Reconciliation or recolonization? What Canada can learn by looking abroad
By Connor Guyn, Climate Policy Researcher, University of British Columbia; Sophia Alex Walters, PhD Candidate, Anthropology; Graduate Research Assistant, University of British Columbia; and Tariq Harney, PhD Candidate, Graduate Research Assistant, Center for Climate Justice, University of British Columbia This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. ___ There has been a surge in anti-Indigenous sentiments and politics in Canada, seen most recently in a rancorous race to lead the British Columbia Conservative Party, as well as in provincial protests denying the harms of the residential school system. According to the messaging at the B.C. leadership race, repealing the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA)...
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Grand Erie Public Health: How To Avoid Mosquito and Tick Bites This Summer
It’s summer in the Grand Erie area, which means people need to be on the lookout for pesky mosquitoes and ticks. Grand Erie Public Health (GEPH) sent out a media release on Thursday (August 6) reminding residents to be wary of insect bites this summer season. It also shared a few simple precautions to avoid illnesses carried by ticks and mosquitoes. These might include Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), and West Nile virus. GEPH says tick populations have increased in recent years, causing the risk of tick-borne illnesses to rise. Ticks are most commonly found in tall grass, wooded areas, and marshlands. To reduce the risk of tick bites, GEPH suggested five precautions residents should take: • Don’t walk around barefoot or barelegged in tall grass. Instead, wear...
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Ford calls on Carney to extend gas tax cut or make it permanent
By Allison Jones Ontario Premier Doug Ford is urging Prime Minister Mark Carney to make a gas tax suspension permanent, or at least extend it beyond its looming expiry. Carney announced in April that the government would pause collection of the federal fuel excise tax on gasoline and diesel until Labour Day, as a way to counteract rising gas prices. It saves Canadians 10 cents per litre on regular gasoline and four cents on a litre of diesel. Ford has written today to Carney asking him to keep the tax break in place until Jan. 1, 2027, or to make the suspension permanent. Ontario first temporarily cut its provincial gas tax rate by 5.7 cents in 2022 and repeatedly extended it until eventually making it permanent last year, keeping the...
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Interim Indigenous languages commissioner says she’s participating in probe of office
By Alessia Passafiume The interim commissioner of Indigenous languages says she knows her office has work to do on rebuilding trust with Indigenous communities, and she is participating fully in a government-ordered audit. Candice St-Aubin, a former senior assistant deputy minister of strategic policy with Indigenous Services Canada, was appointed interim commissioner for a term of up to 90 days, or until a permanent commissioner is selected. “Having seen the reporting coming in, my eyes were wide open. Financial stewardship is something that is ingrained in me, much like ethics and codes of conduct, but also managing people,” St-Aubin told The Canadian Press during an interview in her downtown Ottawa office. The Canadian Press reported earlier this year that half a dozen sources, including former employees, said the Office of...
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On weekend when southern B.C. burned, violators of fire bans were caught in the act
By Brenna Owen On a weekend when thousands of people were forced to flee a ferocious wildfire that destroyed hundreds of homes along Okanagan Lake, others were lighting illegal fires nearby, and in other parts of British Columbia’s Interior ravaged by blazes. The B.C. Conservation Officer Service said Thursday that officers patrolling the Clinton, 70 Mile House, Okanagan Lake and Boston Bar areas — all of which have been threatened by out-of-control major fires that remain out of control — handed out 18 tickets for illegal fires over the long weekend, when hot weather and powerful winds turned some fires into infernos. The impact of the eruption in fire activity continued Thursday, with the evacuation zone along the shores of Okanagan Lake expanding south, while a fresh contingent of 200...
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Evacuations expand south on Okanagan Lake, as more Mexican fire crews arrive in B.C.
By Brenna Owen The wildfire evacuation zone along the shores of Okanagan Lake in British Columbia’s Interior expanded south on Thursday, with emergency crews guiding people away from a complex of blazes in the area where hundreds of homes were destroyed last weekend. An update from the Central Okanagan emergency management centre on Thursday said upgraded evacuation orders applied to two dozen properties along Westside Road in the Shelter Cove, Secret Point and Cinnabar Creek areas on the western side of the lake. The latest orders mean more than 2,600 people have been forced out of their homes due to the out-of-control Quilpituk Creek fire. That’s in addition to those forced out by the Bradley Creek blaze further north along the lake in the Regional District of North Okanagan and...
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Brantford Police arrest city man in recent stabbing
BRANTFORD,ONT-A man wanted in relation to a stabbing in late July has been found and arrested, the Brantford Police Service (BPS) announced on August 6. Dameon Hunter, 42, of Brantford was found at a location on Brant Avenue where he was arrested and charged by BPS on August 5. On July 26, 2026, at around 2:40 p.m., BPS was dispatched to a lodging home at Dalhousie Street near Brock Street in downtown Brantford after receiving a report of an injured man and an assault. BPS determined that a verbal dispute between the victim and the suspect occurred before the victim was stabbed. The male suspect fled before BPS arrived and was subsequently wanted by police. The victim was attended by BPS officers and later transported to hospital to be treated...
