Florida online sports betting challenge is denied by state’s highest court
By Mike Schneider THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)- Opponents of online sports betting in Florida on Thursday lost their latest fight against a Seminole Tribe agreement with the state that permits the gambling. The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the opponents had filed the wrong type of petition to challenge the compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration. The deal will rake in hundreds of millions of dollars from online sports betting and other forms of gambling for both the tribe and state government. The decision was the latest setback for West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corporation, which operate racetracks and poker rooms in Florida. They also are challenging the compact in federal court and have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take...
Register
Commission releases interim report into unmarked graves at residential schools
OTTAWA- An interim report from an international group hired to provide advice on identifying and locating the unmarked graves of children who attended residential schools says Canada can should continue funding searches beyond 2025. The report from the International Commission on Missing Persons, based in The Hague, covers the work it has done so far and suggests next steps. The report also recommends Ottawa ratify the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Ottawa signed a technical agreement with the commission last year to work with Indigenous communities that want to search for possible unmarked graves. An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools across Canada. A national movement to find and commemorate unmarked graves began after ground-penetrating radar detected possible remains...
Register
‘Completely discouraged’: Auditor slams First Nations housing, policing failures
By Alessia Passafiume and Laura Osman THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- After two new reports detailing how the federal government is underperforming on First Nations housing and policing, the federal auditor general says a fundamental shift needs to occur in the government. “Time after time, whether in housing, policing, safe drinking water or other critical areas, our audits of federal programs to support Canada’s Indigenous Peoples reveal a distressing and persistent pattern of failure,” Karen Hogan said at a press conference Tuesday. “The lack of progress clearly demonstrates that the government’s passive, siloed approach is ineffective, and, in fact, contradicts the spirit of true reconciliation.” The reports tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday paint a bleak picture of Ottawa’s record on First Nations housing and policing. On First Nations...
Register
Crown wants 25 years for Manitoba football coach who sexually assaulted students
By Brittany Hobson THE CANADIAN PRESS WINNIPEG- A disgraced former high school football coach apologized during a sentencing hearing for the “grief and shame” he caused to the nine students he sexually assaulted. However, the Crown prosecutor is arguing that Kelsey McKay conducted an unrelenting, decade-long campaign of grooming and assaults on teenage boys and a fit sentence is 25 years in prison. McKay provided a brief statement Wednesday at the end of a two-day sentencing hearing in Winnipeg provincial court. In front of a courtroom that included some of his victims and their families, McKay apologized and said he is taking his imprisonment as an opportunity to learn more about himself. “One hundred per cent of the responsibility lies with me,” he said. McKay pleaded guilty to nine counts...
Register
Cross sector approach needed to address health and wellness in First Nations
By Shari Narine Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare was visibly shaken when he addressed media March 19 near the end of the first day of a three-day inaugural conference on First Nations Community Wellness. He had just received “heavy heart news” that former National Hockey League player and Stanley Cup champion Chris Simon had died by suicide the previous night. was the support for a man we idolized around the world, who captured many audiences of who we are’ and he was our enforcer,” said Hare. Hare said he often visited Simon’s family in Wawa, Ont. on his travels. Later he said that federal and provincial politicians would come to him after communities experienced tragic losses like this and ask what they could do. “They come...
Register
Satellites track the tiny silver fish hugely important to marine life
By Rochelle Baker Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A new scientific endeavour has taken to the sky using high-tech drones and satellite images to understand better the annual spring herring spawn vital to salmon and wildlife on the West Coast. Between February and March each year, frigid ocean waters transform to a milky tropical-looking turquoise green when male herring release milt to fertilize the countless eggs deposited by females on eelgrass, kelp and seaweed fringing coastal shores. Unpredictable and dramatic, the small silver fishes’ spawning event is large and best monitored from great heights, said Loic Dallaire, a researcher with the SPECTRAL Remote Sensing Laboratory at the University of Victoria. “It’s one of the very few animal formations that we can see from space, excluding human developments and towns,” Dallaire said....
