Brant OPP raid leads to arrest and recovery of vehicles valued at $55,000
BRANT,ON – Three people are facing a series of charges after the Brant County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Community Street Crime Unit (CSCU), with assistance from Oxford CSCU, West Region Emergency Response Team (ERT), and Canine Unit, raided a rural Brant County property. On May 16, 2025, shortly before 10:00 a.m., police executed a search warrant at a Colborne Street East property in Brant County after receiving information on the location of a recently stolen vehicle. The following stolen vehicles were seized: 2015 Dodge Ram 1500 (Blue), valued at $20,000 2014 GMC Sierra (Red), valued at $10,000 2017 Chevrolet Express Van (Gray), valued at $25,000 The total estimated value of the recovered vehicles is approximately $55,000. Three individuals were arrested and charged including Brandon Ferreora, 38, of Brant County,...
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R.O.P.E. Squad seeks public’s help in locating man wanted on parole breach
Hamilton, ON – The Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (R.O.P.E.) Squad is requesting the public’s assistance in locating a federal offender wanted on a Canada Wide Warrant as a result of a breach of his Parole. Andre MORGAN is described as male black, 34 years of age, 5’2” (155cm), 140 lbs (64 kgs) with long black dreadlock hair, brown eyes and usually has facial hair. MORGAN has tattoos of ‘ADM’, ‘KADM’ and Stars on his left arm. Andre MORGAN is serving a Four (4) years and 5 month for; Possession of a Schedule Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking The offender is known to frequent Hamilton, Toronto, Niagara and Peel Regions of Ontario. Anyone having contact with this offender or information in regards to their whereabouts is asked to contact the...
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From uncle to nephew, a responsibility to salmon — and children — is carried on
By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews At takliʕaickst (Slocan Lake), caylx (Richard Armstrong) walks over to a group of elementary students, shaking each child’s hand and thanking them for their help. On Tuesday afternoon, the syilx Elder and knowledge keeper guided the children in the ceremonial release of 10,800 young salmon fry into the lake — part of an effort to bring the important fish back to upper part of nx̌ʷntk’ʷitkʷ (the Columbia River). The students had raised the salmon themselves since January, part of the Okanagan Nation Alliance’s (ONA) Fish in Schools (FinS) program. As caylx sent the students back to their classrooms with warm smiles and messages of gratitude, the gleeful children exchanged a chorus of thank-yous. Hundreds of classrooms across 64 schools in the Okanagan...
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Breaking: Police close parts of Third Line in suspected armed robbery
Six Nations Police (SNP) are assisting OPP with an investigation on Third Line, between Onondaga Road and Tuscarora Road. SNP have closed parts of Third Line searching for suspects believed involved in alleged armed robbery Police issued a social media release on May 20 advising the public, “that there is no concern for public safety.” Updates to follow. ...
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Moose Hide day attendees promise to end gender-based violence
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Attendees from all walks of life came together, spoke and made a promise to end gender-based violence in Fort St. John against the backdrop of Festival Plaza. The second annual Moose Hide Campaign event took place on May 15th in the city, organized by the Fort St. John Friendship Society and Nenan Dane Zaa Deh Zona Family Services Society. In a booth hosted by Nenan Dane Zaa Deh Zona, brochures about the program were prominent, as well as the focus of the event: a single moose-hide pin, which symbolized a pledge from the wearers to end gender-based violence. Todd Morrow, executive director of the Fort St. John Friendship Society, talked of the importance of speaking out and...
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Indigenous communities to receive funds for food security, sovereignty
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca ORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Three northeast First Nations communities will be receiving funds toward food sovereignty from the provincial government. According to a press release issued to Energeticcity.ca, Doig River First Nation (DRFN) and West Moberly First Nations (WMFN) and Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN) will be getting a share of funds through the province’s Indigenous Food Security and Sovereignty program, funded by the New Relationship Trust. The program supports both on-reserve and off-reserve projects, such as revitalizing food harvesting and Indigenous agro-ecosystems, expanding production capacity, boosting local food processing and distribution, and growing commercial value-added enterprises, according to the release. Started in 2023, the funding available was slated to be approximately $30 million administered by the New Relationship Trust over...
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NY governor to visit Seneca Nation to apologize for state’s role in boarding school
By Philip Marcelo NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s governor plans to visit the Seneca Nation on Tuesday to formally apologize for the state’s role in running an upstate boarding school that separated Native American students from their families with the goal of assimilating them into American society. Gov. Kathy Hochul is also expected to meet with survivors of the Thomas Indian School, which operated from 1875 to 1957 in western New York near Lake Erie. Seneca President J. Conrad Seneca, whose father attended the school, said the apology is overdue. He said his family and countless others have quietly borne their pain for generations. “The atrocities that our children suffered at the Thomas Indian School have remained hidden in the shadows for far too long,” he said in a...
