first nations rights
A Close Look at Two Jailed Mi'kmaq Warriors Who Protested Big Oil in New Brunswick
Mi'kmaq Warrior Society members Germaine Breau and Aaron Francis were recently sentenced after ninth months in custody for their involvement in a controversial and expensive RCMP raid of an anti-shale gas encampment in New Brunswick last year.
Widespread Mercury Contamination in First Nations Communities Is Being Ignored
Years after multiple First Nation communities in northwestern Ontario were forced to deal with the fallout of extreme mercury contaminations, the damage lingers, and many of the victims remain uncompensated.
The Strange Case of Pictou County, Nova Scotia—A Community Supported by Toxic Mills
Pictou County, Nova Scotia is the home of the last of Nova Scotia's "Big Three" mills. Despite higher incidences of cancer, stillbirths, and infant deaths that some residents blame on pollution from the mills, the town remains solidly divided on how to...
A New Study Confirms the Tar Sands Are Harming the Health of First Nations
A new study of health concerns among communities downstream from the Alberta tar sands has been released and the results confirm what residents have long been saying: tar sands development can be tied to a series of illnesses, including cancer, asthma...
The Supreme Court's Decision to Award the Tsilhqot’in First Nation Their Rightful Land Could Be a Game Changer
The most important court case over aboriginal rights in Canada’s history ended with a landmark decision from the Supreme Court of Canada, which granted declaration of aboriginal title to more than 1,700 square kilometres of land to the Tsilhqot’in...
The Huron-Wendat Nation Is Standing Up to Enbridge and the Ontario Government’s Billion Dollar Development Dreams
The Huron-Wendat Nation have indicated their intentions to file court injunctions against both Enbridge's proposed half a billion gas pipeline expansion in the GTA, and the Ontario government's multi-billion dollar expansion of Highway 407 East. With...
A Train Full of Flammable Chemicals Quietly Derailed in Sarnia Last Month
Four Suncor supported tanks cars loaded with a flammable and explosive oil product derailed in Sarnia, and the company provided no explanation of the accident to the local community. The incident left residents of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation again...
A Chemical Leak in Nova Scotia Has Sparked a First Nations Blockade
Tuesday morning, staff at Abercrombie Point pulp and paper mill in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, noticed that a pipe carrying raw effluent had sprung a leak and was spewing into the waters of Pictou Harbour. Now the First Nations community in Pictou is...
We Visited the First Nations Community That's Standing Up to Mining Companies by Turning Their Land Into a Tribal Park
30 years after first protecting its land from miners by deeming it a tribal park, the Tla'o'qui'aht First Nations community faces a new challenge from a proposed gold mine that is deadset on tapping into its vast natural resources.
Sarnia's First Nation Residents Are Demanding Local Officials Do a Better Job Of Monitoring Air Pollution
"I don’t see any other community surrounded by 63 industries where people never get an answer to their questions."
How Canada's First Nations Might Halt the Development of the Tar Sands
The constitutionally protected rights of indigenous people to hunt, fish, trap, and be consulted when new developments are being built are under attack. Following extreme deregulation to quickly develop Canada's oil-rich tar sands, indigenous rights...
First Nation Communities in Northern Ontario Are Filled with Contaminants
First Nation people in northwestern Ontario are living in much of the land the province deems 'high-priority' contaminated sites, leading to a myriad of illnesses and severe side-effects. Now residents are concerned that not enough is being done to...