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Inside the meeting between Mohawks and Canada's Indigenous services minister – CBC.ca

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Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller asked the Mohawks of Tyendinaga to temporarily halt a demonstration that has shut down one of Canada’s most important rail corridors and allow trains through, a leaked recording of the closed-door meeting reveals.

But a phone call from a a Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief undercut that request, according to the recording.

The phone call came in the middle of a Saturday meeting between Miller and representatives from Tyendinaga, along with other Mohawk communities, as he sought to find a resolution.

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The Mohawks have vowed to keep the railways shut until the RCMP left Wet’suwet’en territory, which faced a multi-day raid by Mounties earlier this month. 

The demonstrations have had a wide impact. VIA Rail has cancelled passenger traffic, CN Rail has issued temporary layoff notices, and on Sunday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cancelled an international trip, citing “infrastructure disruptions.”

In the midst of Saturday’s meeting, Wet’suwet’en hereditary Chief Woos, who also goes by the name of Frank Alec, was patched through on a speaker phone. He told the room that the RCMP was still on his territory. 

“I would suggest to you loud and clear that we want the RCMP out of Gidimt’en territory,” said Woos. An audio recording of part of the meeting was leaked to CBC News by a source who attended. 

Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory sits about 240 kilometres west of Ottawa, launched their action in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs after they faced a raid from the RCMP earlier this month enforcing a B.C. court injunction.

Miller arrived in Tyendinaga Saturday and met the Mohawks in a ceremonial encounter on the CN train tracks to renew a 17th Century treaty between the Iroqouis and the British Crown known as the Silver Covenant Chain. 

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, second from left, leaves a Saturday meeting with protesters at a rail blockade on the tenth day of demonstration in Tyendinaga. According to a leaked recording, he asked the Mohawks of Tyendinaga to temporarily allow some trains through during another round of talks. (Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press)

Miller then entered a closed-door meeting with 80 people reportedly in attendance. The minister sought to open channels of communication and find a resolution to the standoff on Ontario’s rail lines. 

He wanted the Mohawks to allow some trains through during another round of talks, according to the recording, which was provided to CBC News by someone who attended. 

“My wish is that we have a temporary draw back and allow the trains to go through,” said Miller.

He was immediately interrupted by a Mohawks resident in attendance, according to the recording.

“Get the red coats out first, get the blue coats out … then we can maybe have some common discussions,” said Mario Baptiste.

Miller said he would then come back to keep the talks going and move toward broader change for Tyendinaga and the rest of the country

“Obviously dealing with the context of the issue … it absolutely needs to be widened,” said Miller, in the recording. 

Kanenhariyo, whose English name is Seth LeFort, speaks to the OPP liaison officers during a meeting on the train tracks Tuesday. The demonstrations have had a wide impact. VIA Rail has cancelled passenger traffic, CN Rail has issued temporary layoff notices, and the prime minister has cancelled an international trip. (Rozenn Nicolle/Radio-Canada)

That request was undercut moments later when Woos bolstered the Mohawks’ reasoning behind the rail line demonstration by speakerphone.

Woos told the room that while the RCMP operation was over, the police remained on the territory and continued to pose a threat.

“We want them out of there. We don’t want them there. They have a detachment right in the middle of nowhere, in their eyes. But in our eyes, it’s our territory,” he said. 

“We do our traditions out there. We do our tapping and hunting. They are out there with guns, threatening us.”

Woos also said he wanted to “thank the Tyendinaga people” for their support.

Woos did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did Miller’s office.

After the meeting, Miller told reporters he achieved “modest progress” and some of the issues put on the table would be raised with the prime minister and federal cabinet. But the audio recording reveals his main request — that some trains be allowed through — went largely unheeded.

The Mohawks have set up two camps a couple of kilometres apart, along the CN tracks, but have put nothing across the tracks to block the passage of trains. The camps’ proximity to the rails, along with the Mohawks’ message to CN that they did not want any trains going through, was enough to shut down the tracks.

There was a festive atmosphere at both camps around the barrel fires following Miller’s meeting Saturday night, with some saying they were witnessing the start of an Indigenous uprising and revolution. 

The Mohawks of Tyendinaga have shut down Hwy 401, one of Canada’s busiest highways, and the CN tracks in the past. This demonstration, however, has become one of the focal points of an evolving potential national crisis that has seen ports, intersections and train tracks blocked across the country.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cancelled an upcoming trip to Barbados as a result of the rail disruptions, which has forced VIA Rail to cancel passenger traffic across the country. CN Rail shut down its Eastern Canadian network and laid off employees as a result of the demonstration that began on Feb. 6.

Feb. 6 was also the day the RCMP launched early morning raids against Wet’suwet’en camps.

Protesters stand on the closed train tracks on the ninth day of the blockade in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, near Belleville, Ont. on Friday. (Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press)

The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposed the pipeline and said its construction violated their recognized rights over the territory. While several Wet’suwet’en bands signed deals for the project, the hereditary chiefs say they have jurisdiction over the nation’s territory and point to a 1997 Supreme Court decision as supporting their position.  

