Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt has waded into the controversy engulfing the Southern Chiefs Organization which has been hit with allegations its grand chief used the Manitoba organization`s funds at a casino while his chief of staff faces a sexual harassment complaint filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
A Cree community lumped in and registered under a reserve hundreds of kilometres away took another step Sunday in its fight to create a stand-alone First Nation.
First Nation claims seeking redress from Ottawa over treaty-related wrongs face months-long delays over “insignificant issues,” according an anonymous letter to Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt penned by bureaucrats working in the departmental branch that handles the files.
A human rights case against the federal government is still unfolding in Ottawa.
The Harper government is expected to release a draft of the First Nation Education Act in October before tabling a final version of the proposed legislation before the end of the year, according to the regional chief in charge of the education file for the Assembly of First Nations.
A former advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper is scheduled to face trial on a charge of influence peddling next May.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo says he’s “deeply concerned” that the Harper government has rejected the UN Human Rights Council’s call for Canada to develop a national action plan to end violence against Indigenous women.
The Assembly of First Nations is seeking $400,000 from Ottawa to fund a chiefs’ committee on treaties despite demands from prairie chiefs that the organization relinquish the file.
James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples will now visit Canada from Oct. 7 to 15.
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