1915 replies to this topic

[dasmo]

There may be evidence of Chinese exploration in eastern Canada that predates the Vikings. Who knows if there were settlements and eventual migration. Science and archaeology can be extremely slow at accepting alternate theories as possible, let alone as valid and leading.

Spanish too. Russians were north. Not sure how friendly they were.

[Benezet]

There may be evidence of Chinese exploration in eastern Canada that predates the Vikings. Who knows if there were settlements and eventual migration. Science and archaeology can be extremely slow at accepting alternate theories as possible, let alone as valid and leading.

If you’re referring to the site in Cape Breton, consider this::

“Baechler has an explanation for every feature on the mountain that Chiasson maintains is Chinese. “The courtyards are actually areas that were cleared off for the test drills,” she says. “The remains of the wall are most likely related to a 1952 fire road.” Pictures she took in 1989 show that the road up the mountain was clearly built that year. A team of archaeologists led by David Christianson of the Nova Scotia Museum has also been to the top of Kelly’s Moun-tain. They confirm that all the man-made features there are of twentieth-century origin.“

https://thewalrus.ca...-field-notes-3/

[Mike K.]

Ah, interesting. Thank you.

[LJ]

A couple of videos pertaining to the US experience with slavery and indigenous populations...

 

https://youtu.be/gXc...9SVRgW-mm5h5ijR

 

 

https://youtu.be/GwE...aDsI3c54RNPRpPm

[Victoria Watcher]

British Columbia Premier David Eby said his government plans to offer private owners of land in the Cowichan Aboriginal title area more than $150 million in loan guarantees, amid fears about the impact of the landmark ruling on their financing.

 

He said the fund could include $100 million in guaranteed financing for Montrose Properties, the biggest private owner in the Aboriginal title area, and a further $54 million for smaller owners.

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...owners-1294595/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 December 2025 - 03:05 AM.

[LJ]

Just. change the law already, sheesh.

[Victoria Watcher]

The Christmas season comes with extra pressures for parents already trying to navigate the ever-increasing cost of putting food on the table and paying monthly bills.

Melanie Hudson, executive director of the Vancouver Island Métis Family and Community Services Society, said the holidays are often a difficult time for the hundreds of families and youth who rely on the organization for cultural and practical supports.

“Many of the Métis people we serve are vulnerable and are an at-risk population for homelessness, poverty and food insecurity,” said Hudson.

She said many are on income assistance and must budget their funds over a longer period during the Christmas season due to the payment schedule.

Hudson said a $17,000 grant from the Times Colonist Christmas Fund allows the society to purchase food and age-appropriate gifts they hand out to families with the greatest need.


https://www.timescol...udgets-11621876




Why would so many Metis be on social assistance?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 December 2025 - 01:12 PM.

[Blair M.]

Why would so many Metis be on social assistance?

Cultural imprinting and social conditioning - you are invariably a product of what you were raised to believe.

 

Because as much as it seems a brutal response (especially at this time of year) to your question, there's no preordained reason for a person of Metis heritage living in Victoria to have any more, or any less financial wherewithal than you or I. 

[Victoria Watcher]

Huu-ay-aht First Nations, B.C. sign agreement to keep children connected to families

https://cheknews.ca/...milies-1295177/

[Victoria Watcher]

The Snuneymuxw First Nation has acquired its fifth B.C. casino, with an agreement by its economic development wing — Petroglyph Development Group — to purchase the Great Canadian Casino Vancouver in Coquitlam.

 

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Chief Mike Wyse, Xum’silum, said the acquisition will strengthen the nation’s financial independence.

 

“This latest agreement reinforces the strategy we’re executing and the proven results we’ve achieved across our gaming portfolio,” Wyse said. “The confidence placed in us by Great Canadian Entertainment and the industry is grounded in our disciplined approach to sustainable growth.”

 

https://www.timescol...casino-11649849

[Mike K.]

