Nuclear waste has another ‘willing’ community
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter IGNACE – South Bruce, a rural municipality near Lake Huron in southwestern Ontario, has joined Ignace as an officially willing host for proposed deep-underground storage of nuclear waste. That suits Ignace just fine, township outreach lead Jake Pastore said Tuesday. “That’s great,” he told Newswatch. “We’re thrilled that there’s another community in the process and that there’s ample interest in the project.” South Bruce “had a very strong voter turnout and a positive result, and that’s great,” he said. “We appreciate what all the municipalities and First Nations are doing,” he said. “The mayor and council want to congratulate South Bruce for the years of leadership and community engagement.” South Bruce’s referendum on the issue closed Monday evening with approximately 51 per cent...
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Sault Ste. Marie is home to Ontario’s first Métis Heritage Centre
By Maggie Kirk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter In 1993, two Métis men, Steve and Roddy Powley, hunted a moose near Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., asserting their right to harvest on their traditional lands — an action that would alter the course of Métis rights in Canada. The father and son were charged with hunting a moose illegally and argued that, as Métis people, they had a constitutionally protected right to hunt on their traditional lands. After a ten-year legal battle ending in 2003, the Supreme Court ruling affirmed the rights of Métis people under section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act. All 14 judges who reviewed the case agreed with the two Sault locals, who fought not only for the rights to their own land but for all Métis people...
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Eagle feathers play a sacred role in powwows. Poachers are exploiting the high demand
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — America’s golden eagles face a rising threat from a black market for their feathers used in Native American powwows and other ceremonies, according to wildlife officials, researchers and tribal members. The government’s response has been two-pronged: A crackdown on rings illegally trafficking dead eagles coupled with a longstanding program that lawfully distributes eagle feathers and parts to tribal members. But that program has a yearslong backlog, and officials said illegal killings appear to be worsening, with young golden eagles in particular targeted because of high value placed on their white and black wing feathers. Golden eagles, which are federally protected but not considered endangered, already faced pressure — from poisonings, climate change and wind turbines that kill eagles in collisions. An investigation centered around a Montana...
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Aklavik opens emergency women’s shelter inside its wellness centre
Aklavik Indian Band board member Rita Arey says the community, in desperate need of an emergency women’s shelter, recently opened one inside its wellness centre. Arey, who is also the Beaufort Delta representative for the Status of Women Council of the Northwest Territories, said almost 35 people took part in a community wellness open house in August last year. She said that’s where a women’s shelter was discussed as a “key priority.” “It was stressed by the RCMP, social services and the N.W.T. government’s wellness department that this was definitely a need for our community and, most importantly, it was for the women and children who are in need of this service,” Arey told Cabin Radio last week. “The community has worked hard since then to make this a reality....
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HAUDENOSAUNEE CONFEDERACY GREAT LAW OF PEACE RECOGNIZED AS FINALIST FOR THE WORLD POLICY FUTURE AWARD 2024
MILLENNIUM-OLD GREAT LAW OF PEACE, THE WORLD’S FIRST CONSTITUTION, PROVIDES MODEL FOR JUST, HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE ACROSS THE GLOBE GENEVA, SWITZERLAND-The Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s Great Law of Peace has been nominated as a model for the World Future Policy Award of 2024. In announcing the international nomination the Geneva-based World Future Council said the award recognizes “top policy solutions that can be shared to transform societies toward a more just healthy and sustainable future.” The theme for the 2024 international award is ‘Peace and Future Generations.’ The award “underscores the critical importance of lasting peace as a foundation for sustainable development,” the need for innovative and inclusive policies to resolve conflicts, prevent wars, and cultivate a culture of peace has never been more urgent,” the council said. The Great...
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Seminole Tribe settles legal challenges to online sports gambling exclusivity in Florida
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The Seminole Tribe of Florida and a group of businesses that operate racetracks and poker rooms have settled a yearslong legal dispute over whether the Seminole Tribe should have exclusive rights to online sports betting in Florida, the tribe announced Monday. The Seminole Tribe, along with West Flagler Associates and the Bonita-Fort Myers Corp., have entered into a comprehensive agreement where the companies have agreed to end litigation against the tribe’s gaming operations and instead will begin a new partnership to offer Jai Alai waging on the tribe’s Hard Rock Bet app. “Rather than engaging in years of additional litigation, this agreement will allow the parties to work together to promote Jai Alai, which has played an important role in Florida’s gaming landscape for nearly...
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B.C. NDP wins razor-thin majority after marathon vote count; two recounts pending Slugline: Elxn-BC
(Canadian Press)-The New Democrats and Premier David Eby were on track to win a bare majority government nine days after voters went to the polls in British Columbia, but the final verdict will still require two judicial recounts to become official. The incumbent NDP ended the final vote count Monday with 47 seats, defeating John Rustad’s B.C. Conservatives, who mounted a serious challenge after receiving less than two per cent of the popular vote in the 2020 election. That’s exactly the number of seats needed to secure a majority in the 93-seat legislature. The Conservatives won 44 and the Greens took two. But Elections BC, the province’s independent elections administrator, said two seats, Kelowna Centre and Surrey-Guildford, were so close there would be automatic recounts before the standings of the...
