Consultation period set to begin with high-speed rail project
By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase As Transport Canada moves forward with the initial segment in Canada’s first high-speed rail network, the Mohawk Councils of Kahnawake and Kanesatake are asking for clarity on how the project will impact their communities. Overall, Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Grand Chief Cody Diabo remains optimistic about the project, noting that the MCK has a strong pre-existing relationship with Alto. “We were a little bit concerned, I’ll say, in terms of Canada’s approach by referring them to the Major Projects Office (MPO),” Diabo said. The project was announced by Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon and Managing Director of Alto Martin Imbleau last Friday. The 200-kilometer stretch between Ottawa and Montreal was selected as to be the first segment in the much larger Toronto-to-Quebec...
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New hospital layout will allow diagnostics for thousands: officials
By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com GERALDTON — A slate of services expected to come to a hospital in the region will allow residents to access more care closer to home. That’s according to health care and political leaders in Greenstone, after a recent announcement that the Geraldton District Hospital received up to half a million dollars from the Ontario government toward early-stage planning for a major reconfiguration of its main floor. “We’re able to serve people at home, by people from the area, so people don’t have to travel on the highways,” hospital CEO Darryl Galusha said. “They don’t have to fight the winter weather, they don’t have to dodge moose in the middle of the night getting to a CT scan or coming home.” “I’ve always...
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Candidates set for Ekaluktutiak Hunters and Trappers Organization election in Cambridge Bay
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Elections for the Ekaluktutiak Hunters and Trappers Organization (HTO) chairperson and board of directors are being held on Jan. 22, and the list of candidates has been finalized. Running for chairperson are Monica Angohiatok, James Panioyak and Vivienne Aknavigak. For the two board of directors positions, the candidates are Roland Emingak, Dennis Kaomayok, Mercy Panegyuk, Howard Greenley, Micheal Jancke and Ivor Maksagak. Candidates are required to have lived in the community for over a year and be a resident. An advanced mobile voting opportunity is being held on Jan. 13. All Inuit residents of a community are eligible to become members of the Ekaluktutiak HTO, and only members can vote. William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News/LJI is...
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Feds, Ontario to sign deal reducing regulatory burden on Ring of Fire, other projects
By Liam Casey and Allison Jones Ottawa and Ontario are set to finalize a deal Thursday that will reduce the regulatory burden on large projects, including the road to the Ring of Fire, The Canadian Press has learned. Provincial and federal government sources who are not allowed to speak publicly say Ottawa has agreed to eliminate any duplicative work on its impact assessments on large projects. A draft agreement posted on the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s website says the goal is to work together to implement the “One Project, One Review and One Decision” approach. Ontario Premier Doug Ford was asked if this would be the final piece of the puzzle in order to begin building the roads to the Ring of Fire next year. “I believe so,” he...
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Toronto Police asking for help in identifying man with Island roots
By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor TORONTO—He was found where the city loosens its grip—near the Don River and Queen Street East—on July 26, 2002. No wallet. No papers. No one pacing the shoreline asking questions. Toronto Police say foul play was not suspected. Just a man, unnamed, carried out of the water and filed into a system that is very good at holding onto bodies and very bad at holding onto stories. Twenty-three years later, that man still has no name. But the story has begun to speak. Through Investigative Genetic Genealogy, Toronto Police have learned that most of his ancestry is Indigenous, rooted in Manitoulin Island and the Algoma region, braided with French and Acadian lines. Two-thirds Indigenous. One-third European. A familiar map to many families here. His DNA shares...
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High Prairie Aboriginal Interagency discuss powwow to Children and Family Services
By Pearl Lorentzen Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeside Leader The High Prairie Aboriginal Interagency is open to anyone interested in supporting Indigenous peoples in the Lesser Slave Lake area, with meetings rotating between High Prairie and Slave Lake. This one was online because of snow. Wendy Goulet, Indigenous supports northern region with Children and Family Services out of Peace River, chaired the meeting. She is also the contact for anyone who wants to join. Her email is Wendy.Goulet@gov.ab.ca. Round dance and powwow The High Prairie Aboriginal Interagency organizes a winter round dance and May powwow and hand games in High Prairie. The round dance will be in late January, February or March at Prairie River School. High Prairie School Division is holding a round dance in High Prairie, said Goulet....
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Indigenous leaders question Parliament’s fairness in rushing citizenship legislation for some ‘second generation’ people while claims delayed
By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor OTTAWA—Canada congratulated itself last month for what it called a “fair and important milestone” in citizenship law. Bill C-3—formerly C-71, the so-called Lost Canadians Act—received Royal Assent on November 21, restoring citizenship to those pushed out by old rules and creating a new, single-generation standard for Canadians born abroad. But while Parliament celebrates its swift repair of one historical wrong, another remains stuck in legislative limbo. Bill S-2, the long-fought effort to end the second-generation cut-off for First Nations, still lingers in the wings. It won’t reach the House of Commons until spring—after yet another shuffle of amendments, debates and political recalibrations. For First Nations families, déjà vu is the default setting. They have been waiting more than 40 years for this change, watching bill...
