(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – July 29, 2016) Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Transport Canada have issued federal permits to allow construction of BC Hydro’s Site C dam hydroelectric project to immediately ramp up construction. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in all of his Ministerial Mandate Letters “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.”

(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.”

Berta Cáceres, our dear friend.

A beautiful strong, courageous and amazing woman leader.

In our way as a people of the Earth, Berta will carry on in her courageous work to protect her land, people and future generations.

“Indigenous peoples have known for thousands of years how to care for our planet. The rest of us have a lot to learn and no time to waste.” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris, France, December 2015.

(Coast Salish Territory / Vancouver BC – February 11, 2016) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs congratulates the Akisq’nuk First Nation on the just resolution of its specific claim at the Specific Claims Tribunal. On February 5, 2016 the Tribunal ruled that Canada breached its legal obligation to the Akisq’nuk First Nation by failing to correct an 1887 land survey error and again in 1915 when it failed to protect additional grazing lands from alienation. Both historical events resulted in significant losses of reserve lands and according to the Tribunal Chair, Justice Harry Slade, expose a series of “missteps, an outright betrayal, and inaction” on the part of Canada during the reserve creation process in British Columbia.  

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – January 26, 2016) Today the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal issued a landmark decision confirming that First Nations children in Canada have received inequitable child welfare funding, that this discrimination must cease, and that they must receive equitable child welfare funding going forward.  163,000 First Nations children are affected by the case and the child welfare funding shortfalls on reserves and in the Yukon are 22% to 38.5%.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. - January 07, 2016) A recently released study, published in Virology Journal, reports evidence that the virus most feared by the international salmon farming industry is now present in our wild fish in British Columbia, Canada.  

December 17, 2015

OPEN LETTER TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU

Re: Fixing the Broken Review Process for Tar Sands Pipelines

Kindly accept our sincere congratulations on your election victory. There are real opportunities now for the federal government to finally recognize First Nations’ rightful place at the core of Canada’s past and its future. One such opportunity is the critical roadmap provided in the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). We are pleased that your Government is committed to implement all 94 Calls to Action.

(Ottawa, ON - December 10, 2015) First Nation chiefs from British Columbia and representatives from the Assembly of First Nations are calling on the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take a second look at a Cabinet decision of the former federal government providing initial approval of the controversial Site C dam. 

Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
November 23, 2015

Dear Prime Minister,

Our organizations welcome your public commitment to a renewed relationship between the federal government and Indigenous Peoples in Canada based on the rights guaranteed in Canada’s Constitution and enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We hope that this vision of cooperation and partnership will shape your government’s actions and priorities from the outset.