Current Problems:
Exploring Theme: "Treaty Relationships and Indigenous Rights"
Updates on this page: 35
(Filtered by Stakeholder "British Columbia")
November 1, 2024
Teegee to work with NDP on involuntary care; eyes inquiry on Indigenous in-custody deaths
NationTalk: MYPGNOW: BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee is ready to get back to the negotiating table with the NDP once the legislature resumes. While Teegee is calling on Premier David Eby to continue reconciliation with First Nations, another talking point will be involuntary care. During the campaign, Eby noted the New...
October 4, 2024
Youth Call for Changes to Child Welfare and Housing Policies
As the Oct. 19 election looms, under-30s from the LEVEL program have their say. The Tyee: With the BC NDP and BC Green Party having released their full election platforms this week, it’s unclear how much input youth have had on the parties’ ideas. The Vancouver Foundation’s LEVEL Youth Public Policy Program aims to change that, by mentoring a...
October 3, 2024
Rustad Says Residential School Abuses Were Real. Some Conservatives Disagree
The party’s stance on the damage done to Indigenous children has become a campaign issue. The Tyee: Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad says he has heard first-hand from Elders about residential school abuses during Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission did a good job, and I think that’s part...
October 2, 2024
Four Takeaways from the First BC Leaders’ Debate
Eby, Furstenau and Rustad trade accusations in radio showdown. The Tyee: The leaders of the BC NDP, Conservatives and the Green Party squared off in a radio debate on CKNW today, moderated by Mike Smyth. Here are four takeaways from the first debate for David Eby, John Rustad and Sonia Furstenau, who will meet again in a televised...
September 30, 2024
Over 30 years of Indigenous resistance with Mohawk land defender Ellen Gabriel
‘Colonial-rooted poverty will not be solved by more colonial solutions’ Ellen Gabriel speaks during a march on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Montreal, Saturday, September 30, 2023. Graham Hughes / The Canadian Press The Narwhal: Thirty-four years ago, Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel was thrust into the spotlight when she was chosen as the spokesperson for...
September 29, 2024
B.C. Conservative Leader Rustad wants to repeal Indigenous rights law, triggering backlash from regional chief
Globe and Mail: British Columbia saw a rare unanimous vote in its legislature in October, 2019, when members passed a law adopting the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, setting out standards including free, prior and informed consent for actions affecting them. The law “fundamentally changed the relationship” between First Nations and...
September 27, 2024
‘Rustad Is a Threat to First Nations and a Threat to Reconciliation’
Indigenous leaders unpack the BC Conservative leader’s statements on DRIPA, First Nations title and more. The Tyee: Regional Chief Terry Teegee admits that he isn’t really one to get political. But in a recent interview with The Tyee, Teegee was blunt about what it could mean for First Nations if the Conservative Party of BC...
September 25, 2024
John Rustad wants to dump gasoline on BC’s housing fire
B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad speaks at an announcement in Surrey B.C., Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. Voters in British Columbia will go to the polls for a provincial election on October 19. Photo by: The Canadian Press/Ethan CairnsListen to article Canada’s National Observer: John Rustad was in the midst of a political comeback for the...
September 19, 2024
Inside Rustad’s Regressive Approach to Indigenous Rights
It’s contradictory and harmful. The Tyee: The First Nations Leadership Council minced few words last week when they blasted Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad for making “inflammatory and ignorant” comments that included racist stereotypes about Indigenous people. The council’s rebuke should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Rustad’s duplicitous approach to Indigenous...
September 5, 2024
John Rustad’s Interview with Jordan Peterson Another Example of BC Conservatives Taking Aim at Indigenous Rights and Reconciliation
NationTalk: (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) Earlier this week, BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad gave a lengthy interview to notorious right-wing podcaster Jordan Peterson where Mr. Peterson suggested that Indigenous governments can’t be trusted- the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is asking why Mr. Rustad is aligning himself with those views....
August 29, 2024
‘The focus is the 7 generations coming after me’ says Hereditary chief on Gitanyow blockade in B.C.
Deborah Good Facebook APTN News: Two hereditary chiefs in northwestern British Columbia are demanding a new environmental assessment be done before a liquified natural gas pipeline is built in their territories. On Aug. 22, they burned an agreement between the previous owner of the pipeline and their clans and put up a blockade on a logging...
August 29, 2024
Hereditary chiefs set up blockade to halt B.C. LNG pipeline work
Construction proceeding despite Gitanyow protest, says president of Nisga’a Government, which co-owns project CBC News: Gitanyow hereditary chiefs and a group of young Indigenous people have blockaded a forest service road in northern B.C. in an attempt to prevent pipeline construction workers from passing through their territory. The Gitanyow chiefs say they are concerned the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline...
