Wendake, le 19 mars 2021 – La Journée internationale pour l’élimination de la discrimination raciale est célébrée chaque année le 21 mars. Depuis 22 ans maintenant, la semaine d’actions contre le racisme et pour l’égalité est mise en place chaque année, afin de mobiliser la population sur ces enjeux cruciaux.
En cette journée de lancement de la SACR, l’APNQL rappelle que l’intolérance est encore bien présente à l’égard des Premières Nations au Québec. Le racisme systémique est bel et bien incrusté dans divers services publics et deux incidents médiatisés récemment à Joliette nous l’ont encore mis en lumière dans le système de santé.
Dans l’objectif d’enrayer la discrimination et le racisme, l’APNQL a aussi mis en œuvre un plan d’action à l’automne dernier. Les chefs souhaitaient interpeller les Québécois et les Québécoises à construire et à renouveler leur relation mutuelle dans un esprit d’ouverture et de respect envers l’autre. « L’APNQL mise sur une meilleure connaissance entre le Québec et les Premières Nations, dans le but d’éliminer les préjugés et la méfiance trop longtemps entretenus dans notre histoire commune », affirme Ghislain Picard, chef de l’APNQL.
Les avancées sont prometteuses, mais il reste énormément de travail à faire pour atteindre une égalité des droits pour tous au Québec. La pandémie actuelle a d’ailleurs exacerbé des inégalités à bien des égards et, malheureusement, la race, la couleur et l’origine de certains d’entre nous en demeure un facteur déterminant. La Semaine d’actions contre le racisme constitue donc un moment privilégié pour réfléchir à un mieux-vivre ensemble, exempt de racisme et qui soit respectueux des différences. Comme société, on se doit de développer des mesures inclusives afin de favoriser un rapprochement entre tous; toute origine confondue. La lutte contre le racisme concerne tout le monde!
Le Plan d’action de l’APNQL est disponible sur notre site www.apnql.com
Wendake, March 19, 2021 – The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is celebrated every year on March 21. For 22 years now, the Week of Action against Racism and for Equality has been held every year to mobilize the population on these crucial issues.
On this day of the launch of the SACR, the AFNQL reminds that intolerance is still very present towards First Nations in Quebec. Systemic racism is well and truly embedded in various public services and two recent media incidents in Joliette have once again highlighted it in the health system.
With the objective of eliminating discrimination and racism, the AFNQL also implemented an action plan last fall. The Chiefs want to call upon Quebecers to build and renew their mutual relationship in a spirit of openness and respect towards each other. “The AFNQL is counting on a better understanding between Quebec and the First Nations, with the aim of eliminating the prejudices and mistrust that have existed for too long in our common history,” says Ghislain Picard, Chief of the AFNQL.
Progress is promising, but there is still a lot of work to be done to achieve equal rights for all in Quebec. The current pandemic has exacerbated inequalities in many ways and unfortunately, the race, color, and origin remain a determining factor. The Action Week Against Racism is therefore a privileged moment to reflect on a better way of living together, free of racism and respectful of differences. As a society, we must develop inclusive measures to promote a rapprochement between all people, regardless of their origin. The fight against racism concerns everyone!
The AFNQL’s Action Plan is available on our website www.apnql.com
March 17, 2021 – Winnipeg, Manitoba – Department of Justice Canada
Access to justice is a fundamental Canadian value and is key to a fair and just society, and all Canadians must have the confidence that the justice system is there to protect and not harm them. Supporting Indigenous youth is important to meeting those goals as well as ending systemic racism and inequities throughout Canada’s justice system.
Today, the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, joined by Member of Parliament for Winnipeg North, Kevin Lamoureux, announced the Government of Canada’s support to New Directions for Children, Youth, Adults and Families Inc. for their project: The Empower Project (T.E.P.). This program, which enhances one established in 2015, supports especially vulnerable Indigenous young women who are justice-involved and diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
T.E.P. will provide intensive and individualized support for these young women and girls in order to increase their chance of successful rehabilitation. Programming will include culturally informed substance abuse counselling, family and mental health support, as well as skill-building, pro-social and recreational activities. The Department of Justice is providing approximately $587,000 over four years, from 2020 to 2023, to this project through the Youth Justice Fund.
