Who is the Government of Canada listening to?

A slew of new legislation that undermines both Indigenous rights and environmental protection in Canada points to the fact that the petroleum and pipeline industries have the power to change the Government of Canada’s legislative agenda, and overrule the Governments constitutional obligations to consult with Aboriginal peoples when their rights are at stake.

The Idle No More grassroots movement has brought much needed attention to these changes (in particular Bill C-45), emphasizing that they pose significant concerns in the areas of Indigenous rights and environmental protection.

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Nation to Nation Bike Tour

When: July 27 – August 25
Who: Tour Members Ranging in Age from 18 - 30ish
Where: South-Eastern Ontario

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KAIROS has teamed with the Otesha Project - a youth-led charitable organization that seeks to empower youth to be part of positive social change through cycling tours - to host the Nation to Nation bicycle tour.

The tour will explore the interactions of our ancestors and how our past is intertwined with our future. Where have we come from? How does our shared history impact where we are today? What are our dreams for generations yet to come? These are just some of the questions we will explore during our bike tour.

Click here to learn more about the Nation to Nation Tour

The Campaign to Erode Aboriginal and Treaty Rights

"For almost 15 years, the federal Department of Justice has conducted a campaign to erode the constitutional and legal status of Aboriginal and Treaty rights in Canada." So begins a statement signed by over 50 lawyers and academics and almost 2 dozen human rights, First Nations and faith based organisations.

The document, released on January 29, traces the process of the erosion of Aboriginal and Treaty Rights through the court system, culminating in the 'Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act'. This new proposed law "explicitly states that Aboriginal and Treaty rights deemed to be in conflict with the law's stated objective will not be respected. In a cynical legal twist Aboriginal peoples, desperate for safe water, will be forced to agree to the new regime in order to be eligible for federal funding for improved water services.


As the article states, Parliament must not surrender its responsibility to respect and protect Aboriginal and Treaty rights to Department of Justice officials.

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'The Campaign to Erode Aboriginal and Treaty Rights '

Congolese massacre victims denied justice in Anvil Mining lawsuit

On November 1, a group of Congolese citizens who had launched a class action lawsuit in a Quebec court against Anvil Mining Ltd., were turned down by the Supreme Court of Canada in their appeal of a lower court ruling disallowing their case on the grounds that it was outside Canada's jurisdiction. Their suit alleges that the company was complicit in widespread atrocities committed during an October 2004 raid by the Congolese military, and its defeat has widespread implications for other international victims of human rights abuses connected to Canadian companies abroad.

Countering this defeat was the tabling of private member's bill C-323 in October 2011. This bill would grant foreign plaintiffs, seeking redress for human rights violations,standing in the Federal Court of Canada.

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'Congolese massacre victims denied justice in Anvil Mining lawsuit'

Colombia can now buy prohibited automatic firearms from Canada

On December 12, the Government of Canada eased its ban on the sale of automatic weapons (banned in Canada) to Colombia, a country that has suffered decades of violent conflict and serious human rights violations.

The brief on this situation includes links to a CBC report, a joint submission by Amnesty International and Project Ploughshares, and a London Free Press article.

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Colombia can now buy prohibited automatic firearms from Canada'.

22nd Annual Women's March for missing and murdered Indigenous women

Their Spirit Lives Within Us

On February 14, KAIROS will join Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups from across Canada in remembering and honouring our missing and murdered sisters in Canada and to demand justice. According to research by the Native Women’s Association of Canada under the Sisters in Spirit initiative, over 600 Indigenous women have been murdered or have gone missing, most over the last 20 years. Many of these crimes and disappearances remain unsolved.

The Idle No More movement has been much in the news, and it has sparked both hopeful reflection and hostile responses. We invite you into some personal or group reflection through two different voices:

One is from Chief Shining Turtle of Whitefish River First Nation. In this open letter he offers non-Indigenous Canadians his perspective on Idle No More, using a gentle, challenging invitation to include all people in the conversation about treaties and our common future.

The other is from Sr. Sue Wilson, the vice-chair of the KAIROS Board and a Sister of St Joseph. She reflects on Idle No More from an ethical and spiritual point of view, and closes with some questions for personal reflection.

"If we do not walk through the door that this crisis has opened, there is certainly no viable or moral way forward for Canada. We will all be diminished."
- Anglican Church of Canada.

An Open Letter to my Non-Aboriginal Neighbours
Chief Shining Turtle, Whitefish River First Nation

"These 'Idle No More' drums are not just for us: they beat for you... We are all diminished, we are all poorer, when the sacred promises made in the treaties are broken... Our drums also beat for you, not just ourselves, because the legislation we are protesting does not just harm us - it hurts you and your children and your grandchildren... The 'Omnibus' budget bills passed by the government, and which we are protesting, change over 100 Canadian laws in ways which will irreparably harm the water, the fish, our fellow creatures, and the earth that we all rely on for life."

Idle No More: A Moment of Possibility
by Sue Wilson, CSJ, from the Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada

"Idle No More can take us even further if we will let it: Is it not challenging us to learn to live, choose and act from an awareness of our connection to the whole? Is it not stretching us to create structures that enable all of us to flourish, Indigenous peoples and settlers, land and water, trees and animals?

The issues that are being raised are calling us to trust the depth of our interrelatedness. Indeed, such issues can draw us into the spiritual depths of communion if we will open ourselves to be changed by the voices we hear. An ethic of communion implores us to engage the issues of our day in a way that acknowledges ourselves as part of the problem and part of the solution."