Landslide sets off evacuation order for those living along B.C.’s Chilcotin River
Canadian Press 31/07/2024 The Cariboo Regional District in British Columbia’s central Interior has issued an immediate evacuation order for 34 parcels of land along the Chilcotin River because of a landslide. The district says in a statement that the order was issued due to immediate danger to life and safety because of flooding caused by the slide. A map released by the district shows the order covers a stretch of the river about 30 kilometres long, spanning nearly 73 square kilometres. The district has also declared a state of local emergency as it tells residents to gather their family and take anyone else who may need help to get out. It says people should take available routes north to Highway 20 and east to the community of Williams Lake. The...
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FWFN discusses community concerns during safety meeting
By Katie Nicholls, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 31/07/2024 FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION — After declaring a state of emergency regarding the opioid crisis, Fort William First Nation held a community meeting earlier this week to hear residents’ concerns. “We knew that it was important to gather with our community and get some input from them on what they see as priorities for actions, and their input is very important to how we move forward,” Chief Michele Solomon said. Solomon said most of the concerns that were discussed included non-community members entering the First Nation, participating in criminal activity as well as being violent and bringing drugs. She noted that it was a good opportunity for First Nation residents to share positive thoughts and stories, and to speak openly during the...
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The Blueberry River First Nations’ oil and gas dispute is a failure of colonial-imposed governance
By Giuseppe Amatulli The Conversation The Blueberry River First Nations (BRFN) has, for a few years now, been locked in a dispute with the B.C. government over oil and gas development on its land. These tensions came to a head in 2021 when the BRFN won a landmark court case against the province as the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that Blueberry River First Nations were not properly consulted. The 2021 verdict led to the signing of an Implementation Agreement in 2023 which generated hope things could be done differently in an area rich in natural resources. The agreement laid out how the province and the BRFN aimed to build a “new collaborative, long-term and evolving relationship in relation to land, resources and economic development in respect of the claim area.”...
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Poilievre holds campaign rally in Fort Frances
By Ken Kellar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 31/07/2024 Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre is hoping a stop in the Rainy River District will turn into more votes for his party come next year’s election, and he is promising bigger paycheques, fewer taxes and less crime to those who help him form the next federal government. Poilievre held a political rally in Fort Frances on Monday, July 29, 2024. As the daylight turned long down Church Street, hundreds of supporters and those seeking to feel out the Conservative Party of Canada leader filed into the Fort Frances Royal Canadian Legion Branch #29 to hear him speak. Poilievre was in the Rainy River District earlier this week as part of his “Axe the Tax” tour, a series of stops across...
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Amnesty International names Wet’suwet’en chief Canada’s first prisoner of conscience
The Canadian Press 31/07/2024 Amnesty International called for the release of a First Nations chief who is serving two months of house arrest Wednesday, naming him Canada’s first prisoner of conscience. Chief Dsta’hyl was arrested in 2021 for breaching a court order not to impede construction of the Coastal GasLink liquefied natural gas pipeline, and is currently confined to house arrest for contempt of court. The chief, who also goes by the name Adam Gagnon, represents the Likhts’amisyu clan within the Wet’suwet’en Nation. “The extraction industries have been protected by the government and encouraged to just keep raping the land,” Dsta’hyl said at a press conference, where he appeared by video from his home. “It’s up to us as Wet’suwet’en people to protect the land,” he told reporters Wednesday. Amnesty...
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Two witnesses storm out of House committee in tears, decrying Liberal politicization
The Canadian Press 31/07/2024 Two witnesses stormed out of a parliamentary committee meeting Wednesday, after Liberals tried to steer a planned discussion about violence against women towards the topic of abortion rights. The rare summer hearing of the House of Commons status of women committee was organized so MPs could hear from advocates and a deputy chief of the Peel Regional Police. Though witnesses set out to sombrely argue that the current justice and bail system is failing victims, the session quickly derailed into a mess of political bickering. During an opening statement, Cait Alexander, who heads up the advocacy group End Violence Everywhere, shared her personal story as her family looked on in a public seating area. “I’m supposed to be dead,” she said, showing MPs graphic photos of...
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Knowledge-keeper Cecilia DeRose recognized for her ‘massive impact’ in Secwépemc communities
By Dionne Phillips, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Wren 31/07/2024 At the kitchen table of her home in Williams Lake, Secwépemc Elder Cecilia Dick DeRose sits across from her daughter Lulu, who is beading a hat. Lulu learned to bead from her mother, who has taught multiple generations in their family about their culture, including berry picking, working with buckskin and speaking Secwepemctsín. “She just immersed it into our life,” Lulu says. “It was part of our life, part of our culture, automatically.” These teachings have extended far beyond DeRose’s own family, and she has taught many people about language, plant medicines, cultural safety and much more. Her ongoing work as a knowledge-keeper was recognized by Thompson Rivers University, which recently awarded DeRose with an honorary degree for her “massive...
