News
For additional First Nations related news visit the First Nations BC Portal at: www.fnbc.info
Carrier Sekani to host Truth and Reconciliation Hearings in Prince George »
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Dakelh Territory/Prince George BC – On May 13-14, 2013 the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (CSTC), Carrier Sekani Family Services (CSFS) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is inviting members of the public to learn more about the Canadian Government endorsed Residential School system and how it has affected First Nations who survived years of abuse. Over the last 130 years many First Nations, Metis and Inuit people have attended Residential Schools which were mandated to assimilate First Nations into western society.
Yinka Dene Alliance: Time for Enbridge to give up on Northern Gateway »
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Today, May 8, the Enbridge board of directors is meeting with shareholders in Calgary for the Enbridge annual general meeting. In the past, we, the chiefs of the Yinka Dene Alliance, have personally attended this meeting to explain to Enbridge senior management and shareholders why our communities have rejected the Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker project. We have decided not to be with you this time, but our message today, as always, is that this and any other oil pipeline will not cross our homelands in British Columbia.
Ottawa names liaison with First Nations »
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
The Harper government's second announcement in as many days aimed at winning British Columbians' trust on oilsands pipelines was greeted Tuesday with praise by Enbridge Inc. and with skepticism by a West Coast First Nations leader.
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, in a speech in Terrace, announced the appointment of a "special federal representative" to talk to B.C. and Alberta First Nations about natural resource developments - including the proposed $6.5 billion Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline to Kitimat. Vancouver lawyer Doug Eyford will report to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
CSTC Invites Dr. James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Issues »
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Dakelh Territory, Prince George, British Columbia. Canada. The Chiefs of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council have extended an invitation to Dr. James Anaya, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Issues to come visit with the CSTC Chiefs and its members. The CSTC request is part of several others from First Nations in BC and Canada, including a recent one from the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC). There however seems to be a delay by the Government of Canada in processing the formalities needed by Dr. Anaya to visit First Nations peoples in Canada.
Growing Number of First Nations Across North America Gather In Ottawa with Unified Message »
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
March 20, Ottawa - Chiefs and hereditary leaders from ten First Nations with traditional territory in the tar sands and on tar sands pipeline routes in western and eastern Canada and the United States gathered in Ottawa today to deliver a clear and unified message: tar sands pipelines will not pass through their collective territories under any conditions or circumstances. The First Nations signed two historic agreements pledging their mutual support to one another in their respective battles to protect their lands, water and health from proposed tar sands projects.
AFN Statement on the Appointment of Special Federal Representative on West Coast Energy Infrastruct »
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
(Ottawa, ON) – “Without a doubt, recognizing First Nations’ rights and responsibilities and fully engaging First Nations is essential to achieving mutually beneficial approaches to sustainable resource development. Today’s announcement of a Special Representative to undertake direct discussion with First Nations while affirming the need for environmental protection and full respect for inherent and Treaty rights is a promising development. At the same time, the Government must be seized with the need for substantive change addressing outstanding land issues through comprehensive claims reform and treaty implementation. We will remain vigilant on this process and insist on the greatest possible engagement, openness and transparency to support First Nations rights and interests to be maximized.“
Who will protect the land from reckless development? »
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Several years ago, sitting in my office in Vancouver where I was heading up Ecotrust Canada — a west coast conservation and community development organization — I received a call from Alberta from a senior communications executive at Shell Canada.
Shell, at the time, was at the early stages of a coal bed methane exploration program in Northern British Columbia, specifically in Tahltan country, in and around Iskut. The natives, it seems, were restless. Shell had provincial permits to develop lands in a region called the Klappan, adjacent to the Spatsizi wilderness area, and had been trying to get trucks and drill rigs in place to pursue its legal authority to assay the abundant gas reserves there. It had sunk three test wells, but that’s as far as it got.
MEDIA ADVISORY - PRESS CONFERENCE »
Friday, February 15, 2013
Background: The 89-page report documents both ongoing police failures to protect indigenous women and girls in the north from violence and violent behavior by police officers against women and girls. Police failures and abuses add to longstanding tensions between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and indigenous communities in the region, Human Rights Watch said. The Canadian government should establish a national commission of inquiry into the murders and disappearances of indigenous women and girls, including the impact of police mistreatment on their vulnerability to violence in communities along Highway 16, which has come to be called northern British Columbia’s “Highway of Tears.”
Nilhchuk-un: Those Who Take Us Away »
Thursday, February 14, 2013
DAKELH TRADITIONAL TERRITORY/PRINCE GEORGE, BC – The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (CSTC) is not surprised with the results provided by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report “Those who take us away”, and are calling on the two levels of government, the Royal Canadian Mountain Mounted Police (RCMP) and the United Nations Human Rights Council to follow through with the recommendations of the report. The CSTC participated in the development of the report by providing the services of former Tribal Chief and former Highway of Tears Coordinator Mavis Erickson to liaise with the communities and the HRW research team. Last June, Mrs. Erickson was also appointed by the CSTC Chiefs to be the representative on women’s issues.