It has long been an issue with Indigenous people living in Canada and around the world that our traditional knowledge, intellectual and cultural property and genetic resources are not protected and on many occasions have been misappropriated, misused and disrespected.
Federal and Provincial elections bring out some interesting discussions, debates and varied emotions about whether a First Nations person should vote.If a person wants to vote in an election and how they vote is entirely their personal choice.No one should take away
Recently, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce reprinted material in their lobbying document of December of 2010 supporting the call for a legislative option for fee simple
It was an interesting week in federal politics.Last Tuesday, I had the TV on waiting to see what the 3 opposition parties would do with the budget.Predictably, all of them rejected it.Then it was a wait and see how long it would take to bring the gover
There is a fair amount of fear mongering lately over First Nations exerting more authority over their own lands and resources.This of course is nothing new and has
This past week, Chiefs and their representatives from across Canada gathered in Vancouver for a Policy and Dialogue forum to talk about Strengthening Governments and Economies to move beyond the Indian Act.
In this instalment I have decided to focus on the importance of revival and protection of our indigenous languages.I certainly don’t need to write a thesis on why we as indigenous people value our languages; this has been a constant and increasingly problematic struggle for our co
Update: I read in the Vancouver Sun Friday, February the 18th, that Ian Black, the police officer that shot John Williams quit the force. That means he will not be subject to any disciplinary measures. Some might say that losing his job and reputation is enough but to John Williams f
In general, many First Nations people feel that we have our own systems of government and that we are not part of Canada and British Columbia's governments. That we do not get involved in their systems of government and they do not get involved in ours.
So what have we established?Apparently it’s ok to attack the effective self governing efforts of other First Nations through misinformation and outdated inaccurate “research” to prop up a controversial concept for reserve lands.Also, it appears that the government
While I am on the subject of water, I want to explore the proposed federal legislation that is making its way through the process of the Senate and House of Commons. The Safe Drinking water legislation is the culmination of the many scandals that occurred over drinking water o
An article in the local paper the Alberni Valley Times caught my eye Tuesday. The headline was “Canadians feel racism on the rise, survey finds.” The article goes on to talk about a survey that was conducted by the Association of Canadian Studies and Canadian Race Relations Foundation who inter
