Court of King’s Bench hears Sturgeon Lake’s arguments for separatist petition injunction
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation (SLCN) was in court Tuesday, April 7, in an effort to stop the collection of signatures for a citizen-initiated referendum on Alberta independence. SLCN filed a lawsuit in January against the provincial government, the federal government and Alberta’s chief electoral officer for permitting the petition process to proceed. It’s one of four legal challenges launched by First Nations against the province facilitating an independence referendum. “It didn’t need to get to this point, but now that we’re here, we really want to express to all governments that First Nations aren’t going anywhere,” SLCN Chief Sheldon Sunshine told reporters outside of the downtown Edmonton courthouse where the case is being heard. The Treaty 8 First Nation argues...
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‘We’ve been through a lot, so this is really good news for us’
By Aastha Sethi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio Hay River’s deputy mayor says $20 million in federal cash for a new water treatment plant is the largest investment in such a project in the town’s history. As the funding Keith Dohey celebrated it as the Northwest Territories town’s “biggest and most important” infrastructure investment. He said maintaining the ageing plant had become increasingly expensive, prompting council to make its replacement a top priority. Multiple applications had been made to Ottawa for help. Now, the federal government is promising to cover about 75 per cent of the cost of a new plant. Dohey called that “recognition of its importance to not only our community, but to our region and broader territory. Clean and safe drinking water is a keystone for...
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It’s time to build! Carney breaks down plans to spend $51B on local infrastructure
Provinces and territories must allocate 20 per cent of their funding to rural, Northern and Indigenous communities and 10 per cent of funding through the $6-billion “direct delivery” stream must go to Indigenous-led projects. The federal government will address infrastructure gaps across Canada with billions of dollars in funding over the coming decade, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday at a news conference in Brampton, Ont. Carney used the event to break down how his government plans to dole out $51 billion in the Liberals’ Build Communities Strong Fund. The new pot of money was first announced in the 2025 budget, which became law last month. Ottawa plans to nearly double the rate of infrastructure investment in Canada over the next eight years compared with the previous eight years,...
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Film uplifts ceremonies for the return of ooligan, a vital fish for Nuxalk Nation
By Dionne Phillips, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews Qwaxw Siwallace remembers a time in his Youth when sputc (ooligan), and the nutritious grease Nuxalk harvested from the fish species, were plentiful. “It was just a part of everyday life,” he told IndigiNews, “when it was in abundance.” His favourite food was smoked ooligan, also known as eulachon. But their grease was also added to most other foods. He loved it so much as a young child that his father had to start giving him his own bowl of ooligan grease. “Otherwise I would just keep eating,” the co-founder of Nuxalk Radio said with a laugh. “It was just something that was just part of everything in such abundance. You never imagined it would disappear.” But for 28 years, his community...
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Man wanted in stabbing, Brantford Police are warning the public do not approach
BRANTFORD, ONT- The Brantford Police Service (BPS) are asking the public to contact police immediately, and not approach, if they spot a man wanted for a series of charges after a 50-year-old man was stabbed multiple times at a Dalhousie and Brock Street residence Saturday, April 4, 2026. BPS were contacted at about 8:45 p.m., with a report that a man had been stabbed and a second male victim had been threatened at a Dalhousie and Brock street residence. Officers arrived at the residence and an investigation where they found a man had been stabbed multiple times. The victim was transported to hospital for treatment of serious injuries. BPS issued an arrest warrant for Thomas Dean Cain, 41, wanted on the following charges related to this incident: Aggravated Assault Assault...
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‘Budget you’d pass if climate change wasn’t a problem’: Ford doubles down on highways
By Anushka Yadav, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer Dark clouds hovered over Queen’s Park. Thunder cracked and the sky wept as Caledon grandmother Betty de Groot and Stouffville grandmother Victoria Creese waited anxiously for what this year’s budget might bring. On March 26, they stood alongside fellow members of Grand(m)others Act To Save The Planet (GASP) with a single, urgent plea for the Doug Ford PC government: “Don’t bulldoze our future.” It’s not their own future they fear losing. It’s their children’s, their grandchildren’s. That’s what brought them here — through wind, through rain, through yet another provincial budget day where hope felt increasingly fragile. Standing shoulder to shoulder, the two women talked about what they hoped to see and about everything they knew was at stake. “I would...
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Feds looking at how to ‘cushion the blow’ as gas prices rise amid Iran war: Carney Slugline: Cda-Iran-Oil
By Catherine Morrison Prime Minister Mark Carney says the federal government is looking at how to support Canadians as oil prices rise amid the ongoing war in the Middle East. Oil prices have surged since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, averaging more than $1.80 per litre across Canada today, compared with about $1.32 a year ago. Carney says his government wants to help “cushion the blow” for Canadians. The conflict has cut off flows of crude through the critical Strait of Hormuz and shut down energy production across parts of the Middle East. Conservatives have called on the Liberals to give Canadians some relief at the pumps by suspending federal taxes on gas and diesel for the rest of the year. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said...
