4 dead after flooding in Arizona, including in historic mining town
GLOBE, Ariz. (AP) — Four people died after heavy rain caused flooding in Arizona, including three in a rural 19th-century mining town where floodwaters on Friday forced people to seek safety on rooftops and washed out a propane distributorship, scattering about 1,000 tanks downtown. About 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters) of rain fell in Globe, a city of about 7,250 people about 88 miles (142 kilometers) east of Phoenix, over 24 hours and another storm moved in Saturday, temporarily halting the search for people possibly missing in the flood because of high-flowing creeks. Streets flooded in the nearby mining town of Miami on Saturday, but no injuries were reported, Carl Melford, emergency manager in Gila County, said. Meanwhile, about 20 tourists stranded in parts of the Havasupai Reservation, including at scenic...
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Audit of Saskatchewan First Nations group questions millions of dollars in spending
By Alessia Passafiume First Nations chiefs in Saskatchewan say they want answers after a forensic audit of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations concluded more than $34 million of the organization’s spending between April 2019 and March 2024 was “questionable,” unsupported or ineligible. “The FSIN has a long-standing history that has been there to advocate for treaty and inherent rights for our First Nations people across Saskatchewan, and the only way we can get that back is by being honest,” Chief Marc Arcand of the Saskatoon Tribal Council told a media conference in Saskatchewan. “To the chief and to the vice chiefs, start taking some responsibility. Start being honest with your people. Start talking to your people, whether you did something right or something wrong.” The forensic audit, conducted by...
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B.C. Premier David Eby announces new involuntary care beds, North Coast power line
By Wolfgang Depner Premier David Eby came prepared with announcements as he spoke to leaders of British Columbia’s local governments, promising more involuntary care facilities for those with severe mental illness and addictions, and to bring in legislation to build the North Coast power line. Eby told delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention on Friday that the new care facilities in Surrey and Prince George will add about 100 more beds as part of a broader push to control crime. “We feel a huge urgency around the need for this kind of care for people, to expand beds, both in the North and Lower Mainland, on (Vancouver Island) and in the Interior,” he told reporters after the speech. “We’re going to ensure that we’re opening beds everywhere across...
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Man suing estate of Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau denies estate’s claims
By Brieanna Charlebois A British Columbia man who is suing the estate of acclaimed Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau alleging he was sexually assaulted by the painter disputes claims made by the estate in response to the lawsuit. Mark Anthony Jacobson is seeking $5 million from the estate in general, aggravated and punitive damages, and damages for economic loss, claiming Morrisseau reached into his pants and touched him on the buttocks after Morrisseau’s assistant suggested he could heal Jacobson’s back pain. In response to lawsuit, the estate said Morrisseau “was in no position to be physically or socially aggressive” at the time of the alleged 2006 assault, that he “had no libido,” was held upright in a wheelchair by straps, and was in the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease before dying...
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Issues remain in Quebec health system, 5 years after Joyce Echaquan’s death: advocate
By Katrine Desautels Five years after Joyce Echaquan died tragically in a Quebec hospital room, there is still work to be done to improve the treatment of Indigenous people in the province’s health system, politicians and advocates say. Echaquan, a 37-year-old mother of seven from Manawan, filmed herself on Facebook Live as a nurse and an orderly were heard making derogatory and racist comments toward her while she suffered at a hospital in Joliette, Que., northeast of Montreal, just before her death on Sept. 28, 2020. The video of her treatment went viral and drew outrage and condemnation across the country. The Quebec minister responsible for relations with First Nations and Inuit acknowledges there is more to do to restore confidence in the health system for Indigenous people, while also...
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MFNPS leaving residential school behind
By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brandon Sun The Manitoba First Nations Police Service is undergoing a symbolic change this year at the time of Truth and Reconciliation Day. The police service is preparing to move out of a former residential school, at 5000 Crescent Rd. near Portage la Prairie. The Indigenous-focused police service is moving into a newly constructed, urban build in Brandon at the Waywayseecappo Conference Centre. The move may be timely and symbolic, but changes run deeper than a relocation. The MFNPS is having better dialogue with governments, which are providing more funding, MFNPS Chief Jason Colon said in an interview this week. “They have been working with us at a rate we haven’t seen,” said Colon from the construction site of the new headquarters. “We’re...
