Ottawa orders Appeal Court to review murder convictions of two Saskatchewan sisters
Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser has ordered the courts to reopen the case of two Saskatchewan sisters who spent almost three decades in prison for what may be wrongful murder convictions. Fraser says he is sending the case of Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance back to an Appeal Court for a review. Odelia was 21 when arrested. She is now 55. Nerissa was 18 at the time and is now 52. Fraser, in a statement Thursday, cited reasonable grounds to conclude that a miscarriage of justice occurred in the 1994 convictions. “My decision does not decide guilt or innocence, as that will rest with the courts,” Fraser said. “Our responsibility is to make sure Canadians can trust their justice system, and that means, in rare cases, returning cases to the courts.”...
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The Mohegan Tribe made an early bet on a WNBA team. Now the Sun is setting
By Savannah Peters For Cass Meehan, childhood visits to their Mohegan homelands meant family time and basketball. At six, sporting a red jersey that hung past their knees, Meehan joined a roaring crowd at some of the Connecticut Sun’s first WNBA games. Two decades later, the Mohegans have sold the Sun to the Houston Rockets and the Sun is relocating. “I remember the energy in the arena,” Meehan said. “I knew it was Mohegan’s team we were cheering for.” Now 29, Meehan is among a loyal group of Mohegan fans preparing to say goodbye to a team that became a point of community pride. The Mohegan Tribe purchased its WNBA franchise for $10 million in 2003, becoming the first Native American tribe to own a professional sports team. Over 24...
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AFN regional chiefs to represent First Nations at meeting with Carney, premiers
By Alessia Passafiume Assembly of First Nations regional chiefs will join premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney for a rare meeting in late October — the first such meeting between chiefs and first ministers in decades. A source shared details of a Wednesday planning meeting held by the Assembly of First Nations on the condition they not be named because they were not authorized to discuss it. The premiers, Carney and First Nations representatives are set to meet in Ottawa on Oct. 26, just as tensions are rising over the federal and provincial governments’ major projects agenda. National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has invited premiers and Carney to a daylong ceremony ahead of the October meeting. She told The Canadian Press last week that First Nations leaders want to bring...
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BPS Warn Residents About Phone Upgrade Scam
September 23, 2026-The Brantford Police Service (BPS) is warning residents about a scam involving fraudsters posing as cellphone providers. The BPS said victims are offered a phone upgrade and later provided with false return instructions, shipping labels, or QR codes. The new device is then redirected to the fraudster, while the victim remains responsible for the phone and related costs. Protect Yourself Do not order or return a device based on instructions from an unsolicited caller, text, or email. Verify all offers and return instructions directly with your provider. Review your account for unauthorized orders or changes. If you provided personal information, monitor your financial accounts and credit activity. Report Fraud Emergency: Call 9-1-1 Non-Emergency: Brantford Police Service, 519-756-0113 Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: 1-888-495-8501 Anyone who believes they may have been...
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Brantford Police seeking information on missing woman
BRANTFORD, ONT-The Brantford Police Service are seeking the public’s assistance to locate missing 21-year-old Yewehnitahawi ‘Tia’. Tia was last seen September 19, 2026, at approximately 11:45 a.m., in the area of North Park Street and St. George Street. Tia is described as female, Indigenous, approximately 5’6” in height, 160 lbs., with long, black, curly hair, Last seen wearing her hair pulled back in a bun, with black flip-flop sandals, black socks, blue jogging pants and a blue hooded sweatshirt. Tia has a cast on her right arm and was wearing a black sling. The Brantford Police Service are concerned about Tia’s well-being and are seeking assistance from anyone who may have information regarding her location. Tia has ties to London, Ontario. Anyone with information is asked to please contact the...
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Haudenosaunee Beadwork Conference hosted in Kahnawake for first time
By Jordan Standup, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase The 17th annual Haudenosaunee Beadwork Conference was hosted in Kahnawake for the first time last weekend. The annual event, which brings together bead workers from across the Confederacy, was held at the newly opened Kanatahkwèn:ke last Friday to Sunday. “There were about 176 people registered this year,” Jessica Hill of the organizing committee ‘the BeadBabes’ told Iorì:wase. “That’s the highest turnout I think that they’ve ever had. We were lucky to have a beautiful new space to accommodate that many people.” She said the conference began with registration and a reception last Friday. “Then we had the honouring of the late Gail Albany Montour and her family was invited. We did a nice presentation because she was really our mentor,” Hill said....
