Thoughts on BC Politics and More

This story is a collaboration between the IJF and APTN News, with assistance from students at First Nations University of Canada and University of Regina. Billions of dollars in federal contracts meant to support Indigenous businesses across the country are flowing to two dozen firms in the Ottawa region, a joint IJF investigation has found. Over the last few years, more than 60 per cent of roughly $1 billion in contracts annually intended to boost Indigenous entrepreneurs and their communities have stayed in the capital. Provinces with large Indigenous populations, including Manitoba, BC, Saskatchewan and Alberta, are largely shut out, according to an IJF analysis of federal data.  Indigenous leaders and researchers said the imbalance stems from weak design of the program, the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB), which is meant to ensure at least five per cent of most federal contracts go to Indigenous-owned companies nationwide, in line with the Indigenous populat...

British Columbia Premier David Eby said Saturday that he is confident that recent Indigenous opposition to certain fast-tracking laws will not affect the province's ability to attract investment from Asian trade partners. Eby said that international investors need to realize that they would need "strong partnerships with Indigenous people" and high environmental standards to have fast-moving projects in BC ... ... the remarks also came a day after BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee pulled out of the trade mission, citing continuing criticism from Indigenous leaders on the passing of Bills 14 and 15, two pieces of legislation aimed at speeding up certain projects CLICK HERE for the full story

Indigenous leaders are condemning a lawsuit by a group of University of British Columbia (UBC) professors and one graduate student who are against the school making land acknowledgements, along with other  syilx efforts. One syilx Okanagan chief described the legal demands as “attempts to erase syilx Okanagan presence and rights.” Five UBC faculty members — including three professors at the school’s Okanagan campus, as well as a professor and a graduate student at its “Vancouver” campus — filed the petition in the B.C. Supreme Court on April 7, calling for a judge to ban the province’s largest university from engaging in what they called “political activity" ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... In 2021, after years of unproductive negotiations with the federal and provincial governments over land protections, the eight Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs declared a 500-square-kilometre reserve encompassing Meziadin Lake and its watershed an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area, or IPCA. First promoted in a 2017 report issued by the Indigenous Circle of Experts, an advisory board of Indigenous leaders and members of federal, provincial and local governments, IPCAs are Indigenous-led protected land and waters. While there are technically only three official IPCAs recognized by the federal government, Canada has provided more than $1.2 billion in funds to 59 different IPCA projects. What remains in dispute is how much authority First Nations have to enforce IPCAs ... CLICK HERE for the full story

When it comes to my thoughts and beliefs around what is happening with the on-going and continual illegal blockades (including city streets, public highways, and even rail crossings), let me unequivocally say, they should not be permitted. That does not make me a racist -- not does it make me ill-informed of the facts. Let me also say that if local, provincial and federal governments can’t find a way to get these protests under control, I actually fear what the situation may escalate too. Already at least one individual has pushed their way through a protest line with the vehicle they were driving ... and another ripped down, and threw in the ditch, materials one protest group was using to block a road.   For that, apparently, THEY were arrested.   A Global News report stated ... police eventually arrested one of the masked residents for obstruction after he attempted to pull down a barricade that anti-pipeline protesters had erected. Wait a minute ......

Talking with a few leaders of First Nations communities in Saanich North and the Islands and on the north coast recently, a common theme emerged ... frustration with the federal and provincial government. The theme, and the frustration, is not new. Indigenous leaders have been expressing this same sentiment for decades. The story-line goes something like this... “ Our fish boats are tied to the docks and our people cannot fish. We are not allowed to harvest other seafood from the ocean like we have done for generations .” “ The forests in our territory are being cut down and the logs are shipped to either a local mill owned by a foreign entity or they go to a mill offshore nearly raw. We see no benefit .” “ Our communities are impoverished. We don’t have clean drinking water, the houses are falling apart, our families are overcrowded and the other poorly built infrastructure is decaying. Unemployment is high and the mental health and well-...