COP17 Armenia: Indigenous Rights Must Be at the Heart of Biodiversity Action

COP17: Indigenous Rights Must Be at the Heart of Biodiversity Action

At COP17 in Yerevan, Armenia, Indigenous representatives are making five critical demands as negotiations continue through Friday:

1. Self-Governance: Indigenous Peoples must choose their own representatives through their own governance systems—not governments.
2. Land Rights: Recognize and legally protect Indigenous territories as a distinct category of conservation.
3. Direct Financing: Ensure biodiversity funding reaches Indigenous communities directly to support stewardship of their lands and waters.
4. Human Rights Protections: Uphold Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and strengthen protections for Indigenous Peoples and environmental defenders.
5. Equitable Benefit-Sharing: Ensure Indigenous communities receive a fair share of profits when companies use genetic resources from their territories.

Indigenous Peoples are essential leaders in protecting global biodiversity. Their rights, knowledge and sovereignty must be respected.

Canada should support these demands and turn international commitments into meaningful action.

There can be no biodiversity justice without Indigenous rights.

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COP17 Armenia: Will the government require businesses to report their impacts on biodiversity?

I’m in Yerevan, Armenia, attending the UN Biodiversity Conference, COP17, where Canada’s environmental commitments are under scrutiny.

Canadian NGOs are questioning the Liberal government for the contradiction between its international promises and its actions at home.
On the world stage, the Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin is advocating for the protection of 30% of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030. Yet back in Canada, the government is pushing ahead with Bill C-39, raising serious concerns about the protection of species at risk, biodiversity and our natural environment.

There is another fundamental issue: Indigenous peoples’ right to free, prior and informed consent must be respected. Environmental commitments mean little if Indigenous rights are not upheld in the decisions that affect their lands and territories.

We cannot champion biodiversity internationally while undermining environmental protections at home. The Liberal government must close the gap between its words and its actions. This is Carney's Climate Contradiction.

Protecting nature requires more than promises on the world stage. It requires accountability, meaningful Indigenous consent, and concrete action here in Canada.

At #COP17, I asked Canada’s Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin: Will the government require businesses to report their impacts on biodiversity? If Canada is serious about protecting nature, transparency and accountability must be mandatory.
The Liberals are fast-tracking major projects through Bill C-39 while failing to show how nature, ecosystems and biodiversity will be protected. How can Canada meet its climate commitments without holding businesses accountable?
Canada cannot claim global leadership on biodiversity while avoiding accountability at home. We need mandatory reporting, enforceable standards and real action to protect nature—not more promises.

Nunatsiaq News: Coast guard prepares to survey Arctic using Israeli-made drone

The Canadian Coast Guard is preparing to test the Arctic surveillance capacity of a large Israeli-manufactured drone.

Coast guard staff began testing the Hermes 900 Starliner earlier this year at the Canadian Forces Base in Greenwood, N.S., before it was disassembled and shipped from there to Iqaluit on Oct. 1.

The testing will part of an effort to study whether the drone can fit well into the coast guard’s fleet of smaller drones, said Mark McKeeman, the director of the coast guard’s remotely piloted aircraft program.

“Were still in the contract delivery stages with the manufacturer, so they have to prove that the aircraft is capable of operating in some of the conditions in the Arctic,” he said.

One of the things the Hermes 900 Starliner will be tested for is its ability to operate at 72 degrees north, which is about the same latitude as Pond Inlet.

Canada signed a contract to obtain the drone from the Israeli arms dealer Elbit Systems in 2020, at a cost of $36 million.

The Hermes 900 StarLiner was alleged to have been used in 2024 to target civilians in Lebanon, according to media reports from the time.

Eleid said a loophole in Canada’s export regime also still allows for the export of parts as long as they get to the United States first before being shipped to Israel.

In March, Jenny Kwan, another NDP MP from Vancouver, attempted to pass a bill to close that loophole. It was rejected then, with 295 MP voting against it and 22 voting in favour.

Nunatsiaq News asked Liberal Nunavut MP Lori Idlout for her thoughts on Canada conducting business with an Israeli defence contractor but did not receive a response.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/coast-guard-prepares-to-survey-arctic-using-israeli-made-drone/

Globe & Mail: Opinion - Let’s call Canada’s housing crisis what it is: a purposeful, profit-driven industry where people get left behind

Housing should be a human right, not a vehicle for investor profits.

In this powerful article, former UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing Leilani Farha exposes how Canada’s housing system has increasingly been shaped by financial firms, corporate landlords and governments that prioritize investment returns over people’s need for a safe, affordable home.

The consequences are clear: rising rents, evictions, displacement and a generation increasingly locked out of homeownership. Between 2011 and 2021, Canada lost 11 low-rent homes for every new affordable home built through government programs.

The Carney government needs to change course. Building more homes matters, but supply alone will not solve this crisis if housing policy continues to serve investors first. We need a major expansion of public and non-market housing, stronger protections for renters, and policies that stop treating homes as financial assets at the expense of the people who live in them.

A home is not just an investment. It is the foundation of dignity, security, safety and community.

It’s time for the federal government to put people before profits and make the right to housing a reality.

Click image or the link to read Leilani Farha’s article - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-lets-call-canadas-housing-crisis-what-it-is-a-purposeful-profit-driven/