Hackers may have accessed 22 B.C. government inboxes, data on 19 employees: Farnworth
The Canadian Press 03/06/2024 18:34 Twenty-two British Columbia government email inboxes with sensitive personal information on 19 employees may have been accessed during a cyber attack on the province’s networks, the minister of public safety said on Monday. Mike Farnworth said there’s no indication the general public’s information was compromised and investigators have not identified any misuse of the information the criminals may have accessed. “A handful of these inboxes contain sensitive personal information on 19 individuals. These were employee files, and with one exception being an employee who had family information on their inbox,” he said. Farnworth said the investigation into the attacks in April, which were made public in May, is continuing and evidence still points to state or state-sponsored actors as those responsible. The minister would not...
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Manitoba cabinet minister received government contract, faces disclosure questions
The Canadian Press 03/06/2024 18:53 A Manitoba cabinet minister is being accused of hiding the fact he has a contract with the provincial government. The Opposition Progressive Conservatives filed a complaint Monday with the province’s ethics commissioner, alleging Ian Bushie, the minister of municipal and northern relations, was unfairly granted a contract without allowing other people to bid on it. The Tories also allege Bushie failed to reveal the contract in his disclosure statement, which all Manitoba politicians are required to fill out in order to show their business interests and other holdings. “The ethics commissioner and the (Conflict of Interest) Act has a process that you have to abide by,” interim Progressive Conservative leader Wayne Ewasko said. Bushie is the sole proprietor of Grandpa George’s, a family-run gas station...
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Hackers may have accessed 22 B.C. government inboxes, data on 19 employees: Farnworth
The Canadian Press 03/06/2024 16:04 British Columbia’s public safety minister says 22 government email inboxes with sensitive personal information on 19 employees may have been accessed during a cyber attack on the province’s networks last month. Mike Farnworth says there’s no indication the general public’s information was compromised and investigators have not identified any misuse of the information the criminals may have accessed. Farnworth says the investigation is continuing and evidence still points to state or state-sponsored actors as those responsible. The minister would not provide details on where the employees work who were swept up in the breach, but says they are with the public service, not the government cabinet. Farnworth says the employees have been notified and will be receiving credit monitoring and help with identity protection. The...
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Credibility of psychiatrist heard in Winnipeg trial of admitted serial killer
The Canadian Press 03/06/2024 16:05 Lawyers at the Winnipeg trial of an admitted serial killer are discussing whether a forensic psychiatrist, author and YouTuber can provide expert testimony. Dr. Sohom Das has twice assessed the mental state of Jeremy Skibicki since his arrest. Skibicki, who is 37, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the killings of four Indigenous woman in 2022. He has admitted to the slayings, but his lawyers argue he should be found not criminally responsible due to mental illness. Das, who is based in England, provides analysis for civil and criminal cases in the United Kingdom and has a YouTube channel about mental illness. Prosecutors questioned Das about a video in which he outlines how to fake mental illness, but Das says some of his...
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B.C. First Nation plans dig for remains at ex-school, signs deal with RCMP, province
The Canadian Press 03/06/2024 16:28 The British Columbia government says the Williams Lake First Nation is planning to excavate the site of a former residential school to recover possible human remains and has signed an agreement with the province and RCMP to help guide the process. The Ministry of Indigenous Relations says the memorandum of understanding is the first of its kind in B.C. and sets out the process used for potential recovery, identification and repatriation of remains linked to the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School. The ministry says the First Nation has been investigating the deaths and disappearances of Indigenous children who attended the school that operated until 1981, including the use of ground-penetrating radar, archival research and survivor interviews. It says the research has determined Indigenous children died...
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AFN national chief blasts governments’ inaction on fifth anniversary of MMIWG report
The Canadian Press 03/06/2024 12:39 On the fifth anniversary of a national inquiry’s report into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations is blasting all levels of government for what she calls slow progress to stop the crisis. Only two of the more than 150 calls to action focused on First Nations people have been implemented since 2019, Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says. That’s despite constant calls from advocates for more funding from all levels of government for Indigenous housing, justice and programs for LGBTQ peoples that they say would keep women and girls safer. The 2019 inquiry concluded Indigenous women are 12 times more likely to go missing or murdered than their non-Indigenous counterparts, and brought forward a total of 231...
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Encounter with wolves ‘one of the most epic experiences of my life’
By Kira Wronska Dorward Journalism Initiative Reporter 03/06/2024 10:44 “This has always been my biggest dream,” says Amit Eshel, speaking to Nunavut News from his home country of Israel, where he is in the process of being filmed for Israeli national television and setting up an exhibit in Tel Aviv with the incredible photos he shot on his recent trip to photograph Arctic wolves on northern Ellesmere Island. Eshel and his team spent 18 days in the High Arctic around Grise Fiord in what was his second, and this time wildly successful endeavour to track the elusive white wolves. “Just getting there is very expensive,” he says, “and you never know if you’re going to find them. Usually these kinds of photos are only managed by publications like National Geographic...
