One dead, three injured in shooting on Saskatchewan First Nation, RCMP say
Mounties are searching for two suspects described as armed and dangerous after a shooting on a Saskatchewan First Nation that left one person dead and at least three others injured. Saskatchewan RCMP said officers received a report Tuesday morning about a shooting on Big Island Lake Cree Nation, about 392 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. Officers found one person dead and three people injured, but did not have details about victims’ injuries or how many additional people required hospital treatment. “Saskatchewan RCMP is working to determine whether the shooting is random in nature or targeted,” the police service said in a statement Tuesday. A dangerous person alert has been issued for the two suspects. RCMP are warning those in an area that stretches from Meadow Lake, Sask., to Bonnyville, Alta., to...
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Minister not promising source water protection in new First Nations clean water bill
By Alessia Passafiume With her government under pressure to finally eliminate boil-water advisories in First Nations communities, the federal minister responsible for Indigenous services isn’t committing to bringing back a defunct clean water bill in the new year as written — after two provinces objected to it. That bill, which died when the last federal election was called, was drafted with input from First Nations and sought to ensure they could protect fresh water sources on their own territories. Prime Minister Mark Carney promised chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations’ gathering early in December that new clean water legislation would come in the spring. Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty told The Canadian Press last summer she was committed to reintroducing the previous legislation — despite opposition from the provincial...
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Cold Lake First Nations says proposed energy MOU sidelines Indigenous decision-making
By Chantel Downes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeland This Week The MOU outlines on the Government of Alberta’s website a cooperative approach where Canada and Alberta, work “closely with Indigenous Peoples and industry,” aiming to develop the infrastructure needed for pipelines, rail, power generation, a strong transmission grid, ports, and other projects to expand natural resource production and transportation in Western Canada. The Government of Alberta website also adds that the agreement also speaks about reaching international export goals, advancing technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), and supporting clean energy initiatives to lower global greenhouse gas emissions. “This is Alberta’s moment of opportunity to take the first steps toward being a global energy superpower and show the nation that resource development and sustainability can coexist. There is much hard work ahead...
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NEWS ALERT: One dead, three injured in shooting on Saskatchewan First Nation, RCMP say
RCMP say one person has been killed and three others have been injured in a shooting on a First Nation in western Saskatchewan. Mounties say they are continuing to look for two suspects, who they describe as armed and dangerous. They say officers received a report this morning about a shooting on Big Island Lake Cree Nation, about 392 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. RCMP say officers found one person dead and three people injured, but did not have details about victims’ injuries or how many additional people required hospital treatment. Mounties say they are working to determine whether the shooting was random or targeted. A dangerous person alert has been issued, and RCMP are warning those in an area that stretches from Meadow Lake, Sask., to Bonnyville, Alta., to find...
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RCMP union cuts into Alberta Next Panel for recommendation to shed Mounties
By Dayne Patterson The national RCMP union is criticizing what it calls a “misleading” Alberta government panel report that urges Premier Danielle Smith’s government to continue steps to ditch the Mounties. Brian Sauvé, the head of the National Police Federation, says the Alberta Next panel is trying to revive a proposal that has already been rejected by Albertans. And he says the panel’s report is using outdated references and inaccurate federal policy to justify its stance. The Alberta Next Panel was created and led by Smith to gauge public feedback on how to reset the relationship with the federal government. The panel held surveys and in-person town hall meetings this year, and just before Christmas issued its recommendations. In its Dec. 18 report, it said there is concern about the...
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‘Community safety is important to us’; Membertou chief responds to cannabis misinformation
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post Membertou First Nation Chief Terry Paul says he wants to be clear: “there is no evidence presented to date that supports claims of fentanyl-laced cannabis being sold within Membertou or Mi’kmaq communities.” The chief was responding to comments made publicly by Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston in which he told the media that cannabis products seized from illegal stores in the province had tested positive for fentanyl. The premier’s claim was contradicted shortly after by the Nova Scotia RCMP. Although the premier said at the time “people in law enforcement” told him they took cannabis from illegal dispensaries and tested it to find fentanyl in it, he later issued a statement that said the information he spoke about was “based...
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Assembly of First Nations supports federal court decisions
By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) has come out in support of two recent federal court decisions that would require the federal government to act on a lack of access to housing and clean drinking water on First Nation reservations. AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak called the rulings an important first step toward addressing long-standing systemic injustices faced by First Nations across the country. “First Nations have lived with unsafe drinking water and overcrowded homes,” Woodhouse Nepinak said. Woodhouse Nepinak also reiterated the fiduciary responsibility that Ottawa has to ensure that every First Nation should have access to housing and safe drinking water on reserves. “It’s shameful that First Nations have to go to court to establish rights to basic services...
