Iran calls for human chains around power plants as Trump’s deadline nears
By Jon Gambrell, David Rising And Samy Magdy DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Facing a looming U.S. deadline, Iran’s president said Tuesday that 14 million Iranians, including himself, have volunteered to sacrifice their lives in the war. President Masoud Pezeshkian made the comment on X just ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline to bomb power stations and bridges in Iran if it doesn’t loosen its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. The figure is double other figures mentioned by state media in the past about volunteers the government had been soliciting by text messages and media as the war went on. Iran is home to 90 million people. Many remain angry at the government over its bloody crackdown on nationwide demonstrations and the 14 million figure likely is...
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In the news today: Gibbons on Artemis, N.S. solar power, Alberta separation hearing
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed … ‘Payoff day’: Jenni Gibbons on watching Artemis II crew make lunar history Canadian astronaut Jenni Gibbons is already reflecting on her brief but gratifying time bearing witness to history. On Monday, fellow Canadian Jeremy Hansen and his three American crewmates took part in a six-hour lunar flyby — the highlight of NASA’s first return to the moon since the Apollo era. Gibbons has been a voice link from Earth to space — coaching her friend and the other astronauts on key mission objectives. She says the moments leading up to — and immediately after — the Orion capsule lost radio contact as it travelled behind the moon were tense, but it was...
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Brantford charge Whitby man in “intimate partner assault”
By Alex Murray Writer BRANTFORD, ONT- A 42-year-old Whitby man is facing seven charges after he was arrested by Brantford Police Service (BPS) Sunday morning (April 5) in relation to multiple warrants. At about 5:00 a.m. on Easter Sunday, BPS officers were dispatched to a Rawdon Street residence after receiving a call of an intimate partner assault. An intimate partner assault refers to physical, sexual, or emotional harm experienced by an individual at the hands of a current or former spouse, common-law partner, or dating partner. It applies to couples that are neither living together or married as well. BPS said a verbal dispute between two people had escalated into physical violence. While the victim was transported to the hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, the suspect was located at...
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Residential ‘school’ survivors reunited with childhood art, hidden for decades: ‘They’ve survived, the same as all of us’
By Crystal Greene, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews Content warning: This article contains details about residential “schools.” Please read with care for your spirit. — Nearly 60 pieces of art from six decades ago are a reminder that children’s creativity could not be suppressed by colonizers’ attempts to strip them of their culture. The rare collection, created by students of MacKay Indian Residential School in the 1960s, resurfaced publicly in March during a presentation at the Indigenous History and Heritage Gathering in Winnipeg. Survivors of the institution in western Manitoba hold reunions every year at the old building in Dauphin, where they commemorate their time at the school through various projects. The memories are traumatic for survivors. But some are finding hope in seeing decades-old drawings finally come to light....
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Doug Ford targets Peel to test his water privatization plan
By Anushka Yadav, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer “There is simply no way to overstate the water crisis of the planet today. Many now predict that the wars of this century will be over water,” Canadian water warrior Maude Barlow wrote in her book, Whose Water Is It, Anyway?. “While governments have been slow in coming to terms with this crisis, the private sector has identified water as the last great untapped natural resource to be exploited for profit.” Barlow has devoted the last decade shattering the comforting myth that Canada has endless water, fighting to keep every drop clean, safe and in public hands — all of that work might have been undone by a new law pushed through by the Doug Ford government. “Anytime a Bill is...
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Home care manager recognized for advancing Indigenous health access in eastern Manitoba
By Steven Sukkau, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Sun A home care manager in eastern Manitoba is being recognized for efforts to improve access to culturally appropriate care for Indigenous patients, as the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority continues work to address longstanding barriers in the health system. Michael Pitura, Manager of Health Services for home care in the Beausejour area, has been named an ally through the region’s Waabishki Bineshiins (White Thunderbird) initiative, which highlights individuals advancing cultural safety and reconciliation. Pitura’s work has included helping expand home care services into First Nation communities, allowing more people to remain in their homes while staying connected to family, culture and community. “This is such an important example for the rest of the health-care system,” said Jamie Boyer, Indigenous Health manager with...
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Ontario’s Endangered Species Act is officially dead. Here’s what that means
By Leah Borts-Kuperman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Narwhal Ontario’s Endangered Species Act is now officially repealed. The province says the move will allow quicker approvals for road, mining and housing developments, while experts say it could streamline destruction of critical habitats, further threatening wildlife such as woodland caribou, barn owls and the golden eagle. The Endangered Species Act, passed in 2007, set explicit provincial goals for species recovery and stewardship. It was once considered the gold standard for species protection in Canada, prohibiting anyone from killing or harming endangered or threatened plants and animals, or engaging in activities that would cause harm. In 2025, the Doug Ford government passed Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, ultimately repealing the Endangered Species Act. It has been replaced...
