'He does not think beyond the pipeline. He does not think beyond the cause of the day'
American actor Mark Ruffalo took another uninformed swipe at the Coastal GasLink pipeline this week, claiming via Twitter that “the cleanest river in North America is about to be sacrificed to the oil and gas industry” because of project construction. Earlier this year, Ruffalo joined other celebrities to demand that RBC cease funding Coastal GasLink,…
Tens of billions of dollars in wages, contracts and own source revenues are at risk
On July 18, the federal government announced a plan to reduce emissions from the oil and gas sector by 42 per cent in just eight years. To meet such targets, this policy would effectively stop all new projects in the oil and gas sector, as well as curtail existing ones. This would dramatically affect global…
Segregation and special rights have always been the problem. Integration has always been the answer
The Sanderson murders are receiving a lot of media attention, as they should. Much has been written about the government policy of pretending that truly dangerous people, like these brothers, are victims, and returning them to Indigenous communities, where they inevitably victimize residents. Claiming this cruel policy – killing with kindness – somehow helps Indigenous…
Coastal GasLink and Indigenous partners work together to revive depleted salmon stocks
“When we talk about land, we say we belong to this territory. This land holds us, and we are nurtured from it.” These are the words of Aileen Prince, chief of the Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation in northern B.C. near Fort St. James. Prince and her community have suffered numerous indignities over the years, including…
We all need to continue to pressure Pope Francis and the Catholic hierarchy to rescind the Papal Bulls of Discovery
Self-development specialist Brian Tracy says, “People with clear, written goals accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could even imagine.” When I first read Call to Action 58 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, I thought it was an unrealistic pipe dream. It called on the Pope to…
Ottawa must bring in legislation to ensure the project gets built now more than ever
Ottawa needs to finally declare through legislation that the Trans Mountain Expansion Project is to the national advantage of Canada. Doing so would prove to the Canadian public and Indigenous communities that the federal government is serious about seeing it completed. Make no mistake, killing the project would be devastating for many Indigenous communities along…
Disinformation continues to shadow this critical infrastructure project
This summer marks peak construction for the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project, with more than 13,500 people working on the project across Alberta and B.C. False narratives continue to shadow this critical infrastructure project. Here’s a look at four central myths that get repeated and why they are wrong. Myth: Trans Mountain expansion isn’t needed.…
But the temptation to allow old-school First Nation politics into the system must be avoided
Manitobans should be cautiously optimistic about a deal that will transfer health care for Indigenous communities in the province to a regional Indigenous authority. If done properly and not politicized, a deal between the federal government, the Manitoba government and First Nations in southern Manitoba could really improve health care for Indigenous communities in the…
Governor General’s Gold Medal winner Claire Thomson is challenging settler narratives
Growing up on a ranch in the Wood Mountain Uplands of southwestern Saskatchewan, Claire Thomson’s family history was always important to her. That interest led her to pursue graduate studies in History, where she couldn’t help noticing that previous histories of the Lakota of the Wood Mountain Uplands all end with Sitting Bull returning to…
Plan ensures Indigenous identities, languages, cultures and worldviews are reflected at the U of A
The University of Alberta is launching a strategic plan to respond to the calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Final Report. Braiding Past, Present and Future: University of Alberta Indigenous Strategic Plan aims to dismantle colonial structures in the university that have long “disenfranchised Indigenous Peoples of their legal, social, cultural, religious…