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AFNQL rejects claims by alleged Vermont-based Abenaki groups
By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase The Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL) passed a resolution confirming its stance on several individuals claiming Abenaki descent in Vermont and New Hampshire. The resolution was ratified and signed by AFNQL Regional Chief Francis Verreault-Paul last month and refuses to acknowledge the alleged ties these individuals claim to have to the Abenaki Nation. “The Grand Chiefs and Chiefs of the AFNQL do not recognize the existence or presence of NCC [Nunatukavut Community Council] in Labrador, or any self-proclaimed ‘Abenaki’ community in Quebec, Vermont, and New Hampshire,” the resolution reads. Following the adoption of the resolution, Abenaki Heritage launched a media campaign earlier this month to raise awareness about alleged cultural appropriation by eight individuals in Vermont. According to...
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Housing changes at First Nations CFS agency leaves residents in state of panic
By Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press Sweeping changes to how one agency supports young people aging out of care have participants panicking about whether they’ll have to camp or couch surf in the new year. Southeast Child and Family Services, which works with eight First Nations in Manitoba, has a unit dedicated to preparing 15 to 21-year-olds for independent living by connecting them with community-based partners. Depending on their needs, teenagers and young adults living off-reserve are referred to supportive-housing facilities, such as Kildonan Commons and Villa Rosa. Multiple age-of-majority tenants told the Free Press their CFS social workers informed them this fall that they’d have to move out on their own by the end of 2025. Funding constraints were identified as the reason the residents...
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Popularity persists for Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew two years into government mandate
By Steve Lambert Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew’s popularity shows little sign of sagging, more than two years after his NDP government was elected. The support remains despite ongoing challenges in reducing health-care wait times, ending chronic homelessness and stopping a string of provincial budget deficits. Kinew has consistently ranked at the top of monthly Angus Reid polls on the popularity of the country’s premiers, although the latest numbers suggest a drop of 10 points from earlier this year. Quarterly opinion polls by Probe Research Inc. suggest support for the governing New Democrats has remained 20 points or more above the Opposition Progressive Conservatives. One political analyst says part of the reason is Kinew has been able to show some progress on key issues, including health care. “He’s thrown more resources...
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Investigators blame ‘downdraft’ for 2024 Air Inuit incident
By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News A windy ‘downdraft’ is partially to blame for a cargo plane’s bad landing in Kangiqsujuaq last year, federal investigators say. The Transportation Safety Board, which is tasked with investigating incidents involving air, sea and rail incidents in Canada, released its report Thursday into the March 2024 incident in which an Air Inuit propeller plane’s rear landing gear collapsed upon landing at Kangiqsujuaq’s airport. Nobody was injured. The pilots, the report said, were concerned that the runway was too short. “This perception that the runway was too short led the pilots to want to reduce the risk of an overrun by using a practice that is common for short runways. This practice consists in descending below the glide path to aim for...
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These biologists are working against the clock to save the N.W.T.’s bats
By Claire McFarlane, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio When Cori Lausen wandered into a cavern in the Northwest Territories’ South Slave region – one locals had called “the bat cave” – she wondered if it would live up to its name. Venturing deeper into the cave, she eventually heard a few squeaks. Dragging themselves past a narrow pinch point in the cave system, she and another biologist entered a larger chamber and began spotting clusters of bats. “We started counting and we just kept walking and walking,” said Lausen. That day in September 2010, Lausen and her colleague counted about 3,000 little brown myotis bats. She says that’s the largest known hibernaculum for this species in all of western North America. “It was actually hard to stay quiet because...
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Statement by Prime Minister Carney on Christmas
December 24, 2025 Ottawa, Ontario “In a fast-changing, more divided and uncertain world, the holiday season is an opportunity to slow down, reflect, and focus on what really matters. This is a season of joy for families, and I hope that you find time to rest, reconnect, and celebrate with the people you love most. For Christians, Christmas holds a special meaning. It is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, to rejoice in the light that he brings, and to recommit to following his example of service, forgiveness, and generosity. The holidays remind Canadians of all traditions that there can be hope after despair, that light follows darkness. Although this year has brought more than its share of challenges to our country, we have also been reminded that...
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Mi’kmaq to share governance across Nova Scotia’s National Parks and historic sites
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer When Eric Zscheile began negotiating with Parks Canada in the early 1990s, there was little room for Mi’kmaq voices in the process. The relationship between Mi’kmaq people and the federal agency was — as in many parts of Canada — strained. “Most Mi’kmaq in Nova Scotia refused to go inside a national park then,” he said. “They felt they were being excluded from Mi’kma’ki — from their own land.” Three decades later, those dynamics have shifted. Parks Canada and the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs recently signed the Toqi’maliaptmu’k arrangement — a provincewide co-management agreement that gives Mi’kmaq communities a direct role in governing national parks and historic sites. The deal covers all Parks Canada sites in the province...
