Superior Court decision around Annuities claims while at the same time negotiating with the 21 First Nations making up the Anishinabek people in northern Ontario. In her December ruling, Justice Patricia Hennessy wrote the annuities described in the treaties — which hadn’t been raised...
January 10, 2019
Wet’suwet’en Coastal GasLink protests
What happens when you engage Hereditary Chiefs in the Process vs excluding them? Union of BC Indian Chiefs – “There are not a lot of similarities between the Broughton and the Unist’ot’en engagement with the Province (as stated by Premier John Horgan). In June, government-to-government work between our three Nations and the Province was confirmed...
December 10, 2018
Forced Sterilizations
72 organizations endorse the joint statement from Amnesty International Canada, the Native Women’s Association of Canada, and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, calling for government action to #DefendConsent and end #ForcedSterilization of Indigenous women in Canada Canadian Press – All the women interviewed felt that the health system had not served their needs,...
December 4, 2018
Rejection of the Recognition and Implementation of Indigenous Rights Framework
AFN Special Chiefs Assembly, Resolution # 25 / 2018 “Rejection of the Recognition and Implementation of Indigenous Rights Framework and Associated Processes. The Framework and associated processes undermine the true Nation-to-Nation relationship between First Nations and Canada: Reasons for rejection: Openly reject Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) as a guiding principle of the relationship...
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...
December 1, 2018
Failure to protect Woodland Cariboo
Government of Canada – “Progress Report on Steps Taken to Protect Critical Habitat for the Woodland Caribou” indicates little progress is being made toward conservation. Meanwhile, provinces continue to issue permits for energy and forestry developments that do not comply with Species At Risk Act (SARA) , placing caribou at even greater risk. (David Suzuki...
November 22, 2018
Call for national investigation into forced sterilizations
Senator Murray Sinclair, former Chair of the TRC, says Canada needs a national investigation to find out how common coerced sterilizations are among Indigenous women and how they’ve been allowed to continue for so long. http://nationtalk.ca/story/usw-joint-statement-calling-on-canada-to-end-sterilization-without-consent...
November 20, 2018
Muskotew Sakahikan Enowuk, the traditional Government of the Lubicon Lake Nation
Muskotew Sakahikan Enowuk, the traditional Government of the Lubicon Lake Nation, outlined a number of remaining concerns faced by the First Nation, despite a recently announced Treaty Land Entitlement Settlement between Lubicon Lake Band #453 (the “Band”), Alberta and Canada. The Nation is the traditional governance structure of the Lubicon Cree people which has functioned...
October 30, 2018
Indigenous leaders excluded from Regional Emergency Operations Centre dealing with Fort McMurray fires
Globe and Mail – Indigenous leaders weren’t included in the Regional Emergency Operations Centre where officials from municipalities, the province and Ottawa determined what to do to address the Fort McMurray wildfires. Metis communities weren’t eligible at all. Governments failed to consider the circumstances of Indigenous communities. Many houses damaged in the fire started off...
October 11, 2018
Duty to Consult vs Indigenous laws and treaties
The Conservation – Mikisew Cree First Nation v. Canada Supreme Court Decision ruling on the application of the Duty to Consult doctrine and if it can be applied to the federal legislation-making process. The case originates from Mikisew Cree First Nation’s challenge of the 2012 Omnibus bills introduced under the previous federal government that made...
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...
November 3, 2017
Canadian Council of Ministers of the Envronment must include Indigenous views
Assembly of First Nations – First Nations must be full participants in all meetings of Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) to ensure their voices are heard in environmental and climate change solutions. “Reconciliation has to include respect for our Elder’s traditional knowledge and our understanding of the lands and waters, the animals...
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 5, 2017
Saugeen First Nation Treaty 72 signed 1854
Globe and Mail, Aug. 30, 2015, Updated June 5, 2017 – Resorting to the courts to resolve a long-standing land claim issue. The federal government supports the Saugeen First Nation claim which dates back to Treaty No. 72, signed in October, 1854. Surveying documents made at the time validate that the eastern boundary should have...
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...
February 24, 2017
Government ignores request for Indigenous Fire Marshall and building code regulations
Toronto Star – “Fire and death in First Nations”. Not including funds for an Indigenous Fire Marshall and failure to enact building code regulations for home construction on First Nations reserves. Both were recommendations from the Aboriginal Firefighters Association after the high number of fire fatalities on First Nation reserves in the last year. A...
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...
July 14, 2016
Fire protection on reserves
NationTalk – There is no national fire protection code that mandates fire safety standards or enforcement on reserves. All other jurisdictions in Canada including provinces, territories, and other federal jurisdictions (such as military bases, airports, and seaports) have established building and fire codes. The Aboriginal Firefighters Association of Canada (AFAC), NIFSC’s parent organization, supports 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...