“You had an illegal judge make an illegal injunction,” Tyendinaga Mohawk Kanenhariyo, whose English name is Seth Lefort, told Miller, according to the recording.

“And had the RMCP, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, militarized police, that are underneath the jurisdiction of the Crown, enter those territories with helicopters and AR-15s [assault rifles] on peaceful people living in their own territory and removed from their own territory.”  

Miller said Trudeau and B.C Premier John Horgan had recently designated ministers to sit at a table with the Wet’suwet’en and Gtixsan hereditary chiefs. The Gitxsan also ended their own blockade of CN rail lines in New Hazelton, B.C., as a result of the agreement. 

However, Woos said there were still some serious issues to iron out with the new process and nothing had changed in regards to the RCMP’s presence on his territory. 

Miller said these were issues he would take to Trudeau and the federal cabinet. 

“I need to go back to the prime minister and clarify exactly what the ask is,” said Miller.

“There is a lot of information that is getting either distorted or not clear…. I will go back to cabinet. I will go back to the prime minister. My understanding is that the Wet’suwe’ten leadership is properly engaged, that they traced a path forward.”

Two people talk at a rail blockade on the eleventh day of demonstration in Tyendinaga, near Belleville, Ont., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020. The protest is in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposed to the LNG pipeline in northern British Columbia. (Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press)

Against this backdrop the clock ticks on an injunction extended by the Ontario Superior Court last Friday. 

The Ontario Provincial Police twice visited the main camp on Sunday, which sits on Wyman Road at the edge of the reserve boundary. The second visit was to inform the camp that an OPP plane would now be flying over the area. 

Even so, red Mohawk Warrior flags flapped from the raised level rail crossing as masked young men wearing camouflage occasionally gazed through binoculars at the OPP cruisers up the road.

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Alberta's population surges by record-setting 202,000 people: Here's where they all came from – CBC.ca

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Alberta smashed population-growth records in the past year, mainly due to people moving to the province from across Canada and around the world.

The province’s population surged to just over 4.8 million as of Jan. 1, according to new estimates released Wednesday by Statistics Canada.

That’s an increase of 202,324 residents compared with a year earlier, which marks — by far — the largest annual increase on record.

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Alberta also broke a national record in 2023 for interprovincial migration, with a net gain of 55,107 people.

“This was the largest gain in interprovincial migration nationally since comparable data became available in 1972,” Statistics Canada said in a release.


Most of the interprovincial migrants came from Ontario and British Columbia.

Statistics Canada estimates that 38,236 Ontarians moved to Alberta last year, versus 14,860 Albertans who moved to Ontario, for a net gain of 23,376 people.

Similarly, an estimated 37,650 British Columbians moved to Alberta, compared to 22,400 Albertans who moved to B.C., for a net gain of 15,250.


All told, interprovincial migration accounted for 27 per cent of Alberta’s population growth over the past year.

That put it just ahead of permanent immigration, which accounted for 26 per cent, and well ahead of natural population increase (more births than deaths), which accounted for eight per cent.

The largest component, however, was temporary international migration.

Non-permanent residents from other countries accounted for 39 per cent of the province’s population growth in the past year, reflecting a national trend.


Canada’s population reached 40,769,890 on Jan. 1, according to Statistics Canada estimates, which is up 3.2 per cent from a year ago.

“Most of Canada’s 3.2-per-cent population growth rate stemmed from temporary immigration in 2023,” Statistics Canada noted.

“Without temporary immigration, that is, relying solely on permanent immigration and natural increase (births minus deaths), Canada’s population growth would have been almost three times less (1.2 per cent).”

Alberta’s population, meanwhile, grew by 4.4 per cent year-over-year.

Alberta now represents 11.8 per cent of the country’s population, its largest proportion on record. 

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Why Canada's record population growth is helping – and hurting – the economy – CTV News

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Canada has recorded the fastest population growth in 66 years, increasing by 1.3 million people, or 3.2 per cent, in 2023, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.

The country has not seen such growth since 1957, when the spike was attributed to the baby boom and an influx of immigrants fleeing Hungary.

The vast majority of Canada’s growth last year was due to immigration, with temporary residents — which includes foreign workers and international students — making up the largest proportion of newcomers.

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“We need people coming to Canada to help with our economy,” says Matti Siemiatycki, a professor of planning at the University of Toronto. “There are many jobs and professions where there are vacancies, and that is having an impact, whether in the healthcare sector or trades and construction sector.”

Siemiatycki adds immigrants also bring “ingenuity… resources… and culture” to Canada.

Newcomers are relied on to help keep pace with Canada’s aging population and declining fertility rates, but the influx also presents a challenge for a country struggling to build the homes and infrastructure needed for immigrants.

“It’s an incredibly large shock for the economic system to absorb because of just the sheer number of people coming into the country in a short period of time,” says Robert Kavcic. a senior economist and director with BMO Capital Markets.

