Current Problems:
Exploring Theme: "Court Cases"
Updates on this page: 174
(Filtered by Indigenous Group "First Nations")
November 15, 2024
AMC Condemns Stay of Charges Against Priest Accused of Sexual Assault
NationTalk: TRIGGER WARNING: This media release contains sensitive information about the assault of a child. Mental health counselling and crisis support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat. Treaty One Territory, Winnipeg – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) is...
November 14, 2024
Class action alleges abuse, cultural devastation in group homes
APTN News: The Canadian Press – A proposed class-action lawsuit against the Canadian government says Indigenous people removed from their communities and placed in group homes beginning in the 1950s suffered physical, sexual and psychological abuse that “was commonplace, condoned and, arguably, encouraged.” The Federal Court lawsuit filed this month in Vancouver says Indigenous children...
November 14, 2024
The Indian Boarding Home Class Action Claims Process is now open.
NationTalk: This settlement is in response to two legal actions (Superior Court of Quebec and Federal Court cases) filed on behalf of children who suffered harassment, abuse, loss of language and culture, and other harms as a result of their participation in the Indian Boarding Homes Program. Through the litigation, plaintiffs sought compensation, recognition, and...
November 13, 2024
All charges stayed on 2nd day of trial against Manitoba priest accused of sexually assaulting girl
Update comes day after testimony from girl who made allegations against Arul Savari WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it. CBC News: A Manitoba priest accused of sexually assaulting a now-nine-year-old girl in Little Grand Rapids First Nation last year has had all charges against...
November 12, 2024
Court hears from 9-year-old girl who says she was sexually assaulted by Manitoba priest last year
‘Father Arul. He did something gross to me,’ girl says in video statement played in court WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it. CBC News: A now nine-year-old girl who says she was sexually assaulted by a priest last year in Little Grand Rapids First...
November 5, 2024
Defence questions reliability of RCMP officer’s report on Wet’suwet’en Coastal GasLink blockade
Abuse of process hearing resumes in Smithers, B.C., courtroom CBC Indigenous: A lawyer representing three people arrested for blocking work on the Coastal GasLink pipeline questioned whether an RCMP officer’s report on an encounter with blockade members was reliable, on Monday in B.C. Supreme Court in Smithers. Justice Michael Tammen is hearing an abuse of process application brought...
November 5, 2024
Sentencing of Tiny House Warriors involved in TMX confrontation adjourned to 2025
Members of the Tiny House Warriors display red dresses and cloth to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls along the perimeter of a camp that once housed 550 Trans Mountain pipeline workers in Secwepemcúl’ecw in Blue River, B.C., in April 2022. Photo: Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative. APTN News: The sentencing for four...
October 31, 2024
Syilx Okanagan woman files lawsuit alleging historic abuse at Vernon Catholic school
Laurie Wilson claims she was physically and sexually assaulted by staff and white students at St. James Parish WARNING: This story contains details of experiences similar to those suffered by residential school survivors. CBC News: A Syilx Okanagan woman has filed a lawsuit against church authorities and the Canadian government alleging she was physically and sexually...
October 29, 2024
B.C. First Nation launches court challenge over LNG plant effect on salmon
A photo of the Nass River, a highway for many Gitanyow salmon. Gitanyow leadership are concerned that those salmon are at risk because of a proposed LNG project, and yet, they remain outside of the scope of its consultation. Photo by Miko Fox / Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)Listen to article Canada’s National Observer:A First Nation...
October 11, 2024
Missanabie Cree First Nation suing for increase in annuities payments for Treaty 9 members
Chief Jason Gauthier and his community are taking the lead on the lawsuit against the federal government, launched on behalf of all 37 First Nations within Treaty 9 territory NationTalk: Village Report – SAULT STE. MARIE – A lawsuit filed on behalf of all Treaty 9 First Nations is seeking $10 billion from the Canadian...
October 10, 2024
Opaskwayak Cree Nation files suit over 2019 toxic fluid leak
NationTalk: The Free Press – A Manitoba First Nation has launched a $10-million lawsuit against the paper mill in The Pas after a massive amount of toxic fluid leaked into the river where its residents fish, in 2019. Opaskwayak Cree Nation has filed a claim against Canadian Kraft Paper and the federal and provincial governments...
October 7, 2024
Certification hearing for lawsuit involving off reserve Indigenous children in care begins in B.C.
APTN News: A certification hearing is underway at the Supreme Court of British Columbia on a class action brought on behalf of all off-reserve Indigenous children in British Columbia who were removed from their homes and taken into care since 1992. Lawyers representing them say many were taken away from their culture, families and many were...
September 27, 2024
Oneida family relieved police officer’s appeals come to an end
Debra Chrisjohn died in 2016 after her arrest by the London police. APTN News: A police officer’s bid to quash his conviction in the death of an Oneida mother in 2016 has come to an end. On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed a request for leave to appeal from Const. Nicolas Doering of the London,...
September 9, 2024
Kanien’kehá:ka man on why he joined B.C. pipeline blockade
Corey Jocko testifies in support of abuse-of-process application CBC Indigenous: A Coastal GasLink blockade participant told a B.C. Supreme Court hearing on Monday that going to Wet’suwt’en territory gave him closure after being arrested in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Ont., during the Shut Down Canada movement. The movement was a series of protests and blockades that took place across...
September 9, 2024
Canada tried to quash First Nation land claim with this handwritten 1889 ruling. It failed
A lot is at stake, literally thousands of square kilometres of land in Ontario which was arguably never ceded by the First Nation band that previously occupied it NationTalk: Earlier this summer, an Ontario Superior Court judge inspected a historical document, and he was pleased, impressed even. It was a handwritten stack of papers, cursive...
September 6, 2024
Coastal GasLink blockade participant recounts ‘joyful’ life at Wet’suwet’en camp
Shaylynn Sampson says police dropped her cedar headband on the ground CBC Indigenous: A woman who was arrested at a blockade of construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline told court Thursday that her time at the camp was “joyful.” Shaylynn Sampson, a Gitxsan woman with Wet’suwet’en family ties, was questioned by defence lawyer Frances Mahon...
September 6, 2024
Indigenous Bar Association Applauds Court’s Decision to Grant Advance Costs in Beaver Lake Cree Nation Treaty Rights Case, Anderson V Alberta, 2024 ABKB 524
NationTalk: The Indigenous Bar Association in Canada (IBA) applauds the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta’s recent decision in Anderson v. Alberta, 2024 ABKB 524, granting the Beaver Lake Cree Nation advance costs to support its Treaty infringement litigation against Canada. This decision affirms that First Nations must have access to the resources necessary to...
September 5, 2024
Crown suggests RCMP acted fairly in Wet’suwet’en leader’s arrest
New video shown by Crown during hearing for Wet’suwet’en leader’s abuse-of-process claim CBC Indigenous: A Crown lawyer suggested the RCMP behaved reasonably in the circumstances as she cross-examined a Wet’suwet’en leader arrested for blockading the Coastal GasLink pipeline in 2021. Crown lawyer Kathryn Costain is questioning Sleydo’, also known as Molly Wickham, a wing chief of...
September 5, 2024
Norval Morrisseau’s legacy ‘irrevocably damaged’ due to art fraud, says judge giving man 5 years in prison
David Voss, 52, was in Thunder Bay, Ont., court on Thursday for massive fraud case CBC Indigenous: The man who oversaw the creation of thousands of forged artworks in Thunder Bay, Ont., falsely attributed to Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau faces a five-year penitentiary sentence. David John Voss pleaded guilty on June 4 to counts of forgery and...
September 5, 2024
AMC Stands with First Nations Children as Historic $530 Million Settlement Case Begins
NationTalk: Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) stands united with First Nations families and children as the final court proceedings commence on September 5, 2024, in the Children’s Special Allowance (CSA) class action lawsuit. This significant legal battle addresses the wrongful diversion of funds meant to support First Nations children...
September 4, 2024
Use of the Gladue principle has ‘largely failed’ Yellowhead Institute report finds
It’s been 25 years since the Supreme Court’s Gladue decision but a new report finds the landmark ruling has failed to live up to much of its initial promise. APTN News: The application of what are called Gladue principles has “largely failed” in Canada because of several factors including a disorganized Gladue process, limited resources...
September 3, 2024
Disturbing audio played during Wet’suwet’en’ hearing
Creepy radio transmission of children singing played in court The Tyee: The abuse of process application brought by a Wet’suwet’en leader and members of a blockade who were found guilty of criminal contempt of court for stopping work on the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline was back in court on Tuesday. The application began in January for Sleydo’,...
