Manitoba to encourage renewable energy while acknowledging fossil fuel use
The Canadian Press Manitoba’s government says it will encourage the development of renewable energy in the province while acknowledging fossil fuels aren’t going away any time soon. Premier Wab Kinew says his government will provide loan guarantees to help First Nations build up to 600 megawatts of new wind-powered electricity generation. He says there will also be continued incentives to buy zero-emission vehicles. Kinew says his New Democrat government will ensure growth of the charging network for those vehicles. The plan also includes moves to increase energy efficiency in buildings and encourage homebuilders to install devices such as heat pumps in new construction. Kinew says nearly three-quarters of Manitoba’s energy use is from fossil fuels and those energy sources will remain important. But he says the government will bring in...
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Next phase of benzene removal at INEOS to start in October
By Melissa Roushorne, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter e next phase of the removal process of benzene from the INEOS Styrolution plant is set to begin shortly and with that a community meeting took place Wednesday to discuss measures and concerns within the community. “We wanted to communicate the plan B of the plan that INEOS had provided to the Aamjiwnaang First Nation,” says Chief of Aamjiwnaang First Nation Janelle Nahmabin. “I feel like we’re doing a great job on our end communicating with the members of our community. We are anticipating as a precaution, we will be doing a partial evacuation in our community…We’ve had high levels of benzene in the past and being aware about anticipated higher levels. Not drastic, but enough for our 27th threshold.” When benzene levels...
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Red Rock Indian Band getting $1.9M for new facility
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter LAKE HELEN – Chief Allan Odawa Jr. said Thursday the idea behind the future Lake Helen Wellbeing and Cultural Centre is “bringing culture back to our people” and he’s happy the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation is helping to make it happen. Odawa was speaking minutes after Northern Development Minister Greg Rickford announced the NOHFC is ponying up $1.88 million for the facility, which will include an accessible gymnasium, community kitchen and space for training and business incubator activity. “The NOHFC investments we are recognizing today underscore our government’s commitment to reconciliation and meaningful partnership with northern and First Nations communities,” Rickford said in a news conference at the Chalet Lodge. “By supporting these crucial projects – from cultural centres to essential infrastructure...
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‘Explaining to scientists why art is important’: Nunatsiavut artist-in-residency program connects Indigenous artists with important themes
By Anasophie Vallee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter “For me, the highlight is seeing individuals be able to do something new with their art and validate themselves as artists,” said Jessica Winters, an Inuit artist from Makkovik, N.L. Winters is the co-lead, alongside Melanie Zurba, for the arts collective with the Sustainable Nunatsiavut Futures (SNF) project. Science can be foreign The residency program offers Indigenous artists the opportunity to get funding to create work that highlights a particular theme, such as food security, ice safety, Inuit self-determination, informed management solutions, and climate change. In using these themes to inspire their work, artists can help communicate important research and information through their art, explained Winters. “Science can be so foreign, and research and stuff – it’s jargony and complex and methodical,” she...
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Dangerous offender who left Alberta woman in vegetative state denied parole
The Canadian Press The Parole Board of Canada says a man who assaulted a young pregnant woman and left her for dead remains too dangerous to be released into the community. Albert Muckle, who is now 44, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault and attempted murder in the 2005 attack on the Banff, Alta., hotel worker. Court heard that Muckle beat her unconscious and stole $20. He later returned and sexually assaulted her before attempting to strangle her with her purse strap. He was declared a dangerous offender and handed an indefinite sentence. The woman remains in a persistent vegetative state, unable to speak or move. At his parole hearing in B.C., Muckle refused to talk about the attack. “I’m not comfortable talking about it. I’m really not,” he told...
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Clean water for First Nations needed before next elections, House committee hears
By Matteo Cimellaro Local Journalism Initiative A remote northern Ontario First Nation now has a water treatment plant, but is still unable to lift its boil water advisory of almost three decades. MP Charlie Angus, who represents Neskantaga First Nation, 436 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, told a federal committee the community’s pipes are rotting. “I was trying to figure out again, how is it possible that we could build a water treatment plant in the community without clean water, and we still don’t have it?” Angus asked. “And they said it was the same as if you put a new engine into a rotting Ford that’s out by the side of the highway to tell people to drive.” Angus asked what it will take to ensure adequate funding for...
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Thousands march in Toronto to demand justice for Grassy Narrows
By Matteo Cimellaro Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Chrissy Isaacs’s grandson knows the water is sick. He freaks out when he sees someone drinking from the tap. All he has known are big blue water jugs. That’s why Isaac gets emotional today. She’s from Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows First Nation), near the Manitoba and Ontario border, about 500 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay. She has been fighting for environmental justice in her community since she was a youth. Today, she is a grandmother, “I’m still here fighting, you know, and it shouldn’t be that way.” For more than 50 years, Isaac’s community has faced a methylmercury poisoning crisis that has affected five generations of community members. On average, people here live only into their 50s or 60s, which is at...