August 26, 2024
BC Illegally Collected Personal Info Tied to the Wet’suwet’en Conflict
A Tyee exclusive: Coastal GasLink intel was shared with the Indigenous Relations Ministry during high-stakes talks. The Tyee: B.C. says it violated its own privacy laws when it gathered personal information from Coastal GasLink about “various individuals” involved in a high-profile conflict over the controversial pipeline project. . The province did not say how Coastal GasLink...
July 31, 2024
The Blueberry River First Nations’ oil and gas dispute is a failure of colonial-imposed governance
by Giuseppe Amatulli, Postdoctoral fellow, School of Public Policy & Administration, Carleton University Earlier this month, BRFN formally initiated a dispute with the B.C. government by filing a Notice of Civil Claim. Adobe stock by Kalyakan. NationTalk: Canadian Manufacturing – The Blueberry River First Nations (BRFN) has, for a few years now, been locked in...
July 25, 2024
Why Rustad’s Reckless Indigenous Policy Would Be Disastrous
A Green MLA says the Conservative leader’s approach is wrong, costly and economically destructive. The Tyee: I sat next to BC Conservative Leader John Rustad in the legislative chamber for the past several months, our desks side-by-side. I had a front row seat and watched him work closely. He showed up for question period, asked...
July 22, 2024
First Nation in B.C. calls for delay in its neighbour’s treaty
Wei Wai Kum First Nation says K’ómoks treaty as written will infringe on own rights and title CBC Indigenous: A First Nation located in the Campbell River area of Vancouver Island says it’s concerned about a potential treaty for a neighbouring nation because it could infringe on its own rights and titles. The Wei Wai Kum...
July 5, 2024
Lax Kw’alaams collaborates with Gitxaała, Gitga’at and Kitasoo/Xai’xais to advocate for reconciliation and rights recognition
by ahnationtalk on July 5, 2024 July 4, 2024 NationTalk: Territory of the nine Allied Tribes of Lax Kw’alaams – Lax Kw’alaams Rights and Title Chair, Councillor Joey Wesley, attended a meeting with the Honourable Minister Murray Rankin and Honourable Minister Gary Anandasangaree, along with representatives from Gitxaała, Gitga’at, and Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nations to discuss reconciliation efforts with...
June 5, 2024
Haida Gwaii Agreement: Most say it was right decision, but oppose it as precedent going forward
Those living in BC’s Interior nearly twice as likely to oppose agreement as those in Metro Vancouver ANGUS REIDL June 5, 2024 – When the B.C. government announced a historic agreement with the Haida Nation that would see Indigenous title recognized across Haida Gwaii, Premier David Eby said it could provide a template for future land...
April 12, 2024
Cree lawyer says cows and plows settlements don’t reflect spirit of treaty clause
‘It didn’t just mean cows, plows, agriculture. It meant livelihood,’ says Deanne Kasokeo CBC Indigenous: A Saskatchewan-based lawyer says “cows and plows” settlements do not reflect the spirit and intent of treaties from an Indigenous perspective. Under treaties 4,5,6 and 10, the Crown promised agricultural benefits — livestock and farming equipment — to the First Nations that signed. That promise...
April 2, 2024
Frustrated with government, Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs wavering on support for B.C. pipeline
As tensions in northwest B.C. persist over pipelines, court-ordered injunctions and police enforcement, Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs demand government respect and dialogue Nearly a decade after signing agreements for a major pipeline project, support from the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs appears to be fraying. Photo: Matt Simmons / The Narwhal The Narwhal: On a bitterly cold morning in...
March 9, 2024
Brian Mulroney’s complicated relationship with Indigenous peoples in Canada
From laying the foundations of Nunavut to the Oka crisis, the former PM’s legacy was one of contradictions CBC News: The late Brian Mulroney’s legacy with Indigenous peoples in Canada is marked by its contradictions — failures remembered for their good intentions, successes accompanied by catastrophic disappointments. The former prime minister is praised by some Indigenous leaders for creating a...
February 29, 2024
Why Did Trans Mountain Dig Through an Indigenous Burial Site?
The company’s plan was to ‘micro-tunnel’ in Secwépemc territory — but that fell through. An explainer. The Tyee: Trans Mountain says it is in the process of wrapping up work to install its pipeline through a sacred Secwépemc site, bringing its expansion project one step closer to completion. The new collaborative work from Debra Sparrow...
February 15, 2024
What does the duty to consult First Nations, Inuit and Métis mean?
And why some advocates say Canada needs to move from consultation to consent CBC Indigenous: You’ve probably heard the phrase duty to consult, or failure to consult, when it comes to governments and their relationships with First Nations, Inuit and Métis. But what does it actually mean? Stemming from three Supreme Court of Canada decisions in 2004...