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Métis heritage celebrated at Fort Frances museum
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source FORT FRANCES – Learning and practicing art helps people connect with communities, Emily Hyatt told Newswatch before leading a session in Métis dot art. “It connects youth and elders to their culture,” the Northwestern Métis Child and Family Services prevention worker said Monday at the Fort Frances Museum and Cultural Centre. “Sometimes they don’t know their culture, and this gives them a chance to connect with it and build those relations with community members and find the outlet for them that is good and beneficial for their family and wellness and healing.” In fact, she said, it’s important for everyone because “it’s important that people learn there are different cultures. So whether you’re Métis or not, I think it’s important...
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‘Stand with us’: Indigenous artists tapped by big companies for Orange Shirt Day
By Brittany Hobson Jenny Kay Dupuis was recently in a Winners store, when a senior asked for help finding certain sizes of an orange shirt on display. The older woman was on her way to visit her grandchildren in the United States and wanted to bring them each the artistic shirt with “Every Child Matters,” the phrase synonymous with Orange Shirt Day. She explained that she wanted to share with the kids the meaning of the shirt and the movement to recognize and honour residential school survivors and those who never made it home. The woman didn’t know she was speaking with the Anishinaabe artist who designed the shirt hanging on the rack. “When I think of what that lady was doing in passing on that story to her grandchildren...
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Hudson’s Bay headed to court to push for royal charter to be auctioned off next month
By Tara Deschamps Hudson’s Bay is expected to appear at an Ontario court today to push for its royal charter to hit the auction block next month. The extinct retailer wants permission for its financial adviser to run a sales process for the document, which established the Bay in 1670. If it gets the go-ahead, bidders will have to place an offer by Oct. 3, ahead of an auction that will be scheduled for Oct. 15. Anyone interested in the charter will have to bid at least $15 million and agree to permanently donate it to a Canadian public institution or museum, which will have to share it with similar organizations and Indigenous groups. After the Bay filed for creditor protection in March, it began planning for an auction until...
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Gov. Gen. Simon ‘deeply committed’ to French training as criticism continues
By Sarah Ritchie Gov. Gen. Mary Simon has taken 324 hours of French classes since she was appointed to the viceregal office in 2021, at a cost of more than $52,000. The updated numbers were provided by her office in response to questions from the Bloc Québécois. Simon has promised to learn French since her appointment and her office says she’s “deeply committed” to continuing the lessons and continues to practise. The Bloc says her training to date, which works out to an average of less than two hours of classes per week, is not enough to really learn a language. Simon was criticized during an official visit to Quebec last fall because she was not able to hold a conversation in French. Simon, who was born in the Nunavik...
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Audit of Saskatchewan First Nations group questions millions of dollars in spending
By Alessia Passafiume A forensic audit of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations says more than $34 million of the organization’s spending between April 2019 and March 2024 was “questionable,” unsupported or ineligible. The forensic audit, conducted by KPMG for the federal government, examined federal funds provided by Indigenous Services Canada to the organization, which represents 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan. The department said last March the audit would review more than $141 million in funding provided since April 2019. The audit found that $25 million of the $30 million the organization received for COVID-19-related funding was spent in a way that was “questionable.” It also said KPMG couldn’t determine if any of the personal protective equipment purchased with the money was distributed to the communities FSIN represents. The audit...
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Audit of Saskatchewan First Nations group questions millions of dollars in spending
By Alessia Passafiume A forensic audit of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations says more than $34 million of the organization’s spending between April 2019 and March 2024 was “questionable,” unsupported or ineligible. The forensic audit, conducted by KPMG for the federal government, examined federal funds provided by Indigenous Services Canada to the organization, which represents 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan. The department said last March the audit would review more than $141 million in funding provided since April 2019. The audit found that $25 million of the $30 million the organization received for COVID-19-related funding was spent in a way that was “questionable.” It also said KPMG couldn’t determine if any of the personal protective equipment purchased with the money was distributed to the communities FSIN represents. The audit...
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Police probe threats of violence aimed at businesses linked to B.C. ostrich cull
By Brieanna Charlebois and Ashley Joannou Businesses across British Columbia linked or thought to be associated with a planned cull of about 400 ostriches have been “flooded” with calls and emails with “language intended to intimidate,” the RCMP say. The birds have been spared for now with an interim stay by the Supreme Court of Canada, but Mounties say they are launching an investigation into “escalating threats of violence” against businesses that may or may not be helping the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The agency ordered the cull after birds at Universal Ostrich Farms began dying of avian flu last December, but the farm fought it in court and on social media. The CFIA says it will comply with the stay and file a response with the High Court, while...
