Significantly less physical and sexual violence reported in Nunavut last year: Statistics Canada
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Nunavummiut reported fewer physical and sexual assaults in 2025 compared to seven years ago, newly released data from Statistics Canada shows. Last year, 8.3 per cent of Nunavut’s population reported to police experiencing some form of physical or sexual violence, compared with 14.5 per cent in 2018. Nunavut used to have the highest rate of reported physical and sexual violence in Canada. The territory has dropped to second place, statistically equivalent to Yukon. The Northwest Territories now has the highest rate of reported physical and sexual violence in the country. All of the territories and the Western provinces have a higher rate of reported physical and sexual violence than the Canadian average, which is 5.8 per cent, while Quebec and...
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Hockey player sentenced to two years-plus-a-day in federal pen
By Keith Lacey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Penticton Herald EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article contains details of sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised. A former junior hockey player and coach was sentenced to two years in prison Monday after being found guilty of sexual interference for having unprotected sex with a young teenager he had just met online more than four years ago. During an emotional sentencing hearing at the Penticton Courthouse, Justice Lynett Jung sentenced Liam Noble to two years less one day after finding him guilty of one count of sexual interference in early November of 2024 following a brief trial. Noble’s lawyer, Cory Armour, asked the court to alter the sentence to two years plus one day, stating his client would benefit more from services and programming...
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Liberals plan to suspend federal fuel excise taxes until Labour Day
By Craig Lord The Liberal government will suspend the excise fuel tax on gasoline and diesel until Labour Day as the Iran war sends energy costs surging, Prime Minster Mark Carney announced on Tuesday. Carney said the tax break will start April 20 and is expected to save Canadians 10 cents per litre on regular gasoline and four cents on a litre of diesel. Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill, Carney said suspending the excise tax is a “responsible, temporary measure” that offers “real relief” to Canadian families. A media statement about the move said it will also reduce costs for truckers and other businesses with heavy transportation costs. Carney’s announcement stops short of a call from the Conservative party to cut the excise taxes and the GST on gas...
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Here are the finalists for the Donner Prize, the $60K public policy book awards
By Nicole Thompson Followups to two Canadian bestsellers have made the short list for this year’s $60,000 Donner Prize. The Donner Canadian Foundation announced the finalists for the public policy book award on Tuesday, and the prize is due to be handed out at a gala dinner in Toronto on May 14. The finalists include Bob Joseph’s “21 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government: A Conversation About Dismantling the Indian Act,” which expands on his 2018 bestseller “21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act.” Also in the running is “Breaking Point: The New Big Shifts Putting Canada at Risk” by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson, from the authors of 2013’s “The Big Shift,” which outlined how Canada was becoming polarized. The short list also includes...
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Conversation on fake Morrisseau paintings spawns latest project for First Nation playwright
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com A Christmas party conversation at a famed art gallery a number of years ago led to Drew Hayden Taylor’s latest work. Taylor, an award-winning playwright from Curve Lake First Nation in central Ontario, will have his play The Undeniable Accusations of Red Cadmium Light presented at Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver from April 18 through May 3. The play focuses on famed artist Norval Morrisseau and his paintings using Red Cadmium Light, a paint created in 1982. Morrisseau did use the paint extensively in the latter stages of his career, but any work created prior to 1982 with Red Cadmium Light means only one thing to those knowledgeable in art circles—it’s a fake. Morrisseau, who died in 2007, was from Bingwi Neyaashi...
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Raid on Indigenous pot shop leads to boisterous protest
By John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Daily Gleaner A raid earlier this month on an Indigenous off-reserve cannabis shop in New Brunswick has raised the ire of a former national First Nations leader. The L’Nuk Lounge in Moncton, N.B., which opened three years ago, has been raided numerous times by provincial Public Safety officers, with the owners trying to keep one step ahead of the authorities by relocating their shop. Run by three brothers who hail from Ugpi’Ganjig, or Eel River Bar First Nation, a Mi’kmaw community near Dalhousie, now part of Heron Bay, in northern New Brunswick about 300 kilometres away, the lounge caters to people who want to buy their marijuana products outside of the provincial government’s sanctioned Cannabis NB stores, whose prices are much more...
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Canada’s national orchestra to honour Indigenous music during Nova Scotia shows
By Lyndsay Armstrong The last time Canada’s national orchestra performed in Eskasoni First Nation, Mi’kmaq singer-songwriter Emma Stevens was a young teenager volunteering at the show. Almost nine years later, as the Ottawa-based National Arts Centre Orchestra embarks on its 100th tour, the 23-year-old musician will be performing original music alongside the prestigious ensemble. “You’re going to be able to see our culture in full light, and see how amazing and beautiful the Mi’kmaq language and Mi’kmaq music is,” Stevens said in an interview Monday, reached at her home in Eskasoni in Cape Breton. The singer-songwriter gained international attention for her music in 2019, when her Mi’kmaq-language cover of the Beatles’ song “Blackbird” went viral. The song was translated by Katani Julian and Albert Golydada Julian and produced by Stevens’...
