Work continues on alert system for missing Indigenous women: minister
The Canadian Press The federal government says it’s making progress on a pilot program for an alert system that would inform the public when an Indigenous woman or girl is missing. The federal and Manitoba governments have been working on a Red Dress Alert system. It would be similar to Amber Alerts, which are used when a child is abducted, and the aim is to eventually make it countrywide. Gary Anandasangaree, the federal minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations, says a Manitoba Indigenous group has been selected to lead the pilot, which was first announced in May. Statistics Canada said in a report last year that the homicide rate for Indigenous women and girls was six times higher than the rate for their non-Indigenous counterparts. The federal budget set aside $1.3 million...
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First Nations take a stand against nuclear waste in the North
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THUNDER BAY – Pays Plat First Nation member Sharlene Bourdeau Waboose was clear about her reason for participating in Wednesday’s rally at Waverley Park. “Because Pays Plat is against the burial of nuclear waste in the North,” she said just before the rally got underway. Leaders “have to think of the next seven generations,” she said, and the deep geological repository’s proponents “are not thinking of the next seven generations. “I’m thinking of a couple of hundred years from now. Something that’s manmade is not going to last, then it’s going to poison the environment.” Bourdeau Waboose was among nearly 200 people who gathered in the north-side city park for a rally against nuclear waste storage in Northwestern Ontario. Julia Rusnak, a Lac...
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Civilization 7 makers work with Shawnee to bring sincere representation of the tribe to the game
MIAMI, Okla. (AP) — Shawnee Tribe Chief Ben Barnes grew up playing video games, including “probably hundreds of hours” colonizing a distant planet in the 1999 title Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri. So when that same game studio, Firaxis, approached the tribal nation a quarter-century later with a proposal to make a playable character out of their famous leader Tecumseh in the upcoming game Civilization 7, Barnes felt a rush of excitement. “I was like, ‘This can’t be true,’” Barnes said. “Do they want us to participate in the next version of Civilization?” Beloved by tens of millions of gamers since its 1991 debut, Meier’s Civilization series sparked a new genre of empire-building games that simulated the real world while also diverging into imaginary twists. It has captivated nerdy fans like...
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City police place officer in First Nations high school
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THUNDER BAY – Eric Gray remembers feeling uncertain about police when he arrived in the city from Sandy Lake First Nation to attend Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School. “Coming into Thunder Bay, I was nervous about the police because I have heard all these stories about what they’ve done to First Nations people,” he said. Having a dedicated school resource officer “makes me feel better about that,” he said after it was announced that the Thunder Bay Police Service has launched a partnership with the school’s operator. DFC, as it’s called, is run by the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council for teens like Gray who come from First Nations where high schools aren’t available. Thursday at the council’s offices on Hewitson Street, the joint...
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First Nations couple climbs to Mount Everest Base Camp
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A Northwestern Ontario couple have proudly carried the flags of their First Nations to a place few Indigenous people from Canada have been before: base camp on the world’s highest mountain. Travis and Marietta Duncan posted photos of themselves holding up the flags of Bearskin Lake and Muskrat Dam First Nations on Facebook earlier this week. Reaching Everest Base Camp after a 15-day trek evoked “a feeling of self-accomplishment for both of us,” Travis, from Muskrat Dam, said in an interview Thursday from Lukla, Nepal. “We also wanted to represent our communities in a positive way,” he added. “It was also overwhelming too, because the scenery was so beautiful in the mountains,” said Marietta, who is from Bearskin Lake. “It was just a...
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Lawyer for only RCMP officer convicted in Dale Culver’s death requests obstruction case be dropped
By Amy Romer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Lawyers for a “Prince George” Mountie convicted of obstruction in the death of Dale Culver are calling for a stay of proceedings — a “legal maneuver” that has “outraged” Gitanyow leaders. The 35-year-old Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en man died in police custody in 2017, sparking an investigation by the province’s police watchdog. In July, a judge found Const. Arthur Dalman guilty of obstruction of justice for ordering bystanders to delete cellphone footage of Culver’s violent arrest. It was the only guilty verdict in the case. But just three weeks later, Dalman’s lawyers applied for a stay of proceedings, arguing his Charter rights were breached, including the right to a trial within a reasonable time. The B.C. Prosecution Service (BCPS) confirmed the Aug. 16 filing...
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Public school board candidate decries First Nation residents’ exclusion
By: Maggie Macintosh Local Journalism Initiative Reporter An Anishinaabe candidate in the Mountain View School Division’s upcoming byelection is calling for systemic change so on-reserve residents have a say in choosing the people making decisions about the public schools their children attend. Scott Lynxleg said he was shocked and saddened to learn that members of Tootinaowaziibeeng First Nation, located about 100 kilometres northwest of Dauphin, are ineligible to nominate or vote for local school board candidates. “It just feels wrong,” said Lynxleg, a father and grandfather of public school students who splits his time between Tootinaowaziibeeng and his main residence in Dauphin. Lynxleg is seeking a vacant seat in Ward 2 of his division’s embattled board of trustees. A byelection to fill four vacancies in Mountain View is scheduled for...
