at Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, a Catholic parish in Edmonton, has been told he’ll be transferred out by September, and the move is hitting the community hard. They’ve circulated petitions to keep “Father Jim,” in place for as long as two years to help his replacement take over his duties. Although not Native himself, Father Jim has dedicated himself to the inner-city church. Father Jim was ordained at the Aboriginal Lac Ste. Anne pilgrimage at age 51. Sacred Heart has been his only parish.

at the table on the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s board of directors, a First Nation group is insisting an appointment be made now. A ruling in April found that Ontario was in breach of its contractual obligations from a 2008 agreement, acting in bad faith, by not appointing a member of the Ontario First Nations Limited Partnership to the board. That agreement also saw the First Nations of Ontario get a 1.7 per cent share of gross revenues from gambling revenues in the province.

The physician who had to fight against professional misconduct charges when he spoke out about high cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan, a community downstream from tar sands development in northern Alberta, has been let go – by the community he advocated for.

John O’Connor, who signed an agreement with the Nunee Health Board Society seven years ago to deliver on-call medical assistance, received his termination letter via email May 8. No reason was given and his attempts to get an explanation have fallen on deaf ears.

He has gone from “stunned” to “angry.”

The English language is replete with words used by one certain segment of the population aimed at a different segment of the population and that are now considered politically incorrect, and rightfully so. 

How many people had grandparents that told a rather off colour version of the ‘Eeny meeny miny moe’ children’s rhyme? Or used colorful (no pun intended) words to describe people of Italian, Irish, south Asian or African descent, just to name a few? It’s the fall-out from less enlighten times, with which many HR departments are still struggling.

As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission draws to a close, it is in front of the courts again on one of the more contentious issues it has faced in its six years.

The TRC is asking the court to rule on what is to become of government and church documents that are not yet in the commission’s possession.

“The biggest challenge we faced was to get the parties to provide us with the documents they were obligated to give to us,” said TRC Chair Justice Murray Sinclair.

After six long, hard years of heading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Justice Murray Sinclair is tired. But he is also hopeful.

UPDATED PHOTO GALLERY: May 31

UPDATED PHOTO GALLERY: June 1

Several dozen teenagers and young adults marched the length of Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows) First Nation on May 2 in sweltering 26 degree Celsius heat.

At a community barbecue to celebrate the end of their walk against logging, the teens lounged in the back of pickup trucks and under the branches of roadside trees. Veteran Elders of the northern Ontario Anishinabe community’s 13-year-long land defence battle ate burgers beside the reserve’s recently refurbished welcome sign.

with British Columbia to take advantage of natural gas pipeline development and the emerging LNG industry. The nation’s traditional territory is along the proposed route for TransCanada’s Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) natural gas pipeline project. They will receive about $3.56 million in one-time payments from the Province as milestones are reached: $324,000 when the agreement takes effect, $1.62 million as construction begins, and $1.62 million when the pipeline is operating.

North Bay Nugget that his community is opposed to a plan to bury nuclear waste near Lake Huron. “Of course we are opposed to it. In our community that I represent ... there are no members that are agreeable to the burial at the site at this time.” Ontario Power Generation received approval in May from a federal review panel, but OPG said approval of the First Nation is necessary for the project to go ahead. Roote said contamination of the Great Lakes is a big concern.

“exemplary” member of the community and decided he shouldn’t have a criminal record for a dangerous driving conviction. Judge Byron Wright gave Arcand, 62, a former vice-chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, a nine-month conditional discharge. Arcand was convicted in December of dangerous driving for aiming his vehicle at a police officer who had testified against him at a traffic court trial. Arcand denies it happened, calling it a “trumped-up charge.”