Aboriginal Futures
Successful Integration Experiences From Around the World
In his paper “Successful Integration Experiences From Around the World”, Joseph Quesnel examines the response of three diverse countries to the economic and social challenges facing their Indigenous populations: Mexico with its Meso-American peoples, the Japanese with...
A Proposal for Ending the Indian Act and Canadian Reserve System
Joseph Quesnel’s “‘Zero-in-10’ Plan for Ending the Indian Act and Reserve System” is a policy paper aimed at providing Canadian decision-makers with a way to bring to an end a failed 150-year old system of dealing with our Aboriginal population which has hitherto been...
The ‘Zero-In-Ten” Plan Ending the Indian Act and Reserve System
It is no secret that the Indian Act is universally reviled among Indigenous leaders and activists, yet none of them really have come up with a realistic plan to repeal or move away from it. There have been some attempts to remove major parts of the legislation over...
Featured News
Trade with Mercosur: Opportunities for Canada
In November 2018, Canada and Mercosur opened negotiations for a free trade agreement. The Mercosur, composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay (Venezuela is a suspended member from 2016), represents a bloc representing a GDP of over $3 trillion and a...
San Francisco to Canada: Hate Motivated Crimes—Thinking Globally and Acting Locally
San Francisco, by all accounts a liberal city of diverse communities, is in the grips of what by many is seen as a spree of racist attacks against its Black and Asian residents. According to some reports, anti-Asian crimes have more than doubled while hate crimes...
First Nations once thrived in agriculture
This great column by Jamie Wilson, commissioner of the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba, documents how Prairie First Nations in the immediate post-treaty period were thriving farmers. The current system of dependency and poverty seen on many Western reserves...
How prorogation affects Aboriginal policy agenda
While the governing Conservatives have passes historic legislation that will advance First Nations communities, an upcoming parliamentary prorogation will kill a long awaited First Nations elections bill.
It Is Time For the AFN to Embrace Democracy
The fact that a new movement is afoot to create an alternative to the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) right at the time of a national AFN meeting means the AFN needs to figure out what it stands for.
Property rights and human remains
Finding human remains on any property is a sensitive topic. The topic requires respect for all parties involved. For one woman in southern Ontario, the discovery of an Aboriginal burial ground on her property led to 18 months of uncertainty, although a resolution is...
Towards a First Nations Education Act
The federal government has begun intensive consultations in preparing a First Nations Education Act. Right now, the Indian Act is silent on educational standards, or even any kind of educational system for that matter. The federal government aims to fill that gap by...
Fix AFN before Trying to Create Alternative Body
Rather than focus on creating another First Nations political organization, native communities need to resolve existing issues within the Assembly of First Nations.
Manny Jules, Chairman of the First Nations Tax Commission
Frontier’s Conversation with Manny Jules, head of the First Nations Tax Commission and former Chief of B.C.’s Kamloops Indian Band on good governance and property rights on First Nations.
Natives Need Rights to Property: Matrimonial law will ring hollow until homes are owned
the vast majority of these communities aren’t rich enough to sustain the resource load that the new law will trigger — especially when it comes to housing. Overcrowding already is common on many reserves, with three or four generations living under the same tiny roof. And even if the money for new homes could somehow be found, the reserves’ Soviet-style collective property ownership structure does not allow for the implementation of normal Canadian family-law principles.
Liberals have chance to support smart Aboriginal policies
The Liberal Party of Canada is developing Aboriginal policies in preparation for the next election. This is an opportunity for that party to adopt forward-looking, smart Aboriginal policies.