It has been a whirlwind 100 days for the United Conservative Party (UCP) in Alberta following the formal return of conservatism in April. Indigenous individuals and communities will be impacted greatly by the ongoing repeals and impending policy shifts arising from campaign promises. This brief considers what our communities stand to lose and what it will mean to be Indigenous in Alberta into the future.
On July 15, 2019, two new federal laws came into effect: the Department of Indigenous Services Act (“DISA”) and Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Act (“CIRNAA”).Together, these two acts replaced and repealed the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Act, RSC 1985, c I-6 (the “DIAND Act”). This brief explains the new laws, and how DISA, particularly, is an improvement over the old DIAND Act.
At the end of this parliamentary session and the (near) end of the Government’s current four-year mandate, we can now more clearly take stock of the legislation affecting Indigenous peoples that actually made it through the legislative process. This brief provides an overview of the Bills affecting Indigenous people – those that have passed, those that will not move forward, and those in progress.
Canada’s Fisheries Act has been and continues to be one of the most oppressive and one of the most contentious of these acts. This brief reviews the potential impact of the proposed amendments to the act that are currently being reviewed by the Senate.
As the federal government moves towards new Indigenous self-government and service delivery policies, the central component is a revised fiscal relations regime. However, from a treaty perspective, there remains concerns with the proposed funding model.
This latest brief is a warning from Aotearoa about why Indigenous peoples should be concerned about USMCA, the new continental free trade agreement, framing exception clauses as “tools being used to circumvent our participation in the governance of our own territories.”
Based in the Faculty of Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University.