Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was optimistic about finding consensus on the Liberals' major projects law as he met with hundreds of First Nations chiefs on Thursday, but by mid-afternoon some leaders had walked out of the summit. Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Grand Chief Cody Diabo says he took the microphone to express his frustration before leaving the meeting...
Ahead of the First Nations summit to discuss the federal government’s controversial major projects bill getting underway, Assembly of First Nations Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak is calling for “more listening” from Prime Minister Mark Carney. “We’re going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he produces tomorrow,” Woodhouse Nepinak told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday. “I think that...
The Chiefs of Ontario say Ottawa is levelling an unfair playing field for chiefs in a meeting planned with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday to discuss the government's controversial major projects legislation. Carney promised in June that he would meet with First Nations after chiefs said their rights were not respected by the rush to push the bill through...
Ottawa asked First Nations chiefs to submit their questions in advance of their meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney next week to discuss his government's controversial major projects bill. Bill C-5, the Building Canada Act, allows cabinet to quickly grant federal approvals for big industrial projects like mines, ports and pipelines by sidestepping existing laws. Carney promised to meet with...
How do Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith really feel about Indigenous rights? Look no further than last week’s snub — a deplorable letter asking the federal government to bury the clean water act along with other environmental protections.
IN JUNE 2021, an Atikamekw artist named Catherine Boivin posted a video on TikTok. It begins with a clip of a woman who goes by Isabelle Kun-Nipiu Falardeau describing “une femme Métis de l’Est,” or an Eastern Metis woman. In French, Falardeau explains that such women are “wild . . . you let them loose in a forest and they...
Like it or not, it’s forcing Canada to transform the economy. Fortunately, the rest of the world also needs what this country has. That means there are tremendous incentives to build new partnerships, unlock opportunities, and deliver our resources to new customers.
Canada’s first indigenous Governor General, born to an Inuk mother and an English father who managed the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) outpost in Nunavik, located in northern Quebec, insists any indigenous artifacts the company has in its possession need to be returned. “These are things that belong to the people,” Mary Simon told CTV News Chief Anchor and Senior Editor...
There are no good ethics in trampling over the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the rush for national projects. That's actually the very definition of colonial. Who knew that Canada would so easily cave on its reconciliation commitment when faced with a threat?
When Alvin Fiddler thinks back to the last time the federal government took a build-fast approach to major infrastructure projects, the first thing that comes to his mind is a small island on the Ottawa River, with a view of Parliament Hill. The Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation visited Victoria Island in Ottawa in 2013, after former Attawapiskat...
In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada made a historic decision that transformed the country’s commercial East Coast fishing industry. At the time, First Nations had been locked out of the regional economy for several centuries, despite traditionally engaging in fishing for subsistence and for trade.
If anybody should have left Canada, it was First Nations. Secession: it’s a serious word for uniquely Canadian dumb ideas. Some Albertans are saying things about their unequal treatment, and, for the record, it’s not true. Alberta has not been treated badly, and neither has Quebec.
As the first Indigenous person ever to lead the federal department responsible for delivering services to First Nations, Inuit and Metis, Mandy Gull-Masty knows she has a daunting task ahead. But the newly-appointed Indigenous services minister also knows what it's like to sit at both sides of the table -- as a cabinet minister now and, until recently, as the...
The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations says talk of Alberta separatism is 'irresponsible' and it's "not smart" for politicians to make statements about it without consulting with First Nations first. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has introduced a bill that would make it easier for Albertans to launch referendums on various topics -- including splitting from Canada. Smith...
