Ironmen and Killer Bees deadlocked in conference championship series
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Ironmen are hoping they’ll be the ones celebrating a conference championship this weekend. The local Senior A men’s club is in the midst of its Northern Premier Hockey League (NPHL) best-of-five Metropolitan Conference championship versus the Alvinston Killer Bees. The host Killer Bees downed the Six Nations squad 4-2 in the series opener on Saturday. But the Ironmen evened up the series thanks to a 4-3 victory in Game 2 on Sunday, in a match staged at the Six Nations Sports & Cultural Memorial Centre. The series will resume on Thursday in Alvinston and the two teams will then square off in Six Nations on Saturday. If necessary, the fifth and deciding match will be in Alvinston on Sunday. Ironmen goaltender Chris Hrabec,...
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First Nation leader Robert Phillips says proposed DRIPA changes would gut legislation
By Wolfgang Depner A First Nations leader said proposed amendments to British Columbia’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act would take a “sledgehammer” to the landmark legislation. Robert Phillips of the First Nations Summit said the amendments would “gut” DRIPA and turn back the clock on relations between the provincial government and First Nations by decades. Phillips’ warning came before Thursday’s meeting between First Nations leaders and Premier David Eby, who has said the changes are necessary to put MLAs, not the courts, in charge of reconciliation. The Canadian Press has obtained a copy of the proposed changes, and while Phillips said a non-disclosure agreement prevented him from commenting on specific amendments, he said First Nations were considering litigation and streets protests if the changes went ahead. DRIPA,...
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‘Be in that moment’: Astronaut Jeremy Hansen’s wife prepares for his lunar mission
By Kelly Geraldine Malone As Jeremy Hansen prepares to begin a historic mission to the moon aboard the Artemis II, his wife says his family will be trying to take in every single moment. If everything goes as planned, Catherine Hansen will be on the roof of the launch control centre at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Wednesday evening to watch her husband begin a 10-day lunar fly-around. “I’m really trying to encourage everyone — and very, very specifically myself — to be in that moment and to allow whatever emotions may come,” she told The Canadian Press on Tuesday. “There will be excitement, there will be exhilaration, there will be terror and fear.” Jeremy Hansen, 50, of London, Ont., will serve as the mission specialist for Artemis II and become...
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Construction work officially begins on $3-billion wind farm northeast of Quebec City
By Patrice Bergeron Construction on a major wind farm northeast of Quebec City has been officially launched, with an investment of $3 billion. The first two phases of the Des Neiges wind farm — the southern sector and the Charlevoix sector — will comprise a total of 114 turbines and generate 800 Megawatts of wind energy, enough to power 140,000 homes. The project by Quebec’s hydro utility, Boralex, and Énergir — the largest natural gas distributor in the province — is to be located on the grounds of the Séminaire de Québec in the Charlevoix region. The third phase, if completed, will bring the farm’s output to 1,200 Megawatts and contribute Hydro-Québec’s goal of adding 10,000 MW of wind power to its current portfolio of 4,000 MW by 2035. When...
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Education director among region’s highest-paid public employees
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com MARATHON — Superior-Greenstone District School Board’s director of education was paid a salary of $267,703 in 2025, according to the province’s Sunshine List of salaries in the public sector. That makes William Goodman one of the highest-paid public employees in the Superior North region east of Thunder Bay. The Superior-Greenstone board operates public schools in Marathon, Greenstone, Nipigon, Red Rock, Manitouwadge, Dorion, Schreiber and Terrace Bay. Superior-Greenstone’s superintendent of business, Alex Marton, also made the Sunshine List with 2025 pay reported at $198,971. The Superior North Catholic District School Board, which has schools in Greenstone, Schreiber, Marathon, Manitouwadge, Nipigon and Red Rock, paid its director of education $236,985. Maria Vasanelli also received more than $1,400 in taxable benefits, according to the government....
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Former Vancouver mayor laments ‘normalcy’ of Downtown Eastside ‘despair’
By Darryl Greer Former senator and Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell says it was a “depressing and traumatic experience” when he began his work as a provincial adviser in the Downtown Eastside last year, but his initial despair then changed to hope. He said he noticed the number of new buildings and housing going up in the neighbourhood and a “vibrancy,” but he was still shocked at the beleaguered state of people in the troubled Vancouver neighbourhood. His appointment by the provincial government in September was for a six-month term, but Housing Minister Christine Boyle said Tuesday that his contract would be extended to allow him to continue working to “address systemic challenges” in the Downtown Eastside. Campbell said at a news conference Tuesday that he was shocked at the “normalcy”...