Register
Kahnawake dancers featured prominently in new Palais des Congres Indigenous networking space
By Marc Lalonde Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Kahnawake will be featured prominently in a new cultural space featuring the eleven Indigenous nations in the Quebec region in one of Montreal’s largest gathering spaces and is the product of a unique partnership between Palais des congres and Indigenous Tourism Quebec. Combining their know-how, the Palais des congres de Montreal and Indigenous Tourism Quebec, in collaboration with interior designer Gerard Vannoote and several other contributors, developed a space that provides a window on the living heritage of First Nations and Inuit communities. The space, unveiled Thursday, is called Autochtone Quebec. Kahnawake is featured front and centre in the form of large-format photographs depicting the community’s dancers, in traditional dress. Palais des congres CEO Emanuelle Legault said it’s an honour to be part...
Register
Environment groups, MCK send message to Quebec over proposed battery plan
By Marc Lalonde Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake has joined a chorus of environmental groups that are sending a message to warn the Quebec government that a proposed battery plant to be located on the South Shore could well be an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen. “When the permit was issued for Northvolt, that to me is about money,” Ross Montour, the MCK’s lead on the environment portfolio, said. “That’s my point. You have to take into account the impact of your decisions on the environment, of which we are a part.” Montour stood alongside reps of a number of other prominent environmental groups on Monday morning in downtown Montreal, including the David Suzuki Foundation, Equiterre, Nature Quebec and Greenpeace. Their concern? They claim the government...
Register
First Nations forward leads U of T to silver medal at national university tournament
By Sam Laskaris Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Sophie Grawbarger has some shiny new bling. And though the silver medal is not the colour she would have preferred, Grawbarger, a member of Garden River First Nation in northern Ontario, is pleased with her team’s second-place finish at the Canadian university women’s hockey tournament. Grawbarger and her University of Toronto Varsity Blues were downed 3-1 by Montreal’s Concordia Stingers in the gold-medal match at the nationals, which concluded March 17 in Saskatoon. “Even before the final game I was proud of myself and proud of my teammates for making it to the championship game,” said Grawbarger, who is a left winger. U of T had participated at the 2023 national tournament held in Montreal. Grawbarger and her teammates had entered last year’s...
Register
‘Completely discouraged’: Auditor slams First Nations housing, policing failures
By Alessia Passafiume and Laura Osman THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- After two new reports detailing how the federal government is underperforming on First Nations housing and policing, the federal auditor general says a fundamental shift needs to occur in the government. “Time after time, whether in housing, policing, safe drinking water or other critical areas, our audits of federal programs to support Canada’s Indigenous Peoples reveal a distressing and persistent pattern of failure,” Karen Hogan said at a press conference Tuesday. “The lack of progress clearly demonstrates that the government’s passive, siloed approach is ineffective, and, in fact, contradicts the spirit of true reconciliation.” The reports tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday paint a bleak picture of Ottawa’s record on First Nations housing and policing. On First...
Register
OPP searching Six Nations property for missing woman Amber Ellis
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER-Six Nations Police and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are searching a site on First Line Road this week in hopes of locating missing woman Amber Ellis. Amber Ellis was reported missing in March 8, 2021 and was last seen in February at a Sixth Line house property where OPP and Six Nations had focused their search for the missing woman. .Six Nations Police announced Tuesday, March 19, 2024 that there will be a heavy police presence at a First Line property beginning extending through the week. The search, they said is part of the Amber Ellis missing person investigation. Police said there is no risk to public safety and the owners and tenants of the property are not considered persons of interest in the...
Register
Six Nations Elected Council deciding how to spend over $3 million in community’s own source revenue
Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) needs to decide how to spend $3.3 million. The funds come from an agreement with Hydro One that is being overseen by Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation. SNEC was discussing the funds at its General Finance meeting on March 18, but didn’t come up with a plan. Instead Elected Chief Sheri Lyn Hill suggested booking a half-day session to come up with a plan once Wayne Staats, director of accounting comes up with all of the information regarding what funds were actually available and what projects the funds had already been committed to. But Staats told SNEC he was under the impression council would discuss their priorities and he would tell them what was possible at a later date. “Council was going...
Register
Chiefs of Ontario to hold annual meeting at Six Nations
By Lynda Powless Editor They’re coming! From across Ontario First Nation chiefs will be decending on Six Nations this June . Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) will be hosting the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) annual chief’s assembly and with it this year the Regional Chief Elections. SNEC discussed the upcoming planning at its General Finance meeting on March 18. Councillor Dayle Bomberry introduced the item and asked for an update on the plans for the meeting that will run June 11, 12 and 13. CEO Nathan Wright explained that internal planning has started and will continue, but they are waiting for the COO to transfer $35,000 to help pay for events. “In terms of first payment, we are looking at collecting information as it relates to some of the side...
