Nova Scotia musician Ashley MacIsaac pulls Google defamation lawsuit
Nova Scotia fiddler Ashley MacIsaac has ended a defamation lawsuit against Google after claiming the search engine falsely identified him as a sex offender in an AI-generated summary. In a statement of claim filed in February with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, MacIsaac said the description wrongly stated he had been listed on the national sex offender registry. The lawsuit also claimed the summary falsely asserted he had been convicted of a series of offences including sexual assault, internet luring involving a child and assault causing bodily harm. The Juno Award-winning musician was seeking $1.5 million in damages from Google LLC for the “AI overview,” which can often appear at the top of search results. However, a notice of discontinuance was filed on July 29 to end MacIsaac’s lawsuit....
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O’Leary data centre faces setback in court
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary’s effort to block Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation’s (SLCN) request for judicial review of the water licenses intended for his planned Wonder Valley data centre in northeast Alberta has been quashed in court. SLCN is challenging the Alberta government’s decision to provide the Municipal District of Greenview with a license for six million cubic metres of water from the Smoky River to cool O’Leary’s proposed data centre without first consulting the First Nation. If completed, the Wonder Valley project will eventually require 24 million cubic metres of water for its 7.5 gigawatt facility. O’Leary Digital attempted to have SLCN’s challenge scrapped because the company wasn’t included in the lawsuit, which the company maintained directly pertains to it....
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Let’s make a deal: TIFF touts its first market, says Canadian creators will benefit
By Nicole Thompson The Toronto International Film Festival’s annual press conference showcasing its Canadian lineup is also serving as an unofficial launch of a new marketplace where filmmakers can shop around their projects. CEO Cameron Bailey called TIFF: The Market “our biggest new thing” since the festival opened its King Street headquarters 16 years ago. TIFF touts the market as an opportunity for creators to make deals with financiers, and producers to connect with distributors. TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey speaks at a press event in Toronto, on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan Charles Tremblay, TIFF’s head of market, says they’re on track to welcome 6,000 delegates from more than 80 countries, with 230 exhibitors, and Bailey says Canadian creators will be at the centre of it all....
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Dangerous veterinary drug being added to fentanyl
By Joe O’Grady, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Temiskaming Speaker TEMISKAMING SHORES – Health agencies in the region are continuing to warn illicit drug users about a dangerous veterinary sedative being added to street fentanyl. Timiskaming First Nation Health and Wellness Centre is the latest agency to sound the alarm over medetomidine, a “new and dangerous” veterinary sedative which is “significantly increasing the risk of overdose and severe withdrawal.” Not only is the sedative not approved for human use, it causes deep sedation and slowed breathing, and is not reversed by naloxone and has no known antidote. Northeastern Public Health (NEPH) is also warning users of street drugs about the danger, having issued a red drug alert. “While we cannot comment on current supply specifics and results derived from drug testing,...
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Regenerative tourism in Tofino: Fostering richer travel experiences by giving back
By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Clayoquot Sound, B.C. – The volunteers showed up on time and in gumboots at Tofino’s First Street Dock for a 7 a.m. boat ride. After the Tofino Water Taxi dropped the humble group at the special location in Clayoquot Sound, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation sisters Gisele and Tsimka Martin welcomed the 25 or so participants to their territory and thanked them for helping build the rock wall that would form a clam garden. Historically, rock walls, or arches as they are often called, represent an ancient system of mariculture in Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations culture. The rock walls help retain the clam spawn, which increases clam productivity. Over the past few years, the Nuu-chah-nulth Youth Warrior Family Society alongside Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Park Guardians have...
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With 500-plus structures damaged or lost, B.C.’s fire season is among the worst
By Canadian Press Staff More than 500 homes or other structures have been destroyed or damaged by wildfires in British Columbia this year, in a level of devastation comparable to some of the worst recent fire seasons. While the area of 4,300 square kilometres burned by the more than 1,000 fires so far this year has only been a fraction of the area burned in other years — such as 2023 when a record 29,000 square kilometres burned — the structural losses have been piling up. By comparison, the B.C. government said about 600 structures were destroyed or damaged in 2023, including about 400 homes, many of them around Okanagan Lake, where losses have again been concentrated. In 2017, 509 structures were destroyed, including 229 homes. The worst recent human...
