Sipekne’katik First Nation bans Houston, cabinet ministers in scathing rebuke
CBC
Sipekne’katik First Nation is once again chastising the Houston government and says that the premier and two of his cabinet ministers are not welcome on reserve lands.
In a news release Tuesday, Chief Michelle Glasgow said she and band council for the Mi’kmaw community have adopted a resolution that Premier Tim Houston, Justice Minister Scott Armstrong and L’nu Affairs Minister Leah Martin are banned “as undesirables” from band property.
“Premier Houston has lost all credibility as the province’s elected Premier; he continues to be ill-advised on anything related to L’nu Affairs and continues to violate constitutionally protected Mi’kmaw rights,” Glasgow said in the release. "They don’t have our best interest at heart."
Breaking the ban could result in a $50,000 fine, the statement says.
“This banning is not only for our protection, but for theirs,” Glasgow added.
The premier's office said in a brief statement to CBC News that "Government takes safety threats on the Premier and Ministers very seriously."
Glasgow said that Houston has not visited the First Nation in central Nova Scotia or developed relationships with Sipekne’katik’s elected leaders since he came into office in 2021.
“He has continued to radicalize colonial practices to suppress our community and fellow Mi’kmaw by forming Laws that direct harm against us,” she said.
Houston should be "deeply ashamed" of appointing Armstrong and Martin, she added, saying Armstrong is not following "the highest law of Canada, the Constitution," and Martin — who is Mi’kmaw — is “a disrespectful person who has no right to speak on our behalf.”
Sipekne’katik has previously called for Martin’s resignation.
The statement does not point to any specific actions taken by the Houston government, and no one from Sipekne’katik immediately responded to an interview request.
It comes less than a week after Armstrong directed police agencies to crack down on illegal cannabis dispensaries, which Mi’kmaw chiefs decried as a targeted attack. Glasgow has said she was "appalled" by the directive.
The rebuke from Sipekne’katik is another blow to an already fractured relationship between Houston and First Nations.
Mi’kmaw chiefs and grassroots people have called out the Houston government repeatedly this year for failing to consult as it pushes for more natural resources development, and for passing legislation that was perceived to target Mi'kmaw land protectors.
Premier Scott Moe called on NDP Leader Carla Beck to fire newly-appointed campaign manager Jeremy Nolais after he sent what Moe called a "dangerous" fundraising email to NDP members over the weekend.
Five months ago, Dr. Anne Herdman Royal began a new job in Canada. Driven out of the United States by a shifting political landscape and a mass shooting at the hospital where she worked in Tulsa, Okla., it had become a country she no longer wanted to call home.
Alberta's government — along with the Rural Municipalities of Alberta, and the province’s energy regulator — say they want to crack down on oil and gas companies that don’t pay their property taxes.
Ottawa will now allow rural businesses to employ more temporary foreign workers to help supplement the local workforce, a move Restaurants Canada says will help some restaurants on P.E.I. keep their doors open.
The City of Calgary is reminding people to save water after a recent spike in usage.
The number of visitors to food banks in Mississauga has nearly doubled since the height of the pandemic, says the city's largest food security organization.
After three weeks on the road in Yellowknife doing Inuvialuktun translation for the Northwest Territories legislative assembly, Lillian Elias says she's tired and ready to go home to Inuvik.
Metrolinx is reporting "significant" delays to several GO train lines late Monday afternoon due to a police investigation.
The federal government is spending $14.3 million to support over two dozen Yukon organizations and First Nations governments with arts, culture and language programming.
The war in the Middle East, the fear that it could escalate and the economic consequences were top of mind as Prime Minister Mark Carney met his British counterpart Monday in the United Kingdom at the tail of a whirlwind trip to Europe.
Alberta and Czechia will host the fourth edition of the World Cup of Hockey, a country-versus-country hockey tournament set to hit the ice in February 2028, the NHL announced Monday.
The Ontario government has confirmed it is cutting provincial funding for seven supervised drug consumption sites, days after harm reduction advocates said they were notified of the decision.
In the sprawling labyrinth of shops and showrooms in the Chinese city of Yiwu, parts of what’s widely known as the "world’s supermarket" are beginning to look more like a world-class warehouse.