NEWS BRIEFS
Current
Issue
ART
Jane
Poitras: Media is the Message
Morrisseau
Exhibit at National Gallery
Reuse,
Recycle, Renew
BEE
IN THE BONNET
Honest
Injun
Sex'um Scandal
COMMUNITY
Natives
Compete for Métis Fire Fighter Position
CRIME
Highway
of Tears Symposium Sparked by Teen Murder
ENVIRONMENT
Ontario
Natives Recruit Environmental Lobbyists
MUSIC
Throat
Singer Mixes Punk, Folk and Poetry
MODERN TREATIES
BC
Metis Continue Push for Harvest Rights
NEWS
BRIEFS
Chief
outraged by near jailhouse birth
Residential school students' abuse lawsuit
given green light
Court
battles incur "tidal wave" of costs
Kenora area on priority list for safe drinking
water
Six Nations protestors remain after deadline
Compiled by Staff Writers
Chief outraged by near jailhouse birth
Chief Veronica Waboose, of the Long Lake First Nation, voiced her
anger over a cruel and potentially dangerous situation that occurred in
the women's dormitory at the Thunder Bay District Jail.
A 24-year-old Long Lake woman, held in custody since last December, complained
of labour pains in the early hours of the morning. She was repeatedly
denied admittance to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre until
a scheduled appointment later that afternoon.
"I think it's absolutely cruel to leave a woman to face her labour
pain alone for several hours," said Chief Waboose. "This young
woman was in labour before 9 a.m. and they chose to make her wait to go
to the hospital until her scheduled appointment later that afternoon.
How is it that the birth of a child can be treated with such carelessness
and apparent contempt?"
The baby was born healthy, without complications, around 1 p.m. on March
13. The new mother involved was not incarcerated for violent crimes, nor
was she considered a flight risk, leading the chief to further question
the treatment she received. The chief had earlier requested the young
woman be allowed to serve her term under house arrest until the baby was
born in order to avoid making the birth process any more difficult, but
was denied.
"I would like to know why Corrections Services felt it was acceptable
to transport a labouring woman in a jail van, instead of calling an ambulance,
and I expect the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
to investigate this occurrence fully."
Residential school students' abuse lawsuit given green
light
Hundreds of former students of an Ontario Indian residential school
who say they were abused by teachers out to "Christianize" them
have been given the green light to proceed with a class action lawsuit
against the federal government and the Anglican Church.
Ottawa's request to appeal a previous court ruling allowing the class
action lawsuit was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada.
In December, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that 800 former students
of the Mohawk Institute near Branford and their children could sue as
a group. Lower courts ruled that they would have to sue individually because
their complaints were different.
The lawsuit names the federal government, the Anglican Church of Canada's
General Synod, the incorporated diocese of Huron, and an English charity
called the New England Company, as defendants.
The suit, which represents 2,000 complainants and seeks $2.3 billion in
damages, alleges that the school atmosphere was one of fear and brutality.
Former students described incidents of extreme intimidation, beatings,
forced participation in religious activities and excessive punishment
for speaking their language.
The suit covers students who attended the school from 1922 to 1969. Most
are now in their sixties and older, some have already died.
Court battles incur "tidal wave" of costs
Secret internal documents obtained by the National Post under the
federal Access to Information Act, revealed a "looming tidal wave"
of costs associated with 1,200 court cases between First Nations, individuals
and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
Internal reports further urge the federal government to move "beyond
managing dependency."
The documents urge Ottawa to settle the hundreds of long running court
battles between First Nations and INAC. That number of cases has grown
from 250 in 1993, to more than 1,200, and presents to government "significant
financial and policy risks."
Kenora area on priority list for safe drinking water
Four Kenora area First Nations have been fast-tracked for safer drinking
water, out of 21 aboriginal communities nationally.
Shoal Lake 40, North Angle 37, Dalles, and Wabigoon First Nations are
all on Ottawa's highest priority list for safe drinking water.
A spokesperson for INAC said the project at Northwest Angle 37 was entering
the design and construction phase.
At Wabigoon, engineers were assessing the existing system, and the next
phase would be a feasibility study. Dalles is scheduled to have its facility
open this summer.
The federal government has established a plan of action that includes
mandatory training for all treatment plant operators, and a regime to
ensure that all water systems have the oversight of certified operators.
National Chief Phil Fontaine said he was encouraged by the first steps
taken by Ottawa in an effort to close the gap in the quality of life between
First Nations and non-aboriginal Canadians.
Six Nations protestors remain after deadline
A court-imposed deadline has passed without arrests as protestors
from the Six Nations of Grand River continue to occupy a construction
site near Caledonia, Ontario.
Ontario Provincial Police told the First Nations' officials they didn't
plan any arrests, despite a deadline set by an Ontario Superior Court
judge for the protestors to leave.
The Six Nations protestors have occupied the site since February 28.
They say a new subdivision is being built on land that belongs to them.
They argue that a 380,000-hectare tract of land on the region's Grand
River was granted to the Six Nations in 1784, and was never relinquished,
or transferred, to the government or private interests.