Bill C-10 passes third reading
OTTAWA – Bill C-10 passed a third reading in Parliament last Friday. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice Bob Dechert presented the bill saying “organized crime” was central to “contraband” cigarettes.
Regional
The fight against Line 9 ramping up again
BURLINGTON – Non-native residents of the Burlington area blocked an access road to an Enbridge Line 9 pipeline with intentions of holding that position for…
Moving forward through understanding for our children
This past Saturday the Central Wellington district high school (C.W.D.H.S) Aboriginal Club of Fergus, in union with other groups and businesses from the surrounding area, hosted the landmark event Truth and Reconciliation: What’s law got to do with it?
Bitter custody battle and a brother’s fight to fulfill his sister’s dying wish
Tuscarora Reservation – It has been almost five months since a fatal car accident took the lives of a young Tuscarora couple, Danyle White, 29 and Brandon Rickard, 32. Now, White’s brother is trying to get custody of his sister’s two youngest children, ages 3 and 4 in a battle that is turning out to be not just a fight with the Child Protection Services but which is causing a rift among members of the Tuscarora community as well.
Grassy Narrows Youth Respond to Supreme Court Hearing
OTTAWA – The Grassy Narrows’ Trappers’ Case finally reached the Supreme Court of Canada today, after more than a decade winding its way through the system. Lawyers representing Grassy Narrows First Nation, the Canadian Ministry of Natural Resources, Attorney Generals’ Offices, Resolute Forest Products and Goldcorp, as well as nearly a dozen other First Nations, argued about the Treaty rights of Anishinabe people in Treaty 3 territory, which will have a major impact on the future of resource extraction industries operating in Indigenous territories throughout Ontario and across the country. It will likely be some time before there is a ruling.
Protest gathers on Parliament Hill
OTTAWA – On Saturday, May 10, hundreds of people gathered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in a rally to defend indigenous communities from varied attacks coming from the federal government. The day began with Kayanase giving the thanksgiving address followed by presentations by Jaqueline House who spoke about the tobacco trade and Nicole Lebrasseur who also gave a presentation critical of the way in which government policy fails to respect indigenous rights.
OFIFC’s Villages Equity Corporation Signs Agreement with 2015 Pan Am & Parapan American Games
Villages Equity Corporation (VEC), an economic development organization founded by the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC), signed a license agreement on Tuesday, April 29, with the Toronto 2015 Pan Am & Parapan American Games.
Indigenous led tourism creates new opportunities
Environmental respect for Mother Earth provides fertile ground for Indigenous communities engaged in the business of tourism in Ontario’s North.
Soldier On relay stops in Tyendinaga to mixed reviews
TYENDINAGA – The Soldier On Afghanistan Relay team began their walk, run, and wheel from the Canadian Armed Forces Base in Trenton and are set to continue on to the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa with a brief stopover in Tyendinaga. The relay began May 4th and they are expected in Ottawa on the National Day of Honour, May 9th, to give the baton to the Prime Minister of Canada.
So what’s the fuss with Tobacco?
Just about everyone has heard about the recent “largest tobacco bust” in North American history. There is nary a media source that is reporting all the elements of this raid right. Some have spoken of 400 armed officers of different jurisdictions coming together to carry out coordinated raids on Onhkwehonh:we territories. Other reports spoke of mafia connections to an organized native crime syndicate with the implication being that hundreds of Native peoples were arrested in these raids. Still other reports spoke to the gathering of firearms in the hundreds and a substantial accumulation of marijuana plants along with 3,4, 5, no, wait for it! 6 trailer loads of raw tobacco leaf. So what is the fuss about and why the amazingly disparate descriptions of what actually took place in the Kahnawake and Akwesasne territories?
Wahta Men’s Fire shuts down Band Council Office
WAHTA MOHAWK TERRITORY – Members of the Wahta Men’s Fire alongside community members and elders initiated a protest in front of the Administration Office on the morning of Tuesday May 6th, 2014 to voice their displeasure with the decisions of the recently elected Council. As a result, there is no access to the Wahta Mohawk Administration Office and it has been shut down indefinitely.
Human Remains found on Christian Island could be that of missing pilot
BEAUSOLIEL FIRST NATION/CHRISTIAN ISLAND – The skeletal remains found in an isolated area on the Beausoleil First Nation on Christian Island could possibly be that of an Owen Sound man who has been missing since November 2013 when his small airplane crashed into Georgian Bay near Wasaga Beach.
ATLEO QUITS CORPORATE CONTROL GRID
MNN. May 3, 2014. On May 2nd Sean Atleo courageously stepped down as head of the Assembly of First Nations to return to the natural direction we call “tion-heh-kwen”.
Assembly of First Nations national chief Shawn Atleo quits
Shawn Atleo has resigned as national chief of the Assembly of First Nations after chiefs across the country opposed his support for the federal Conservative government’s efforts to revamp education on reserves.
The “Contraband” Raids are about PR: Interview with John Kane from “Let’s Talk Native”
The Mohawk radio personality believes that the police raids around Montreal, earlier yesterday, are more about public relations than targeting criminal organizations. He says that by criminalizing the trade and manufacturing of tobacco, the Canadian government is violating Mohawks’ rights to develop their own economies.