NEWSFLASH from P.A.M. News: Today, our official news correspondent for the Official Opposition of the Third Order of Government (OOTOG), Pamela Palmater, has brought to light the extreme abuses being made of First Nation taxpayers and land-holders money. Palmater’s informative, yet disturbing report calls into question whether Canadian peoples who sit in positions on municipalities…
Continue reading…about NEWSFLASH – Bill T-666 to Deal with Exorbitant Municipal Salaries
This blog represents excerpts from the talk that I gave last week on the issue of Indigenous Identity. I realize, however, that many of Indigenous peoples can’t access public lectures, conferences, and other similar forums for information and debate. I therefore decided to include this information in my blog, knowing that there are still many…
Continue reading…about The Silent War – Government Control of Indigenous Identity
THIS BLOG DOES NOT REPRESENT LEGAL ADVICE AND IS SOLELY MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION. The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) is a national Aboriginal organization that once claimed to represent the interests of status and non-status Indians living off-reserve in Canada. The current national President is Betty-Ann Lavallee who used to be the President of…
Continue reading…about The Slow, Painful Death of CAP: Can it be Saved?
This blog is a very difficult one to write. While I will be dealing with a current political issue, it is about more than that. It does not give me any sense of pride or accomplishment to bring to light serious problems within our Indigenous Nations. I consider myself an advocate for Indigenous peoples and…
Continue reading…about Funding for Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A Let Down by ALL Parties
Well, the witch hunt has officially begun. If conservatives scream loud enough and persistently enough that all First Nations Chiefs are corrupt, then eventually people will start to believe that. Add to this the right-wing voices of academics like Flanagan, Gibson, Widdowson, and Helin; organizations like the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and Canadian Taxpayers…
Dear editor; My name is Pam Palmater and I am a Mi’kmaq lawyer originally from New Brunswick and am now the Chair of Ryerson University’s Centre for Indigenous Governance. I was called as an expert witness on several bills, including Bill S-4 – Family Homes on Reserve and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act (otherwise referred…
Continue reading…about Letter to editor of Globe & Mail re Bill S-4
What follows is an excerpt from my presentation that I will be delivering to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs which is studying a draft of Bill C-3 – Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act. Once I make the presentation, I will post my entire presentation online on my website: www.nonstatusindian.com. Part of the problem…
Continue reading…about Excerpts of My Presentation to the Standing Committee on Bill C-3
As with all my blogs, the contents are my own personal views and should never be taken as legal advice. In my last blog, I provided some of my concerns with regards to Bill C-3 Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act which was introduced on March 11, 2010. The purpose of this blog will be…
Continue reading…about Bill C-3 Creates More Discrimination than it Remedies
Sharon McIvor went to court to challenge the gender discrimination in section 6 of the Indian Act, 1985. Registration under the Indian Act provides greater entitlements to Indian men who married out (married a non-Indian) and their descendants as compared with Indian women who married out. McIvor won both at trial and on appeal and…
Continue reading…about UPDATED – Bill C-3 – Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act
So by now, everyone has heard of the McIvor case and knows that the registration provisions of the Indian Act, otherwise referred to as “status”, will be amended as a result. The question remains: what are we going to do about the discrimination that won’t be addressed by those amendments? For anyone who hasn’t heard…
Continue reading…about McIvor is Just the Start – The Indian Act is Full of Discrimination