Manitoba First Nations leaders applaud Supreme Court affirming Indigenous jurisdiction over child welfare
By Dave Baxter Local Journalism Initiative Reporter First Nations leaders are applauding last week’s Supreme Court decision that affirms Indigenous nations should have jurisdiction over child and family services (CFS) laws and policies in their communities. “The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) recognizes that this decision is positive for First Nations who are developing laws under this framework, with the goal of protecting their children,” AMC Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said in a media release reacting to a decision handed down by the Supreme Court of Canada last Friday to dismiss an appeal launched by the government of Quebec. Quebec’s appeal was centered around Bill C-92: An Act Respecting First Nations, Metis, and Inuit children, youth and families, which the Trudeau government enacted into law in 2020. The law affirmed...
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Opioid crisis and homlessness focus of Blackfoot Nation discussion
By Theodora Macleod LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA-Community members from across Blackfoot Nation gathered on Friday at the Sandman Hotel to discuss the ongoing challenges of the opioid crisis and issues of homelessness. Hosted by the Sik-ooh-kotoki (Lethbridge) Friendship centre, it was a communing of hearts and minds featuring professor and knowledge keeper, Leroy Little Bear, Dr. Esther Tailfeather, and over 100 frontline workers, people experiencing addiction, people in recovery, and loved ones of those who have been lost to drugs. Gathered in a circle at the centre of the conference room, attendees shared their stories and answers to the question posed by Little Bear “What would you say to the Prime Minister and an opioid expert if you were sitting across from them?” Some said they’d have to bite back anger, while...
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Tla’amin Nation set to reclaim village of tisk?at 151 years after it was taken: `It’s like a long lost relative’
By Abby Francis Local Journalism Initiative Reporter For the Tla’amin Nation, the loss of their village site tisk?at has been like “a missing limb” for the community, according to Dillon Johnson. Their home and salmon fishing site was stolen and sold by “British Columbia” 151 years ago at a time when the community’s population was decimated by disease. For the next seven generations, Tla’amin people were separated from tisk?at. People were moved onto reserves, salmon runs were all but wiped out by construction of a new dam, and a paper mill began operating on the site. “I’ve always heard the Elders speaking about it, how you know, that this is tisk?at and our people lived there,” said Johnson, an executive council member for Tla’amin. “The way I’ve always kind of...
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‘Done being patient’: Treaty 4 First Nations suing Ottawa over $5 annuity payments
By Jeremy Simes THE CANADIAN PRESS REGINA- Chief Lynn Acoose says she’s taking a step elders and past Indigenous leaders in her community have long been reluctant to. The chief of Zagime Anishinabek, home to several First Nations in southeastern Saskatchewan, has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the federal government. The suit alleges Ottawa has not kept its end of the bargain over annuity payments after signing Treaty 4 nearly 150 years ago. Chief Derek Nepinak of Minegoziibe Anishinabe in west-central Manitoba is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed this month in Federal Court. Chief Murray Clearsky of Waywayseecappo First Nation filed in January a similar proposed class-action against Ottawa in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench. “We are doing something our elders have counselled us against,” Acoose said in...
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Indigenous chief champions harmony: Record immigration numbers welcomed with open arms
By Michael Staples Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A staunch defender of Indigenous rights and culture in Canada says he’s not worried that a record number of immigrants are making their way into the country. Instead, Chief Allan Polchies Jr. of the New Brunswick-based Sitansisk (St. Mary’s) First Nation is embracing newcomers and applauding them for a willingness to learn about Aboriginal customs and for their overall commitment to make a better society. “It increased immigration certainly doesn’t appear to be a problem,” Polchies told New Canadian Media. “Indigenous Canadians, typically, stand behind immigrants.” According to Statistics Canada, an estimated population of 2.2 million non-permanent residents now outnumbers the 1.8 million Indigenous people enumerated during the 2021 Census. Polchies, who became the first LGBTQ2AI+ chief in Atlantic Canada in 2018, said...
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Supreme Court upholds Ottawa’s Indigenous child welfare law, denies Quebec’s appeal
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- Indigenous communities and leaders across the country cheered Friday as the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the federal government’s child welfare law, affirming that First Nations, Metis and Inuit have sole authority over the protection of their children. The unanimous decision is a setback for the Quebec government, which won a victory in 2022 when the Court of Appeal found that parts of the act overstepped federal jurisdiction. Indigenous leaders lauded the high court’s findings as dozens of the very children at the heart of the decision ran rampant around an Ottawa conference room. “Our peoples have compromised enough,” said Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador regional chief Ghislain Picard. A group of children wearing ribbon skirts, kokum scarves and ribbon shirts sat in...