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Deputy mayor warns against accuracy of former mayor’s AI-based website
By Daron Letts, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News People in Iqaluit should not depend on a new website launched this month by former Iqaluit mayor Kenny Bell because it relies on artificial intelligence, says deputy Mayor Kim Smith. Smith cautioned against trusting Bell’s City Hall Record website during Tuesday’s council meeting and again in a social media post Wednesday morning. “Residents should be interested in council’s work, should ask questions, and should expect clear and accountable decision-making,” she wrote in the post, echoing her comments from the night before. “But, we should also be careful about presenting an AI-generated website as an authoritative record.” When asked for comment after Wednesday’s meeting, Smith told Nunatsiaq News, “AI isn’t the same as legitimate news and sources.” City Hall Record uses ChatGPT...
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‘God cleaned the slate’: Ashes pave the road to recovery after B.C. wildfires
By Darryl Greer Joel Patan says his “life is ashes” now, as he sifts the ruins of his home that was incinerated last month, along with most structures in the small community of Faulder outside Summerland, B.C. “It’s just gut-wrenching,” he said. Patan, who runs an HVAC company, said his family moved onto their “dream property” in December 2024, buying it after flipping two other homes. He said there were once more than 80 homes in Faulder but most were destroyed by the Bald Range wildfire that roared eastward on the evening of Aug. 7, setting off an evacuation of thousands from the Okanagan communities. An 80-year-old woman who lived in Meadow Valley nearby died suddenly during the evacuation, and Penticton RCMP said it was believed her death was “a...
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AFN regional chiefs to represent First Nations at meeting with Carney, premiers
By Alessia Passafiume Assembly of First Nations regional chiefs will join premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney for a rare meeting in late October — the first such meeting between chiefs and first ministers in decades. A source shared details of a Wednesday planning meeting held by the Assembly of First Nations on the condition they not be named because they were not authorized to discuss it. The premiers, Carney and First Nations representatives are set to meet in Ottawa on Oct. 26, just as tensions are rising over the federal and provincial governments’ major projects agenda. National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has invited premiers and Carney to a daylong ceremony ahead of the October meeting. She told The Canadian Press last week that First Nations leaders want to bring...
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Five takeaways from final debate of Quebec election campaign
After being greeted by a raucous crowd of supporters and protesters, the leaders of Quebec’s five major political parties dove into their third and final debate of the election campaign, hosted by Radio-Canada on Wednesday evening. Here are five takeaways from a debate featuring Coalition Avenir Québec Leader Christine Fréchette, Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard, Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and Quebec Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime. There was a one-hour wait for sparring on sovereignty and a referendum. The leaders discussed five major themes during Wednesday’s debate. But voters watching at home had to wait until the second hour to hear one of the evening’s most animated exchanges — during a segment about the future of Quebec. The PQ leader and Québec solidaire’s co-spokesperson...
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Trump’s push to acquire Greenland almost broke NATO. The winner of it all may be … Greenland
By David Keyton BERLIN (AP) — In the end, it was all kisses and laughter as President Donald Trump hailed his “fantastic” relationship with Denmark and Greenland after signing a new security deal that America’s European allies hope will close one of the most dangerous chapters in transatlantic relations. Trump’s territorial ambitions over Greenland almost broke the NATO military alliance and shattered trust with one of America’s oldest and closest partners. The new defense agreement puts an end to the standoff. But was it worth the cost? While the new defense agreement is a bit broader, the United States already had extensive military access under an existing 1951 deal and all the gains laid out in the agreement signed on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday could,...
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Thousands march in Toronto for Grassy Narrows, seeking justice for mercury poisoning
By Kathryn Mannie The smell of burning tobacco and the sounds of banging drums hung in the air in Toronto’s downtown core as thousands of supporters of the Grassy Narrows First Nation marched to Queen’s Park on Wednesday. Members of Grassy Narrows, alongside labour unions, environmental groups, and faith-based organizations, took to the streets to call for justice for the Ojibwe community in northwestern Ontario, which has for decades suffered from the aftershocks of thousands of kilograms of mercury being dumped in their river system in the 1960s and 1970s. Grassy Narrows Chief Sherry Ackabee said the First Nation has lost untold members to the effects of mercury poisoning. “Everybody’s lost somebody,” she said. “I myself have a child who was born with one functioning kidney … And my other...
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Don’t fear a referendum, PQ leader says in final debate of election campaign
From left, Québec Solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, Coalition Avenir Québec Leader Christine Fréchette, Quebec Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime and Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard participate in a leaders debate in Montreal on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. Quebec votes in a provincial election on Oct. 5, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov By Morgan Lowrie Parti Québecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon urged Quebecers not to be afraid of a referendum, as the five main party leaders clashed Wednesday on sovereignty, finances and the cost of living in the third and final leaders’ debate of the provincial election campaign. The moderator, Radio-Canada journalist Patrice Roy, asked the Parti Québécois leader whether he would rethink a promise to hold a sovereignty vote in the next four years if...
