The following is an excerpt from the book Unlikely Radicals: The Story of the Adams Mine War by Charlie Angus (Between the Lines, 2013).

I am often asked the question "What got you into politics?" I always think back to a cold October night in 2000, when I stood on...

On a warm evening last May, officer Pauline Nguyen went into her backyard and shot herself with her police service revolver. The death of this popular 24-year-old police officer stunned people in her hometown of Thunder Bay. In the days following, heartbreaking memorials were posted online about the spirited young...

Chief Theresa Spence hasn't eaten in over 11 days. The weather has taken a big turn for the worse and her tent home on Victoria Island is far from ideal. With Christmas week upon us, there is a real danger that the war room gamers in the Prime...

The notorious online "snooping" bill, C-30, looks like it may be coming back for round two. Earlier this year, the government rolled out legislation to enhance police powers in the cyber age. Bill C-30 would allow police to gather telecommunications service provider (TSP) subscriber data of cell phone...

This week will mark the first anniversary since Attawapiskat First Nation declared a state of emergency over the abysmal housing situation on the James Bay coast. Footage of the living conditions in this isolated community shocked Canadians and resulted in a media firestorm.

The crisis...

They call it "Black" Friday -- September 28th, the day passenger train service died in Northern Ontario. The loss of public transit has exposed a deep political divide between the north and south in Ontario. And yet, my decision to travel on the last run of the Northlander wasn't just...

Public transit is on the chopping block in Northeastern Ontario. On September 28th, the McGuinty Liberals are planning on silencing the whistle of the Northlander passenger train once and for all. With the train service killed, they will then move to...

This piece is co-written with Andrew Cash, Member of Parliament, Davenport

"I am not afraid of your poorly concealed fraud of a verdict in this so-called court, because it can deprive me of my freedom. No one will take my inner freedom away."

The statement could easily...

Co-signed by Jean Crowde, MP, Nanaimo-Cowichan

Dear Minister John Duncan,

It has been over a week since the Federal Court determined your department's decision to appoint a Third Party Manager in Attawapiskat last November was "unreasonable" and resulted from a failure to consider "more reasonable, more responsive, or...

The children were running alongside me as we trudged along the hot and dusty road through Attawapiskat. They could hardly contain themselves. After 13 long years of heartache and struggle, the community was finally getting a real grade school.

As we walked to the site where the first shovels...

John Duncan has some 'splainin' to do about his botched handling of the Attawapiskat crisis to a judge. Last Thursday, he suddenly pulled the third-party manager from Attawapiskat First Nation with a dubious statement about an improvement in bookkeeping.

The move came on the eve of a...

Last weekend, I sent my last Twitter message: "Dear Twitter - Adios. Free at last. Free at last, Great God almighty I'm free at last." Since then I've had a number of politicians come up to me and say they can't believe I actually did it. Politicians are slaves to...

As a shout-out to the 600th birthday of Joan of Arc, CBC's George Strombolopolous compiled a list of the five teen girls who kicked ass in history. It wasn't a comprehensive list by any means (after all, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was thrown in as a cultural nod)....

The thought seemed simple enough -- head over to Nathan Phillips Square and take some time to thank the people who were waiting in the long lines to say goodbye to Jack. In the lead up to the state funeral, Jack Layton's body been moved from...

James Anaya
Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
James E. Rogers College of Law
1201 E. Speedway Blvd
Tucson, Arizona USA 85721-0176

Dear Mr. Anaya,
At the outset, let me thank you for the Dec. 20, 2011 UN Statement on Attawapiskat. As the...

It took a month, but when the Harper government moved to respond to the crisis in Attawapiskat, they moved fast. Stephen Harper made his move on Monday Nov. 28, a month to the day since a state of emergency had been declared in the impoverished northern community. He made his...

UPDATE: The Canadian Red Cross will provide support to the Attawapiskat reserve, where a state of emergency has been declared due to poor living conditions.

Red Cross Director of Provincial Disaster Management John Saunders announced that the organization will address the community's short-term needs and co-ordinate...