First Nations protest walk reaches Queen’s Park after trek
By Diane Johnston, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Temiskaming Speaker TEMISKAMING SHORES – Just over two weeks ago, a small group of First Nations youth protesters set out on foot from Timmins for Queen’s Park. They’re calling for the repeal of provincial and federal legislation aimed at speeding development of major infrastructure projects in response to the trade dispute with the U.S. Anger over Bill 5 and Bill C-5 – Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act and the One Canadian Economy legislation, which includes the Building Canada Act– spurred Tristan Ashishkeesh, a founder of the walk, to take action. The legislation and governments’ responses echo previous governments’ approaches to First Nations’ concerns, said Ashishkeesh in an interview on the side of Highway 11 last week. “We’re getting pushed, and no...
Register
A simple question..
Both Canada and Ontario are suddenly in a hurry. They want to put shovels in the ground and steel everywhere and to make sure they could do it suddenly Bill C5, Ontario’s Bill 5 and even B.C. has joined the rush with its own Bill 15. What they all have in common is a theme to speed up development whether its a highway or what they call clean energy they are in a rush. So why? Now it may all be simply that the new Prime Minister wants to make his mark and coming from a banking background sees the development fees, land fees…fees, fees, fees that will come to governments and of course the huge movement of cash needed to build national and provincial projects will see banks smiling!...
Register
Weekly Cartoon
...
Register
Lowest goals-against average wins Chiefs’ netminder league award
By Sam Laskaris Writer Warren Hill is the one who ending up winning a league-wide goaltending award this season. But Hill, a star netminder for the Six Nations Chiefs, believes several others should also be receiving some recognition. It was announced this past week that Hill is this year’s recipient of the Harry Lumley Award, for having the lowest goals-against average in the seven-team Major Series Lacrosse (MSL). Hill appeared in 10 regular season games this year for the Chiefs and had a league-leading 5.51 goals-against average. Doug Jamieson, the Chiefs’ other goalie, had a 6.12 GAA, the second-best in the league. “I think the award is a great testament to our team and defence as a whole,” Hill said. “We have a great defence that allows both Dougie and...
Register
MontHill Golf & Country Club once again hosts Indigenous Ontario championship
By Sam Laskaris Writer Six Nations golfers will once again be competing for provincial bragging rights rather close to home. That’s because for the fourth consecutive year the Indigenous Ontario Golf Championship will be staged at the MontHill Golf & Country Club, located in Caledonia. Opening ceremonies as well as a practice round will be held on Aug. 10. That will be followed with a 54-hole competition during the next three days, Aug. 11-13. “We have 110 golfers,” said event chair Steve Tooshkenig. “It’s going to be a good event – a good three days of championship golf.” Tooshkenig estimates around 30-35 per cent of the field will be comprised of golfers from Six Nations. “The rest are from all over Ontario,” he said. “So, that’s a good that’s a...
Register
Attack looking for positive results at season ending championship tournament
By Sam Laskaris Writer Tim Bomberry is hoping that members of the Grand River Attack continue to improve and have some positive results at their season-ending tournament. Bomberry is in his first season as serving as the head coach of the Six Nations-based Attack, one of 10 clubs that participates in Women’s Major Series Lacrosse (WMSL). All entrants in the Ontario-based circuit are now gearing up for their provincial championship, the WMSL tournament, which will be held Aug. 15-17 in Peterborough. Matches will be staged at a pair of Peterborough venues, the Memorial Centre and Healthy Planet Arena. “We’re going to give our best effort there,” Bomberry said of his squad, which posted a regular season record of 5-4, good for sixth place in the league standings. Bomberry is encouraged...
Register
Carney pledges $150M boost to ‘underfunded’ CBC
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mark-carney-cbc-funding-1.7501902...
Register
Saskatchewan health policy requires consent to cut hair of Indigenous patients
Saskatchewan’s health authority is requiring staff to get consent before cutting the hair of Indigenous patients, nearly a year after a Métis man’s ponytail was cut without his approval. A message sent to health employees says the new policy aims to respect the spiritual and cultural significance of hair to Indigenous people. It says staff must not cut the hair of Indigenous patients unless they have consent from the patient, family or decision-maker involving their health. The policy says hair should only be cut when medically necessary, such as for head trauma and brain or head surgery. The direction comes about a year after Ruben St. Charles’s ponytail was cut before he received hip surgery at a Saskatoon hospital. Bonnie Marwood, a patient advocate for St. Charles, says the policy...
