Brantford Medical Officer “Urges” Caution During Upcoming Cold Front
By Alex Murray Writer It seems the groundhog has seen his shadow and will not be coming out of his burrow in the Grand Erie region for some time yet. The Grand Erie Public Health (GEPH)’s Medical Officer of Health (MOH) issued a Cold Notification for the Grand Erie region that includes the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, Brantford-Brant, and Haldimand-Norfolk, effective March 6, 2026. According to GEPH, the MOH issues a Cold Notification when some or all the region is expected to experience temperatures under -15 Celsius or when wind chill values get up to -20 degrees Celsius. GEPH says that temperatures of -15 degrees Celsius or colder can cause unprotected skin to freeze in less than 30 minutes. The risk of developing hypothermia is also higher....
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Honouring Indigenous Peoples to Host Youth-to-Youth Truth and Reconciliation Gathering at Six Nations
By Alex Murray Writer For non-profit Honouring Indigenous Peoples (HIP), teaching the youngest generation is a key component of Truth and Reconciliation. That’s why they continue to hold TRC events specifically for young people. HIP will host their fourth annual Youth-to-Youth (Y2Y) Truth and Reconciliation National Gathering at Six Nations of the Grand River from March 22-28, 2026. The program is offered for free to avoid any financial barriers potential participants may be facing. According to HIP, the Y2Y gathering is aimed at fostering “reconciliation, environmental stewardship, and cultural understanding among Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth across Canada.” “Through shared experiences, outdoor activities, and leadership development, the program empowers youth to become advocates for social change, environmental sustainability, and the preservation of Indigenous traditions,” HIP says. The program brings together 25 Indigenous...
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Nunavut municipal leaders debate modular housing’s usefulness in Nunavut
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Hamlet leaders from across the Qikiqtani region expressed doubt and offered suggestions for modular housing while gathering in Iqaluit last week. The federal government has promised 225 modular homes for Nunavut in an agreement with the Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Sanirajak senior administrative officer (SAO) Manasee Ulayuk said he believes modular housing wouldn’t last in Nunavut’s winters, and that the prefabricated units could instead be used as temporary shelters for homeless people. “It would be good maybe if we could use these while they’re building homes — that way those homeless could utilize them,” Ulayuk said. “These people use them for shelter, and they’re not safe. This issue has to be looked into further by NHC (Nunavut...
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‘It just came naturally’: Indigenous fashion designer and artist talks influences and career
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca VANCOUVER, B.C. — Throughout her life, creativity has always been at the centre of Reggie Harrold’s life. In fact, Harrold’s creativity has taken her to unquestionable highs – including headlining the Our Gathering Indigenous conference which took place in Vancouver in February and Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week (VIFW) in 2025. A member of Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN), a Facebook post showcasing the February event said the community was “‘so proud to see Reggie representing FNFN ‘as a proud Dene/Slavey woman, sharing her creativity, talent and vision.’” Harrold, the daughter of FNFN chief Archie Harrold, said her initial creative influences came from her mother. “She was always sewing,” said Harrold. “Elegant costumes. When she retired, I slowly inched my way into her...
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Chief Sunshine pens letter to PM opposing co-operation agreement with Alberta
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Chief Sheldon Sunshine has written a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney criticizing the federal government’s tentative co-operation agreement with the Alberta government on environmental regulation and the impact assessment process. Sunshine’s March 10 letter places this pact in the context of Carney’s “appeasement” of Premier Danielle Smith’s “separatist agenda.” Under the draft co-operation agreement, there will be a so-called “one project, one review” approach to new infrastructure applications in the province, which will use the province’s environmental assessment and regulatory processes for projects that are “primarily in provincial jurisdiction.” For projects that are on federal Crown land or use federal labour, Carney pledged to incorporate “Alberta’s environmental assessment and regulatory process requirements into the federal...
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Poilievre announces auto plan aiming for tariff-free access to U.S. market
By Anja Karadeglija Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has unveiled a new auto plan that aims to secure tariff-free access to the U.S. market. Poilievre said at an announcement in Windsor on Sunday he expects U.S. President Donald Trump to agree to the plan because it would increase production in both countries. “I’ve got a plan that would advantage both Americans and Canadians if we get to (a) tariff-free deal and a one-for-one production-to-sales ratio,” he said. Poilievre said the plan “would bring American production up from 11 million to 13 million. In other words, they would win new and increased production as a result of this plan, which is exactly the stated policy objective of the U.S. administration.” The Conservative plan would implement a rule where for each car produced...