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Many US Catholics are dismayed by Trump’s unprecedented broadside at the first American pope
By David Crary, Peter Smith And Steve Peoples WASHINGTON (AP) — A majority of U.S. Catholic voters supported Donald Trump in his 2024 presidential victory. Yet across the broad Catholic political spectrum – even among conservative-leaning bishops – there is dismay over Trump’s unprecedented verbal assault on Pope Leo XIV, the first American to lead their church. Leo says he is sharing a Gospel message and not directly attacking Trump or anyone else with his appeals for peace and criticism of attitudes fueling the war. Criticism of Trump came from Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and from Minnesota-based Bishop Robert Barron, who only a few days ago was applauding Trump as an Easter guest at the White House. Barron called the president’s remarks “entirely...
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Woodland Cultural Centre to host UNESCO Residential Schools Gathering
The Woodland Cultural Centre (WCC) is hosting a gathering of residential schools from across Canada in May to discuss a joint nomination for a UNESCO World Heritage site designation . The UNESCO World Heritage Site nomination would include the site of the former Mohawk Institute, located on Six Nations lands adjacent to the city of Brantford. Heather George, Executive Director of the WCC, and Dr. Cody Groat, a Six Nations band member, has received Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) support for the WCC’s participation in the gathering. The WCC expects site stewards from Kamloops, St. Mar’s (Mission), Muscowequan, Portage la Prairie, Shingwauk, Point Bleue, Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, and others to be in attendance. Groat said they had sent out invitations to 15 First Nations with still-standing schools in similar...
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Jobs minister urges youth to pursue skilled trades despite generational stigma
By Craig Lord Canada must break the stigma around careers in the skilled trades if the Liberals want to achieve their infrastructure and homebuilding agenda, federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said on Monday. Hajdu said that when she was growing up in Thunder Bay, Ont., students who attended a skilled trades high school in the city were “deeply stigmatized” by their choice. “At that time, there was a push … that the true path to success and to status was to gain a university degree. And there was a discouragement of pursuing the skilled trades,” she told education workers and reporters at the University of Ottawa. Hajdu said that stigma was misguided, as many students pursuing careers in the trades can be just as successful, if not more, than those...
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Nova Scotia chiefs call for moratorium on cannabis raids, want talks
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs is calling for a moratorium on raids on cannabis dispensaries located in First Nation communities and is asking for open dialogue with the provincial government. The move comes after events on April 2 that saw traffic impeded by protesters in some communities in Cape Breton and off-island after an early-morning raid in Potlotek First Nation. Before the RCMP could leave Potlotek, residents had blocked in several police vehicles. As a result, the RCMP retrieved their guns from the vehicles and walked out of the community to waiting cars that drove some of the officers away. They chose to leave their vehicles sitting overnight and damage was done to them. Potlotek Chief Wilbert Marshall...
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Hots Docs to screen film documenting endeavour to change “horrific” city name
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com A documentary about a First Nation’s request to have the name of Powell River, B.C. changed will have its world debut at Toronto’s Hot Docs Festival this month. The film, titled təm kʷaθ nan – Namesake, features interviews with members of the Tla’amin Nation, who have spent years attempting to get the name of its neighbouring city altered. According to Tla’amin belief, as stated in the film’s trailer, names carry history, teachings and responsibilities. Powell River gets its name from Israel Wood Powell, who served as B.C.’s superintendent of Indian Affairs for 17 years from 1872 to 1889. Powell played a key role in the establishment of Indian residential schools. He also had a role in banning the potlach and in the...
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Métis artist sees medicine in colour communicating love to international audience
By Patrick Quinn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com As the Canadian government increasingly showcases the cultural contributions of Indigenous peoples, creators like Jason Baerg are finding new international audiences for their work. The Cree-Métis artist recently collaborated with designer Christopher Solar on a piece of furniture for one of Canada’s official diplomatic residences in Mexico. Commissioned by Global Affairs Canada, Solar built the arc-shaped walnut table with a band of 40 coopered slats to provide a continuous surface for Baerg’s painted artwork. When the panels were returned, Solar wrapped them around the table’s ends with inlaid fragments of reclaimed copper from the roof of Canada’s Parliament building fastened on top during the final assembly. “I designed it with a cabinet-like form as a way to provide as much vertical surface...
