A divided community await COO
The Chiefs of Ontario are coming. Hundreds of First Nations chiefs and their staff will be descending on the community in less than a week and Six Nations will be welcoming them. From businesses to political advocates things are about to heat up and we don’t mean temperatures. Turtle Island News has learned there will be a group of Haudenosaunee traditionalists on hand to remind the Chiefs of Ontario that Six Nations is a politically split community with two active forms of governance in place. The imposed band council system hasn’t ever been a welcome intrusion into a community that has for hundreds of years had its own system of governance. A system that still exists today and is still recognized and supported by the Six Nations community. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy...
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Kimberly Murray’s Special Interlocutor for Residential School’s role missing children and unmarked graves extended
By Austin Evans Writer Canada’s Special Interlocutor’s term has been extended. Kimberly Murray’s role as Canada’s Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools has been extended into the fall. Kimberly Murray was appointed as independent special interlocutor on June 8, 2022, and at the time was scheduled to fulfill this role until June 14, 2024. The announcement that her mandate will be expanded came exactly two weeks before her original end date. “With more time to complete this important work, I will be able to properly assess what a new legal framework should be to protect the unmarked graves and burial sites, and to ensure that the Government of Canada better understands their obligations to First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples,”...
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Sports Briefs: Six Nations Arrows to Rivermen
By Sam Laskaris Writer Fortunes reversed for Arrows What a difference a week makes. Last Wednesday members of the Six Nations Arrows were feeling rather good about themselves as they had won their first three Ontario Junior Lacrosse League regular season contests. But the local Junior A lacrosse squad now finds itself on a four-game losing streak, having lost all four of its matches in a six-day span this past week. The Arrows suffered their first setback of the 2024 campaign last Wednesday when they hit the road and were downed 10-5 by the Kitchener-Waterloo Junior A Lacrosse Club. Six Nations was then edged 9-8 on Friday by the host Burlington Blaze, the defending national Minto Cup champions. The Arrows returned home on Sunday. But the friendly confines of the...
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Late Six Nations lacrosse stars featured in Indigenous Sport Heroes Digital Book
By Sam Laskaris Writer Six Nations sports role models are among those that are being highlighted in June during National Indigenous History Month. Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame is offering free programs and resources to raise awareness of Indigenous role models to students across the country. One of the resources being offered is the Indigenous Sport Heroes Digital Book. It is available for viewing here: https://indigenousheroes.ca/chapters/ The Indigenous Sport Heroes Digital Book is designed to be read like chapters in a book. It includes information on a total of 26 Indigenous athletes and sport builders. There are separate chapters on a pair of late Six Nations lacrosse stars, Ross Powless and his son Gaylord Powless. Both have been inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. There is also a chapter...
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Olympian honoured with headdress
By Canadian Press The first Blood Tribe member to qualify for the Olympics was reconized for his achievements with a Headdress Transfer on Monday. Apollo Hess was named to the Paris 2024 Canadian Olympic team after placing second in the men’s 2024 Olympic swimming trials in Toronto. Hess says that he always had a feeling that he would make it to the world stage one day. “I always kinda knew that being a world class athlete was was my calling and I didn’t always know what the path was to get there,” said Hess. Hess was active in just about every sport imaginable from a young age, whether it be football, hockey, soccer and of course swimming. Becomming a world class athlete was not an easy feet for him. In...
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Except for seniors, COVID booster not recommended for now for most adults
By Rob Perry Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 05/06/2024 09:15 Unless you’re 65 and older, the Ontario Ministry of Health is recommending most adults not get a COVID-19 booster shot, at least for now, Southwestern Public Health says. The only younger adults who should seek a vaccination, at least until the end of June, are, according to the ministry and health unit: Adult residents of long-term care homes, retirement homes and other “congregate living settings for seniors”; Individuals six months of age and older who have moderate to severe compromising of their immune response system due to underlying conditions or medical treatment; And adults 55 and older who identify as First Nations members, Inuit and Métis and non-indigenous members of their households. Those eligible individuals could get a booster vaccine if...
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Wildfire near Doig River First Nation is now listed as ‘out,’ says the BC Wildfire Service
By Ed Hitching Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 04/06/2024 FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A wildfire reported by BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) in May near Doig River First Nation (DRFN) is now listed as ‘out.’ When first discovered on May 12th, the flames spread quickly, growing to 650 hectares and prompting evacuation orders from the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) and DRFN council. The BCWS says the suspected cause of the fire was human activity. Evacuees headed to Fort St. John, Dawson Creek and other communities, with the orders being rescinded on May 20th. On an appearance on This Week in the Peace on May 24th, DRFN Chief Trevor Makadahay told Tre Lopushinsky that preparedness assisted DRFN in getting residents out of the community. Makadahay added in the interview that DRFN...
