In accordance with their Election Code, which requires Caldwell First Nation to hold an election for Chief and four Councillors every four years, the election was held Saturday, June 27, 2015. The voting poll was opened at 10:00 a.m. and closed at 6:00 p.m. The mail-in ballots were confirmed as...
Ending family violence a priority for First Nations – conference explores traditional paths to community wellness
First Nation leaders and frontline workers from across Ontario gathered at the Oneida Nation of the Thames Community Centre this week to explore paths to community wellness in response to staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women. “This event was really about finding ways to end violence in our families,”...
Education is key to reconciliation
To the children we lost, the ones who survived, and the families who were never the same without them, today we honour and recognize your stories and your truths. For more than 100 years, our children were taken from us. Our communities and families suffered as 150,000 little boys and...
Federal Budget leaves First Nations behind again
Indigenous communities are being left behind yet again by Stephen Harper’s conservative government. In his 2015 budget, he offers extensive tax cuts for the wealthiest 15 per cent of tax payers, while in the same breath balances the books by shortchanging First Nations on vital programs and services. Notably absent...
Letter to the Editor: “First Nations need real reform” by Lorne Gunter
In a recent editorial, Lorne Gunter argued in your paper that Ottawa has continued to fail First Nations in their continued efforts to “break the cycle of bad governance” in our communities. This article has a valid point in that the Band Council system in many cases is not working,...
Broken promises and more broken promises: First Nations education left behind yet again
Last year, the federal government introduced its First Nations control of First Nations Education Bill (Bill C-33) to substantial backlash from Indigenous communities across the country. The deceivingly named bill faced criticisms for its unnecessarily intrusive government oversight, transferring liability to First Nations without transferring authority and financing, and didn’t...
First Nation Treaty Rights Affirmed in the Gargantua Harbour Trial
Today Justice Logan dismissed 20 of the 22 counts in the Gargantua Harbour (Nanabozhung) matter involving Batchewana First Nation (BFN), and Chief Dean Sayers. The trial has been ongoing since charges were laid by the MNR in 2008 when the First Nation attempted to reconstruct an access road to their traditional territory for cultural...
Ontario Chiefs meet with opposition parties, call for focus on Indigenous issues in upcoming federal election
Chiefs from First Nations across Ontario gathered in Ottawa this week to meet with federal opposition leader Thomas Mulcair and members of his caucus, as well as Liberal critic for Aboriginal Affairs Carolyn Bennett. Chiefs pushed both parties to consider critical First Nations priorities in their upcoming election platforms including...
Bill C-51 is about control, not terrorism
As Indigenous peoples we have experienced the oppression and control of Canada’s colonist government for the past 150 years. We have suffered through policies and laws that have tried to exterminate us, assimilate us, oppress us and silence us. This is our experience in our homelands, and it continues to...
First Nations youth from across Ontario gather in London to address health issues in their communities
First Nations youth from across Ontario will gather at a three-day symposium addressing youth health and wellness in London on March 20-22. The event, hosted by the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI) will feature a series of workshops to help the youth learn wellness strategies to take back...