Latest news with #constitution
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Heiltsuk Nation signs official constitution
Vancouver Watch Leaders of a First Nation on the central coast are hailing a new constitution.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Heiltsuk Nation ratifies new constitution bridging historic governance and modern democracy
This photo from the Facebook page of the Heiltsuk Tribal Council shows the Big House in Bella Bella, B.C. In signing a new constitution in an historic ceremony at the Big House in Bella Bella, the Heiltsuk Nation took a step forward – by looking to the past. 'It clarifies and creates certainty for ourselves, for other governments such as the provincial and federal government, as well as proponents that might want to do business in our territory,' Heiltsuk Hereditary Chief Frank Brown told CTV News. The new constitution is the culmination of close to two decades of work which included extensive community consultation for on-reserve and off-reserve First Nations members. It passed a referendum with a 67 per cent majority. 'Today we declare to the world that we, the Heiltsuk Nation, and governments, are renewing and reclaiming our ancestral laws and authority,' elected Chief Marilyn Slett said at the signing ceremony on Friday. Over thousands of years, the Heiltsuk and other BC First Nations developed hereditary systems of governance. Canada imposed elected chiefs and councils on them through the Indian Act. The new Heiltsuk constitution enshrines a framework that will see power and decision-making authority shared by hereditary leadership, the elected chief and council, and the nation's women's council. 'It's going to provide guidance and leadership for our next generations to be able to steer the ship of the Heiltsuk Nation, to propel ourselves forward in a good way while holding on to our ancestral teachings,' said Brown.
Khaleej Times
5 days ago
- General
- Khaleej Times
Jailed Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan calls for nationwide protests
In a message from jail, former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has called for nationwide protests "to restore the constitution." Khan said he sent a message to his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, to prepare for public protests in response to "injustice" faced. The former Pakistani prime minister said he would lead the protest from jail as the party chief. "Bullets are fired at our peaceful protest, now we will not be shot," he said in a message posted on X. Khan invited opposition parties to join the protest, which he said would involve bringing a no-confidence motion against "the way the Speaker of the National Assembly is running the House." "I instruct the entire nation and overseas Pakistanis to brace themselves for peaceful protests in Pakistan and around the world," he said. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who is the current Speaker, was elected in March 2024. He belongs to the Pakistan Muslim League (N) party, led by Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan's current Prime Minister. Khan said "During [the Speaker's] tenure, members of the National Assembly have been kidnapped from the House, speeches of our MNAs (Member of National Assembly) are censored; parliamentarians are being tortured outside Adiala Jail". The jailed ex-prime minister also commented on alleged "election rigging", and the 26th Constitutional Amendment which he said "was to provide protection to the February 8 election fraud and victimise the PTI." After this amendment, the judiciary has become a "government judiciary" with "full readiness to snatch reserved seats from us," Khan said. He also called for "less courageous" party officials who "do not have the strength to withstand pressure" to step down in order to make place for those who can face pressure.