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New program director for Kanesatake radio station
By Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door Tehonie’tathe Douglas Beaver joined Reviving Kanehsatà:ke Radio (RKR) 101.7 FM as the station’s all-new project coordinator earlier this month. In his role, a position never-before held at the station, Beaver will help revise current programs and add new ones, increase fundraising efforts, and help to advance the revitalization of Kanien’kéha over the radio. “I’m hoping to help revive the language in the community,” said Beaver. Karahkóhare Syd Gaspé, president of Mohawk MultiMedia Inc., the organization which oversees RKR, said the new role is welcome help after many years of managing most of the station’s work alone. “I’ve been overloaded with everything that is to do for running the operation,” said Gaspé. “We need to expand because we have got a...
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N.S. grant cuts will harm Mi’kmaq programs that address historic inequities: chiefs
The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs says the provincial government’s cuts to grants will mean the loss of Mi’kmaq programs that were built to address deep and historic inequities. Premier Tim Houston said earlier this week he would restore some of the cuts included in the recent budget, including to programs that help the most vulnerable Nova Scotians. Amid public outcry, he said the government will reinstate $53.6 million to programs for people with disabilities and seniors, and for African Nova Scotian and Indigenous students. Of that, $83,000 will return to a program that works to increase Mi’kmaq and African Nova Scotian representation at the Schulich School of Law and $50,000 to the Unama’ki College Aboriginal accessibility program at Cape Breton University. Sidney Peters, chief of Glooscap First Nation...
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Ontario’s payout to Elon Musk over cancelled Starlink contract to remain secret
By Liam Casey Ontario’s payout to Elon Musk’s SpaceX over a cancelled Starlink contract will remain a secret after the two sides agreed to a confidential settlement, The Canadian Press has learned. The province said the kill fee for what was set to be a $100-million deal is “significantly less than the contract value,” and the amount paid out was part of a negotiated settlement. When asked about the kill fee earlier this week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he didn’t know the amount but pledged to confirm it. His office then said the amount could not be publicly released. Ford stands by his choice to kill the deal before it was implemented. “I believe that was the right decision, protecting Canadians, not supporting a U.S.-led owner that was pretty...
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AMDSB responds to minister’s musings about the removal of elected trustees
By Kelsey Bent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Listowel Banner SEAFORTH – Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB) joined the effort to protect public school trustees from elimination by the province. Similar to its counterparts across the province, AMDSB sent a letter last week to the Minister of Education Paul Calandra and Premier Doug Ford. At the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s (AMO) annual meeting in Ottawa, last August, Calandra said he was considering eliminating trustees from school boards across the province. At the following Avon Maitland District School Board meeting, board of trustees chairman Trustee Michael Bannerman (Stratford) suggested local trustees focus on themselves. “I would challenge this year’s trustees … that we focus on the things we have control over,” He said. “Let’s be great trustees. Let’s remind our...
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15,000-plus students regularly skip school across Manitoba, leaked documents show
By Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press More than 15,000 students — including six in 10 children and youth in one Manitoba school division — were chronically absent from class in 2023-24. Leaked government documents expose the troubling state of truancy in elementary and high schools across the province. “Unbelievable” and “mind-blowing” were among the descriptors that came to mind for Kent Dueck when he saw the data, which an ex-NDP MLA obtained and made public on Wednesday. Dueck, the executive director of Inner City Youth Alive, has spent more than a decade advocating for interventions to address absenteeism in Winnipeg. “This should force us into action on the issue,” he said. “Now that it’s out in the open and everybody knows, I think we’re in a...
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The RCMP vs. the media: Bracken trial approaches its endgame
By Justin Brake, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Independent The lawyers are standing around, casually talking to one another. A dozen or so people in the four rows of public seating quietly chatter to each other. Then, a hefty, clean-shaven middle-aged man with short dark brown hair and a suit enters the courtroom. The room goes quiet. The man, whose tie is fastened to his shirt with a small golden pin in the shape of handcuffs, sits down two rows directly in front of me, his stiff gaze fixed on the judge’s bench as he tilts his head to the right, and then the left, as if to crack his neck. John Brewer is the RCMP’s assistant commissioner for British Columbia, and before that he was the top cop in...
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Winnipeg officer who shot girl was right to use lethal force: police expert
By Brittany Hobson A policing expert has told an inquest that a Winnipeg officer took appropriate action when he fired two shots at a stolen vehicle and killed a 16-year-old First Nations girl. Use-of-force expert Chris Butler testified officers didn’t have a lot of time to respond when the Jeep smashed into a truck at a busy intersection in 2020. Police had responded to a liquor store robbery and were chasing the Jeep driven by Eishia Hudson. The officer who shot the girl has said he believed the Jeep, after it crashed into the truck, was moving toward other officers. Butler says police would have wanted to stop the Jeep from moving and, if they had waited any longer, other lives could have been in danger. The inquest is to...
