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1. Squaring the Circle: Adopting UNDRIP in Canada

   The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) was approved by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007. Its most controversial feature is a call for “free, prior, and informed consent” (FPIC) by Indigenous peoples before ...

2. Government spending will not increase the wealth of First Nations

   Appeared in the Globe and Mail, February 20, 2019 Adam Smith wrote in his 1776 book, The Wealth of Nations, that the "propensity to truck, barter and exchange one thing for another is common to all men.” And indeed, this must be extended to today’s ...

3. Wealth of First Nations (2019)

   A higher standard of living for First Nations is a priority for Canadian policy makers. To achieve that goal, it is important to know what works and what doesn't. The Wealth of First Nations provides empirical evidence, based on the achievements of ...

4. First Nations will receive billions in payouts and settlements from Ottawa

   Appeared in the Globe and Mail, November 6, 2018 During the 2015 federal election campaign, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau proposed a “Reconciliation Framework” to deal with Indigenous issues. After becoming prime minister, he reemphasized that “no ...

5. Métis self-government in Canada is a non-starter

   Appeared in the Globe and Mail, September 12, 2017 The Liberal electoral strategy in the 2015 campaign included striking promises to attract the aboriginal vote. Thus Justin Trudeau pledged to negotiate self-government and land-claims with the “Métis ...

6. The Debate about Métis Aboriginal Rights—Demography, Geography, and History

   In the 2015 federal election campaign, the Liberal Party promised to engage in “nation to nation” negotiations with the “Métis Nation” to establish Métis self-government and to settle unresolved land claims. Discussions are now under way with the ...

7. Why First Nations succeed in Canada

   Appeared in the Globe and Mail, November 2, 2016 Although the living standard of most First Nations still lags behind the Canadian average, many are finding ways to improve conditions for their members. We can measure communities’ standard of living by ...

8. Why First Nations Succeed

   The status of Canada’s First Nations is widely debated, but the debate is often based on abstract visions rather than actual evidence. Against the backdrop of the world-wide research findings on governance and economic progress, this paper marshals the ...

9. First Nations’ right to be consulted not a right to veto energy projects

   Appeared in the Globe and Mail, September 30, 2016 A new opponent of pipelines has announced its existence—the Treaty Alliance against Tar Sands Expansion. It consists of more than 50 Canadian First Nations, mostly from Quebec and British Columbia, plus a ...

10. Why the Isaac report on Métis goes in the wrong direction

    Appeared in the Globe and Mail, August 8, 2016 “ Le mot français est dérivé du participle latin, Mixtus, qui signifie Mêlé ….”  Louis Riel The federal government has restricted First Nations’ freedom of movement, sent their children to residential schools ...