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The Canadian Human Rights Act Review Panel came to this city Oct. 27 and 28 to get public input into the effectiveness of the 22-year-old act. The panel conducted a roundtable for non-governmental organizations based on a consultation paper the Canadian Human Rights Commission released in July. Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Anne McLellan announced the legislative review last April and gave the panel a year to submit recommendations for change to the government.

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The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake caused a few flutters in Ottawa and Quebec City in early November when Chief Davis Rice announced his community wants to exercise its sovereignty by creating the equivalent of an Antigua on the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Chief Davis Rice told reporters his council intended to become a presence in the world of off-shore international banking by offering the same kind of tax advantages that places like Antigua offer to the financial world.

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The adage of "first come, first served" seems to be taken literally by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. Only days before federal Finance Minister Paul Martin announced the federal government was projecting a multi-billion dollar surplus over the next decade, the Manitoba chiefs were in line to unveil a proposal for the federal and provincial governments to spend $3 billion over the next decade to eradicate all sub-standard housing and develop basic sewer and water treatment services and roadways on reserves in Manitoba.

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On the first true day of winter with temperatures that bottomed out at minus 3C, more than 100 people celebrated Louis Riel Day at the Provincial legislative buildings in Toronto. Métis citizens from across the homeland, including Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO)senators and Aboriginal youth, congregated in front of the government buildings, then marched, holding the MNO's commemorative Louis Riel flag, alongside the traditional infinity symbols, across the grounds to a monument dedicated to Ontario's veterans.

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Justice Minister Anne McLellan released a report on Oct. 12 that concludes Canadian authorities followed proper procedure in the extradition of Leonard Peltier.

Peltier, an American Indian Movement member who was charged in the 1976 shooting of two FBI agents on the reservation at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, fled to Canada to escape prosecution. It has long been believed American authorities fabricated testimony to extradite Peltier to the U.S. He is currently fulfilling a life sentence for the crime.

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Release from prison comes with conditions, but when convicted pedophile Arthur Henry Plint came before the National Parole Board, he had conditions of his own.

"I don't want to be released for another 45 days," Plint told the two-person panel. "I want to spend Christmas and my birthday here before I have to leave."

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The president of the National Aboriginal Veterans Association (NAVA) says the group is poised to publicly sever all association with the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards Foundation (NAAF) after repeated attempts by the group to actively participate in the Aboriginal Veterans Scholarship Trust Fund were rebuffed by foundation founder and chairman John Kim Bell.

"He trots us out at the annual awards ceremonies, but that's the extent of our participation. It's all show and we're tired of being dictated to by him," said veterans' group president, Claude Petit.

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Dear Editor:

The current dispute between the British Columbia government and the Native Indians over the logging of "Crown land" will probably end up in the courts. The first thing that the B.C. government will have to do is prove that it has the title to the "Crown land." This could be very difficult to prove, if not impossible.

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Dear Editor:

Re: Windspeaker column by Taiaiake Alfred entitled "Playing the white man's game."

Irresponsible and cynical are words to describe Taiaiake's opinion about voting in provincial, federal, municipal or band elections.