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Hudson’s Bay gets court permission to auction off its ‘retail era’ art, artifacts
By Tara Deschamps Canadians hoping to get their hands on treasures from Hudson’s Bay won’t have to wait much longer for the chance. An Ontario court approved a November auction of 4,400 items belonging to the fallen retailer on Thursday. The trove Judge Peter Osborne is allowing to be sold includes more than 1,700 pieces of art and about 2,700 artifacts. Though the company has yet to reveal exactly what will be up for grabs, a lawyer for the firm says the items are from Hudson’s Bay’s “retail era,” rather than its fur trading days. A source familiar with the collection, who was not authorized to speak publicly, has told The Canadian Press the collection includes paintings, paper documents and even collectible Barbie dolls. A full list of items and...
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Quebec scraps forestry bill after pushback from Indigenous leaders, environmentalists
The Quebec government is scrapping a contentious forestry reform bill that has sparked opposition from Indigenous leaders and environmental groups. Quebec Premier François Legault announced the news Thursday during a meeting of the Quebec federation of municipalities. The bill was tabled this spring by the former forest minister in an effort to protect communities dependent on the commercial forestry industry. The legislation would have divided public forests into zones designated for conservation, multi-purpose use or forestry. It was strongly criticized by environmental groups as well as Indigenous leaders, who said reserving vast swaths of forest for logging infringed on their rights. Former forest minister Maïté Blanchette Vézina, who tabled the bill, was shuffled from cabinet this fall and later resigned from the party. This report by The Canadian Press was...
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Conservative Rustad says private property rights, Indigenous title cannot coexist
By Wolfgang Depner B.C.-Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad says “Indigenous rights and private property rights cannot coexist” and called on the Supreme Court of Canada to resolve the conflict as soon as possible. Rustad’s comments came Thursday after a B.C. Supreme Court judge determined last month that the Cowichan Tribes have the right to 7 1/2 square kilometres of land in Richmond, ruling that land titles granted by government, including private property, were invalid. The City of Richmond, the province and the Musqueam First Nation have announced appeals of the decision, but Rustad said the Supreme Court of Canada needs to resolve the issue as quickly as possible through the reference procedure, which allows the federal government to ask the court to rule on foundational questions. “Do private...
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MCA joins in growing coalition to denounce Bill 97
By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (MCA) has come out in opposition to Bill 97, after negotiations between the provincial government and the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL) broke down for the second time. In a press release, MCA cited cutbacks to environmental regulations in the forestry bill as posing a serious risk to the community’s right to hunt, fish and gather medicine from the land. “These are rights Onkwehón:we have exercised since time immemorial,” the MCA stated. On Monday, AFNQL alongside 19 others First Nations, labour unions and environmental protection agencies across Quebec issued a joint statement calling for Bill 97 to be withdrawn in its entirety. While MCA did not participate in this joint statement, it’s still...
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Parliament committee retables recommendations on Yukon salmon
By Talar Stockton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News The parliamentary committee on fisheries and oceans has re-tabled a report on Yukon River salmon. The report comes with 37 recommendations geared to help rebuild the salmon population, which has been in steep decline over recent years. The report comes out of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. The committee agreed to undertake the study into the sustainability of salmon in the Yukon River in June 2022; committee hearings on the topic began in February 2024. The committee heard from multiple Yukoners on the topic of the declining salmon stocks over the nine-meeting run of the study. Witnesses who spoke to committee members included Vuntut Gwitchin Chief Pauline Frost, former Yukon Salmon Sub-committee Chair Tim Gerberding, Kwanlin Dün First Nation...
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Canada Post union launches strike as Ottawa moves to end most door-to-door mail
By Alessia Passafiume and Dylan Robertson The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is declaring a countrywide strike, hours after Ottawa announced door-to-door mail delivery will end for nearly all Canadian households within the next decade. CUPW posted a notice on its website early Thursday evening that all of its Canada Post members were walking off the job. “In response to the Government’s attack on our postal service and workers, effective immediately, all CUPW members at Canada Post are on a nation-wide strike,” the statement reads. The Canadian Press has requested further comment from the union but has not yet had a response. The job action comes after Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound announced sweeping changes Thursday aimed at shoring up Canada Post’s finances in response to a decline in letter mail...
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Trump signs executive order supporting proposed deal to put TikTok under US ownership
By Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that he says will allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States in a way that meets national security concerns. Trump’s order will enable an American-led of group of investors to buy the app from China’s ByteDance, though the deal is not yet finalized and also requires China’s approval. Much is still unknown about the actual deal in the works, but Trump said at a White House signing ceremony Thursday that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has agreed to move forward with it. Vice President JD Vance added that “there was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we...
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