*Originally published in Globe & Mail Feb. 27, 2020 CANADA’S INDIAN POLICY HASN’T CHANGED MUCH After the events of the past few weeks in Canada, one thing remains clear: Canada’s Indian policy hasn’t changed much since its inception. Indian policy has always had two objectives: to obtain Indian lands and resources and to reduce financial…
Continue reading…about Clearing the lands has always been at the heart of Canada’s Indian Policy
AUDITOR GENERAL REPORT ON CLEAN WATER IN FIRST NATIONS Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had no problem finding $7 billion dollars to buy Trans Mountain oil pipelines – so, where’s the money to pay for clean water pipelines in Indigenous communities? It may be hard to believe, but many First Nations in Canada still lack access…
Continue reading…about Canada Fails Again: First Nation Communities Without Clean Water
For decades, the families of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls and their communities; together with Indigenous women leaders and experts and allied human rights organizations, advocated for government action to end the crisis. Many families had called for a national inquiry, which was supported by various international human rights treaty bodies. After a…
Continue reading…about Transitional Justice Plan Urgently Needed to End Genocide in Canada
This blog is an excerpt of the speech that I gave at the Climate Tour with David Suzuki and Stephen Lewis, on October 4, 2019 in Winnipeg, Manitoba at the University of Winnipeg on Treaty 1 territory. (Check against delivery). Kwe n’in telusi Pam Palmater. It is an honour to be here on Indigenous territory…
Continue reading…about A Modern Treaty to Save Our Peoples and The Planet
Today, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer made the shocking statement that protestors and activists need to “check their privilege” and let people whose jobs depend on the railway systems get to work. In this case, it is Scheer who needs to check his own privilege. His comments appear to be racially motivated as the people occupying…
Continue reading…about Check your White Male Privilege Andrew Scheer
RCMP invades Wet’suwet’en territory. Photo by Amber Bracken; Jan. 7, 2019 While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes flowery public speeches about respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples and reassures the international community that there is no relationship more important that the one with Indigenous peoples, Canada invaded sovereign Wet’suwet’en Nation territory. When questioned about this…
(Public domain image) Canada’s colonial objectives have always been to clear the lands…
Continue reading…about Overincarceration of Indigenous peoples nothing short of genocide
*This picture was taken by Michelle Girouard and the logo is from from The Lawyer’s Daily. This article was originally published in The Lawyer’s Daily on Oct.15, 2019 (see link below). The unofficial slogan for the 2015 Liberal election campaign was “there is no relationship more important to Canada than the one with Indigenous peoples.”…
Continue reading…about Indigenous issues slowly disappear from election 2019
Reconciliation has become the buzz word of the decade ever since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada published their report on residential schools in Canada.* The TRC, headed by (then) Justice Murray Sinclair, heard from residential school survivors, families and native communities from all over Canada about their experiences in residential schools and their…
Continue reading…about Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in Universities and Colleges
Last week, Conservative Member of Parliament, Maxime Bernier posted a series of tweets on Twitter espousing his opposition to “extreme multiculturalism” and the “cult of diversity” in Canada. According to Bernier, diversity will “destroy” the cultural identity of Canada and worse, will result in “cultural balkanization” that leads to social conflict and even “violence”. These…