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The Latest: Trump says it’s on other nations to open the Strait of Hormuz
WASHINGTON, USA-U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that the responsibility for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open should belong with countries that rely on it, rather than the U.S. He said there’s “no reason for us to do this.” Trump expressed frustration earlier Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the U.S. war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil.” Trump recently has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war. U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to push fuel prices higher worldwide. Analysts say those high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’...
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Trump officials exempt oil and gas drilling in the Gulf from endangered species rules
By Matthew Brown The Trump administration on Tuesday exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said environmentalists’ lawsuits threatened to hobble domestic energy supplies as the U.S. wages war against Iran. Critics said the move by the government’s Endangered Species Committee could doom a rare whale species and harm other marine life. Nicknamed the “God Squad” by groups who say it can decide a species’ fate, the committee comprises several Trump administration officials and is chaired by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. It met Tuesday for the first time in more than three decades amid global oil shocks and soaring energy prices brought on by the Iran war. The U.S. pumps more oil than any other nation, but...
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‘Be in that moment’: Astronaut Jeremy Hansen’s wife prepares for his lunar mission
By Kelly Geraldine Malone Artemis 2 crew member, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, of Canada, smiles after the crew’s arrival at the Kennedy Space Center Friday, March 27, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara) As Jeremy Hansen prepares to begin a historic mission to the moon aboard the Artemis II, his wife says his family will be trying to take in every single moment. If everything goes as planned, Catherine Hansen will be on the roof of the launch control centre at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Wednesday evening to watch her husband begin a 10-day lunar fly-around. “I’m really trying to encourage everyone — and very, very specifically myself — to be in that moment and to allow whatever emotions may come,” she told The Canadian Press on Tuesday....
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Stopgap measures aren’t enough to halt rising gas prices as the world scrambles for more oil
By Cathy Bussewitz NEW YORK (AP) — Global leaders have been scrambling to contain the rising cost of oil and gasoline since the start of the Iran war, which took a record amount of oil off the market when tankers full of crude were stranded in the Persian Gulf and military strikes damaged refineries, pipelines and export terminals. Hoping to ease some pain for consumers, President Donald Trump and other heads of state have been pulling on various levers, launching more oil on the market in a bid to calm the chaos. A group of 32 nations that are members of the International Energy Agency began releasing the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history: 400 million barrels. Trump is tapping into oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve...
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First Nation establishes ‘Lubicon standard’ for new climate-resilient housing and infrastructure
By Aaron Walker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com A small, remote First Nation in northern Alberta is undertaking a major initiative to build climate-resilient structures in response to the increasing regularity of debilitating smoke from wildfires and the impacts of environmental change. On evenings when new building plans are discussed with members of the Lubicon Lake Cree Nation, the process often begins not with blueprints, but with a shared meal. Residents gather to talk about where a doorway should go, how a kitchen should feel, or how a space can better serve families who live in close relation to the land. Those conversations are helping shape a series of new buildings that are designed to reflect both the realities of a changing climate and the priorities of the people who...
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Ottawa leaving First Nations ill-equipped to fight deadly fires: retired fire chief
By Alessia Passafiume After three house fires ripped through a First Nation in northern Ontario in less than a week, killing a small child, a retired fire chief said First Nations’ firefighting operations in the region are being set up to fail by a lack of federal funding for equipment and training. Monique Belair worked for 39 years for Kingston Fire and Rescue and now works with a group of five northern Ontario First Nations, the Independent First Nations Alliance, to help with fire services and emergency preparedness. She told The Canadian Press the severe lack of funding and proper equipment in the region is making attending fire calls unreasonably dangerous. She said her old colleagues in Kingston never had to cope with the conditions that face First Nations firefighters...
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Dene laws and spiritual stories help in examining human-made climate challenges facing Mother Earth
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Mother Earth is Our Elder: A Northern Indigenous Perspective on the Climate Crisis blends author Katłįa’s perspective as a woman from Dënéndeh with the stories and wisdom of Dene Elders and knowledge carriers from across the Northwest Territories. It’s very much a collective effort, although Katłįa, also known as Catherine Lafferty, did the “heavy lifting” over a three-year period travelling throughout N.W.T. to gather stories. “Copyright is different for (First Nations), right? It’s a collective ownership. And, unfortunately, because of the mainstream publishing industry, the copyright is in my name, but it’s more of a collective,” she said. “This book wouldn’t have been what it is without the generous sharing of the knowledge carriers and Elders.” Mother Earth is Our Elder weaves...
