Aboriginal Issues

A proposed class-action lawsuit against the Canadian government says Indigenous children removed from their communities and placed in group homes beginning in the 1950s suffered physical, sexual and psychological abuse that “was commonplace, condoned and, arguably, encouraged.”

The Federal Court lawsuit filed this month in Vancouver says children across the country were forcibly removed from their homes and taken “to live with strangers — sometimes hundreds of kilometres from their families and Indigenous communities.”

Lawyer Doug Lennox said the lawsuit seeks compensation for those harmed by the country’s historic policy of assimilation.

The Never Ending Grievance.

A group of First Nations families has reactivated a court challenge against Ottawa over ongoing gender discrimination in the Indian Act because a bill created to address the issue is stalled in Parliament.

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu introduced Bill C-38, An Act to amend the Indian Act (new registration entitlements) in December 2022.

The move was made in response to a constitutional challenge filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. But eighteen months later, the bill is stuck at second reading and hasn’t been sent to committee for study, despite support from all opposition parties.

So can I self-identify as a transgender aboriginal like Justin?

More politicians are coming forward to urge governments to end their commitment to the broad ideals of the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

They maintain that the B.C. government’s attempt to appear pro-Indigenous is actually holding back First Nations development through forestry, mining, natural gas and other industrial agreements.