Eby says B.C. tried to involve private owners in Cowichan Aboriginal title case
By Nono Shen British Columbia Premier David Eby says the province previously tried unsuccessfully to get private property owners involved in the landmark Cowichan Tribes Aboriginal title case, as the City of Richmond prepares to host a meeting for owners potentially affected by the ruling. The city has sent letters to owners in the area where the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled the Cowichan Tribes hold Aboriginal title, with Mayor Malcolm Brodie saying over the weekend that hundreds of people’s properties may be affected by the case in which they had no prior involvement. Eby says the province tried to have property owners served in the case, but was rejected by the court, and it’s “totally reasonable” that owners are now anxious about the case’s implications. The Aug. 7...
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How common is severe climate change anxiety in Canada? Study offers a glimpse
Indigenous people had highest prevalence of severe climate anxiety of any group By Jordan Omstead Two new studies are helping to shed light on the extent Canadians feel climate change is impacting their mental health. A national study published today suggests about 2.3 per cent of people in Canada experience climate change anxiety at a level the authors considered “clinically relevant,” causing meaningful distress and disruption in their lives. The severe manifestation of climate anxiety was more common among people who had directly experienced climate change impacts, women compared to men, those in Northern Canada compared to Southern Canada, younger generations compared to older generations, people in urban centres compared to rural areas, and people with lower incomes. The study published in the academic journal Nature Mental Health also suggests...
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More info sent to Ottawa over Dresden landfill fight
By Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice When it comes to the proposed York 1 dump project at Dresden, municipal officials hope the federal government is listening. To that end, Chatham-Kent has submitted additional information to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC), clarifying information put forward by York1 with regard to the controversial proposal. Along with reaffirming the municipality’s opposition, the letter from its external legal counsel states the project would require several planning approvals under Ontario’s Planning Act, including changes to zoning and the Official Plan. The letter, outlining Chatham-Kent’s position, also states Ontario’s processes do not provide a full or adequate review of potential impacts on the environment or Indigenous rights, noting C-K continues to support a federal assessment under the Impact Assessment Act. Plus,...
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Three men charged with murder of Manitoba woman
By Steve Lambert Manitoba RCMP say three men have been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a woman who disappeared five years ago. Mounties say the three also face charges of offering an indignity to the human remains of 40-year-old Melinda Lynxleg. Sgt. Morgan Page says all the accused knew the woman from Tootinaowaziibeeng Treaty Reserve, also known as Valley River First Nation. Page says an extremely complex investigation, with numerous tips and interviews, countless police resources and thousands of hours of work, led to the charges. The woman was reported missing in April 2020, and her remains were found three years later on an abandoned property in San Clara, near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan boundary. A statement from the victim’s daughter says the charges, while relieving, reopen deep pain...
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Ontario polar bears could be ‘extinct in 45 years’ as Ford’s Bill 5 strips remaining protections
By Anushka Yadav, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer When Ontario Nature’s conservation campaigns and advocacy manager, Shane Moffatt, told The Pointer in May that Bill 5, dubbed Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, is “potentially the worst piece of legislation that Ontario has seen in a generation,” he knew exactly what was at stake. The Doug Ford government’s controversial legislation, passed on June 5 gutted the Endangered Species Act (ESA), one of the province’s strongest environmental protection tools, and replaced it with the far weaker Species Conservation Act, stripping away essential safeguards for Ontario’s at-risk wildlife. Five months later, Moffatt found himself writing to the federal government, urging Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to step in and help polar bears, after Ontario had abandoned the cause of...
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Families left uninformed after passing of loved ones
By Eric Plummer, Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper, Ha-Shilth-Sa Port Alberni, BC – A mother who recently lost her son in a car accident is calling for systemic changes, after being left in the dark about the deceased’s whereabouts for most of a week. It took five days for Nancy Antoine to get any information from the BC Coroners Service. Her son Nick was killed in a collision by Cameron Lake on Sept. 27. “I had to look for my son and look for his car. Stand by and wait,” she said in correspondence with Ha-Shilth-Sa. “It should not be like this for grieving families.” “The frustration as a parent is waiting for the coroner or the police to get back to us on where he was taken, where his car was taken...
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Indigenous intern program highlighted as ‘success
By Sean Porter, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Sault Star Water First’s Environmental Program internship just graduated it’s first six interns. “It’s a journey for the graduates, lots of technical things to go through, when I see all six of them, they seem like they’ve accomplished something big,” Ryan Osman, head of the environmental program. The program was launched July, 2024, in collaboration with Mamaweswen, The North Shore Tribal Council which represents First Nation communities Atikameksheng Anishinawbek, Batchewana, Garden River, Mississauga, Sagamk Anishnawbek, Serpent River and Thessalon. Garden River First Nation participate, Alexandra Nolan said “One of my favourite things about the internship was being with other people striving for climate change solutions and working together to solve environmental challenges,” in a release. Graduation and ceremony took place at Laurentian Lodge...