Peguis First Nation is suing former chief Glenn Hudson over allegations he failed to act in the best interest of the band and financially benefitted from breaches of duty — including claims that he enriched himself, his family and supporters.

In a 29-page statement of claim filed Friday with Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench, the First Nation alleges Hudson “engaged in corrupt practices,” made unauthorized transfers of funds, awarded contracts to companies he benefitted from, treated the First Nation’s assets “as if they were his own” and engaged in “risky financing and real estate transactions” during his 14 years as the chief as well as a shareholder and director of several Peguis corporations.

…

According to the claim, Hudson directed, influenced or caused the band to approve the use of $22 million in treaty land entitlement funds in 2013 to invest in property at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg without disclosing he was a director of a company that was paid $935,000 “for purportedly arranging financing” for the purchase.

The claim also states Hudson did not act in the band’s best interest when Peguis First Nation’s real estate trust used $10 million of treaty land entitlement funds in 2021 to purchase the Meadows Golf Course in East St. Paul, placed band adviser Andrew Marquess “in total control of the development” and then sold most of the land to Marquess in 2024.

- https://www.cbc.ca/n...udson-9.7026057

[Tony]

• City of Surrey, BC - Internal Employee Fraud A former finance clerk at the City of Surrey has been charged with fraud, theft, forgery, and breach of trust for allegedly defrauding the city of over $2.5 million between 2017 and 2024. The employee allegedly manipulated a payment system for dormant development-deposit accounts, altering payee details to funnel money to herself, her mother, and her cake business. The city has a civil lawsuit against her to recover the funds, and the criminal case is ongoing.

[Victoria Watcher]

 

• City of Surrey, BC - Internal Employee Fraud A former finance clerk at the City of Surrey has been charged with fraud, theft, forgery, and breach of trust for allegedly defrauding the city of over $2.5 million between 2017 and 2024. The employee allegedly manipulated a payment system for dormant development-deposit accounts, altering payee details to funnel money to herself, her mother, and her cake business. The city has a civil lawsuit against her to recover the funds, and the criminal case is ongoing.

 

 

See the difference though?

 

The Surrey employee has been charged with a criminal offence.

 

FN chief has a civil matter in his case.

 

Even though his case is substantially more money:

 

Peguis First Nation sues former chief, alleging 'kickbacks,' diversion of funds and other ‘corrupt practices’

 

Suit claims Glenn Hudson led band to award $20M in contracts to company he co-founded, gave members cash gifts

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 December 2025 - 07:12 PM.

[Tony]

 he was a director of a company that was paid $935,000 “for purportedly arranging financing” for the purchase.

[dasmo]

This chief is lucky. In the olden days the clan mother would send "The man without mercy" and the chief would get a cut down the side of his face and be sent off on a canoe. If he was lucky another tribe might pick him up as a slave. Or maybe that would be unlucky. 

[Victoria Watcher]

Editorial: Canadians deserve better in 2026

At all levels, we desperately need stability, with balanced budgets and governments we can afford.

 

 

 

Decisions are too often based on ­ideology rather than financial common sense. For example, government contracts are still restricted to select unionized companies. Common sense would tell you that if you limit the number of options, prices go up.

 

The provincial government has effectively promised that Indigenous groups will have veto power over much of B.C. That means every major proposal, and even minor ones, could be delayed or denied under a mountain of red tape.

 

British Columbia will become a no-go zone for investment. Court decisions based on NDP legislation, most notably the Cowichan Tribes ruling in Richmond, have added a layer of fear about private property rights.

 

This is a crisis, one that demands ­immediate attention. We’re not seeing that from Eby’s government, but it is hardly open and transparent about what it’s up to.

 

We need business activity to pay for the governments we elect, yet those ­governments discourage business.

 

 

https://www.timescol...n-2026-11688683

[Mike K.]

I see the waterfront lands impacting by the Cowichan Tribes decision have been assessed down by 29% to 33%.

