The Senate or an election are the only things that could amend or end a badly worded and contentious bill that seeks to harmonize federal laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Bill C-15 has received third reading in...
Sometimes, self-determination for Indigenous communities can become problematic in meeting certain standards or policy goals, especially if it is done with a hands-off approach from the federal government. This can be the case when it comes to ensuring all First...
In December of last year, the Assembly of First Nations’ (AFN) national chief announced he would not be seeking re-election. Coming up on the next leadership race, it may be important to have a conversation about what the AFN wants to be and where it wants to go. Here...
Canada’s energy security is top of the news this week with the threatened closure of Line 5, a cross-border Canadian oil pipeline that has been operating since the 1950s. It supplies nearly half of the Ontario and Quebec market for light crude oil, light synthetic...
The choice we face is clear: a modest expansion of greenfield development or greater housing poverty For 18 years, I have been monitoring international housing affordability, as author or co-author of the Demographia Housing Affordability series. The latest...
The April 1982 Saskatchewan election proved to be a major turning point in the province's history. Over its nine years in office, the Devine government commenced and completed numerous policy initiatives in spite of considerable challenges including two recessions. ...
“A bold new study calls on Ottawa and Canada’s native leaders to negotiate the relocation of remote Indian reserves to areas close to Canadian cities.”
First Nation leaders should consider relocating reserves to better locations in order to maximize economic and educational opportunities for the next generation: some reserves are simply not economically viable, says Policy Analyst Joseph Quesnel.
Non-viable reserves need to be identified by indigenous leaders –and moved, for the sake of the younger generation.
Frontier Centre in the Media where Joseph Quesnel shares his thoughts about On-reserve land ownership, as reported on the Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation website.
“The problem with the legislation is shown by the difficulty of what we’re discussing,” he said. “It’s so broad a concept it can be used to argue for basically anything and that’s what’s happening.”
”This example demonstrates the need for clear legislative reform for individual property owners who find themselves in similar situations. A process to allow municipalities to expropriate for dubious economic development purposes also exists in other provinces and in jurisdictions outside Canada. However, there are encouraging signs in that many jurisdictions, particularly in the United States, have taken proactive steps to prevent this abuse of individual property rights; as such, they provide a model for Canadian provinces.”
If you look at their website, their election and audit results from 2007-08 are posted openly, which is not common for First Nation reserves, said Joseph Quesnel, Lethbridge based co-author of the study. “Even in that way, a small way, it shows accountability to citizens.”
This year FCPP created the Chief Big Bear Award to acknowledge and support the community that scores the highest in the index. It went to O’Chiese First Nation of Alberta.
Policy Analyst Joseph Quesnel was interviewed by the Regina Leader-Post about First Nations’ rankings in Saskatchewan.