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Marineland’s decline raises questions about the future of zoo tourism
By Ann-Kathrin McLea, Carina Ya, Moira A. McDonald and Thomas Worry Thirty beluga whales are at the risk of being euthanized at the now-shuttered Marineland zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls. Marineland said in a letter to Canada’s Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson it will have to euthanize the whales if it doesn’t receive the necessary financial support to relocate them. The park has come under intense scrutiny recently due to the ongoing struggle to relocate its remaining whales amid financial struggles, a lack of resources and crumbling infrastructure. Canada passed the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act in 2019 that prohibits whales, dolphins and porpoises from being taken into captivity. However, the law does not apply retroactively, meaning whales already held in facilities such as Marineland were...
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Ontario Indigenous advocate says Anglo American turned ‘blind eye’ to De Beers issues
By Lauren Krugel An Indigenous advocate in northern Ontario says his community’s past experience with Anglo American PLC’s diamond-mining subsidiary De Beers does not inspire confidence that a proposed merger between the U.K. company and Vancouver-based Teck Resources Ltd. would benefit First Nations. Charles Hookimaw, former director of lands and resources for the Attawapiskat First Nation, detailed his concerns in a letter earlier this month to federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, whose department is reviewing whether the $70-billion transaction would be a net positive for Canada. “I observed first-hand that Anglo American consistently failed to ensure that its subsidiary lived up to its social responsibility and to respect the treaty rights of the Kattawapiskak (Attawapiskat) First Nation,” wrote Hookimaw, who now works as a freelance adviser on Indigenous issues. “Despite...
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City of Richmond to host meeting on ‘consequential’ Cowichan Tribes case
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie hopes an upcoming meeting will give property owners affected by the Cowichan Tribes case more information, calling the decision “one of the most consequential rulings of any court” in Canadian history. The meeting scheduled for Oct. 28 in the British Columbia community happens almost three months after a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled that Cowichan Tribes have the right to 7 1/2 square kilometres of land in Richmond, ruling that land titles granted by government were invalid. While the First Nation had not sought to have the titles of privately held properties declared invalid, the court said the Crown’s granting of private property ownership rights unjustifiably infringe on Cowichan Aboriginal title and needs to be resolved through negotiation, litigation or purchase. Otherwise the properties would remain...
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Report points to longer waits, higher fees for Manitoba freedom of information
By Steve Lambert The Manitoba government has been taking longer to respond to freedom of information requests and collecting more money from people filing them, newly released figures show. Government departments and agencies fulfilled more than 1,200 freedom of information requests in the fiscal year that ended in March, said the government’s annual report on its freedom of information law, released last week. A little more than half — 55 per cent — were completed within the normal 45-day period required by law, or after more time under an allowable extension in cases involving a large volume of records or where other governments or people must be consulted. That on-time completion rate was down from 69 per cent the previous year and 70 per cent the year before. People seeking...
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Three Indigenous-led marine refuges established in waters off B.C.’s North Coast
The federal government and two First Nations have jointly announced the establishment of three marine refuges along British Columbia’s North Coast. The Haida Nation and Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson say in a release that two marine refuge areas have been formally established in the waters near the islands of Haida Gwaii. The Gitxaala Nation, south of Prince Rupert, B.C., says in a separate statement that it has also jointly established with the federal government a third marine refuge in the area of nearby Banks Island. All three sites have been established under an initiative meant to increase Indigenous-led marine conservation efforts on the West Coast, while also advancing reconciliation. The Haida Nation says in a statement that it has worked for almost two decades on leading local marine planning efforts,...
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Initiative to grant Rice Lake legal personhood status gaining momentum, says Alderville First Nation chief
By Natalie Hamilton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, KawarthaNOW Taynar Simpson is hoping his legacy as chief of Alderville First Nation will include a cleaner and protected Rice Lake for many future generations of the Indigenous community. Stating that over-fishing and pollution is savaging the health of the large body of water located in both Northumberland and Peterborough counties, Alderville First Nation’s current chief and others are aiming to make a long-term contribution to the vitality of this vital resource. Simpson is helping spearhead an effort to have Rice Lake granted legal personhood status, which would ultimately protect the lake’s rights now and in the future. Working in collaboration with Alderville community members, other First Nation communities, the International Observatory of Nature’s Rights (which has taken on the case pro bono),...
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Prophet River First Nation collects input on future Fort St. John urban reserve
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A local First Nation was eagerly looking for input on what the future might look like for its urban reserve. Prophet River First Nation (PRFN) held several community engagement sessions throughout this week, including on Wednesday, October 15th, for the general public at Fort St. John’s Pomeroy Hotel and Conference Centre. The engagement meeting followed similar ones with PRFN members and Elders, which were held during the evening of Tuesday, October 14th and at lunch on Wednesday, respectively. PRFN has partnered with consulting firm McElhanney regarding the land it owns across from Robert Ogilvie Elementary on 86th Street in the city, as well as lands which were added to its reserve south of Fort Nelson. Additions to...