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How uproar over a Māori haka, beloved in New Zealand life, sowed chaos and gridlock in Parliament
By Charlotte Graham-Mclay WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The haka, a chanting dance of challenge, is sacred to New Zealand’s Māori people but it’s become a beloved cultural institution among New Zealanders of all races. Spine-tingling performances at sports events, funerals and graduations often go viral online, a non-partisan point of pride for the country abroad. But one haka performed in protest in New Zealand’s Parliament by three legislators last November has provoked fierce division among lawmakers about whether it was an act of peaceful dissent, or disruptive and even intimidating to their opponents. A vote to approve unprecedented, lengthy bans from Parliament for the Māori party lawmakers who enacted the protest was unexpectedly suspended on Tuesday. Debate will resume in June, when it threatens to gridlock the legislative agenda...
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Atikokan Native Friendship Centre under scrutiny
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source ATIKOKAN – The local Native Friendship Centre needs a new board as an alleged misuse of funds is investigated, an online petition asserts. The petition says the friendship centre was once “a thriving hub of community activity” but misuse of funds “has led to a drastic reduction” in services. “We see the impact of the lack of programs on our kids and the strain it’s putting on families and individuals already facing challenges,” states the petition. The petition at change.org asks people to support the appointment of new board members and a new executive director for the Atikokan Native Friendship Centre. It follows the public disclosure of a confidential whistleblower package, prepared by a bookkeeper, containing evidence of alleged “ethical...
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Bryde’s whale washes ashore in only known sighting of the animal in B.C.
By Chuck Chiang Another dead whale has washed ashore on a British Columbia beach, the third over two weeks, but a marine wildlife expert at the scene said Friday that there’s likely no connections between the latest case to the other deaths. The Namgis First Nation said in a statement that a resident reported finding the whale Wednesday on a beach near Port McNeill, B.C., on the northwest side of Vancouver Island. Experts who have examined the animal have confirmed it’s a Bryde’s whale — a species rarely seen in waters north of the same latitude as Los Angeles, the statement said. Jackie Hildering with the Marine Education and Research Society is among the researchers on-site, and said this is the only known sighting of a Bryde’s whale in B.C....
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New Indigenous Services minister says she’s been handed the ‘toughest task’
By Alessia Passafiume As the first Indigenous person ever to lead the federal department responsible for delivering services to First Nations, Inuit and Métis, Mandy Gull-Masty knows she has a daunting task ahead. But the newly-appointed Indigenous services minister also knows what it’s like to sit at both sides of the table — as a cabinet minister now and, until recently, as the grand chief of the political body representing 20,000 Cree people in northern Quebec. “I know the importance of — what the value is — when people come here to ask,” the rookie MP told The Canadian Press Thursday from behind a desk still free of paperwork in her new downtown Ottawa office. “And I think that’s really important, especially for a lot of the big files that...
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Crown asks for parents to spend eight years in prison for horrific death of toddler
By Bill Graveland A Crown prosecutor is calling for a Calgary couple who killed their badly burned and emaciated toddler to be sentenced to eight years in prison. Sonya Pasqua and Michael Sinclair pleaded guilty last year to manslaughter in the death of Gabriel Sinclair-Pasqua. The 18-month-old died in 2021 from an infection and head trauma. He had major burns to a third of his body. An agreed statement of facts says the parents didn’t seek medical treatment after the boy was scalded with boiling water and his burns were treated with honey. A pediatric surgeon testified the burns would have required emergency medical care and immediate hospitalization. Prosecutor Vicki Faulkner told a sentencing hearing Friday that the couple saw their son as a paycheque. Court previously heard a text...
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Wildfires forced residents to evacuate Wabaseemoong Independent Nation
Wildfires have forced more than 800 residents to evacuate their northwestern Ontario First Nation. Chief Waylon Scott of the Wabaseemoong Independent Nation, which sits about 100 kilometres northwest of Kenora near the Manitoba border, says rain and cooler temperatures have kept several fires at bay, but the blazes still pose a major threat. In a video conference with reporters Sunday, he said crews are trying to beat back flames from a 0.3-square-kilometre wildfire burning just over a kilometre from the community. Scott says roughly 100 firefighters, including 20 flown in from British Columbia, are battling that blaze as well as two much bigger fires — one roaring across 90 square kilometres and from which the smaller fire jumped. Scott says sprinklers are now set up outside about 80 per cent...