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Supreme Court to hear case on constitutionality of requiring oath to the Crown
The Supreme Court of Canada says it will hear a case on whether requiring prospective lawyers to swear the Oath of Allegiance to the reigning monarch is unconstitutional. The decision comes after Alberta’s top court decided in December that the rule in the province violates the constitution and infringes on religious freedom. The Court of Appeal of Alberta said the legally required oath forced Prabjot Wirring to choose between practising law in Alberta and his faith as an Amritdhari Sikh. Wirring originally challenged the oath in June 2022, arguing he swore an allegiance to Akal Purakh, the Creator in the Sikh faith, and couldn’t make an allegiance or devotion to any other figure or entity. “I knew from Day 1, because of my faith as a Sikh and because of...
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Cat Lake chief proposes First Nations-led wildfire authority
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com CAT LAKE — Wildfire evacuees having returned to Cat Lake, the fly-in First Nation’s chief has ideas on how future fire seasons could be handled better. Chief Russell Wesley released a press statement Thursday saying this year’s “catastrophic fires” in northern Ontario “are a warning that the current approach to forest management, emergency preparedness and climate adaptation is not sufficient.” Wesley told Newswatch he released the statement — which includes an action plan for the provincial and federal governments — partly out of “frustration with the With the Cat Lake experience, but also because as a chief, I have to represent the greater public as well.” An audit of this year’s wildland fire management will take too long when there are actions...
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Conservative MP Larry Brock announces he will resign next month
BRANTFORD, ONT-Ontario Conservative MP Larry Brock is resigning as member of Parliament and is to return to his previous role as a prosecutor in southwestern Ontario. Brock, the MP for Brantford-Brant South-Six Nations, said in a social media post Thursday he would officially resign his seat Sept. 18 to return to the “front lines of justice” at the Crown attorney’s office in Brantford, Ont. First elected in 2021, Brock served as justice critic but was shuffled out of that position by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in June. His departure also leaves another vacancy for the Conservatives and triggers a byelection in the southwestern Ontario riding. He is the seventh MP to leave Poilievre’s caucus since the 2025 election, with four of them crossing the floor to the Liberals. “My commitment...
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Officials will not release cool water from a Colorado River reservoir to protect threatened fish
By Dorany Pineda And Brittany Peterson Federal officials said Thursday they will not release cool water this year from one of the Colorado River’s major reservoirs, which would have protected a threatened native fish downstream but put more strain on already struggling hydropower production. In an email obtained by The Associated Press, the Bureau of Reclamation told various groups that water from Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona would not be released “due to significant hydropower generation concerns under already strained system conditions.” As the Colorado River and its once massive reservoirs shrink from overuse and climate change, officials were faced with a decision that pits conservation of the humpback chub — a threatened fish native to the river — against ratepayer costs for electricity. The decision comes after the...
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Okanagan Indian Band ‘getting stronger everyday’ amid devastating wildfire
By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews Although a devastating wildfire continues to leave hundreds without access to their homes, Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB)’s chief says his community “is getting stronger everyday.” “We’re holding up,” naspəpʕásəs Dan Wilson told IndigiNews on Wednesday, almost a week since the Bradley Creek wildfire ignited on reserve lands at nk̓maplqs (the head of Okanagan Lake) on July 31. “We’re very resilient. We have a long history — we’ve been here for 10,000 years.” The fire — which Wilson said sparked on range land above the community’s powwow grounds — is currently listed as out of control and is measured at more than 2,800 hectares, according to BC Wildfire Services’ Aug. 6 update. “It was really a shock how fast this happened,” said Wilson....
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Climate change made Ontario, N.W.T. fire conditions roughly twice as likely: report
By Jordan Omstead The conditions underlying intense July wildfires in Ontario and Northwest Territories were made roughly twice as likely due to human-induced climate change, said a new report published Thursday. The report by an international team of scientists says what were once rare fire conditions are now increasingly likely today due to climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels. “The geographic spread of these fires is scary and shows that despite preparedness from wildfire governance, adaptation alone is not enough,” said Theodore Keeping, a co-author and Imperial College London research associate. “We need to rapidly move away from fossil fuels to avoid events like this becoming even more of a reality.” The World Weather Attribution report says early observations indicate the hot, dry and windy conditions fuelling...