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From surviving to thriving: Kokum’s House builds a recovery path in Cold Lake
By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News In Cold Lake, Alberta, a 10-bed recovery facility is helping people move beyond treatment and begin rebuilding their lives through employment, cultural connection, peer support and stable housing. Kokum’s House Recovery was founded by Zane Thain, who serves as the organization’s founder, program manager and recovery coach. What began as an effort to establish an emergency wet program eventually evolved into a post-treatment recovery facility. Today, Thain describes Kokum’s House as a place where people can move from what he calls “surviving mode” into “thriving mode.” “When we first started Kokum’s House, it was supposed to be an emergency wet program, but then the John Howard Society took over that need in the community,” Thain said. “So we turned it into a...
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Saddle Lake Cree Nation invokes Treaty 6 to establish safe haven for gender-affirming care
By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Saddle Lake Cree Nation is asserting its Treaty 6 and inherent jurisdiction over health care by establishing a safe haven for gender-affirming care on its reserve lands and territories – a move Dr. James Makokis says could have implications far beyond transgender health. The announcement came in response to Alberta legislation restricting gender-affirming medical care for transgender and gender-diverse youth. The initiative was announced on Sept. 9, 2026, exactly 150 years after Treaty 6 was agreed to at Fort Pitt. For Makokis, a family physician and member of Saddle Lake Cree Nation, the timing was significant. “We knew immediately when these laws were announced in February of 2024 that they were a violation of not only our peace and friendship...
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Reclaiming Timber: How One Métis Carver Built a 43-Foot York Boat from Memory and Heritage
By John Wirth, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News – When the decade began with forced isolation, master artisan Patrick Calihou took the solitude of a quieted world to undertake a massive historic recreation: a 43-foot “York” river boat built right in the center of Fort Langley National Historic Site. Patrick shared his perspective during an interview. Spanning stem to stern, the vessel represents the absolute maximum scale of historic fur-trade rivercraft, built with a flat bottom designed to glide across the shallow sandbars of the mighty Stó:lō (Fraser) River. A collaborative effort sponsored by Fort Langley National Historic Site that brought together Parks Canada and Calihou, on behalf of the Métis Nation. The finished vessel now resides at the fort as a permanent landmark. But bringing it to...
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Photo Gallery: Ashes pave road to recovery after B.C. wildfires
The wildfire season in B.C. has burned far less area than usual, just 1,350 square kilometres, only about a quarter of the 20-year average. But it has been one of the most devastating seasons on record for property destruction, with more than 500 homes or other structures destroyed or damaged. Now that wildfire activity has died down as summer weather gives way to fall, residents are faced with the prospect of rebuilding and recovering from the devastation of losing the roof over their heads. About 150 structures were lost to the Bald Range fire, including 110 in Faulder and Meadow Valley, and 40 in the nearby Okanagan lakeside community of Summerland. On the northern shores of Okanagan Lake, the Bradley Complex of fires near Vernon brought ruin right to the...
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Carney pledges $82 million for ocean monitoring initiative at UN
By Kelly Geraldine Malone Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged $82 million over five years to bolster ocean monitoring as he continued his support for international collaboration at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday. “Canada is an ocean nation,” Carney said. Carney’s emerging role as a key global champion of alliances and multilateralism has made him a frequent target of U.S. President Donald Trump. Earlier Wednesday, the president claimed on social media that Canada is “destroying itself” by allowing millions of people into the country “essentially unchecked and unvetted.” Trump provided no evidence for these claims but called it a “Liberal takeover that will end very badly.” Carney and Trump did not meet when they both attended the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly this week. It was...
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Brantford Police Warning About Phone Upgrade Scam
BRANTFORD, ONT- The Brantford Police Service (BPS) issued a warning, Sept., 23, 2026, to residents over a scam involving fraudsters posing as cellphone providers. The BPS said victims are being offered a phone upgrade and later provided with false return instructions, shipping labels, or QR codes. The new device is then redirected to the fraudster, while the victim remains responsible for the phone and related costs. Protect Yourself Do not order or return a device based on instructions from an unsolicited caller, text, or email. Verify all offers and return instructions directly with your provider. Review your account for unauthorized orders or changes. If you provided personal information, monitor your financial accounts and credit activity. Report Fraud Emergency: Call 9-1-1 Non-Emergency: Brantford Police Service, 519-756-0113 Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: 1-888-495-8501 Anyone...
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Plans for annual Truth and Reconciliation Walk in Peace River proceeding
By Emily Plihal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, South Peace News Peace River Aboriginal Interagency Committee is welcoming the public to participate in a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Walk and Run starting at Riverfront Park on Sept. 27. One of the event organizers, Judy Ducharme, says the registration and package pick-up will begin at 11:30 a.m., with the event commencing at 1 p.m. “This event is important for several reasons; however, supporting the NDTR’s mandate is priority,” says Ducharme. “This day is a step forward in the path to truth and reconciliation. Hosting the event provides opportunity to raise funds to support additional events held locally.” According to the Government of Canada website, The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was established in response to Call to Action 80...
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