The trial of a German tourist who was shot in the head while driving through the Stoney Nakoda Nation, west of Calgary is now taking place in an Alberta courtroom. A German tourist, Horst Stewin, and his wife and son were driving their black Durango SUV through the...
An Indigenous woman, accompanied by her ten year old daughter, was swarmed and beaten by a group of children at Saskatoon’s Pleasant Hill Park on May 8, 2019. Having seen a group of children throwing rocks at an elderly man, she was ignored when she asked them to...
Previously published in the Brandon Sun on November 7, 2018. The revision of history continues. The City of New Westminster has taken down the statue of British Columbia’s first chief justice, Matthew Begbie. According to the Vancouver Sun, the statue was “a symbol of...
The federal government has signed “self-government” agreements with “Métis nations” of Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan. More agreements are in the works. Until Métis requests for “self-government”, the term has been used in relation to First Nations (reserves)....
Manitoba shows no sign that its policies will be able to maintain the working population, while, over time, returning to annual balanced budgets and cutting taxes to keep the private sector that is here now. This dismal prediction is partially drawn by observing the...
The 2020 TomTom Traffic Index reflects a huge drop in worldwide urban traffic congestion levels. Congestion levels (rated by the percentage of additional time required for auto travel during “rush hour”) dropped in 387 urban areas while increasing in only 13. Overall,...
An ambitious new study asks the Nisga’a people if a self-government agreement has worked to their benefit or to their detriment.
A three-year transitional period for human rights legislation to affect First Nation governments has come to an end, but how will those rights be interpreted?
The Government of Canada has a perfect right to approve a right of way and take the land.
Watch Don Sandberg discuss the Federal Government auditing Aboriginal Governance. (6 minutes)
I recently completed a project that looked at B.C.'s Nisga'a Treaty, a modern land claims agreement that was finalized in 1998 and came into effect in 2000. Looking now after 10 years, the economic sustainability of the indigenous community is still in question....
Ottawa needs to adopt clear legislation on water safety and First Nations need to work with the provinces and private sector in order to avoid a Native Walkerton tragedy.
The precarious state of property rights protection was largely ignored during this recent election campaign despite the central importance of them in creating national prosperity.
Recently, I spoke at the Debating Aboriginal Policy conference at Mount Royal University. I sat on a panel that was looking at the issue of whether land claims settlements addressed Native welfare dependency. I said they could help address the problem, if the land...
Recent actions by First Nation governments – including the canceling of a dramatic performance on a reserve – show that band governments need to have their powers curbed.