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Gifting ceremony was “healing” experience for Indigenous Artist
By Brock Weir, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Auroran A healing journey came full circle at the Aurora Cultural Centre recently as Indigenous artist Sharon Rigby brought the curtain down on her first solo show, “Stories Woven Through Fabric.” The exhibition, which took pride of place throughout Aurora Town Square this fall, was centred on the medium of ribbon skirts, garments which hold “deep cultural significance” for many Indigenous communities across North America. Rigby, a Mohawk/Ojibwe artist from the Akwesasne Reserve in Quebec, who now calls Peel Region home, says ribbon skirts are symbols of identity, connection to heritage and the land, as well as serving as tools for healing. The show was envisioned by Rigby as a way to “foster a sense of healing and understanding” around the time...
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Navajo police arrest suspected drunken driver after deadly crash ahead of Christmas parade
KAYENTA, Ariz. (AP) — Navajo Nation police said a suspected drunken driver struck bystanders who were waiting for a Christmas parade to start, killing one and injuring three others. The crash happened Monday evening in Kayenta, just south of Monument Valley in northeastern Arizona, as spectators gathered for the annual community-sponsored event. The Navajo Police Department’s Kayenta District had officers patrolling the area, but the driver accessed the parade route and hit the bystanders and damaged parked vehicles and other property. The driver was arrested, but authorities did not provide any details about the suspect or the victims. Family members said the person killed was a young boy and that his mother, her fiancé and his grandfather were the ones injured. A GoFundMe was set up Tuesday, with the family...
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For B.C. whale coroner, a gruesome duty to ‘revered’ animals approached with humility
By Wolfgang Depner When veterinary pathologist Stephen Raverty is chest deep in work, the term takes on a gruesome meaning. Picture Raverty deep in the innards of a humpback whale, trying to retain his balance as he wades through a quagmire of intestines, blubber and blood. A photograph that is unsuitable for breakfast-table viewing captures a moment in 2011 as Raverty, drenched from the shoulders down in purple muck, works on a humpback whale that washed up dead on San Juan Island in U.S. waters, just off Vancouver Island. It’s one of about 2,500 necropsies on whales and other large marine mammals performed over the past 25 years by Raverty, who works for B.C.’s Ministry of Agriculture and Lands. “Yes, it can be difficult to work your way through the...
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No faith in fossil fuels? Why some religious leaders are speaking out on climate change
By Jordan Omstead Anglican Deacon Michael Van Dusen typically has plans for the Christmas season that do not involve a Toronto courthouse. Perhaps he would be preparing his Christmas Day sermon or visiting with family. But on Tuesday, he stood beside a painted banner that read “no faith in fossil fuels” and spoke to a small crowd, including some of his parishioners, about what had brought him before a judge — and not of the divine variety. For the first time in his life, the 80-year-old was arrested and charged with trespassing last year during a sit-in at a Royal Bank of Canada branch in protest of the bank’s fossil-fuel financing. Canadian banks, he said, were choosing to ignore climate science to profit from the destruction of the planet, and...
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Urgent for Inuit artifacts to come home, says Elder
By Darrell Greer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kivalliq News Former Nunavut commissioner Piita Irniq has been involved with the repatriation of Inuit skeletal remains and artifacts for more then 30 years now. He was recently overjoyed with the return of artifacts to Inuit and First Nations from the Vatican, and said now it’s time to talk to the United States and European countries to negotiate the return of “our” Inuit artifacts. Irniq said from 1989 to 1991, he was first involved with the repatriation of skeletal remains, more than a century old, that had been taken from the Arctic to Denmark. He said the skeletal remains had been exhibited in a museum for a time and used by those training to become doctors. “They used them to see how long...
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Agnico Eagle and Nukik Corp. sign MOU to help advance the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link
By Darrell Greer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kivalliq News Agnico Eagle Mines has signed a memorandum of understanding with Nukik Corp.— a 100 per cent Inuit-owned company, majority-held by the Kivalliq Inuit Association — to help advance the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link project. The memorandum of understanding formalizes years of technical work and planning between the two companies and reflects increasing government backing for an Inuit-led solution to Nunavut’s infrastructure gap. The two companies also acknowledged in a press release that they have agreed to advance technical studies, commercial discussions and capacity-building initiatives for the project. The hydro-fibre link is a transmission and telecom corridor that would bring reliable energy and high-speed connectivity to communities in the Kivalliq region. The 1,200-kilometre corridor will be designed to deliver up to 150 megawatts...
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