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ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS
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First Nation Chiefs Warn of Disruptions
National Post, Friday, December 11, 2002, p. A4
"First Nations chiefs… warned Canada would face a prolonged campaign of economic disruption in the coming year…"
Aboriginal Education in Manitoba
Frontier Centre for Public Policy, Friday, September 1, 2006
"Aboriginals make up 12% of Manitoba’s population and 20% of Manitoba’s school children and these percentages are increasing … Only 33.7% of aboriginal youth aged 15-29 have completed high school, compared with 62.7% of the general population."
Aboriginal Women Protest Ottawa’s Refusal to Back UN Declaration
CBC News, 2007
"The indigenous women say, 'We are in Canada. Canada is not supporting the declaration. We really call upon Canada to change its position and support the declaration, because it is very meaningful.' "
A place beyond the Indian Act
Globe and Mail, Thursday, March 22, 2007, p. A19
"By 2015, 22 percent of Saskatchewan’s population will be aboriginal. In eight years, 46 percent of children entering kindergarten in Saskatchewan will be aboriginal. This overwhelming demographic shift will crush the status quo."
First Nation Electoral Corruption Common
Frontier Centre for Public Policy, Wednesday, June 20, 2007
"Norway House Cree Nation (NCN) boasts one of the largest populations on Canadian reserves, and has been promoted by many as one of the most progressive. Yet the former band council has been very successful at quieting a deep, dark secret: corruption, especially when it came to band elections. As voting day approached, the money flowed, with the band’s warehouse filled to the rafters with semi-trailer loads of furniture, and a steady stream of people loading up on gifts right up to election day."
The Insurgent Temptation
National Post, Wednesday, July 4, 2007
"… I was not alone in wondering if… a number of hyper-aggrieved aboriginal militants, contemning [sic] the patient incrementalism of their responsible mainstream leaders, will eventually tire of the static tableau-style protest, and succumb to the blandishments of the insurgent temptation."
Give North more money, western premiers tell Harper
Globe and Mail, Friday, July 6, 2007, p. A5
"Northwest Territories Premier Joe Handley estimates that his jurisdiction, … 'We get enough to get by on it, but that’s it,' Mr. Handley said. 'Us northerners, like everybody else in the country, we want to control our own destiny.' "
The right call at the UN
National Post, Saturday, July 14, 2007
"… the agreement takes an extreme view of native rights, and would lock Canada into many politically impossible guarantees for native peoples."
Where Perspectives Connect
CanWest News Service, Saturday, July 14, 2007
"Former prime minister Paul Martin says his Liberal government was prepared to adopt the United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, contrary to repeated claims by Conservative Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice."
Why Kashechewan is staying put
Toronto Star, Tuesday, August 7, 2007, p. A17
"Fifty years ago, the federal government told the Cree people in northern Ontario they were being moved into a community on a flood plain near James Bay, even though the Indians warned it was a big mistake."
The aboriginal stats
Globe and Mail, Wednesday, January 16, 2008, p. A18
"The First Nations Governance Act, introduced under the Chrétien government by Indian Affairs minister Robert Nault, stood to protect rank-and-file aboriginals by bringing accountability to reserves, but Paul Martin buckled under pressure from native leaders and abandoned it."
Need to ‘educate the world,’ B.C. chief says
Globe and Mail, Friday, April 18, 2008, p. A4
" 'I wouldn’t rule out blockades, I wouldn’t rule out mass demonstrations, I wouldn’t rule out a blockade [of the airport],' he said… think twice… will be taking a report to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues… I think demonstrations are essential… Canada has a very dismal human-rights record in relation to indigenous people."