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Lawyers Call On Six Nations community to participate in Haldimand Treaty land rights court action
Estimated at between$13.9 billion and $8.7 trillion, Six Nations massive land claim about to hit the courts Lawyers are stressing the importance of the community’s participation at the Six Nations Elected Council’s (SNEC) coming Haldimand Treaty land rights court proceedings. “It does really help the judge understand that this case is about real people,” said JFK Law’s Robert Janes, one of the leading lawyers on the case. “A real community, real experiences. For a judge to look out and not just see a room full of lawyers, but to see some of you. It puts a face to the names we’re talking about.” Janes— flanked by Max Shapiro and Iris Antonios of Blake, Cassells, and Graydon (BCG), the other law firm on the case—emphasized while the lawyers were arguing the...
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Woodland Cultural Centre’s annual Smoke Dance competition heats up the crowd
Photos by Jim C. Powless...
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New Housing development aimed at reducing Toronto’s Indigenous housing crisis
By Alex Murray Writer A new 100-unit, Indigenous-led supportive housing development that could help de-escalate the Indigenous housing crisis in Toronto was announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Toronto mayor Olivia Chow on August 5. Miziwe Biik Development Corporation (MBDC) will help Toronto find an Indigenous developer for the project. MBDC has been working with the City since 2020 on initiatives like this to improve housing outcomes for Indigenous residents. “Addressing the significant need for affordable and culturally appropriate housing for Indigenous peoples living off-reserve requires sustained investment and collaboration across all orders of government,” MBDC told Turtle Island News. MBDC said funding from all levels of government is crucial to pushing Indigenous housing solutions. However, greater investment is needed to achieve meaningful progress in ending the Indigenous housing...
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Today in History
Aug 16 In 2018, Natan Obed, 42, was re-elected leader of Canada’s 60,000 Inuit. Obed said he planned to make housing a priority during his second term as president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. Aug 17 In 1896, the discovery that led to the Klondike gold rush was made. George Washington Carmack and two Indian companions, Skookum Jim and Tagish Charlie, found gold at Rabbit Creek, a tributary of the Yukon’s Klondike River. After news of the strike reached the outside world, thousands of miners poured into the territory. It’s estimated more than $100 million in gold was recovered in the region during the next eight years. In 1998, an armed standoff in the Gaspe by Mi’kmaq factions and Quebec governments over native timber rights ended after a compromise deal was...
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UNDER THE NORTHERN SKY: Kattawapiskak Keekehwin Gathering 2026
By Xavier Kataquapit Attawapiskat First Nation wrapped up another successful Kattawapiskak Keekehwin Gathering for the community. The week-long event was held from August 2 to 8, 2026, and it brought together members, visitors and performers to celebrate, play games and provide prize-winning events for participants. This year’s event was led by a planning committee consisting of community members including Joseph Kataquapit, Roseanne Sutherland, Xavier Rose, Christopher Kataquapit, Lydia Linklater, Anna Kebokee, Linda Kataquapit, Keilyn Linklater, Jenny Hookimaw, Flora Iahtail, Jackie Kamalatisit, Teyonna Spence and Markeisha Sutherland. This gathering is an important annual event for community members, as it brings everyone together for a positive get-together to celebrate, feast, and provide a fun atmosphere for everyone. My brother Joseph Kataquapit is part of the organizing committee and he explained that community...
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Chiefs face familiar foe in MSL final
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Chiefs will have to beat a familiar foe in their league final in order to host this year’s Mann Cup series. The Chiefs and Peterborough Lakers are squaring off to decide this year’s Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) champions. The best-of-seven league final was scheduled to begin on Tuesday. The Chiefs hosted Game 1, which was staged at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA). The match was after The Turtle Island News press deadline. Game 2 in the series is scheduled for Thursday in Peterborough. This marks the sixth consecutive time the Chiefs and Lakers have met in the MSL finals, dating back to 2019. The MSL cancelled both its 2020 and 2021 seasons because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chiefs advanced to this year’s...
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Six Nations club wins provincial Junior C title
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Stealth now has provincial bragging rights. The local Junior C lacrosse squad captured its first Ontario championship – the Meredith Cup – this past Friday. The Stealth downed the host Peterborough Lakers 13-7 in a match staged at the Healthy Planet Arena. With that victory the Six Nations club, which was founded in 2019, won its best-of-five Ontario Junior C Lacrosse League (OJCLL) championship final in four games. The Stealth also prevented the Lakers from winning a third consecutive Meredith Cup crown. The lacrosse community is certainly aware of the abilities of the Six Nations team now. But Jason Henhawk, an assistant coach with the Stealth who handles the club’s offence, said such wasn’t the case throughout the 2026 campaign despite his team’s...
