Wildfires prompt evacuation of First Nation reserve near Spences Bridge, B.C.
The Canadian Press The Cook’s Ferry Indian Band has issued an evacuation order for its Nicoelton reserve as two wildfires burn north of Spences Bridge, B.C. The band issued the order Tuesday “in the interest of life and safety,” while it also put in place evacuation alerts for three more of its reserves. The band says in a statement that no other orders or alerts are in place for its reserves within the town of Spences Bridge. The band says the Teit Creek and Shetland Creek wildfires pose an “imminent danger” to its Nicoelton reserve. Both fires are under 300 hectares in size, are burning out of control and are within 5.5 to 7.5 kilometres away from Spences Bridge. It’s unclear how many people are affected by the band’s evacuation...
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Tributes To Alex Janvier Pour In From Across Canada
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Condolences are pouring in from across Canada after the death of famed Indigenous artist and residential school survivor Alex Janvier, whose funeral was held July 16 at the Cold Lake Energy Centre. Janvier, who hailed from Cold Lake First Nations in northern Alberta, was internationally renowned for incorporating traditional Indigenous styles into modernist painting. In a statement posted to Facebook, Cold Lake First Nations said Janvier’s “creativity enriched our lives and strengthened our connection to our culture and heritage.” “Through his profound storytelling, Alex’s artwork beautifully captured the essence of our traditions.” Janvier’s works are featured in the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) in Ottawa, the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton and the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, as well as the Morris and...
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Yukon water regulator said miner ‘flouted’ licence, saved millions, long before spill
The Canadian Press 16/07/2024 19:53 Two years before the disastrous ore slide and spill of cyanide solution last month at the Eagle Gold mine in Yukon, the former head of the Yukon Water Board accused the mine’s owner of violating conditions of its water licence. Roger Lockwood, then director of the Yukon Water Board, told a court that Victoria Gold “flouted” conditions of the licence, increasing environmental risks while saving millions by allegedly failing to re-contour slopes at the mine, about 500 kilometres north of Whitehorse. Lockwood, a former police officer, made the claims in a Yukon Supreme Court case, and estimated the company “saved more than $4 million through non-compliance with the conditions of the water licence,” a Yukon Supreme Court ruling says. On June 24, Victoria Gold announced...
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West Nipissing eyes a Field of Dreams
By David Briggs, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter West Nipissing is making a pitch for a Field of Dreams. The Toronto Blue Jay’s Jays Care Foundation has been running the Field of Dreams program for the past 10 years. The TD Bank sponsors the program, and over those 10 years, nearly $15 million has been invested into 163 Field of Dream diamonds across Canada. The money goes to designing, refurbishing, and building baseball diamonds within communities. The funding amount depends on the project, but last year, around $1.5 million was doled out to 14 communities. Seven of those were in Ontario, and one grant was given to the North, as Blind River received funding. Any charitable organization, non-profit baseball association, First Nation, or municipality is eligible to apply for a Field...
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Money from Washington’s landmark climate law will help tribes face rising seas, climate change
The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Tens of millions of dollars raised by a landmark climate law in Washington state will go to Native American tribes that are at risk from climate change and rising sea levels to help them move to higher ground, install solar panels, buy electric vehicles and restore wetlands, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Tuesday. The money — $52 million — comes from the 2021 Climate Commitment Act, which auctions off allowances for heavily polluting companies to emit carbon, with the revenue invested in education, transportation and other programs. Conservative critics who blame it for increased gas prices are seeking to repeal the law in November. Nearly every Native American tribe in Washington is receiving money. Among them is the 3,000-member Quinault Indian Nation on the Pacific...
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No suspects in fire that razed trailer used for residential school investigative work
The Canadian Press The RCMP is asking for the public’s help after a fire in Alberta destroyed a trailer being used for residential school investigative work. Police say an ATCO trailer burned down in May at the Sacred Heart Cemetery, near the former residential school of the same name in Saddle Lake, Alta., northeast of Edmonton. Mounties say they don’t have any suspects but believe people in the community “possess vital information” that could help solve the case. They say the trailer belonged to the Acimowin Opaspiw Society. The society says on its website that it represents survivors of the Blue Quills Residential School, known at one point as Sacred Heart, and their descendants. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation says the school was under First Nations control when...
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US government must return land it took and never developed to a Nebraska tribe under new law
The Associated Press 16/07/2024 17:42 WINNEBAGO, Neb. (AP) — The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska will soon get back about 1,600 acres (647 hectares) of land the federal government took more than 50 years ago and never developed. A new law will require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to return the roughly 2.5-square-mile (6.5-square-kilometer) tract of land along the Missouri River in Iowa it took in 1970 through eminent domain for a recreation project that was never built. The tribe has been trying for decades to reclaim the land. “This is a truly historic moment for the Winnebago Tribe as lands that were taken from us over 50 years ago will soon be restored to our tribe,” said Winnebago Tribal Chairwoman Victoria Kitcheyan. The bill that finally made it happen...