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Four Treaty 8 First Nations take province to court over Crown land sales
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Four northwestern Alberta First Nations have launched a legal challenge of the provincial government’s decision to sell more than 15,000 acres of Crown land to Mackenzie County for agricultural development. Collectively known as the Nations of the North Peace, Dene Tha’ First Nation, Beaver First Nation, Tallcree Tribal Government and Little Red River Cree Nation are asking the Court of King’s Bench to reverse the third and final stage of a process that was done without sufficient consultation or consideration of their Treaty rights. The Nations of the North Peace announced their request for judicial review with an Oct. 6 news release. In 2010, then-premier Ed Stelmach began auctioning off 136,000 acres of public land in Peace Country to Mackenzie...
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Federal government returns former military land to BC First Nation
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer The First Nation with the least reserve land per person in British Columbia has reclaimed a swath of ancestral territory on Vancouver Island once fenced off for the federal military. The 80 hectares of land, known traditionally as te’tuxwtun, or Mount Benson, was taken from Snuneymuxw First Nation by the government in the mid-1800s and used by the Department of National Defence. It later became the Nanaimo Indian Hospital from 1946 to 1967 — a site where many Indigenous people suffered under Canada’s forced assimilation policies. “Snuneymuxw never surrendered our land,” Mike Wyse, chief of the nation, told Canada’s National Observer. “We signed a treaty that we had our understanding, but our understanding of the English language wasn’t as clear...
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Treaty 8 Nations challenge Alberta’s Crown land sale in court
By Aaron Walker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Four Treaty 8 Nations in northern Alberta have launched a court challenge against the province, claiming Alberta violated their Treaty rights through its latest Crown land sale that the Nations say continues a long pattern of dispossession. For the Nations of the North Peace, land is not a commodity, but a living relationship passed from one generation to the next, a connection Alberta’s actions continue to threaten, the Nations assert. The Beaver First Nation, Dene Tha’ First Nation, Little Red River Cree Nation, and Tallcree Tribal Government argue that Alberta’s land-sale decision to sell more than 15,000 acres of public land to Mackenzie County near High Level breaches the province’s constitutional duty to consult and accommodate Indigenous peoples. The Nations’ judicial review...
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‘Breathtaking’: Hope Truck fundraiser raises $151,000 for communities
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca MOBERLY LAKE, B.C. — An initiative designed to help communities – both of First Nations and settler communities – in the Peace has revealed final fundraising totals. The Hope Truck fundraiser, which began in March, was a collaboration between West Moberly Industrial Metalwork (WM-IMW) – a division of West Moberly First Nations’ economic arm, West Moberly Corporate Alliance – and Tumbler Ridge-based coal company Conuma Resources. Following a gala on September 27th, the initiative revealed a total of $151,917.44 was raised after expenses. This means the four communities involved – Chetwynd and Tumbler Ridge as well as Saulteau First Nations (SFN) and West Moberly First Nations (WMFN) – will receive a share of $37,979.44 WM-IMW director of marketing and Indigenous relations Marilyn...
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Prince George shoplifter who wanted cleaner clothing gets 27 days in jail
By Bob Mackin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince George Citizen A 32-year-old from Prince George pleaded guilty to theft under $5,000 during an Oct. 8 Provincial Court video hearing from jail in Surrey. Judge David Simpkin sentenced Corey Trent Tom, who is a member of Takla First Nation, to 50 days in jail. Tom received credit for 23 days in pretrial custody, leaving 27 days to serve. He was also ordered to spend the next year on probation under the joint proposal from Crown and defence lawyers. Simpkin heard that Tom, who is in custody at the Surrey Pretrial Centre, was arrested on Aug. 25 in Richmond after stealing $267.95 of clothing and deodorant from the Real Canadian Superstore. An RCMP officer intercepted Tom, who was riding a bicycle, on...
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Ontario Chiefs sound alarm on escalating opioid crisis in First Nations communities
By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor ONTARIO —The new report from the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) and the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network reads like a ledger of sorrow and resilience. It maps a cruel truth: between 2019 and 2022, the rate of opioid-related deaths among First Nations in Ontario nearly tripled, reaching 12.8 per 10,000 people, compared to 1.4 for non-First Nations. In 2023, First Nations people were ten times more likely to visit hospital because of opioid toxicity. Many more use opioid agonist therapy; many more live under the shadow of systemic trauma. “These statistics shed a light onto one of the most pressing issues of our time,” said Abram Benedict, Chief of the COO. “Far too many people—both First Nations and non-First...
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