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Liberal government to table federal budget this fall, PM Carney says
By Nick Murray Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday the Liberal government will present a federal budget in the fall, allowing time for clarity on some key economic and fiscal issues to emerge. Speaking to reporters Sunday in Rome, Carney defended his government’s decision not to deliver a budget this spring, saying there is little value in rushing the process. Carney noted a new session of Parliament begins with a throne speech on May 27, but the House of Commons is due to rise less than a month later. Opposition parties recently attacked Carney for being vague about his plans after his government said it would not table a budget before members of Parliament leave for the summer. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said instead of a spring budget, the government...
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Systemic racism in Yukon schools harming First Nation students: review
By Talar Stockton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News The Yukon First Nation Education Directorate and the Yukon Child and Youth Advocate Office have released calls to action to address systemic racism in the Yukon education system. Contained within a report entitled “For Our Children: Systemic Racism in Yukon’s Education System,” the calls to action address the Yukon government. There are twenty-five calls to action, categorized into areas of philosophy, pedagogy (the method of teaching), relations and operations. The contents of the report look at the experiences of systemic racism within schools in the Yukon. Study authors analyzed data collected from Yukon schools between 2014 and 2024. They engaged with 300 participants, including citizens of all 14 Yukon First Nations. They also formally engaged with eight Yukon First Nations. The...
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$1 million awarded to Council of Yukon First Nations program supporting expecting families
By Talar Stockton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News Bibia Nàtsät Ku — a project by the Council of Yukon First Nations — has won $1 million through the Arctic Inspiration Prize. The name of the program translates to “Strong Babies House” and is an extension of the Bibia Nàtsät (Strong Babies) program which CYFN has been operating for the past two years. The money will now allow CYFN to establish a space to house the program. In April, CYFN’s executive director, Shadelle Chambers, told the News the space could provide a place to stay for families travelling into Whitehorse for healthcare. It could also provide daytime programming, supports and services for families, she said. Chambers, speaking to the News from Ottawa where the Arctic Inspiration Prize ceremony was held...
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Canada Infrastructure Bank surpasses $1 billion mark in funding to Indigenous projects
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) has reached a major milestone, but officials from the Crown corporation insist they will not be resting on their laurels. The CIB has officially surpassed the $1 billion mark in funding for Indigenous projects across the country. Launched in 2017 to financially support revenue-generating infrastructure projects across the country, the CIB’s Indigenous Community Infrastructure Initiative (ICII) began in 2021. In 2023, the ICII’s early successes led the CIB to add another stream of funding called the Indigenous Equity Initiative (IEI). The IEI stream provides loans to Indigenous communities so they can buy equity in energy and electricity projects. A total of 28 Indigenous projects have been funded through the two streams so far. “We are not done...
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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith shuffles her cabinet, splits health portfolio
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has announced an overhaul of several government ministries, creating two new health services portfolios and replacing her Indigenous relations minister. Former health minister Adriana LaGrange has been sworn in as minister of primary and preventative health services, while former jobs minister Matt Jones is in charge of hospital and surgical health services. Previous Indigenous relations minister Rick Wilson is now minister of mental health and addiction. He replaces Dan Williams, who moves to municipal affairs. Rajan Sawhney will head Indigenous relations. Smith says the shuffle was needed to fill the vacancy left by former municipal affairs minister Ric McIver, who is taking on the role of Speaker of the assembly. “Once you move one cabinet minister, you have to start moving a few others,” Smith said...
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New federal ministers signal hope
By Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door The grand chief of the Grand Council of the Crees, Norman A. Wapachee, was ecstatic on election night as his predecessor, Mandy Gull-Masty, inched past the competition and won a seat in Parliament representing the riding of Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou. “We had a group, and when the results came in, it was tight. Very emotional. It was like going through a roller coaster,” said Wapachee. But the excitement of her victory would soon be rivalled when Wapachee turned on the TV this week and saw Gull-Masty standing behind prime minister Mark Carney as he unveiled his new cabinet. “I was like, ‘What the hell?’” he said. “What is she in?” The answer? Gull-Masty is the new minister of Indigenous Services, making her...
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Carney travelling to Rome to join other world leaders at Pope’s inaugural mass
By Nick Murray Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to depart Canada Friday night for his first official trip to the Vatican, where he will attend Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural mass on Sunday. Carney is a devout Catholic but was unable to attend Pope Francis’s funeral on April 26 because it fell two days before the federal election. The inaugural mass, which serves as a swearing-in of sorts for a new Pope, is drawing many international leaders and Carney is expected to have bilateral meetings with several of them during the trip. U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, French Prime Minister François Bayrou and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are among those who have confirmed they’re attending. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prince Edward will also be in attendance. Assembly of First...
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