Community freezers in each of the five Labrador Inuit communities, as well as in Upper Lake Melville, will soon have a supply of caribou and muskox meat to distribute to Beneficiaries of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement.
Through an arrangement with Kivalliq Arctic Foods in Ranklin Inlet, Nunavut, the Nunatsiavut Government managed to secure about 4,000 kilograms of caribou and 3,000 kilograms of muskox. The shipment arrived in Happy Valley-Goose Bay late Tuesday evening via a Canadian North chartered aircraft from Rankin Inlet.
“With the ban in place on harvesting George River caribou, we began exploring opportunities to secure meat for Labrador Inuit from other herds throughout the country,” notes Lands and Natural Resource Minister Greg Flowers. “Earlier this year we were successful in our efforts, and in the coming days and weeks many of our people will enjoy a meal of caribou for the first time in years. While Muskox is not one of our traditional country foods, it is extremely healthy to eat and I am sure it will be very much appreciated by Beneficiaries.”
Blaze Head, a high school student and member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN), organized a virtual family ice fishing derby on Saskatchewan River from Umpherville to BigEddy.
OCN Community members can fish on their own time between March 15–21 and send in a recorded video for the chance to win over $3,000 in prizes in categories like biggest fish, ugliest fish and keeping the tradition alive (teaching your child how to fillet a fish)! And there’s already an early contender for most fish caught.
“Day one went great,” said Blaze. “Someone went crazy and caught 22 fish!”
He planned the event as part of Project Learning Tree Canada’s (PLT Canada) Green Leaders program. Blaze also partnered with the Opaskwayak Health Authority’s Mino-Pimatisewin Program, OCN CFS Family Enhancement, Jr O&O, OCN Recreation and OCN Youth Centers to put on the COVID-safe event.
“My project’s goal is to teach the young or other older community members how to fish,” said Blaze. “I hope to better engage the community with the rich land resources around here.”
The high school student also participated in the Outland Youth Employment Program (OYEP) this past summer, where he got hands-on forestry experience with tasks like tree planting and brush cutting. OYEP is a PLT Canada Green Jobs employer—PLT Canada offers a 50 per cent wage match to hire youth aged 15–30 in the forest, conservation or parks sectors.
“I applied for my Green Job because I really like the outdoors and doing good deeds for the environment,” said Blaze. “My favourite part was meeting lifetime friends and all the knowledge and experience I gained.”
About PLT Canada’s Green Leaders Program
PLT Canada believes in a society that values and benefits from sustainably managed forests and the great outdoors. In January, the organization launched the Green Leaders Program, which involves mentorship, skill development, and community action. The green leaders, aged 18-25, plan and implement a community-based project which could be an event, campaign or another initiative of their choice! Participants receive up to $1,500 from PLT Canada to deliver their project along with training and development workshops to help support their success. During the four-month program, the green leaders are also matched with mentors from the forest and conservation sector to help them complete their project and plan their green career pathway.
As mountain glaciers melt, water is channeled into rivers downstream. But with climate change accelerating the loss of glaciers, rivers have warmer water temperatures and are less prone to variable water flow and sediment movement. These conditions are then much more favorable for fungi to establish and grow.
Fungi living in these rivers decompose organic matter such as plant leaves and wood, eventually leading to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The process – a key part of global river carbon cycling – was measured in 57 glacial rivers in six mountain ranges across the world, in Austria, Ecuador, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United States.
The findings, funded mainly by the Natural Environment Research Council, were published in the journal Nature Climate Change this week.
“This study demonstrates a new link between glacier loss and climate change, namely that as glaciers shrink and contribute less to streamflow the rate of carbon cycling in rivers will increase and release more carbon (as CO2) to the atmosphere. Moreover, the patterns we detected were coherent across glacial rivers on four continents showing that this is a global phenomenon,” said Hood. Hood contributed research from Southeast Alaska watersheds, supported by funding from the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center.
“This is an unexpected form of climate feedback, whereby warming drives glacier loss, which in turn rapidly recycles carbon in rivers before it is returned to the atmosphere, “ said lead author Sarah Fell, of Leeds’ School of Geography and water@leeds.
The retreat of mountain glaciers is accelerating at an unprecedented rate in many parts of the world, with climate change predicted to drive continued ice loss throughout the 21st century.
