This week’s edition includes the AFN Special Chiefs Assembly, major court decisions, wildlife protection, placename reclamation and more.
IN THE NEWS
National news featured the Canada-Alberta pipeline MOU, concerns over major projects, and repatriation
Assembly of First Nations calls for withdrawal of Canada-Alberta pipeline deal | CBC News
Carney vows to meet Coastal First Nations after chiefs vote against pipeline to BC | Canada's National Observer*
Chief says feds’ engagement with First Nations ‘needs to improve,’ after ‘very limited’ contact on major projects | The Hill Times*
Dozens of Indigenous artifacts return to Canada from Vatican | Global News
Nova Scotia news included criticism of a new policing directive and wildlife protection
Mi'kmaq chiefs, former attorney general disappointed with N.S. cannabis directive | Athabasca, Barrhead & Westlock News
First Nations wonder if Canada's decision on eels is best for future of species | CBC News
Environmental protection, clean water legislation, and emergency management were top stories in Ontario
First Nation spearheads legal personhood recognition of Rice Lake | Anishinabek News
A call for land protection amidst Ontario’s Ring of Fire talk | The Narwhal
Neskantaga losing patience as FN clean water law is delayed again | APTN News
Northern Ontario Chiefs call for immediate federal action amid clean-water crisis | CBC News
In Manitoba, moose hunting and treaty rights topped the news
Misipawistik Cree Nation urges Manitoba to cancel December moose licences as season opens | CBC News
Placename reclamation was the top story in the Northwest Territories
Akaitcho First Nations to form working group to decide new name for Great Slave Lake | CBC News
In Alberta, water protection, and the Canada-Alberta pipeline memorandum were front and center
First Nations Call for Solidarity on Water Protection in Alberta | Cision
Treaty 8 Chiefs reject pipeline MOU | EverythingGP
Opposition to a major project was a top story in the Yukon
First Nation in Yukon pushes back after development corporation says no First Nations oppose grid-tie project | APTN News
Mining, a proposed pipeline, and a lawsuit were the top headlines in BC
First Nations blast B.C. for ‘hurrying’ Similkameen mine | Williams Lake Tribune
Natural resources minister takes heat from B.C. chiefs over potential West Coast pipeline | CBC News
Alaskan tribes sue B.C. gov't over mines in far northwest | CBC News
*Denotes an article that is paywalled and may require a subscription to access.
FROM THE COURTS
The Alberta Court of King’s Bench ruled that a proposal to hold a referendum vote on Alberta’s separation from Canada is unconstitutional. First Peoples Law was honoured to represent Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta in their intervention on this critical issue.
Chief Electoral Officer of Alberta v Sylvestre, 2025 ABKB 722
Judge says proposed referendum on Alberta independence would be unconstitutional | CBC News
The BC Court of Appeal weighed in on UNDRIP and BC’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
Gitxaala v. British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner), 2025 BCCA 430
B.C. court rules First Nations must be consulted on mineral claims | Vancouver Sun
FPL IN THE NEWS
Check out these articles featuring comments from First Peoples Law’s Bruce McIvor on the Cowichan Tribes decision and the duty to consult.
Will First Nations seek Aboriginal title to more private lands in BC? | Vancouver Sun
Duty to Consult | Calgary Eyeopener | CBC Listen
FPL AT THE AFN SPECIAL CHIEFS ASSEMBLY
Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth to say hi at the AFN Special Chiefs Assembly in Ottawa. It was a great week and we're looking forward to seeing you in the summer.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
First Nations across this country are stronger than we have ever been. Our ancestors have fought on this land to protect our rights, as peoples and as nations. When Parliament and our provincial legislatures have dishonoured the Crown, we have fought in the colonial courts and we’ve won, over and over again.
- National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, Assembly of First Nations
OFF THE SHELF
Shed the words dreary and dismal from your vocabulary. Invent new words for the way light shimmers on fresh snow. How do you say snow sifts through spruce branches, in your mother’s tongue? Cerne zăpada. In winter, we reclaim lost languages.
Adriana Oniță, “Landing in Edmonton, December” (2020)