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FWFN discusses community concerns during safety meeting
By Katie Nicholls, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 31/07/2024 FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION — After declaring a state of emergency regarding the opioid crisis, Fort William First Nation held a community meeting earlier this week to hear residents’ concerns. “We knew that it was important to gather with our community and get some input from them on what they see as priorities for actions, and their input is very important to how we move forward,” Chief Michele Solomon said. Solomon said most of the concerns that were discussed included non-community members entering the First Nation, participating in criminal activity as well as being violent and bringing drugs. She noted that it was a good opportunity for First Nation residents to share positive thoughts and stories, and to speak openly during the...
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Man runs over moving ground to narrowly escape landslide along B.C. river: rescu
The Canadian Press 31/07/2024 A man camping along the Chilcotin River in British Columbia’s central Interior woke up to the sound of a landslide overnight Tuesday and managed to run to safety as the ground moved beneath his feet. Debra Bortolussi with Central Cariboo Search and Rescue said the man told rescuers the next morning that he had set up camp with his dog during a rafting trip, when he heard sounds of the slide at around midnight and started running. “It genuinely seems like a miracle that he did not get caught in it,” Bortolussi said in an interview following Wednesday’s rescue operation. “It directly came down overtop of where he was,” she said. “His tent, his raft, everything was taken out by the landslide itself.” The man’s dog...
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Algoma receives funding to stop the spread of Canada’s ‘worst invasive plant’
By K Darbyson Journalism Initiative 31/07/2024 22:50 The Invasive Species Centre recently set aside over $650,000 to help combat one of the most unwelcome plants in the country, with some of that money being sent to the Algoma District. These local beneficiaries include the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre ($18,400), Sheshegwaning First Nation ($2,500) and Garden River First Nation’s Lands and Resources department ($9,020), with the rest of the funding being spread out to 35 additional organizations across the province. Jenna White, a policy coordinator for the Invasive Species Centre, said this boost in funding, bolstered by a “significant” investment from the province, is designed to support a range of activities to reduce the presence of phragmites across Ontario. “These projects, as well as the many others supported under the...
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Robinson Huron trustees argue lawyer fees in court
By K. Darbyson Local Journalism Initiative 31/07/2024 A dispute between Robinson Huron trustees over “excessive” lawyer fees made its way to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Tuesday, attracting as many as 1,000 online viewers in the process. This public hearing was called after chiefs Craig Nootchtai (Atikameksheng Anishnawbek) and Karen Bell (Garden River First Nation) submitted a judicial review application over the $510 million that was set aside for their attorneys in the historic Robinson Huron Treaty settlement. While the applicants admit these lawyers “played an important role” in securing $10 billion from the provincial and federal governments (for not following the original terms of the 1850 treaty) they believe this $510 million legal bill is not “fair or reasonable.” Attorney Michael Rosenberg expanded upon this argument on...
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One of world’s oldest sacred shrines could return to remote Indigenous settlement in B.C.
By Odette Auger Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 31/07/2024 Members of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations Whalers’ Shrine Repatriation Committee travelled to New York recently in an effort to try to bring back one of the world’s most sacred structures. Committee members went to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to formally meet with the museum’s Cultural Resources Office. The representatives from the First Nations in British Columbia are keen to bring the Whalers’ Shrine back home to Yuquot, a village in Nootka Island, on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island. The shrine was where Nuu-chah-nulth whalers prayed and practiced ritual oosemich (bathing) to prepare for the physical and spiritual challenges they faced when hunting. There are 88 carved human figures, four carved whale figures and 16 human skulls in the...
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‘A moving monster’: How did the Jasper fire get so bad, so fast?
The Canadian Press The fast-moving Jasper, Alta., wildfire was fuelled by a web of extreme conditions that converged into what experts described as a monstrous fire, serving as a disastrous example of what’s become increasingly common across Canada’s boreal forest. What has happened in Jasper National Park is a “microcosm of what we’re seeing across Western Canada,” said wildfire risk expert and former Parks Canada wildland firefighter Mathieu Bourbonnais. More than 20,000 people in and around the Rocky Mountain townsite were ordered to evacuate last Monday. By Wednesday night, fires had reached Jasper, with flames and smoke so intense it forced first responders to briefly retreat. About 30 per cent of the townsite has been destroyed. Questions and accusations have followed, including from critics who argue Parks Canada and other...
