Shut out of COP30, Indigenous climate leaders create new independent advisory council
At the recent summit in Brazil, Indigenous leaders launch global council to centre Indigenous solutions and knowledge in addressing the crisis
By: Brandi Morin
The latest Conference of the Parties global gathering to negotiate and assess progress on the climate crisis wrapped up in Brazil last week. Dubbed “the Indigenous COP” due to its proximity to many Indigenous nations and the Amazon, the summit saw record participation with more than 3,000 Indigenous representatives in attendance. However, similar to previous COPs, Indigenous Peoples were largely excluded from official negotiating rooms.
Only 14 per cent of Indigenous delegates had credentials to access the “Blue Zone” where formal discussions took place.
Protests erupted throughout the two-week summit, with demonstrators blocking entrances and breaking through barriers to amplify their voices, but many Indigenous participants left feeling it was business as usual.
Ontario First Nation prepared to block highway to stop mining near drinking water source
In a community grieving five recent deaths after a decade of government inaction, elders signal they’re done being ignored as development plans advance without consent
By: Jon Thompson
A northwestern Ontario First Nation that’s struggling through a decade-long social crisis has directed its leaders to blockade the highway if the province grants mineral extraction permits near its water source.
Onigaming First Nation Chief Jeff Copenace says elders have instructed him to notify a partnership between First Mining Gold and New Gold that they do not consent to ore extraction or its transportation through the territory. Under pressure to respond to demands to meet by November 21, and facing three funerals over the past two weeks, Copenace issued Ontario’s Ministry of Mines the following statement:
“If this permit is approved without our consultation and without our free, prior, informed consent, our Elders in Onigaming have asked Onigaming leadership to consider a Blockade of Highway 71 and/or to consider all other legal actions such as an injunction to stop this permit from proceeding. I am copying the National Chief Cindy Woodhouse, Regional Chief Abram Benedict and Ogichidaa Francis Kavanaugh to help join our blockade if we proceed. We need your help.”
As the deadline passed on Friday, Copenace said he’s been attending to the community impact of five deaths among Onigaming members this month. They’re the latest in a social state of emergency first declared in 2014, including mental health issues, addiction, and suicide.
In the home of the caribou, the looming shadow of an open-pit mine threatens the Kaska way of life
On the shores of Frances Lake, Yukon First Nations fight to defend their land, language, and water as a new mining project threatens the Finlayson herd and a fragile cultural resurgence
By: Sidney Coles
In the Yukon, Kaska Dena communities are bracing for big changes.
A new mining project is stoking fears that its approved location in caribou calving grounds will adversely impact the Finlayson herd, which has been a keystone source of their sustenance for thousands of years. The animal is listed as a ‘species of special concern’ in Canada’s Species at Risk Act.
“This land here, it’s our breadbasket and it’s always been full for us, always provided for us, and now we’re threatened with that mine. If the caribou disappear, I don’t know what we’ll do. We’ll have nothing. That’s our whole livelihood. Kaska Dena, they really rely on caribou for their food,” said Ann Maje Raider, executive director of the Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society.
Kudz Ze Kayah means ‘caribou country’ in the Dena language — the mine represents the latest threat to a traditional way of life that territorial and federal government policies have worked to erode for 75 years.
Last night, Ricochet Media, in collaboration with CanCulture and Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Journalism, celebrated the official launch for our newest podcast, There is a List.
The night’s disucssion was led by an all-star panel of experts including Zahra Khozema, producer of There is a List, Samira Mohyeddin from ON THE LINE MEDIA, Dr Yipeng Ge, primary care physician and public health practitioner, who volunteered as a medic in Gaza in 2024, and Yara Shoufani, the president of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME).
The discussion, moderated by Associate Professor Sonya Fatah, tackled the surveillance and suppression of pro-Palestinian voices in the mainstream discourse.
In the finale of There Is a List, we explore what it means to flip the lens on surveillance. After months of investigating blacklists that target pro-Palestine voices, we meet the activists behind Reverse Canary Mission, a grassroots initiative documenting Zionist supporters, and examine the ethics of “the anti-list.”
Missed an episode? All episodes of There is a List are now available wherever you listen to podcasts.
THIS WEEK: Yousra Elbagir on In Bed with the Elephant
Yousra Elbagir has not stopped telling the stories of Sudan and the Sudanese people.
Host Adrian Harewood sits down with celebrated journalist Yousra Elbagir on her frontline reporting across Africa, her unique access and deep connection to Sudan.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Ottawa won’t back down on Ring of Fire environmental assessment
Doug Ford wants to fast-track critical mineral development, but First Nations say both governments are stripping away environmental safeguards and treaty rights
By: Jon Thompson
Canada will continue its environmental assessment process in the proposed Ring of Fire mining development, despite Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s request for the federal government to stand down over what he perceives as policy duplication.
When Ontario unveiled its “One Project, One Process” policy in October, Ford publicly called for Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney to stand aside on environmental assessment in Canada’s largest-ever mining area, which would grant the province the sole authority to define and approve environmental conditions.
“We have to move, and move quick. Let’s get the federal government out of the way. The prime minister assured me that it’s going to be ‘one project, one process’ and we can move forward on that,” Ford said.
“I trust the prime minister. When he gives me his word, he keeps his word.”