January 28, 2016

Earlier this week, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal directed the federal government to address the discriminatory practise of inadequately funding child welfare services on reserve.

Del Graff, Alberta’s child and youth advocate, says the CHRT’s decision goes far beyond financial inadequacies.

“In part, what was demanded by the tribunal is to change the way these services are provided,” said Graff.

For those changes to take place, he says, a new relationship must be built between federal, provincial and First Nations governments.

As a result of an Apache-Nde-Nnee Working Group report, submitted to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the UN CERD Committee has recognized that the Doctrine of Discovery, the Holy See’s Inter Caetera and related Papal Bulls are within the legal scope of racial discrimination under International Law and therefore require redress, reads a press statement.

Is there an elephant room? B.C.’s First Nations leaders think there is. 

It’s the inability or refusal of community members to pay rent in band-owned housing, reports the Vancouver Sun, because some say free housing is an Aboriginal right, according to reports and interviews.

“There’s confusion around rights and title because Aboriginal people don’t have an Aboriginal right to a home,” said Lawrence Lewis, chief executive officer of the Malahat First Nation on Vancouver Island.

Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and Willis College of Business, Technology, and Healthcare, have announced they will collaborate to provide “state-of-the-art career preparation and skills training” for Indigenous peoples across Canada in healthcare, business, and information technology and management. The goal sets out to train 1,000 Métis, status, non-status and southern Inuit Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Snaw-naw-as First Nation on Vancouver Island has filed a civil lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court against the Island Corridor Foundation and the Attorney General of Canada over a railway line. Snaw-Naw-As wants the land that was removed from them to build the E&N Railway returned. The line runs through the reserve, north of Nanaimo.

The Kaska Dena nations which span the border between northern British Columbia and Yukon, has signed a land management framework deal with the territorial government. The agreement defines responsibilities, benefits and decision-making powers for resource development on traditional lands in southeast Yukon.

The Halalt First Nation at Crofton on the east coast of Vancouver Island is suing the Catalyst pulp and paper company, alleging that its 59-year-old mill is trespassing on Halalt land. They also accuse the company of breaching a confidentiality agreement by disclosing sensitive information.

In two civil suits, the claimant seeks $2 billion and a permanent order to shut down the Crofton Mill. Halalt says the mill interferes with water and land rights and has caused damage to fisheries and land within the territory.

The Chippwas of the Thames First Nation is raising concerns about a proposal to repair a dam on the Thames River for recreational and economic development purposes. The nation’s desire is to not see the broken Springbank Dam repaired. “Our position is we would like to see the dam decommissioned,” said Chief Leslee White-Eye. She sent a letter to London Mayor Matt Brown, who is advocating for repair, expressing the nation’s wish to have a role in the decision making. “We come from the stance of nation-to-nation relationships.

Raven Thundersky, an advocate for people who suffered illness linked to vermiculite insulation, has died of mesothelioma cancer, which is associated with asbestos, said Raven-Dominique Gobeil, ThunderSky’s daughter. She was 50 years old. ThunderSky grew up on Poplar River First Nation, Man. in housing with asbestos-laced insulation and lost several family members to illnesses related to the product. In 2008, ThunderSky urged former prime minister Stephen Harper for an inquiry into Zonolite insulation.

A Nova Scotia judge wants more information on how an effluent leak from a pulp mill has affected those living in Pictou Landing First Nations. Northern Pulp Corporation has pleaded guilty on a Fisheries Act charge laid following an investigation into an effluent spill in 2014. The judge is preparing to sentence, but he was curious as to why Pictou Landing First Nations members were not asked about the impact of the leak.