However, the response of river ecosystem processes (such as nutrient and carbon cycling) to decreasing glacier cover, and the role of fungal biodiversity in driving these, remains poorly understood.
The research team used artists’ canvas fabric to mimic plant materials such as leaves and grass that accumulate naturally in rivers. This was possible because the canvas is made from cotton, predominantly composed of a compound called cellulose – the world’s most abundant organic polymer which is found in plant leaves that accumulate in rivers naturally.
The canvas strips were left in the rivers for approximately one month, then retrieved and tested to determine how easily they could be ripped. The strips ripped more easily as aquatic fungi colonized them, showing that decomposition of the carbon molecules proceeded more quickly in rivers that were warmer because they had less water flowing from glaciers.
As algal and plant growth in glacier-fed rivers is minimized by low water temperature, unstable channels, and high levels of fine sediment, plant matter breakdown can be an important fuel source to these aquatic ecosystems. In some parts of the world, such as Alaska and New Zealand, glacier-fed rivers also extend into forests that provide greater amounts of leaf litter to river food chains.
The study’s co-author, Professor Lee Brown, also of Leeds’ School of Geography and water@leeds, explained: “Our finding of similar patterns of cellulose breakdown at sites all around the world is really exciting because it suggests that there might be a universal rule for how these river ecosystems will develop as mountains continue to lose ice. If so, we will be in much-improved position to make forecasts about how river ecosystems will change in future.”
Learn more about Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center research at acrc.alaska.edu.
Mendenhall Glacier 1 – Credit to the Molly Tankersley/Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center
Bemidji, M.N. (February 15th, 2021) – Deb Haaland leading the Department of Interior is a historic and necessary step to healing the tribal relationships with the United States. Being the first Indigenous person to head the Department of Interior, and second in a Cabinet position, we know that Haaland will help the administration find its path in confronting climate change, addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in Indian Country, ensuring an effective economic just recovery plan for Native nations and Indigenous communities, overseeing the protection of public lands, and fulfilling treaty and statutory obligations to the first peoples of Turtle Island.
We look forward to working with Secretary Haaland and supporting her as an Indigenous woman working to protect the sacredness of Mother Earth. Together we will continue to educate and empower Indigenous Peoples to address and develop strategies for the protection of our environment, our health, and all life forms on this planet.
Canoes are one of the oldest and still most widely used global Indigenous technologies. Their functionality and cultural significance allow them to be vessels for transportation, a positive foundation for building relationships, and a teaching and learning space. Canoes are also a strong cultural symbol with ties to Traditional Ecological Knowledge and environmental stewardship.
“This exhibit is a representation of the ongoing relationship building and knowledge exchange between three Indigenous communities around Mnisota Makoce,” said Jacob Bernier, a Red River Métis descendant who grew up in St. Paul, a graduate student in Heritage Studies and Public History (HSPH) in the College of Design and is one of the exhibit’s two Indigenous student curators. “These are canoe communities. The focus on revitalizing canoe traditions and the continuance of these ways of knowing is important to future generations. These traditional ways were interrupted, and nearly lost, due to multiple assaults of colonization. As Mat Pendleton from the Lower Sioux Indian community says, the rivers were highways and byways for Indigenous people. Revitalizing these practices is central to identity.”
Bernier worked with other University students and faculty after being inspired by undergraduate coursework in American Indian Studies with U of M Professor Vicente Diaz and student group Canoe Rising.
“Why Canoes: Capacious Vessels and Indigenous Futures of Minnesota’s Peoples and Places” opened at Northrop’s fourth-floor gallery exploring the interconnectedness between the Native Canoe Program, University of Minnesota students, faculty, staff, and members of three Indigenous communities around Mni Sota Makoce (Minnesota). The exhibit consists of interviews, images, physical objects, and interactive components for the public.
“This exhibit is an exploration and celebration of relationships between the Dakota, Ojibwe and Micronesian communities that have come together and found a common passion for sharing water traditions,” said Vicente M. Diaz, a professor in American Indian Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and director of The Native Canoe Program. “This exhibit also helps broaden the understanding of the waters that surround us through the resurgence and revitalization of canoe communities. We are grateful for their knowledge and partnership.”