CBC
6 days ago
- General
- CBC
'Monumental day': Heiltsuk Nation ratification feast brings written constitution into force
The Heiltsuk Nation has ratified its written constitution through a celebratory feast in Bella Bella, B.C. Marilyn Slett, the nation's elected chief, called it a "monumental day" that comes after two decades of development and consultation. "It's hard to put into words how big it is. It's definitely a day of celebration and reflection on everything that brought us to the day," Slett said of Friday's feast. The Heiltsuk Nation approved the adoption of a written constitution for the First Nation on British Columbia's central coast in February. That followed six months of engagement with more than 2,000 Heiltsuk members in Bella Bella, Nanaimo and Vancouver. The nation said 67 per cent of the 725 people who voted on the referendum were in favour of the constitution. Frances Brown is a language keeper and member of the W̓úmaqs du M̓ṇúyaqs Council (Women's Council). "It's undoing oppression," she said in an interview with CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton. "We once practiced and governed our own people." The nation said in a news release that the constitution had been "upheld in ceremony" on Friday, with Indigenous and non-Indigenous delegations attending "to bear witness and help bring the constitution into force." The constitution will help provide clarity for its own members and those it chooses to do business with, Slett said, which will clear up questions around decision-making in Heiltsuk territory that have previously been left to the courts. Slett explained that the constitution will develop "core laws" for the nation, which will cover issues such as land management and language. The nation said in February that "questions of paramountcy" with respect to other sets of laws would need to be worked out. Slett said the adoption of a written constitution is an act of "reclaiming" the nation's role in its own governance. "It's a pathway for our community to move beyond the Indian Act and move forward and grow and reach our full capacity that our ancestors always dreamed of," Slett said in an interview ahead of the event. British Columbia's Indigenous Relations Minister Christine Boyle said in a statement that the province "recognizes the hard work the Heiltsuk Nation community has put into a constitutional ratification." The minister said the province will continue to work with the nation to make tangible steps toward reconciliation. "Our shared work has set a foundation for a good path forward and we look forward to continuing this work together," Boyle said. The ratification event was held at the nation's Big House in Bella Bella, which serves as a gathering place for cultural and ceremonial activities. The nation says in a post to its website that the structure was built with funding from the federal government as a "commitment to reconciliation." The nation will also be hosting a three-day celebration to mark its anniversary starting Saturday. Boyle's office confirmed she would attend. Slett said Boyle is scheduled to meet with leaders as well as partake in the celebrations, which she believes is important for reconciliation.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Erdogan denies bid to change Turkey's constitution means he'll run for presidency again
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denied he is trying to change the constitution so that he can stay on when his term ends in three years' has led Turkey for 22 years, first as prime minister from 2003 and then as its elected president since 2014. But he cannot run again unless the rules are changed or he calls early elections."We want the new constitution not for ourselves, but for our country. I have no interest in being re-elected or running for office again," he told reporters on yet Erdogan's recent remarks and actions have heightened speculation that he wants to remain president after his term ends in 2028. Last January he was asked by a singer if he was up for running for another term and he said, "I am, if you are." The next day his party's spokesman confirmed the issue was on their agenda: "What is important is that our nation wants it."While many Turks will be keen for Erdogan to continue as president, he is trailing in the opinion polls behind the opposition mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, who was arrested in March and remains in arrest on alleged corruption charges, which he denies, has been widely seen by his supporters as politically motivated and has sparked some of the biggest protests Turkey has seen in more than a suggest that support for the mayor has risen since he was detained in prison in Silivri, west of Istanbul. Authorities have succeeded in blocking his social media feed on X inside Turkey and they have continued to target his city administration, detaining at least 18 staff on suspicion of corruption in recent days, including the municipality's public relations chief Taner Cetin. Although Imamoglu's detention in jail has been widely criticised internationally, President Erdogan has largely escaped censure, with Western allies viewing him as a key Nato his comments to reporters on Wednesday, Erdogan said Turkey's constitution did not reflect the views of civilians as it was mainly written in the wake of a 1980 military coup, even though it has been amended."In such a rapidly changing world, is it possible to get anywhere with a constitution that was written under the conditions of a coup?" he current constitution only allows two five-year presidential terms. Erdogan is already on his third, but he argued his initial term took place before Turkey moved from parliamentary rule to presidential change required a constitutional referendum in 2017 that gave Erdogan sweeping powers, but still only allows two presidential obtain another referendum he needs the backing of 360 MPs in the 600-seat parliament, but can currently only rely on 321. With 400 votes he could change the constitution recent move to bring an end to more than four decades of conflict with the Kurdish militant PKK has been interpreted by some as a bid to attract Kurdish support for a new said on Wednesday that by laying down its arms the PKK would enable the pro-Kurdish DEM party to continue in politics "in a much stronger way".The DEM party has 56 MPs and, with their backing, Erdogan would have a far greater chance in parliament to change the deputy chairman of Ekrem Imamoglu's opposition CHP party, Ali Mahir Basarir, said Erdogan had no chance of running again because of a constitution that he had designed himself. Erdogan could also call early elections, but he wasn't allowing those either, Basarir said.
