Oshki-Wenjack now fully accredited to offer its own programming
By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY — An Indigenous education institute that serves dozens of northern Ontario First Nations will be consulting with those communities as it prepares to roll out the first of its very own programming. Oshki-Pimache-O-Win: The Wenjack Education Institute has received its full provincial accreditation, which allows it to create its own programs and confer its own credentials, under the oversight of the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security. Currently, it uses its own spaces and online learning to deliver courses from other institutions Oshki-Wenjack is partnered with, like Confederation College. “What we’ve been doing is offering our partners’ programming and the credentials have been coming from the colleges and universities,” Lorrie Deschamps, the president of Oshki-Wenjack, told Newswatch. “So,...
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Fort Erie sewage station site undergoing extensive archeological work
By Kris Dube, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NiagaraThisWeek.com The site of a new sewage pumping station to be built in Fort Erie to replace the aging and outdated one next to it has been covered with a large tent and fence for several months. This is to facilitate archeological work for which Niagara Region has spent more than $3 million since 2023. The Catherine Street pumping station was built in 1981 and is reaching the end of its service life. Due to its current condition and to support growth, it is set to be replaced on lands directly next to it at 263 Niagara Blvd., as well as around the Lakeshore Road sewage pumping station, which is also to be overhauled, said Phill Lambert, the Region’s director of water and...
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High-speed internet line gets approval
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal A federal agency that’s reviewed a proposed $2-million fibre-cable installation between the outskirts of Thunder Bay and Whitesand First Nation has determined the project “is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.” The determination by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada was released on Monday through an agency notice. Once about 300 kilometres of cable have been installed, about 260 residential homes in Whitesand, Armstrong, Gull Bay First Nation and surrounding areas are expected to have access to high-speed internet. Monday’s determination was based on three main factors, including potential environmental impacts, public comments and “technically and economically feasible mitigation measures.” “Mitigation and monitoring measures taken into account for this determination included active and adaptive management measures that would be...
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Shelter-in-place order continues, schools closed in First Nation amid OPP search
Provincial police say a shelter-in-place order in a northern Ontario First Nation is still in effect and schools remain closed as officers continue to search for two suspects believed to be armed and dangerous. Police issued the emergency alert early Wednesday morning for residents in the area of Ginoogaming First Nation after an “active incident” involving two armed suspects. Police say all public and Catholic schools in Long Lac and Long Lake #58 First Nation, as well as the Long Lac campus of Confederation College, remain closed today as a precaution. Police have released descriptions of the suspects and they’re advising the public to stay away if they see them and call 911. They’re also advising residents to remain indoors and lock all doors and windows, and those who are...
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Indigenous leaders come together to denounce Residential School denialist remarks from a former MP
By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase Local, provincial and national Indigenous leaders from across the country have come together to denounce Residential School denialist remarks from Peoples Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier last week. Bernier took to social media on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, saying that the “residential schools ‘genocide’ is a hoax.” In response, the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) released a statement on October 1, condemning Bernier and requesting that he retract his statement while issuing a formal apology to Survivors. “Mr. Bernier’s comments are not only false — they are violent,” Nadia Robertson, co-spokesperson for the AFNQL Council of Elected Women, said. “They dishonour the memory of the missing children, insult Survivors, and reopen wounds that still affect our communities.”...
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AFN National Chief appears before Senate Committee on Bill S-2
If passed into law Bill S-2 will allow 3,500 people to reclaim Indian Status. By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has called on the federal government to relinquish control of First Nations membership while speaking to the Senate Committee last week. “Our people are entitled to determine who they are, and to have their entitlement to rights determined according to our laws and policies,” Woodhouse Nepinak said. Woodhouse Nepinak’s was testifying before the Senate about Bill S-2, which would update registration requirements under the Indian Act in accordance with the 2021 Supreme Court ruling in Nicholas v. Canada. Bill S-2 was introduced last spring by Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty to replace Bill C-38, which was unable...
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From sculpture to olive oil, a look at some of the gifts Carney received as PM
Jesus Maria Tarriba, left, and Diana Fox Carney, right, look on as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum presents a gift to Prime Minister Mark Carney at the National Palace in Mexico City on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld By Alessia Passafiume OTTAWA-Mark Carney has received more than a dozen gifts from world leaders since becoming prime minister — everything from Hermès ties and crystal bowls to a sculpture of Winston Churchill. But the gifts he received from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum are among his favourites, his office told The Canadian Press. From Meloni, Carney received a ceramic olive oil vessel, Modena balsamic vinegar and bottles of olive oil. During the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., in June, Sheinbaum gave Carney an Indigenous...