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Winter roads are in a state of emergency: NAN
By Mike Stimpson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THUNDER BAY- Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) chiefs declared a “winter roads state of emergency” in the concluding statement for their 2024 Chiefs Winter Assembly. The communique, released Thursday at the end of the three-day summit, also declared a “health state of emergency.” The mild winter has given Ontario’s northern remote communities little to no winter road season so far, Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said. As a result, those communities haven’t received essential supplies that normally come in during winter road season. “The heavy tankers that deliver gas, they haven’t even been able to go up to any of our communities,” he told Dougall Media. What can’t be trucked in will have to be flown in, “and that’s way more expensive,” he said. NAN...
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Supreme Court upholds Ottawa’s Indigenous child welfare law, denies Quebec’s appeal
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- Indigenous communities and leaders across the country cheered Friday as the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the federal government’s child welfare law, affirming that First Nations, Metis and Inuit have sole authority over the protection of their children. The unanimous decision is a setback for the Quebec government, which won a victory in 2022 when the Court of Appeal found that parts of the act overstepped federal jurisdiction. Indigenous leaders lauded the high court’s findings as dozens of the very children at the heart of the decision ran rampant around an Ottawa conference room. “Our peoples have compromised enough,” said Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador regional chief Ghislain Picard. A group of children wearing ribbon skirts, kokum scarves and ribbon shirts sat in...
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Poll worker nun triggered some residents at Manitoba Indigenous seniors’ home: report
By Brittany Hobson THE CANADIAN PRESS WINNIPEG- The hiring of a nun to run a mobile voting poll at an Indigenous seniors’ centre during Manitoba’s provincial election did not violate any laws, an investigation by the province’s elections commissioner has determined. However, Bill Bowles did recognize there was distress for residents, many of whom were residential school survivors, at the KeKiNan Centre in Winnipeg’s North End. “It is clear that some of the KeKiNan residents found Sister B’s presence triggering and caused them to relive trauma they experienced in their youth. It is also clear that Sister B intended no harm and in fact had reason to think, on the basis of her previous visit, that she would be welcome,” Bowles wrote in his Feb. 6 decision. An investigation was...
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Mother of two sisters who claimed to be Inuit pleads guilty to fraud
Amira and Nadya Gill received almost $200,000 in grant and scholarship monies intended for Indigenous students. (Supplied photo) NUNAVUT-A Toronto mother involved in a case of Inuit identity fraud has pleaded guilty to one count of fraud after court was told two Inuit associations were defrauded of over $158,000 in education grants and scholarship dollars given to her twin daughters that were intended for Inuit students. John Scott Cowan said Karima Manji, the mother of Amira and Nadya Gill, entered the plea Friday morning and took “full responsibility for the matters at hand.” “This morning Karima Manji pleaded guilty before Justice Mia Manocchio in the Nunavut Court of Justice. In doing so, she took full responsibility for the matters at hand. We will make further submissions on...
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Supreme Court upholds Ottawa’s Indigenous child welfare act, denies Quebec’s appeal
OTTAWA- The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the federal Indigenous child welfare act is constitutional, affirming that First Nations, Metis and Inuit have sole authority over the protection of their children. The unanimous decision is a setback for the Quebec government, which had made gains in 2022 when its Court of Appeal found that parts of the act overstepped federal jurisdiction. On Friday, Canada’s highest court upheld the entirety of Ottawa’s 2019 Act Respecting First Nations, Metis and Inuit Children Youth and Families, which affirmed that Indigenous Peoples have an inherent right of self-government that includes control over child and family services. “The act as a whole is constitutionally valid,” the court wrote in its 110-page decision, adding that it “falls squarely within Parliament’s legislative jurisdiction.” Ottawa’s law affirmed...
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Ontario temperature records broken as unseasonable warmth hits the province, northern roads impassable
TORONTO- Temperatures are soaring across Ontario with Toronto breaking a daily record and other cities poised to follow suit. The temperature cracked 11 C by 10 a.m. Friday at Toronto Pearson International Airport, busting a daily record set on the same day in 1938, when it reached a high of 10.6 C. It’s the latest record to fall across Canada, where forecasters had warned a strong global El Nino climate pattern paired with the effects of human-caused climate change was expected to lead to a warmer winter. Environment Canada meteorologist Peter Kimbell says it was nearly 5 degrees warmer than average in December and 3.4 degrees above average last month in Toronto. Kimbell says London, Windsor and Ottawa were among the other cities flirting with daily records, as unseasonable warmth brings...
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Poilievre pledges to fix broken access to information system, release more faster
OTTAWA- Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pledging to fix the federal access-to-information system to speed up response times and release more information. He made the commitment speaking to reporters in Vancouver, where he announced a new revenue plan for First Nations alongside leaders in the region. Successive reviews concluded the access system is broken and plagued by delays, with the Information Commissioner of Canada voicing concerns that it is outdated. Canadians can use access law to request an array of government documents for a $5 processing fee. Poilievre says today that a future Conservative government would fix the system and make sure information gets in people’s hands faster. He also says he believes the House of Commons should release more information automatically. This report by The Canadian Press was...