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Attack bow out in semi-finals
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Grand River Attack exceeded some expectations. But the local squad didn’t make it quite as far as it would have preferred in the season-ending Women’s Major Series Lacrosse (WMSL) tournament. The Six Nations-based Attack hosted the three-day WMSL playoff tourney, which concluded on Sunday. Matches were held at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena as well as the TD Civic Centre in Brantford. All 11 WMSL participated in the year-end tourney. The top seven finishers from regular season action battled it out to determine the A Division champs. And the others competed in B Division play. The Attack had finished sixth in the regular season standings after registering four victories and one tie in its 10 games. As a result, the Grand River team was not considered...
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Manitoba shelter support worker program grads seek to make difference in lives of province’s most vulnerable
By Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press Pauline Pollard didn’t hesitate when asked what advice she would give her teenage self, a pregnant young mother of one in an abusive relationship. “Leave sooner,” she said, citing everything she’s learned over the last 25 years, including at Red River College Polytechnic’s shelter support worker program. The 43-year-old said she has “a lot of compassion” for women of all ages who find themselves stuck in unsafe situations. It’s far easier in retrospect to see the warning signs, noting that in her case, an ex-boyfriend started confiscating her clothes and makeup before his controlling behaviour escalated to physical violence. “I know my heart is in support work now. Support work doesn’t feel like work. (Listening to others) is not working....
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Labrador town demands help before it will back N.L.-Quebec energy pact
A Labrador town that could be transformed by new developments proposed in Newfoundland and Labrador’s tentative energy agreement with Quebec says it needs help before it can support the plan. Happy Valley-Goose Bay is a hub community of about 8,000 people near the mouth of the Churchill River in central Labrador. It needs critical infrastructure before it can absorb a large number of workers arriving to build the large construction projects considered in the provinces’ energy proposal, the town council said in a news release Tuesday. “We’re going to feel the brunt of these projects,” said Mayor Bert Pomeroy in an interview. “We need the resources to be able to deal with the impacts.” The premiers of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador released details of the proposed energy deal between...
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‘Ribeye of the sky’: the hunt for a once-threatened bird reopens in Ontario
By Leah Borts-Kuperman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Narwhal Starting next month, Ontario hunters will have a shot at sandhill cranes — for the first time in a century. The long-legged, grey birds with a nearly two-metre wingspan are widespread across Ontario from the Great Lakes as far north as southern James Bay — nesting in wetlands and swampy areas after migrating up from the southern United States and Mexico in the spring. Mark Peck recalls waking up at 4 a.m. to see thousands of sandhill cranes fly over the banks of the Platte River in Nebraska, where 80 per cent of the species migrate to rest and eat before flying back south for the winter. Like Peck, many of them travel from Canada, while others make the journey from...
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Iroquois Lodge Residents Make Move to Brantford Fox Ridge Facility
By Alex Murray Writer After months-long delays, the residents of Iroquois Lodge finally made the move from a long-term care facility in Delhi to the Fox Ridge facility in Brantford on August 18, Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) announced. For over a year, Iroquois Lodge residents had been staying in Delhi because of damage sustained by the Lodge during the June 2025 community flood. While Delhi is a 40-minute drive southwest of Six Nations, the Foxridge facility at 389 West Street brings the Iroquois Lodge residents much closer to home in nearby Brantford. “Fox Ridge will provide a safe and welcoming space for the residents while we progress with the new Iroquois Lodge build in Ohsweken,” SNEC said in a statement. The residents were set to move to Foxridge as...
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Wildfire season tracking to be 4th worst on record; fire risk remains elevated
By Nick Murray Canada is on track for its fourth worst wildfire season on record. At a regular fire briefing in Ottawa Tuesday, federal forecasters said September’s fire risk stands to be well above seasonal averages across northern British Columbia., northern Quebec and most of Labrador. So far this year, wildfires have burned more than 40,000 square kilometres — an area almost the size of Nova Scotia — marking the first time in history that forest has burned for four years in a row in Canada. A wildfire destroyed around 150 homes, barns and other buildings in the south Okanagan region in B.C. earlier this month. In July, a fire also destroyed much of Namaygoosisagagun, also known as Collins First Nation, 250 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. That fire merged...
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Whitesand First Nation plans phased return for wildfire evacuees
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY — Hundreds of Whitesand First Nation members will begin returning to their homes on Thursday, more than a month after evacuating. The First Nation and neighbouring Armstrong evacuated to Thunder Bay on July 13-14 as the fire labelled Thunder Bay 36 — the largest forest fire in Ontario history — threatened their communities. Whitesand members, numbering around 470, have been staying primarily at the Superior Inn on Arthur Street. Darian Baskatawang, a spokesperson for Whitesand, said Tuesday in an interview at the hotel that the July 13 evacuation order “will be rescinded on Thursday, Aug. 20, at 9 a.m.” so that “community members of Whitesand and Armstrong can go home, finally after all this time.” Baskatawang said the First Nation...
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