Liberal leadership candidates clear a challenging fundraising hurdle
By Michel Saba and Kyle Duggan The campaign teams for the remaining Liberal leadership contestants all confirmed Friday they have cleared a major fundraising hurdle, allowing them to remain in the race. The campaigns said they have each paid the party $125,000 that was due today — part of an instalment plan to manage a hefty total entry fee of $350,000. The candidates will have to come up with a final payment of $125,000 by Feb. 17. Former Liberal House leader Karina Gould’s campaign confirmed Friday afternoon she cleared the bar and said the average individual donation to her campaign was $150. Her campaign raised questions about how long she could stay in the race when it sent out a fundraising email Tuesday night warning supporters she needed to raise...
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Hiring spree to begin soon for Kahnawake Peacekeepers
By Miriam Lafontaine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door Nine additional officers will soon join the ranks of the Kahnawake Peacekeepers, following a boost in funding recently negotiated with Quebec and Canada. Both governments provide funding to the force on an annual basis through a policing agreement. This fiscal year that agreement brought in roughly $6.2 million. An extra $2 million in stabilization funding however is now expected to be added to that amount, police chief Dwayne Zacharie said, bringing the projected total to roughly $8.2 million. “The new approach the government has taken is to start to reconsider what the actual and true cost of First Nation policing is,” he said. “We don’t have a new policing agreement, but the one that we are in now is going...
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As Ottawa explores new uses for AI in the public service, experts call for caution
By Catherine Morrison -CP-As the federal government explores new ways to use artificial intelligence, it’s also being warned to keep the technology away from criminal justice, policy-making and hiring. Then-president of the Treasury Board Anita Anand announced in April the federal government is drafting an AI strategy, due to be released this spring. The government ran consultations on the strategy last fall and received almost 300 submissions from researchers, unions, Indigenous organizations and others on how AI could be used in the public service. A report published late last month shared what they had to say. Some of the people Ottawa consulted said AI chatbots could deliver “quick and accurate” government information to Canadians and translate text so that government communications are readily available in French and English. Some suggested...
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New directive integrates Inuit Nunangat Policy into federal decision-making
By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Federal government departments must develop policies and deliver programs in a way that complies with the Inuit Nunangat Policy, according to a directive announced Thursday by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Minister Gary Anandasangaree. “It changes structurally how the federal government operates, and it really does put the onus on federal departments and agencies to ensure that the Inuit perspectives are fully integrated into our decision-making,” Anandasangaree said in an interview. “Cabinet directives are quite rare, and this particular directive … really ensures … the Inuit Nunangat Policy is at the centre of the decision-making relating to the federal government.” Anandasangaree made the announcement during his visit to Iqaluit, speaking alongside Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Jeremy Tunraluk and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami...
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Push for FWFN care home continues
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal A proposed long-term care home to be based at Fort William First Nation still makes sense, but securing funding for the 100-bed project remains a tough nut to crack, a Thunder Bay Liberal MP says. “As yet, I’ve failed to get my government to act on it,” Marcus Powlowski (Thunder Bay-Rainy River) said on Thursday. Powlowski mentioned the project this week when he attended a First Nations housing conference in the city. He told the gathering he hasn’t given up on the proposed facility. The long-term care home has been estimated to cost about $50 million. Powlowski said Fort William’s political leadership has also worked hard on the project and remains keen to see it get built. The problem, Powlowski says,...
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Beautiful parka for sale on Facebook? It may be a scam
By Talar Stockton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News Adam Terpstra thought he was buying a beautiful, handmade parka from an artisan in Yellowknife. He was actually being scammed out of hundreds of dollars. The psychotherapist practicing in Dawson is now warning others of a Facebook scam he fell victim to in late December of last year. Adam Terpstra told the News he lost over $600 when trying to buy a coat from what he believed to be a home business operating out of Yellowknife. In reality, he was being defrauded. “There is a degree of shame around making a mistake, and so that’s just like, the part of that sucks. It’s just like, who likes feeling shame when they make a mistake?” he said. Terpstra said he saw a...
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Dakota Nations accuse feds of failing reconciliation goals
By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brandon Sun Two Dakota First Nations have accused the Government of Canada of walking back apologies and failing on reconciliation goals as they continue to battle in a Winnipeg court because of disputed land claims. The ongoing dispute relates to an injunction filed by the Dakota Tipi First Nation and the Canupawakpa Dakota Nation last year that sought to have a recently signed treaty between the Government of Canada and the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) declared invalid. The two Dakota First Nations filed a legal response on Jan. 30 saying Canada contradicted itself and violated its commitment to reconciliation. The assertion, filed through the Winnipeg Court of King’s Bench, highlighted that Canada was attempting in court to discredit the nations as land title...