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Making lawyers swear Oath of Allegiance to monarch unconstitutional: Alberta court
Alberta’s top court has ruled that requiring prospective lawyers to swear the Oath of Allegiance to the reigning monarch is unconstitutional and infringes on religious freedom. The Court of Appeal of Alberta made the decision Tuesday in Prabjot Wirring’s years-long case against the province and Law Society of Alberta. The court said the legally-required oath forced Wirring to choose between practising law in Alberta and his faith as an amritdhari Sikh. The decision hinged on whether a judge previously erred in considering whether the law society’s requirement to swear Canada’s official oath to “bear true allegiance” to the reigning monarch, their heirs and successors infringes the Charter right to religious freedom. The court said Wirring had sworn an allegiance to Akal Purakh, or the Creator in the Sikh faith, and...
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Second-degree murder charge laid in death of Onigaming First Nation man
Provincial Police in Ontario say a 23-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a man from Onigaming First Nation. They say officers from the Treaty Three Police Service, with help from the Kenora Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police, responded to a call at a residence in Onigaming First Nation. Police say a 27-year-old man was found in medical distress and was pronounced dead, though they did not describe the nature of his injuries. The news release says a postmortem examination will be conducted at the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service in Toronto. It says a 23-year-old from the same Indigenous community has been arrested, charged and is scheduled to appear in court in Kenora, Ont., on Thursday. Police say there is no threat to public...
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Squamish Nation delivers 1,500 holiday hampers bringing festive meals to the community
By Abby Luciano, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Shore News The pouring rain and cold didn’t dampen the holiday spirit for dozens of volunteers outside the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation)’s So-Sah-Latch Shewaynewas Family Programs building Tuesday as they packed holiday hampers for the community. Like elves working at Santa’s workshop, 60 volunteers worked in assembly line fashion putting together 1,500 food hampers for the Squamish Nation community to ensure everyone gets a festive meal for the holidays. The initiative is run by the Ayás Mén̓men (Child & Family Services) and Ts’its’ixwnítway (Member Services). “It’s great to see all the families we can help because we have family members that are struggling, living paycheque-to-paycheque,” said Tallia Reginald, who works events and funerals for the Squamish Nation. “When we can give them...
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Attawapiskat First Nation youth taking Ford’s PCs to Ontario’s highest court in landmark Bill 5 challenge
By Anushka Yadav, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer Ramon Kataquapit of Attawapiskat First Nation was 22 when former prime minister Justin Trudeau left an unsettling impression on him. It foreshadowed the scene he witnessed at Queen’s Park a year later which has pushed him to take legal action for the “lands, waters, and rights” of his people. In February 2024, Ramon, a North Bay-resident, took his seat beside Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, surrounded by members of NAN’s Oshkaatisak Council. They were all in Thunder Bay, ready to talk about clean water and community needs with Trudeau. As soon as the conversation began, he noticed something that left a deep impression on him: the “disrespect” from Trudeau. “He wouldn’t even look at our chief,” Ramon told...
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Feds, Ontario to sign deal reducing regulatory burden on Ring of Fire, other projects
By Liam Casey Ottawa and Ontario are set to sign a deal Thursday that will reduce the regulatory burden on large projects, including the road to the Ring of Fire, The Canadian Press has learned. Provincial and federal government sources who are not allowed to speak publicly say Ottawa has agreed to eliminate any duplicative work on its impact assessments on large projects. A draft agreement posted on the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s website says the goal is to work together to implement the “One Project, One Review and One Decision” approach. Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation are leading environmental assessments on three roads that would connect the provincial highway system to their communities and mining activities in the mineral-rich Ring of Fire region in northern...
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Six are facing drug and firearms charges after major bust in Brantford and Brant County
BRANT COUNTY- Six people are facing a series of charges after the Brant County Community Street Crime Unit (CSCU) launched a drug trafficking investigation linked to addresses on Maple Crescent in Paris and Sheridan Street in Brantford. On December 16, 2025, Brant CSCU-supported by Oxford, Middlesex, Elgin, Wellington, Haldimand, and Norfolk CSCU members, West Region Tactics and Rescue Unit, Emergency Response Team, OPP Canine Unit, and Brant OPP-executed two warrants at the identified addresses and took a total of six individuals into custody. Sheridan Street, Brantford: Jacob Etenberg, 21, of Brantford is charged with: Possession of a Schedule I substance for the purpose of Trafficking- Fentanyl Possession of a Schedule I substance for the purpose of Trafficking – Cocaine Possession of a Schedule I substance for the purpose of Trafficking...