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Inuit lawmaker asked to leave the podium at Danish Parliament after speaking only in Greenlandic
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A lawmaker representing Greenland in Denmark’s Parliament was asked to leave the podium of the assembly after she refused to translate her speech delivered in Greenlandic — the Inuit language of the sparsely populated Arctic island — into Danish, highlighting strained relations within the Danish Realm. Aki-Matilda Høgh-Dam, from the social democratic Siumut party, is at the center of a debate about whether lawmakers from Greenland and the Faeroe Islands can speak in their own tongues before the Danish Parliament. The two semi-independent territories each hold two seats in the Folketing in Copenhagen. During a traditional debate day Thursday, where parties’ political affairs spokespeople explain their party’s line, Høgh-Dam gave an eight-minute speech in Greenlandic. She had beforehand distributed a translation of her speech to the...
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What the parties are promising ahead of the British Columbia provincial election
The British Columbia’s New Democrats released the party’s platform Thursday days after the Greens unveiled a plan for government ahead of the election on Oct. 19. The B.C. Conservative Party has not released its platform, but has made a series of policy announcements and promises as election day approaches. Here is a look at some of the top promises made by each major party: NDP — Leader David Eby made perhaps the biggest promises in the fall campaign before it even began, promising that a re-elected NDP government would open involuntary-care facilities for those with overlapping addictions, mental illness, and brain injuries. — Eby also promised that the NDP would scrap B.C.’s long-standing carbon tax if the federal government dropped its requirement for the tax, and would instead shift the...
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‘You were innocent’: Judge acquits Manitoba man 50 years after murder conviction
Canadian Press-An Indigenous man convicted of killing a restaurant worker 50 years ago was acquitted Thursday by a judge who called the case a wrongful conviction that involved systemic discrimination. Clarence Woodhouse, 72, held up his court papers, along with a T-shirt that said “Innocent,” outside court. He told reporters he is looking forward to spending time with his son and grandchildren. “I’ll probably just relax,” Woodhouse said in a quiet voice. Woodhouse is the third man to be exonerated in the 1973 death of Ting Fong Chan, a chef who was beaten and stabbed near a downtown construction site. Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse were acquitted last year. The federal justice minister ordered a review of their case as likely miscarriages of justice. Their 1974 convictions were based largely...
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Indigenous youth descend upon Iqaluit for climate conference
By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter For some attendees, a youth conference in Iqaluit this week is a-once in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the Nunavut capital and its landscapes. The SevenGen Indigenous Youth Energy Summit kicked off in the city Tuesday and runs through Thursday. Events are being held at the Aqsarniit hotel and Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park. The three-day event, which was previously held at locations in the south, has attracted more than 100 Indigenous delegates from across Canada. Keynote speakers, panels on environment-related topics, skills and career development workshops and on-the-land lessons are all on the agenda. Mihskwakwan James Harper is one of the organizers of the SevenGen Indigenous Youth Energy Summit in Iqaluit. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier) “I’m Woodlands Cree, so we’re surrounded by nothing but trees....
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Zone for eastern Hudson Bay beluga protection shrinks, Inukjuak now outside it
By Cedric Gallant, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The boundary that marks a protection zone for belugas in the eastern Hudson Bay Region is smaller after a recommendation from Nunavik’s marine wildlife management board was accepted by the federal government. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced the change Thursday in a news release. Hunters are limited to a total allowable harvest of belugas within this zone per year. But the northern boundary of the beluga management zone is now south of Inukjuak, which means hunters in that community can now harvest an unlimited number of beluga in their coastal waters. The Nastapoka River estuary and the Little Whale River estuary are still considered closed areas, and require an approved estuary harvest plan for opening. Hunters who wish to hunt...
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‘You were innocent’: Judge acquits Manitoba man 50 years after murder conviction
An Indigenous man convicted of killing a restaurant worker 50 years ago was acquitted Thursday by a judge who called the case a wrongful conviction that involved systemic discrimination. Clarence Woodhouse, 72, held up his court papers, along with a T-shirt that said “Innocent”, outside court. He told reporters he is looking forward to spending time with his son and grandchildren. “I’ll probably just relax,” Woodhouse said in a quiet voice. Woodhouse is the third man to be exonerated in the 1973 death of Ting Fong Chan, a chef who was beaten and stabbed near a downtown construction site. Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse were acquitted last year. The federal justice minister ordered a review of their case as likely miscarriages of justice. Their 1974 convictions were based largely on...
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Federal fisheries officers refusing duties because of violence on the water in N.S.
