At the time of Confederation, Canada’s Plains Indians were in a desperate situation. The same European-introduced guns and horses that resulted in a briefly glorious golden age for them had also resulted in constant inter-tribal warfare and the rapid disappearance of...
The case of Jim McMurtry is now well known to Canadians. He is the Abbotsford schoolteacher who told his class the truth about the claim that 215 indigenous students had been killed and secretly buried at Kamloops Indian Residential School—and was fired for it. He...
Political attacks on the Indian Act are back in the news, and that is a good thing. However, Canadian politicians, including First Nation politicians, need a credible plan about what to do before we pull out the champagne. Attacking the Indian Act is not a big deal...
Provincial justice ministers of Manitoba and Saskatchewan are urgently calling on the federal government to “convene a bail reform summit to address the increasing level of violence faced by Canadians.” Other provincial justice ministers have voiced similar concerns....
If one was to discuss the state of the world’s democracies in September of 2019, it would look entirely different than it does today in 2022. Three years ago, Canadians generally thought that: our democracy was relatively strong and citizens would defend their...
One of the greatest books that explain how the world works is Propaganda by Edward Bernays. The man dubbed “the father of public relations” applied the psychological ideas of his uncle Sigmund Freud upon the masses, triggering their basic motivations to the benefit of...
A Winnipeg area Indigenous entrepreneur might hold the key to Indigenous peoples controlling their own response to the COVID-19 pandemic. His experience also underscores why it is so important to unshackle the Indigenous business community and entrepreneurial sector...
The chief of a Manitoba First Nation (reserve) intends to proceed with a powwow despite provincial COVID-19 regulations prohibiting large gatherings. Recently, four other First Nations set up blockades in northern Manitoba. One chief publicly tore up the court order...
In dealing with the Indigenous governance issue that is at the heart of the Wet’suwet’en dispute, Ottawa must not show favouritism to one side or faction, and must ensure that all parts of Wet’suwet’en society are represented as the community designs its internal...
The Indigenous commitment to democracy is at stake in the controversy surrounding the recent memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the Wet’suwet’en, British Columbia and Canada. A majority of the elected Wet’suwet’en chiefs were incensed about the...
“Reconciliation is dead”, according to a Globe and Mail article penned by two Indigenous academics. That was also the message on signs carried by protestors blocking rail lines in support of some Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs. These people say that by announcing that...
Improved technology may be the key to improving Indigenous communities in remote regions. Perhaps the next stage in Indigenous reconciliation is a form of digital reconciliation that helps bring these communities much closer to the mainstream economy and society...
Governments need to get their acts together before Indigenous communities in northern Saskatchewan experience a serious COVID-19 outbreak. This new development also places northern Saskatchewan as a unique phenomenon among northern regions in Western Canada; thus, the...
As of now, Indigenous communities have been spared from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, although some health officials cautioned that the next two weeks will be important to see the extent of the outbreak in Indigenous communities. Unless that state of affairs...
With Canada’s rail transportation system at a standstill, and fires being lit under passing trains- while police stand by helplessly and our Prime Minister makes ineffectual speeches about “dialogue” - you might be thinking that things could not get any worse. Well,...