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Canada’s justice system enhances protections for intimate partner violence victims
By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Last month, significant changes to Canada’s Criminal Code were passed into law to strengthen protections for victims of gender-based violence, and to keep children safe from predators. The Protecting Victims Act (Bill C-16) received Royal Assent on June 18. Most of the changes came into force on July 18. “In general, all of the changes that are in this announcement are designed to provide more recognition of vulnerable victims and their experience of the criminal legal system and trying to mitigate that with support,” said Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director of the Vancouver-based Battered Women’s Support Services. The law gives the justice system stronger tools to intervene earlier to sexual violence, gender-based, and intimate partner violence before it turns fatal, according to...
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Iqaluit hunters prepare to net bowhead whale
By Daron Letts, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News There will be “maktaaq everywhere” on Iqaluit’s shore on Aug. 14 if members of the Amaruq Hunters and Trappers Association manage to catch their first bowhead in four years. An unidentified member of the Amaruq Hunters and Trappers Association prepares whale meat following a hunt of a bowhead whale near Iqaluit in August 2022. The association is planning another bowhead hunt next week. (Photo by Bill Williams, Special to Nunatsiaq News) Twenty-four hunters of all ages are set to take part in the hunt next week. “We have lots of people involved — a lot of young people,” said Naulaq Inookie, chair of the association’s qalugiaq planning committee, which is co-ordinating the hunt. The last bowhead hunt in Iqaluit was in...
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Terrace Bay station will improve EMS response: Muir
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY — A new and “modern” EMS station in Terrace Bay will improve service and aid in recruitment of paramedics, Superior North EMS chief Shane Muir says. “We’re really excited about the new Terrace Bay station that’s going to be put up in the community, and it’s going to service the whole region,” he said in an interview Wednesday. Paramedics at the station, to be built at 1006 Highway 17, will respond to calls in communities including Schreiber, Rossport and Pays Plat First Nation as well its host township in “a hub model,” he said. Muir said paramedics will be housed in the area and the new building will have a gym and other facilities in addition to room for up...
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Climate change made Ontario, N.W.T. fire conditions roughly twice as likely: report
A new report says the conditions that fuelled July wildfires in Ontario and the Northwest Territories were made roughly twice as likely due to human-induced climate change. The report by an international team of scientists says what were once rare fire conditions are now increasingly likely today due to climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels. The World Weather Attribution report says early observations indicate the hot, dry and windy conditions underlying fires in the Northwest Territories could now be expected to occur every two to six years, and every six to 15 years in Ontario. In a world without human-caused climate change, the report suggests those conditions would have been much rarer, or less than once in 40 years. Early estimates suggest this is the worst wildfire...
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Nuu-chah-nulth’s 2026 Tlu-piich Games get underway with canoe races
By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Port Alberni, BC – Dozens of Nuu-chah-nulth athletes raced canoes across tiipis (Canal Beach) at John Douglas Park in the sweltering Alberni Valley peak summer sun, as the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) officially opened the 2026 Tlu-piich Games on Aug. 5. Wearing a bright fluorescent green Tlu-piich Games T-shirt, rookie coordinator Brevin Charleson joked that he took the “heat” from a sticky 28C day and the “heat” from all the participants with ease. “I just sweat it off. The people and the heat. Just go with the flow and things work out,” said Charleson. “Day One was awesome. It went exactly how we wanted it to go. We were out here in the park on the beach by the water, so a...
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Treaty 8 First Nations comes out of 2026 AGM with new name, water agreement with Dene Nation
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News (ANNews) – Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta has voted unanimously to henceforth be known as Treaty 8 Sovereign Nations, which the organization attributes directly to the “unprecedented political climate being fostered by the current Alberta government.” Treaty 8 Sovereign Nations announced its new name the day after the 2026 Honouring Our Treaty Gathering and Annual General Meeting wrapped up on July 30 on Woodland Cree First Nation territory. A July 31 news release from Treaty 8 Sovereign Nations states that the modified name better “reflects and reinforces the sovereignty held by every First Nation throughout Treaty No. 8 Territory,” noting that the Treaty was signed in 1899 – six years before Alberta came into existence. “This historic change sends...
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Brantford Police Seeking Public’s Help In Locating Missing Man
BRANTFORD, ONT-The Brantford Police Service (BPS) is looking for the public’s help to locate a missing 50-year-old man. The man, identified by BPS as “Mark,” is 5’6” and about 130 pounds with a thin build and ear-length blonde/grey hair with a blonde/grey beard. Mark also has what BPS described as an “abstract tattoo” on his left bicep, though a current clothing description was not available. Mark was last seen on July 27, 2026, on the famed Sunset Boulevard in the affluent Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California. According to BPS, he may have been in contact with friends and family in the Brantford area, which led to the call for the Brantford public’s help in locating Mark. His family and friends are very concerned about his well-being, BPS said,...
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