Manitobans – including First Nations in some of our most remote communities – deserve much improved access to public infrastructure and opportunity. First Nation leaders in Northern Manitoba have a point about expanding all-season road access to some of the most...
Newly elected Cindy Woodhouse faces significant challenges in restoring AFN credibility among First Nations
Despite many who would never dare believe it, Premier Wab Kinew has come out said he would like to become a transformational economic leader in our province. The evidence? Well, not too long ago at an event held at the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce Kinew addressed an...
Premier Wab Kinew is at a crossroads: he must decide whether to align with Manitobans seeking prosperity or with the zero-growth green activists prevalent in his party. This decision is crucial in shaping Manitoba's future as a mining leader. It was not so long ago in...
The cost of actually building a house does not vary that much across Canada The Ford government’s plan to expand the land supply available for housing has evoked the usual dog whistles about “urban sprawl” by interests apparently unaware of the strong...
Reading is the most important skill taught in school. If students don’t learn how to read, not much else that happens there is going to matter. That’s because being able to read is important in virtually every job. Without the ability to read, life itself will be a...
Indigenous housing—especially in remote and northern locations—represents one of the intractable problems facing First Nation communities. The high cost of housing in these locations and the never-ending cycle of backlogs plague reserve communities across Canada....
In this age of Indigenous reconciliation, it is important to remember the Indigenous movers and shakers who have gone before and cleared the path for others. James Gladstone (1887-1971) was such an Indigenous person. In the Blackfoot language, he was known as...
The Nova Scotia Liberal Party has chosen a new leader and it is important to think about the policy priorities of the province’s incoming premier. Although an election does not need to be held until spring of 2022 (Nova Scotia is the only province without a fixed...
A dispute and court case from northern Ontario may help us understand ongoing tensions over the lobster fisheries on the East Coast. The war over Indigenous fishing rights has played out before in Canadian history. As we reflect on recent violence in Nova Scotia over...
If only Ottawa would put its full force and support behind the energy sector as it does other critical sectors in the economy. In early October, the prime minister announced that he would not back down from the latest American round of attacks on our softwood lumber...
The new year is an excellent opportunity to resolve ongoing problems surrounding Indigenous access to the lobster fisheries in Atlantic Canada. Near the latter part of last year, rising tensions between Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous commercial lobster...
Manitoba must do a much better job promoting mining activity in the province. The post-pandemic economic recovery will depend on it. More broadly, the eventual shift from gasoline to electric-powered cars across the world will generate huge demand for minerals...
As we enter 2021, Canada and Indigenous communities should finally commit to making the systemic reforms that will ensure First Nations have drinking water standards that are the same as the rest of the country. For starters, Indigenous communities ought to...
A World Heritage site designation continues to prevent the development of one of the largest cobalt and copper deposits in North America, thereby denying opportunities for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities and serving as an example of how environmental...