Latest news with #IndigenousRights
CBC
a day ago
- Business
- CBC
Some First Nations worry Carney's major projects bill will only lead to more conflict
Social Sharing Some First Nations are raising concerns about the federal government's plan to provide up-front approvals for major projects, with one grand chief calling it a "fool's errand." Through interviews and letters CBC News obtained, First Nations are raising red flags with the Liberal government's plans to fast-track what it calls projects in the national interest. The government is still consulting with Indigenous communities, premiers and industry, but is expected to table "one Canadian economy" legislation as early as next week. "While you can legislate to fast-track regulation, you cannot fast-track the Crown's duties or fast-track Indigenous acceptance," states Savanna McGregor, Grand Chief of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council in a letter to the Privy Council Office (PCO). "Trying to do so is a fool's errand because it would lead to more, not less, potential conflict, including preclusive litigation." CBC News contacted the PCO on Friday evening for a request for comment about McGregor's concerns, but did not receive a response by publication time. McGregor represents seven nations in Quebec and Ontario. The PCO is the lead branch of the civil service providing support to Prime Minister Mark Carney and his cabinet. The office has been sending letters to Indigenous leaders, asking for feedback on proposed legislation that would fast-track major projects, such as ports, nuclear facilities and mines. CBC News obtained a document shared with First Nations that states Carney's government intends to "facilitate the identification of projects" that are in the national interest, "provide certainty through up-front regulatory approvals" and establish a "major projects office." WATCH | Carney on his government's priorities: Carney talks U.S. relations, his government's ambitions in exclusive interview | Power & Politics 3 days ago Duration 21:01 Prime Minister Mark Carney sat down for a wide-ranging one-on-one interview with CBC's Power & Politics host David Cochrane on Tuesday. Carney addressed Canada's current relationship with the U.S. along with the challenges ahead for his new government, including housing affordability and separatist sentiment in Alberta. The letter gave First Nations a week to comment on the briefing note, which spells out how the proposed legislation would work. Friday was the deadline to comment. "Obviously, it is quite concerning," said Treaty 8 Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi in an interview with CBC News. "There's not much time to react and strategize." Treaty 8 is the largest treaty by area and encompasses parts of Alberta, the Northwest Territories, British Columbia and northwest Saskatchewan. Many of its sovereign nations are in the heart of Canada's oilpatch or live with its direct environmental impacts. Mercredi said that when governments talk about removing the red tape and other barriers that slow down the approval of projects, First Nations like his worry Indigenous rights will be pushed aside. "We're wondering which direction it's going to go," Mercredi said. He said one place this could end up is in court. Poilievre says he'll support Carney's expected project-approval bill if it 'gets things done quickly' 6 hours ago Duration 2:02 Groups backed by industry, however, are looking favourably at the government's proposal. Although they still need to see the legislation, some believe the Liberal government seems to be moving in the right direction. The head of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, which counts fossil fuel companies as its members, said it would mark a "positive step." "We've heard the same frustration from business leaders across Canada, specifically in Alberta, about how we're falling behind globally on attracting capital, and this legislation could greatly help reverse that trend if it's enacted in a timely manner," said Shauna Feth, CEO of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, in an interview with the CBC's The House. However, liquefied natural gas advocacy group Energy for a Secure Future questions whether Ottawa is picking winners and losers. The group's head suggested that the Liberal government should consider specific sectors it wants to see projects in, such as critical mineral mines, rather than favouring specific projects. "So I think the government in signalling in that way can achieve its similar goals without putting the spotlight on any specific projects, and I think that will attract more projects," said Shannon Joseph, the chair of Energy for a Secure Future.