Register
Doig River among investors in First Nations Bank of Canada’s $9m equity raise
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca SASKATOON, SK. — Indigenous groups from Treaty 8 were among five parties to invest in the First Nations Bank of Canada (FNBC). According to a release on August 5th, Doig River First Nation (DRFN) and its economic arm, Úújǫ Developments, joined groups from Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Yukon in the investment, which was announced on Tuesday, August 5th. The total investment from the parties totals $9 million, and the release says the money “will support the bank’s continued loan book expansion, particularly in response to rising demand in its core commercial lending business, as well as new programs.” Headquartered in Saskatchewan, the FNBC is the first independent financial institution to be controlled by Indigenous shareholders and began in 1996. President and chief...
Register
Blaze near Cathedral Grove, but B.C. fire service says ancient forest not at risk
By Nono Shen Vancouver Island photographer Colby Rex O’Neill has had restless nights as a wildfire burns less than a kilometre from his home. That’s a worry, but he also fears the Wesley Ridge fire could reach what he called a “national treasure” — Cathedral Grove, a temperate rainforest with trees that are about 800 years old, located in a park on central Vancouver Island. Rex O’Neill said he was closely watching the fire burning east of MacMillan Provincial Park, which contains what he described as “one of the most beautiful forests in the world.” “I feel like, if it ever really was being threatened, that we would need to do something as a country to protect it. That forest is a very special place,” he said. Madison Dahl, a...
Register
Grizzly Bear Art Show calls on local artists to channel creativity for conservation
By Luke Faulks, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Pique Newsmagazine Artists from across the Sea to Sky region are invited to submit their creative interpretations of one of British Columbia’s most iconic and threatened species: the grizzly bear. The Coast to Cascades Grizzly Bear Initiative and Pemberton Arts Council are set to host a Grizzly Bear Art Show on Oct. 17 at the Pemberton & District Community Centre. The juried exhibition aims to raise awareness of the cultural, ecological and emotional significance of grizzly bears through visual art. “For thousands of years in the Sea to Sky area of southwest B.C., grizzly bears [have been] prominently connected to First Nations Culture & History and are an important species significantly contributing to the health and vitality of ecosystems,” said organizers on social...
Register
19-year-old driver killed in crash outside Caledonia
By J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator A driver was killed in a single-vehicle collision along the banks of the Grand River northwest of Caledonia just before 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The motorist, identified by police as a 19-year-old from Wilsonville in neighbouring Norfolk County, died at the scene. The crash happened on Highway 54 between Onondaga Townline Road and Harrison Road, said OPP Sgt. Ed Sanchuk. Investigators have determined that the car left the roadway, hit a guardrail and rolled over, ending up in a ditch. That stretch of highway follows the river between Caledonia and Brantford. The fatal crash happened on the border of Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation. Investigators closed the road and were expected to be on the scene until...
Register
Funding from First Nations Bank to assist construction of Indigenous-led development in B.C. town
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Construction will soon commence on a new development in Function Junction, a neighbourhood in Whistler, a popular tourist town in British Columbia. The Indigenous-led development, which will be called Tseqwtsúqum̓, is made possible with funding from the First Nations Bank of Canada (FNBC) to the Lil’wat Business Group. The Lil’wat Business Group is the economic arm of Lil’wat Nation. The dollar amount is not being publicly released for the project, which was announced on July 28. FNBC’s CEO Bill Lomax said, however, it is the largest deal yet under its $100 million Indigenous Land Development Program partnership with the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB). The partnership provides below-market rates to Indigenous communities looking to build critical infrastructure. “We’ve been working on accessing funding...
Register
Judge considers whether Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention center violates environmental law
By David Fischer And Mike Schneider MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday was hearing arguments over whether to stop construction of an immigration detention center built in the middle of the Florida Everglades and dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” because it didn’t follow environmental laws. Until the laws are followed, environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe said U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams should issue a preliminary injunction to halt operations and further construction. The suit claims the project threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals and would reverse billions of dollars’ worth of environmental restoration. The lawsuit in Miami against federal and state authorities is one of two legal challenges to the South Florida detention center which was built more than a month ago by...
