Thank- you for visiting Indigenous Watchdog - the Phase 1 launch of an online platform to deliver current, comprehensive and insightful information on critical Indigenous issues impacting First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action are the starting point for an exploration into a broad range of current events... Continue Reading →
June 15, 2020 Updates to Indigenous Watchdog
The June 15, 2020 Indigenous Watchdog update documents 49 actions across 10 Legacy and Reconciliation Themes and 15 Calls to Action since April 21, 2020 – seven weeks - that among other things should open Canadian's eyes to the following: COVID-19 and the recent killings of Indigenous people by police confirm how pervasive systemic racism... Continue Reading →
How much is an “Indian” life worth? Apparently, not very much.
What do the following Indigenous communities all have in common? Grassy NarrowsNorthwest Angle 33 First NationAamjiwnaang First NationMuskrat FallsAthabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation,Kashetchewan etc. etc. etc. Decades of fighting the federal and provincial governments to address ongoing health issues "plaguing" Indigenous people across the country, going back to the founding - or... Continue Reading →
Is $46M COVID-19 funding enough for roughly 732,000 urban Indigenous people?
The most recent census in 2016 counted 1.67 million Indigenous people in Canada, or 4.9% of the total population. Almost half (44%) of the Indigenous population—representing 731,480 First Nations, Métis and Inuit people —lived in one of 49 urban areas large enough to be divided into neighbourhoods (or census tracts): 51% identified as First Nations (373,055)45% as Métis (329,166) 1% as Inuit (7,315)... Continue Reading →
April 21, 2020 Updates to Indigenous Watchdog
Indigenous Watchdog was officially launched on Feb. 25, 2020 with a blog post about the Wet'suwet'en vs Coastal GasLink protest. Since then, seven additional blogs have been posted addressing a number of distinct issues. What else has happened over the last two months? As of April 21, 2020, Indigenous Watchdog has updated the following: 7... Continue Reading →
Ongoing problems and issues in fixing Indigenous health
What is the reality behind the statistics? We've all seen the numbers over the years that tell the unrelenting truth around the significant gaps in Indigenous health outcomes compared to the rest of Canada. Beyond the numbers, what are some of the current and ongoing problems and issues that sustain those negative results? The following... Continue Reading →
Is .4% of the $82B COVID-19 budget allocation enough to protect Indigenous People?
CORRECTION: Previous post had .004% when the correct number is .4% The most recent pandemic was H1N1 in 2009 where 27.8% of all hospital admissions were Indigenous people who at the time represented only 4.3% of the over-all population. (Maclean's, July 16, 2009) Manitoba had the highest rate of hospitalization among First Nations Consider also:... Continue Reading →
Coronavirus Health Alerts
Coronavirus - or COVID-19 - has taken over our lives and has become rightfully the number one news story in the world. Nothing is more important than our health so included in this post are three items that are specific to COVID-19 and Indigenous people: A NationTalk video link to an Indigenous Services Canada update... Continue Reading →
What does the Conservative Party of Canada have against Indigenous Peoples?
On May 30, 2018 the third reading of Bill C-262 “An Act to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” (UNDRIP) was passed in the House of Commons with a resounding majority of 206 elected MPs with the full support of all parties... Continue Reading →
Indigenous Land Protectors
Globally, there have been two methods for governments and business to deal with Land Protectors: kill them as was done in 19 countries around the world in 2018 primarily in Columbia, Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras and the Philippines resulting in 164 deaths: Or as Global Witness has reported, “across continents, governments and companies are also... Continue Reading →
Wet’suwet’en and Coastal GasLink
In 1984, the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en and Gitksan Houses launched a court case against the government of BC over Aboriginal title to their ancestral territory in BC. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in their favour in the landmark Delgamuukw case in 1997, acknowledging that aboriginal title pre-dated colonial contact and had not... Continue Reading →