This week’s edition includes mining, consultation, environmental rights, fisheries and more.
IN THE NEWS
Land protection, policing, and mining made headlines in British Columbia
The Great Bear Rainforest is protected, but still being polluted | The Narwhal
What Happened to BC’s Plans for Police Reform? | The Tyee
B.C.'s new mineral claims rules criticized by those most affected | CBC News
Energy partnerships were front and center in the Yukon
Meaningful partnerships needed in mining, Yukon First Nations leaders say at 2025 AME Roundup | CBC News
Renewable energy was the top story in the Northwest Territories
Délı̨nę government exploring hydro potential on Great Bear River in N.W.T. | CBC News
In Alberta, consultation and water rights made headlines
‘Mr. Wonderful’s’ Alberta AI Plans Face Indigenous Opposition | The Tyee
Indigenous leaders say lack of oversight on tailings spills a danger to water rights | CBC News
Litigation topped the news in Manitoba
Canada’s AG asks Winnipeg court to dismiss Dakota injunction | Brandon Sun
Ontario news included mining assessments, justice for survivors, Treaty rights and nuclear waste
Terms set for Ring of Fire impact assessment | CBC News
Canada seeks to dismiss St. Anne's residential school survivors' fight for accountability | CBC News
Feds sign deal with First Nations for Ontario's Ring of Fire mining-related assessments | Penticton Herald
Northern Ontario First Nations claim billions over Robinson Treaties | Sault Star
Eagle Lake says community will be impacted by underground nuclear waste repository | APTN News
In Quebec, a court decision was the top story
Hydro-Québec fined $5M for acting in institutional bad faith toward Innu community | CBC News
Fisheries were front and center on the east coast
Federal government pitches $260M plan to increase First Nation fishing access | CBC News
Mi'kmaq chiefs in Nova Scotia reject latest federal offer for a livelihood fishery
FROM THE COURTS
The Court of King’s Bench of Alberta weighed in on a class action proceeding
Youngchief v The Attorney General of Canada, 2025 ABKB 35
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
(Those proposals) failed to respect and uphold our inherent rights...Our treaty right to fish is not a commercial fishery.
- Chief Wilbert Marshall, Potlotek First Nation
OFF THE BOOKSHELF
There is such a powerful eloquence in silence. True genius is knowing when to say nothing, to allow the experience, the moment itself, to carry the message, to say what needs to be said. Words are less important, less effective than feeling. When you can sit in perfect silence with someone, you truly know how to communicate.
- Richard Wagamese, Embers: One Ojibway's Meditations (2016)
HOT OFF THE PRESS
In case you missed it, check out Kate Gunn’s latest “In Brief” post about a recent New Brunswick court decision regarding the relationship between Aboriginal title and privately held lands: In Brief: Wolastoqey Nations v. New Brunswick and Canada.
UPCOMING EVENT
FPL's Bruce McIvor will be speaking on advancing Indigenous laws through UNDRIP at the AFN's National Forum on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Feb 4-5 in Vancouver.
Learn more and register @ Assembly of First Nations (AFN) – National Forum on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDA) - Assembly of First Nations