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Murder trial to hear from second psychiatrist about mental state of serial killer Slugline: Mba-Remains
The Canadian Press 05/06/2024 A court-appointed forensic psychiatrist is set to testify today about the mental state of an admitted serial killer. Another expert previously told a murder trial that Jeremy Skibicki was suffering from schizophrenia when he killed four Indigenous women in Winnipeg in 2022. That psychiatrist, called by the defence, said Skibicki felt compelled to carry out the killings because he believed he was on a mission from God. Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder. His lawyers admit he killed the women but argue he is not criminally responsible due to mental illness. Crown prosecutors say the killings were racially motivated and that Skibicki targeted the vulnerable women at homeless shelters. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2024....
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Cybersecurity standards emerging in Canada as ransomware business booms
The Canadian Press 05/06/2024 The ransomware business is booming in Canada. Recent victims have included large corporations such as retailer London Drugs, as well as the City of Hamilton, Ont., and the government of Newfoundland and Labrador. But the criminals who sometimes brag of their attacks on the so-called dark web don’t seem fussy about their targets, based on a small sample of the targets listed by B.C.-based threat analyst Brett Callow. Among them have been a B.C. library network, the province’s First Nations Health Authority and an Ontario charity for disabled children. Cybersecurity experts say the spate of attacks has serious implications for victims and the public, and organizations need multi-layered protection in a landscape of fledgling online security standards. Callow favours an outright ban on ransom payments, or...
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A year of elections in democracies around the world is revealing deep dissatisfaction among voters
The Associated Press 05/06/2024 In a community center in East London, about 20 men gathered for their regular lunch meeting, sipping coffee and tea from mismatched mugs and engaging in an increasingly popular pastime in the world’s democracies: Complaining about their government. They feel estranged from the country’s leadership — its wealthy prime minister and their members of parliament. “It feels like you are second-class people. Our MPs don’t represent us people. Political leaders don’t understand what we go through,” said Barrie Stradling, 65. “Do they listen to people? I don’t think they do.’’ In a coffee shop in Jakarta, Ni Wayan Suryatini, 46, bemoaned the results of the recent election, in which the son of Indonesia’s former president ascended to the country’s vice presidency and the opposition parties seemed...
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Foreign online streaming services must now pay into fund for Canadian news, content
The Canadian Press 04/06/2024 Online streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify are being told they must start contributing money toward local news and the production of Canadian content. On Tuesday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission directed foreign streamers to pay five per cent of their annual Canadian revenues into a fund. That fund will be devoted to producing local TV and radio news, Indigenous content, French-language content and content created by those with a diverse background. The CRTC said the fund is expected to inject about $200 million into Canada’s broadcasting system every year beginning in September. Companies that are not affiliated with a Canadian broadcaster, and that make at least $25 million from Canadian broadcasting, would be required to pay. The move is meant to level the...
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English museum to return headdress to Alberta’s Siksika First Nation
The Canadian Press 04/06/2024 An English museum is returning a ceremonial headdress to the First Nation in Alberta that it came from. The Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter, England is to return the Buffalo Woman’s headdress to representatives of the Siksika Blackfoot First Nation in a ceremony at the museum Wednesday. The museum received the headdress in 1920 from Edgar Dewdney, a former governor of the Northwest Territories from which Alberta and Saskatchewan were carved. It’s not clear how Dewdney acquired the headdress, which is crafted with buffalo horns, bird feathers, porcupine quills and adorned with red cloth and brass bells. Research suggests the headdress is a sacred ceremonial item, once traditionally worn by a member of the Blackfoot Holy Buffalo Woman Society. The museum has returned First Nations...
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Rural Manitoba school division in disarray after superintendent dismissed, trustees quit
Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter 04/06/2024 21:04 There is turmoil and unanswered questions in a Manitoba school division this week, after the board’s superintendent was suddenly dismissed, and three trustees walked off the job all in a matter of days. On Monday, the Mountain View School Division (MVSD) released a statement on their website confirming that Stephen Jaddock had been removed from his role as superintendent of the Dauphin-based school division, but gave no indication as to why the decision was made. The division released a second statement on Tuesday morning confirming that on Monday MVSD “long time” trustees Leifa Misko, Floyd Martens, and Scott McCallum had all tendered their resignations from the board effective immediately. In her resignation letter which was sent to the Winnipeg Sun,...