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100 years ago, US citizenship for Native Americans came without voting rights in swing states
The Associated Press 01/06/2024 13:29 SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Voter participation advocate Theresa Pasqual traverses Acoma Pueblo with a stack of sample ballots in her car and applications for absentee ballots, handing them out at every opportunity ahead of New Mexico’s Tuesday primary. Residents of the tribal community’s original mesa-top “sky city” that endured after the Spanish invasion in the late 1500s know firsthand the challenges voters have faced across Indian Country, where polling places are often hours away and restrictive voter laws and ID requirements only add to the barriers. It’s been a century now since an act of Congress granted citizenship to Native Americans, but advocates say that right bestowed in 1924 still hasn’t translated into equal access to the ballot. Inequities are especially pronounced in remote...
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B.C. unveils 240-language racism helpline as survey suggests systemic problems
The Canadian Press 01/06/2024 13:17 British Columbia has launched a new helpline for people who witness or experience a racist incident, with support available in more than 240 languages. The province said in a news release that helpline callers would receive support and guidance, which could include referrals to local community support services, such as counselling or help with reporting to police. But it’s also part of an effort to collect more data about racism in the province, that includes a provincewide demographic survey about systemic racism. The helpline and the results of the survey into barriers experienced by Indigenous and racialized people in the public service, schools and health care were separately announced on Thursday. The Ministry of Citizens’ Services said the data from the survey and “other sources”...
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The healing power of fire
By Matt Simmons Local Journalism Initiative Reporter This is the first story from In the Line of Fire , a series from The Narwhal digging into what is being done to prepare for — and survive — wildfires. Gitanyow Elder Darlene Vegh drips fire onto a patch of dry leaves, moss and twigs on a ridge above Xsit’ax (Kitwanga River) on Wilp Gwaas Hlaam lands in northwest B.C. It’s a clear spring day a few weeks after the winter snowmelt exposed the forest floor. The orange light of the little flames dancing along the ground is soft and warm against the deep shadows cast by the trees. Vegh’s fire starts the day’s cultural burn, an Indigenous-led practice that brings fire back to the land in a good way. Fire —...
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Arizona tribe temporarily bans dances after police officer is fatally shot responding to disturbance
The Associated Press 02/06/2024 19:12 SANTAN, Ariz. (AP) — The Gila River Indian Community has issued a temporary ban on dances after a tribal police officer was fatally shot and another wounded while responding to a reported disturbance at a Santan home, tribal officials said Sunday. Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the tribe south of Phoenix, said a special meeting of community council’s leaders was held Saturday night. The council approved a temporary moratorium on all permitted and non-permitted dances in the community, effective immediately, along with enhanced penalties for trespassing and disorderly conduct, he said. The Phoenix FBI is investigating the fatal shooting, but it has not released many details. The Arizona Republic reported that the shooting occurred at a teenager’s birthday party in Santan, located in one of...
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Trudeau pitches strong ties to Mexico’s new leader Claudia Sheinbaum amid U.S. tumult
The Canadian Press 03/06/2024 10:39 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is welcoming the election of Mexico’s next president, Claudia Sheinbaum, and pitching closer ties between the two counties as they ponder the future of North American relations. Mexicans elected Sheinbaum as their first female president Sunday, and in October she will replace Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador. The election comes three months after the Liberals reimposed a visa requirement for Mexican visitors over concerns that the 2016 lifting of the requirement led to a rise in ineligible refugee claims and human smuggling into the U.S. The two countries will be part of the 2026 review of the trade deal that replaced NAFTA, as both U.S. President Joe Biden and his likely election opponent Donald Trump propose policies that would clamp down on...
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Unique trades program at Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation
By Ryan Kiedrowski Local Journalism Initiative 31/05/2024 22:11 It’s an intense but effective initiative promising to propel participants from having no experience in the trades to being job ready—all in under two weeks. That’s the goal of a new study being funded by the federal government on the Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation to the tune of $352,500, part of a larger announcement on March 6 that saw Indigenous Natural Resource Partnerships devote a total of $10.4 million to seven mining projects. “Government, over the last two decades, has done a pretty darn good job of training up Indigenous people and getting them ready for the workforce and the work environment,” said Greg Farney, co-founder of Straight Talk Advisory and Training. “The one thing that we’ve all failed at is...
