The premier of the Northwest Territories suggests that if the Northern Gateway pipeline doesn’t end up going through BC, then they can send it north, where it can be shipped to Asia from there. Err, except there isn’t exactly a port that can support oil tankers in existence, and it would be an additional infrastructure burden to contend with.

The government looks set to introduce a bill that will allow for private property on First Nations reserves. While some First Nations support this, others – including Shawn Atleo – are opposed, saying that it not only offends their communal approach to land ownership, and that it could lead to non-natives taking control of land on reserves.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer is taking a look at the $35 billion shipbuilding programme, especially in the light of the rapidly escalating costs while contracts have yet to be signed for the actual ships. University of Ottawa’s Philippe Lagassé reminds us that the $35 billion doesn’t include full life-cycle costs, and that our current ships have a 40-year-plus lifespan, so it will be interesting to see how those eventually get calculated.

Budget cuts may be threatening a programme to hire medically discharged veterans.

And here’s the tale of a former Afghan interpreter learning to adjust to life in Toronto after he was finally granted refugee status.