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(Coast Salish Territory / Vancouver, B.C. – May 17, 2016)  At the 15th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Canada publicly stated it would be a full supporter of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Declaration) without qualification and then immediately qualified the statement by adding “to adopt and implement the declaration in accordance with the Canadian Constitution.”

(Coast Salish Territory / Vancouver BC – May 16, 2016). The BC government is enabling a dangerous disregard for environmental monitoring, reporting and protection among mining companies by letting them off the hook for the full costs of environmental reclamation – leaving taxpayers liable for more than $1.5 billion, a new report shows.

Dear Minister Tootoo and Minister Wilson-Raybould:

We are writing in regard to the circumstances surrounding the 2015 legal decision Morton v. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Marine Harvest. It has come to our attention in British Columbia that in your capacity as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada you appear as a co-appellant with the salmon farming corporation, Marine Harvest, to appeal that 2015 legal decision. We find your decision very disturbing and we ask you to immediately reconsider your participation.

Dear Minister Rustad, Minister Anton, and Minister Morris:

We are writing with respect to the event you are holding on Tuesday May 10th at 12:15pm to “remember the lives of BC’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and unveil a lasting legacy” at the Parliament Buildings of BC in Victoria. We understand that a quilt will be made public which was created at the BC Family Gathering in Prince George, Lheidhli T’enneh Territory, in January 2016. At that event, family members were invited to create a piece of the quilt to honour their loved one, and these pieces were then stitched together.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – May 6, 2016)  The Union of BC Indian Chiefs is condemning the ongoing ‘corporate thuggery’ of BC Hydro, which recently filed a notice of civil claim and an application for an injunction in BC Supreme Court to stop people from camping overnight at its Vancouver office.

In many ways, Canada waged war against Indigenous peoples through Law, and many of today’s laws reflect that intent. ... The full adoption and implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will not undo the War of Law, but it will begin to address that war’s legacies.

Senator Murray Sinclair, Truth and Reconciliation Chair, April 2016

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver) Senior First Nations leadership in BC are thanking Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, BC’s Representative for Children and Youth, for her recent special report detailing serious concerns about the unbalanced review carried out by Mr. Bob Plecas for the Province of BC.  

OTTAWA – A delegation of senior First Nations leaders from northwest British Columbia warned the Trudeau government Tuesday that claims of widespread First Nations support for Petronas’ Pacific Northwest LNG project are false.

They called upon the federal government to reject the project.