Moving past the Indian Act
The Agenda convenes a panel to discuss #IdleNoMore and the Indian Act. The post Moving past the Indian Act appeared first on Macleans.ca.
View ArticleThe draft declaration
The Canadian Press has a draft of the declaration that would end Theresa Spence’s protest. The draft includes 13 priorities. — An immediate meeting between the Governor General, federal and provincial...
View ArticleSpence’s protest nears an end
Theresa Spence’s protest will end tomorrow morning—a news conference has been called for 11am—with the signing of a declaration. Here is the statement from Chief Spence. Chief Theresa Spence’s Official...
View Article‘Our deep appreciation for her strength and resolve’
The Assembly of First Nations confirms its support for the joint declaration. “We have expressed to Chief Spence our deep appreciation for her strength and resolve, and hailed the impact that has had...
View ArticleThe end of a protest
Amid mixed polling, questions about her health and a report that she was facing an ultimatum, Theresa Spence will be honoured this morning in downtown Ottawa by the Nishnawbe Aski Nation and then...
View Article‘Now is the time to begin a new relationship’
A statement from Thomas Mulcair on today’s declaration. The NDP support the principles outlined in the important Declaration of Commitment released today. We remain committed to building a new...
View Article‘Deeply committed to carrying on the fight’
A statement from Bob Rae on today’s declaration. “I am encouraged that Chief Theresa Spence has decided to end her hunger strike. Chief Spence and those who have joined her fast have helped bring about...
View ArticleThe Commons: Theresa Spence exits the stage
Danny Metatawabin, spokesman for the most influential woman in the country, took centre stage in her absence. Chief Theresa Spence was said to be under observation in a local hospital. Her...
View ArticleDeclaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act
Romeo Saganash’s bill on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People is here. For all intents and purposes, it amounts to two clauses, but the implications of those clauses open a large...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The decent fix for aboriginal rights
Chris Wattie/Reuters The hunger strike of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence was really more of a diet and thank goodness for that. Spence went 44 days eating only fish broth, herbal tea and water and...
View ArticleGovernment to appeal court ruling that Metis, other natives are ‘Indian’
OTTAWA – The federal government will appeal a landmark Federal Court ruling which would vastly expand the ranks of people considered Indians under the Constitution. After more than 13 years of legal...
View Article‘The critical matter of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls’
The House will spend today debating the following Liberal motion, which would establish a special committee to study the murder and disappearance of aboriginal women. That the House recognize that a...
View Article‘They are part of us’
The Liberal motion to establish a special committee to study the disappearance and murder of Aboriginal women seems likely to get all-party support with both the Conservatives and New Democrats...
View ArticleJohn Duncan resigns
A statement from the Prime Minister. “Today, I have accepted the resignation of John Duncan as Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. “I would like to thank Mr. Duncan for his many...
View ArticleA small cabinet shuffle
To account for the resignation of John Duncan, the Prime Minister’s Office has announced a small cabinet shuffle. Bernard Valcourt, previously the associate minister of defence, becomes the new...
View ArticleHarper names Valcourt to replace Duncan as aboriginal affairs minister
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper has tapped an experienced hand to take over the trouble-plagued Aboriginal Affairs ministry following the surprise resignation last week of John Duncan. Bernard...
View ArticleA small step toward justice and healing?
This evening, the House unanimously approved the Liberal motion to establish a committee to study missing and murdered aboriginal women. Carolyn Bennett’s speech explaining the need for such a...
View ArticleAboriginal Affairs minister sorry for telling NDP MP to ‘listen to your father’
OTTAWA – Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt has apologized after telling an NDP MP to listen to her father about supporting a Conservative bill to protect matrimonial rights on reserves....
View ArticleGovernment asks courts for help over documents related to aboriginal abuse
TORONTO – The federal government has asked the courts for help on what to do with documents related to allegations of horrific abuse of students at a former Indian residential school, including some...
View ArticleInquiry told Manitoba aboriginals need control of child welfare, schools
WINNIPEG – Aboriginals need more control over child welfare, education and other social programs because government efforts have largely failed them, a Manitoba inquiry was told Monday. Aboriginal...
View ArticleCanada marks 250th anniversary of landmark document for aboriginals
OTTAWA – Groups affiliated with the Idle No More movement held protests across Canada and in parts of the United States on Monday as an important document for aboriginal land claims and self-government...
