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Recently, we have been thinking about how to thank donors for their continued support and belief in Ricochet’s mission. We think a good place to start is to shout out new donors or those who increase their monthly donations here, in our weekly newsletter!
So, this week we are delighted to thank Rebecca, Angela, Tanya, Christine and Beverley for becoming Ricochet supporters.
Thank you.
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Empty chairs at the table: Carney and G7 leaders ignore rising Indigenous resistance, as premiers fast track energy projects
In three provinces, First Nations are mobilizing to fight legislation that fast-tracks resource extraction, steamrolling over Indigenous treaty rights
By: Brandi Morin
As global leaders descend upon Canada for the G7 summit from June 15 to 17 in Kananaskis, Alberta, they will arrive to find a country in the midst of an Indigenous resistance uprising, which their meetings will no doubt entirely ignore. While they gather to discuss global trade, security, and energy, they will literally be sitting on Indigenous territories — yet not a single Indigenous voice will have a seat at their table.
The very ground beneath their feet belongs to peoples whose rights are under unprecedented assault across this nation, yet their perspectives on the future of this land and planet will be absent from every conversation, every decision, every handshake and photo opportunity.
Meanwhile, as these world leaders prepare to meet, Canada is literally burning around them. More than 200 active wildfires are raging across the country — half of them completely out of control — with thick smoke choking the same province where G7 leaders will convene. The irony is suffocating, in more ways than one.
Indigenous communities are bearing the heaviest burden of this climate catastrophe. More than 30,000 Indigenous people have been forced from their homes in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta alone — and fire season has only just begun. Thousands of our people are displaced across this burning country, evacuated from territories that have sustained them for millennia, while G7 leaders discuss global stability from their air-conditioned conference rooms.
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Mining camps ‘like a frat house’: The silencing of Native women in mining boomtowns
In Arizona, where the Apache Stronghold is fighting to save Oak Flat, ‘green’ mining supporters don’t want to hear about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
By: Odette Auger
As Lian BigHorse helps her daughter prepare for her coming of age ceremony, she quietly tells the tragic story of Emily Pike, a teenage girl from her community who went missing, and was later found murdered, earlier this year.
“We’re talking about how to start educating our community locally on what’s happening, and the impacts of losing even one person,” said BigHorse, the daughter of Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr., an Elder who has been working for decades to protect Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, a sacred site in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest.
BigHorse explains how extractive resources correlate directly with increased sexual violence, exacerbating the crisis of MMIWG+. “People don’t know – because it’s so under-reported, and rarely are perpetrators brought to justice,” she said.
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As Canada’s politicians try to push through regressive legislation that will devastate the Indigenous communities’ way of life and the environment, rely on Ricochet Media to provide fact-based reporting and cutting-edge analysis on the stories you need to know.
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On the latest episode of In Bed with the Elephant — discussing Indigenous futures.
This week acclaimed Anishinaabe journalist and academic Niigaan Sinclair sits down with Adrian to talk about the possibilities for healthier and more productive relations between Indigenous people and Canadians. It’s an especially critical conversation in the wake of this week’s G7 summit, where Indigenous leaders were noticeably absent from the meeting.
In his 2024 Governor General Award-winning book of non-fiction Winipek: Visions of Canada from An Indigenous Centre. Niigaan imagines a new politics in this country, and proposes a collective understanding of Indigenous histories and philosophies, as well as a return to Indigenous practices in order to inform our collective way forward.
Niigaan is a professor at the University of Manitoba and he is also an award-winning columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press.
Listen wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Ten years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Canada is moving backwards
As resource-extraction bills are forced through without First Nations’ consent, what happened to the ‘national reckoning’ with the country’s colonial legacy?
By: Brandi Morin
Ten years ago this month, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its final reports and 94 Calls to Action, marking what many hoped would be a turning point in the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. As we observe Indigenous Peoples Month in June 2025, we are compelled to ask: where do we stand on the path toward reconciliation?
The statistics tell a sobering story. Of the 94 Calls to Action, only 15 have been completed — a completion rate of just 16 per cent. While this may seem discouraging, it reflects the complex, generational nature of the work ahead. The TRC commissioners knew that meaningful reconciliation would require not just policy changes, but fundamental shifts in how Canada understands itself and treats Indigenous peoples.
During Indigenous Peoples Month, we see the same old song and dance — politicians making statements, corporations slapping land acknowledgments on their emails, and social media flooded with orange hearts. But behind all this performative bullshit lies a reality that Indigenous communities live with every single day.
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In Montreal, transit underfunding and privatization pushes workers to strike, impacting millions of users
Both sides of the negotiating table blame Quebec for its refusal to adequately fund the essential service
By: Miriam Lafontaine
Montreal is deep into a public transit strike. For days, except for during peak hours, the entrances to metro stations were locked, and no buses have stopped to pick up passengers.
Both the union and employer are placing the blame on the Quebec government for triggering the conflict, saying years of underfunding has pushed the aging network to the brink.
Workers on the picket line say the transit authority is increasingly choosing to subcontract work off to lower paid, non-unionized workers.
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