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Pause of Indigenous rights act won’t be confidence vote, B.C. election prospect fades
By Wolfgang Depner British Columbia Premier David Eby said he may extend the current legislative session to find support among individual First Nations over his plans to suspend parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. “Even now, we are engaging with chiefs to try to find a path forward in a way that they can support, and I hope to be able to have some chiefs standing with us to say, ‘look, we don’t like this, but we understand the government’s concern,’” he said at a news conference on Monday. The proposal comes after NDP house leader Mike Farnworth announced that the planned legislation to suspend the act — which Eby says poses legal peril to the province — will no longer be a confidence vote,...
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Dozens of volunteers on the ground in Manitoba First Nation at risk of flooding
By Brittany Hobson Flood prevention efforts are underway in a Manitoba First Nation, with dozens of volunteers from across Canada travelling to the community to set up sandbags and other protection measures. More than 30 volunteers from Team Rubicon, a veteran-led national humanitarian aid organization, are on the ground in Peguis First Nation, located along the Fisher River north of Winnipeg. The first team arrived in the community Friday after leadership appealed to the federal government to send help as it prepares for the threat of devastating floods. Tim Kenney, chief operating officer of Team Rubicon, expects there to be up to 70 volunteers with the organization’s operations from Canada and the U.S. in Peguis this week. “This is one of the rare opportunities that we have to get onto...
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18,000 lives later, B.C. marks 10 years since declaring overdose emergency
By Ashley Joannou Events are planned across British Columbia today to mark 10 years since the province declared a public health emergency related to the overdose crisis that has since killed more than 18,000 people. A “moment of silence and minute of rage” is scheduled for this afternoon at the B.C. Legislature in Victoria as part of a rally being organized by advocacy groups including Moms Stop the Harm, Doctors for Safer Drug Policy and the Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users. Similar memorial events are planned in Prince George, Cranbrook and Powell River along with an online webinar on Indigenous approaches to harm reduction and an art show in Victoria. On April 14, 2016, the emergency declaration was issued after the province had reported 474 apparent illicit drug deaths...
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Court grants stay in counting Alberta separatism petition signatures
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News The Court of King’s Bench has ordered the chief electoral officer not to count signatures for a separatist referendum petition until the court decides whether the petition was properly initiated. Justice Shaina Leonard issued her ruling in favour of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) and the Blackfoot Confederacy’s request for a stay in the counting of petition signatures on April 10, the day after arguments wrapped up in the First Nations’ application for judicial review. Leonard emphasized that separatist organization Stay Free Alberta can continue collecting signatures for its referendum petition and that her “decision has no impact whatsoever” on its May 2 deadline. “Specifically, the Chief Electoral Officer shall not certify the petition results or make a referral to...
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First Nation blasts boat decision
By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brandon Sun The chief of Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation issued a statement last week saying he did not consent to the return of motorboats at Clear Lake. Chief Dwayne Sonny Blackbird, responding last Wednesday to Parks Canada’s boat policy announcement earlier in the day, said the decision did not reflect a collaborative or mutually supported outcome, even though engagement sessions took place. “Our people have a sacred responsibility to protect these waters,” Blackbird said in a public letter. “Engagement without consent is not partnership, it is process without authority. We will not allow our rights to be interpreted as agreement where none has been given.” He said the First Nation, which has land on the northwest shore of Clear Lake, would continue to...
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Cold Lake First Nations restorative justice program gets provincial funding
By Chantel Downes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeland This Week The funding is part of Alberta’s broader 2025-26 investment in restorative justice initiatives, with the province announcing $720,000 in grants for 19 non-profit organizations, municipalities and Indigenous communities. For Cold Lake First Nations, the latest grant builds on earlier funding over the last two years that helped lay the groundwork for the program, according to information from the Government of Alberta. The announcement came as part of Alberta’s March 27 funding release, which said Budget 2026 is investing $1.3 million in restorative justice initiatives for the fiscal year, including the Alberta Restorative Justice Grant and the Youth Justice Committee Grant. Individual restorative justice grants can be worth up to $50,000 and must be used for operational activities. Minister of Justice...
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Clean energy groups call for East-West grid connections, investments in renewables
By Alessia Passafiume A coalition of clean energy groups is calling on Ottawa to connect the country through a grid powered by renewable energy. The David Suzuki Foundation says Canada is facing an energy affordability crisis, while demand for energy is set to expand in the coming decades. The foundation and 15 allied organizations say the solution to that crisis is investing in clean energy by upgrading the existing grid and connecting it between provinces and territories. They say a revamped and expanded clean energy grid will deliver more jobs and improve Canada’s energy independence, while saving people money on their energy bills. “Through a clean, connected Canadian grid, we can deliver affordable energy, create tens of thousands of good union jobs and build a stable economy for generations to...
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