‘Crime of vengeance’: Saskatchewan RCMP say witnesses key to solving brutal slaying
The Canadian Press Mounties suspected Tiki Laverdiere was dead before her burned, bludgeoned body was found wrapped in a carpet under rocks in a Saskatchewan pond in the summer of 2019. She was a 25-year-old mother of two. Her death launched five years of investigation and prosecutions, revealing a story of suspicion, drugs, booze and revenge, climaxing in one long night of torture. Ten people were eventually convicted, with the final cases recently wrapped in court, freeing up documents that had been under a publication ban. The savagery of the crime helped clear the path for investigators, said Supt. Joshua Graham, head of the Saskatchewan RCMP major crimes unit. “When you have something like this, something so brutal, people became very self-interested as they were looking at life in jail...
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Tribes say their future is at stake as they push for Congress to consider Colorado River settlement
The Associated Press Within the heart of the Navajo Nation and in the shadow of the sandstone arch that is the namesake of the tribal capital, a simple greeting and big smiles were shared over and over again Friday as tribal officials gathered: “Yá‘át’ééh abíní!” It was a good morning, indeed, for Navajo President Buu Nygren as he signed legislation in Window Rock, Arizona, outlining a proposed settlement to ensure three Native American tribes have water rights from the Colorado River and other sources — and drought-stricken Arizona has more security in its supply. The signature came a day after the Navajo Nation Council voted unanimously in favor of the measure. The San Juan Southern Paiute and Hopi tribes also approved the settlement this week. Now, the three tribes in...
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RCMP officer’s social media posts prompt calls for suspension from First Nation chief
The Canadian Press A British Columbia First Nation is calling for the suspension and removal of an RCMP officer from Bella Bella over social media posts he made before joining the Mounties. Heiltsuk Tribal Council Chief Marilyn Slett says in a letter to the Bella Bella detachment of the RCMP that the officer posted “racist text and images.” Supt.-Cmdr. Brian Edmonds of North District RCMP says in a statement the force is aware of the concerns and a “non-conduct-related administrative process” involving the officer is underway. Slett’s letter includes images of social media posts showing a white man wearing an Afro-style wig with a caption saying “BLACK AND PROUD.” Another social media post shows a man dressed in a colonial-style uniform in front of a Union Jack, with a comment:...
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B.C. misses the mark with old growth update, critics claim
By Rochelle Baker Local Journalism Initiative The B.C. government continues to move at a glacial pace to meet an overdue promise to transform the logging industry and protect endangered old growth forests and ecosystems, say B.C. conservation groups. On Monday, the province issued its latest progress report on transforming forestry practices to preserve ancient forests and vital ecosystems and meet 14 calls to action from the old-growth strategic review (OGSR) completed in spring of 2020. The From Review to Action plan is a lackluster effort that fails to include any new steps, specific details, or deadlines urgently needed to preserve what little old growth remains, said Jens Wieting, Sierra Club BC’s senior policy and science advisor. “I’m disappointed. Without ambitious timelines and milestones, the newly-released update does not guarantee the...
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Pronouns and tribal affiliations are now forbidden in South Dakota public university employee emails
The Associated Press 24/05/2024 17:42 A new South Dakota policy to stop the use of gender pronouns by public university faculty and staff in official correspondence is also keeping Native American employees from listing their tribal affiliations in a state with a long and violent history of conflict with tribes. Two University of South Dakota faculty members, Megan Red Shirt-Shaw and her husband, John Little, have long included their gender pronouns and tribal affiliations in their work email signature blocks. But both received written warnings from the university in March that doing so violated a policy adopted in December by the South Dakota Board of Regents. “I was told that I had 5 days to remove my tribal affiliation and pronouns,” Little said in an email to The Associated Press....
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Oil company seeks arrest of Woodland Cree First Nation chief
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter An oil company is attempting to have the chief of the Woodland Cree First Nation jailed for refusing to allow its drilling project to proceed on his nation’s traditional territory in northern Alberta. As first reported by journalist Brandi Morin for IndigiNews and Ricochet, the First Nation has set up a blockade to prevent Obsidian Energy employees from accessing its land near Peace River. On May 6, the company obtained an injunction against Woodland Cree First Nation and the people occupying the blockade camp. The First Nation has called Obsidian’s “intimidation tactics … the worst we’ve ever seen.” A week later, Obsidian CEO Steven Loukas flew to the region for scheduled negotiations with representatives of the First Nation, including Chief Isaac Laboucan-Avirom, band...
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Feds announce $31 million funding boost for SCO’s downtown project
By Dave Baxter Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A massive, Indigenous-led development project in downtown Winnipeg got a major financial boost when the federal government announced they would put an additional $31 million towards the work being done to transform the former Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) building into Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn. “We know that Winnipeg is Canada’s most vital city when we talk about reconciliation,” federal Minister Dan Vandal said Friday morning, while speaking at the current construction site that was once the main floor shopping area of Winnipeg’s flagship HBC department store. “I often say Winnipeg is the Indigenous capital of Canada. This transformation is more than just a symbol of reconciliation, we are moving beyond promises to do better as governments and as a society, people who come here will...