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B.C.’s ‘massive error’ part of web of inaction that could have saved boy: advocate
The Canadian Press The ministry that is supposed to be protecting British Columbia’s kids made what the children’s representative says was a “massive error,” resulting in the torturous death of an 11-year-old boy at the hands of those who were approved to be his caregivers. The boy’s death is not an outlier, Jennifer Charlesworth said in her latest report released Tuesday, but rather an example of ways the child welfare system has let down children and families in B.C. and across Canada, despite decades of reports making hundreds of recommendations for change. “And yet here we are again — reviewing the death of an innocent young child and asking the same questions that have been asked for years: How did the systems that are intended to help children and families...
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B.C. judge denies status for victims’ families in Pickton evidence application
The Canadian Press A Supreme Court judge has dismissed applications by relatives of Robert Pickton’s victims to intervene in court proceedings over the RCMP’s plans to destroy evidence from the investigation into the serial killer. But Justice Frits Verhoeven says the families are to be notified of any RCMP applications to dispose of evidence and the court may grant them “a limited right of audience, if deemed necessary and appropriate.” Lawyer Jason Gratl, who represents the victims’ relatives, says his clients are “not unhappy” with Monday’s decision, and the right to be notified and heard when appropriate is “sufficient” for their purposes. Gratl’s clients are involved in nine lawsuits against the late killer and his brother, David Pickton. The applicants had claimed the pending lawsuits gave them a direct interest...
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A new Indigenous company is working to ‘Cree’ate nuclear industry language for fluent speakers
By NC Raine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The complexity of modern scientific terminology and the Cree language are sometimes at odds, but Vince Natomagan is aiming to find bridges of understanding between those two worlds. “I have to think Cree while talking in English,” said Natomagan, from Pinehouse First Nation and founder of Gray Jay Consulting. “ I want to provide a service for more cultural appropriate communication so the two groups understand each other, and mistrust can be alleviated,” he said. Natomagan, who has a background both in media, broadcasting, and as a radiation technician, is launching a consulting business, Gary Jay Consulting, to capitalize on the province’s plan to implement nuclear power from small modular reactors (SMRs). With the ability to produce reliable power with zero greenhouse gas...
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B.C.’s ‘massive error’ part of web of inaction that could have saved boy: advocate
The Canadian Press 16/07/2024 The ministry that is supposed to be protecting British Columbia’s kids made what the children’s representative says was a “massive error,” resulting in the torturous death of an 11-year-old boy at the hands of those who were approved to be his caregivers. The boy’s death is not an outlier, Jennifer Charlesworth said in her latest report released Tuesday, but rather an example of ways the child welfare system has let down children and families in B.C. and across Canada, despite decades of reports making hundreds of recommendations for change. “And yet here we are again — reviewing the death of an innocent young child and asking the same questions that have been asked for years: How did the systems that are intended to help children and...
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‘True team effort’ brings dialysis care to Christian Island
By Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Gone are the long drives and ferry rides that have become a way of life for those on Christian Island requiring dialysis treatment. And roughly a hundred attendees welcomed the province’s first assisted care home dialysis unit at Beausoleil First Nation Tuesday. “The dialysis unit here is going to replace the travel and the problems that people were having, going to mainland for dialysis,” said Beausoleil First Nation Chief Joanne Sandy. The six machines located in a renovated house at 20 Gaakan Miikaans was the culmination of a project that began as discussions in the 1990s by island residents forced to endure the imperfect ferry schedule for their travel to Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital for treatment, often taking eight hours in the process....
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TC Energy’s US$15B Keystone XL claim thrown out by trade tribunal
Canadian Press 16/07/2024 15:40 TC Energy Corp., the Canadian company behind the ill-fated Keystone XL pipeline, has suffered a major blow after a trade tribunal tossed out its claim to US$15 billion in damages. The Calgary-based company launched the claim in 2021 to seek compensation after its proposed Keystone XL pipeline project was scuttled by U.S. President Joe Biden. The claim was made under the legacy rules tied to the old North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, because of what TC Energy said was the U.S. government’s breach of its free trade obligations. Keystone XL was a proposed crude oil transportation pipeline, roughly 1,900-kilometres long, which would have carried oil from the oilsands of northern Alberta to the major U.S. crude storage hub at Cushing, Okla. and then on...