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AFNQL reminds First Nations concerns need to be addressed
By Marc Lalonde, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador would like to remind the provincial government they exist and that their concerns around any provincial response to U.S. tariffs should be respected. The 25-percent tariff on goods made in Canada that U.S. President Donald Trump paused temporarily Tuesday afternoon had caused quite a bit of concern in the province earlier this week. Quebec Premier Francois Legault publicly proclaimed that he had met with business leaders in an effort to formulate a response strategy. The AFNQL said that is unacceptable to them. “A recent communication from the Quebec government indicated that the Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy has already met with a number of Quebec business leaders,” it said. “However, these meetings...
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Federal government commits more than $160 million to Jasper recovery
By Matthew Scace The fire-ravaged town of Jasper, Alta., has received two pieces of critical funding from the federal and provincial governments as it attempts to stabilize in the wake of last summer’s devastating wildfire. The federal government announced on Thursday it’s committing $162 million to the recovery in Jasper, Alta. — a portion of which is being dedicated to interim and long-term housing. The funding comes on top of a new $8-million commitment by the Alberta government, also announced Thursday, that’s partly being used to fill a gap in property tax revenues the town was facing as a result of number of homes lost in the fire. The federal announcement comes after criticism from the Alberta government that the Liberal government had not invested enough in Jasper’s recovery, and...
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RCMP continue investigating killings of 4 in home on Saskatchewan First Nation
By Jeremy Simes -CP-RCMP say the autopsies of four homicide victims found in a home in southern Saskatchewan are underway. They say the two men and two women discovered Tuesday on the Carry the Kettle Nakoda Nation have not been formally identified. Officers were again collecting evidence at the First Nation east of Regina. Mounties have said they are treating the deaths as homicides and that the initial investigation suggests the home was targeted. They say officers are still trying to determine if the killings are connected to a firearms case the same day on a nearby First Nation. Shortly after the bodies were found, Mounties said they received reports of a man pointing a gun at people on Zagime Anishinabek. Keagan Panipekeesick, 29, was charged with firearms offences and...
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Indigenous Justice Centre to open in Fort St. John
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Fort St. John will be one of six cities around the province to open an Indigenous Justice Centre (IJC) centring on First Nations’ justice strategy. The energetic city will join Kamloops, Williams Lake, Cranbrook, Port Hardy and a shared location between the towns of Burns Lake and Hazelton, according to a press release. A BC First Nations Justice Council spokesperson told Energeticcity.ca that a location has been identified for the Fort St. John site, but the details have not yet been released because consultations with local First Nation leaders are ongoing. This process was delayed by wildfires in the region and the centre is not expected to open until at least the spring, she said. Kory Wilson,...
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Heiltsuk Nation in B.C. holds referendum on ‘historic’ written constitution
-CP-Online voting has begun in what the Heiltsuk Nation calls a historic referendum on a written constitution for the First Nation on British Columbia’s central coast. A statement from the nation says the voting follows nearly two decades of development and consultation, including six months of engagement with more than 2,000 Heiltsuk members in Bella Bella, Nanaimo and Vancouver. If approved, it says the constitution will help the nation “reclaim its power.” Marilyn Slett, elected Chief of the Heiltsuk, says they have always had an ancestral constitution, enacted through ceremonies and everyday practices. She says the nation is proud of the work that has gone into “reconstituting” its governance system with the written constitution, which lays out a legal framework for Heiltsuk governance, rights, responsibilities and law-making. The statement says...
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2nd federal judge in 2 days blocks Trump’s birthright citizenship order
By Gene Johnson And Mike Catalini SEATTLE (AP) — A second federal judge in two days has blocked President Donald Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship for the children of parents who are in the U.S. illegally, decrying what he described as the administration’s attempt to ignore the Constitution for political gain. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour in Seattle on Thursday put Trump’s order on hold for the duration of a lawsuit brought by four states and an immigrant rights group challenging it. His ruling followed one by a federal judge in Maryland in a separate but similar case involving immigrants’ rights groups and pregnant women whose soon-to-born children could be affected. Here’s a closer look at where things stand on the president’s birthright citizenship order. Where do things...
