Brant arts community reeling after loss of actor, playwright and director
By Celeste Percy-Beauregard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator The Brant arts scene has lost a bright light. The community is reeling after learning of the death of Martin Smith, an actor, director, playwright and local arts champion in Brantford-Brant and beyond. He was 67. “He truly was an extraordinary man and was constantly rallying and active in all sorts of community theatre and arts projects,” his partner, Becky Rounce, told The Spectator. As word of his June 11 passing trickled out, community members and artists took to social media to express their shock and sadness. “Mentor,” “pillar” and “beloved” is how the posts described him. Smith moved to Brantford around 12 years ago and became a fixture of the local arts scene. He penned more than a dozen...
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Wagmatcook prepares for 2025 Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Summer Games
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post The highly-anticipated 2025 Mi’kmaw Summer Games is expected to draw upwards of 5,000 athletes and visitors from across Mi’kma’ki and beyond to Wagmatcook First Nation in August and excitement is building in the community. Scheduled for Aug.15–24, this sporting and culture event always brings communities together for a powerful celebration of athletic excellence, Mi’kmaq culture and unity. “This is more than just a sporting event, this is like the Olympic Games for the Mi’kmaq,” said Wagmatcook Chief Norman Bernard and portfolio holder for Sports and Recreation. “This is a moment of pride for our people. It’s about showcasing who we are, celebrating our youth, and honouring the strength and spirit of Mi’kmaw communities across the region.” Wagmatcook Chief Norman Bernard...
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Child sex charges stayed against Manitoba First Nation chief
By Brittany Hobson Crown prosecutors have stayed child sex charges against the chief of a Manitoba First Nation. The provincial court says charges of sexual assault, sexual interference and possessing and making child pornography were stayed Friday against Christopher Traverse. His lawyer, Candace Olson, says the complainant admitted during testimony that she lied about the allegations. Traverse was the leader of Lake St. Martin First Nation in the Interlake region when he was arrested in April 2024. He was accused of forcing the girl when she was eight into a bathroom in his home, taking photos or her and sexually assaulting her in December 2023. Traverse pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintained his innocence during his trial, which started in March. The Crown’s office says in an email...
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May calls Carney’s decision to limit debate on major projects bill a ‘new low’
By Kyle Duggan Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said Monday that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to ram his government’s major projects bill through the House of Commons this week represents a “new low” in contempt for Parliament. May told a press conference she hasn’t seen anything like it since the Conservative government under Stephen Harper pushed a major omnibus bill through more than a decade ago. May said she was “shocked” by Harper’s decision to bring in and fast track C-38 in 2012, a bill that was 400 pages long and “destroyed 70 environmental laws.” “This is worse,” she added. “It appears to me — and it remains to be seen — that Mr. Carney’s new majority coalition is Liberal-Conservative, delivering (Conservative Leader) Pierre Poilievre’s policies with a more...
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Drop in Canadian tourists hurting U.S., say northeast governors
By Hina Alam New England governors say tariffs and anti-Canadian rhetoric by the United States government is taking a bite out of tourism, with some states seeing a drop of up to 60 per cent in visitors from north of the border. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said Canadian tourism to her state and others such as Maine, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont is down between 20 and 60 per cent compared with last year. “We have seen impacts that you can’t quite put a price on,” she told reporters Monday in Boston, following a meeting between New England governors and premiers from Eastern Canada. “But there are real concerns about travelling to the United States, and safety concerns … and what might happen in terms of border activity.” Delegations...
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Who is running to be CYFN Grand Chief?
By Talar Stockton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News The Council of Yukon First Nations Grand Chief is set to be elected at the CYFN annual general meeting in Teslin on June 25. There are five candidates in the running. This election is unique in that the person elected will be taking on the responsibilities of both the CYFN Grand Chief, and the Assembly of First Nations Yukon Regional Chief, due to a consolidation announced earlier this month. Grand Chief Peter Johnston has held the position since 2016, having been the only candidate to put his name forward and winning by acclamation in 2016, 2019, and 2022. He is not running for re-election. Grand chiefs are elected by representatives from the Youth Council, Elders’ Council, and from each member and...
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Housing for families fleeing intimate partner violence ready for occupants
By Talar Stockton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News The Yukon Housing Corporation has bought 3 buildings in Whistle Bend to help provide affordable housing to Yukoners, per a press release. Six of those units will be overseen by the Council of Yukon First Nations to provide transitional housing for Indigenous women leaving emergency or temporary housing. “This second-stage transitional housing apartment will help us house six families that are currently residing in our Family Preservation Wellness Centre,” said Shadelle Chambers, CYFN’s executive director of family preservation services. Chambers said CYFN opened its Family Preservation and Wellness Centre in Whistle Bend earlier this year, and called the centre a double-edged sword. “We’re really happy to be able to fill the building, and have a lot of families and children accessing...