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Amnesty International names Wet’suwet’en chief Canada’s first prisoner of conscience
The Canadian Press Amnesty International is calling for the release of a First Nations chief who was convicted of criminal contempt, and is calling him Canada’s first prisoner of conscience. Chief Dsta’hyl, who represents one of the clans within the Wet’suwet’en Nation, also goes by the name Adam Gagnon. He was arrested in 2021 for breaching a court order not to impede construction of the Coastal GasLink liquefied natural gas pipeline, and is currently confined to house arrest. Amnesty argues this amounts to unjust confinement of the chief and others who defend their land and rights during a climate emergency. The group says the court order is unjust because it bans activities that should be protected under the Charter right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. This is the...
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Champion of Champions Pow wow battles the heat and wins
Six Nations annual Champions of Champions Powwow brought out the crowds By Austin Evans Writer Hundreds of participants from across Turtle Island brought their dances to the Champion of Champions Powwow. The crowd rose for the veterans bringing in the flags on Saturday, and many kept standing to cheer for the hundreds of dancers who followed them during the Grand Entrance. The dancers came to Six Nations from all over the continent. Esgenoôpetitj resident Serena Perley-Kingbird was excited to bring her jingle dance from New Brunswick to Six Nations for the first time. “It makes me feel happy,” she said. “Powwow is the best!” Mike Dashner of Bad River, Wisconsin has been a traditional dancer since 1977 and plans to keep dancing for the foreseeable future. “It’s everything from a...
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Six Nations lined the streets and packed the arena to meet with Stanley Cup winner Brandon Montour
By Austin Evans Writer Chiefswood Road and Fourth Line were flooded with red jerseys, signs, and flags welcoming Six Nations’ own Brandon Montour home alongside the hard-fought Stanley Cup. Exactly one month after the Florida Panthers took the win over the Edmonton Oilers, Six Nations held a parade showing Montour and the Cup off to the community before inviting them to take pictures with him. Montour said he wanted to play in the NHL since the first time he wore a pair of skates. “I was just that little kid that was a hockey nerd, knew everything about that team, knew every time they won, all their goals, all their assists,” he said. “Ever since I became a fan, to be honest, it has been what my goal is and...
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Mohawk Institute Survivors Secretariat gets funds cut
A four-year-old boy was murdered at Mt. Elgin Residential School, but his family members can’t find his body. He was thrown out a window because he was crying. He was crying because his ears were infected so severely, they were leaking blood and puss. “It’s the truth. It’s well documented. We have the records from the London hospital where he died. We have all of the medical records and the coroner’s report,” Diane Hill, a board member of the Survivors Secretariat and survivor of the Mohawk Institute Residential School said. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon account and the Canadian government continues to throw up roadblocks for families and communities to locate their ancestors, despite acknowledging the residential school system as a cultural genocide in 2022. Hill has been working...
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Government cuts funding for residential school searches
It was just last month that Kimberly Murray, the federal point person for missing children and unmarked graves, made the recommendation that there needs to be long-term, sustainable funding from the federal government in the search of former residential school sites. But it already seems that Murray’s recommendations are being ignored, with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) last week quietly making devastating funding cuts to the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund, which those in the field say could have immense impacts on their searches for unmarked graves. “This is just par for the course with CIRNAC. They don’t talk to communities, they don’t talk to the people they need to talk to. I wonder if they even read my interim report,” Murray said. “They were certainly...
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Battery storage projects could see up to $48 million in revenue to Six Nations
By Austin Evans Writer Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation’s (SNGRDC) plan to tackle provincial energy waste could translate into $48 million in profits for the community over the next two decades. SNGRDC, and its partner Aypa Power, held two community engagement sessions at Six Nations recently explaining while they may be a minority shareholder they are working to expand. SNGRDC and Aypa Power are partnering on battery energy storage system (BESS) projects. The information sessions were held July 20 and July 25. Battery storage systems are designed to store surplus energy from the power grid during periods of low demand and release that energy back into the grid to meet high demand. Consultant Amy Lickers said each of the systems would be able to store up to...
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Public safety and local businesses questioned at SNEC
Six Nations community members have concerns about public safety and the people running businesses on the reserve. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) plans to take the concerns seriously and discuss solutions and action plans at its committees. SNEC discussed long-standing community concerns about the amount of non-Indigenous people doing business on reserve, the growing drug problem and the fear for the community’s safety at its General Council meeting on July 23 and ultimately decided to break up the issues and send them to committees. “It’s always important I don’t want folks to become overwhelmed.” Nathan Wright, CEO said. “What we do is take the first steps and start looking at it from the standpoint of committees.” Councillor Alaina VanEvery said SNEC has had brief discussions about some of the issues,...
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