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Cape Breton conference talks about future of Bras d’Or Lake
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post The Bras d’Or Lake system in Cape Breton is in fairly good shape overall; however organizations, individuals and governmental departments must come together to develop a monitoring system that can record and compare for future generations. That was one of the messages that speaker Shelley Denny brought Tuesday to a gathering in Membertou of people committed to the well-being of the Bras d’Or Lake system. Denny’s second point was about the importance of a two-eyed seeing approach to ensuring that the Bras d’Or Lake is protected for years to come — for the next seven generations. Denny was speaking at a three-day “Listening to the People of the Lakes” workshop series presented by the Collaborative Environmental Planning Initiative. The CEPI...
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‘Right thing to do’: Ontario town begins renaming process for Prince Andrew Island
By Kathryn Mannie An Ontario township has taken its first official step toward renaming a pair of islands that honour Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the brother of King Charles who was stripped of his royal titles and later arrested over his links to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The names of Prince Andrew Island and nearby Gordonstoun Island should be dropped as soon as possible due to the “infamy” attached to the former prince, said Selwyn Mayor Sherry Senis. The township is submitting an application to the Ontario Geographic Names Board to that effect, following a unanimous council vote on Tuesday to request the monikers be dropped before the much-longer process of finding new names can get underway. “I just believe it’s the right thing to do,” the mayor said...
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Métis National Council signs agreement with Northwest Territory Métis Nation
By Alessia Passafiume The Métis National Council has signed an agreement with the Northwest Territory Métis Nation to boost collaboration between the two groups, which could lead the N.W.T. nation to join the national body on a permanent basis. The agreement, signed this week in Edmonton, says the two groups will work to identify areas of shared interest, including the advancement of Métis rights in Ottawa and ensuring Métis governments are able to respond to “emerging opportunities and challenges.” “This is a new relationship for the Northwest Territory Métis Nation, but it’s really geared in supporting each other in terms of political advocacy and helping to expand the voice of the Métis National Council,” Métis National Council president Victoria Pruden told The Canadian Press. “It’s very exciting. It’s very encouraging.”...
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First Nation and Ontario ink historic agreement
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com EABAMETOONG — This remote First Nation has begun “a new chapter in its relationship with the province,” according to a news release it issued on Wednesday. Eabametoong First Nation and Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford have reached “an agreement to provide our community a seat at the table — a Relationship Table — where our priorities and interests can be advanced,” Chief Solomon Atlookan said. The agreement “will enable focused discussion” between Eabametoong and government ministries on priorities including community well-being, resource governance and economic development, the release stated. Key objectives identified by the First Nation include the design and construction of a youth centre and reducing local energy costs. On energy costs, Eabametoong chief and council announced Monday that they have...
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Winnipeg officer who shot girl was right to use lethal force: police expert
By Brittany Hobson A policing expert told a fatality inquest that a Winnipeg officer who fired two shots at a stolen vehicle and killed a 16-year-old First Nations girl was following police protocol and training. Use-of-force expert Chris Butler testified Thursday that officers didn’t have a lot of time to respond when the Jeep smashed into a truck at a busy intersection on April 8, 2020. The inquest earlier heard from Const. Kyle Pradinuk, who said he shot at the Jeep’s driver because he believed fellow officers could have been hit. Eishia Hudson was killed “If there’s an immediate … need to respond, then waiting can carry very catastrophic consequences for the officer,” Butler told court. Police had responded to reports of a liquor store robbery and chased the Jeep....
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Carney announces $32B for northern defence and infrastructure projects
By David Baxter Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday the government is putting an additional $32 billion into military forward operating locations in Yellowknife, Inuvik and Iqaluit and Deployed Operating Base 5 Wing in Goose Bay, N.L. The prime minister made the announcement in Yellowknife on Thursday before taking off for a planned visit to Norway. “With this plan, we are taking control of our future,” Carney said. “We will no longer rely on others to defend our Arctic security or to fuel our economy. We’re taking full responsibility for defending our sovereignty.” The $32 billion is part of Canada’s 2022 commitment to Norad’s modernization, which at the time included plans to spend $38.6 billion over 20 years. The Norad spending includes the purchase of two over-the-horizon radar modules. A...
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B.C. appointed them to map old-growth. Now they say province is failing to save it
By Brenna Owen Every member of a former panel the British Columbia government appointed to identify old-growth for potential protection in 2021 now says they’re concerned about continued logging in those same rare and “irreplaceable” forests. The five former panellists say in a document sent to Premier David Eby and other officials this week the proposed old-growth deferrals were meant to be an interim measure to reduce the risks of logging, allowing time for long-term planning. But the process has not worked as intended, ecologists Rachel Holt and Karen Price, landscape analyst Dave Daust, veteran forester Garry Merkel and economist Lisa Matthaus say in the document provided to The Canadian Press. Instead, the B.C. government continues to approve logging in forests the panel identified, while long-term plans have yet to...
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