September 2, 2024
B.C. community groups and First Nation file court challenge against regulator over pipeline
Kolin Sutherland-Wilson is shown at the legislature in Victoria, Saturday, Feb.8, 2020. Photo by: the Canadian Press/Dirk MeissnerListen to article Canada’s National Observer: A coalition of community groups and a First Nation in Northern British Columbia have launched a court challenge against the BC Energy Regulator (BCER). They say the regulator is bypassing legal requirements...
August 28, 2024
“‘Shattered” doesn’t explain how I feel’: Sentencing for serial killer hears from families of murdered women
Sentencing hearing in Winnipeg court hears about horrific impact of Jeremy Skibicki’s crimes WARNING: This story contains details about violence against Indigenous women. CBC News: For some, it’s the sight of a garbage truck on the street that can suddenly bring them back to the worst day of their lives; for others, something as ordinary...
August 23, 2024
Nova Scotia group wants a court to declare a First Nation’s lobster fishery illegal
APTN News: The Canadian Press – A commercial lobster fishing group in southwestern Nova Scotia is seeking a court to have a lobster fishery run by a First Nations community declared illegal. The United Fisheries Conservation Alliance says it also wants the court to define the scope and limits that should apply to a fishery operated by...
August 9, 2024
Dakota Tipi First Nation sues The Forks, governments, for financial compensation and ownership of land
Dakota Tipi First Nation didn’t agree to surrender rights of the land at any time, lawsuit alleges First Peoples Law Report: CBC News – Dakota Tipi First Nation is suing The Forks and three levels of government in the hopes of reinstating ownership of the land and financial compensation tied to the use and management...
July 30, 2024
B.C. First Nations claim fish farm licences infringe upon Aboriginal fishing rights
NationTalk: NanaimoNews NOW: The Canadian Press – VANCOUVER — Two B.C. First Nations are taking the federal government and fish farm companies to court trying to overturn a decision that allows the farms to continue to operate off B.C.’s coast for another five years. The ‘Namgis and the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nations say in separate...
July 28, 2024
Court battle against Ottawa restarts over Indian Act gender discrimination
Bill C-38 introduced to resolve issue is stuck at second reading since passing in Dec. 2022 CBC News: A group of First Nations families has reactivated a court challenge against Ottawa over ongoing gender discrimination in the Indian Act because a bill created to address the issue is stalled in Parliament. Indigenous Services Minister Patty...
July 25, 2024
Can a lake become a person in law? A B.C. First Nation wants to find out
The concept of personhood for elements of nature is not new. The Sumas valley in late November 2021 after flooding temporarily turned it back into Sumas Lake. Photo: The City of Abbotsford APTN News: A First Nation in B.C. likes the idea of restoring Sumas Lake in the southern part of B.C. back to its...
July 22, 2024
Winnipeg serial killer knew what he was doing was wrong, judge says
Nearly 200-page written decision sheds more light on why Jeremy Skibicki convicted earlier this month WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: Serial killer Jeremy Skibicki knew what he was doing was wrong, a judge said in a lengthy decision outlining why he convicted the Winnipeg man in the murders of four vulnerable Indigenous...
July 21, 2024
Flooding caused by failed muskrat management project in 1940s destroyed Manitoba First Nation’s lands: lawsuit
Kinonjeoshtegon First Nation accuses provincial government of turning much of its lands to ‘unusable muskeg’ CBC Indigenous: A First Nation along the western shores of Lake Winnipeg is suing the provincial government after it alleges flooding caused by a dam over 80 years ago “effectively confiscated” a chunk of its land. Kinonjeoshtegon First Nation accuses...
July 16, 2024
Convicted of defrauding Indigenous youth, B.C. social worker earns full parole
Robert Riley Saunders was a social worker with the Ministry of Children and Family Development in B.C. Photo: APTN file APTN News: convicted fraudster who stole thousands of dollars from vulnerable Indigenous youth has been granted full parole. Convicted of misappropriating more than $460,000 in 2022, Robert Riley Saunders was a social worker with the...
July 16, 2024
A white supremacist confirms what Indigenous inquiries have been trying to tell us for years
In finding Jeremy Skibicki guilty, Chief Justice Glenn Joyal dismissed the evidence put forward by the defence as ‘fabricated’ and said the Crown had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Skibicki understood the planned and deliberate killings were legally and morally wrong. Toronto Star: Last week in Winnipeg they were dancing in the streets when...
July 12, 2024
First Nation challenges nuclear waste decision in federal court
A peaceful rally took place outside the Supreme Court in Ottawa, Ont. in support of Kebaowek First Nation’s judicial review for a nuclear waste storage facility near the Ottawa River. Photo by Eagleclaw Thom Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: A First Nation concerned about approval of a nuclear waste disposal facility near the Ottawa River...
July 12, 2024
Legal Notice to Beneficiaries of the Robinson Huron Treaty
NationTalk: Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Garden River First Nation have commenced a court application against the lawyers for the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund. The application says that the lawyer’s fees were too high and it asks the court to reduce them (the “Assessment Application”). The Litigation Management Committee of the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund...
July 11, 2024
Judgment in unusual trial of admitted Winnipeg serial killer coming Thursday
Lawyers for Jeremy Skibicki argued he should be found not criminally responsible for killing 4 women in 2022 WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: The fate of a Winnipeg man who has confessed to killing four women but denies criminal responsibility will be decided Thursday after an unusual trial for the admitted serial killer. ...
July 10, 2024
Fight continues against secret hearings in challenge to CSIS spying on environmental groups
NationTalk: Ottawa, ON (unceded Anishinabe Algonquin Territory) – The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) has appealed a recent Federal Court decision related to our 10-year fight for government accountability and transparency following our complaint against the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) for secretly and illegally spying on Indigenous land defenders and environmental groups. If...
July 9, 2024
Judge in murder trial weighs motivations of admitted Winnipeg serial killer
Jeremy Skibicki confessed to killing (left to right) Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and Buffalo Woman in the spring of 2022. Photo illustration: APTN News This story contains information from a murder trial. Please read with care. APTN News: The Canadian Press – judge is expected to decide this week whether a man who...
July 9, 2024
Assembly of First Nations receives settlement offer to finalize reform of child welfare
National chief calls it ‘a fair offer that will benefit generations of children’ CBC Indigenous: The Assembly of First Nations has a draft settlement offer from the federal government to finalize long-term reform of First Nations child and family services, National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak announced Tuesday at the AFN’s annual general assembly in Montreal. “While this offer...
July 8, 2024
Blueberry River First Nations Returns to Court to Uphold Treaty Rights and Enforce Landmark Agreement
NationTalk: BLUEBERRY RIVER FIRST NATIONS, BC – Blueberry River First Nations (Blueberry) has filed a Notice of Civil Claim (NOCC) against the Province of British Columbia (the Province) in order to protect Blueberry’s Treaty rights and enforce the Province’s constitutional, fiduciary and contractual obligations. In January 2023, Blueberry and the Province reached an historic agreement...
July 3, 2024
B.C. hereditary chief gets house arrest for pipeline blockade
Chief invoked Wet’suwet’en law for protecting land and water against Coastal GasLink CBC News: A Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief will serve a 60-day jail sentence under house arrest for disrupting pipeline construction through Wet’suwet’en traditional territory in northern British Columbia in October 2021. “A jail sentence is required in this case,” said Justice Michael Tammen as...
July 2, 2024
3rd Pinaymootang First Nation man’s conviction overturned in 1973 Winnipeg murder in light of new evidence
Evidence suggests ‘miscarriage of justice’ in Clarence Woodhouse’s conviction, federal justice minister says CBC News: A new trial has been ordered for a third First Nations man convicted for the murder of a Winnipeg man 50 years ago. Clarence Woodhouse, now in his early 70s, was one of three men and members of Pinaymootang First...
June 24, 2024
Sipekne’katik First Nation granted a temporary adjournment to allow for mediation with the Crown
NationTalk: HALIFAX, NS – A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has granted a joint request from the Sipekne’katik First Nation and the Attorney General of Canada to adjourn trial dates that would have aimed to settle treaty fishing rights disputes. The court has decided to give the involved parties until December 12, 2024, to have a...
