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Chief says she'll continue hunger strike until PM and native leaders meet

OTTAWA - Chief Theresa Spence says she's overjoyed that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has agreed to meet First Nations leaders, but she says she won't end her hunger strike until the meeting actually takes place next Friday. Read more…

 

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'This is our future we have to fight for': Idle No More movement launches weekend of protests

Warrior flags, hand drums and a round dance in the middle of the street marked the solstice today in downtown Vancouver, where Indigenous people and supporters rallied as part of cross-country Idle No More events. Read more…

Government exempts 'low-impact' mining activities from permit process

The B.C. government has proposed to change what activities would be regulated by the Mines Act, in what the province characterizes as an attempt to cut "unnecessary red tape," by exempting certain "low-impact" activities. Read more…

First Nations to protest omnibus budget bill Sunday

Vancouver First Nations are planning to protest the Harper government's recently passed omnibus budget bill Sunday. The protest is part of Idle No More, an indigenous movement that is utilizing social media to organize across the country. Read more…


Government announces ban on gas extraction in Sacred Headwaters

The B.C. government announced Tuesday that an agreement had been reached to ban gas extraction in the Sacred Headwaters. The ban will take effect on the day that a four-year moratorium on all activity related to coalbed methane extraction was set to expire. Read more…

Chief vows to 'die' if necessary to improve the lot of aboriginal people

OTTAWA - Aboriginal protests against recent federal legislation are gaining momentum, with at least one prominent chief vowing to die for her people. Read more…

Reports on suicide pact get it wrong: VSB Chair Bacchus

Vancouver School Board Chair Patti Bacchus says suicide pact involved just a few students from Britannia Secondary School, and that much of the information reported on the so-called suicide pact at Britannia Secondary school, including in The Tyee, is incorrect. Read more…

Aboriginal organization blames suicide pact on 'apartheid' service delivery

The recently discovered suicide pact between mostly Aboriginal students at Britannia Secondary School is just a "symptom" of an "apartheid system" of separate services for urban Aboriginal people in Vancouver, says Scott Clark, coordinator of the Aboriginal Life In Vancouver Enhancement Society (ALIVE). Read more…

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Paul Martin supports Aboriginal youth entrepreneurs in Vancouver

Former prime minister Paul Martin spoke to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth at Britiannia Secondary School this morning about the importance of a groundbreaking Aboriginal entrepreneurship course he helped pilot at the school. Read more…

Withhold judgment until missing women's commission report is issued, Oppal tells critics

The independence of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry (MWCI), which examined why serial killer Robert Pickton wasn't caught sooner, is in "grave doubt," concluded three of the province's legal advocacy organizations in a report released yesterday. But Commissioner Wally Oppal said critics should withhold their judgment until reading his recommendations, which are due the end of this month. Read more…

BC child and youth watchdog criticizes unstable child services

A new report from the Representative For Children and Youth finds insufficient mental health services contributed to most of the child suicides and incidents of self-harm among kids and youth in government care. Read more…

Dzawada'enuxw First Nation to Christy Clark: Don't renew fish farm licences

A delegation from the Dzawada'enuxw First Nation in Kingcome Inlet will deliver an 11,000-signature petition to Premier Christy Clark's constituency office on Wednesday, November 14. The message: Don't renew open net-pen fish farm licences. Read more…

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Salmon inquiry final report will be made public Wednesday

VANCOUVER - A report into the 2009 collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run will be made public this week after a public inquiry took two years to study what happened. Read more…

Government contradicts First Nations ed underfunding claims

A background document released by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada seems to contradict First Nations advocate claims that on-reserve education is underfunded. But calculations include students funded to attend provincial and public schools, too. Read more…

Shell oil sands project violates treaty rights, First Nation argues

A First Nation at the heart of Alberta's oil sands region says it has not been properly consulted by government or industry about Shell's proposed Jackpine Mine expansion. Read more…

Ottawa spends $3 million to battle First Nations child welfare case

OTTAWA -- The federal government has been billed more than $3 million for its unsuccessful attempts to keep a high-stakes battle over First Nations child welfare out of the courts. Read more…

Joint UBC-Langara program aimed at aboriginal students

A new joint program between the University of British Columbia and Langara College offers aboriginal people a different pathway into the University's faculty of arts. Read more…

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Furlong's co-author Mason says he was told nothing about Burns Lake

A story by Ontario journalist Laura Robinson published by the Georgia Straight on Sept. 27 alleges that several of Vancouver 2010 Olympic CEO John Furlong's ex-students have filed affidavits claiming he abused them while he taught at Prince George Catholic school in the 1970s. Read more…

Tory crime agenda fuelling 'crisis' of aboriginal women in prison: report

The swelling ranks of aboriginal women in the federal prison system amount to "nothing short of a crisis," says a report commissioned by the Public Safety Department. Read more…

Dead Oregon inmate suspected in Highway of Tears killing: RCMP

RCMP say they believe a deceased Oregon inmate is responsible for at least one of the murders in British Columbia's so-called Highway of Tears investigation. Read more…