Jonathan Kay on Dion’s feel-good aboriginal-rights gambit: Nice optics, but how many billions would this cost us?, National Post, Wednesday, September 17, 2008
" 'Last year’s appalling decision [by Stephen Harper] to vote against the Declaration was an insult to First Nations, Métis and Inuit who were expecting the government to stand up for their rights, and an international embarrassment that must be corrected,' declares Mr. Dion. … You have to admit that the optics are good on this one: Who doesn’t want to be seen as on-board with something upholding the 'rights of indigenous people.' "
Que. [sic] natives ponder sovereignty
Edmonton Journal, Friday, November 28, 2008
"First Nations leaders in Quebec and Labrador will solidify a plan to implement the right of Aboriginal Peoples to self-determination and self-governance."
Decrepit reserve housing blamed for fire that killed nine-year-old girl
Globe and Mail, Thursday, February 5, 2009, p. A4
"It’s the heart-rending symptom, say band officials, of a dilapidated housing stock where up to 22 family members sleep in a single run-down home."
A ‘member of the Mohawk Nation’ writes
National Post, Monday, February 9, 2009, p. A9
"As a Mohawk of Kahnawake, I have never claimed to be a Canadian citizen." —Grand Chief Michael Ahráhrhon Delisle, Jr., Mohawks Council of Kahnawake, Que.
Top court dismisses aboriginal suit over royalties
National Post, Saturday, February 14, 2009, p. A7
"In a decision released yesterday, the country’s highest court says the Crown had no duty to invest the bands’ royalties."
No threat of top-down reform
Globe and Mail, Tuesday, February 24, 2009, p. A10
"Mr. Fontaine… should be able to consider the prospect of accountability measures without the AFN immediately assuming the worst."
Steady as she goes, which is just fine for Manitoba
Globe and Mail, Wednesday, February 25, 2009
"Mr. Doer… knows the province’s No. 1 problem is training and providing work for aboriginals… while so many aboriginals live… in Winnipeg ill-prepared for urban life and the wage economy…"
Cree leader denies side deals with crews. Chief of his own Alberta oil patch
National Post, Friday, February 27, 2009, p. A1
"… Alberta’s third-largest oil sands… the oil companies in the area, wanting to appear progressive, and buy peace, are accustomed to sending rich construction contracts the natives’ way."
Natives, Bay Street form country’s biggest farm
Globe and Mail, Thursday, March 26, 2009, p. A7
"There is going to be backlash. In every one of these cases, someone is already farming that land and they’re going to be concerned. They’re not going to be able to farm that land…"
First nations aren’t big enough for true sovereignty
Globe and Mail, Tuesday, August 25, 2009, A11
"We have been living a myth in the aboriginal policy: that 'nations,' in the sociological sense of the word, can be effective 'sovereign' entities, in the sense of doing what sovereign governments are expected to do."
Indian political awakening stirs Latin America
WashingtonPost.com, Monday, November 2, 2009
"All over Latin America, and especially in the Andes, a political awakening is emboldening Indians who have lived mostly as second-class citizens since the Spanish conquest."
Native reserves polluted due to gaps in rules
cbc.ca/politics, Tuesday, November 3, 2009
"Ottawa has failed to provide proper environmental protection for First Nations reserves, Canada’s auditor general says."
First Nations chiefs focus on self-government, treaties
MontrealGazette.com, Monday, December 7, 2009
"We haven’t had the spirit and intent of our treaties honoured… clear on what kind of change they would like to see."
First Nations threaten action
OttawaCitizen.com, Friday, December 11, 2009
"The question of whether or not there are going to be blockages this coming year is going to be answered by the Government of Canada."
Recognizing aboriginal rights without violating the constitution
National Post, Wednesday, December 30, 2009, p. A14
"… the recognition of 'inherent' aboriginal government over Canadian territory constitutes withdrawal of Canadian government authority and law from that territory…"
The aboriginal healing boondoggle
National Post, Monday, January 4, 2010, p. A13
"It is a huge mistake to single out residential schools as the main cause of the pervasive problems that plague isolated aboriginal communities… The funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation [AHF] should be discontinued, and the money reallocated to programs actually devoted to bringing aboriginal health, education and housing standards up to the national average…"