June 14, 2024
Nunatsiavut government demands Liberal MP’s demotion over NunatuKavut comments
Nunatsiavut ‘deeply concerned,’ wants Yvonne Jones removed from parliamentary secretary posts CBC Indigenous: The Nunatsiavut government of northern Labrador wants a Liberal MP demoted over “inaccurate comments” she made praising a court ruling concerning NunatuKavut Community Council. Yvonne Jones, who represents Labrador in the House of Commons, was among those celebrating when a Federal Court...
June 12, 2024
Court dismisses Innu Nation challenge against recognition of disputed Labrador group
Contested MOU doesn’t recognize NunatuKavut Community Council as having Indigenous rights, judge rules CBC Indigenous The Federal Court has dismissed the Innu Nation’s court challenge against federal recognition of a Labrador group making disputed assertions of Inuit identity. Judge Cecily Y. Strickland on Wednesday rejected the Innu Nation’s application for judicial review of a contested memorandum of understanding...
June 12, 2024
Indigenous legal trust backs NSDF challenge
First Peoples Law Report: North Renfrew Times – The Algonquin community challenging the Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) at Chalk River has launched a fundraising campaign to support its legal case. The Kebaowek First Nation filed an application for a judicial review of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s decision to approve construction of the NSDF...
June 11, 2024
Canada: International Delegation to Attend Trial of Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders
NationTalk: A delegation of Amnesty International representatives from France, Germany, the United States and Canada will attend the trials of criminalized land defenders from the Wet’suwet’en Nation in Smithers, British Columbia the week of 17 June. The delegates will be there to watch the criminal court proceedings and be in solidarity with the criminalized defenders,...
June 10, 2024
First Nations challenge lawyers over their $510M legal bill for the Robinson treaties annuities case
Legal team successfully argued the past annuities case that was settled for $10B in 2023 APTN News: Discontent and criticism over the $510 million being paid to the lawyers who argued the Robinson Huron treaty annuities case is spilling into an Ontario court room. Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Garden River First Nation filed an application asking...
June 5, 2024
‘Cry out for justice’: Mercury poisoning provokes lawsuit
After the press conference, the Grassy Narrows delegation marched to Queen’s Park to deliver their statement of claim to Premier Doug Ford. However, they were denied entry to the building by the police. Photo by Abdul Matin Sarfraz/National Observer WE STILL NEED $3,300 TO MAKE OUR BUDGET. WILL YOU CHIP IN? Goal: $100k $96,637 Donate...
June 2, 2024
How Jeremy Skibicki’s ‘unusual’ defence compares to other serial killer cases
Skibicki’s lawyers plan to argue he was suffering from a mental disorder when he killed 4 women in 2022 WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: Admitted Winnipeg serial killer Jeremy Skibicki’s plan to argue he’s not criminally responsible in the deaths of four women due to a mental disorder strikes several experts as...
May 28, 2024
Woman questions court’s authority, cites Indigenous rights; her case involves Victoria police chief
Kati George-Jim is charged with obstructing police as they tried to arrest a person believed to have thrown water on the police chief at a memorial The Tyee: The Times Colonist – A T’Sou-ke woman on trial for obstructing Victoria police officers trying to arrest another person believed to have thrown water on the chief...
May 28, 2024
Two more First Nations sue three levels of government for treating Red, Assiniboine rivers ‘as part of the sewage system’
Posted: 5:27 PM CDT Monday, May. 27, 2024 Last Modified: 1:25 PM CDT Tuesday, May. 28, 2024 First Peoples Law Report: The Free Press – Two Manitoba First Nations have added their names to a list of Indigenous communities suing the City of Winnipeg, the province and the federal government, claiming $1 billion in damages for sewage...
May 16, 2024
Mother, stepfather sentenced to 15 years in prison for horrific death of 6-year-old son
Hesquiat boy Dontay Lucas died in Port Alberni in 2018 of blunt-force trauma to the head WARNING: This story contains details of violence and child abuse. The mother and stepfather of deceased Hesquiat boy Dontay Lucas were both sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison for manslaughter in the disturbing killing of the six-year-old in...
May 16, 2024
First Nation in B.C. to reactivate judicial review of DFO’s salmon farm virus policy
Fish farms on the coast are being blamed for the decline in Fraser River salmon. Submitted photo. APTN News: The Canadian Press – A First Nation in British Columbia says it has lost faith in federal plans to remove open net-pens from the province’s ocean salmon farms and is reluctantly relaunching legal action it had on hold...
May 14, 2024
Judge orders psychiatric assessment of admitted serial killer
Crown’s forensic psychiatrist to interview Jeremy Skibicki. Warning: This story contains disturbing details. Please read with care. A Winnipeg judge has ordered a self-confessed serial killer to undergo a psychiatric assessment at the request of the Crown prosecutor. Manitoba Chief Justice Glenn Joyal overruled the objection of Jeremy Skibicki’s defence lawyer Leonard Tailleur Tuesday to...
May 10, 2024
Women’s remains believed to have spent 2 weeks in same Winnipeg dumpster before going to landfill, trial hears
Surveillance video revealed Jeremy Skibicki disposing of bodies in numerous garbage bins Caitlyn Gowriluk · CBC News · Posted: May 10, 2024 1:40 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: When police learned a woman’s remains were discovered in a Winnipeg garbage bin nearly two years ago, they had no...
May 9, 2024
Police find DNA of another 12 women at self-confessed killer’s apartment in Winnipeg
DNA belonging to Ashlee Shingoose was found in Jeremy Skibicki’s apartment. She has been missing since 2022. Photo: Winnipeg police. Warning: This story contains disturbing details. Please read with care. APTN News: The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed the DNA of four Indigenous women inside the home of their self-confessed killer, a court heard Thursday, along...
May 8, 2024
Mother of Tim McLean talks about his murder and use of not criminally responsible defence in court
Carol de Delley says she tried to change it after son’s killer found not criminally responsible due to mental illness. Tim McLean was murdered on a Greyhound bus in 2008. He stabbed, beheaded and cannibalized. Photo: APTN file. APTN News: When her son was decapitated, Carol de Delley thought it was the worst thing that...
May 8, 2024
Court, family hears how Indigenous women were murdered in Winnipeg
Defence claims Jeremy Skibicki has borderline personality disorder and PTSD Warning: This article contains content that may be disturbing to readers. Discretion is advised. APTN News: Serial killer Jeremy Skibicki calmly took detectives through the last minutes of his victims’ lives on a video played in a Winnipeg courtroom Wednesday. The seven-hour conversation-turned-confession shows a...
May 7, 2024
First Nations launch lawsuit against Ontario and federal governments claiming discrimination in policing
The lawsuit claims it is unconstitutional to refuse to require police to enforce First Nations laws and bylaws. Toronto Star: The Chiefs of Ontario have filed a lawsuit against the province and the federal government claiming it is unconstitutional to refuse to require police to enforce First Nations laws and bylaws. The case filed in Ontario Superior Court of Justice...
May 7, 2024
Lawsuit filed by Chiefs of Ontario alleges Indigenous Affairs minister ‘made threats’ to organization over legal action
Statement of claim alleges that other ministers closed off communications after lawsuit was filed. Chiefs of Ontario Grand Chief Glen Hare speaks to reporters during a news conference at the Ontario legislature in Toronto. APTN News: Ontario’s minister of Indigenous affairs “made threats” to the head of the Chiefs of Ontario after notice was given...
May 6, 2024
Trial of Winnipeg man who admits to killing 4 women to be heard by judge alone
Jeremy Skibicki asks to be found not criminally responsible in the deaths CBC News: The jury trial of a man accused of killing four women in Winnipeg will now instead be heard by a judge alone, a change that comes after Jeremy Skibicki’s lawyers said he admits to killing the women but will ask to be found...
May 1, 2024
When your duty to protect the land clashes with settler laws
By Sidney Coles | Opinion | May 1st 2024 Rainbow Eyes in traditional headwear at Fairy Creek. Photo by Glenn Reid Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: OPINION – In British Columbia, Indigenous Peoples are expected to move seamlessly between two worlds and two sets of laws — sacred law and colonial law. When these are in conflict, they are asked...
May 1, 2024
Manitoba First Nations seek billions in damages over Winnipeg sewage spill
Massive February spill into Red River caused signifcant harms for downstream communities: lawsuit CBC News: Eight Manitoba First Nations have filed a lawsuit against the City of Winnipeg, as well as the provincial and federal governments, seeking billions of dollars in compensation for a massive sewage spill earlier this year. A pipe in south Winnipeg burst...