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Inquest into death of Heather Winterstein hears testimony from family paramedics and doctor
By Alex Murray Writer Nearly five years after the death of Heather Winterstein, her absence still affects her family every day. That sentiment was shared by several family members during the first day of the long-awaited coroner’s inquest into the death of Winterstein, a 24-year-old Indigenous woman who died in a St. Catharines hospital in 2021. On the first day of the inquest, March 30th, the five-person jury heard from Winterstein’s mother, Francine Shimizu-Orgar, as well as her father, Mark Winterstein, her stepmother, Rosemary Ripper, and her brother, Ronan Shimizu-Obee. The inquest, before coroner and presiding officer Dr. David Eden, is being held by video conference and is expected to last 13 days and see 22 witnesses testify. Shimizu-Orgar, a Six Nations band member, talked about the guilt she felt...
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Brantford Police arrest suspect after man killed in Easter shooting
By Alex Murray Writer BRANTFORD, ONT- A man has been arrested after a shooting Easter Sunday (April 5) took the life of a city man. The Brantford Police Service (BPS)was called to the area of Erie Avenue and Gladstone Avenue at approximately 8:15 p.m. on April 5 to respond to a report of a shooting. A man without vital signs was located by BPS officers upon arrival. BPS confirmed that the man had suffered a gunshot wound and was pronounced deceased at the scene. The man’s identity has not been released. BPS released a statement 11:38 p.m. on April 5, describing the investigation as in its “infancy” with police in the process of gathering information, identifying the victim, and locating the suspect. The release also informed Brantford residents that there...
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Court told Regina man convicted in 2006 slaying at bush party was violent, angry
By Jeremy Simes A man found guilty of killing a teen nearly 20 years ago at a nighttime campground party was prone to violence from his teens into adulthood, a sentencing hearing heard Thursday. Court heard the 37-year-old Regina man, who was 17 at the time of Misha Pavelick’s slaying, had multiple run-ins with police, including an alcohol-fueled attack at a different party months after Pavelick was stabbed in the heart. Prosecutor Adam Breker told Justice Catherine Dawson at the hearing the offender shoved a guard during his arrest in 2023 for Pavelick’s murder, and that he continued to run afoul of the law and acted out violently. “We believe his actions do not have the hallmarks of an immature youth,” Breker said. The man cannot be identified because he...
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Descendants of Choctaw code talkers gather in Fort Worth for historical marker unveiling
By David Moreno/Fort Worth Report Nuchi Nashoba grew up looking at a photograph of her great-grandfather Ben Carterby inside her grandmother’s Oklahoma home. But, she didn’t know much about the man in the frame other than that he was a World War I veteran. It wasn’t until 1989 — when Nashoba was in her late 20s — that she learned a deep secret about her ancestor. Carterby was one of the Choctaw code talkers — a group of 19 Native American soldiers who used their language to transmit encrypted messages to the Allies during campaigns in northern France. The soldiers were sworn to secrecy and hid details of their service from families for decades. Over the past 20 years, Nashoba has led advocacy efforts to spotlight the group’s hidden legacy...
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Potlotek shut down main road in Cape Breton following cannabis raid, RCMP abandon police vehicles
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post A group of RCMP officers abandoned their vehicles in Potlotek First Nation and walked out with rifles and guns in full view Thursday morning after women in the tiny Cape Breton community blocked police cars following a raid at a cannabis store. Police executed a search warrant at the Sikku Shop at 7 a.m. and rammed in the steel door causing windows to break. They later removed the door, some windows, and signage on buildings. A U-Haul truck was filled with product, coolers and a debit machine. Women flooded the area outside the dispensary early in the morning and put their cars or stood in front of the police vehicles so they couldn’t leave. There were at least eight marked...
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A gray whale that swam 20 miles up a Washington state river is found dead
By Mark Thiessen A juvenile gray whale that amazed Washington state residents after it swam 20 miles up a small river was found dead, and an official with a marine mammal research group suspects hunger may have driven the whale to new hunting grounds as the species’ population declines. The whale was discovered Saturday near Raymond, Washington, in the Willapa River, which feeds into the ocean at Willapa Bay. A number of gray whales are currently in the bay on their 5,000-mile (8,000-kilometer) spring migration from birthing grounds in Baja California, Mexico, north to feeding grounds in Alaska. The larger issue that the population of gray whales in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean has faced since 2019 is reduced food availability in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas...
