Tag Archives: Gov of Canada

Indigenous Nations, Politics

First Nations criticism of Danielle Smith goes national

By Jeremy Appel,  Alberta Native News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – The national advocacy organization for Treaty First Nations has joined the chorus of First Nations telling Alberta premier Danielle Smith that a referendum on Alberta independence would be illegitimate without consulting the land’s original inhabitants.

“Any proposed separation of Alberta from Canada would be fundamentally illegitimate and unconstitutional without the explicit, prior, informed and collective consent of the First Nations whose lands and rights predate the formation of the province and of Canada,” Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak said in a May 12 news release.

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Politics

Election sees transformation of Vancouver Island representation

By Nora O’Malley, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As the dust settles from the 2025 federal election, the Liberals have retained a minority government – but amid a growing Conservative presence in Ottawa and a devasted NDP party.

Under the new leadership of Mark Carney, the April 28 vote has resulted in the Liberals earning a projected 169 seats in the House of Commons – just three shy of the representation needed to for a majority. This is more than the 153 the Liberals previously held in the last Parliament, but Conservatives saw their representation grow more markedly, increasing from the 120 seats at the last sitting of the House to a projected 144. Meanwhile the Bloc Quebecois kept 22 seats – losing 11 from the last Parliament – and the New Democrats saw their representation fall from 25 to just seven. The Green Party’s representation fell from two to one.

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Cost of Climate Change

Fed’s cuts to climate research travel funds ‘mind boggling,’ May says

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

The federal government’s decision to stop funding travel for Canadian scientists contributing to international climate change research is “absolutely appalling,” Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) relies on scientists and experts across the world (including Canada) to produce in-depth reports assessing the causes, impacts and possible solutions to climate change. This body of work guides international climate negotiations.

“The IPCC reports and the IPCC itself represents the largest peer review process in the history of science,” May, who is co-leader of the Greens with Jonathan Pedneault, said in a phone interview with Canada’s National Observer.

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Environment, Politics

Q&A With NIPR’s Green Party On Some Key Environmental Questions

While the Canadian government likes to think of itself as a leader in environmental stewardship, there have been a number of concerns: 

  • A lack of urgency in addressing climate change
  • While the number of extreme weather events continues to increase in both size and magnitude, so does Canada’s production of the fossil fuel products that are the leading contributor to our emissions. In 2024, Canada’s oil production reached a record 5.7 million barrels per day, with  the oil sands accounting for approximately 57% of this output.
  • Weak enforcement and monitoring of environmental laws and regulations
  • According to COSEWIC, there are now 850 Canadian wildlife species at risk, but the government is very slow to respond to this growing crisis.

Cortes Currents emailed the Conservative, Green, Liberal, and NDP campaign headquarters in North Island Powell River (NIPR) a list of questions designed to get to the heart of this matter. So far only Mark de Bruijn, Campaign Manager for the Greens and a former Green candidate in 2019, has answered.  

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Energy, Environment

Wilkinson warns Poilievre’s resource approval plan will end ‘in court on an ongoing basis’

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pledging to create a “one and done” system for resource project approvals and rapidly approve 10 projects he says are stuck in the “slow federal approval process.”

To achieve a maximum approval wait time of one year, Poilievre said he will eliminate the Impact Assessment Act and create one office and one assessment process to handle all regulatory approvals across all levels of government.

This proclamation comes a few weeks after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his intent to streamline the approval process for big infrastructure projects in response to the trade war with the US. Carney said his plan, with a similar slogan to that of Poilievre’s — “one project, one review” — would aim to get projects approved within two years. 

Continue reading Wilkinson warns Poilievre’s resource approval plan will end ‘in court on an ongoing basis’ →