Other parcels have been affected in varying ways, but the most drastic fall is along the river.

Here is an example: https://www.bcassess...DAwMDFRTEQ5Rg==

[Victoria Watcher]

Bruce Pardy: Virtue-signalling devotion to reconciliation will not end well

 

Like the proverb says, make yourself into a doormat and someone will walk all over you

https://nationalpost...ll-not-end-well

[Victoria Watcher]

Bruce Pardy: Virtue-signalling devotion to reconciliation will not end well

 

Like the proverb says, make yourself into a doormat and someone will walk all over you

https://nationalpost...ll-not-end-well

 

 

 

If you thought things couldn’t get worse, you thought wrong. On Dec. 5, the B.C. Court of Appeal delivered a different kind of upheaval. Gitxaala and Ehattesaht First Nations claimed that B.C.’s mining regime was unlawful because it allowed miners to register claims on Crown land without consulting with them. In a 2-to-1 split decision, the court agreed. The mining permitting regime is inconsistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP). And B.C. legislation, the court said, has made UNDRIP the law of B.C.

 

UNDRIP is a declaration of the United Nations General Assembly. It consists of pages and pages of Indigenous rights and entitlements. If UNDRIP is the law in B.C., then Indigenous peoples are entitled to everything — and to have other people pay for it. If you suspect that is an exaggeration, take a spin through UNDRIP for yourself.

 

[...]

 

Meanwhile, on yet another track, Aboriginal rights are expanding under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. On the same day as the B.C. Court of Appeal decision on UNDRIP, the Federal Court released two judgments. The federal government has an actionable duty to Aboriginal groups to provide housing and drinking water, the court declared. Taxpayer funded, of course.

 

Article content

One week later, at the other end of the country, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal weighed in. In a claim made by Wolastoqey First Nation for the western half of the province, the court said that Aboriginal title should not displace fee simple title of private owners. Yet it confirmed that a successful claim would require compensation in lieu of land. Private property owners or taxpayers, take your pick.

[Victoria Watcher]

Time for everyone to move forward

Re: “Acknowledge the truth about our colonization,” letter, Dec. 30.

 

The writer is the one living in la-la land with this guilt-ridden revisionism.

 

UNDRIP has gone way too far, ­turning every acknowledgment plaque into a weapon that fuels civil unrest instead of unity.

 

Colonization brought modern ­infrastructure, health care, education and economic opportunities that have lifted First Nations communities out of ­subsistence living, even if imperfectly.

 

The improper obsession with ­“uninvited guests” and endless ­grievance narratives ignores these benefits and sows division rather than fostering shared progress.

 

Time to move forward together, not dwell in the past.

 

 

Lawrence Lambert

Cobble Hill

 

https://www.timescol...gement-11692356

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re running against reconciliation ideals

Re: “No one likes being told what to think,” commentary, Dec. 31.

 

Firstly, enforcing orthodox thinking turns society into a collective of liars as they repeat the statements without believing in them. This occurred during the days of the Soviet Union, when the Communist ideology and rule were imposed across Eastern Europe.

 

Dissident and later Czechoslovak president Václav Havel wrote about this phenomenon in his book, The Power of the Powerless, and his story of the greengrocer. I doubt his book is on the B.C. high school curriculum.

 

Secondly, the repetition of Indigenous land acknowledgements not only enables the first point, but it runs counter to the principles of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRC) by way of enabling Victor’s Justice.

 

What I am here referring to is the Republic of South Africa (RSA) model pioneered by the late Bishop Desmond Tutu. When I benchmarked the TRC process in the Solomon Islands back in 2008, there had been by then about 40 TRC processes worldwide, all of which, save one, followed the RSA model.

 

The outlier was Canada.

 

Victor’s Justice refers to the ongoing cycle of mutual abuse and accusations of grievance. The religious and psychological point of TRC is to let it all go and move with the business of living.

 

 

Dan Kyba

Victoria

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 January 2026 - 03:14 AM.