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“Certainly deserves to be seen,”: CBU opens Kina’masultinej exhibition featuring Mi’kmaq beaders
By Meghan Dewar is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter Cape Breton University’s Art Gallery recently celebrated the opening of their Kina’masultinej exhibition, which features the works of four Mi’kmaq beaders from Eskasoni and Membertou. Beader Jocelyn Marshall of Membertou was delighted to be approached by co-curators Tara Johnson and Greg Davies and asked to include her work. “Tara, the co-curator, has seen some of my work previous. I thought it was a really great opportunity to showcase the work that I wanted to show in its own light, because the majority of my work is custom orders. It was a really great opportunity for me to share some knowledge of our culture, of our art,” Marshall shared. “It’s the 50th anniversary of CBU so our work will be displayed from...
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B.C. First Nations declare state of emergency over opioid crisis and mental health
The Canadian Press Getting a bed at one of British Columbia’s drug detoxification facilities is like winning the lottery, the vice-president on the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council says. Les Doiron told a news conference Thursday that the province does not have enough facilities dedicated to helping those struggling with addiction amid the opioid crisis that has killed more than 15,000 people since a health emergency was declared in B.C. eight years ago. It has had a devastating affect on Indigenous communities, Doiron said. “Island Health has only two (detox) facilities, one in Nanaimo, one in Victoria,” he said at a news conference in Port Alberni, 85 kilometres west of Nanaimo. “And the First Nations Health Authority has 10 in the entire province. So, what happens is that if you want to...
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Webinar explores how BC is grappling with its new wildfire reality
By Rachael Lesosky, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter With more than a million hectares of BC forests burned by wildfires this year, it might be difficult to see any positives in the situation. But, that’s exactly what Narwhal reporter Matt Simmons and a panel of fire experts did during a webinar on September 10. Fire, they realized, is a tool that can connect us to the land – and to each other. “There’s this whole beautiful story of fire and its interconnectedness with plants and people and animals,” said fire ecologist Kira Hoffman. “We often lose that… and we’re not thinking about the many ways of knowing it, or the many ways that we could understand it.” One of the oldest ways of knowing and understanding fire is cultural burns. Darlene...
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Sharing Our Stories: Ohsia’á:ka
Story told by: Billy Two-Rivers, Edited by: Kassidy Jacobs – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter,\ Interview conducted by: Leslie McConnell, Translated by: Karonhí:io Delaronde Jacques Cartier started sailing down south of the Saint Lawrence River, but he wouldn’t come near the South Shore around Longueuil because it was surrounded by shallow mud banks. So naturally, their harbour led right to the shore near the old port of Montreal. When they arrived at the shore, they realized there was already a population residing on the land. Jacques Cartier instructed his men that they must come in peace since they were outnumbered. The only way that the Europeans knew how to represent peace was by a handshake. They would extend their sword hand to shake hands. Now you can’t draw your sword and...
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Lawsuit by Manitoba chiefs urges Lake Winnipeg be legally defined as a person
A Manitoba court is being asked to declare Lake Winnipeg a person with Constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of person. The contention is contained in a lawsuit filed by the province’s Southern Chiefs Organization, which hopes to use the lawsuit to force the government to hold public hearings on Manitoba Hydro’s licence renewal to continue regulating the lake’s waters for power generation. The lawsuit says Lake Winnipeg, one of the world’s largest, has a spirit, is alive and is suffering. It cites declines in the lake’s fish, wildlife and vegetation, as well as problems with algae, E. coli bacteria and invasive species. The lawsuit blames those problems on Manitoba Hydro’s manipulation of water levels, which reverses natural flows and prevents the lake from flushing itself clean. No statements...
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Desjarlais ousted as Chief of Blueberry River First Nations
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Judy Desjarlais has been removed as Chief of Blueberry River First Nations (BRFN). A statement issued on the First Nations’ website stated the removal came at noon on Tuesday, September 17th, saying the decision “was not taken lightly.” Councillor Sherry Dominic of the BRFN council commented on the release, stating that Desjarlais’ ouster was necessary to maintain trust in the Nation’s council. “As a council, we hold a deep responsibility to act in the best interests of our members, and we take this role very seriously,” said Dominic. An independent investigation of Desjarlais by BRFN council launched in December of 2023 concluded Desjarlais had allegedly acted inappropriately with Nation bylaws. The instances highlighted stem from a 2023 agreement...
