This past winter/spring – the conflict between Coastal Gaslink pipeline the BC government and the Wetsuweten Nation resulted in nation-wide solidarity actions and mass protest. The issue was not resolved and protest was quieted by the pandemic.
Continue reading Election 2020: The Wet’suwet’en conflictCategory Archives: Indigenous Nations
Port Alberni’s floating dry dock project
By Melissa Renwick, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
For over two years, the Port Alberni Port Authority (PAPA) has been forging ahead trying to secure provincial and federal government funding to build a floating dry dock within the city.
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The RCMP’s failure to protect Indigenous leaders
Carl Meyer, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The RCMP‘s failure to protect Mi’kmaq fishers from intimidation, assault and destruction in Nova Scotia demonstrates how the Canadian state is all too ready to permit or perpetrate violence against Indigenous Peoples, say First Nations groups and B.C. politicians.
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Aboriginal Head Start (AHS), childhood programs for Indigenous kids
Editor’s note: On Vancouver Island – There are AHS preschools in Campbell River and Courtenay, as well as approved projects in Courtenay and Nanaimo. There are also numerous AHS preschools on the Mainland.
the Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Lily Patzer speaks with enthusiasm as she talks about Aboriginal Head Start [AHS] — a program that she’s been involved with for twenty-five years.
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First Nations grapple with COVID-19
the Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
As of July 31, the percentage of First Nations individuals living on reserve reported positive for COVID-19 was one-quarter of the rate of the general Canadian population, according to Indigenous Services Canada (ISC). “The work that communities have done, to ensure the safety of their citizens, of their Elders and of their communities generally has been phenomenal,” says Dr. Shannon McDonald, who is the Chief Medical Officer at the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). McDonald is Metis and Anishinabe, and introduces herself as a guest on Tsawout territory. But as COVID-19 cases continue to increase across B.C., several First Nations have also announced increasing numbers of positive COVID-19 cases.
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