(CP)-Federal fisheries officers in Nova Scotia say they’re refusing some enforcement duties because of threats to their safety, as they await Ottawa’s response to their complaints. The union representing the officers says its members have been shot at, that people have tried to steal their firearms, and that officers — and their families — have been threatened for trying to stop illegal fishing. “They’ve been exposed to firearms such as automatic weapons (against) which their current body armour does not protect them,” Shimen Fayad, president of the Union of Health and Environment Workers, said in an email Wednesday. She said a federal labour investigator is reviewing documents from the Fisheries Department and from officers who have refused some enforcement duties on the water and on wharfs in the province. We...
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snx̌aʔiwləm gathering celebrates salmon and their revival in syilx Okanagan waterways
By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Community members from across the syilx Okanagan Nation gathered last week for their annual autumn salmon feast, to honour ntytyix (Chief Salmon) and to celebrate successes restoring the fish to their ancestral waterways. The Sept. 22 event concluded the Okanagan Nation Alliance’s three-day snx̌aʔiwləm (honouring the sacredness of the river) gathering at sx̌ʷəx̌ʷnitkʷ (Okanagan Falls), an ancient fishing site reclaimed by the nation last year. “It was a good run for our people this year,” said Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie (y̓ilmixʷm ki law na) before the feast. “It was so cool to see so many of our people … fishing like our people have fished here for thousands of years.” skwelcampt, from syilx and Secwépemc Nations, is pictured at a salmon feast...
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Tragedy in a tiny community: young Ditidaht man charged with first degree murder
By Eric Plummer Local Journalism Initiative After scores of police officers descended on it, the tiny community of Nitinat, north of Port Renfrew must now come to terms with the tragic events that unfolded there over the past weekend. Nitinat is nestled along the edge of a large cutblock of trees near Cowichan Lake off North Shore Rd. It is a community of about 350 people on the Malachan Indian Reserve at Nitinat Lake around 100 kilometres northwest of Victoria. Early last Saturday morning, around 7a.m., Lake Cowichan RCMP were called to a house where they say they found a man dead and a “situation at hand.” That situation required multiple support units to be called in along with an Emergency Response team that included an armoured vehicle and multiple officers...
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Manitoba man acquitted 50 years after murder conviction
(CP)-A Manitoba man convicted of murder 50 years ago has been acquitted. Clarence Woodhouse was found guilty in 1974 of fatally beating and stabbing a restaurant worker in downtown Winnipeg. He was granted parole in 1983 and filed last year for a ministerial review of his conviction. His lawyers argued a confession Woodhouse supposedly made was in fluent English, although he primarily spoke Saulteaux. The federal justice minister ordered a new trial earlier this year, and the Crown acknowledged in Winnipeg court on Thursday that the case was a miscarriage of justice. Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench said systemic discrimination affected the police investigation and the prosecution of the case. Two other men convicted in the killing, Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse, had their...
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Rally condemns idea of nuclear waste in North
By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Around 150 people comprised of representatives from 12 First Nation communities, grassroots First Nations people and supporters filled Waverley Park on Wednesday afternoon in a rally opposing the possible transport and disposal of nuclear waste in the North. The rally came on the heels of the 12 First Nations’ chiefs sending a letter to Nuclear Waste Management Organization president Laurie Swami opposing the potential storage of nuclear waste in Ignace. Many Indigenous people, like elder Katherine Fobister of Grassy Narrows First Nation, are suffering from mercury poisoning found in the rivers and lakes where they gather food. Many fear radiation from the transportation and disposal of nuclear waste would further risk the health of both people and animals. “There’s a plaque in Dryden,...
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Federal fisheries officers refusing duties because of violence on the water in N.S.
Federal fisheries officers in Nova Scotia say they’re refusing some enforcement duties because of threats to their safety, as they await Ottawa’s response to their complaints. The union representing the officers says its members have been shot at, that people have tried to steal their firearms, and that officers — and their families — have been threatened for trying to stop illegal fishing. “They’ve been exposed to firearms such as automatic weapons (against) which their current body armour does not protect them,” Shimen Fayad, president of the Union of Health and Environment Workers, said in an email Wednesday. She said a federal labour investigator is reviewing documents from the Fisheries Department and from officers who have refused some enforcement duties on the water and on wharfs in the province. We...
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New deal signed between Sakku and Arctic Gateway Group
By Darrell Greer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Kivalliq News Arctic Gateway Group (AGG) and Sakku Investments Corp. (Sakku) have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at fostering regional economic development, creating new opportunities for growth, and deepening the historical connection between the Kivalliq region and Manitoba. The partnership with Rankin Inlet-based Sakku, the development corporation of the Kivalliq Inuit Association, is set to advance joint initiatives that will contribute to the economic growth of both regions, with a focus on transportation, energy and telecommunications, infrastructure development and workforce development. “We are excited to partner with Sakku to leverage the Arctic Trade Corridor,” said AGG CEO Chris Avery. “This agreement is designed to bring economic growth and cost savings to Kivallirmiut and Northern Manitoba, while also strengthening...
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