This intensifying conflict can only be resolved by reversing course, calling off the injunction and police, and committing to fully fund the landfill searches as an initial step towards justice for the families of MMIWG2S. Failing to do this will mean that any ensuing impasse falls at the feet of Mayor Gillingham, Premier Stefanson, and Prime Minister Trudeau.

We hope the AFN will reflect on why it struggled so significantly, both within the organization and on the public stage, with its first female national chief. We want a politics informed by our Indigenous histories and traditions, but above all, we want a politics for future generations—which is what Indigenous politics have traditionally focused on.

On May 23, 2023 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police celebrated its 150th anniversary and kicked off a series of #RCMP150 initiatives. To counter the uncritical mythologizing of the Mounties we are seeing—from the prime minister to the RCMP itself—the National RCMP Research Council has created a new website to share truths about the force.

In this moment of global upheaval, and even as we acknowledge how much the political climate has been changed by anti-colonial and anti-racist movements, what would those who are bearing the brunt of our age’s most brutalizing forms of dispossession, disenfranchisement, wars, violence and ongoing genocides have to say of what we do in these institutions today?

When John Horgan announced that would be joining the board of a coal company, it was inevitable that some critical voices would be raised. Writing in the Prince George Citizen, John Steidle, was particularly sharp in his response, in which he made the observation that “If you actually worked for the people, I can guarantee you the corporate sector wouldn’t want to touch you with a ten foot pole.”

The Royal Society of Canada has historically been the national emblem of that impervious white wall of denial and racism. Yet, it has changed—it has brought in critical minds and challenging voices. Tanzanian-Canadian feminist sociologist, academic, and activist Dr. Sunera Thobani takes her place there now, recognized as one of the finest scholarly minds in the country.

If Canada wants to build a truly sustainable economy, the federal and provincial governments must implement meaningful consultation measures, respect constitutional treaty rights, and ensure that companies comply with their environmental commitments. Without these changes, any Canadian move toward “sustainability” will occur at the level of branding, not action.

Canada’s embassy in Peru will no doubt continue to promote more Canadian mining investment in the country. But it should be made clear: when Canada chooses to promote mining in Peru, it is doing so knowing the reality of what these activities mean for people who are facing ongoing threats, intimidation, and state-sponsored violence.

A coordinated movement between Indigenous peoples, settler environmentalists, organized labour, and many others is the precise opposite of an apocalyptic scenario. We think it’s the one thing that could bring us back from our current slide into climate collapse, colonial genocide, and extreme inequality, and towards a better world where we live in balance with land and life.

First Nations seem unusually well placed to challenge an exclusionary politics that withholds scientific power from the majority of those affected by it. The successes of these First Nations could lead to greater changes. Perhaps this is why the faux-partisan pundit classes seem so bent on distracting us with their interminable squabbling over how to divide the cake amongst themselves.