A federal appeal court ruled yesterday that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans failed in its legal responsibility to protect habitat for orcas, the sleek, black and white killer whales that swim off the coast of B.C. Read more…

Prime minister Brian Mulroney abolished the Foreign Investment Review Agency (FIRA) in 1985 as part of his free trade agenda. Since then, how many Canadian firms have been bought by foreign companies and how many such sales have been blocked? The score is 14,218 to two, according to Mel Hurtig, prolific author, founder of the Council of Canadians and former leader of the National Party of Canada. Read more…

GUANGZHOU, China - Stephen Harper left the old political world of Beijing for a new industrial capital of China to deliver his strongest words yet on human rights and oil. Read more…

VANCOUVER - Former premier Bill Vander Zalm has been found guilty of defamation and has been ordered to pay $60,000 in compensation. Read more…

A scarved, pious Muslim woman comments profoundly, "Nothing will satisfy the protestors. Even if Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, came down to them from heaven and did things his perfect way, they won't be satisfied. Nothing will appease them." Read more…

Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie suggested earlier this week that hosting a new prison on the First Nation's land is going to help reduce the over representation of Aboriginal people in the corrections system.

But Simon Fraser University criminology professor Neil Boyd said he thinks that's an unlikely result of building the new jail. Read more…

Opponents panned British Columbia Premier Christy Clark's announcement this morning of a review of the justice system. Read more…

Although it's been recognized as a legitimate form of evidence in Canada's courtrooms since 1997, UBC academics say misunderstanding and bias against Aboriginal cultures and practices have created confusion around the use of oral history in Canada's courtrooms. It's an error they say we need to correct, especially given the prominence of its use in Aboriginal land claims. Read more…

Federal Court Judge Michael L. Phelan has turned down the Attawapiskat First Nation's request to enjoin the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs from imposing third party management, or at least to keep the third party manager from being paid out of funds intended for the members of the Attawapiskat First Nation. Read more…

Canada must develop a comprehensive plan to improve the lives of Aboriginal children, says a national coalition of youth advocates. Read more…

Nine years since the Liberal government changed labour regulations to allow children as young as 12 to find employment, a lack of government oversight has prompted First Call BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition to launch their own study of youth labour. Read more…

B.C.'s income gap has been growing for 15 years, says B.C. Statistics in a recent report, and only Alberta has more after-tax income inequality than we do. Read more…

The demand comes as the commission has released its final report into the July 2003 in-custody death of Prince George, B.C., resident Clay Alvin Willey. It took RCMP 14 months to respond to commission's previous report examining the death of the aboriginal man. Read more…

Surrey-Fleetwood MLA Jagrup Brar's effort to live for a month on a welfare-level income of $610 has generated many more headlines than his years as the official opposition's critic on the file ever did. Read more…

The Attawapiskat First Nation has filed a request for an injunction removing the third-party manager imposed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, while Chief Theresa Spence has also signed an affidavit comparing the impact of the third-party manager to her experience in residential school. Read more…

A former employee of an environmental group critical of a proposed oilsands pipeline says the Prime Minister's Office threatened a funding agency if it didn't pull its support for the group. A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper denies the allegations. Read more…

Six media outlets in British Columbia will hand over thousands of photos and videos of last June’s Vancouver riot to police under a court order – but not before some put them online for readers to see. Read more…

Manal Al Sharif tells us about life for Saudi women. In perfect English, she explains that Saudi women always wear black -- a cover worn over their regular clothes -- and that they remain minors until they die. Clearly upset, she explains that while decision-making bodies exclude women, a woman can't do anything without a male giving her permission. Read more…

The British Columbia government has wasted nearly $125,000 on legal bills to keep a contract with IBM secret, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Read more…

The way that North Americans think about drug addiction is "mistaken, nasty, and stupid," says Dr. Peter Ferentzy, a Toronto-based addiction specialist and a recovering "crackhead." This Sunday, Ferentzy will be touting his book and speaking about Canadian drug policy at a lecture in Downtown Vancouver. Read more…