View ArticleRyan Leef Maverick Watch
Despite the government’s general reluctance to convene an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, Conservative MP Ryan Leef says it’s time to call one. Leef joined the Native Women’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
UN rapporteur says Canada faces an aboriginal crisis
Sean Kilpatrick/CP “Canada faces a crisis when it comes to the situation of indigenous peoples of the country.” — James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples James Anaya...
View ArticleFirst Nations Education Act rollout paternalistic, say teachers, aboriginals
OTTAWA – The Harper government risks repeating the mistakes of the past by the way it’s proposing a new First Nations Education Act, say aboriginal groups and education advocates. The government says...
View ArticleNot even debate over First Nations election bill is free from Ford
OTTAWA – So inescapable is Rob Ford these days that the Toronto mayor surfaced in a debate over proposed legislation for First Nations’ elections as an example to be avoided. Federal MP’s were...
View ArticleOttawa to give First Nations quicker access to disaster relief funding
WINNIPEG – Canada’s aboriginal affairs minister says the federal government is working aggressively to end one of the longest, most expensive flood evacuations in Manitoba and make it easier for First...
View ArticleAuditor general raises red flags over handling of emergencies on reserves
OTTAWA – The auditor general has found problems with the way emergencies are handled on aboriginal reserves. Michael Ferguson’s team says outdated or missing emergency plans are putting First Nations...
View ArticleAFN asks Flaherty to boost First Nations education funding in next budget
OTTAWA – The head of the Assembly of First Nations has written to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, stressing the urgent need for greater aboriginal education funding in the next federal budget. National...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Need to know: Joe Oliver’s sort-of charm offensive
Adrian Wyld/CP The story It’s not exactly a charm offensive, but Joe Oliver’s posturing on energy development seems to half-signal some measure of positivity between his office and the myriad...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Joseph Boyden on aboriginal issues
Andrew Tolson A Scotiabank Giller Prize winner and author of the current bestseller The Orenda, Joseph Boyden is one of Canada’s most prominent writers. In his novels, the part-Metis Boyden has always,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Red flags raised over Métis group’s finances
Métis Minister of Aboriginal Affairs Bernard Valcourt. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) OTTAWA – The federal government took a close look at the group that represents Métis people across Canada after...
View ArticleEditorial: A surprising boom in Aboriginal heritage
The history of First Nations in Newfoundland has rarely been a happy one. The Beothuk, the island’s original inhabitants, were wiped out by the early 1800s after centuries of violent clashes with...
View ArticleSupreme Court rules in Grassy Narrows logging dispute
OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled the Ontario government does not need Ottawa’s permission to permit industrial logging on a First Nation’s traditional lands. While Friday’s unanimous 7-0...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why fixing First Nations education remains so far out of reach
On Aug. 17, the body of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine was pulled from Winnipeg’s Red River. Police divers had been scouring the waterway in search of Faron Hall, a well-known homeless man who drowned in...
View ArticleFormer PMs, First Nations leaders seek to ease tensions
OTTAWA – Former prime ministers and aboriginal leaders are joining forces in a bid to ease tensions between aboriginal and non-aboriginal groups. A declaration calling for a new partnership was signed...
View ArticleFamily of aboriginal girl with cancer can opt for traditional medicine: Judge
BRANTFORD, Ont. – The family of an 11-year-old aboriginal girl with cancer has a constitutional right to opt for traditional medicine over chemotherapy, an Ontario judge ruled Friday in what some...
View ArticleMillions needed to fix roads in New Brunswick’s First Nation communities
OTTAWA – Chief George Ginnish of Eel Ground First Nation has a blunt assessment of the roads in his community: “They’re the worst roads in New Brunswick. “You’ve got cars that are weaving back and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bernard Valcourt: A street fighter heads back to the streets
Photograph by Blair Gable Bernard Valcourt occupies one of the most sensitive positions in the federal government, but you wouldn’t know it from listening to him. As minister for Aboriginal affairs and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Scott Gilmore: The issues no party will touch
An abandoned house on the Pikangikum First Nation, a remote-access community approximately 100 km northwest of Red Lake, Ont. Half of the 430 homes are falling apart and unfit to live in, yet continue...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Five ways Trudeau can help La Loche
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pauses for a moment as he lays a wreath outside the La Loche Community school in La Loche, Sask., Friday, Jan. 259, 2016. A 17-year-old boy allegedly shot two people at...
View Article