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Royal Regina Rifles statue to be unveiled at Juno Beach to mark D-Day’s 80th year
The Canadian Press 03/06/2024 04:00 A statue depicting the Canadians who fought Nazi Germany 80 years ago will have a permanent home near the beaches they stormed on D-Day. The Royal Regina Rifles statue is to be unveiled Wednesday at Juno Beach in France, a day ahead of the milestone anniversary of the invasion that launched the beginning of the end of the Second World War. The names of 458 soldiers from the infantry unit who died during that conflict are etched in the statue’s base. The Regina Rifles were among the first Canadians to storm Juno Beach on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day. The soldiers battled alongside troops from the United States and United Kingdom to dislodge Nazis from northern France, marking the decisive turning point in...
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Expert to testify in Winnipeg trial about mental state of admitted serial killer
The Canadian Press 03/06/2024 04:00 An admitted serial killer’s mental state is expected to be the focus of a murder trial that resumes in Winnipeg. Jeremy Skibicki, who is 37, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of four Indigenous women in Winnipeg in 2022. Crown prosecutors have said the killings were racially motivated and Skibicki preyed on the vulnerable victims at homeless shelters. Skibicki’s lawyers admit he killed the women but argue he should be found not criminally responsible due to mental illness. They are expected to start calling evidence, including their own expert, about Skibicki’s state of mind at the time of the slayings. Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal also ordered Skibicki undergo a mental health assessment last month with a...
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Treaty 3 man wins TV awards for Crave series
By Mike Stimpson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 31/05/2024 16:08 THUNDER BAY — A documentary maker with roots in two Treaty 3 First Nations won two Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto on Thursday but had no time for celebration. Ryan McMahon, whose mother is from Couchiching and whose paternal grandmother was from nearby Rainy River First Nations, explained Friday that he instead had family duties. “My partner and I, we have a six-month-old and a 2½-year-old,” the host, co-writer and co-producer of the Crave documentary series Thunder Bay said. “And she has two kids from a previous relationship, and I have two kids from a previous relationship. “So immediately after the awards, we ran back to Union Station and caught the train home to Hamilton because it was her 11-year-old’s...
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Serial killer Robert Pickton dies following prison assault
The Canadian Press 31/05/2024 16:11 Serial killer Robert Pickton has died after he was assaulted in prison earlier this month, Quebec provincial police and Correctional Service Canada say. The correctional service says Pickton, an inmate at Port-Cartier Institution in Quebec, died on Friday at the age of 74. It says in a statement that Pickton’s next of kin have been notified as well as victims who had registered to be told. It says an investigation is underway into the May 19 assault that involved another inmate. Quebec provincial police spokesman Frédéric Deshaies says Pickton died “in the last few hours.” He says police continue to investigate the assault that led to Pickton’s death, and the 51-year-old suspect is in custody. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May...
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CP NewsAlert: Serial killer Robert Pickton dies following prison assault
Serial killer Robert Pickton has died after he was assaulted in prison earlier this month, Quebec Provincial Police say. The 74-year-old was hospitalized after a violent prison assault two weeks ago. More coming....
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Rising seas force Panama Indigenous families to leave island homes
Indigenous Guna men displaced from Gardi Subdug, a small Caribbean island a couple kilometers off the Central American coastline that is disappearing under rising waves due to climate change, arrive to their new houses in a small woodland settlement on the mainland, in Nuevo Carti, Panama, in this handout distributed on May 29, 2024. Presidencia de Panama/Handout via REUTERS By Reuters ay 30, 20241:22 PM EDTUpdated a day ago PANAMA CITY, May 30 (Reuters) – Rising sea levels due to climate change have forced an Indigenous Guna community to leave their homes on an island off Panama’s coast that is fast disappearing. Some 300 families – 1,351 people – based in Gardi Subdug, a small Caribbean island a couple of kilometers off the Central American coastline, received keys on Wednesday...
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Fisheries Department issues warnings about lobster trap tampering in Nova Scotia
The Canadian Press The federal Fisheries Department is investigating reports of gear tampering in lobster fishing areas in eastern Nova Scotia. The department issued a statement late Thursday saying Indigenous fishers taking part in officially sanctioned moderate livelihood fisheries have reported tampering in two fishing areas, as have non-Indigenous commercial fishers. The lobster fishing areas in question are 26A, which includes the eastern half of the Northumberland Strait, and area 27, which extends from the tip of Cape Breton near Meat Cove to an area on the east side of the island near Garbarus. The department’s statement says conservation and protection officers have been deployed to deter further tampering, an offence under the Fisheries Act that can result in a fine of up to $100,000. The statement says gear tampering...
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