February 13, 2024
B.C. regional chief decries ‘fear mongering’ over proposed changes to Land Act
Terry Teegee says suggestion changes would allow First Nations a ‘veto’ is false and inflammatory CBC Indigenous: Recent reactions to proposed changes to B.C.’s Land Act are a threat to reconciliation, B.C. Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee says. “This is fear mongering at its worst,” said Teegee. The province’s NDP government is drafting amendments to enable agreements with Indigenous governing bodies...
January 1, 2024
Consulting Indigenous communities on critical minerals is key to net zero ambitions
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 31, 2023 UPDATED JANUARY 1, 2024 The Globe and Mail: Two years ago, First Nations leaders made clear what Canada must take to heart if it wants to be a global player in critical minerals and the energy transition: The only road to net zero runs through Indigenous lands. That is, any efforts to develop...
October 12, 2023
A need for action on reconciliation
NationTalk: Winnipeg Free Press – Each year, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation prompts us to take stock of the progress we are making, as a country, on the journey towards reconciliation. Often this progress — or the lack of it — is measured by counting how many of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s...
October 11, 2023
‘How is that reconciliation?’: Hereditary Gitxsan Nation chiefs rally for their rights
Gitxsan Nation hereditary chiefs marched through the streets of Vancouver on Wednesday to assert their rights. Photo by Isaac Phan Nay for Canada’s National Observer Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: Hereditary chiefs from the Gitxsan First Nation marched to BC Supreme Court in Vancouver on Wednesday morning, demanding an end to RCMP suppression of Indigenous-led...
September 20, 2023
BC Assembly of First Nations Strongly Opposes Bill C-53, Urges Rejection of Unconstitutional Act Threatening Section 35 Rights
NationTalk: (Lheidli T’enneh Territory/Prince George, B.C.) – The BC Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN) unequivocally supports the Chiefs of Ontario, together with First Nations leaders, communities, and individuals across the country, in resolute opposition to Bill C-53. This legislation, introduced by Canada without proper consultation, poses a grave threat to First Nations’ inherent, constitutional, and...
April 11, 2023
Western premiers blast Lametti for suggesting Ottawa might ‘look at’ provinces’ power over natural resources
Lametti told an AFN meeting he would examine calls to rescind Natural Resources Transfer Act CBC News: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and three western premiers are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to disassociate his government from comments made by his justice minister — who promised last week to “look at” a decades-old law that...
January 27, 2023
SCO Urges Prime Minister to Include First Nations Leaders in Health Meeting
NationTalk: ANISHINAABE AND DAKOTA TERRITORY, MB — Today, the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) is calling on Prime Minister Trudeau and the Government of Canada to ensure that First Nations leaders are included in health discussions on February 7, 2023. “Health care systems are in crisis. They are not meeting the needs of First Nations people, and...
June 30, 2022
Tŝilhqot’in Nation Condemns Destructive B.C. Moose Harvest Allocation
Williams Lake, B.C.: The Tŝilhqot’in Nation is condemning the B.C. government’s destructive moose harvest allocation for the Chilcotin Region in recent days and expressing its opposition, in the strongest terms, to B.C.’s drastic escalation of Limited Entry Hunts (LEH) for moose in Tŝilhqot’in territory. Tŝilhqot’in people depend on moose for sustenance and cultural survival. For...
November 21, 2021
25th Anniversay of the RCAP Final Report
Prime Minister’s Office – “25th anniversary of the final report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples”. The five-volume landmark document outlined 440 recommendations on Indigenous governance, nation rebuilding, lands and resources, treaties, economic development, and social policy, and called for the renewal of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and all orders of...
October 15, 2020
Wet’suwet’en protests against Coastal GasLink
Union of BC Indian Chiefs – Coastal GasLink called in the RCMP to remove a group of Wet’suwet’en women and community members who are holding ceremony at a proposed drill site for Coastal Gaslink’s pipeline. UBCIC stands in solidarity with the Indigenous land defenders who are protecting the Wedzin Kwa, the river that sustains and...
January 6, 2020
Wet’suwet’en Coastal GasLInk protests
Hereditary Chiefs of all five Wet’suwet’en clans have rejected BC Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church’s decision granting an interlocutory injunction, which criminalizes Anuk ‘nu’at’en (Wet’suwet’en law), and have issued and enforced an eviction of CGL’s workers from the territory. “Canada and the B.C. government have both pledged to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights...
January 10, 2019
Wet’suwet’en Coastal GasLink protests
What happens when you engage Hereditary Chiefs in the Process vs excluding them? Union of BC Indian Chiefs – “There are not a lot of similarities between the Broughton and the Unist’ot’en engagement with the Province (as stated by Premier John Horgan). In June, government-to-government work between our three Nations and the Province was confirmed...