Ontario women found guilty of killing boy in their care and confining his sibling
By Maan Alhmidi and Paola Loriggio Two Ontario women hated and resented two young brothers they were seeking to adopt, abusing them until the older child died, a judge concluded Tuesday as he found the couple guilty of first-degree murder and other offences. Gasps could be heard in the Milton, Ont., courtroom as Ontario Superior Court Justice Clayton Conlan handed down his ruling in the case of Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney, who took in the two Indigenous boys in 2017 after the children left another foster home. The judge did not read out the reasons for his decision during the brief hearing Tuesday morning, but said in a written ruling that the women intended to kill the older sibling and confined, assaulted and failed to provide food and medical...
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Vigil on Parliament Hill for missing and murdered Indigenous women
By Sarah Ritchie A few dozen people wearing bright red shirts and dresses stood out against a grey sky on Parliament Hill on Tuesday afternoon, where they gathered for a vigil to mark Red Dress Day in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The event was led by Bridget Tolley, founder of Families of Sisters in Spirit. Her mother, Gladys Tolley, was killed in 2001 when she was hit by a Quebec provincial police police vehicle while crossing a highway in her home community of Kitigan Zibi. Tolley said she has been coming to Parliament Hill to push for action for 25 years. “I cried this morning, because I didn’t want to be here. I don’t want to be here, but I have to be. Not only...
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Otipemisiwak Metis Government joins First Nations in criticizing Red River Metis self-government bill
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News The Otipemisiwak Metis Government is proposing revisions to federal legislation that will implement a self-government treaty with the Red River Metis as some First Nations groups call for the bill to be scrapped entirely. Bill C-21, the Manitoba Métis Self-Government Recognition and Implementation Treaty, was introduced for its second reading on April 22 by Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Rebecca Alty, who is also the Liberal MP for the Northwest Territories. “The bill before us today is a co-developed, living document setting out rules, regulations and processes for self-governance crafted by the Red River Métis on their terms and agreed to by Canada, not imposed by the Crown,” said Alty as she introduced the bill’s second reading. She noted that it...
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Former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour named as next governor general
By Kyle Duggan and Anja Karadeglija Prime Minister Mark Carney named retired Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour as Canada’s next governor general on Tuesday, hailing her as a storied defender of human rights. The accomplished former jurist is fluently bilingual, and has served as UN human rights commissioner and chief prosecutor at The Hague. Arbour, 79, was chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and made history when she became the first to indict a sitting head of state, president Slobodan Milosevic, for crimes against humanity. The Montreal native also secured the first conviction for genocide since the establishment of the 1948 Genocide Convention, and became first to prosecute sexual assaults as crimes against humanity. Carney said Arbour gave voice to the powerless and...
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Six Nations Fire Department issues Fraudulent Inspection call warnings
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER-Six Nations community members are being advised to be wary of calls claiming to be from the Six Nations Fire & Emergency Services (SNFES), SNFES said. In a fraud alert posted to their Facebook page last Thursday (April 30), SNFES advised the community that they were not contacting any residents by phone to conduct inspections. SNFES said that if someone does receive a call telling them a fire inspection is scheduled for their location, it’s fraudulent and they should report it to Six Nations Police. SNFES did not immediately respond to requests for comment....
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Six Nations Police Officer receives Conditional Discharge in 2024 Assault Charge
By Alex Murray Writer A Six Nations police officer charged with assault in 2024 had his case resolved in a Hamilton regional court last Friday (May 1). Constable Michael J. Johnson, 32, was charged with assault causing bodily harm after an incident in April 2024. Johnson was on duty when he shoved a drunk man into a holding cell at the Six Nations police station. The man fell against a concrete bed, suffering a fractured vertebrae in his neck and a deep laceration on his forehead that required 12 sutures to close. The OPP Professional Standards Bureau investigated the incident and laid the charge against Johnson, who was suspended with pay by Six Nations Police. The case was later moved to Hamilton in summer 2025, where Regional Senior Justice Anthony...
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Former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour named as next governor general
By The Canadian Press Prime Minister Mark Carney says retired Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour will become Canada’s next governor general. The accomplished former jurist is fluently bilingual, and has served as UN human rights commissioner and chief prosecutor at The Hague. She will replace Mary Simon, who became Canada’s first Indigenous Governor General when Justin Trudeau tapped her for the role in 2021. Governors general typically only hold office for five years, and Simon will reach the five-year mark of her tenure in July. Simon speaks English and Inuktitut but attracted controversy for not being fluent in French. Carney had promised the next governor general would speak both official languages. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2026. ...
