First Nation

Land wars 2: Attack of the fringe

| August 27, 2012

The right-wing fringe are in full swing these days. From He-who-shall-not-be-named's racist, hateful tirades about First Nations on TV to the fringe right's fave policy institutes' lowly insults and name-calling of First Nation academics and activists on Twitter -- they are working hard to spread their venom to a vulnerable public.

I say vulnerable, because a large segment of the Canadian public is uneducated about Indigenous issues. This means they are open to be persuaded by the well-funded, flashy right-wing propaganda that has infected much of the mainstream print and TV media.

Flanagan National Petroleum Ownership Act: Stop Big Oil land grab

Pamela Palmater

| August 9, 2012

By now most of you have heard about the Harper government's intention to introduce legislation that will turn reserve lands into individual holdings called fee simple. The legislation has been referred to as the First Nation Property Ownership Act (FNPOA). Some media outlets have referred to it as "privatization" but what the legislation would really do is turn the collective ownership of reserve lands into small pieces of land owned by individuals who could then sell it to non-First Nations peoples, land-holding companies and corporations, like Enbridge for example.

Election 2011: Race and class in Quebec (2)

Pierre Beaudet

| April 12, 2011

Traditionally in Quebec, the vote is sharply split, ethnically-speaking. The Anglo minority votes are systematic, year after year, and without major dissent for the federal and the provincial Liberal party. Both are seen as bulwarks against Quebec nationalism, the absolute evil in the Anglo popular consciousness. This sentiment is deeply entrenched, despite dissident voices here and there. The historical roots of this ethnicism of the Anglo minority are to be found with the British colonial experience.