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A pedestrianized Gastown reopens with nods to Indigenous history
By Mina Kerr-Lazenby Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 15/07/2024 Gastown has been given a pedestrian-only rejuvenation and a design makeover that nods to the area’s Indigenous history. On July 4, the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) joined the City of Vancouver in reopening Water Street and kicking off its pedestrianized pilot. Maple Tree Square to Cambie Street. will be open to local traffic only while Maple Tree Sq. and Water St. from Cambie to Richards St. will be car-free until the end of August, with the area set to host expanded patios with more seating, stalls, live performance and events. Beyond going car-free, there has been an overhaul to the street’s esthetics, with Indigenous artwork, storytelling boards and signs paying homage to the culture and history of the...
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Yellowknife man to donate found artifacts to Fort Simpson Historical Society
By Tom Taylor, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 15/07/2024 A 24-year-old Métis man from Yellowknife will be donating several artifacts he found to the Fort Simpson Historical Society. Lucas Wick, 24, discovered the items while on a moose hunting trip with his father in 2014. The relics, which include a knife and an axe head believed to be from the mid-1800s, were discovered at the site of an old homestead located several hours down the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence. “[My father and I] are are collectors and I’ve always been intrigued with antiques, so we just kind of went out and tried to find this place,” said Wick, who added that he got into antiques and collectibles by watching TV shows like American Pickers and Pawn Stars. “We were looking...
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First Nations chief who’s highly critical of Higgs signs $18.8M deal with province
By John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The chief of a Mi’kmaq First Nation in eastern New Brunswick says the $18.8-million deal he just signed for housing in his community does not change in any way his people’s large Aboriginal title claim for about half of the province’s territory. George Ginnish, the leader of Natoaganeg, or Eel Ground First Nation, says he hasn’t patched up his differences with the Higgs Progressive Conservative government on several hot-button issues, despite the latest agreement. The Tories have snubbed the Mi’kmaq title claim, cancelled their special tax-sharing agreements and rejected a public inquiry into how Indigenous people are treated by the justice system, among other sore points. “This is an agreement with the Regional Development Corporation to provide housing, and that’s all it is,”...
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B.C.’s vital Indigenous-led auxiliary is expanding
By Hope Lompe Local Journalism Initiative Reporter When the Nathan E. Stewart tugboat ran aground off the coast of Bella Bella, spilling over 100 litres of fuel into surrounding waters in 2016, members of the Heiltsuk Nation were the first on scene. The volunteers were there to support emergency operations — but were not fully included in the process, says Dawn Wilson, CEO of the Coastal National Coast Guard Auxiliary (CN-CGA). It was a missed opportunity on many levels, she explains. “When you have multiple stakeholders working together, and nobody knows what the left or right hand is doing, they’re either doubling up on the work, making the work harder, or creating more damage than good between those relationships,” Wilson says. Since the incident, Indigenous-led auxiliaries have been included more...
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‘At any given time, we can turn around and shut it down’
By Roisin Cullen, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Xa’xtsa First Nation (also called the Douglas First Nation) has seen a rise in visitors disrespecting Sloquet Hot Springs and its adjacent campground, prompting new messaging from the Nation. The hot springs are sacred to the Xa’xtsa people and used as a place for spiritual cleansing. A campfire ban was put in place on Sunday, July 7 at Sloquet Creek FSR recreational site. Hosts decided banning fires would protect public safety, citing “extreme heat and dry conditions” at the site as their reasons. A province-wide campfire ban was enacted midday on Friday, July 12 as B.C. continues to feel the heat. Darryl Peters is a Xa’xtsa councillor and business manager for TTQ Economic Development Corporation, a Xa’xtsa First Nation business arm. He said...
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Nolalu prepares for worst
As rising temperatures hike the potential for natural disasters, Nolalu is taking steps to ensure its villagers remain high and dry. Though the Highway 588 community has had an emergency plan in place since 2017, experts say such documents shouldn’t be left to gather dust on a shelf: locals need to know how to implement them well before disaster strikes. “With climate change, we’re going to see (floods) more often,” said Sharon Bak, a consultant who is helping the village develop response strategies. Bak, a former Emergency Management Ontario field officer, said response plans should be practised at least once a year, and there should be lists of people who can assume leadership roles in a crisis. According to provincial regulations, unincorporated communities don’t have the authority to officially declare...
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Councillors to hear out nuclear waste group
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative reporter The Township of Conmee has deferred a proposed resolution that would have expressed concerns about transporting spent nuclear-fuel rods across its boundaries. At Wednesday’s council meeting, councillors opted to table the resolution until they’ve heard a presentation by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), the agency that plans to ship the radioactive rods to an underground storage site either near Ignace, or in southwestern Ontario. Conmee chief administrator Shara Lavallee said on Friday a meeting with Nuclear Waste Management Organization officials has yet to be set. Conmee’s decision to defer follows this week’s announcement by the Township of Ignace to declare its willingness to become a host community for the proposed storage site, technically known as a deep geological repository. Ignace council passed...
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