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Cannabis raids cause trauma, fear and distress, says Potlotek chief
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post Before last Thursday, Potlotek First Nation was known for its significant history as a sacred gathering place for the Mi’kmaq people for centuries. Chapel Island, just off the shores of Potlotek, served as a central location for spiritual and political gatherings long before European colonization. Chiefs from surrounding areas would meet there to assign hunting and fishing territories, settle disputes, and govern their people, all under the leadership of the district chief. But today, the tiny Mi’kmaq community on the shores of the Bras d’Or Lakes is neither peaceful nor able to settle a dispute that blew wide open when RCMP raided a cannabis shop last week, ramming the door down and breaking windows. Potlotek Chief Wilbert Marshall says last...
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Before wildfire season begins again, Indigenous fire keepers gather to share knowledge
By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews Aaron Hemens and Santana Dreaver, The Narwhal’s 2026 Indigenous Journalism Fellow, attended the Salish Fire Keepers Gathering on March 17 and 18. This is the first of two stories about the gathering, published in partnership with The Narwhal. In 2022, one year after wildfire tore through the Village of Lytton, a blaze broke out at the nearby Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Provincial Park. The site, co-managed by Lytton First Nation and the B.C. government, contains pictographs, petroglyphs and culturally modified trees, along with more important cultural sites. So the BC Wildfire Service called in Sheresa Brown, a 31-year-old Lytton First Nation member who works as a field technician and archaeology monitor with the Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council. When fires happen near registered...
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Bill to criminalize forced or coerced sterilization could have unintended consequences: physicians
By Hannah Alberga Survivors of forced or coerced sterilization – many of whom are Indigenous – are pushing for legislation that would explicitly criminalize the procedure, but several physician and legal groups worry the bill could lead doctors to hesitate when a patient’s life is at risk. The intent of the bill – to condemn sterilization without informed consent – has unanimous support, including from medical groups who have raised concerns about its potential unintended consequences during House of Commons committee hearings. The Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice estimates between 12,000 and 15,000 Indigenous people have been sterilized without consent in Canada since the 1890s, some as recently as last year. That’s based on historical research, lawsuits, studies, medical billing records and applications to the group’s national registry, which launched...
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Coastal Nations welcome unexpected funding, but don’t know how it will be administered
By Hope Lompe, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer First Nations along British Columbia’s coast are welcoming the federal government’s announcement to put $231 million over five years toward Indigenous Guardians programs, but say they are still in the dark about how the program will be administered. The new Canada Nature Strategy is the successor to the Enhanced Nature Legacy and more than doubles Ottawa’s previous $100 million Indigenous Guardians program fund that ended on Mar. 31. It also aims to establish a new Arctic Indigenous Guardians program. Guardians programs put Indigenous stewards in the field to conduct ecological monitoring, do scientific fieldwork, watch for poachers and more. In some cases, Guardians have been empowered with enforcement authority, like the ability to write violation tickets. “This is an encouraging...
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Kanesatake security finds temp funding
By Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door The Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) has secured temporary funding for Kanesatake Perimeter Security (KPS), prolonging the security team service past the March 31 end date of a federal five-year fund. Temporary funding under the First Nations Quebec-Labrador Health and Social Services Commission is expected to cover 12 KPS employees full-time for the next six months, said MCK caretaker council member Brant Etienne. “It’s short-term and gives us a little bit of breathing room until a more permanent solution is found,” said KPS coordinator Kane Montour. Since 2021, the KPS has grown from a COVID-19 response team to a security force that responds to local emergencies, including health crises and car accidents. Over time, the team has built strong working...
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Endangered salmon returned to California’s far north – then the money dried up
By Rachel Becker/calmatters Two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a strategy to save declining salmon — spotlighting a historic partnership with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to reintroduce endangered winter-run Chinook to the vital, cold waters upstream of Lake Shasta in far northern California. Now, tribe officials say the state is ending its support, potentially causing salmon restoration efforts on the McCloud River to die mid-stream. The tribe is now grappling with the sudden loss of jobs, along with the dimming of hope that the culturally sacred fish will be restored to their ancestral waters. “It makes me feel betrayed. It makes the tribe feel betrayed,” said Gary Mulcahy, government liaison for the tribe. “It’s like they just gave up.” State officials say the one-time funds were tied to the...