Register
Six Nations Elected Council increases payments for white corn
Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) is increase funding to pay for this year’s community white corn crop. The Six Nations Farmers Association (SNFA) is increasing the cost for the community white corn project up from $50,000 to $60,000 this year. SNEC approved a motion to increase the amount of funds it provides at its General Finance meeting on March 18. Jesse and Arthur Porter gave a presentation on the White Corn Project and said costs continue to rise. Last year SNEC provided them with $50,000 and will give $60,000 this year. “Like everything else, the cost of things are on the rise on a constant basis throughout the world, for that reason we would appreciate the $50,000 again, if you can see any extra floating around we’d appreciate that as...
Register
SNEC to decide on number of councillors attending meetings
Six Nations councillors are eager to attend the Iroquois Caucus. Elected Chief Sherri Lyn Hill offered one councillor the opportunity to attend the upcoming Iroquois Caucus General Assembly . She made the offer at the Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) General Council meeting on March 12. Councillor Cynthia Jamieson was the first to express interest and was approved to attend the meeting in Oneida Nation of the Thames later this month. Councillor Amos Key said he’d like to attend the next one. Several other councillors disagreed with the move to include only one councillor and said they should be allowed the opportunity if they so desired. Councillor Alaina VanEvery suggested that depending on what items are on the agenda, councillors on corresponding committees should be chosen to attend. “If there’s...
Register
Six Nations COVID study shows mental health issues widespread
By Lisa Iesse Writer SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND – Findings from Six Nations’ COVID CommUNITY study show widespread physical, mental, and emotional impacts on relationships, work life, and education from the pandemic since 2020. Initial findings from the study were presented Saturday morning (March 9) at Six Nations Community Hall and was also live streamed on Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC)’s facebook page. The video attracted 1.3 K views on SNEC’s facebook page as of March 11. The three-year community-based study included surveys, and interviews along with blood samples. Blood sample data was used to assess exposure to Covid-19, and levels of antibodies (to combat the virus) present in the blood of participants over time. Sara Smith, who is an epidemiologist from Six Nations, worked on the study with...
Register
Six Nations to review welfare agreement
Six Nations will receive funding to assist in the cost of contributing its review of the 1965 Indian Welfare Agreement. Arliss Skye, director of Social Services told Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) that the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) was offering funding to help review the legislation regarding social services, child and family services and Ontario Works. “There’s no process set up other than here’s some funding when it happens,” she said. Indigenous Services Canada offered $10.2 million as well as $1.8 million to the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. COO divided the funds among unaffiliated nations based on population. Six Nation will receive $335,771 to do the consultation when the time comes. In 1965 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and the Ontario government signed the 1965 Indian Welfare Agreement that deemed...
Register
Whose money is it?
Six Nations Elected Council is pondering how to spend just over $3 million of the community’s own source revenues. Let me say that again. Six Nations Elected Council, (SNEC) not the community, is deciding how the community’s own source revenue, you know, your own funds, not government program dollars, will be spend. A move that does not include any community input, and adding insult to injury Elected Chief Sherr-Lyn Hill suggests the band council get together to discuss how the money will be spent. A move that could see this council blindly agreeing to pay off department deficits that could hit $11 million this year and as a result bailing out the federal and provincial government’s funding deficits. For years millions of dollars in the community’s own money, have been...
Register
Weekly Cartoon
...
Register
Federal and provincial governments provide $11.4 million to bring high-speed internet to community
By Lisa Iesse Writer First Nations Cable will receive $11.4 million in federal and provincial funding to bring high-speed internet to thousands of households in Six Nations. The announcement was made on Wednesday (March 13) by Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development and acting Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, along with Kinga Surma, the Minister of Infrastructure for Ontario. The funding will support a groundbreaking project by First Nations Cable to provide access to large‑scale, fibre-based broadband for high-speed internet to Six Nations households. “We are very proud of our community and we are dedicated to providing high-quality service at a fair and competitive rate. Today, we would like all parties to be recognized as we are now prepared to deliver reliable broadband services to all Six...
Register
