Feds say they’re listening to northerners as they review food subsidies, oil and gas exploration rules, Arctic policy
Despite Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett saying more than a year ago that it was “urgent” that the federal government overhaul the Nutrition North Canada food subsidy program, the government is still looking at a final report reviewing the program and developing options to transform it. “We are currently reviewing the final […]
We’re moving forward on northern development
I believe three coordinating pieces are necessary for northern development to better proceed: governance evolution, social investment, and economic development. Reviewing the actions our government has taken so far during our mandate, I am pleased to see forward and positive movement on all of these fronts. In the governance arena, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and […]
Establish northern university, feds hear, as Arctic policy framework talks wrap
It’s early days yet for the government’s Arctic policy framework, but the idea of an Arctic university has already emerged as a popular frontrunner to increase northern economic development and share Canadian expertise in the region with the rest of the world. Canada is the only Arctic nation without a university physically in the North, […]
Territorial Development
Infrastructure, tourism, arts key to Yukon’s success
There are many challenges for governments to provide quality of life for northern and Arctic people on par with that of southern Canada. There are great expanses of cold or frozen landscapes, there’s a small tax base to fund infrastructure, freezing and thawing permafrost that undermines buildings and highways, and a great distance from supplies and […]
Philpott’s $9-billion Indigenous Services budget triple Bennett’s in new departments’ inaugural year
Half a year after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau officially split Indigenous Affairs into two departments with “distinct, but complementary objectives,” their first departmental plans show new Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott’s budget is triple that of her Indigenous-focused counterpart Carolyn Bennett (Toronto-St. Paul’s, Ont.), and more than double what she oversaw as health minister. The […]
AFN national chief wants Indigenous languages bill tabled this fall
Assembly of First Nations national chief Perry Bellegarde says the Liberals should table legislation protecting and promoting Indigenous languages by this fall or risk not fulfilling a key promise that he considers to be a cornerstone of Canada’s reconciliation efforts. “That’s our hope and our wish,” Mr. Bellegarde told The Hill Times, following an April […]
What’s needed to close the Indigenous health-care gap
My perspectives herein apply primarily to First Nations, where I have spent the majority of my years as a dental and health-care provider, before being appointed to the Senate. As the history of access to health care is markedly different for the Métis and the Inuit, it would be unrepresentative to place all three Indigenous […]
Infrastructure improvements could increase annual GDP of northern territories by $4.7-billion: report
Upgrading trade-enabling infrastructure in Canada’s northern territories could add billions each year to the national economy, says a new report from the University of Calgary. Goods and services in the North are costlier than elsewhere in Canada, largely owing to logistical and geographic barriers limiting access to communities in the south. In the report “Gains from Trade for Canada’s […]
Infrastructure
