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Can justice in Kamloops come through the International Criminal Court? – IRPP
A request for an ICC investigation is appealing for some, but the risk is that it brings distraction and false hope. Earlier this month, a small group of Canadian lawyers submitted to the incoming chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) a request that he open a preliminary examination on a proprio motu (one’s […]
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Stealing “Indian” human rights in 2021 by Cindy Blackstock – IRPP
A revealing 1958 speech by Gerry Gambill reads like it could be Canada’s modern-day roadmap for its treatment of First Nations children. Two hundred and fifteen children were buried in unmarked graves on the grounds of the Kamloops Residential School, which was operated by Canada and run by the Catholic Church. They likely died alone, […]
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The complexity of protecting, investigating and commemorating mass graves – IRPP
Certain overarching principles ought to be applied in Kamloops for a careful, considerate, culturally appropriate investigation into the 215 graves. Mass graves are a worldwide phenomenon that exists on a shocking scale, but they are usually identified with conflict and gross human rights violations, typically in countries ravaged by poverty and inequality. Yet the discovery […]
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How creating an Armed Forces Indigenous community assistance program would pay off – Policy Options
March 31, 2021 In Australia, the military and Indigenous communities work together to develop infrastructure in a program that is central to reconciliation progress. The Department of National Defence’s plan for its relationships with Indigenous Peoples for 2021-2022 states, “(b)ecause DND/CAF operations intersect with Indigenous interests and rights, we will continue to strengthen our relationship, […]
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Systemic racism in Canada’s health care – IRPP
February 24, 2021 Last Fall, Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous woman, died in a Quebec hospital after posting videos online of the hospital staff insulting her. The tragedy was seen by many as the latest example of the systemic racism that Indigenous people often face when dealing with the Canadian health care system. It’s not the […]
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Fear and discomfort shouldn’t block anti-racism efforts in schools – IRPP
February 24, 2021 Addressing racism in the classroom requires educators to ask hard questions of themselves, white discomfort, and the discarding of old traditions. In 1920, Duncan Campbell Scott, then-deputy superintendent of the Department of Indian Affairs is quoted for suggesting that his goal was to “get rid of the Indian problem.” Scott’s solution was […]
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Poll: Quebecers against special rights or a blocking right for First Nations
Montreal, December 9, 2020 – With the federal government tabling a bill last week aiming to make the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples applicable to Canada, a clear majority of Quebecers are opposed to them having special or additional rights, compared to what all Quebecers enjoy. According to an Ipsos poll […]
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What #JusticeforJoyce should mean for policy-makers – Policy Options
We don’t need an inquest for Joyce Echaquan. We need to build a culturally safe, trauma-informed health-care system that draws on Indigenous voices. November 3, 2020 Canadians in the fall of 2020 sit uncomfortably in the grip of an unprecedented health crisis while a resounding cry to address systemic racism echoes throughout the globe. At […]
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Excising racism from health care requires Indigenous collaboration – Policy Options
November 2, 2020 Canada’s history of colonization has laid the foundation for the implementation of racist health policy and the delivery of culturally unsafe health care, resulting in health disparities that are disproportionately experienced by Indigenous Peoples. Cultural groups that have experienced colonization also tend to encounter other levels of oppression, including epistemic and systemic […]
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First Nations have their own legal authority to regulate their fishing rights – Policy Options
The Crown has failed to live up to its duty to protect treaty rights of the L’nuk. But fishing can be regulated under L’nuk legal principles. October 22, 2020 It has been 21 years since Donald Marshall Jr. was acquitted by the Supreme Court of Canada of illegal fishing under Canada’s federal fishing laws and […]
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