April 24, 2024
Green deputy leader sentenced to 60 days for Fairy Creek old-growth protests
Angela Davidson, also known as Rainbow Eyes, was convicted in January of seven counts of criminal contempt for breaching a court injunction and later her bail conditions. Photo by Glenn Reid Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: The Canadian Press– OTTAWA — The Green Party is decrying a 60-day sentence handed to its deputy leader today...
April 24, 2024
Peguis First Nation launches $1B flood damages lawsuit against feds, province and 2 municipalities
First Nation, forcibly displaced in 1907, claims government failed to provide safe place to live CBC News: Peguis First Nation has filed a $1-billion flood-damages lawsuit against the federal government, the provincial government and two municipalities located upstream of the Ojibway and Cree community in Manitoba’s northern Interlake. In a statement of claim filed before...
April 12, 2024
Former Thunder Bay police chief arrested and charged in misconduct probe
A former Thunder Bay police chief has been arrested and charged as part of an ongoing misconduct investigation, Ontario Provincial Police said Friday. Toronto Star: The Canadian Press – A former Thunder Bay police chief has been arrested and charged as part of an ongoing misconduct investigation, Ontario Provincial Police said Friday. Police arrested Sylvie...
April 9, 2024
OPP charges former legal counsel with Thunder Bay police with breach of trust, obstruction
Holly Walbourne in an undated photo. Photo courtesy: TBnewswatch.com APTN News: The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has laid several charges against a lawyer who acted as legal counsel for the Thunder Bay Police Service. The OPP’s Criminal Investigations Branch announced the charges against Holly Walbourne on Tuesday. Walbourne is facing five charges including three counts of...
March 30, 2024
Province, Wolastoqey argue over striking portions of big title claim
First Peoples Law Report: The Penticton Herald: The Canadian Press – New Brunswick’s provincial government has asked a judge to toss key portions of the big Aboriginal title claim filed by the Wolastoqey Nation for more than half of the province’s territory. The province argues the Indigenous leaders who launched the court action in 2020...
March 28, 2024
Canada, Manitoba point fingers at each other in response to off-reserve child welfare lawsuit
The Canadian flag flies at the Manitoba legislature in WInnipeg. Photo: Jared Delorme/APTN. APTN News: A class-action lawsuit filed by two First Nations women in Manitoba on behalf of off-reserve survivors of the child welfare system is heading to court with each of the defendants blaming the other. Both Canada and Manitoba are asking for...
March 25, 2024
Manitoba to pay $530-million in settlement over children’s allowance
The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press – The Manitoba government has agreed to pay $530 million to settle class-action lawsuits over child welfare benefit payments. The proposed settlement, which still requires court approval, follows a 2022 court ruling that found the province was wrong to claw back hundreds of millions of dollars in federal...
March 13, 2024
B.C. judge warns of ‘tsunami’ of Indigenous identity fraud cases
Baptist pastor charged with possessing child pornography claimed Métis status based on great-great-grandparent WARNING: This story contains details of child sexual exploitation and pornography. CBC News: After he was charged with possessing child pornography, Nathan Allen Joseph Legault discovered a figure from his past he hoped might help with his future. The Prince Rupert, B.C., man...
March 11, 2024
Opposition parties call for the day school settlement agreement to be reopened
NDP MPs, Green Party deputy leader want day school survivors to be able to resubmit their claims CBC News: The federal NDP and the Green Party are urging Ottawa to reopen the multi-billion-dollar federal Indian day school settlement agreement. The opposition lawmakers issued the call in response to a CBC News report about day school survivors who...
March 5, 2024
Day school settlement has paid out $5.7B in claims. A Supreme Court petition says survivors were shortchanged
Multibillion-dollar deal was supposed to bring justice but brought more pain for some WARNING: This story contains details of experiences at Indian day schools. Click on the following link to read the original article and view all videos: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/day-school-survivors-supreme-court-1.7132933?cmp=newsletter_Morning%20Headlines%20from%20CBC%20News_1613_1424097 CBC News: A Cree survivor of the federal Indian day school system is asking Canada’s top court to...
February 29, 2024
Proposed class-action lawsuit aims to compensate children of residential school survivors
Lawyer feels it’s time to seek redress for what Indigenous leaders refer to as the ongoing effects of inter-generational trauma. Matthew Brandon (centre) is flanked by his guardians, Chris Gardiner and Shannon Berard-Gardiner. Photo: Submitted A new class-action lawsuit is being proposed to compensate children of residential school survivors for inter-generational trauma, APTN News has...
February 28, 2024
First Nations praise ruling ‘forcing’ Crown to protect interests
Chief says partial win at top court could change dynamic in relationship with resource industries CBC Indigenous: For decades, Stellat’en Chief Robert Michell says his First Nation has been caught in a loop of frustration when demanding change to deal with problems caused by the Kenney Dam. The company which operates both the dam and an associated reservoir...
February 21, 2024
Wet’suwet’en Law Cannot ‘Coexist’ with BC Court Order, Judge Determines
Chief Dsta’hyl has been found guilty of criminal contempt. The Tyee: The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that a traditional Wet’suwet’en trespass law cannot “coexist” with the injunction order issued to Coastal GasLink in response to pipeline protests from the nation’s hereditary leadership. As a result, Chief Dsta’hyl, a Wing Chief of the Likhts’amisyu Clan of...
February 9, 2024
Algonquin Nation nuclear waste site court challenge a ‘litmus test’ for federal United Nations Declaration Act
By Matteo Cimellaro & Natasha Bulowski | News, Urban Indigenous Communities in Ottawa Lance Haymond, chief of Kebaowek First Nation, at the final licensing hearing for the near-surface disposal facility on Aug. 10, 2023. Photo by Natasha Bulowski / Canada’s National Observer Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: An Algonquin Nation is taking Ottawa to court over the approval of a nuclear...
February 7, 2024
Kebaowek First Nation launches judicial review of Chalk River waste disposal project
APTN News: An Algonquin community in Quebec is launching a judicial review of a decision by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to allow the disposal of limited kinds of nuclear waste at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories campus in Deep River, Ont., located about 180 km west of Ottawa in Quebec. In its application to...
February 7, 2024
Manitoba chief proposes class action against feds over ‘effectively worthless’ $5 treaty payments
Treaty 4 signatories ‘never intended for the annuities to be frozen in time,’ Waywayseecappo chief’s suit says CBC Indigenous: A Manitoba First Nation chief is joining a growing list of Indigenous communities that allege the federal government has violated treaty agreements by not increasing $5 annuity payments to keep up with inflation over the past 150 years. Waywayseecappo First...
January 27, 2024
Judge overturns landmark $150K human rights award for mother who claimed discrimination
Decision says human rights tribunal asked wrong questions and erred in law in landmark decision CBC Indigenous: A B.C. Supreme Court judge has overturned a landmark human rights tribunal decision awarding $150,000 to a mother who claimed she was discriminated against by Canada’s longest-serving Indigenous child-care agency. In the original decision, tribunal member Devyn Cousineau found the Vancouver...
January 24, 2024
Parole officers appear at James Smith Cree inquest in Saskatchewan
APTN News: Myles Sanderson was a man who opened up once you got to know him, attended programs he was supposed to, and didn’t breach his conditions says Natasha Melanson. Melanson, the parole officer who was in charge of the man who would kill 10 people in James Smith Cree Nationwas and another in nearby...
January 24, 2024
Treaty commissioner questions ‘colonial’ nature of James Smith massacre inquest
Mary Musqua-Culbertson also skeptical that any jury recommendations will be implemented WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC Indigenous: Saskatchewan’s outgoing treaty commissioner is echoing the growing concerns of James Smith Cree Nation residents who say their voices are not being heard enough at an inquest into the mass stabbings there in 2022. “This process...
January 19, 2024
Experts delve into killer’s psychology at James Smith Cree Nation massacre inquest
Myles Sanderson ‘had many psychopathic traits,’ psychologist and behaviour specialist testifies WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: It might not have been on paper, but experts say Myles Sanderson went into the tragic James Smith Cree Nation massacre with a plan. “It was very simple. His mission was to attack, injure, murder those...
January 11, 2024
Probe into release of Myles Sanderson should be made public ahead of inquest: lawyer
Photographs of those killed during the mass stabbing on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon in 2022 are on display as Saskatchewan RCMP provide a preliminary timeline presentation of the events during a media event in Melfort, Sask., on Thursday, April 27, 2023. Photo: Liam Richards/The Canadian Press. APTN...
