Suicide and attempted suicides have long plagued First Nations communities, where suicide rates can be two to 12 times higher than the Canadian average. A recent wave of suicide attempts in the Cree community of Attawapiskat – more than 100 […]

Suicide has always been an issue in First Nations across Canada. The problem recently exploded with reports of a suicide pact between 11 teenagers in my home community of Attawapiskat. There are many reasons young people in remote First Nations […]

In recent conversations with several First Nation Chiefs in northern Ontario I learned that they are dedicating a lot of time and energy to make education a priority for Native people. I understand how important education is if we want […]

The new Liberal government’s first budget was presented to Parliament March 22 to high expectations from First Nations across the country. Despite reservations in some quarters, it was generally well received. AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde felt it was “a […]

A common knock on the federal Liberal Party is that they campaign from the left and govern from the right. Judging from the opinion polls since Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were elected to government last October, many Canadians don’t yet seem […]

From governments to churches, there have been apologies and promises galore over responsibility for the abuses of the residential-school system. There has been testimony, commissions and settlements. Despite this, there are glaring lapses that call into question the sincerity of […]

When former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin negotiated the Kelowna Accord with Canada’s First Nations representatives and provinces in November 2005, it appeared that historical social and educational underfunding for Native communities would soon be addressed. Some $5 billion would […]

Happy New Year and welcome to 2016! As a First Nation person I can tell you that I feel very good about the coming new year. What a change in terms of my people right across the country starting a […]

In old movies, whenever you hear background sounds and talking, the audio is almost always faked to enhance the effect of the visual art of the film. One such sound was the crowded room background, people talking to each other, […]

When then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized to the First Nations Peoples in 2008 for the residential school system, I cast doubt on the sincerity of his words. I still feel that way given the many harmful pieces of legislation his […]