Mi'kmaq Matters

One year old and looking to the future, the new community band continues to advocate for an aging community with dwindling services and nurture Mi'kmaq culture—all while looking for a relationship with Qalipu. This week, we speak with Chief Peggy White. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In 2018, Murray Duffy was charged with taking too many fish in the recreational cod fishery. This April, nearly three years later, he will be back in court to continue his fight to establish that Mi'kmaq in Newfoundland, like our people in Nova Scotia, have a Treaty right to fish. Despite promising in the last election campaign to fight for fishing rights for Qalipu members, Chief Brendan Mitchell now says there's nothing he can do to help. Duffy will have to face the judge alone. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Two members have already bowed out of the Qalipu Chief and Council race, and at least two more are also expected to do so. The future of Brendan Mitchell is up in the air, but if he runs again for chief he'll face his cousin, Geoff Sparkes. This week, Sparkes explains how he wants to change Qalipu. Plus, we hear from Jeff Young about why he's running for Port au Port ward councillor. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A warning to our listeners: this episode features conversations about anti-Indigenous racism, violence, and death. Please listen with care. More than six months after Chantel Moore was killed by an Edmunston, New Brunswick, police officer, her family remains in the dark about the progress of the investigation into her death. We speak with Lorraine Whitman, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada, who wonders if the grieving family would have been treated differently if Chantel was not an Indigenous woman. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Elaine Ingram remembers being shunned as a child for being Mi'kmaq. Now, she's chief of the Burgeo First Nation, which provides food, culture, and belonging to everyone in the town—whether they're Mi'kmaq or not. This week, we speak with Ingram about her experiences growing up in Burgeo, her initial hesitation about becoming chief, and what's next for the band. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

While Mi'kmaq chiefs like Misel Joe and Terry Paul defend sea-based aquaculture, First Nations in BC have been waging a years-long struggle to shut it down. Just before the holidays, they scored a major victory: a phaseout of aquaculture operations near the Discovery Islands between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland. This week, we speak with Bob Chamberlin, one of the leaders of the successful First Nations effort. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we speak with Rhonda Sheppard, newly elected Chief of the St. Georges Indian Band, about the important role bands like hers play in connecting status and non-status Mi'kmaq with our culture. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Highlights from the Mi'kmaq Matters online public meeting on the proposed Valentine Lake gold mine, featuring Muchie Bennett, Brian McLaren, Richard Huang, Jim Kuipers and Simone Cominelli. You can watch the full meeting at facebook.com/mikmaqmatters. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Millions of dollars flow into rural Newfoundland communities each year from the outfitting industry, which draws hunters and anglers to the area from across the United States and around the world. One of the biggest draws is the world's only non-resident hunt for woodland caribou. Now, many outfitters—and the revenue they bring into the province—are threatened by the proposed Valentine Lake gold mine. This week, we speak with Cory Foster, executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Outfitters Association.You can view a recording of our December 14 virtual public meeting about the impacts of the Valentine Lake gold mine on our Facebook page. Visit https://www.facebook.com/mikmaqmatters See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Join us on Monday, December 14, for a public discussion about the potential environmental impact of the Valentine Lake gold mine, moderated by Glenn Wheeler—host of the Mi'kmaq Matters podcast and radio program.The virtual public meeting begins at 7 p.m. NST (6:30 p.m. AST/5:30 p.m. ET) with an opening prayer from Muchie (Kenneth) Bennett, keeper of traditional Mi'kmaq knowledge, followed by a panel discussion with Brian McLaren, Lakehead University professor and caribou expert; Richard Huang, Trent University graduate student; Jim Kuipers, mining engineer; Suzanne Dooley, Conservation Director of Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS NL); and Simone Cominelli, Memorial University graduate student.A 30 minute Q&A session will follow, when attendees can submit questions for the panelists.Register in advance for the virtual meeting here:https://us02web.zoom.us/.../reg.../WN_PdRPEPMKTYG-pz8BcrlujwAfter registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Mining engineer Jim Kuipers, who has studied resource developments across the continent on behalf of Indigenous peoples, says the area in Central so-called "Newfoundland" is at the height of land and near multiple bodies of water, making an operation that will use cyanide in its processes more risky. Plus: details on the Mi'kmaq Matters virtual community circle on the proposed mine, happening on December 14 at 7 p.m. NST (6:30 p.m. AST/5:30 p.m. ET). This is the opportunity to hear from mining experts, and to ask questions about the environmental impacts of the proposed Valentine Lake mine. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Marathon Gold Corporation has released its environmental impact statement on the controversial Valentine Lake mega-mine. Marathon acknowledges there will be "significant" negative effects on the Buchans Plateau caribou herd—already at historic low numbers—and it is not known if mitigation measures will work. The release of the Marathon impact statement begins the period for public comments, which can be sent to iaac.valetine.aeic@canada.ca. Here at Mi'kmaq Matters, we're using public participation funds from the Impact Assessment Agency to review the Marathon submissions on caribou. This week, we speak with our lead researcher, Dr. Brian McLaren, a caribou expert and professor at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The purchase of Clearwater by Mi'kmaq is the perfect antidote for those images of harassment by non-Indigenous fishers. But what does the mega deal mean for sustainability and internal equity among Mi'kmaw communities? This week, we speak with professor Tony Charles of St. Mary's University. Plus a preview of the next Qalipu meeting and the enrolment protest that will greet chief and council. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Let down by RCMP and government, the Sipekne'katik First Nation band has launched a flurry of lawsuits challenging provincial fish buyer regulators and targeting perpetrators of harassment and violence against Moderate Livelihood fishers. This week, we speak with Ron Pink—the lawyer leading the legal fight. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With less than a year until the next election for Qalipu Chief and Council, we survey the field for those who may run—and for those who definitely will not. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) were quick to seize Moderate Livelihood, but the DFO looked the other way for years while corporate seafood giant Clearwater ignored key fisheries regulation. This week, we speak with Shannon Arnold of the Ecology Action Centre about the events leading up to the exposé of Clearwater's "gross violation." See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Labelled "Waspu" after the Mi'kmaq word for seal, Qalipu will soon launch its own brand of seal oil capsules says John Davis of Qalipu Development Corporation. Plus: are the feds really getting it on Moderate Livelihood? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jaimie Lickers has been front and centre in the legal struggle on behalf of Qalipu applicants, but now she's leaving law for the corporate world. We sit down with her to talk about the wins, the losses and the future of the Abbott appeal. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Traditional leader Gary Mettalic Sr. of Listuguj First Nation calls for Mi'kmaq to assert Aboriginal title for the rest of Mi'kma'ki not included in Elsipogtog claim. And we hear from lawyer David Rosenfeld on who's in and out of Qalipu enrolment class action case. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, host Glenn Wheeler and producer Allison Baker discuss the $11,500 in funding Mi'kmaq Matters has received from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada that will enable an independent review of the Valentine Lake project with the assistance of a caribou expert and researcher. And later, we check in with Cory Francis, the Mi'kmaw Conservation Group Commercial Fisheries Liaison Coordinator, about Mi'kmaw moderate livelihood fishery. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.