Survivors of St. Anne’s Residential School were in provincial court in Toronto on Dec. 17 for the first day of a two-day hearing. They want the federal government to hand over documents from a five-year investigation conducted by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

The investigation, begun in 1994, was the result of complaints from former students of physical and sexual abuse by priests, nuns and other Catholic caregivers at the school. St. Anne’s operated in Fort Albany, Ont. for more than 70 years, taking children from the James Bay area.

The Sucker Creek First Nation and Kelly Lake Métis Settlement Society of Alberta are among six Aboriginal groups to be awarded funding to participate in the regulatory process of the proposed Murray River Coal project near Tumbler Ridge. Each received $10,500. Three First Nations in British Columbia and the Métis Nation of BC also received financial help. Funding will be used to review and comment on the environmental impact statement and the draft environmental assessment report.

The Joint Review Panel is accepting comments on additional information provided by Shell Canada Limited regarding the proposed Pierre River Mine project near Fort McMurray. The additional information was provided in response to questions sent to Shell by the JRP in October 2012. The questions were issued following the public comment period on the environmental impact assessment and the application in the summer of 2012. The EIA details the anticipated effects of the proposed project on the environment. Comments are to be provided by Jan. 17, 2014.

Protestors drove the point home when they placed 116 oil barrels on the steps of the Legislature to represent the amount of carbon dioxide that will be produced by Shell’s Jackpine mine expansion every second.

The installation was the backdrop to which 150 people braved Edmonton’s first day of significant snow and cold temperatures to rally with counterparts across the country on Nov. 16 for the Defend Our Climate, Defend Our Communities.