Protest rallies by natives, supporters to flare up across Canada, globe

Demonstrations in support of the rights of the Canadian indigenous peoples are to be held in dozens of cities in Canada and around the world.

The supporters of “Idle No More,” a protest movement campaigning for the rights of the aboriginal peoples in Canada, will rally in at least 30 Canadian cities and will be joined by solidarity protests around the world on a global day of action on Monday.

“This day of action will peacefully protest attacks on Democracy, Indigenous Sovereignty, Human Rights and Environmental Protections when Canadian MPs return to the House of Commons on January 28th,” organizers said in a statement on the Idle No More website.

“As a grassroots movement, clearly no political organization speaks for Idle No More. This movement is of the people… For The People!” it added

Similar protests will be held in other countries including Sweden, Australia and the US.

Aboriginal communities have held many rallies over the past weeks in protest at their poor living conditions across Canada.

On Thursday, Attawapiskat First Nations Chief Theresa Spence, one of the prominent tribal chiefs in Canada, ended her six-week-long hunger strike over the violation of aboriginal rights after indigenous groups and opposition parties signed a deal spelling out a list of demands they will present to the government.

The declaration calls for the government to improve housing and schools as well as to acknowledge treaty rights for Canada’s 600 tribes.

The protests over the past two months had prompted the United Nations to urge Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government to set up talks in accordance with the standards expressed in the organization’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.