Aboriginal Issues

An Indigenous delegation is to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican in early spring to discuss reconciliation and healing after a visit was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A joint statement from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and national organizations representing First Nations, Inuit and Metis people says the delegation is to meet with the Pope in Rome the week of March 28. A final audience with him is to take place April 1.

The whole story, it seems, was concocted to stir up hatred against Christians and stoke outrage. It succeeded.

Remember last summer when a mass grave containing the remains of hundreds of children was found on the grounds of a former government boarding school for indigenous children in British Columbia, Canada?

In the seven months since this shocking news broke, not one body has been found, and not a single shovel-full of dirt has been excavated from the site in question. Contrary to the worldwide media coverage last summer, nothing, in fact, has been “discovered” on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

h/t RM

Over the past month, three noteworthy events have presented as provocative grist to the groaning mill of Indigenous-“settler” relations.

First, acclaimed Cree playwright/novelist Tomson Highway’s memoir , Permanent Astonishment, was published by Penguin-Random House. Highway’s experiences at a residential school did not embitter him. On the contrary, he credited that nine-year stint for the foundational skills that led to creative self-realization. But saying so publicly, once permissible, has become a form of blasphemy in the chattering classes.

The federal government has unveiled its $40-billion agreement in principle to provide compensation to First Nations children and their families harmed by an underfunded child welfare system and establish long-term reform.

Ottawa will provide $20 billion to children on reserve and in the Yukon who were unnecessarily removed from their homes between April 1, 1991 and March 31, 2022. This extends to their parents and caregivers. Compensation will also be provided to those impacted by the narrow definition of Jordan’s Principle between Dec. 12, 2007 and Nov. 2, 2017.

B.C. Teachers’ Federation leaders go to great lengths to say they’re listening to the concerns of First Nations people, but there is one subject on which they strongly disagree with Indigenous leaders.

Seven top B.C.’s First Nations chiefs and other Indigenous leaders recently sent the education minister a strong letter , obtained by Postmedia, spelling out how they are “alarmed” and “deeply disturbed” by the BCTF’s “targeted attack campaign” to cancel current provincewide testing of elementary students.

There’s the rub – protect teacher jobs

“We see the rankings as being very damaging and dangerous to public education,” BCTF president Teri Mooring says in an October video. “The rankings serve no purpose except to perhaps promote private education.”

The federal government is setting aside $40 billion in its fall economic update for First Nations child welfare as it continues talks on settling compensation claims.

The money is to cover the cost of settling a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal order, two class action lawsuits and long-term reform of the Indigenous child welfare system over a five year period, according to one source with knowledge of the negotiations.

h/t Mauser

We are members of the Gidimt’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, together with extended family members from other Wet’suwet’en house groups and communities, both on- and off-reserve. Our clan territories include the area where the Coastal GasLink pipeline crosses the river we call Wedzin Kwa. We are deeply hurt and angered by the conduct and statements of some of our community members and others who claim to be defending our lands and laws against the pipeline.