Retired captain: How Northern Gateway may ‘consult’ and ‘accommodate’ Aboriginal interests

An interesting theory has been floated in the Vancouver Sun by “an 87-year-old retired West Coast sea captain” about the Northern Gateway pipelines. In his editorial “Harper gov’t playing ‘shell game’ on pipeline,” Capt. Edward Wray alleges that “the [federal government’s] and Enbridge’s so-called plan” for the ultimate route relies on a diversionary strategy: get people […]

IndigenEtsy: A curated list of handmade native goodness

It calls itself “the world’s handmade marketplace.” And if you’re the crafty, self-starting entrepreneur type, you likely already know its name — Etsy. Started up seven years ago as a site for “very-very small businesses,” Etsy has become massive in its own right: 15+ million members, 875,000+ active shops, and 13+ million listed items. So […]

Tracking the Cross-Canada Cuts to Aboriginal Affairs

Media reports indicate that hundreds of employees with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (née Indian Affairs) have recently received letters telling them that their jobs could be “affected” as part of a larger wave of federal budget cuts seeking to eliminate just over 19,000 public sector jobs by 2015. Based on “figures released by […]