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Atikamekw bring legal action against Quebec over inaction fixing Manawan access road
The Atikamekw Council of Manawan has launched legal action against the Quebec government over its inaction on repairs to the only road that links the Indigenous community to southern Quebec. The council says it has filed an application for a judicial review and an order compelling action by the province, alleging it has repeatedly failed to follow through on promised repairs to the roughly 87-kilometre stretch of gravel road linking the community of Manawan with St-Michel-des-Saints. Sipi Flamand, chief of the Atikamekw Council of Manawan, says the legal action comes after a recent 30-day ultimatum was ignored and more than 30 years of unkept promises. Flamand says the route is dangerous for members of the community and described it as a “road from hell” that compromises access to essential services...
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Conservative Rustad says private property rights, Indigenous title cannot coexist
By Wolfgang Depner Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad says “Indigenous rights and private property rights cannot coexist” and called on the Supreme Court of Canada to resolve the conflict as soon as possible. Rustad’s comments came Thursday after a B.C. Supreme Court judge determined last month that the Cowichan Tribes have the right to 7 1/2 square kilometres of land in Richmond, ruling that land titles granted by government were invalid. The nation had not sought to have the titles of privately held properties declared invalid. But 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, purchase or the properties would remain under Cowichan title lands. The City of Richmond, the province...
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‘No…full stop…You must not become Donald Trump Ford’s Bill 5 will give PCs unchecked power
By Anushka Yadav, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer “Terrible idea that will only harm biodiversity and ecosystem health for the profit of corporate interests.” “Experts will be consulted, maybe, but in the meantime, why not put highways through rich farmland and build expensive houses for the moneyed citizens when homes for the less fortunate in this very expensive society are what’s really required? The premier has already shown his anti-environment view of this province and this world, I should be ashamed of myself for thinking things would get better.” “This act is wrong in dismantling the Endangered Species Act. Our wildlife seriously needs protection. The act is too wide ranging in what it considers special economic zones—and it seems that some developers would be too quickly rubber stamped to...
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B.C. Supreme Court rejects bid by Pickton victim’s family to preserve human remains as evidence
By Patrick Penner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Tri-Cities Dispatch The B.C. Supreme Court has rejected a bid by the family of one of Robert Pickton’s victims to preserve human remains seized from the Port Coquitlam pig farm where Canada’s most infamous serial killer carried out his crimes. Justice Alan Ross ruled on Oct 3 that plaintiff Sarah Jean de Vries – whose sister, Sarah, was among the murdered women – was not entitled to an order halting the RCMP from transferring human remains to the B.C. Coroners Service for testing and eventual disposition. He decisively rejected the family’s application as both legally unfounded and ethically troubling. “The position of the plaintiff’s counsel is that the human remains of an unrelated deceased should be retained for the purpose of introducing those...
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Federal government wants lawsuit dismissed pertaining to biological experiments on Inuit
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News A lawsuit in the Nunavut Court of Justice seeking millions of dollars in compensation for biological experiments conducted on Inuit exploring racial characteristics through invasive and non-consensual procedures should be dismissed, the federal government has argued in court. Inuit are also seeking acknowledgement of the experiments and a public apology via the lawsuit. The federal government recently filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the experiments in the 1960s and 1970s happened too long ago to be subject to a court battle. Six Inuit from Iglulik, including filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk and former Nunavut premier Paul Quassa, are behind the claims against the Canadian government. Quassa said he believed the experiments conducted on him were normal for decades, until he...
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RCMP seize drugs, warn of school bus violations in September sweep
By Alec Bruce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Guysborough Journal GUYSBOROUGH COUNTY – The Guysborough County District RCMP responded to 118 calls for service in September, including drug-related charges, multiple road safety infractions, and community outreach events. On Sept. 11, the Guys- borough detachment, working with Antigonish-Guysborough and Port Hawkesbury street crime enforcement units, executed a search warrant in Lincolnville as part of a Controlled Drugs and Substances Act investigation with connections to an Antigonish address. The search resulted in the seizure of cocaine and ecstasy at the Antigonish address. A 26-year-old man from Antigonish is now facing charges of trafficking cocaine and possession of both sub- stances for the purpose of trafficking. RCMP are also continuing their investigation into a hit-and-run on Highway 16 near Boylston just after 8 p.m....