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Three facing charges after Six Nations Police drug trafficking investigation seizes $35,000 in drugs, prohibited weapons, currency and more
OHSWEKEN, ON- Six Nations Police have charged three Selkirk, Ontario people believed to be involved in trafficking drugs at Six Nations concluding a six month drug investigation that resulted in seizure of $35,000 in drugs, prohibited weapons, and more. The charges came after police executed drug search warrants on a vehicle and a Selkirk residence Thursday, Feb., 8, 2024 . Police said the two Section 11 Controlled Drugs & Substances Act were executed on a vehicle and a residence on Melville Lane in Selkirk, Ont.,. Three adults were arrested without incident. Police seized, at the site, a large quantity of drugs which include Oxycodone, Hydromorphone, Fentanyl transdermal patches, Clonazepam, Dilaudid and Psilocybin with a street value of approximately $35,000. In addition, police seized bulk currency, prohibited weapons, cell phones and...
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Tory MP walks back comments on First Nations water plants amid criticism
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- After drawing criticism earlier this week for saying that some First Nations are burning down water treatment plants because of the federal Liberal government, a Conservative MP is now walking back his comments. Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh made the assertion in the House of Commons on Monday during a debate on the government’s First Nations water bill. “In my home province of Saskatchewan, I have seen reserves burn down water treatment plants because the Liberal government has done little or nothing,” Waugh said, directing his comments towards Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu. He added there needs to be “education provided for people on reserve to operate these water treatment plants,” and blamed the Liberals for not doing more. Waugh’s office confirmed Wednesday he...
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Enbridge appeals to vacate an order that would shut down its pipeline
By Todd Richmond THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MADISON, Wis. (AP)- An attorney for the energy company Enbridge tried to persuade a federal appellate court Thursday to vacate an order that would shut down part of a pipeline running through a Wisconsin tribal reservation. The company contends that U.S. District Judge William Conley improperly ordered Enbridge to shut down a 12 mile (19 km) portion of Line 5 within three years. The section runs across the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation. Conley also ordered the company to pay the tribe millions of dollars in trespassing fees, Enbridge attorney Alice Loughran told a three-judge panel at the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. She said Conley’s order violates a 1977 treaty between the United States and Canada that...
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Poilievre proposes plan for First Nations to collect taxes from industry
OTTAWA- Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre proposed a new plan today for First Nations to collect taxes from industry that he says would speed up negotiations and project approvals. Poilievre announced what he called an optional First Nations resource charge alongside First Nations leaders in Vancouver, and dubbed it a First Nation-led solution to a made-in-Ottawa problem. He says it would permit First Nations to collect 50 per cent of the federal taxes paid by industrial activities on their land, with industry getting a tax credit in exchange. Poilievre says the resource charge would make resource projects more attractive to First Nations, and would not preclude communities from using other arrangements like impact benefit agreements. Chief Donna Big Canoe of Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation says Canada’s legacy of colonialism...
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Judge dismisses lawsuit challenging name change to California’s former Hastings law school
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)- A judge has thrown out a lawsuit that sought to block the University of California from renaming the former Hastings College of the Law because its namesake was linked to the slaughter of Native Americans. Descendants of Serranus Hastings filed the $1.7 billion breach of contract lawsuit over the decision to change the name to the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, which took effect last year. Superior Court Judge Richard Ulmer ruled Tuesday that an 1878 law that said the school “shall forever be known” by Hastings’ name wasn’t a binding contract and could be amended or repealed, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Ulmer also rejected a claim that the change violated the state Constitution’s requirement that the University of California remain “free...
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Tory MP walks back comments on First Nations water plants amid criticism
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA-After drawing criticism earlier this week for saying that some First Nations are burning down water treatment plants because of the federal Liberal government, a Conservative MP is now walking back his comments. Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh made the assertion in the House of Commons on Monday during a debate on the government’s First Nations water bill. “In my home province of Saskatchewan, I have seen reserves burn down water treatment plants because the Liberal government has done little or nothing,” Waugh said, directing his comments towards Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu. He added there needs to be “education provided for people on reserve to operate these water treatment plants,” and blamed the Liberals for not doing more. Waugh’s office confirmed Wednesday he was...
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Water service disrupted at Rainy River First Nations
By Mike Stimpson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter RAINY RIVER FIRST NATIONS- Households in Rainy River First Nations are experiencing a temporary disruption in water service. A “community notice” posted on social media Sunday night said the disruption was “due to unforeseen circumstances.” “Currently, we are experiencing a significant loss of water pressure resulting from the locking out of our pumps due to low water levels,” said a notice signed by public works manager Kyle Kellar. “Despite our best efforts, the plant levels are not rising fast enough to repressurize the water lines tonight.” The notice said water would be hauled in “to supplement our supplies” while the system is fixed and that restoring the system back to full service “may take some time.” Rainy River First Nations took to Facebook...
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