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 […]

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 […]

The Harper government passed the so-called Fair Elections Act last spring, just in time for this federal election. It’s anything but fair. Introduced in February 2014 by then-minister for democratic reform Pierre Poilievre, the new law requires potential voters to […]

After slamming Patrick Brazeau many times in the past I have to say that, for once at least, the embattled Senator has finally impressed me. In an essay titled Time To Throw Harper Under The Bus and published August 25 […]