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Study points to Dryden mill’s pollution
By Mike Stimpson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter GRASSY NARROWS – New research suggests there’s no end in sight to his First Nation’s mercury-poisoning woes, and that comes as no surprise to Chief Rudy Turtle. “We’ve always had some suspicion that there was still something being dumped into the Wabigoon River that’s causing problems, because our band members would drive by the river and see these suds and the discoloration of the river,” the Grassy Narrows chief said in an interview Friday. “There’s always been suspicion that something else was going on,” he continued. “So we’re not surprised, but at the same time we’re very disappointed.” A team led by Western University biologist Brian Branfireun looked into whether effluent from Dryden’s pulp and paper mill is elevating mercury levels in the...
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Work interrupted again at Parks Canada site
Parks Canada has hit another snag in Nipigon. Finn Way General Contractor Inc. have once again had to halt construction of Parks Canada’s new Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area Administration and Visitor Centre in Nipigon. Site Supervisor and Parks Canada spokesperson, Lisa Nyman, confirmed that work has been paused at the construction site but could not confirm the exact cause at this time. Construction was previously brought to a stop on May 8 when a non-human bone and additional objects – including Coke bottles and kitchenware all dating back to the mid-to-late 20th century – were discovered during excavation of the construction site. At the time, Nyman told Dougall Media reporters Parks Canada is following the guidance of terrestrial archeology professionals and recommendations from the Red Rock Indian Band...
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UN experts warn Canada lacks proper oversight, safeguards for people behind bars
The Canadian Press A panel of United Nations experts say Canada is failing to ensure equitable justice, citing trial delays and problems with initiatives meant to lower the rate of Indigenous people behind bars. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also says there needs to be a cap on how long Ottawa can detain foreigners without charge. And it notes the Canada Border Services Agency lacks any official oversight body, despite border guards interacting with some of the most vulnerable people in Canada. Ottawa can detain foreigners without charge when it can’t identify them, or when immigration officers suspect they won’t show up to hearings that determine whether they can stay in Canada. The panel visited four provinces just as Ottawa announced plans to use federal prisons for...
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IRC launches ‘first of its kind’ Inuvialuit research network
By Aastha Sethi Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation is launching a community research network in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. In a news release, the IRC said the network would provide the six Inuvialuit communities – Aklavik, Inuvik, Sachs Harbour, Paulatuk, Tuktoyaktuk and Ulukhaktok – with one community research administrator each. That administrator will act as a point of contact for “research matters in their home communities and support the implementation of IRC’s climate change, energy, marine, Inuvialuit Knowledge, sociocultural and environmental research programs,” the IRC stated, adding a manager will oversee the program. Administrators will be responsible for providing opportunities for residents develop skills through the likes of mentorship, job shadowing, courses and workshops. The IRC said its network will be “the first of its kind”...
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Forcing northerners to travel for CT scans ‘unacceptable,’ Quebec leader charges
By Cedric Gallant Local Journalism Initiative 24/05/2024 14:22 An opposition party motion calling for a CT scanner to be installed in Nunavik has received unanimous support Tuesday in Quebec’s National Assembly. Acadia MNA André Morin, the Liberal spokesperson for relations with First Nations and Inuit, called on the CAQ government to offer medical imaging services in the region by installing CT scans “as soon as possible.” “Would the CAQ government tolerate that citizens of Laval or Trois-Rivières need to travel 1,500 kilometres to obtain a medical diagnosis?” Morin said later that day in a news release, calling it “unacceptable” that northern residents have to do that. “It is the responsibility of the state to offer the same services to all citizens on the whole of its territory, even more so...
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Situation ‘critical’ in Nunavik: Commission demands changes in youth protection
By Cedric Gallant Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Nunavik’s youth in child protection services have limited access to nutritious food and experience overcrowding and other socio-economic conditions associated with child neglect, according to a report released last week. “The situation remains critical for children in Nunavik,” said the Report on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Report on Youth Protection Services in Nunavik, released May 17 by Quebec’s Human Rights and Youth Commission. The report points to the need to focus on the “root causes” behind what it calls a “widespread violation” of Nunavik children’s rights. According to the report, 1,119 out of the region’s total youth population of 5,594 are under the care of youth protection services. That equates to 20 per cent of Nunavik’s youth, in contrast to...
