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
(Originally published in Lawyer’s Daily on June 21, 2017 – edited) Shortly after Confederation, the federal government used its jurisdictional powers over “Indians and lands reserved for the Indians” in s. 91(24) of the Constitution Act 1867, to enact the Indian Act, 1876 — making it nearly as old as “Canada” itself. For well over…
Continue reading…about Why is Trudeau Government Opposing Charter Equality for Indigenous Women?
After much prodding by the media, and the Harper government’s (Minister of Public Safety) review and approval, the RCMP finally released their report on murdered and missing Indigenous women. Although slated for a March release, in typical Conservative style, the much-delayed report was released on a Friday before the Victoria Day long weekend. The report…
Continue reading…about Déja Vu: RCMP Report on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women
Canada’s shameful colonial history as it relates to Indigenous peoples and women specifically is not well known by the public at large. The most horrific of Canada’s abuses against Indigenous peoples are not taught in schools. Even public discussion around issues like genocide have been censored by successive federal governments, and most notably by Harper’s Conservatives. Recently,…
Harper’s Conservatives have given the signal that they may, once again, refocus their legislative eye on Bill S-2 Family Homes on Reserve and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act (otherwise known as the MRP bill). To this end, the parties have been preparing to study the bill and hear from witnesses on possible amendments. Most of…
Continue reading…about Bill S-2 – Family Homes on Reserve and Matrimonial Rights or Interests Act
If there is one thing that the Pickton Inquiry has proven to Canadians is that gender discrimination against Indigenous women is not only a present-day phenomenon, but that it is systemic at all levels of government. The unique problem for Indigenous women is that the gender discrimination they face when dealing with one group, like…
Continue reading…about Murdered, Missing, and Still Excluded: Indigenous Women Fight for Equality