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The Musqueam Band's lease-land rent increase has brought the issues of accountability, resource management and taxation without representation bubbling furiously to the surface.

This in itself may not be a bad thing, but it has added fuel to the fire of the opponents of the treaty-making process who say the problems between the band and the leaseholders are a sample of what the future holds for the province as more treaties are implemented. That allegation is discounted as uninformed and erroneous by most First Nations groups and other interested parties.

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Dear Editor:

Recently, I was reading an article in your newspaper, Windspeaker, February 1999, Volume 16, No.10, titled, 'Indian Affairs decides on status' written by Marie Burke, staff writer. I felt that I should write a short note to inform you that I have recently completed my Master's thesis titled, 'A Sociological Analysis on Bill C-31 Legislation'. The article by Ms. Burke only scratched the surface of the problems facing First Nations people in the future should Bill C-31 remain as it is.

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An open letter to the premier of New Brunswick.

Dear Premier Theriault:

This open letter to you is my way of extending a helping hand to you in your present dilemma with respect to the Native people of New Brunswick.

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An announcement earlier this month that the Manitoba attorney general's department had decided to close its investigation into the 1971 murder of Helen Betty Osborne, a 17-year-old Cree woman, has many members of the Aboriginal community wondering if justice for Native people can ever be hoped for.

For Osborne's younger sister Cecilia, who has pressed the RCMP and the province for nearly a decade to renew their investigation into the death, the news etched old sorrows even more deeply upon her face.

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Now the mad rush begins. The CRTC has listened to the implications of Television Northern Canada and added the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network to basic cable packages across the country, effective this September.

We wish Abraham Tagalik and his colleagues all the luck in the world as they put the programming packages together through the spring and summer in preparation for the historic day when television shows for, by and about Indigenous people will hit the air.

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A new box on this year's revamped income tax form has Aboriginal leaders wondering what's going on.

Grand Chief Doug Maracle was in the middle of writing a letter to Revenue Canada Minister Herb Dhaliwal when he was contacted by Windspeaker on Feb. 24. He said he will demand an explanation of Box 71, a section on the new T-4 tax form in which the government expects status Native employers to report their employees' annual tax-exempt earnings.

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It was history in the making at the Sechelt Band hall Jan. 26, with hundreds of locals, Elders, school children and media members turning out for the presentation of the draft treaty agreement-in-principal that has taken more than 200 public consultation meetings and five years to complete. Although the deal isn't signed yet, it represents the culmination of Stage 5 of the British Columbia Treaty Commission's six-stage process.

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Even though Finance Minister Paul Martin made it through the first 20 minutes of his 82-minute Feb. 16 budget speech before even mentioning the Indian Affairs department, and then provided no details at all about what new money would go to that department, budget day turned out to be a memorable one for Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart.

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Jones William Ignace, known across Canada as Wolverine, was released from custody on Feb. 4 and is back home on his farm near Chase, B.C. Ignace has been in custody since 1995. He was imprisoned for his role in the Gustafsen Lake month-long occupation of ranchland near 100 Mile House in British Columbia.

Ignace was originally scheduled to walk out the front door of the Elbow Lake Correctional Facility near the Vancouver suburb of Mission upon his release, but Corrections officials decided at the last moment to release the 66-year-old in Kamloops, B.C.

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The Metis people of Anzac, Alta. have gained intervenor status at the Alberta Energy and Utility Board hearings on Suncor Energy's application to expand their oil sands operations at Fort McMurray, Alta.

The $2.2 billion expansion of Suncor, called Project Millennium, is undergoing regulatory hearings in which the Metis are calling for a commitment to the environment and jobs for their people.