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Activists rally in Calgary during G7 summit to protest India PM Modi
By Bill Graveland More than 100 Sikhs waved blue and yellow Khalistan flags and held up posters Monday condemning Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his visit to the G7 leaders’ summit. One poster depicted the Indian leader handcuffed in a prison jumpsuit, and another showed him locked up behind bars with the message: “I killed Nijjar, a Canadian citizen.” Modi was expected to arrive in Calgary later Monday. The G7 is being held west of the city in a wilderness retreat in Kananaskis. There has been outrage since Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Modi as a guest at the G7 gathering. Bakshish Singh Sandhu, co-founder of the advocacy group Sikhs for Justice, said Modi’s appearance in Canada is also an opportunity to shine a light on what he...
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Indigenous leaders tell Senate major projects bill moving too fast, call for consults
By Alessia Passafiume The president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami says “Canada’s weakness” is publicly saying reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples is of top priority then acting like it isn’t when it introduces legislation like the major projects bill. The legislation is being widely criticized by Indigenous leaders and community members across the country for a lack of consultation and a tight timeline in which the government wants to pass the bill. Bill C-5 would give the federal cabinet the ability to set aside various statutes to push forward approvals for a small number of major industrial products, such as mines, pipelines and ports. ITK President Natan Obed, speaking to the Senate on Monday, said the way Canada operates is by positioning itself as a champion for the rights of Indigenous Peoples,...
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Fast-moving brush fire on Hawaii’s Maui island evacuates about 50 people. No structures have burned
By Audrey Mcavoy, Kathy Mccormack And Mark Thiessen HONOLULU (AP) — A fast-moving Hawaii brush fire fueled by fierce winds forced the evacuation of about 50 Maui residents on the opposite side of the same island where a devastating blaze killed over 100 people two years ago. The fire started Sunday in a sparsely populated area with land set aside for Native Hawaiians. Here’s what we know about the fire so far: Fire size now estimated at 330 acres The Kahikinui was initially estimated at 500 acres (202 hectares), but aerial surveys overnight put the estimate at about 330 acres (134 hectares), Maui’s fire department said. The fire is 85% contained. The remote, challenging terrain made it difficult to estimate the fire’s size, the department said in a statement. A...
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Winnipeg School Division honours Indigenous graduates in the city and beyond
By Brittany Hobson Parker Ledoux never imagined spending the last month of her Grade 12 school year cooped up in a Winnipeg hotel room far from her home. But when an out-of-control wildfire encroached on Creighton, Sask., at the end of last month and forced its some 1,200 people to flee, that’s exactly what happened. With graduation celebrations supposed to take place next week and community members still displaced, Ledoux is not sure what the quintessential teenage experience will look like for her and her classmates. The Winnipeg School Division recognized the uncertainty high school evacuees may be facing and opened up its own ceremony honouring Indigenous graduates to students forced out of their homes by the wildfires. “I am so grateful to be here today,” said Ledoux, a Red...
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128-year-old shipwreck on Vancouver Island charred by fire
By Nono Shen A shipwreck that has been part of Vancouver Island’s history for more than a century is a charred skeleton after a fire earlier this month. Photographer Geoff Johnson said he went to look after hearing of the fire at the wreck that has been sitting on Big Beach in Ucluelet for almost 130 years. “It was really dramatic,” recalled Johnson in an interview, adding that the wooden wreckage seemed to be “more corpse-like now than it was before.” Ucluelet fire Chief Rick Geddes said crews attended the fire in the early morning of June 10 and the cause of the blaze is being investigated. The shipwreck suffered “significant damage” from the fire, although it’s still very much intact, Geddes said. “It’s not uncommon for us to get...
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‘Purgatory:’ Fed officials left in limbo as tariffs complicate this week’s rate decision
By Christopher Rugaber WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy is mostly in good shape but that isn’t saving Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell from a spell of angst. As the Fed considers its next moves during a two-day meeting this week, most economic data looks solid: Inflation has been steadily fading, while the unemployment rate is still a historically low 4.2%. Yet President Donald Trump’s widespread tariffs may push inflation higher in the coming months, while also possibly slowing growth. With the outlook uncertain, Fed policymakers are expected to keep their key interest rate unchanged on Wednesday at about 4.4%. Officials will also release a set of quarterly economic projections that are expected to show inflation will accelerate later this year, while unemployment my also tick up a bit. The...