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Nunavik youths get hands-on look at negotiating a treaty
By Cedric Gallant, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News To develop future generations’ leadership and negotiation skills, close to 40 youths gathered in Inukjuak last week to perform a three-day Nunavik treaty simulation. “Oh my God, was it ever fun,” said Janice Parsons, president of the Qarjuit Youth Council, in a phone interview. From Jan. 26 to 29, participants from across the region met at the Inukjuak community centre and shared knowledge with elders, some of whom were part of the Northern Quebec Inuit Association that first signed the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement 50 years ago. The agreement, signed in 1975, established the legal rights of Inuit and the Cree Nation in northern Quebec. Last week’s event was organized by Qarjuit Youth Council, Makivvik Corp. and the Gordon...
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Musk uses his X ownership and White House position to push Trump priorities, intimidate detractors
By Ali Swenson And Chris Megerian WASHINGTON (AP) — The emergence of X owner Elon Musk as the most influential figure around President Donald Trump has created an extraordinary dynamic — a White House adviser who’s using one of the world’s most powerful information platforms to sell the government’s talking points while intimidating its detractors. In recent days, Musk has used X to promote Trump’s positions to his 215 million followers, attack an agency he’s trying to shut down as “evil” and claim a Treasury employee who resigned under pressure over payment system access committed a crime. His use of the social media platform he owns has become both a cudgel and a megaphone for the Republican administration at a time that his power to shape the electorate’s perspective is...
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Nunavut MP calls on Liberals to extend Inuit child funding program
-CP-Nunavut MP Lori Idlout is repeating her calls for Ottawa to extend a funding program for Inuit children. The Inuit Child First Initiative was introduced in 2019 to ensure Inuit kids have access to health and social services without having to leave their communities. The federal government began with a $220-million commitment to the program, before topping it up for two more years with another $167.5 million. But the program is slated to sunset at the end of March. Idlout said more than 13,000 kids in Nunavut are enrolled in the program, which gives families $500 per child to help buy food, plus another $250 for kids younger than four. “While the impact (of the program) was positive for the most part, helping lift many people out of poverty, a...
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Protests and a New Zealand leader’s absence overshadow a day marking the founding treaty with Māori
By Charlotte Graham-mclay WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — It’s often a day marked by spirited politics and at times boisterous protest. But Thursday’s anniversary of New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, passed in muted fashion with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon absent from the main commemorations, amid rancor over an unpopular proposed law redefining the treaty’s promises. On Feb. 6 1840, representatives of the British Crown and 500 Māori tribal leaders signed a treaty at Waitangi, in New Zealand’s far north, agreeing to the terms of their relationship. In modern times, annual events attended by lawmakers and Indigenous leaders at the treaty grounds have allowed the groups to speak face to face, even at times of racial discord. It has also supplied a litmus test for governments and Māori...
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Three-year jail sentence reduced in pickup truck theft case
By Bob Mackin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince George Citizen A Prince George man was sentenced to another 494 days in jail on Dec. 31, 2024, six months after a judge found him guilty of stealing a pickup truck, driving it while he was prohibited and fleeing from police. Dallas Lee Blanchette, 38, was tried in provincial court over two days last April. Judge Judith Doulis found him guilty last June of the crimes, which began when he stole a Ford F-350 in the early hours of Oct. 22, 2022 in Prince George. Doulis sentenced Blanchette to one year in jail for possession of stolen property, six months for driving while prohibited and 18 months for fleeing police, all consecutive to each other. Blanchette also pleaded guilty to separate charges...
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Federal government ends boycott of advertising spending on Meta platforms
-CP-The federal government has ended its boycott on buying advertisements on Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. The Privy Council Office confirmed the government’s decision, first reported by CTV news. Ottawa stopped purchasing ad space from Facebook’s parent company in July 2023 after the California-based firm blocked all news content on its platforms in Canada. Meta’s decision was in response to a federal law requiring digital companies to compensate Canadian media outlets for sharing their content in the country. The social media giant continues to block news content for Canadian users, but the Privy Council Office confirms the federal government spent $100,000 for space on Facebook and Instagram for a campaign launched in January. That campaign highlights the federal government’s GST/HST break on select items, including restaurant bills and children’s...
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Mother hopeful to move home as Innu work to tackle Natuashish housing crisis
By Heidi Atter, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A young mother in Quebec read through the latest housing announcement in Natuashish with hope, as the chief and council of Mushuau Innu First Nation (MIFN) try to address the longstanding housing crisis in the community while keeping up with its growing population. Earlier this week, Chief John Nui announced the band is funding 20 major renovations to existing homes; 35 additional homes will be renovated this summer; two new single family home will be built this year, 14 residential lots will be cleaned up; construction is completed on five duplexes to house workers; 250 homes will receive new home heating and colling systems; and a study on a new residential subdivision will be completed this year. The band has also applied to...
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