January 5, 2024
First Nation appeals court decision
B.C. Supreme Court ruling could transform the mining claims system in Canada Fly camp with Lindquist Peak in the distance on the Deer Horn property, 120 kilometres south of Smithers, B.C. Courtesy of Tony Fogarassy First People’s Law Report: CIM Magazine – Leaders of the Gitxaała Nation applauded a British Columbia Supreme Court ruling that...
January 4, 2024
Class action seeks compensation for Indigenous day school survivors in Quebec
Lawsuit seeks $20K on behalf of each survivor who attended provincially run schools CBC News: A new class-action lawsuit is seeking compensation for Indigenous people who attended day schools in Quebec that were under the jurisdiction of the provincial government. A Quebec Superior Court judge authorized the lawsuit last month on behalf of Indigenous people...
December 17, 2023
Ktunaxa First Nation responds to lawsuit
(Adobe stock photo) First Peoples Law Report: Last month Ktunaxa First Nation responded to Taranis Resources Inc’s lawsuit regarding the Thor copper project near Trout Lake in Ktunaxa’s traditional territory northeast of Nakusp. “The best way for British Columbia to ensure Ktunaxa rights are protected is to receive our free prior and informed consent, which,...
December 16, 2023
Manitoba First Nation sues feds, alleges unchanged $5 annuity payments violate treaty
Class-action status sought in suit against Ottawa by 36 First Nations in Treaty 5 CBC Indigenous: Fisher River Cree Nation wants class-action status for its lawsuit against the federal government, which alleges the $5 annuities paid to Treaty 5 First Nations over the last 148 years violate the agreement because they don’t keep up with inflation....
December 9, 2023
U.S. Indigenous group in Canada competes for territorial claims against Canadian Indigenous nations
NATHAN VANDERKLIPPEINTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT NELSON, B.C. FOR SUBSCRIBERS The Globe and Mail: PUBLISHED YESTERDAY UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO A U.S. Indigenous group has established a formal presence in British Columbia and is pushing for government recognition and funding, two years after a Canadian Supreme Court ruling declared it “an Aboriginal people of Canada.” The office of the Sinixt...
December 6, 2023
Manitoba Hydro dams caused decades of harm to Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, lawsuit alleges
Damages inflicted by 2 Laurie River hydro dams ‘happen every day,’ lawyer alleges First Peoples Law Report: CBC News: A northern Manitoba First Nation is suing the province and Manitoba Hydro over two dams it says have been damaging their lands and violating their treaty rights for more than 50 years. Mathias Colomb Cree Nation...
December 1, 2023
Divesting the RCMP of Abuse Investigations in Indigenous Communities
The BC First Nations Justice Council testified about culturally appropriate policing alternatives at a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal hearing. Amanda Follett Hosgood 1 Dec 2023The Tyee Amanda Follett Hosgood is The Tyee’s northern B.C. reporter. She lives in Wet’suwet’en territory. Find her on Twitter @amandajfollett. The Tyee: The BC First Nations Justice Council says it has already...
November 30, 2023
Woman arrested during Wet’suwet’en pipeline blockade found not guilty
Sabina Dennis was acquitted on 1 charge of criminal contempt in B.C. Supreme Court Jackie McKay · CBC News · Posted: Nov 29, 2023 10:08 PM EST | Last Updated: November 30 CBC Indigenous: Posted: Nov 29, 2023 10:08 PM EST | Last Updated: November 30 B.C.’s Supreme Court has ruled that a person charged with contempt of court...
November 27, 2023
‘This justice system is failing our people’: Report meant to help Indigenous people in court often causes harm
In response to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project (also known as TMX), elders of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation in B.C. asked Will George to “warrior up” and defend their land and waterways. “It was quite the honour to be recognized … to be selected from the community to do this very important work for our...
November 20, 2023
BC Granted ‘Limited’ Status in Human Rights Inquiry
The province says it was only alerted by the RCMP to the ongoing hearings in July. The Tyee: B.C.’s attorney general has been denied full party status in an ongoing Canadian Human Rights Tribunal inquiry into the RCMP’s handling of historical abuse allegations at northern B.C. schools. Instead, the tribunal granted the province “limited interested person status,”...
November 17, 2023
Fate of Yukon’s safe communities law in the hands of judge
Petition asserts a section of Yukon’s Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act which allows for evictions with five days notice violates charter rights of life, liberty and security. APTN News: A First Nations woman who is challenging Yukon’s Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods law, also known as SCAN, in the territory’s Supreme Court is now waiting for a...
November 16, 2023
Off-reserve Indigenous children say they’ve been ‘forgotten’ by federal government, seek compensation over child-welfare system
The Globe and Mail: Thousands of Indigenous children who live off reserve have been “forgotten” by the federal government when it comes to acknowledging harms caused by the child-welfare system, the lead representative plaintiff of a class-action lawsuit says. Cheyenne Stonechild, a Cree woman who was taken from her mother at the age of eight...
November 10, 2023
Indigenous mom’s discrimination payout hangs in the balance at B.C. Supreme Court
Child welfare agency tells court that tribunal ‘exceeded its jurisdiction’ in landmark ruling, which found VACFSS social workers relied on racist stereotypes Content warning: This story deals with child apprehension and discrimination against an Indigenous mother. Please look after your spirit and read with care. First Peoples Law Report: An Afro-Indigenous mother sat quietly in...
November 8, 2023
What do we know about Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe? Details still scarce as her alleged killer is in court
‘It’s tragic that her family … hasn’t found their loved one,’ MMIWG advocate says CBC Indigenous: Just steps away from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, red dresses blow in the wind. They serve as a symbol of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada, including the four police allege were killed by...
November 8, 2023
Yukon judge hands ex-priest 3 year sentence for sexual abuses against First Nations boys
Disgraced priest David Norton is already serving a 13-year sentence in Ontario for sex crimes against young boys. Ex-priest David Norton is currently serving a 13-year sentence in Ontario. The Yukon sentence will add three additional years. Photo: Diocese of Huron APTN News: A Yukon judge has sentenced ex-Anglican priest David Norton with two three-year...
November 8, 2023
Disagreement among Treaty 8 nations create more uncertainty for B.C. natural gas industry
Blueberry River First Nation Chief Judy Desjarlais at signing ceremony for the Blueberry River Implementation Agreement in January. | BC Government First Peoples Law Report: BIV – Business Intelligence for BC: A legal challenge by Treaty 8 First Nations to an agreement the B.C. government struck with the Blueberry River First Nation is adding to...
November 2, 2023
Judge orders 1-year sentence for Sask. woman who abducted child and forged IDs to flee country
Dawn Walker will serve her jail sentence in the community CBC Indigenous: A Saskatoon woman has been given a one-year jail sentence, to be served in the community, for abducting her child and using false identification to take the child illegally across the border into the U.S. Dawn Walker pleaded guilty on Thursday at Saskatoon provincial court...
October 31, 2023
Indigenous staff press ahead with discrimination lawsuit against on-reserve oil and gas agency
Lead plaintiff calls allegations ‘disturbing’ CBC Indigenous: Indigenous civil servants are seeking Federal Court certification for a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging systemic racism and chronic toxicity at the Canadian government’s on-reserve oil and gas agency. The plaintiffs filed a batch of affidavits last month, detailing allegations of pervasive bullying, discrimination, harassment and intimidation at Indian Oil...
October 26, 2023
Government has to ‘keep focused’ and stop discriminating against First Nations kids says Blackstock
Also on the show, a discussion about state support in the face of conflict. APTN News: Canada has the answers to stop discriminating against First Nations children as ordered by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and now is the time to do it says Cindy Blackstock. “They actually have solutions on the books and they’ve...
October 23, 2023
AFN Presents Final Settlement Agreement for First Nations Children and Families to Federal Court of Canada
NationTalk: (Ottawa, Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ontario) – The Assembly of First Nations’ (AFN) legal counsel, along with representatives for class action parties Moushoom and Trout, will appear before the Federal Court of Canada today to seek the approval of the Final Settlement Agreement (FSA) on compensation. This will be final step to ensure First Nations...
October 20, 2023
‘He ruined so many lives’: Victim speaks out over release of social worker
Robert Riley Saunders was a social worker with the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Facebook. APTN News: A victim of social worker Robert Riley Saunders is speaking out after the man who was sentenced to prison for stealing money from Indigenous youth was released on parole. “The reality is that he ruined so many...