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Conservatives vote with Carney government to rush Bill C-5
By Natasha Bulowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer The federal Conservatives voted with the Liberals on a special order to push a massive piece of legislation on major project approvals through the House of Commons before the week’s end. The proposed legislation would grant the federal government broad powers including the option to override laws related to projects deemed “in the national interest.” Three hundred and five Conservative and Liberal MPs voted in favour of the government’s time allocation motion to limit debate on the bill, while 30 Bloc Québécois, Green and NDP MPs and lone Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith voted against it. The federal government is determined to get Bill C-5 — dubbed the One Canadian Economy Act — through the House of Commons before MPs leave...
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Yellowknife South Asian group wants to ‘change minds and bridge gaps’
By Aastha Sethi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio “Asking for people to be rounded up – we’re not the U.S. We’re still Canada, right?” That’s a question a newly formed Yellowknife non-profit posed during its first meeting on Saturday, where members spoke with residents about solutions to address racism against South Asians in the city. The Association of South Asians in Yellowknife, or ASAYK, was launched in May in response to a rise in online hate toward members of the community. On Saturday, locals gathered at the Yellowknife Visitor Centre to learn more about the association and hear concerns from those in attendance. The organization recently condemned an anonymous post made on a Yellowknife “rant and rave” Facebook group. That became part of the conversation at last weekend’s meeting....
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National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak Statement on G7 Summit
June 15, 2025 – Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ottawa) – Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak released the following statement today as the G7 Summit begins in Kananaskis, Alberta: “On behalf of the AFN, I must recognize, and draw attention to the fact, that this year’s G7 Summit is being held in Treaty No. 7 Territory, on the ancestral territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy, Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai First Nations, Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Îyârhe Stoney Nakoda First Nation,” said National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak. “Global leaders will be gathering on sacred land, and honouring that truth is critical for the Summit to proceed in a good way.” National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak noted, “Prime Minister Carney has stated that one of Canada’s objectives during this Summit...
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Mi’kmaw mourn loss of treaty scholar, activist Kevin Christmas
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post The voice of a giant of activism and tradition al wisdom for his people has gone silent. Membertou’s Kevin Christmas died on May 28 after a seven month battle with cancer. Friends and colleagues say the impact of over four decades of his activism and treaty research will be felt for generations to come across the whole country. A treaty scholar, Indigenous advocate and environmental activist, Christmas was also a storyteller who shared knowledge rooted in treaties and sacred prophecies. He was brutally honest – but also amusing – whenever he gave speeches at events all across this country to educate Indigenous and non-indigenous about the betrayal of the Canadian government to its treaty responsibilities. His words were never boring...
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‘Say something’: Protesters gather as G7 leaders’ summit gets underway in Alberta
By Bill Graveland As world leaders gather at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., Lesley Boyer has a message. The Calgary grandmother is angry that U.S. President Donald Trump keeps talking about Canada becoming his country’s 51st state. Sitting in a wheelchair at Calgary City Hall on Sunday, Boyer held up a sign with an expletive aimed at Trump. “I’ve been waving my sign around the cameras and hopefully he’ll see it … go away Trump. We don’t want you here,” she said. Boyer was among several hundred people — including labour, youth, Indigenous, political and environmental activists — protesting before most of the G7 leaders had touched down in the city. Trump arrived late Sunday at the Calgary airport before taking a helicopter to the summit site at Kananaskis...
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Prairie fire officials work to support evacuees, while some areas plan return home
By Jeremy Simes and Brittany Hobson The firefight on the Prairies wildfire front took a new turn Friday as officials in two provinces worked to support evacuees, while affected communities readied themselves to bring residents home. Earlier this week, Saskatchewan’s government announced emergency support payments would be given to people forced to flee. It came after the province’s ombudsman slammed the government’s wildfire response. Speaking at a news conference, Premier Scott Moe said Friday the government is working to distribute the $500 payouts to adult evacuees in a matter of “days, not weeks.” “We’re working on all of those fronts so that we don’t leave anyone out, but also that we don’t slow down the effort to get this into families’ hands as soon as possible,” Moe said. Sharon Pratchler,...
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NFN opens modernized water facility after 12-year journey
By David Briggs, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, BayToday.ca On June 12, Nipissing First Nation (NFN) unveiled major upgrades to the Garden Village Water Treatment Plant. Deputy Chief Brian Couchie said, “Today we celebrate more than a new building. The water treatment plant is a promise kept by our people that clean safe water will flow in every home, every day.” Couchie added, “Together we prove that when tradition and technology walk side by side, our Nation thrives.” About 40 people from the community came out for the official grand opening of the treatment plant, located at 196 Gerald Crescent, in Garden Village. The event began with a Water Ceremony led by Evelyn McLeod to honour the spirit of water. Afterwards, everyone was given a small brass-coloured cup, which was filled...
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