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On June 21, 2021, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) received Royal Assent and immediately came into force. In doing so, Canada took a substantive step towards ensuring federal laws reflect the standards set out in DRIPA. There are many questions about DRIPA, so we answer the most common ones in this article.

Education is considered a human right in Canada. Yet, while Canada has one of the world's highest levels of educational attainment, the graduation rate for Indigenous students remains far lower than that of non-Indigenous students. How is that possible? The answer lies in the history of Canada.

In 2015, we published an article outlining the eight key issues of primary concern for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Since then, the article has been viewed over 620,000 times, making it the most-viewed article of the hundreds on our Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples® blog. Due to the continuing high interest, we decided to take a deeper look at each of the eight issues.

Eight of the key issues of most significant concern for Indigenous Peoples in Canada are complex and inexorably intertwined - so much so that government, researchers, policymakers and Indigenous leaders seem hamstrung by the enormity. It is hard to isolate one issue as being the worst. The roots of these issues lie in the Indian Act and colonialism.

Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its report and 94 Calls to Action, we have seen significant progress for Canada and Canadians on the path to reconciliation. The signs are all around and we are hopeful we are indeed moving the needle on reconciliation.

The Wetʼsuwetʼen protests in 2019 and 2020 were widely reported on and sparked public interest around one of many misconceptions of Hereditary Chiefs and Elected Chiefs, and what differences they have in an Indigenous community. When the elected chiefs voted TransCanada, now known as TC Energy, to allow Coastal GasLink to begin construction through their territory, the resulting reactions from the traditional hereditary chiefs, an Indigenous governance that pre-dates colonialism pushed back the project, causing costly delays for the company.

It begs the question, how can a nation have both? What happens in these instances, where they may disagree?

Here are seven First Nation facts plus one fun fact to add to your storehouse of knowledge.

1) Number of Nations

There are over 634 recognized First Nations governments or bands, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The total population with First Nation identity is more than 850,000 [1]

Recent events in Canada have shown that resource development projects can face extensive resistance with the affected Indigenous communities if consultation efforts are not meaningful, comprehensive, address the concerns of Indigenous Peoples and not just the legal requirements. With all of the court cases on the books defining title and the duty to consult, all the examples of how not to conduct engagement, and all the examples of how to effectively and successfully engage with a community, it is surprising that at this point in our history that we are still climbing the learning curve.

The world is a challenging and rapidly changing place right now and all indications suggest that it will remain as such for quite some time. Government leaders are adapting policies and creating new ones to address the impacts imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations, corporations, and small and large businesses have all been thrown the same curveball and adapting where possible to continue serving their clients and customers. It’s as though we are all “boom cats” running on logs trying to avoid slipping under.

As providers of a suite of Indigenous relations training, we are frequently asked if we offer “blanket exercises.” The short answer is “no, we don’t.”

The longer answer is we don’t provide blanket exercises because the courses we develop and deliver provide the knowledge, skills, and attitude or competency-based training that changes attitudes and behaviours and equips non-Indigenous Canadians to have respectful relationships with Indigenous Peoples.