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No difference between suspending and amending DRIPA, says First Nations leader
By Wolfgang Depner A First Nations leader in B.C. says Premier David Eby’s plan to suspend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act will create less certainty, especially because the NDP may not be in government three years from now. Judith Sayers, president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, says the climate for reconciliation during the proposed three-year suspension may have changed, and it is not clear if the courts will have ruled on two decisions being appealed. The so-called DRIPA legislation is at the centre of legal trouble for Eby’s government after it was cited by First Nations in two landmark court cases that raised questions of land rights and B.C.’s mineral rights. Sayers says suspending the legislation passed unanimously in 2019 would have the same effect as...
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Nunavik communities mourn 3 family members who died in house fire
By Dominique Gené, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Two Nunavik communities are mourning the deaths of a longtime priest, his wife and their grandson in a house fire early Sunday. Reverend Tom Martin, who served the Cree community of Whapmagoostui and the nearby Inuit community of Kuujjuarapik for more than 20 years at St. Edmund’s Anglican Church in Whapmagoostui, Marianne Martin and Rowan Martin all lost their lives in the fire, said Chief Robbie Kawapit of the Whapmagoostui First Nation community in a Facebook post. “In this time of unimaginable loss and tragedy, it is vital that we stand together as one community to offer our unwavering support and compassion to the grieving family,” Kawapit said. Whapmagoostui is home to about 1,000 Cree who live alongside the Inuit community...
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Sovereignty or Stewardship? The $28.7M Rift Dividing the FSIN
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) has been ordered by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) to repay $28.7 million in “ineligible and unsupported” expenses. FSIN is a Provincial Territorial Organization (PTO) representing 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan. While it functions as a powerful political advocacy body, it is legally incorporated as a non-profit organization. This distinction has now placed it under the microscope following a forensic audit by global accounting giant KPMG. Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) bypassed routine government bookkeepers and brought in ‘heavy artillery,’ KPMG, a firm with a century-and-a-half reputation for investigations into global corruption scandals like FIFA world soccer and Siemens AG. While $28.7 million is a significant figure for the FSIN, it is a routine day at the office for a firm used to uncovering fraud...
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EBC final report backtracks on proposed northern Indigenous riding
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News The Electoral Boundaries Commission (EBC) has backtracked on a contentious proposal to establish a riding with 18 Indigenous communities by reducing the number of northern Alberta ridings in its March 23 final report. The EBC’s purpose was to determine how to increase the number of ridings in the Legislative Assembly to 89 from 87 while balancing population growth in Calgary and Edmonton with the need to provide effective representation to regions with declining populations, including the north. The interim report, released in October 2025, proposed reducing the number of ridings in northern Alberta to eight from nine, replacing the Lesser Slave Lake and Peace River ridings with the new riding of Mackenzie, citing the “desirability of an electoral division having...
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Hearing on injunction filed by First Nation to stop Alberta separation to begin today
A First Nation in Alberta will be in court today seeking to shut down a petition urging the province to quit Confederation. The Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation is in Edmonton asking a Court of King’s Bench judge to suspend the petition campaign on the grounds First Nations’ consent is required first. It is alleging a failure by Alberta, Canada and the province’s chief electoral officer to uphold treaty rights. A group named Stay Free Alberta is collecting signatures to qualify for a referendum on Alberta leaving Canada. Premier Danielle Smith’s government has said if they get enough names, the question will be put to a vote. Stay Free Alberta says it has already collected more than the 178,000 signatures required to trigger the vote with a month to go before...
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Iran calls for human chains around power plants as Trump’s deadline nears
By Jon Gambrell, David Rising And Samy Magdy DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Facing a looming U.S. deadline, Iran’s president said Tuesday that 14 million Iranians, including himself, have volunteered to sacrifice their lives in the war. President Masoud Pezeshkian made the comment on X just ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline to bomb power stations and bridges in Iran if it doesn’t loosen its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. The figure is double other figures mentioned by state media in the past about volunteers the government had been soliciting by text messages and media as the war went on. Iran is home to 90 million people. Many remain angry at the government over its bloody crackdown on nationwide demonstrations and the 14 million figure likely is...
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In the news today: Gibbons on Artemis, N.S. solar power, Alberta separation hearing
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed … ‘Payoff day’: Jenni Gibbons on watching Artemis II crew make lunar history Canadian astronaut Jenni Gibbons is already reflecting on her brief but gratifying time bearing witness to history. On Monday, fellow Canadian Jeremy Hansen and his three American crewmates took part in a six-hour lunar flyby — the highlight of NASA’s first return to the moon since the Apollo era. Gibbons has been a voice link from Earth to space — coaching her friend and the other astronauts on key mission objectives. She says the moments leading up to — and immediately after — the Orion capsule lost radio contact as it travelled behind the moon were tense, but it was...
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