October 18, 2023
B.C. imprisons people we should listen to
Swaysən Will George outside the courthouse in Vancouver. Photo by Donna Clark Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: Swaysən Will George’s name in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ means, “When he speaks, they listen.” The B.C. Supreme Court did not seem to be listening well to Tsleil-Waututh member Will George when they sentenced him to 28 days in jail for upholding his sacred responsibility...
September 27, 2023
Aboriginal Rights as a Tool of Colonialism: Part Two: First Peoples Law Report
Aboriginal Rights as a Tool of Colonialism: Part TwoBy Bruce McIvorYou can read Part One of Aboriginal Rights as a Tool of Colonialism here. The Constitution Act, 1982 held the promise of a new day for the recognition of Indigenous rights. Section 35 recognized and affirmed the existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of Aboriginal people. But when the...
September 22, 2023
First Nations in northern Ontario seek over $100B to honour treaty promise
APTN News: The Canadian Press -A legal battle playing out in a northern Ontario courtroom this month has seen an alliance of First Nations argue they are owed upwards of $100 billion for the Crown’s failure to honour a 173-year-old treaty promise, while the federal and provincial governments claim they are either owed far less,...
September 12, 2023
Final arguments begin in a lawsuit that could award Ontario Indigenous groups billions
The Globe and Mail: First published September 11 – It has the potential to be the biggest litigation award in Canadian history and it all hinges on a clause scrawled 173 years ago. First Nations located around the resource-rich northern shore of Lake Superior are asking for $126-billion in compensation for the Crown’s failure to pay...
September 1, 2023
Federal Court rules 2022 elver quota transfer to First Nations fair and reasonable
HALIFAX — The Federal Court has affirmed Ottawa’s move in 2022 to transfer part of the lucrative elver fishery quota in the Maritimes to First Nations fishers. In a written decision dated Aug. NationTalk: Alaska Highway News: HALIFAX — The Federal Court has affirmed Ottawa’s move in 2022 to transfer part of the lucrative elver...
August 22, 2023
Quebec judge authorizes class action by Atikamekw women alleging forced sterilizations
Lawyers believe more women will join lawsuit now that it can move forward CBC News: A Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized a class action against three doctors accused of sterilizing Atikamekw women against their will. One of the two women leading the class action — which is on behalf of all the women from the...
August 18, 2023
Algonquins get green light to sue over recognition of Ontario Métis groups
Province in ‘open water’ on competing First Nations-Métis claims, appeal court holds CBC News: The Algonquin Nation is free to sue the Ontario government over the 2017 recognition of Métis communities on unceded Algonquin territory, the province’s top court has ruled. In a unanimous decision rendered Thursday, the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected a bid...
August 16, 2023
Ottawa won’t regulate how lawyers bill First Nations clients after concerns raised over ‘unfair’ fees
PATRICK WHITE The Globe and Mail: One of Western Canada’s largest law firms has petitioned Ottawa to legislate “unfair and unreasonable” legal fees that it says some rival firms are charging First Nations involved in historic claims against the government. In June, two lawyers from MLT Aikins, which has more than 300 lawyers across Western Canada,...
August 14, 2023
Judge ‘erred’ in conviction of Elder after TMX pipe ceremony, higher court rules
Charges have been dropped against watch house guardian Jim Leyden after the B.C. Appeal Court set aside Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick’s ruling IndigiNews: A B.C. Supreme Court judge made an error when she convicted an Elder after he held a pipe ceremony outside of a Trans Mountain terminal, according to a ruling from the province’s highest...
August 9, 2023
Settlement reached in class-action lawsuit against convicted ex-priest who abused First Nations youth
Ralph Rowe is believed to have abused up to 500 children in northern Ontario, Manitoba WARNING: This article contains details of sexual abuse. CBC News: A multi-million dollar settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit against a former priest convicted of 75 sexual crimes, his employer, the Anglican Church’s Synod of the Diocese of...
August 6, 2023
Whose Sovereignty? A BC Court Decision Exposes Holes in Colonial Logic
The Nuchatlaht sought to claim title to traditional territory. A ruling dealt a blow to coastal First Nations. The Tyee: First Peoples Law Report – In June, the B.C. Supreme Court issued its decision in The Nuchatlaht v. British Columbia. The court held that the Nuchatlaht failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish their claim to Aboriginal...
July 27, 2023
RECONCILIATION AND ABORIGINAL TITLE: CASE COMMENT ON THE NUCHATLAHT V BRITISH COLUMBIA
By Kate Gunn and Nico McKay Last month, the BC Supreme Court issued its decision in The Nuchatlaht v British Columbia. The Court held that the Nuchatlaht failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish their claim to Aboriginal title on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The decision represents a setback both for the Nuchatlaht and for the...
July 14, 2023
Defiant protesters burn injunction after Manitoba judge orders landfill blockade to come down
Police liaison asked protesters if they would leave after injunction came into effect CBC News: Protesters at Winnipeg’s Brady Road landfill remained defiant Friday night, ignoring a judge’s order to stop blocking the main road into the facility and burning a copy of the injunction he issued earlier in the day. The main entrance to...
July 11, 2023
Inside the RCMP’s Investigation into a ‘Well-Known Canadian’
The lead investigator was in close contact with the lawyer for ‘A.B.,’ but didn’t collect a statement or request a polygraph. [Editor’s note: This article contains stories about trauma and abuse. It may be triggering to some readers.] The Tyee: RCMP senior brass kept close tabs on a historical sexual assault investigation into a “well-known...
June 19, 2023
RCMP says there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to lay charges in SNC-Lavalin affair
Police service confirms it has closed the file CBC News: The RCMP says it found “insufficient evidence” to lay criminal charges related to the SNC-Lavalin affair and confirms it has since concluded its file. It’s the first time the national police force has officially confirmed that it’s no longer probing the political scandal that rocked...
June 15, 2023
Ex-Anglican priest found guilty of sexually abusing 2 Yukon First Nations boys in the ’80s
David Norton, 77, admitted convictions ‘appropriate’ after hearing testimony, despite pleading not guilty Warning: Some readers may find this story distressing CBC News: An ex-Anglican priest has been found guilty of six criminal charges for molesting two Yukon First Nation boys in the ’80s. The verdict came Wednesday after a two-day trial in Whitehorse described by...
June 14, 2023
Day school survivors reluctant to speak to Mounties: Canadian Human Rights Tribunal testimony
Mountie testifies about lack of cooperation from witnesses, his own Indigineity and ‘revolving door Natives’. APTN News: A Mountie learned first-hand how much First Nations people dislike the RCMP while investigating allegations of abuse at an Indian day school 50 years ago, a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal heard Wednesday. Sgt. Quinton Mackie said he couldn’t...
June 13, 2023
Judge reserves decision on motion to extend Indian day school claims deadline
Six Nations chief calls Justice Canada’s arguments against extension ‘a slap in the face’ CBC News: Indian day school survivors who haven’t claimed compensation under a national class-action settlement will have to wait a little longer to learn if they’ll ever get the chance. Federal Court Justice Sébastien Grammond reserved his decision Tuesday after a two-day...
April 26, 2023
10 First Nations sue Ontario and Canada over resource extraction and broken Treaty 9 promises
Arguing that resource extraction has violated Indigenous jurisdiction for over a century, the case could stall the Ontario government’s plans to mine the Ring of Fire The Narwhal: Ten northern First Nations launched a lawsuit against the Ontario and federal governments Wednesday, arguing that resource extraction on their territories has infringed upon their jurisdiction for...
April 26, 2023
Can the Crown make land decisions without First Nations consent? Treaty 9 lawsuit argues no
Lawyer calls lawsuit ‘frontal attack’ on colonial idea governments have ‘supreme right to rule’ CBC News: Several First Nations have announced their intention to take the Ontario and Canadian governments to court, in a lawsuit their lead lawyer says could fundamentally change the way resource and land management decisions are made in the Treaty 9 area. Leaders...
April 25, 2023
This Ojibway man served his sentence, then says the Crown tried to put strict conditions on his release
Case of Shaldon Wabason, who fought and won peace bond attempt, raises concerns involving Indigenous people CBC News: A man from an Ojibway First Nation in northwestern Ontario says Crown lawyers wrongfully tried to impose unnecessarily strict conditions on his release from jail. Shaldon Wabason, who’s from Whitesand First Nation, and his lawyers say prosecutors in...