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Carney rolls out new $3.8 billion nature strategy, new conservation areas
By Nick Murray The Liberal government has unveiled a $3.8 billion strategy to protect nature through measures like creating new national parks and marine conservation areas. Prime Minister Mark Carney is making the announcement today just weeks after conservation groups warned that federal funding was running out. Carney says his government is taking an “ambitious” approach to creating new conservation spaces and new urban parks which will require “significant funding.” Carney is announcing the plan at an event in Wakefield, Que., this morning and released a list of planned new conservation areas. Those include the Wiinipaawk Indigenous protected area and national marine conservation area in the Eastern James Bay and the Seal River watershed national park in Manitoba. The federal government committed four years ago to protecting 30 per cent...
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Nearly 1 million Canadians suffer with climate anxiety — how one Caledon artist is subverting it
By Anushka Yadav, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer A few days after Southern Ontario’s skies turned orange and the choking air carried the chemical scent of burnt trees, Caledon resident Andie Trépanier was suddenly terrified by the life-shattering sight of the family house and the entire street on fire. Trépanier tried to fight the devouring blaze but felt “helpless”. As its rampant power destroyed everything in sight, an equally gripping sense of panic spread with the fire, consuming the local artist. Then, Trépanier woke up. Waking from a bad dream, however, did not change the nightmare unfolding outside the bedroom window. Wildfire smoke drifting from northern Ontario and Western Canada blotted out the sun, turning it into a dim, washed out orb set back against an eerie sky that...
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OPP seek public’s help in locating missing federal offender
Lisa Hutchinson TORONTO (ON) – The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are seeking the public’s help in locating a federal offender believed to be in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). The OPP announced on March 31, 2026, the Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (R.O.P.E.) Squad had launched a search for a federal offender wanted on a Canada Wide Warrant after breaching the terms of their Statutory Release. A Statutory Release is a legal requirement that allows certain fixed-sentence federal inmates in Canada to serve the final third of their sentence in the community under supervision after completing the first two-thirds of their sentence. They are expected to report to a Correctional Service of Canada parole officer and follow specific conditions, including travel restrictions. OPP described the offender, Lisa Hutchinson 44...
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Indigenous operators struggle for equal pay, training equity as most First Nations deal with ‘appallingly insufficient water supply’
By George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Macleod Gazette A lack of good water infrastructure persists as a health and welfare threat for Indigenous communities across Canada, as two days underscoring the issue surfaced last week in the Alberta legislature. National Indigenous Water Operator Day was March 21 in Canada, followed by World Water Day on March 22. Both earned a mention from Scott Cyr, the UCP member representing Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul. “As we often say, water is life, and those who protect it deserve our highest respect and support,” Cyr said in a member statement last Wednesday. “While much of their work goes unseen … water operators provide an essential service and the foundation of health and safety in Indigenous communities every single day, and this government will...
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Federal ‘God squad’ poised to exempt oil and gas drilling in the Gulf from endangered species rules
By Matthew Brown A U.S. government panel convened Tuesday for the first time since 1992 to consider exempting oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act due to unspecified national security concerns, a move critics say could doom a rare whale species and harm other marine life. Nicknamed the “God Squad” by groups who say it can decide a species’ fate, the Endangered Species Committee comprises several Trump administration officials and is chaired by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Republican President Donald Trump has made increased fossil fuel production a central focus of his second term. He wants to open new areas of the Gulf off the Florida coast to drilling, and has proposed sweeping rollbacks of environmental regulations disliked by industry. Defense Secretary Pete...
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Iqaluit builds real-life Inuit village as part of Qaggiq 2026
By Arty Sarkisian, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News There were a lot of songs, cheers and mitten-muffled claps over three days of the Qaggiq festival in Iqaluit this past weekend. “I think even the lighter is frozen,” said elder Mary Panipak, who was lighting the qulliq at the start of the festival on Friday. Iqaluit builds real-life Inuit village as part of Qaggiq 2026 (Nunatsiaq News photo) It was -30 C and windy as about two dozen people gathered near the road to Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park at what the organizers called the “Inuit village.” Eventually, someone brought Panipak a working lighter; the qulliq was lit and the events carried on. The free festivities ran from Friday to Sunday, bringing together performers for drum dancing, throat singing, theatre and...
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Alberta proposes election blackout on citizen-led proposals for referendum questions
By Lisa Johnson Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government is proposing major changes to its law governing citizen-led petitions for the third time in less than a year. Justice Minister Mickey Amery introduced Monday a bill that, if passed, would make it impossible to start a petition for a constitutional or policy referendum a year before or a year after a provincial election. Petitions currently completed or underway wouldn’t be affected by the two-year blackout period, and corresponding deadlines for holding a referendum would be repealed. Amery told reporters before introducing the changes that they’re about creating a consistent window for those looking to bring proposals forward. “We want voters to be able to weigh in on election matters during elections without having citizen-led initiatives stand in the way of that,”...
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