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Métis Nation Saskatchewan leaves national council, cites concerns with Ontario group
The Canadian Press The Métis Nation of Saskatchewan has pulled out of a national body representing Métis, citing problems with the Métis Nation of Ontario. In a resolution passed this morning, the Métis Nation — Saskatchewan says the Métis Nation of Ontario, which is a member of the national body, accepts and continues to represent people who are not Métis. They also say the Métis National Council has failed to ensure the integrity of the Ontario group’s citizenship registry and has not rectified it, despite constant calls to do so. A statement from the organization says participation in the Métis National Council is “no longer necessary or beneficial to the work of our nation” as it inches toward self-government. The Métis Nation of Ontario did not immediately respond to a...
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New Brunswick Tory leader kicks off provincial election campaign with fed-bashing
The Canadian Press As New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs started his election campaign Thursday, he claimed his main rivals were already planning a power-sharing deal similar to the now-defunct one between the federal Liberals and NDP. Minutes after announcing a vote would be held Oct. 21, Higgs said provincial Green Party Leader David Coon was drawing up demands for Liberal Leader Susan Holt “in order to get into power” if Higgs’s Progressive Conservatives win a minority government. “This is a direct page out of the Justin Trudeau-Jagmeet Singh playbook,” Higgs said, referring to the confidence and supply agreement that saw Singh’s NDP support Trudeau’s Liberal minority government until earlier this month. “Susan Holt has refused to speak against anything Justin Trudeau has done … we cannot let Susan Holt and...
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Grays Bay road and port could be $1B project, proponent estimates
By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Nunatsiaq News The estimated cost of the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, which would connect resource-rich western Nunavut to the rest of Canada, has nearly doubled according to its proponent. Brendan Bell, CEO of West Kitikmeot Resources Corp., provided a new cost figure to Nunatsiaq News after signing a memorandum of understanding to continue support for the project at the Nunavut Trade Show in Iqaluit on Wednesday. “I would estimate that it’s at least a billion-dollar undertaking at this point,” Bell said. That number is up from a previously estimated $550 million price tag from before the COVID-19 pandemic and recent inflation. As well, plans for the project itself could be changing. “We are having discussions with the coast guard and with...
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After years of advocacy by a pediatrician, all Nunavut babies to get RSV immunization
The Canadian Press 19/09/2024 15:06 The Nunavut government says it will provide immunization against respiratory syncytial virus to all infants in the territory this fall, a policy change that one pediatric infectious diseases specialist has been advocating for decades. “This new immunization program is vital because RSV … poses a significant health risk to infants,” Dr. Ekua Agyemang, Nunavut’s deputy chief medical officer of health, said in an email to The Canadian Press on Thursday. The territory will give infants Nirsevimab, a single-dose antibody injection with the brand name Beyfortus, that was authorized by Health Canada in April 2023. The antibody injection is approved for newborns and infants during their first RSV season, as well as children up to 24 months old who continue to be at risk of severe...
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NWT artists a hit at ‘awesome’ Santa Fe Indian Market
By Tom Taylor Local Journalism Inititative Reporter John Sabourin and his fellow NWT artists were well received at the recent Santa Fe Indian Market in New Mexico. “A lot of people were really curious to hear that there were Canadians and Northern artists down there, so they came just to see us and what we had to sell,” Sabourin said several weeks after returning home from the event. “They said my art was different from everyone else’s down there. People came up and shook my hand and wanted to say congratulations. It was really good.” Organized by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), the market is among the most prestigious and widely-attended Indigenous art markets in the world. This year, the event ran on Aug. 18-19, and a small...
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Brantford police seek public’s help after woman sexual assaulted
BRANTFORD, ONT-Brantford police are asking the public for help after a woman was sexually assaulted by two unknown men Monday, Sept., 16th. Police said are seeking the public’s help to identify two persons of interest involved in an attack that occurred Monday, September 16, 2024, between 6:30 p.m., and 8:00 p.m.,. A woman told police she was sexually assaulted by two unknown men while in the area of the D’Aubigny trail near the Ballantyne Drive boat launch. The suspect’s descriptions are not available. Police said a sexual assault is any unwanted act of a sexual nature imposed by one person upon another. Forced or coerced intercourse, grabbing, touching, or kissing can be defined as sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, the Sexual...
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B.C. and First Nations reach deal to sell 2,600 condos at 60% of market value
The Canadian Press 19/09/2024 13:47 An agreement between First Nations and the British Columbia government will see thousands of homes made available in Vancouver at 40-per-cent below cost. Premier David Eby calls it a “remarkable” accomplishment between the province and the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, which would see about 2,600 homes sold for 60 per cent of the value in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world. The agreement would sell one-, two- and three-bedroom units in a 99-year-lease on First Nations land with the government financing the other 40 per cent of the value to be paid back when the unit is sold or 25 years after the purchase date. There will be screening to stop speculators, while buyers must have a total...
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