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New Brunswick should enshrine into law the right to clean water, says lawyer
By Eli Ridder An environmental lawyer is calling for New Brunswick to enshrine into law the right to clean water. Richelle Martin with East Coast Environmental Law told a legislature committee today the lack of such a law can result in unequal access to clean water. The Fredericton-based lawyer says the province should also create formal ways the government can co-operate with Indigenous communities on freshwater-related issues. The committee is considering ways to update the Clean Water Act and Martin says now is the time to legislate “enforceable rights to clean water.” Earlier in the day a group representing 60 New Brunswick municipalities called on the government to launch an expert working group to consider ways to protect the province’s water supply. Representatives of J.D. Irving Ltd. are scheduled to...
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Manitoba Tory gets one-day suspension from the legislature chamber
By Steve Lambert The speaker of the Manitoba legislature has tossed a Tory Opposition member from the legislature, and has warned that other politicians could follow. Speaker Tom Lindsey ordered Wayne Ewasko to leave the chamber for the day over comments Ewasko made last month while heckling Premier Wab Kinew. Ewasko had suggested Kinew, who doesn’t drink alcohol, was drinking. Lindsey ordered Ewasko to apologize unequivocally, and did not accept it when Ewasko apologized if Kinew took offence to the comments. Kinew, who is First Nation, says the comments were racist. The Speaker has tried to clamp down on heckling and issued a new warning that he is now more likely to eject people for the day if they disregard his rulings. He also revealed a list of words that...
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Canoes, kayaks, snow bikes and cabin stays make a Métis river tourism experience
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Zack Doroshenko realizes he’s not a major player in the tourism industry, but he’s pleased his Alberta business, River Rentals, is able to expand thanks to funding from supportive sources. River Rentals, located adjacent to St. Albert, Alta. in Sturgeon County, was launched in 2021 when Doroshenko began renting out canoes and kayaks for trips along a neighbouring river. “Our property is an old Métis river lot… The site itself is on the river lot bordering the Sturgeon River,” Doroshenko said. “It’s a site designed for groups, which is expandable. Basically, there’s two bunk houses, a main cabin. Then there’s a bathroom cabin and a spa area.” The year-round business is now involved in a major expansion with four tiny cabins under...
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Bearspaw First Nation voices concerns over Fortress Mountain resort plans in Kananaskis
By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook KANANASKIS COUNTRY – Bearspaw First Nation has voiced concerns over proposed all-season resort plans that aim to turn Fortress Mountain into a year-round destination complete with alpine coasters, hotels and gondolas. In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Tourism and Sport dated Feb. 26, Bearspaw First Nation, one of three bands that make up Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation, alongside Chiniki and Goodstoney Nations, says they were not asked to provide input on the resort’s environmental assessment or master plan released earlier this year. “It is more than disappointing that Bearspaw First Nation was not given the capacity or asked to provide input that could have been incorporated into both the environmental assessment and master plan,” wrote Bearspaw First...
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‘Last generation with a choice’: Coalition calls on Doug Ford to bring back climate plan
By Anushka Yadav, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer “Climate change is a crisis we caused together, and a responsibility we all share, together. To reject that responsibility would be careless, reckless, perhaps even sinful,” former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said at The Shared Air Summit in 2007. “The earth isn’t ours – if it belongs to anyone, it belongs to our children. And they are counting on us. So it’s important we act.” McGuinty distilled climate change into a simple yet urgent warning as he unveiled the government’s first climate plan long after the province had been tested by disaster after disaster: Hurricane Hazel’s deadly floods in 1954, the 1971 Great Lakes blizzard, the destruction of Winisk in 1986 and the crippling ice storm of 1998—early glimpses of a...
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‘More than just a building — it’s an opportunity’: First Nations Technical Institute welcomes new aviation funding
By Michelle Dorey Forestell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kingstonist.com Students at First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI) in Tyendinaga say a new provincial investment in their aviation program will finally close a gap they’ve been working through for years. “It works, but it’s not the same as a permanent aviation facility,” said first-year student Caleb Matchett, describing the temporary hangar students have relied on since a 2022 fire destroyed the institute’s training centre. Speaking Friday, May 1, 2026, at a provincial funding announcement on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, with training aircraft parked just metres away, Matchett said the difference between FNTI and other aviation schools is noticeable. “Compared to other aviation schools, you can really feel the difference in infrastructure,” he said. Despite that, Matchett said, students have continued to push forward....