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West Moberly First Nations to receive funding for geothermal project
By Ed Hitchins Local Journalism Initiative 24/05/2024 14:36 West Moberly First Nations (WMFN) will receive $299,404 toward a new geothermal project. The funds come from the BC Indigenous Clean Energy Initiative (BCICEI), a partnership between the federal and provincial governments and the Vancouver-based non-profit New Relationship Trust. West Moberly is among 35 First Nations provincewide to receive $9.8 billion in funding toward various renewable energy projects. The clean energy projects vary in size, ranging from air-source heat pumps to conducting a feasibility study for a 40-megawatt wind project. In WMFN’s case, the funds will go toward the project design and engineering for a geothermal facility that will provide heat to a commercial-scale greenhouse. This is not West Moberly’s first alternative energy project. In 2021, the First Nation announced the launch...
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Revive and promote the seal hunt, federal report recommends
By Matteo Cimellaro Local Journalism Initiative When Paul McCartney campaigned against the seal hunt in 2006, it was unclear how reliant the Inuit and some coastal community economies were on the trade. “We are concerned about the economics for the people, but we think there are other ways to do it,” McCartney said at the time. Three years later, the European Union banned all seal products. The market for seal products was decimated, and with it came the rise of poverty and suicide within Inuit communities despite exemptions for their products, Steven Lonsdale of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association told the Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans late last year. Now, a new report from that committee acknowledges the harm done by the ban and recommends Ottawa must do more to...
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Tribes say their future is at stake as they push for Congress to consider Colorado River settlement
The Associated Press Within the heart of the Navajo Nation and in the shadow of the sandstone arch that is the namesake of the tribal capitol, a simple greeting and big smiles were shared over and over again Friday as tribal officials gathered: “Yá‘át’ééh abíní!” It was a good morning indeed for Navajo President Buu Nygren as he signed legislation in Window Rock, Arizona, outlining a proposed water rights settlement that will ensure supplies from the Colorado River and other sources for three Native American tribes — as well as more security for drought-stricken Arizona. The signature came a day after the tribal council voted unanimously in favor of the measure. It also was approved this week by the San Juan Southern Paiute and Hopi tribes. Now, the three tribes...
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Batchewana implementing four-day work week for staff
By The Canadian Press/Kyle Darbyson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Batchewana First Nation (BFN) is adopting a four-day work week with the hope of creating a “healthier work environment” for its employees. After a successful trial run that began last May and ended in October, BFN officials announced on Thursday that they will use this modified Monday to Thursday work schedule “for the foreseeable future” to allow staff to work “smarter rather than longer.” Thursday’s news release announcing this change also clarified that BFN employees will not receive a reduction in pay as a result of the modified schedule. “Our staff are hardworking, dedicated individuals who often are responsible for much larger workloads than their counterparts in other organizations,” BFN Chief Mark McCoy said in Thursday’s release. “The intent of the four-day...
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Ottawa puts up more money to transform historic Bay building into Indigenous hub
By Canadian Press The federal government is putting up another $31 million for the transformation of a former Hudson’s Bay Company flagship store in Winnipeg. The project, announced two years ago, is to see the six-storey, 60,000-square-metre downtown building turned into an Indigenous hub of housing, social services, government offices and cultural space. Hudson’s Bay Company transferred the historic building in 2022 to the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, which represents 34 First Nation groups in southern Manitoba. Ottawa earlier put up $65 million in a combination of forgivable and low-interest loans, while the Manitoba government offered $35 million in support. The project has been running over its original $130-million budget, and the new federal money is earmarked for repairs and upgrades. The store opened in 1926 and closed in 2020, and...
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Search for truth goes on, regardless of killer Pickton’s fate, say victims’ advocates
The Canadian Press Staff 24/05/2024 04:00 Advocates for alleged victims of B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton say they remain focused on getting justice for the women, as Pickton lies in a Quebec hospital in a coma after being attacked in prison. Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director of Vancouver-based Battered Women’s Support Services, reflected on the weekend assault that left Pickton with what police called life-threatening injuries, saying “There’s something to be said about jailhouse justice.” But regardless of his fate, she said the fight on behalf of the women Pickton was accused of killing continues. She said that includes a legal application opposing an RCMP bid to destroy about 14,000 pieces of evidence collected in the Pickton investigation. There are also multiple ongoing lawsuits by family members of victims against...
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Îyârhe Nakoda Nation members to have day in court in Mînî Thnî
By Jessica Lee Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Provincial court is in session in Mînî Thnî. Twice a month, council chambers at the Stoney Tribal Administration building will host virtual provincial court proceedings that would have otherwise required Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation members to travel to Cochrane. “We reached out to Cochrane RCMP inspector Dave Brunner and together we worked hand-in-hand to develop – along with Crown prosecutor Vince Pingatore – a virtual court to benefit Îyârhe Nakoda Nation members, who, for whatever reason, needed to be in provincial court and who may not have the transportation resources to get to court,” said Reg Fountain, Nakoda Emergency Services director. The first session was held in April and proceedings will occur on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, where necessary....
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