ABC News
a day ago
- Health
- ABC News
Reconciliation Week feels particularly hollow after another death in custody
In Australia's centre, a young Aboriginal man is held down by police officers in plain clothes on the floor of the confectionary aisle in Coles in Alice Springs. There is much we don't know, and may never know, but several important pieces of information are apparent. Kumanjayi White, a vulnerable young Warlpiri man with a disability, is dead in Reconciliation Week, at 24 years of age. Another seismic trauma for a family already in agony. NT Police say Kumanjayi White had put items down the front of his clothing at Coles, when he was confronted by a security guard on Tuesday. In a town where impoverished Aboriginal people live hand-to-mouth, Indigenous disability advocates have questioned whether he was hungry, and how a young man on the NDIS could have ended up dead on the floor of a supermarket. Damian Griffis from the First Peoples Disability Network says his death is devastating. "We're talking about some of the most vulnerable people in Australian society. "First Nations people with disability experience intersectional discrimination based on race and ableism, and too often they are treated as criminals when they should be supported." Police will conduct an investigation into his death. The Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy suggested she'd like to see a probe take place independently — NT Police "respectfully" told the minister it didn't want the inquiry to go to an external body. The relationship between NT Police and Warlpiri elders was already shattered after the high-profile death of Kumanjayi Walker, a 19-year-old man who was shot dead in Yuendumu in 2019. Now the community has another young man to mourn. The NT coroner was due to hand down her findings of the inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker in 10 days. It has been one of the longest-running coronial investigations in Australian history, with a focus on systemic racism in the police force. Kumanjayi White's grandfather, the well-known elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, described his community's devastation at seeing his "jaja" (grandson) become another Aboriginal man to die in custody. Add his name to the list of hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have died in custody in the past three decades. Young men and women with unrealised dreams and loved ones left behind. Frequently these mob have been in and out of the care of the state since birth, often parented by cold, hard systems which re-traumatise the grandchildren of survivors of the Stolen Generations and the assimilation era. The cases are each unique and tragic in their own way: they have been shot in the dead of night, ignored while they screamed out in pain, dismissed by medical staff, restrained and left unsupervised in jail cells. The pipeline from cells for teenagers to prisons for grown men is often pre-determined. On an average day in Queensland, 70 per cent of young people in prison are Aboriginal. In the NT, prisons are almost exclusively full of blackfellas. This week, Yawuru elder and the former Labor senator Pat Dodson decried Australia's Aboriginal youth justice crisis as an ongoing genocide and an "embarrassing sore". He knows better than anyone what has led to so many Indigenous people coming into contact with police and prisons. A commissioner for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, he played a role in the seminal investigation which found "a familiar pattern of state intervention into and control of Aboriginal lives." The commission meticulously examined the stories of the Indigenous people who had died, finding they had lived life pushed to the margins, and, crucially, had come into contact with police and prisons frequently. From 1991 until now, we're in the sorry and shameful position of seeing hundreds more die in similar situations. Almost 35 years on, not one single government has felt compelled to properly reckon with the Black deaths inquiry and its broad recommendations to revolutionise the way in which First Nations people are treated in this country. Police reform would be a start. No state or territory leader has dared question whether police forces — with barely any Indigenous officers in their ranks — are capable of properly serving First Nations people who live with high levels of trauma. The South Australian Police Commissioner had the courage this week to admit that police are ill-equipped to attend mental health crises. Indigenous people often live with a disability, a fear and lack of trust in authorities, mental health conditions and a history of institutionalisation. What's the media's role in drawing attention to deaths in custody? This man's death has barely raised an eyebrow in many publications. Crime waves plaster front pages and lead stories on TV news bulletins leading to swift policy change from state and territory governments — new prisons, weapons bans, bail laws, 'Adult Crime, Adult Time'. What about the Black victims of the residual effects of mass human rights abuses gone by? They cannot expect detailed media coverage, seismic policy change or bold leadership. It's never come. The blueprints are there, and so are the well-publicised governmental agreements to do better. It's two steps forward and two steps back. In New South Wales, for example, the Minns government signed a major agreement to close the gap, but it also toughened bail laws to the despair of the Aboriginal Legal Service. The ALS says Aboriginal children are now being locked up in remand for minor crimes that would never attract jail sentences. Ask Yorta Yorta and Ngarrindjeri lawyer Nerita Waight, the Chief Executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, why justice reform for Indigenous people has never come and her answer is, "because it's extremely tough work to implement and sell." "That's a long process, not a quick process. Saying you're going to change bail laws, putting more investment into prisons, those are easy decisions, quick fixes." Every single day, dozens of Aboriginal people are arrested in Victoria alone. "We're seeing people picked up because they're stealing food because they can't put food on the table. They're treating mental illness through substance abuse because there's no adequate mental health support. "We're talking [about] people with intellectual disabilities," Nerita tells me. The problems that have led to vast numbers of deaths are so complex, so multifaceted, that it is not credible to expect a few terms of government to solve them. Yet it's almost 35 years since the Royal Commission into Black deaths in custody, and the country is so far behind, something must change. Off the back of a highly charged referendum that has largely left Aboriginal communities with reduced political capital and attention, perhaps this is the issue that the prime minister could take up in his second term. It seems unlikely, but Indigenous leaders across the country are mobilising, distressed at the sense that things seem to be going backwards, fast. Aboriginal people are grieving another round of sorry business this Reconciliation Week — supposed to be a time for all Australians to consider their part in the enormous schisms between Black and white communities. It feels particularly hollow this year.