“Celebrating our Indigenous culture through this exhibit at Northrop is an important way to recognize the rich impact native cultures have on our everyday lives,” said Tadd Johnson, University’s senior director of American Tribal Nations Relations.
March 15, 2021—Yukon, Canada: The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (“FNNND”) today filed a petition for judicial review in the Supreme Court of Yukon to quash and set aside Yukon Government’s decision to proceed with a mining project in a pristine, highly sensitive part of its traditional territory.
On February 19, 2021, Yukon Government issued an authorization for Metallic Minerals Corporation’s advanced mineral exploration activities in the Tsé Tagé (Beaver River) watershed. The Tsé Tagé watershed is an area of significant ecological and harvesting importance to FNNND and is integral to its citizens’ culture and way of life.
“We object to the Yukon Government’s authorization of a project in a highly sensitive part of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun traditional territory without consulting us,” said FNNND Chief Simon Mervyn. “A land use planning process is currently underway for the Tsé Tagé watershed, and this disrespectful decision by the Yukon Government undermines that plan before it can even be completed and before we’ve even seen a draft plan. We had hoped—and expected—that the treaty promises made to us would be lived up to and we will not stand silently by as they continue to trample on our values, our land and our rights. We have been waiting for more than 25 years for land use planning and real joint decision making. We won’t wait any longer.”
FNNND repeatedly objected to the project being authorized and repeatedly asked Yukon Government to consult directly with its citizens in order to hear and understand their concerns. Yukon Government officials refused to consult with the FNNND community, stating that consultation was “not feasible.”
“Yukon Government’s decision to authorize this mining project—without hearing from our elders, our youth, and our community who cherish this land and are now further dispossessed from it—is a flagrant violation of our rights. Yukon Government did not even do us the courtesy of listening to our people, especially the elders who know this land best. To have our requests for community consultation denied in this day and age was truly disheartening,” said Chief Mervyn. The Chief explained, “the decision to file the lawsuit was discussed at length at a citizenship meeting held on Saturday February 27th, based on our participatory model of governance, and there was not one dissenting voice among all those in attendance. Every citizen present supported taking legal action against the Yukon Government and this wrongful decision. Historically and culturally, we have always attempted to negotiate and compromise. Negotiations are over.”
ITK president Natan Obed to sit on six-member advisory group
Natan Obed, the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, will play a big part in deciding who will become Canada’s next Governor General. That’s because he’ll sit on a six-member advisory group that will draw up a short-list of names for submission to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Dominic Leblanc, the federal intergovernmental affairs minister, announced the formation of the group in a news release Friday. Obed, originally from Nain, Nunatsiavut, is the only Indigenous person to be chosen for the advisory group.
He’s served as ITK president since 2015 and is now mid-way through his second term, having been re-elected in 2018. Prior to 2015, Obed worked for 10 years as director of social and cultural development at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.’s Iqaluit office.
The previous Governor General, Julie Payette, quit the position Jan. 21, following a report that alleged she and her administrative head, Assunta Di Lorenzo, had presided over a toxic work environment.
Leblanc will co-chair the advisory group with Janice Charette, who holds the top position in the federal civil service: interim clerk of the privy council.
The other members of the group are: • Daniel Jutras, rector of Université de Montréal. • Judith LaRocque, chair of the board of trustees of the Canadian Museum of Nature and former secretary to the Governor General. • Suromitra Sanatani, interim chair of Canada Post’s board, and a current and former member of multiple corporate boards.
Friday’s announcement suggests Leblanc doesn’t want the group to waste any time getting down to work.“Recognizing the unique nature of the situation and understanding that the position of Governor General needs to be filled on an expedited basis, the members of the advisory group have agreed to work quickly,” Leblanc stated in the news release. The Governor General is the representative of Canada’s head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, and performs the Queen’s duties in Canada, such as giving royal assent to bills passed by Parliament. Since Payette’s departure, Richard Wagner, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, has been performing the Governor General’s duties on an interim basis.
Natan Obed, the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, at a 2018 gathering inside Ottawa’s Wabano Centre. He’s been chosen to sit on an advisory group that’s been asked to draw up a short-list of Governor General candidates for submission to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (Photo by Jim Bell)
