Category: Indigenous

Neoliberalism, racism, assimilation

SFU Assistant Professor Kyle Willmott finds neoliberalism behind calls for assimilation and the rewriting of history to elevate racist abuses to “remarkable works” and “good deeds.” Dr. Willmott identifies the Canadian Taxpayer Federation (CTF) as a contributing organization amplified by unjournalistic media that uses cookie-cutter stories from groups with hidden agendas…

A valley will be destroyed

Valley of the Southern North is a love letter to The Peace Valley and the people and creatures that make it their home. The Site C dam, now under construction, will destroy ancestral territory of the Dane Zaa and Cree, violate treaties and displace residents, farmers and wildlife living along its shores.

Self-interest or public interest?

People promoting continuation of “energy self-sufficiency” are really saying that British Columbia should continue giving a unique and costly advantage to one particular industry, a sector that has grown used to taking in close to a billion dollars a year in above-market payments…

Canada's shame

Lost in the fuss as governments of British Columbia and Canada act to expropriate rights and lands of the Wet’suwet’en people is a sad situation that already gave proof to what should be Canada’s greatest shame…

Ruled by climate change deniers

Both the Horgan and Trudeau governments made symbolic commitments to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Neither was sincere. Horgan passed UNDRIP into BC law but now ignores the declaration. Trudeau said they would table a bill on UNDRIP but this week decided to put the promise aside. Indigenous people won’t be surprised by choices of either government. They’ve observed 150 years of oppressive acts and broken promises.

Forget what they say, watch what they do

Pal explained that I had wasted time reading platforms and promises. He said the only method of judging real intentions is to scrutinize a politician’s finances. Give me a list of contributors and full details of a candidate’s financial records. I’ll know exactly what to expect without reading platforms or listening to promises. Tell me who a politician is beholden to and I can figure out what they are going to do.

Treaty 8

Report of Commissioners for Treaty No. 8 WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, 22nd September, 1899. The Honourable CLIFFORD SIFTON, Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, Ottawa. SIR, — We have the honour to transmit herewith the treaty […]

Questions

Does Justin Trudeau identify with the thousands of people who demonstrated in opposition to Kinder Morgan’s pipeline expansion or the handful of people who showed up to an industry sponsored counter protest?

A promise made…

In the May 2017 election, only two of the main parties committed to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. BC Liberals were uncomfortable with clauses related to informed consent that would interfere with business of their corporate donors. John Horgan’s NDP Government and Andrew Weaver’s Green Party committed to a different approach. This was affirmed in today’s Throne Speech and we are left to hope the promises are not hollow, as were similar ones by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Linda Larson, Have You No Sense of Decency?

Liberal MLA Linda Larson’s comments were absolutely inappropriate, ill-informed and, quite frankly, incredibly ignorant. Just as the world still remembers other human-rights atrocities, like the Holocaust, to honour victims and learn from the past, the lasting effects of residential schools on First Nations people must also not be forgotten.

Canada’s indigenous suicide crisis

Inuit who lay claim to a third of Canada’s vast landmass, face shortened life expectancies, a high infant mortality rate, high rates of tuberculosis, widespread food insecurity, dangerously inadequate housing, and shockingly deficient local health care. But it was when Obed turned to the topic of suicide that the 750 people in the audience felt the full wintry force of his Arctic reproach…