“The reality is population can grow extremely fast, but the supply side of the economy like housing and service infrastructure, think health care and schools, can only catch up at a really gradual pace,” Kavcic says. “So there is a mismatch right now.”

The impact of that mismatch can most acutely be seen in the cost of rent, services and housing.

In December, Kavcic wrote in a note that Canada needs to build 170,000 new housing units every three months to keep up with population growth, noting the industry is struggling to complete 220,000 units in a full year.

To address this, Ottawa has announced plans to cap the number of new temporary residents while also reducing the number of international student visas, a move economists say could offer some relief when it comes to housing and the cost of living.

“The arithmetic on the caps actual works relatively well because it would take us back down to 1 per cent population growth which we have been used to over the last decade and which is more or less absorbable by the economy,” Kavcic says. “The question is whether or not we see policy makers follow through and hit those numbers.”

Economists believe these changes could help ease inflationary pressures and may make a Bank of Canada rate cut more likely, but could also lead to slower GDP growth.

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Canada’s population hits 41M months after breaking 40M threshold – Global News

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Nine months after reaching a population of 40 million, Canada has cracked a new threshold.

As of Wednesday morning, it’s estimated 41 million people now call the country home, according to Statistics Canada’s live population tracker.

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The speed at which Canada’s population is growing was also reflected in new data released Wednesday by the federal agency: between Jan. 1 2023 and Jan. 1 2024, Canada added 1,271,872 inhabitants, a 3.2 per cent growth rate — the highest since 1957.

Most of Canada’s 3.2 per cent population growth rate stemmed from temporary immigration. Without it, Canada’s population growth would have been 1.2 per cent, Statistics Canada said.


Click to play video: 'Business News: Job growth fails to keep pace with population'

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Business News: Job growth fails to keep pace with population


From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, Canada’s population increased by 241,494 people (0.6 per cent), the highest rate of growth in a fourth quarter since 1956.

Usha George, a professor at the Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement at Toronto Metropolitan University, told Global News in June a booming population can benefit the economy.

“It is not the bodies we are bringing in; these are bodies that fill in the empty spaces in the labour market,” she said.

“They bring a very-high level of skills.”


Click to play video: 'Canadian millennials surpass baby boomers as dominant generation: StatCan'

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Canadian millennials surpass baby boomers as dominant generation: StatCan


However, Ottawa has recently sought to ease the flow of temporary immigration in a bid to ease cost-of-living woes.


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Immigration Minister Marc Miller said on March 21 Ottawa would set targets for temporary residents allowed into Canada to ensure “sustainable” growth in the number of temporary residents entering the nation.

The next day, BMO economist Robert Kavcic in a note to clients the new limits will have a positive impact on Canada’s rental market and overall housing crisis.

“We’ve been firm in our argument that Canada has had an excess demand problem in housing, and this is maybe the clearest example,” Kavcic said.

“Non-permanent resident inflows, on net, have swelled to about 800K in the latest year, with few checks and balances in place, putting tremendous stress on housing supply and infrastructure.”

Alberta gains, Ontario loses: A look at Canadian migration in 2023

If Alberta is truly calling, then it appears more Canadians are choosing to answer.

Putting the pun on the provincial government’s attraction campaign aside, Canada’s wild rose country saw the largest net gain in interprovincial migration in 2023, Statistics Canada said in Wednesday’s report.


Click to play video: 'Is Alberta ready for population growth?'

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Is Alberta ready for population growth?


The agency said 55,107 Canadians moved to Alberta last year, which was the largest gain in interprovincial migration nationally since comparable data become available in 1972.

“Alberta has been recording gains in population from interprovincial migration since 2022, a reverse of the trend seen from 2016 to 2021, when more people left the province than arrived from other parts of Canada,” Statistics Canada said.

“Approximately 333,000 Canadians moved from one province or territory to another in 2023, the second-highest number recorded since the 1990s and the third straight year that interprovincial migration topped 300,000.”

Meanwhile, British Columbia had 8,624 more residents move out than in in 2023, meaning net interprovincial migration was negative for the first time since 2012, Statistics Canada said.

In general, the largest migration flows for British Columbia and Alberta are with each other, and most of the net loss from British Columbia in 2023 was to Alberta, it added.


Click to play video: '‘Enormous pressure’ expected in Ontario home care due to high growth of senior population'

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‘Enormous pressure’ expected in Ontario home care due to high growth of senior population


It also seems that good things may no longer be growing in Ontario; Canada’s most populous province lost 36,197 people to other regions in 2023, the biggest regional loss in 2023, Statistics Canada said.

That followed a loss of 38,816 people in 2022; the only other times a province has lost more than 35,000 people due to migration to other parts of Canada occurred in Quebec in 1977 and 1978.

Alberta aside, net interprovincial migration was also up in Nova Scotia (+6,169 people), New Brunswick (+4,790) and Prince Edward Island (+818), although all three Maritime provinces gained fewer interprovincial migrants in 2023 than in the two previous years, Statistics Canada said.

— with files from Uday Rana and Sean Previl

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