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New Brunswick first province to sign on to Carney’s ‘one project, one review’
By John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Daily Gleaner New Brunswick is the first province this year to sign on to the “one project, one review” approach pushed by Prime Minister Mark Carney, meant to ensure the feds and province speed up environmental reviews of big industrial projects. At a news conference in Fredericton on Tuesday, Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister responsible for major projects, and Premier Susan Holt exulted over the benefits of having one environmental impact assessment for a given project, instead of two, to help gain the trust of investors. Environmentalists and First Nations had grave concerns about the change. “The same number of eyes can look at a particular review at the same time. It doesn’t have to be sequential,” LeBlanc said of the old...
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Indigenous-Led Family Reunification Program Running Out of Time
By Steven Sukkau, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Sun The difference between a child coming home and staying in foster care can be measured in many ways. In Manitoba, right now, it’s about five months. That’s the funding gap threatening Geoffrey’s Garden, an Indigenous-led family reunification program in Winnipeg that has helped dozens of parents get sober, reunite with their children, and save the province millions in foster-care costs, yet is still fighting to keep its doors open. “We’re okay, probably until February or March,” founder Cindy Huckerby explains. That breathing room came from a last-minute grant through Jordan’s Principle, money that arrived after two parents had already completed the program. It allowed Geoffrey’s Garden to pay overdue utility bills, catch up on arrears, and stabilize operations through the winter....
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Indigenous-Led Family Reunification Program Running Out of Time
By Steven Sukkau, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Sun The difference between a child coming home and staying in foster care can be measured in many ways. In Manitoba, right now, it’s about five months. That’s the funding gap threatening Geoffrey’s Garden, an Indigenous-led family reunification program in Winnipeg that has helped dozens of parents get sober, reunite with their children, and save the province millions in foster-care costs, yet is still fighting to keep its doors open. “We’re okay, probably until February or March,” founder Cindy Huckerby explains. That breathing room came from a last-minute grant through Jordan’s Principle, money that arrived after two parents had already completed the program. It allowed Geoffrey’s Garden to pay overdue utility bills, catch up on arrears, and stabilize operations through the winter....
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The Lumbee Tribe’s federal recognition is assured, with a final push by Trump
By Graham Lee Brewer With the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act by the Senate on Wednesday, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is all but assured to become a federally recognized tribal nation. The state-recognized tribe, whose historic and genealogical claims have been a subject of controversy, has been seeking federal recognition for generations. Congress has considered the issue for more than 30 years, but the effort gained momentum after President Donald Trump endorsed the tribe on the campaign trail last year. “It’s going to be a very, very emotional time for us. It’s going to be a time to rejoice and a time to be happy,” said Lumbee Tribe member Charles Graham, a retired special education teacher and former state legislator. “We’ll be able to stand on...
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Federal judge blocks Whitmer from shutting down submerged Great Lakes pipeline
By Todd Richmond A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ‘s attempt to shut down an aging oil pipeline running beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes, finding that only the federal government can regulate interstate pipeline safety. Whitmer, a Democrat, ordered regulators in 2020 to revoke an easement that allows Enbridge Inc. to operate a 4.5-mile (6.4) kilometer pipeline segment under the Straits of Mackinac, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Whitmer made the move out of concern that the 72-year-old pipeline could rupture and cause a catastrophic spill. Enbridge filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the revocation and the pipeline continues to operate. President Donald Trump’s administration argued in filings this year that Whitmer’s order interferes with U.S. foreign energy policy...
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Feds, Ontario to sign deal reducing regulatory burden on Ring of Fire, other projects
By Liam Casey and Allison Jones Ottawa and Ontario are set to finalize a deal Thursday that will reduce the regulatory burden on large projects, including the road to the Ring of Fire, The Canadian Press has learned. Provincial and federal government sources who are not allowed to speak publicly say Ottawa has agreed to eliminate any duplicative work on its impact assessments on large projects. A draft agreement posted on the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s website says the goal is to work together to implement the “One Project, One Review and One Decision” approach. Ontario Premier Doug Ford was asked if this would be the final piece of the puzzle in order to begin building the roads to the Ring of Fire next year. “I believe so,” he...
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Christmas Cheer
Six Nations police, firefighters and ambulance services were all on hand Friday on Chiefswood Road in front of the Iroquois Village Plaza stopping traffic, but not for tickets, instead they were giving out a bit of Christmas Cheer, handing out Tim’s Cards and promoting safety over the holidays. (Photos by Jim C. Powless)...
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