Len Marchand Jr. was appointed BC Chief Justice in December last year. He is the first indigenous person to be appointed to that position in the history of British Columbia. His predecessor, Robert Bauman, stepped down in October.
James C. McCrae
A Separate Health Department is More Home-Grown Apartheid
A recent Winnipeg Free Press article – Citizens panel recommends Indigenous health department - by Katie May reports that a panel of thirty “randomly selected volunteers” is recommending a “dedicated Indigenous health department” in Manitoba, as an “undisputed...
Chief Dan George (Geswanouth Slahoot) 1899-1981
Most people have heroes, people in history or people still living, people who inspire, evoke strong feelings of admiration, respect, love. High on my list of heroes is Geswanouth Slahoot, aka Chief Dan George. The more I learn about him, the higher his name climbs. A...
Two-Eyed Seeing and Indigenous Worldviews. Can There Be Many Truths?
Recently, an Indigenous acquaintance asked me if I had ever taken a course or training on understanding Indigenous worldviews or perspectives. He also asked if I had ever tried incorporating two-eyed seeing into my life and thought processes. My correspondent feels it...
Featured News
Canadian Property Rights Index 2023
A Snapshot of Property Rights Protection in Canada After 10 years
Alberta Politics and Empty Promises of Health-care Solutions
The writ has been dropped and Albertans are off to the polls on May 29. That leaves just four weeks for political leaders and voters to sort out what is arguably the most divisive, yet significant, issue for this election - health care. On Day 2, NDP leader Rachel...
Peggy’s Legacy
From the earliest times, European newcomers and Indigenous people in what is now Canada have worked together. Indigenous people showed early Europeans how to survive in our harsh northern climate. They assisted militarily in the battles between the factions claiming...
Yes, it is Indeed Time to Move on
The overwhelming majority of Canadians regret the history of European contact with Indigenous peoples, and the injustices and hardships that followed over the hundreds of years since. At the same time, they celebrate Canada’s accomplishments, which have created a...
Aboriginal Justice Inquiry – Reflections of a Former Justice Minister
The March 9, 1988 police shooting of J.J. Harper on the streets of Winnipeg and the much earlier murder of Helen Betty Osborne in The Pas in 1971 led Howard Pawley’s government to commission the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry (AJI) on April 13, 1988 in the middle of the...
Len Marchand’s Indian Residential School Experience
November 16 marked 88 years since the birth of Canada’s first “Status Indian” Member of Parliament and cabinet minister, Leonard Stephen (Len) Marchand. Elected, then re-elected twice, to the House of Commons, he served as a parliamentary secretary, minister and,...
Rideau Hall and Stardom
Since 1541, Canada’s vice-regal representatives have been lieutenant generals, viceroys, governors and governors general. Vincent Massey, who served from 1952-59, was the first Canadian-born governor general. All his successors have been Canadians, most of them well...
Sir John ‘Eh?
“The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.” - William Shakespeare, "Julius Caesar" Sir John Alexander Macdonald, Canada’s first and six-times-elected prime minister, was born on either January 10 or 11, 1815. On the 206th...
One Nation, One People
One of the main reasons for the lack of progress on the federal Indigenous file is the lack of united support among First Nations for real change. Sadly, our non-Indigenous political leaders do not talk about this, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau being one...
An Inconvenient Truth
While activists and protesters celebrate the destruction of Sir John A. Macdonald’s statue in Montreal, they probably don’t want to be reminded that in neighbouring Ontario there stands another statue, one that has thus far escaped the wrath of Black and Indigenous...
Red Pheasant: Reserve Life is not Healthy, Especially for Young People
Red Pheasant Cree Nation No. 108 is located in Saskatchewan near North Battleford. The band is named after Red Pheasant, brother of Chief Wuttunee (Porcupine). Wuttunee was chief, in 1876, when Red Pheasant was a signatory to Treaty No. 6. Wuttunee did not wish to...