The Indian Act is an outdated and paternalistic law that impedes economic progress for First Nations communities across Canada. Fortunately, positive policy reform may be on the way. Recently, Saskatchewan MP Rob Clarke introduced a private member’s bill (Bill C-428)...
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Indian Act changes in omnibus bill deserve attention
Much alarm is being expressed about proposed changes to the Indian Act in the omnibus budget bill. Much of this rhetoric is overdone or just plain wrong, but there are concerns about the changes, even if the changes respond to legitimate problems approving projects on reserves.
Who speaks for First Nations in creating the post-Indian Act landscape?
National Chief Shawn Atleo is calling for more First Nations involvement in re-designing the post-Indian Act world. Atleo chastised the federal government's approach towards First Nations by calling it, "limited, narrow, piecemeal and unilateral." He also wants to...
First Nations Need Independent NGOs: Voices must be separate from Indian Act system
For democracy and good governance to develop on many First Nations, independent NGOs must be nurtured and encouraged.
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Weaponizing the Law
The indictment of former U.S. president Donald Trump for crimes invented by his political opponents is the most egregious example yet seen of the weaponizing of the law. The United States is now full of examples. However, in Canada, we also see the law being...
“Looking At” Seizing Control Over Western Canada’s Natural Resources
OTTAWA, REGINA - Last week, two things happened that could have profound impacts on natural resources development in Saskatchewan. One is a hint the federal government might want to take control of natural resources away from the provinces, and the other is the...
The Dangerous Allure of Omitting Facts and Historical Context on Residential Schools
Michelle Cyca’s article in The Walrus about residential school denialism of May 4, 2023, gets one thing right. She mentions tuberculosis. Once. Like many who write about those who suffered at residential schools, Cyca seems oblivious to the context of the times – in...
Using Fraudulent Indigenous Identity Takes Money From Real Indians who Need It
Memorial University President Vianne Timmons is only the latest “Pretendian” to be exposed as a non-indigenous person claiming to be indigenous. There is a growing list of such people, including Mary Turpel-Lafond, Carrie Bourassa and Joseph Boyden. What all of these...
Conspiracy Theories Become Conspiracy Facts
At first slowly but in recent weeks with seemingly gathering pace, two trends have emerged. On the one hand, many of the core claims behind lockdowns, masks, and vaccines are unravelling and the prevailing narrative has been in retreat on all three fronts. But there...
The Man who Saved the Plains Indians
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...
A Distant Canadian Mirror–The Indians of Canada
Written in 1889 by John McLean: Christian Missionary, Philologist and Ethnologist The antagonism existing between the customs, intellects, and lives of the two races, and the despondency consequent upon the changed life of the Indians are important factors in...
Restoule v. Ontario and Canada: A Weak Court of Appeal Win Contains the Seeds of a Practical Loss (Part 2 of 2)
An Interpretation of this Case The Restoule case raises novel, contentious, and potentially destabilizing issues of national importance which the people of Canada deserve to have settled by the Supreme Court. The trial judge, upheld by a narrow majority of the Court...
Restoule v. Ontario and Canada: A Weak Court of Appeal Win Contains the Seeds of a Practical Loss (Part 1 of 2)
Background In 1850, the 21 Ontario Indian bands along the north shores of lakes Huron and Superior, by the terms of the Robinson Treaties, surrendered and ceded to the Crown all their claims to ownership of the treaties territories in exchange for monies paid and to...
Len Marchand’s Indian Residential School Experience
November 16 marked 88 years since the birth of Canada’s first “Status Indian” Member of Parliament and cabinet minister, Leonard Stephen (Len) Marchand. Elected, then re-elected twice, to the House of Commons, he served as a parliamentary secretary, minister and,...
Ivermectin: Fact-checking the Fact-checkers
There was some pushback to my last article about the evidence pointing in favour of Ivermectin as a cheap and viable treatment for Covid-19. One respondent sent in a link to an article that purports to show that Ivermectin is not responsible for the incredible success...