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A 100-year-old Canadian D-Day veteran on remembrance, peace and the threat of war
The Canadian Press 05/06/2024 Richard Rohmer is not sentimental when he says, matter-of-factly, that this may be his last D-Day anniversary trip to France. At 100 years old, the Second World War veteran says this 80th anniversary is his last decennial commemoration, and perhaps the last time he makes the trip to France at all. “This is the last one. This is the 80th anniversary and there won’t be any others to follow because we’re running out of people,” he said of the anniversaries marked every 10 years. “But the opportunity to be there for the 80th is an important one to me because I was there for the beginning.” Rohmer is part of a dwindling camp of Canadian veterans who fought in a battle that altered the course of...
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Six Nations man facing drug and firearm charges
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER-A Six Nations man is facing drug and firearm charges after police were called when shots were fired at a Bateman Line residence May 28th, 2024, at about 7:05 a.m.. Police responded to the Bateman Line address and found two suspects believed involved in an alleged shooting at a Seneca Road address. Both were arrested and taken into police custody without incident. The next day, May 29th, 2024, Six Nations Police executed Section 487 Search Warrants on a mobile trailer located on Seneca Road along with two motor vehicles. The search resulted in the seizure of a handgun loaded with ammunition, large quantity of Fentanyl with a street value of approximately $50,000. Police also seized digital scales, weapons, drug packaging materials, firearm ammunition and cell phones....
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Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs urge banks to snub TC Energy bonds
The Canadian Press 04/06/2024 15:52 An Indigenous group that opposed the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline is urging banks and investors against financing a proposed second phase of the project. Hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation of B.C. have written an open letter to Canada’s biggest banks and investors urging them to make a public commitment not to buy any new bonds issued by Calgary-based TC Energy Corp., the company behind Coastal GasLink. The Coastal GasLink pipeline, which was designed to transport natural gas from Western Canada to the Shell-led LNG Canada export facility currently nearing completion in Kitimat, B.C., was completed last fall. TC Energy has not yet made a final investment decision on a potential Phase 2 of the project, which could see the construction of...
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Ontario creates new rules on benzene pollution aimed at one Sarnia company
The Canadian Press 04/06/2024 Ontario has created new rules specifically for one Sarnia, Ont., plastics plant to try to ensure it stops emitting high levels of benzene that have affected a neighbouring First Nation for years. The province has issued four orders to Ineos Styrolution since 2019, recently temporarily shut down the facility and added new conditions to its licence that it must meet before it restarts operations – but the government says benzene levels remain elevated. The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks says it is very concerned about elevated levels of benzene recorded around the Aamjiwnaang First Nation. The community is across the road from Ineos and ministry analysis has confirmed that the company is the primary source of the benzene affecting the people of Aamjiwnaang First...
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Trial hears Jeremy Skibicki killed 4 women because he was on a ‘mission from God’
The Canadian Press 04/06/2024 14:52 Jeremy Skibicki killed four women and knew it was wrong but did it because he was under a psychotic delusion that he was on a mission from God, court heard Tuesday. Dr. Sohom Das, a forensic psychiatrist from the United Kingdom, testified the killings came after years of violent acts by Skibicki stemming from mental illness. “I believe the delusions and the psychotic symptoms caused by schizophrenia directly motivated those killings,” Das, testifying for the defence, told Skibicki’s murder trial. “He believed in his mind that he was on a mission from God. He felt compelled to carry out the killings.” Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the 2022 slayings of the four Indigenous women in Winnipeg: Rebecca Contois, 24; Morgan...
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Online streaming services must now pay into fund for Canadian news, content
The Canadian Press 04/06/2024 12:59 Online streaming services like Netflix and Spotify are being told they must start contributing money toward local news and the production of Canadian content. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has directed foreign streamers today to pay five per cent of their annual Canadian revenues into a fund. That fund will be devoted to producing local TV and radio news, Indigenous content, French-language content, and content created by those with a diverse background. The CRTC says the fund is expected to inject about $200 million into Canada’s broadcasting system every year. Those responsible to pay would be companies that are not affiliated with a Canadian broadcaster that make at least $25 million from Canadian broadcasting. The new directive is meant to level the playing field...
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