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Poilievre promises to abolish federal sales tax on new homes under $1 million
( Canadian Press) Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says if his party forms government, it will scrap the federal sales tax on new homes sold for less than $1 million and push provinces do to the same. Poilievre makes the case for the cut in a six-minute video published online today, arguing governments are partly to blame for high home prices because they’re charging too much in sales taxes. The Conservatives estimate the new measure will reduce the cost of an $800,000 home by $40,000 and spur construction of another 30,000 homes per year. Poilievre says he would pay for the tax cut by scrapping Liberal housing policy. That includes the housing accelerator fund which offers home building money to cities if they adjust bylaws and regulations that are considered barriers...
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Woodland Cultural Centre asks Brant County to pitch in $1 million for new museum
By Celeste Percy-Beauregard’/Local Journalism Initiative An ambitious $65-million project aims to make Woodland Cultural Centre a modern hub of arts, culture and reconciliation, with exhibits throughout the year and a state-of-the-art theatre. The centre is reaching the culmination of a 10-year Save the Evidence campaign, which raised $25 million for restoration work to preserve the former Mohawk Institute residential school on the territorial lands of Six Nations of the Grand River in Brantford. As likely the only refurbished former residential school in the country out of the 160, they expect an influx of national and international visitors when it reopens in the fall of 2025, former Six Nations chief Ava Hill told Brant County councillors on Tuesday. A retrofitted gymnasium and former classrooms isn’t ideal for displaying Woodland Cultural Centre’s...
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Monthly food bank use soars to record 2 million, driven by cost of groceries, housing
The Canadian Press:Canada’s reliance on food banks has soared to a grim new milestone, according to data from Food Banks Canada. The organization says it recorded more than two million visits in March 2024 – nearly double the monthly visits five years ago in March 2019, and six per cent above last year’s record-breaking figure. Its annual survey of food bank use in Canada says rapid inflation, housing costs and insufficient social supports are driving poverty and food insecurity. That includes outsized demand from renters, racialized groups, people with disabilities, newcomers to Canada and residents across the North, and a “deeply concerning” need among seniors and families with children. Food Banks Canada CEO Kirstin Beardsley says food banks are being pushed to “the brink” and low-income Canadians need help immediately....
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On Navajo Nation, a push to electrify more homes on the vast reservation
HALCHITA, Utah (AP) — After a five-year wait, Lorraine Black and Ricky Gillis heard the rumblings of an electrical crew reach their home on the sprawling Navajo Nation. In five days’ time, their home would be connected to the power grid, replacing their reliance on a few solar panels and propane lanterns. No longer would the CPAP machine Gillis uses for sleep apnea or his home heart monitor transmitting information to doctors 400 miles away face interruptions due to intermittent power. It also means Black and Gillis can now use more than a few appliances — such as a fridge, a TV, and an evaporative cooling unit — at the same time. “We’re one of the luckiest people who get to get electric,” Gillis said. Many Navajo families still live...
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Minister apologizes for government’s handling of First Nations’ money in 1800s
The Canadian Press-Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree has apologized on behalf of the Canadian government to a group of Ontario First Nations for mismanagement of their money over a century ago. The minister issued the apology Saturday at Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation on Manitoulin Island, about 350 kilometres northwest of Toronto, during a ceremony that also commemorated a $447.9 million compensation settlement that will be shared among the five First Nations. A news release from the federal government says the Crown made an agreement with the First Nations in 1862 for sales of Indigenous land, but used the profits from the sales to build roads and open up Manitoulin Island for settlement rather than giving the money to the First Nations as intended. The release says “the Crown failed...
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US Navy apologizes for the 1882 obliteration of a Tlingit village in Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Shells fell on the Alaska Native village as winter approached, and then sailors landed and burned what was left of homes, food caches and canoes. Conditions grew so dire in the following months that elders sacrificed their own lives to spare food for surviving children. It was Oct. 26, 1882, in Angoon, a Tlingit village of about 420 people in the southeastern Alaska panhandle. Now, 142 years later, the perpetrator of the bombardment — the U.S. Navy —has apologized. Rear Adm. Mark Sucato, the commander of the Navy’s northwest region, issued the apology during an at-times emotional ceremony Saturday, the anniversary of the atrocity. “The Navy recognizes the pain and suffering inflicted upon the Tlingit people, and we acknowledge these wrongful actions resulted in the loss...
