Category: We Are All Treaty People

We Are All Treaty People

The Orca;

The owner of a major industrial park in Richmond, whose land is impacted by the ruling, agreed on the need for a reference question.

“Our properties are subject to long-term leases to both Canadian and international tenants engaging in commercial activities vital to international trade and the economy of Canada,” Montrose CEO Ken Low wrote in his own letter.

“We cannot face this uncertainty for years as appeals wind their way through the system. Hundreds work on our site every day.”

Montrose Properties tenants include a Coca Cola bottling plant, a Canadian Tire Distribution Centre and a Wayfair warehouse. It owns 477 acres of the approximately 1,846 acres the Cowichan Nation argues should fall under its Aboriginal title.

The City of Richmond has delivered letters to dozens of other businesses and private landowners in the area, urging them to attend an information session at city hall at 7 p.m. on Oct. 28.

The letter came with an attached briefing note for residents, outlining how the City of Richmond was the only party in the 11-year case that argued private land ownership extinguishes Aboriginal title. Both the federal and provincial governments failed to make that argument due to litigation directives focused on reconciliation and UNDRIP.

The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

National Post- ICBC’s Indigenous hotline and driving tests do a disservice to reconciliation

Based on its “Reconciliation Action Plan,” ICBC now has a driver’s license phone line just for Indigenous people. The obvious question — why? — goes unanswered. “This new phone line is staffed by a team of supportive and knowledgeable ICBC employees who recognize the historical and contemporary barriers Indigenous people face when trying to obtain a B.C. driver’s licence,” reads the Crown corporation’s website.

Fintrac issues $600K fine to First Nations Bank of Canada

Inconceivable!

The First Nations Bank of Canada says it accepts the results of an investigation by Ottawa’s financial intelligence agency, which fined the Saskatoon-based bank just over $600,000 for violating money laundering and terrorist financing reporting rules.

On Sept. 22, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada imposed an administrative monetary penalty on the bank for failure to comply with the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.

In total, the First Nations Bank of Canada was fined $601,139.80 for five violations of the act’s regulations, according to a Fintrac news release. The violations are related to oversight of suspicious transactions, assessments of high-risk clients and reporting requirements.

[…]

Earlier this year, Fintrac fined the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority $1,175,000 for violations under the act, including failure to report suspicious transactions and inadequate monitoring policies.

Paleolithic Reality

The common narrative is that the indigenous tribes living in a particular area prior to European settlement were always living there. But that’s not really true, is it?

“Very convenient to cloak your claims in spiritualism. …No matter what your legends say, you didn’t sprout from the plains like the spring grasses and you didn’t coalesce out of the ether. You came out of the Minnesota Woodlands armed to the teeth and set upon your fellow man. You massacred the Kiowa, the Omaha , the Ponca, the Otoe, and the Pawnee without mercy …and yet you claim the Black Hills is a private preserve bequeathed to you by the great spirit. … You conquered those tribes, lusting for their game and their lands, just as we have now conquered you for no less noble a call.”

Great Success!

Sun- Manitoba foster group echoes Peguis chief’s concerns over child welfare oversight

Last week, Chief Bird called for the cancellation and restructuring of Peguis’ child and family services agreement, stating that the system created under the 2023 coordination deal has “no accountability and no transparency.”

The agreement, established under Bill C-92, was the first in Manitoba to transfer child welfare authority from the province and the federal government to a First Nation. The 2019 federal legislation was designed to affirm Indigenous jurisdiction over child and family services and promote culturally grounded, community-led care.

22 Years Later

An access to information request digs up a hoped to be forgotten report.

Western Standard- How the RCMP’s long-hidden Project E-NIRS challenges Canada’s narrative of mass graves and missing children.

The task force’s investigation stretched over eight long years, twice the original estimated time. During this period, more than 4,000 tips, including complaints against 129 people and 974 separate allegations of criminal misconduct, were collected.

For context..

ITV News- Shocking scale of sexual abuse at UK boarding schools revealed

Gravy Trains

Not only are they demanding payment for any future infrastructure projects, but nearly a billion dollars up front just to figure out what those payments might be. They’re like a contractor who charges you to develop an estimate or a realtor who demands a commission prior to a sale.

In her opening remarks, National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak pointed to provincial bills that also seek to fast-track major projects. She praised chiefs in B.C., Quebec and Alberta for standing up for their rights and territories by pushing back against provincial governments.

The assembly recently put forth a pre-budget submission to the federal government recommending $800 million over the next two years to support a First Nations review of national interest projects.

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