Ontario Birchbark

The mining industry can anticipate conflict with First Nations in the Ring of Fire region of Ontario if companies play by “old rules” and attempt to impose their will on communities, said Phil Fontaine, former Assembly of First Nations national chief.  “Resource interests should strive to negotiate with First Nations up front instead of the way it was done in the past, as an afterthought,”…

Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative is partnering with Toronto’s DAREarts to inspire Aboriginal youth. DAREarts provides opportunities for vulnerable children and teens in underprivileged urban and rural areas across Canada to express themselves through the arts. The Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative, established in 2008 by former Prime Minister Paul Martin, provides…

Funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation will allow the Chiefs of Ontario to take a key environmental assessment initiative to the next level. The foundation will provide $116,900 over the next two years to support the second phase of a training program, which will help build the capacity of First Nations to align the processes of environmental assessments with negotiations regarding…

The University of Toronto and the Heritage Trust of Ontario have signed a memorandum of understanding with Grand Chief Konrad Sioui of the Huron-Wendat Nation aimed at reburying the bones of more than 1,500 Huron-Wendat ancestors kept for more than 40 years at the University of Toronto. The bones were found in several locations in southern Ontario (Wendake South), which is one of the…

The Wabano National Centre of Excellence has been officially opened and is now providing the National Capital Region’s Aboriginal community with a centre dedicated to its needs. The new centre will be run by the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health, which provides a wide range of social services, health supports, and youth programs for Ottawa’s 35,000 Aboriginal people. In its 14 year history…

Apitisawin President Mary Jane Archibald (left) and Cambrian College President Sylvia Barnard sign a four-year agreement which will see Apitisawin Employment and Training collaborate with Cambrian College to provide Aboriginal students with new options to pursue certificate post-secondary programs that support their needs and the needs of their employers, industry and entrepreneurs. The…

The Métis Nation of Ontario has added a new program. The goal of Victim Services is to expand the range and variety of culturally relevant victim services available to Métis women and children in Ontario. Based on consultations, the program is a support system to be integrated with mainstream victim services programs in order to help the understanding of who Métis people are and the…

The Aamjiwnaang and Bkejwanong First Nations have entered into a partnership with Northland Power Inc. to develop the 100 Megawatt Grand Bend Wind Farm Project, located near Grand Bend. “We are seeking to put forth a new development model thinking out of the box that will maximize the economic benefit to the First Nation for future generations to come,” said Aamjiwnaang First Nation…

Last month, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its unanimous decision reversing the trial judgment of Justice Mary Sanderson in the Keewatin case from Treaty 3 territory.  This decision came less than two months after lengthy oral arguments in late January. The Court of Appeal ruled that the province has the right to “take up” treaty land for mining and forestry and does not need…

Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee stands with survivor Charlotte Contin and her daughters Dot and Judy from Henvey Inlet First Nation at the Union of Ontario Indians monument that honours survivors of the Indian Residential Schools System.

The Anishinabek Nation unveiled a monument to honour thousands of its citizens who have felt the impacts of Indian residential schools. “This…

Construction on the new $14.2-million Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health in Ottawa was expected to be completed in March with the official opening set for May 9. Wabano Centre is designed by Ottawa architect Douglas Cardinal and his son Bret. The building is clad in a golden, rough-cut stone that contrasts with the polished transparency of blue-green glass flowing across it. The…

Chief Isadore Day of the Serpent River First Nation has provided an affidavit in support of the application by the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs for a Federal Court application calling for the suspension of the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. Both Day and Ontario Regional Chief Stan Beardy have been vocal opponents of the Canada-China FIPPA since Oct…

Attorney General John Gerretsen has committed to “immediately work to address” the first two recommendations made in a report by Justice Frank Iacobucci in his report “First Nations Representation on Ontario Juries.” Gerretsen said an implementation committee that includes representatives from the First Nations community and from various government ministries will be formed. The…

Ontario Regional Chief Stan Beardy of the Assembly of First Nations said the Ontario government’s Throne Speech, delivered Feb. 19, offered little to signal a genuine change of course in the First Nations and provincial government relationship. “There were some promising statements in the Throne Speech but nothing new to signal that Premier (Kathleen) Wynne and this government will…

Ontario Regional Chief Stan Beardy declined the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal. In a news release, he said, “Accepting the medal at this time would condone the fact that the British Crown and Canadian government are ignoring the legal and historical connection they have with treaty nations.” On Dec. 20, 2012, Beardy wrote an open letter to the Queen urging direct British Crown involvement in…