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Brantford City Council endorses HART Hub application proposal
By Kimberly De Jong Local Jouranlism Initiative Program City of Brantford Council unanimously voted to endorse SOAR Community Services’ proposal to apply to be one of the Ontario government’s new HART Hubs, during a Special City Council meeting on Tuesday, October 15, 2024. SOAR Community Services, in partnership with De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre, Brantford Native Housing, Grand River Community Health Centre, Brant Community Healthcare System and the City of Brantford, will be taking the lead to submit a proposal for the Brantford/Brant HART Hub project. “The homelessness and addictions recovery treatment proposal is part of a response from the Ministry of Health to address issues of complex homelessness and substance use within communities across the province,” said Kim Baker, executive director for SOAR Community Services. “It...
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Requirements for success identified for Indigenous businesses
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative reporter THUNDER BAY, ONT-A panel discussion on the impact of Indigenous business in Northern Ontario took place in Thunder Bay on Thursday, hosted by the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA). The panel discussion was moderated by Peter Collins and Chi Mino Ozhitoowin, and featured panelists Jason Thompson of Superior Strategies, Jonathon Mamakwa of the TGK Group and Sarah Levesque of Supercom Industries. The conference examined opportunities and the challenges facing Indigenous businesses in the region. Panelist Sarah Levesque described the success of Supercom Industries, which was derived by a partnership and collaboration of six First Nation communities. She said each community had a common goal involving revenue generation for their communities, capacity building, opportunities for local First Nation businesses and job creation. A series...
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A century after Native Americans got the right to vote, they could put Trump or Harris over the top
RED SPRINGS, N.C. (AP) — Native American communities were decisive voting blocs in key states in 2020, and with the 2024 race remaining stubbornly close both campaigns have tried to mobilize Native voters in the final weeks of the presidential election. But when it comes to messaging, the two campaigns could not be more different, many Native voters said. It’s been 100 years since Native Americans were given the right to vote, with the passage of the Snyder Act in 1924, and whichever campaign is able to harness their power in this election could swing some of the most hotly contested counties in the country. In swing states like Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan, and Nevada, the candidates — particularly Vice President Kamala Harris — have been targeting Native Americans with...
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Canadian Indigenous leaders call Biden’s apology for residential schools ‘first step’
(CP)-Canadian Indigenous leaders say U.S. President Joe Biden’s apology for his country’s residential school system is only the first step toward healing generations of harm. On Friday, Biden apologized for the U.S. boarding school system that for more than 150 years separated Indigenous children from their parents, calling it “one of the most consequential things” he’s done as president. The apology comes 16 years after former prime minister Stephen Harper apologized for Canada’s residential school system. It follows an investigation of boarding schools driven by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the country’s first Indigenous cabinet secretary, which was prompted by the discovery of 215 suspected unmarked graves at a residential school site in Kamloops, B.C. “The federal Indian boarding school policy and the pain it has caused will...
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Havasupai Tribe set to receive federal aid for severe flood damage
The Associated Press SUPAI, Ariz. (AP) — The Havasupai Tribe is set to receive federal emergency aid to help repair damage caused by severe and deadly flooding this summer. President Joe Biden on Friday approved a disaster declaration for the Havasupai, whose reservation at the southwestern edge of Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most remote in the continental U.S., accessible only by foot, mule or helicopter. Flash flooding in late August swept an Arizona woman into Havasu Creek above the Colorado River confluence, killing her. The rushing waters also sent hikers scrambling for high ground and trapped several in the area above and below Beaver Falls, one of a series of usually blue-green waterfalls that draw tourists from around the world to the scenic site. The area...
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Finding peace and friendship, 264 years on
By John Chilibeck Local Journalism Initiative Reporter During his 25 years as a criminal prosecutor, Brett Vottero spent plenty of time reviewing the details of arson and murder cases in western Massachusetts, trying to establish the grisly facts of what had happened. Little did he know these skills would come in handy with the St. Andrews Historical Society, established by a small group from the town in southwestern New Brunswick last year. The group wanted to do a public launch with a splash. One of their goals was to assist the Peskotomuhkati, also known as the Passamaquoddy, in researching and education about their history. After all, the Indigenous people had been in the area for thousands of years before Loyalists, lumberjacks, fishermen and tourist guides even showed up. “At one...
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Man has straightened out his life since gun incident more than five years ago
By Keith Lacey Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A young man from the Osoyoos Indian Band in Oliver who engaged in a momentary lapse of reason during a drunken argument where he ended up firing a shotgun more than five years ago was given a one-year suspended sentence Thursday. Hunter Terrence Styles Kruger, now in his early 30s, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a shotgun dangerous to the public peace before Judge Shannon Keyes Thursday morning at the Penticton courthouse. Court heard that on May 17, 2019, Kruger got into an argument with another man over the First Nations tradition of who should be the “firekeeper” or person responsible for ensuring a fire is set and remains burning once a First Nations person is pronounced dead. They are responsible...
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