April 16, 2023
Justice miscarried
Book explores convictions where accused entered false guilty plea EXCERPTED FROM “WRONGFULLY CONVICTED: GUILTY PLEAS, IMAGINED CRIMES, AND WHAT CANADA MUST DO TO SAFEGUARD JUSTICE” BY KENT ROACH. PUBLISHED BY SIMON AND SCHUSTER CANADA. COPYRIGHT © 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Toronto Star: Beyond the infamous cases, Canada has a major problem with wrongful convictions, argues...
April 14, 2023
AFN Affirms Support for First Nations’ Assertion of Rights in Treaty 9 Legal Action on Cumulative Impacts
NationTalk: Ottawa, ON – On Tuesday, during its Special Chiefs Assembly, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) adopted a Resolution in support of litigation launched by Chapleau Cree First Nation, Missanabie Cree First Nation, and Brunswick House First Nation (the Treaty 9 Nations). The litigation challenges the Government of Ontario’s failure to uphold the Crown’s obligations...
April 13, 2023
Onion Lake Cree Nation doubles down on legal action to now challenge Sask. First Act
“We want certainty for our First Nations in terms of inclusion, inclusion of the resources from this province of Saskatchewan within our treaty areas.” — Dutch Lerat Windspeaker.com: Onion Lake Cree Nation filed legal papers in court today challenging the Saskatchewan First Act, which received Royal Assent last week. “We will not allow Saskatchewan to run...
March 30, 2023
Ex-priest, 93, acquitted of indecent assault at Manitoba residential school
Arthur Masse was charged last year in alleged incident at Fort Alexander dating back more than 50 years WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: A retired priest accused of assaulting a First Nations girl at a Manitoba residential school more than 50 years ago has been acquitted. Victoria McIntosh alleged she was assaulted by Arthur Masse,...
March 27, 2023
Saulteaux sisters jailed for nearly 30 years to be conditionally released
Sask. sisters had been awaiting decision more than 2 months CBC News: Nerissa Quewezance, 48, and her sister Odelia Quewezance, 51, will be conditionally released while they await results of a ministerial review of their second-degree murder charge and conviction. People in the Yorkton Court of King’s Bench applauded when court closed just before 11 a.m....
March 26, 2023
My visit with Odelia Quewezance — jailed for a murder she says she didn’t commit — stirs up hope but opens old wounds
Quewezance, convicted with her sister in a killing her cousin confessed to, may be on the cusp of freedom. Why a visit to her home stirred old emotions. The Toronto Star: RHEIN, Sask.—Odelia Quewezance knew she had to stay strong, at least for a few more weeks. The slender 51- year-old Salteaux woman smiled often...
March 17, 2023
Gitxsan family wins full custody over child in controversial case
Child’s maternal Gitxsan family fought courts for custody, and paternal family over Métis claims There were hugs and cheers in a packed Hazelton courthouse on Thursday as a B.C. judge granted permanent custody to the family of a Gitxsan child whose fate has been up in the air until now. “I was so relieved it’s all...
March 14, 2023
First Nations sue Canada over child-welfare system’s destruction of culture, language
Proposed class action seeks collective compensation for community-level harms CBC News: Ten Prairie-based First Nations are suing the Canadian government over the loss of language, culture and tradition inflicted on communities by the modern First Nations child-welfare system. Chief David Crate of Fisher River Cree Nation north of Winnipeg is the lead plaintiff in the proposed class-action lawsuit filed...
March 10, 2023
Crown stays charges against Innu caribou hunters dating back to 2013
Innu Nation grand chief criticizes decision, says charges should be dropped outright CBC News: A decade-long court battle between the Newfoundland and Labrador government and the Innu Nation ended Monday, when the Crown stayed charges against six men accused of illegally hunting and possessing caribou in 2013. The stay means the trial is halted and, unless the Crown decides...
February 24, 2023
New registry shows Indigenous Peoples largely shut out of wrongful conviction cases
Reporting by APTN News helped inspire new Canadian Registry of Wrongful Convictions APTN News: A team of Indigenous law students have built Canada’s first registry of wrongful convictions. Their database, which went live this week, confirms that mostly white, middle-class men have been exonerated so far. “It does not reflect the most vulnerable people in...
February 19, 2023
Hereditary Chief refuses to leave job, but band members have voted to oust her
The Globe and Mail: The Chief of a tiny Fraser Valley First Nation is refusing to leave the job her father appointed her to 30 years ago, saying the band’s oral laws mean she is its legitimate leader. But a group of opponents within the Kwantlen First Nation are escalating their four-year fight to fire...
February 10, 2023
A First Nation Sued BC. Then Came a Gas Drilling Frenzy
Now that the Blueberry River First Nations have won a historic agreement, they face thousands of wells greenlit by the regulator. NationTalk: The Tyee: When the Blueberry River First Nations took the provincial government to court in March 2015, arguing that cumulative industrial developments had robbed them of their ability to hunt and fish, oil...
February 8, 2023
They fought for decades to be recognized as Indigenous. Now they want to take the federal government to court
NationTalk: Canada’s National Observer: Daphne Young is Ojibwe. But she grew up in Nipigon, Ont., estranged from her culture and people at Red Rock First Nation. Her family was removed from band lists more than a century ago when her great-grandfather, Frank Hardy, joined the Canadian Armed Forces before the First World War. Like most...
February 8, 2023
Manitoba First Nations man sues federal government for $11B over ‘unfulfilled’ treaty annuity payments
Zongidaya Nelson argues Crown failed to meet treaty obligations with 7 Treaty 1 nations dating back to 1871 CBC News: A First Nations man is seeking $11 billion from the Canadian government on behalf of Treaty 1 status members he argues are owed “full and fair” annual payments promised by the Crown as part of...
February 7, 2023
First Nations owed over $100B under 1850 Ontario treaty: Nobel-winning economist – National Post
Joseph Stiglitz is testifying in a Sudbury, Ont., courtroom why First Nations may have been short-changed under a revenue-sharing treaty signed in 1850 NationTalk: National Post – He is a Nobel prize winner, former vice president of the World Bank and one of the globe’s most famous economists. And this week Joseph Stiglitz is testifying...
February 2, 2023
Ontario says it doesn’t owe First Nations seeking compensation for broken treaty
The Globe and Mail: Indigenous communities are in court seeking billions of dollars in compensation after almost 150 years of receiving small annual payments in return for ceding an area the size of France. But the Ontario government is arguing they are owed nothing, or at most $34-million. The wide divergence in claims was on...
January 26, 2023
Indigenous identity at core of Qalipu membership challenge trial in St. John’s
Final arguments are to be heard next week NationTalk: SaltWire – ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Testimony has wrapped up, but observers across the country are interested to see what comes of a court case in St. John’s involving a group of Mi’kmaw residents whose memberships in the Qalipu First Nation were revoked when a new point system was brought...
January 16, 2023
Qalipu First Nation enrolment controversy reaches ‘pivotal point’ as court challenge begins
Group wants 2013 supplemental agreement abolished CBC News: The long-simmering fight over membership in Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation is entering a new chapter Monday, as a group of people rejected in a controversial enrolment process head to court. The Friends of Qalipu Advocacy Association is challenging a 2013 supplemental agreement between the federal government and...
December 21, 2022
Indian Day School (IDS) Survivors Demand Fair Timeline to Seek Compensation
NationTalk: SIX NATIONS OF GRAND RIVER, ON, Dec. 21, 2022 – Legal action has been launched against the federal government over a class action Settlement Agreement (The Agreement) providing compensation for systemic abuse suffered by First Nations children attending government-run IDS. The Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council (Six Nations) and class member Audrey Hill (Ms. Hill) assert...
December 19, 2022
Onion Lake Cree Nation files lawsuit challenging Alberta’s sovereignty act
The Globe and Mail: A First Nation has filed a lawsuit against the Alberta government claiming Premier Danielle Smith’s Sovereignty Act violates the constitutionally recognized treaty rights of its members as it asks a court to strike it down. The Onion Lake Cree Nation, which is located on the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary, filed a statement of claim on Monday,...
December 12, 2022
For generations, Grassy Narrows residents have used the land for hunting. Now, it’s in the middle of a lawsuit between Canadian mining corporations
Ontario has created a mess by granting mining claims on land Grassy Narrows aims to make protected Indigenous territory, First Nation’s leaders say. Toronto Star: Barrick Gold Corp. is embroiled in a $100-million lawsuit against two junior mining companies, as an exploration deal between the firms fell apart over a decision to pause work to...