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Eabametoong begins work on 300-home subdivision
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com FORT HOPE — Eabametoong First Nation is preparing for Phase 1 of a project to add about 300 homes to the Treaty 9 community. Crews are clearing roadways and spaces on the east side of the community in preparation for construction of housing on 48 lots in the East End Expansion’s first phase, slated to begin later this spring. Phase 1 is to be followed by 58 lots and 16 rural lots in the second phase, and more than 160 lots in the project’s third and fourth phases. A new school will also be constructed in the area, Chief Solomon Atlookan said this week. Eabametoong First Nation lost its old school, the John C. Yesno Education Centre, to arson in January 2024....
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B.C. faces ‘complete opposition’ after telling First Nations of plan to suspend DRIPA
By Wolfgang Depner and Alessia Passafiume British Columbia’s government has proposed suspending its Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, according to two sources in a meeting between Premier David Eby and First Nations leaders. One of the sources told The Canadian Press a three-year suspension of the legislation has been proposed, while the other didn’t give a time frame. Eby said on Wednesday it was “non-negotiable” that the legislation designed to reflect the United Nations Declaration on the Rights on Indigenous Peoples would be changed. DRIPA has been cited by First Nations involved in two landmark court victories last year that sparked concern about implications for private land ownership and the province’s mining rules. One of the sources told The Canadian Press that the proposal “effectively places every...
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Federal privacy law changes would expand sharing of personal data across government
By Jim Bronskill The Liberal government proposes making it easier for federal agencies to share and reuse the personal data of Canadians through a major overhaul of the Privacy Act. The act governs how federal agencies collect, use and disclose personal information, and gives people the right to see and correct data about them the government holds. The law has not changed substantially since it took effect in 1983. In a policy paper issued Thursday, the government says that in most cases, reusing personal data or sharing it with another program for an alternative purpose requires the person’s consent or must meet one of the few legal exceptions. “These rules were designed to protect privacy, but they make it harder to deliver modern, connected services that rely on secure data...
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Tory MP echoes calls for Carney to apologize to Grassy Narrows over protest remarks
By Alessia Passafiume The Conservative critic for Indigenous Services is adding his voice to calls for Prime Minister Mark Carney to apologize to Grassy Narrows First Nation after he said he could “outlast” a protester raising concerns about mercury poisoning in her community. Conservative MP Billy Morin told The Canadian Press Carney “laughs at First Nations’ frustrations over the Liberals failing to keep their promises,” and that his remark was more arrogant than a similar quip former prime minister Justin Trudeau made to a Grassy Narrows demonstrator in 2019. Chrissy Isaacs, a Grassy Narrows First Nation woman suffering from mercury poisoning, was in Toronto on Monday to demand compensation from the provincial government for mercury contamination in her community. The Dryden Paper Mill released thousands of kilograms of mercury into...
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Eby faces ‘complete opposition’ after proposing suspension of DRIPA sections
By Wolfgang Depner and Alessia Passafiume British Columbia Premier David Eby says he will stake his government on suspending sections of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act for up to three years. Speaking after a meeting with First Nations leaders, Eby says his government will pass legislation this session to suspend sections of the law that place the province at the greatest legal risk, in light of a court ruling that cited DRIPA and raised questions about B.C.’s mining rules. A source who attended the meeting says there was “complete opposition” to the suspension plan from First Nations in attendance. Eby says the suspension will be a confidence vote on his government, and he hopes First Nations leaders will at least tolerate the pause as the government...
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B.C. Appeals Court sides with First Nation over Aboriginal title on Nootka Island
By Darryl Greer The B.C. Court of Appeal has overturned a lower-court ruling after finding the judge used an “arbitrary boundary” to determine a First Nation’s Aboriginal title over a swath of Nootka Island off western Vancouver Island. A three-judge panel says the B.C. Supreme Court made three legal errors when limiting the Nuchatlaht Nation’s claim over a 201 square kilometre portion of the island, finding the nation had met the test for “sufficient occupation” when the British Crown asserted sovereignty. The Nuchatlaht’s lawyer, Jack Woodward, said in an interview Thursday that they are “jubilant” about the recognition of the ownership of their land. He said the Nuchatlaht is a small, remote community that has been “somewhat ignored and neglected by the rest of society for a very long time.”...
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Alberta introduces bill to reduce child access to sex images in public libraries
By Lisa Johnson The Alberta government introduced legislation Thursday to ensure children won’t be able to access sexually graphic images in books at public libraries. Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams stressed at a news conference that the government isn’t banning books. He held up a page of a graphic novel with a sexually explicit example of the images they seek to restrict. “We will require that they are put behind a counter in a place that children cannot find them while wandering these libraries,” Williams said after tabling the bill. “When a family walks into a public library, they should feel confident that appropriate safeguards are in place, that their children will feel comfortable there.” He said pornographic material paid for by the taxpayer shouldn’t be accessible to children. “It’s...
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