ARTICLES BY Alex Roslin

Chiefs agree on boycott

First Nations should have no special recognition in the law and no more rights than municipalities in an independent Quebec. So said a Quebec businessman at one of the “people’s commission” hearings into sovereignty organized by the Quebec government in February. “If we give $400 million to one Native group, the ... read more ››

L’Actualite Factuality?

Crazy goings on at L’Actualite, Quebec’s largest newsmagazine. In a cover story entitled, “Le séparatiste du Nord,” journalist Michel Vastel pretends to explore the “psyche and thoughts” of Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come. “Coon Come dreams of creating a big Cree nation, from Chibougamau to theRockies. Prophet or pawn of Ottawa?” it says ... read more ››

Canada bonds with Iraq

Canada is cozying up to the world’s most notorious human-rights abusers as a way of fighting a declaration on Native rights now being debated at the United Nations, says the Grand Council of the Crees. Canada is leading the charge against the declaration by saying it will give indigenous peoples too ... read more ››

Solidarity alliance elects Horn

Congratulations to Kahn-Tineta Horn on her recent election as president of the Canadian Alliance in Solidarity with Native People. The organization, setup in I960 and originally called the Indian-Eskimo Association, has 3,000 members across Canada. At its latest annual meeting, CASP members voted to support the rights of First Nations in ... read more ››

Inuit dying younger than 20 years ago, says new study

Disturbing figures compiled now for the first time show that Inuit of northern Quebec have a shorter life expectancy today than they did 20 years ago, due partly to a high number of suicides among the young people. If you’re an Inuk in northern Quebec aged 15 to 19, you’re 25 ... read more ››

Teachers in court over racism charges

A Chibougamau court room was the scene of 10 hours of legal conflict in January involving accusations of racism and sexism against two white teachers at Mistissini’s Voyageur Memorial School. Teachers Robert Briand and Michel Tremblay were accused of discrimination by another white teacher, Charles Bourassa, after a heated union meeting ... read more ››

Will Chapais dump on Ojay?

Chapais is on a quest for garbage. If the town of Chapais has its way, garbage from as far away as Montreal will soon be winding up in a new dump that town officials want to build just outside Ouje-Bougoumou. Chapais has yet to meet with Crees to discuss the dump, ... read more ››

Trappers may have to pay tax

The Grand Council is calling it “a travesty,” but it looks like Ottawa’s new income tax on Natives could hit Cree employees of the Cree Trappers’ Association office in Val d’Or. And there’s an outside chance it may even be applied to trappers themselves. Under the new tax rules, Ottawa is ... read more ››

Youth need jobs, training or they’ll head south: Paul Gull

Young Crees could start heading south if they can’t find work and training opportunities in their communities, says Paul Gull, chair of the Cree School Board. “If we don’t do anything about it now, there’s a possibility of a brain-drain in the Cree communities,” said Gull. “The young people will ... read more ››

A dash of malaise with your referendum, sir?

Unions and progressive groups in Quebec have been big boosters of sovereignty for a decade, and in this referendum campaign they’re getting right behind the Parti Quebecois’s referendum push. The Federation des travailleurs du Quebec, the province’s largest union with 450,000 members, just announced it’s holding a giant rally at Montreal’s ... read more ››

Waswanipi says yes to sawmill, inquiry

Chief John Kitchen’s sawmill plan got another boost at Waswanipi’s general assembly in early January. Residents voted 46-19 in favour of going ahead with the $5.2-million project. Six people abstained. Chief Kitchen has touted the sawmill as a way out of Waswanipi’s unemployment difficulties. By the year 2000, the sawmill is expected ... read more ››

Talks “going well” on Senneterre traplines

Rev. Billy Ottereyes has been trapping on the same trapline 70 miles east of Senneterre for 35 years. It spans 10 miles by 15 along the CN railroad track to Quebec City. The Coopers have been trapping nearby since the turn of the century. But that’s not how the Algonquins of Lac ... read more ››

Ojay wins world-wide praise for innovation

Ouje-Bougoumou is a leading contender to win a prestigious United Nations award for excellence in urban design. As part of the UN’s 50th birthday celebration, 50 communities from across the world are being chosen that best exemplify the values of the UN. Ouje-Bougoumou was nominated under two categories—sustainable development and human ... read more ››