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Lumbee leader to join North Carolina statehouse as tribe’s push for federal recognition picks up
LUMBERTON, N.C. (AP) — The leader of a southeastern North Carolina tribe is about to join the state legislature to succeed his brother, as the Lumbee’s efforts to attain full U.S. government recognition have gained recent momentum. Members of a Robeson County Republican Party committee voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend John Lowery to fill the state House seat held since 2023 by Jarrod Lowery, who resigned effective this week to take a job in Washington with the U.S. Interior Department. State law directs Gov. Josh Stein to formally appoint John Lowery to serve out his brother’s term representing the 47th House District through the end of 2026. John Lowery has been chairman of the 55,000-member Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina since early 2022. He’s previously worked as a public school...
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Corman Park wants government help with costs related to Treaty Land Entitlement
By Kevin Berger, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Clark’s Crossing Gazette The RM of Corman Park is in a particularly tough situation as it faces the prospect of potentially having to pay 14 different First Nations for land acquired through the Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) process. For that reason, one of the three resolutions the RM will bring forward to the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) midterm convention calls for the provincial and federal government to help municipalities with the financial burden related to TLE and reserve land development. RM of Corman Park councillors approved the three resolutions during their September 23 meeting, though they had also been reviewed at an administration committee meeting on September 9. The SARM midterm convention will take place on November 5-6, 2025, in Regina....
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Building Hope series wraps up with Ask Anything panel and presentation on the toxic drug crisis
By Hope Lompe, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder, Gabriola Sounder Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder An early morning power outage affecting 1,117 customers on the south end of Gabriola Island and Mudge Island didn’t stop the organizers of the Ask Anything event on Sept. 27. False candles adorned the stage of the dark Gabriola Theatre Centre as people took their seats to listen and ask questions from a panel of community survivors of addiction, and newly minted Chief Medical officer for Central Vancouver Island, Dr. Tribesty Ngyuen. The Gabriola Health and Wellbeing Collaborative (GHWC) organized the event as a wrap-up to their collaborative Building Hope series with the Gabriola Sounder. * “I think it was enormously successful. I think we heard some real, hard truths from people who...
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Councillor wants city to invest in permanent, not temporary, housing
By Clint Fleury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY — Councillor-at-large Rajni Agarwal says the city is better off chasing a potential $60 million from the federal government to build permanent housing rather than using the $2.8 million the province has committed for a temporary shelter village. The agenda for council’s Tuesday meeting included a notice that Agarwal’s motion to remove the temporary village from the city’s 10-part Human Rights-Based Community Action Plan, which will be up for debate on Oct. 21, but it won’t be discussed in council until then. Just days before the debate on the Hillyard site, Ottawa announced $13 billion Build Canada Homes Fund and set aside $1 billion for homelessness initiatives, said Agarwal in an interview with Newswatch ahead of Tuesday’s meeting. She said...
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Province proposes criteria for special economic zones
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source THUNDER BAY — Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government has released a draft regulation proposing criteria for designating “special economic zones” under the Protect Ontario legislation it passed in June. The proposal was “informed by consultations with Indigenous communities across Ontario,” and its release is intended “to support ongoing consultations,” according to the government. The Ring of Fire — 8,000 square kilometres of mineral-rich land about 500 km north of Thunder Bay — is one place the government is likely to declare a special economic zone for expedited economic projects. In a government news release on Oct. 7, Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli said special economic zones “are a critical tool to expedite approvals and move projects of strategic importance forward faster,...
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Shelter-in-place order issued in First Nation as police search for 2 armed suspects
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) issued a shelter-in-place order in a northern Ontario First Nation as officers search for two suspects believed to be armed and dangerous. Police issued the alert Wednesday morning for residents in the area of Ginoogaming First Nation after an “active incident” involving two armed suspects. Police say all public and Catholic schools in Long Lac and Long Lake #58 First Nation, as well as the Long Lac campus of Confederation College, are closed today as a precaution. Police say motorists travelling on Highway 11 near Longlac and Ginoogaming First Nation are advised to remain vigilant and avoid unnecessary stops. Police are also advising residents to remain indoors and lock all doors and windows, and those who are not in the area should avoid travelling there until...
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Teacherages arrives in Chipewyan Lake
By Pearl Lorentzen Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeside Leader Northland School Division hopes that Chipewyan Lake School may be closer to normal by mid-October. In late May, a wildfire destroyed half of the buildings in Chipewyan Lake, including Northlands three housing units (in two buildings). “If everything goes perfectly, we could be there in a couple of weeks,” said Cal Johnson, Northland superintendent, on Sept. 29. The morning of Sept. 29, a duplex for teachers was stuck at a narrow bridge on the road up to the community. As of Oct. 3, it had arrived and was on pilings, although not ready to be lived in. Chip Lake students started the year at extra classrooms in Career Pathways School in Wabasca. As of early Oct., 11 were back home learning...
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