CTV News
a day ago
- General
- CTV News
Indigenous groups oppose Bill 5, cite consent issues
Northern Ontario Watch First Nations and Indigenous groups, including the Muskegowuk Council and Anishinabek Nation, are opposing Bill 5 over concerns it undermines free, prior and informed consent, despite provincial promises to include duty-to-consult provisions, with a rally planned Monday in Sudbury.
ABC News
a day ago
- General
- ABC News
NT Police reject call for independent investigation death in custody
Samantha Donovan: Well back to Australia now and in the Northern Territory, police have ruled out an independent investigation of the death of an Indigenous man in their custody this week. 24-year-old Kumunjai White was disabled and in state care. He died after being arrested in an Alice Springs supermarket for suspected theft. His family held a vigil there today and they're adamant his death must be investigated by someone other than the NT police. Myles Houlbrook-Walk reports. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: In the same aisles of the supermarket where Kumunjai White died, his family today have held a vigil mourning the loss of the 24-year-old Waltbury man. Ned Hargraves: No more. No more! We are saying enough is enough! Hear our words. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: His grandfather, Ned Hargrave, spoke of sorrow for his family and the remote Aboriginal community of Yundamoo in Central Australia where Kumunjai White was from before moving to supported accommodation for his disabilities in Alice Springs. Earlier this week, several senior Waltbury leaders had called for an independent investigation. Ned Hargraves: We want justice for my jaja, my grandson. I'm sure there is another way, another better way of dealing with things, dealing with people. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: Robin Japanagka Granites called for those in the supermarket when Kumunjai White died to come forward to assist the investigation. Robin Japanagka Granites: When we get everyone together, we need everyone to tell us what had happened. The truth will tell us and get us all back to normal. And in a normal way, we will talk to each other and tell us what can we do about it. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: There's been limited detail so far about the nature of the arrest. Northern Territory Police have said the young Waltbury man was placing items down the front of his clothes at the Cole's supermarket in Alice Springs when he was confronted by security guards. Two police officers in plain clothes were in the supermarket at the time and restrained the man. One person who says they were an eyewitness and asked to remain anonymous told the ABC they heard a lot of shouting and a lot of commotion. Opinion: What it was, I can't be sure, but yeah, it looked pretty violent. And then, yeah, they slammed into the ground. There's just like lots of shouting. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: As for calls for an independent investigation, they were today rejected by Police Commissioner Martin Dole, who in a statement confirmed he'd spoken to both officers. He extended sincere condolences to the family, friends and community of the man who died. He contacted both officers directly involved in the incident on Tuesday evening and understood the high level of public interest in the matter. However, said he would respectfully reject calls for the investigation to be handed to an external body. The statement went on to say. Martin Dole: This incident is being investigated by the major crime division which operates under strict protocols and with full transparency. The investigation will also be independently reviewed by the NT coroner who has broad powers to examine all aspects of the incident and make findings without interference. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: Thalia Anthony is a professor of law at the University of Technology, Sydney. Thalia Anthony: There are concerns in the community about police investigating police. We know for Aboriginal people that has not given them a sense of justice or accountability. And I think the only way to change this record is to do something different. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: She says the nature of the man's arrest, given his disability, needs to be closely examined. Thalia Anthony: Given that he was already under state care, I think it's going to be asked by the coroner, why did he get to this situation where he was in a supermarket allegedly hiding food? And then that triggered not only the security officer to get involved, but also the police to get involved. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: Thalia Anthony pointed to the Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody and its findings regarding the importance of independent oversight of police. Thalia Anthony: The 1991 Royal Commission to Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was concerned with reinvestigating 99 Aboriginal deaths in custody because of the flawed nature of police investigating police. And so one of their most strident recommendations was that within 48 hours, an officer attached to the coroner should investigate the root cause of a death in custody. And the imminence of this investigation was essential. Samantha Donovan: Law Professor Thalia Anthony from the University of Technology Houlbrook-Walk, the reporter.