Register
4 people die in crash of medical transport plane on Navajo Nation in northern Arizona
By Jacques Billeaud And Lisa Baumann A small medical transport plane crashed and caught fire Tuesday on the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona, killing four people, the tribe said in a statement. A Beechcraft King Air 300 from the CSI Aviation company left Albuquerque, New Mexico, with two pilots and two health care providers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and CSI Aviation. It crashed in the early afternoon near the airport in Chinle, about 300 miles (483 kilometers) northeast of Phoenix. “They were trying to land there and unfortunately something went wrong,” district Police Commander Emmett Yazzie said. The crew was planning pick up a patient who needed critical care from the federal Indian Health Service hospital in Chinle, said Sharen Sandoval, director of the Navajo Department of Emergency...
Register
Revenue sharing agreement with airline nets First Nation over $1M
By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com WEBEQUIE — The chief of Webequie First Nation says a recent royalty payment from one of its business partners will be budgeted to improve the bottom line of the community’s various departments, like education and economic development. Officials and staff with North Star Air were in Webequie, a remote First Nation located about 540 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, on Friday to publicly present the most recent dividend of a revenue sharing agreement between the airline and the First Nation, totalling just over $1.026 million. “We have a partnership with North Star Air, and that is our preferred airline for travel in and out of our community,” Webequie Chief Cornelius Wabasse told Newswatch. He said the public presentation to the community —...
Register
What Were You Wearing? Exhibit Confronts Victim Blaming
By Steven Sukkau, Initiative de journalisme local, Winnipeg Sun The first thing you notice is that the mannequins aren’t sexy. One wears a faded hoodie. Another is dressed in nursing scrubs, another in pajamas. A pair of sweats so average they could have been bought at Walmart for $19.99. These are the outfits people were wearing when they were sexually assaulted. The “What Were You Wearing?” exhibit organized by Genesis House is as blunt as its name, a quiet rebuttal to one of the oldest and ugliest myths in human history: that sexual assault can be explained by a victim’s clothing. “No one is asking for it,” says Ang Braun, Executive Director at Genesis House. “That’s the reality. And sometimes people need to see it to believe it.” The exhibit...
Register
Mohawk Council of Kahnawake considering road tolls in response to federal cuts
By Morgan Lowrie The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake says it will probably impose tolls on the roads crossing its territory in response to looming federal budget cuts. Grand Chief Cody Diabo told reporters the tolls could help offset the impact of cuts by Indigenous Services Canada on the Mohawk community south of Montreal. He says his council is looking at implementing tolls on major highways where he says approximately 120,000 vehicles pass through daily. Federal ministers have been asked to carve out savings of 7.5 per cent next spring, with cuts expected to rise to 15 per cent in 2028-29. Diabo says the news of the cuts comes in the wake of Indigenous opposition to Bill C-5, which gives Ottawa the power to fast-track projects it considers to be in...
Register
Portion of Highway 54 remains closed as OPP investigate fatal crash
HALDIMAND COUNTY, ON – Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are continuing to investigate after a single vehicle fatal crash closed Haldimand Highway 54 between Onondaga Townline Road and Harrison Road near Caledonia. Emergency services including Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Haldimand County Detachment, Haldimand County Fire Department and Haldimand County EMS responded to a collision at Haldimand Highway 54 Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at approximately 12:26 a.m.. OPP said a motor vehicle left the roadway and stuck a guard rail and rolled over before coming to rest in the ditch. A lone occupant, a 19-year-old from Wilsonville sustained serious life-threatening injuries and was pronounced deceased on scene. West Region OPP Traffic Incident Management Enforcement Team is assisting with the investigation and is asking anyone who was travelling on Haldimand Highway 54 between...
Register
Conditions cool after B.C. wildfires double in a week with 67,000 lighting strikes
The number of wildfires burning in British Columbia has more than doubled in the past week after a stretch of hot, dry weather and thunderstorms that produced more than 67,000 lightning strikes. There are more than 130 active fires in B.C., up from about 60 a week ago, though the BC Wildfire Service says cooler temperatures, scattered showers and a decrease in thunderstorm activity would help firefighting efforts this week. There is one so-called wildfire of note, the Wesley Ridge blaze discovered last Thursday near Cathedral Grove, a renowned old-growth forest east of Port Alberni. The out-of-control blaze spans just over five square kilometres, with the latest update from the wildfire service saying helicopters equipped with night-vision technology worked overnight to dump water on hot spots. The service says crews...
Register
