Link to CBC radio segment and article by Shelagh Rogers here.
Canada
Prime Minister Trudeau’s Mandate to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General
Link to letter here.
“I made a personal commitment to bring new leadership and a new tone to Ottawa. We made a commitment to Canadians to pursue our goals with a renewed sense of collaboration. Improved partnerships with provincial, territorial, and municipal governments are essential to deliver the real, positive change that we promised Canadians. No relationship is more important to me and to Canada than the one with Indigenous Peoples. It is time for a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous Peoples, based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation, and partnership.”
Some top priorities:
- “Develop, in collaboration with the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and supported by the Minister of Status of Women, an approach to, and a mandate for, an inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls in Canada, including the identification of a lead Minister.
- Work with the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs to address gaps in services to Aboriginal people and those with mental illness throughout the criminal justice system.”
Canadian Supreme Court Rules Métis, Off-reserve Indigenous People Require Federal Recognition
Indigenous Women’s Movements to End Violence Against American Indian, Alaska Native, and Aboriginal Women
The Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, Indian Law Resource Center, National Congress of American Indians, National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, and Native Women’s Association of Canada are co-sponsoring an event to be held during the NGO-Forum of the Commission on the Status of Women’s 60th Session.
The event will take place on Tuesday, March 22nd at 4:30 p.m., at the United Nations Church Center Chapel.
More information can be found here.
Manitoba Path to Reconciliation Act
Bill text here.
First Nation Housing Addressed by Government Officials and Report
Link to APTN coverage here.
The price tag to fix homes and infrastructure on Manitoba reserves is $2 billion when $150 million is the government’s annual budget for all First Nations.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett said she’s not deterred by the $2-billion price tag. She couldn’t explain exactly how the new Liberal government will tackle the backlog, but said improving First Nations housing is a priority.
“I’ve been in those homes,” Bennett said in an interview. “It is a disgrace for Canadians to watch. There is a consensus in this country that we have got to get going on this.
“The sticker shock on any of these things can’t get in the way of us beginning what has to happen.”
First Five Recommendations of Canada’s TRC Report Involve Child Welfare
CBC story here.
Recommendations/Calls to Action here.
Child welfare
1. We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to commit to reducing the number of Aboriginal children in care by:i. Monitoring and assessing neglect investigations.
ii. Providing adequate resources to enable Aboriginal communities and child-welfare organizations to keep Aboriginal families together where it is safe to do so, and to keep children in culturally appropriate environments, regardless of where they reside.
iii. Ensuring that social workers and others who conduct child-welfare investigations are properly educated and trained about the history and impacts of residential schools.
iv. Ensuring that social workers and others who conduct child-welfare investigations are properly educated and trained about the potential for Aboriginal communities and families to provide more appropriate solutions to family healing.
v. Requiring that all child-welfare decision makers consider the impact of the residential school experience on children and their caregivers.
2. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with the provinces and territories, to prepare and publish annual reports on the number of Aboriginal children (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) who are in care, compared with non-Aboriginal children, as well as the reasons for apprehension, the total spending on preventive and care services by child-welfare agencies, and the effectiveness of various interventions.
3. We call upon all levels of government to fully implement Jordan’s Principle.
4. We call upon the federal government to enact Aboriginal child-welfare legislation that establishes national standards for Aboriginal child apprehension and custody cases and includes principles that:
i. Affirm the right of Aboriginal governments to establish and maintain their own child-welfare agencies.
ii. Require all child-welfare agencies and courts to take the residential school legacy into account in their decision making.
iii. Establish, as an important priority, a requirement that placements of Aboriginal children into temporary and permanent care be culturally appropriate.
5. We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate parenting programs for Aboriginal families.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report Signals Time for Government to Act
Trudeau’s New Cabinet Includes First Indigenous Person as Attorney General of Canada and Justice Minister
Here.
Central to Trudeau’s cabinet is Jody Wilson-Raybould who was sworn-in as Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada. The former Assembly of First Nations regional chief of British Columbia and Crown prosecutor becomes the first Indigenous person to hold the senior portfolio which plays a role in almost every federal matter.
Also:
Led by Theland Kicknosway, a 13 year-old Pottawatami-Cree youth from Wahpole Island, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his new cabinet walked into history Wednesday as they were sworn into office in the ballroom of Rideau Hall.
ILJ Winter Call For Submissions – Deadline January 5, 2016
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