Sit-in, blockades, court cases greet new tax

A new tax on Natives that took effect Jan. 1 has First Nations groups across the country up in arms. A group of 27 mostly Native protesters has occupied part of a Revenue Canada building in downtown Toronto for a month against the new income tax. Natives in communities across the ... read more ››

Great Whale panel dismissed

Disturbing news on the Great Whale front. In a little-noticed move in mid-December, the Quebec government fired the Great Whale project’s “Bureau de soutien,” a body of eight scientific experts whose job was to advise five federal and provincial committees studying Great Whale. These experts were well-versed in all aspects of ... read more ››

Crees not consulted in social reform

The Liberal government’s reform of Canada’s social safety net could hit Crees hard, says the Grand Council. “The Cree economy is very dependent on the programs they’re talking about,” said Brian Craik, the Grand Council’s federal relations director. “Federal and provincial subsidies make up the vast majority of what Crees earn.” The ... read more ››

Cuts may cause unrest, kill 1,800 jobs

If the federal government goes through with a proposal to cut off all funds to Native friendship centres, the result will be massive social upheaval and 1,800 lost jobs, warns a leaked government document. But that�s just what Ottawa is thinking about doing as it looks for ways to cut the ... read more ››

Ojay Gets Jacked In

The wait is over for the people of Ouje-iBougoumou. They’re finally going to get hooked up with a half-decent phone system. After months of wrangling between Ouje-Bougoumou, Quebec and the Telebec phone company, work has just started on the phone system. “There’s a definite sense of relief. There are safety issues ... read more ››

Boost food subsidy, Ottawa told

The Inuit of Nunavik are paying so much for food that households run out of food two to four times a month, says Makivik Corp. Makivik called on the federal government to increase its northern food subsidies, instead of making more cutbacks as planned. The call came at House of Commons ... read more ››

Youth seek inquiry into clear-cutting

The youth of Waswanipi are calling fora public inquiry to allow the community to discuss clear-cutting. The call comes in a letter from Waswanipi youth councillor Sam Gull sent to Chief John Kitchen and the Band Council. “Our land is being raped without our knowledge and consent” Gull told The Nation. Gull ... read more ››

Inuit have mixed reactions to great Whale delay

The Inuit have mixed reactions to the postponement of Great Whale, says Makivik Corp. “It’s not black and white,” said Makivik spokesman Stephen Hendrie. “There were many people who had the same reaction as the people in Whapmagoostui—joyful disbelief because it meant the river which is so beloved was saved.” But ... read more ››

Crees jubilant over Great Whale victory – HQ caught pants down…

November 18 was a day of jubilation in James Bay as the news spread that Premier Jacques Parizeau had indefinitely postponed the Great Whale River Project. Some couldn’t believe their ears. One Whapmagoostui Cree who fought the project for the band stood holding the phone for two minutes in silence when ... read more ››

Hydro study deeply flawed, say panels

Hydro-Quebec has wasted $256 million on studies of the Great Whale project that don’t meet environmental standards. Four federal and provincial committees studying the project said on Nov. 18 that Hydro’s studies—conducted over a period of 11 years—fail to answer key questions about the mega-project and have “major inadequacies.” Just hours after ... read more ››

Friendship centres could lose 75% of funds

Canada is planning to cut up to 75 per cent of its funding to Native friendship centres across the country. There has even been talk of cutting all funding to the 99 friendship centres in Canada. News of the cutbacks left staff at Montreal’s Native Friendship Centre stunned when they first heard ... read more ››

Friendship centre seeks help

The Native Friendship Centre of Montreal is desperate to find a bigger building and needs your help. “We need help, we need donations, people to sit on our committees, we need contacts,” says Linda Arkwright, who works at the centre. The centre held a cocktail and brainstorming session in late November to ... read more ››

The world according to Henri L. Comte

A leading media analyst spells out a macabre vision for the future of Quebec and the Crees “The future is north… We don’t know what’s up there, nickel, maybe diamonds. It has to be explored.” HE’LL NEVER forget the date. October 21, 1991. That was the day that changed Henri L. Comte’s life. That day, ... read more ››