November 10, 2022
Saskatchewan Justice department seeks to muzzle media in Saulteaux sisters’ case
APTN News fighting publication ban on Quewezance sisters’ bail hearing Crown attorney in Saskatchewan is arguing in a Yorkton courthouse that media shouldn’t be able to report on bail hearing for the sisters. over a bail hearing for Nerissa and Odelia Quewezance. APTN News: A Saskatchewan prosecutor has applied to keep the details of a pivotal court...
August 5, 2022
AMC Demands Full Restitution of CSA Funds Unlawfully Taken From First Nations Children in Care
NationTalk: Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – Today, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) calls on Manitoba to make full restitution to First Nations children in care for the Children’s Special Allowances Funds unlawfully and discriminatorily taken from them. The AMC makes this call in response to the Province of Manitoba’s unilateral announcement of its creation...
August 4, 2022
Manitoba decides not to appeal court ruling on child benefit payments
CTV News Winnipeg (Canadian Press): The Manitoba government said Thursday it will not appeal a court ruling that found the province was wrong to claw back hundreds of millions of dollars in federal benefit payments to kids in child welfare. The government also appeared open to calls for it to return the money, which Indigenous...
June 21, 2022
Off-reserve Indigenous children’s class-action approved
Toronto Star: The Federal Court of Canada has certified a class-action lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of off-reserve Indigenous children who were taken from their families and placed in non-Indigenous care. In a decision released online Monday, Federal Court Judge Michael Phelan ruled the class period will cover from Jan. 1, 1992 to...
May 19, 2022
Court rules that Manitoba Government discriminates against First Nations children in the Child Welfare System
NationTalk: The Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench ruled that the government of the province of Manitoba discriminates against First Nations children in the provincial Child and Family Services (CFS) system, and that its attempt to absolve itself of liability for holding back the federal Children Special Allowance (CSA) of over $334 million from children and...
March 17, 2022
Class Action Lawsuit for government use of Birth Alerts to apprehend Indigenous babies
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs – Earlier this week, a class-action lawsuit was filed in Winnipeg against the province of Manitoba regarding the controversial and discriminatory practice of Birth Alerts. The basis for the claim is that Birth Alerts are unconstitutional and are a Human Rights violation. “The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) has been a...
December 17, 2021
Incarceration rates of Indigenous people
Correctional Investigator – The Correctional Investigator, Dr. Ivan Zinger, released new data that shows that the proportion of incarcerated Indigenous women has continued to increase unabated, and is nearing 50% of all federally-sentenced women. On January 21, 2020, the Office of the Correctional Investigator reported that the proportion of Indigenous men and women in federal...
September 8, 2021
First Nations Challenge Bill 2
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs filed its written submissions in its challenge of the provincial Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act. The submissions of the AMC argue that through the BITSA, Manitoba: infringes the core jurisdiction of the superior courts and breaches section 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867 by having the province of...
February 12, 2021
Cindy Gladue murder trial: manslaughter conviction
Edmonton Journal – Bradley Barton convicted of manslaughter in his second trial for killing Cindy Gladue in an Edmonton hotel room in 2011. Unlike in his first trail, the repeated references to Cindy Gladue as a native girl, a native woman and a prostitute were not allowed since they promoted “discriminatory beliefs or biases about...
January 12, 2021
Custody Rating Scale lawsuit
Globe and Mail – A class-action lawsuit filed in federal court challenges the Custody Rating Scale, a 12-question risk assessment tool developed by Correctional Services Canada in the 1980s and in widespread use. The suite is file on behalf of tens of thousands of inmates over systemic bias in its security classifications which affect inmates’...
December 15, 2020
First Nations challenge “Bill 2”
They filed a constitutional legal challenge against Manitoba’s “Bill 2″. “Bill 2” is Manitoba’s attempt to legalize the theft of CSA money from Indigenous children, the most vulnerable group in Manitoba. It is also Manitoba’s attempt to escape legal accountability for the theft. This is wrong,” said Harold Cochrane, legal counsel, Cochrane Saxberg LLP....
December 14, 2020
Death of Barbara Kentner: manslaughter conviction
Brayden Bushby found guilty of manslaughter. “I find that the Crown has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Bushby’s dangerous and unlawful act accelerated and caused Ms. Kentner’s death,” Justice Helen Pierce told the court....
November 9, 2020
First Nations challenge “Bill 2”
The Southern Chiefs Organization and the Manitoba Métis Federation along with a group of 19 Indigenous child and family Agencies and Authorities announced their intent to file a challenge to BIll 2 “the Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act” that was passed on November 6, 2020....
November 6, 2020
First Nations Challenge Bill 2
Bill 2, the “Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act“, is passed....
October 7, 2020
First Nations Challenge Bill 2
Oct. 7, 2020 – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, the Official Opposition Manitoba NDP and the Manitoba Liberal Party, denounce and reject Bill 2 and stand in opposition against the Provincial government’s approach to denying First Nations families and children access to justice. Section 84 of the Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act will retroactively...
September 25, 2020
MMIWG Class Action Lawsuit
Southern Chiefs Organization – Strongly disagrees with the federal government’s arguments that Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people do not face a “special threat from a special source” and are not unique victims of criminal violence. SCO believes they fly in the face of the findings of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous...
September 21, 2020
Supreme Court on Indigenous laws
Clarification and validation of Indigenous rights and treaty as asserted by the Supreme Court of Canada in Delgamuukw, 1997. Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) – AMC will be intervening at the Supreme Court of Canada…to argue that First Nation constitutional orders are distinct but equal to Euro-Canadian laws. The Court will address the most fundamental...
September 18, 2020
Death of Barbara Kentner: murder charges reduced to manslaughter
CBC – Second degree murder charges have been reduced to manslaughter and aggravated assault against Brayden Bushby for the death of 34-year old Barbara Kentner. Bushby threw a trailer hitch from a moving car, yelling “I got one” after he hit the Indigenous women in the stomach. His originally scheduled judge and jury trial has...
July 2, 2020
Supreme Court: Trans Mountain Pipeline appeal
BIV – Business in Vancouver – The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear an appeal of the federal government’s approval of the $12.6 billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which is already under construction. The Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish First Nations and Coldwater Indian Band had appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada to hear...
April 14, 2020
First Nations challenge “Bill 2”
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs – are seriously concerned about Manitoba fast tracking Bill 2, The Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act. If passed, the Bill will have serious implications on First Nations children in care. On March 19, 2020 the Manitoba government introduced Bill 2. The Bill is currently seeking to legalize Manitoba’s actions...
October 6, 2019
Federal Government asks for Judicial Review of CHRT decision
The federal government has asked for a judicial review of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) decision to award $2B in damages to approximately 53,000 Indigenous children and youth wrongly removed or denied essential services. The CHRT panel found that the government racially discriminated against First Nations children in care in a willful and reckless manner. As a result, the CHRT ordered...
September 6, 2019
Federal Government asks for Judicial Review of CHRT decision
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Citation: 2019 CHRT39, File No.: T1340/7008 We believe that the Creator has entrusted us with the sacred responsibility to raise our families…for we realize healthy families are the foundation of strong and healthy communities. The future of our communities lies with our children, who need to be nurtured within their families...
July 9, 2019
Indigenous Cannabis Dispensaries
Policy Options – Saskatchewan Justice Minister Don Morgan urged the federal government to shut down cannabis dispensaries opened in Pheasant Rump Nakota Nation and Muscowpetung First Nation because they do not have provincial licences. Morgan’s comments reflect a deeply held belief in a hierarchy of laws that devalues and delegitimizes the law-making capacity of Indigenous...
May 24, 2019
Cindy Gladue murder trial: Background
Background Context – Assembly of First Nations – AFN was an intervenor in Supreme Court R vs Barton 2019 SCC 33 in support of justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and for more respectful treatment of Indigenous women in the justice system. Bradley Barton was charged with first-degree murder in the death...
February 22, 2019
First Meeting with Indigenous Leadership Council in two years
The government of Manitoba met with the Indigenous Leadership Council (Manitoba Metis Federation, Southern Chiefs’ Organization and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak) for first time in over two years despite a previous commitment to meet every quarter. The heads of the Indigenous Leadership Council met again with Minister of Families Heather Stefanson on Apr. 3, 2019 over...
October 11, 2018
Duty to Consult vs Indigenous laws and treaties
The Conservation – Mikisew Cree First Nation v. Canada Supreme Court Decision ruling on the application of the Duty to Consult doctrine and if it can be applied to the federal legislation-making process. The case originates from Mikisew Cree First Nation’s challenge of the 2012 Omnibus bills introduced under the previous federal government that made...