Canada to oversee Métis identity process?
The Department of Indian & Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) seems poised to oversee the process of verifying Métis identity, at least according to a contract award notice on the government’s tendering service website, MERX. A branch of INAC, the Office of the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians has tentatively awarded a contract of between $50,000 to 100,000...
Who is Indian Affairs helping in England?
Who is Indian and Northern Affairs Canada helping in England? That’s a darned good question. In fact, I’d like to know more after this little tidbit arrived in my email inbox from a helpful gnome, and another version arrived via my newsreader. I’ve contacted Marci, the media contact listed at the bottom of the news...
Duncan v. Duncan: Indian Affairs Minister eats his own words again
Honestly, I don’t even go looking for this stuff. Once again, the federal Indian Affairs Minister John Duncan has pretty much recanted the thunderous pronouncements he made as a Reform party critic. He’s made it a habit. In the Nov. 8 Toronto Star article, “Minister downplays despair on reserves,” Duncan was pushed for a “comment...
Indian Affairs Minister John Duncan: Menacing or Muzzled?
A well-researched missive this week over at The Dominion (“New Minister a ‘Declared Enemy’ of First Nations”) examines whether the August 2010 appointment of combative MP John Duncan as Indian and Northern Affairs Canada minister was the harbinger of a new, nastier tone to come in federal Aboriginal policy. I have to admit, reviewing some...
More youth, less education: What’s wrong with this picture?
Some recent tweets by RezSuperstar and YorkAboriginalU have alerted me to a disturbing, decade-long trend in federal support for First Nations students. According to the Chiefs of Ontario‘s Summer 2009 newsletter, an internal Indian and Northern Affairs Canada audit published last spring January reveals a less-than-rosy picture regarding the number of Status Indians attending post-secondary...
Canada Apologizes to Inuit Families for Forced High Arctic Relocation
New Indian & Northern Affairs Minister John Duncan issued a formal apology to the descendants of 19 Inuit families who were forcibly relocated from Inukjuak and Pond Inlet to Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay in the High Arctic during the 1950′s. According to the full statement: “The Government of Canada apologizes for having relocated Inuit...
Letter: John Duncan appointment as INAC Minister borders on “disgraceful”
A letter to the editor in today’s Globe and Mail minces no words in assessing the appointment of MP John Duncan to the position of Indian and Northern Affairs Minister: It is bordering on disgraceful that the newest cabinet minister has been given the Indian Affairs portfolio … What does Stephen Harper’s appointment of a...
POLL: Does Canada’s new Indian Affairs minister signal a change in policy?
Well, they’ve gone and chucked Strahl — critics of Indian Affairs will have to slam Duncan now. And as MP John Duncan busies himself printing new business cards, we want to gauge the waters of public opinion on this change-up in political personnel. What, if anything, could this ministerial switch mean in terms of possible...
Meet your new Indian Affairs Minister
It’s official: John Duncan has replaced Chuck Strahl as Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). Duncan had previously served as Strahl’s parliamentary secretary at INAC. Strahl – who many had believed was going to be the new Government House Leader - has taken over John Baird’s spot as Minister of Transport (who in...