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Audit finds flood hazard mapping behind schedule, doesn’t account for climate change
By Sarah Ritchie Federal efforts to map parts of the country facing the highest risk of flooding are not on track to finish by the 2028 target date and don’t account for the effects of climate change, Canada’s environment watchdog said in a new report. It was one of five reports issued by environment commissioner Jerry DeMarco and auditor general Karen Hogan on Monday — which also included probes of Canada’s avian flu response, First Nations funding, the climate resilience of federal assets, and how well the government accommodates accessibility needs in the public service. The flood mapping report found the flood risk awareness portal under development at the Public Safety department does not consider how climate change is affecting flood patterns. “Flood hazard maps must integrate climate change projections;...
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Four-week murder trial begins for 2 men in 2024 highway shooting near Calgary
By Bill Graveland A four-week jury trial has begun for two men charged following a 2024 deadly roadside shooting near Calgary. Arthur Wayne Penner, 37, of Edmonton and Elijah Blake Strawberry, 29, of O’Chiese First Nation each face a charge of second-degree murder. They are also charged with attempted murder. The shooting occurred along a roadway in Rocky View County, east of Calgary. One of the men, Colin Hough, 45, died. The other was seriously injured. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2026. ...
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A small northern Ontario town refused radioactive waste. It’s gone to Sarnia instead
By Leah Borts-Kuperman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Narwhal For decades, radioactive waste sat near the shore of Lake Nipissing. It looked like an innocuous pile of gravel in what was otherwise a stretch of forest. People began using it to backfill lots, fill spaces under decks and build fire pits. In the 1970s and ’80s, Nipissing First Nation began using it to build roads. It wasn’t normal gravel, though. It was mine tailings, containing the metal niobium, left there when the Nova Beaucage mine shuttered in 1956 after just seven months of operation. “The company just walked away and left it with no remediation at all,” Geneviève Couchie, business operations manager at Nipissing First Nation, said. Couchie led a project to clean up the tailings, which first started in...
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Auditor general reports on avian flu vaccines, First Nations funding
By Catherine Morrison Two federal watchdogs released five audits Monday, including probes into federal workplace accessibility and avian flu. Here are some of the highlights: Indigenous Services Canada failed to monitor funding for First Nations A report from auditor general Karen Hogan found that Indigenous Services Canada failed to effectively implement, monitor or assess funding for First Nations. The report looked at measures introduced under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, who made resetting Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples a priority for his government. The audit found that more than $6.5 billion has been provided to First Nations and First Nations-led organizations through 10-year grants, but the government didn’t consistently monitor whether recipients remained eligible for continued funding. The audit also said the department didn’t assess whether the grants were helping...
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In ‘B.C.’s’ interior, a syilx program is returning burrowing owls to the grasslands
By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews This story is a collaboration between IndigiNews and The Narwhal. Nine-year-old John Smithers cradles a tiny burrowing owl in his hands, preparing to release it into the grasslands of Upper Nicola Band (UNB) territory. Like other young syilx people, he’s grown up hearing stories about the small birds of prey whose populations have plummeted in the region in the last century or so. The owls – known in syilx culture as guardians, guides or messengers – were “once a common element” in landscapes stretching from the southern Interior of “B.C.” all the way to Manitoba, according to “Canada’s” Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife. Now, burrowing owl sightings are rare. In 2003, the Government of Canada listed the burrowing owl as...
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Audit finds flood hazard mapping behind schedule, doesn’t account for climate change
By Sarah Ritchie and Catherine Morrison Federal efforts to map parts of the country facing the highest risk of flooding are not on track to finish by the 2028 target date and don’t account for the effects of climate change, Canada’s environment watchdog said in a new report. The report was one of five issued by environment commissioner Jerry DeMarco and auditor general Karen Hogan on Monday. The other audits reviewed Canada’s avian flu response, First Nations funding, the climate resilience of federal assets, and how well the government accommodates accessibility needs in the public service. The flood mapping report found the flood risk awareness portal under development at the Public Safety Department does not consider how climate change is affecting flood patterns. “Climate change projections and easily available flood...
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Calgary trial begins after worker stops to help stricken truck, gets shot to death
By Bill Graveland Colin Hough was in his work truck one summer day when, hoping to lend a hand, he pulled up to a burning vehicle on the side of a rural road and was shot to death, court heard Monday. Hough was the second person to be randomly fired upon at that spot, east of Calgary, on Aug. 6, 2024, Crown prosecutor Photini Papadatou told jurors on the opening day of the trial of Arthur Penner and Blake Strawberry. The statement is not evidence but an outline of what the Crown hopes to prove in the Court of King’s Bench trial, which is scheduled to last a month. Minutes earlier that fateful day, Papadatou told court, Matthew Andres was doing surveying work — his electricity company truck parked roadside...
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