The Guardian
a day ago
- General
- The Guardian
King Charles's visit brings frustration for First Nations amid ‘backslide in reconciliation'
King Charles's speech to Canada's parliament this week was framed as a subtle rebuke to Donald Trump's threats of annexation and an assertion of the country's sovereignty. But for many Indigenous people, the elaborate spectacle of the royal visit – with its protocol, regalia, thrones and mounties in pith helmets – evoked a model of national identity at odds with ongoing efforts to confront Canada's own violent history of colonization and dispossession. The visit came as some Indigenous Chiefs and academics warned that questions of reconciliation with First Nations are being drowned out by the noisy surge of patriotism provoked by the US president. 'There's only so much oxygen in the room and it gets all sucked up with standing up to Trump. It's 'Indigenous people, you're important – but not right now'. That's a strategy of settler colonialism too,' said David MacDonald, a political science professor at Guelph University in Ontario from Treaty 4 lands in Regina, Saskatchewan. Canada was formed to promote unity among British colonial territories and to stop American expansion – and it was created through genocidal violence against Indigenous people, said MacDonald. 'We need to be careful not to fall back into those historical patterns, because it's pretty easy for a lot of settler Canadians to think that's the way it has been and should be, especially if we appeal to older historical figures,' he said. Indigenous leaders also highlighted the irony of such high-profile declarations of Canadian sovereignty when First Nations are themselves forced to make similar assertions to Canada's own federal government. Canada's federal government admits that colonial efforts to forcefully assimilate Indigenous peoples, and the displacement of First Nations on to inhospitable reserves have all contributed to shorter life expectancy, poverty and illness. Indigenous communities have repeatedly been forced to turn to the courts in order to force the federal government to meet its obligations under centuries-old treaties between First Nations and the Crown. In one case last year, Canada's highest court ruled that the crown had made a 'mockery' of a 1850 agreement by failing to adequately compensate First Nations for the riches extracted from their ancestral territories. 'We were sovereign. We still are sovereign. And you have to respect that we enter these treaties to make sure that we share land and resources – and therefore Canada, the colonial state, must share revenue as well,' said Chief David Monias, of Pimicikamak Okimawin in Manitoba, at a press conference following the King's speech. Grand Chief Krya Wilson of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs welcomed the King's decision to mention Indigenous rights, meet and acknowledge that Canada's parliament building sits on traditional Algonquin territory. But she added: 'There was talk of truth and reconciliation. But … we've heard the term 'reconciliation' for years now,' she says. 'And what we are expecting – and what we've been expecting for years – is tangible action.' National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, who is head of the Assembly of First Nations, said that during her meeting with the king she stressed the need for 'less colonialism'. 'People don't like this [US] colonialism that's happening at the borders,' she said. 'But first nations have been feeling that for a long time: colonialism trying to dictate our lives.' Over the past 20 years, Canada has engaged in a fitful reckoning with its colonial past, with a 2015 report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) concluding that the country had engaged in a 'cultural genocide' in which tens of thousands of First Nations children were forcibly removed from their families and incarcerated in residential schools rife with abuse. A major shift in public discourse also came four years ago this week, when remains of 215 children were confirmed outside a former residential school in southern British Columbia. But that historical reassessment has been drowned out by a surge of nationalism in response to Trump – often invoking the iconography of British colonialism, said Rowland Keshena Robinson, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, who is a member of the Menominee Nation of Wisconsin. On the day of Charles' speech, the Ontario government announced that a statue of John A Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister, would be put back on public display, five years after activists threw paint on it to highlight Macdonald's efforts to eliminate Indigenous people including through starvation, 'There absolutely has been a backsliding in reconciliation in the last five years,' Robinson said. Macdonald argued that Canadians face a unique opportunity to define themselves as different from the US not through loyalty to Britain but through by enacting true reconciliation with Indigenous people. 'What's the opposite of a dictatorial, authoritarian presidential system? It's a decentralized system where Indigenous people have control over their own lands, waters and keep large corporations from digging everything up,' he said. 'That would be the most anti-American thing a Canadian could do,' he said. 'If the narrative could change Indigenous self-determination could be a central part of Canadian identity.'
