Brantford urges precaution during Heat Warning, Cooling Facilities in place
BRANTFORD, ON – The public is urged to take precautions as the Medical Officer of Health for Grand Erie Public Health has issued a heat warning, effective July 23, 2025. A heat warning is issued when Environment and Climate Change Canada forecasts two consecutive days with a maximum daily temperature of 31 degrees Celsius or higher during the day and a minimum temperature of 20 degrees Celsius or higher during the evening, or a humidex of 40 degrees Celsius or higher. Cooling facilities Brantford Public Libraries, 173 Colborne Street and 441 St. Paul Avenue. Visit brantfordlibrary.ca for hours of operation. Lynden Park Mall, 84 Lynden Road. Visit lyndenparkmall.com for hours of operation. Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre, 254 North Park Street. Visit waynegretzkysportscentre.ca for programming and schedules. Admission rates apply. Woodman...
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Heat Warning for Brantford, Brant and Haldimand Norfolk
The Medical Officer of Health for Grand Erie Public Health is issuing a heat alert for the Grand Erie Public Health region (Brantford-Brant and Haldimand-Norfolk), effective July 24, 2025. A Heat Warning is issued when the daytime temperatures are expected to reach at least 31 degrees Celsius with overnight temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius, or when the humidex is expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius. The warning will remain in effect until a cancellation notice is issued. While everyone is at risk from extreme heat, older adults, infants and young children, people with chronic illnesses, those working outdoors, and those without adequate housing or air conditioning are at greater risk of heat related illnesses. Symptoms of heat stroke and other heat related illnesses include: Dizziness or fainting Nausea or vomiting Headache Rapid breathing and heartbeat Extreme thirst...
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Muscogee Nation court rules descendants of enslaved people are entitled to citizenship
By Graham Lee Brewer The Muscogee Nation Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that two descendants of people once enslaved by the tribe are entitled to tribal citizenship. The court found that the tribal nation’s citizenship board violated an 1866 treaty when it denied the applications of Rhonda Grayson and Jeffrey Kennedy in 2019 because they could not identify a lineal descendant of the tribe. “Are we, as a Nation, bound to treaty promises made so many years ago? Today, we answer in the affirmative, because this is what Mvskoke law demands,” the court wrote in its opinion. The Muscogee Nation is one of five tribes in Oklahoma that once practiced slavery, and in that 1866 treaty with the U.S. government, the tribe both abolished it and granted citizenship to the formerly...
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Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park will remain closed for season
By David Briggs, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, BayToday.ca It’s official, Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park will remain closed for the 2025 season. Ontario Parks made the announcement today, noting the severe storm on June 21, 2025, resulted in extensive damage from the falling trees and conditions remain hazardous. Ontario Parks noted in a release, “Because of the magnitude of damage, Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park will remain closed for the 2025 season.” The storm on June 21 fell many trees within the park, trapping campers and destroying trailers, tens, and vehicles. Multiple people were injured, but there were no fatalities. The damage was not contained within Samuel de Champlain Park. Nearby Kiosk Campground in Algonquin Park was also hit, and Calvin and Bonfield Townships declared states of emergency as the...
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Cabinet minister who criticized interpreter says she is focused on doing better
By Steve Lambert A Manitoba cabinet minister who criticized a sign language interpreter, and who has since apologized repeatedly, revealed more details Wednesday of the NDP government’s promise to improve services for people with disabilities. Nahanni Fontaine, the minister responsible for services for people with disabilities, said she has learned from her mistake. “When I have these missteps or these mistakes or these moments, I always try to find the teaching and the lessons in it, and then how to move forward in a better way — how to do better,” Fontaine told reporters. Fontaine faced criticism for remarks she made last month while hosting a celebration for Indigenous women graduates. While preparing to speak to reporters after, Fontaine told one of her staff that she was thrown off by...
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Coastal First Nations call on Carney to uphold oil tanker ban
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer Indigenous leaders on British Columbia’s north coast are calling on the federal government to hold out against pressure from Alberta and industry to reverse the west coast oil export ban. On Tuesday, the Coastal First Nations, a group of nine First Nations along the north and central coast of BC and Haida Gwaii, wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney. The group urged the government to uphold Bill C-48, known as the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act. Since 2019, this law has prohibited tankers carrying over 12,500 metric tons of crude oil and other oil products from stopping or transferring cargo at any port between the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the Alaska border, which includes Haida Gwaii,...
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Songhees Nation says non-band members refusing to leave mobile home park on reserve despited court order
By Darryl Greer The Chief of the Songhees Nation on Vancouver Island says a group of mobile home park residents on the Nation’s reserve are continuing to resist being evicted after losing a court challenge, while the Nation’s members live in “unsafe housing, unable to access their own lands.” Chief Ron Sam says most the Nation’s members can’t live on the reserve due to lack of housing, and the Songhees Nation’s government gave residents of the mobile home park three years notice to relocate “to make way for urgently needed community housing.” The Chief says some residents challenged the eviction in court, and lost the case last month. The court ruling posted Tuesday says residents of E. George Estates Manufactured Home Park have lived there for decades, believing they’d have...
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Prime Minister Mark Carney visiting his birthplace in Northwest Territorie
By Canadian Press staff Prime Minister Mark Carney is back in the town where he was born as he travels across the Northwest Territories. Carney spent his early childhood in Fort Smith, south of Yellowknife along the Alberta boundary, before he moved with his family to Edmonton. On Wednesday he visited the town’s community centre, spoke with children attending a local summer camp and discussed affordability and employment with their parents. Carney also met with Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson and is set to discuss wildfires with community leaders before heading to Inuvik in the territory’s northwest corner. The prime minister is set to co-host the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee on Thursday with Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, a national organization representing Inuit. It will be Carney’s second meeting...
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Land claim case over Anicinabe Park will continue, court rules
By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com KENORA — Three First Nations in the Kenora area will get to present evidence they say proves that they are the rightful owners of Anicinabe Park. Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation, Wauzhushk Onigum and Obashkaandagaang — or Washagamis Bay — have filed a joint land claim against the City of Kenora and the federal government, arguing the property, which is currently owned and operated by the city, was wrongfully sold to the municipality by the federal government in 1959. The defendants attempted to get the case dismissed, arguing the limitation period in which to file it had expired. But in a July 14 ruling, Justice Robin Lepere said it was not “plain and obvious” that the conditions necessary to bar the claim from proceeding...
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Yellowknife’s Giant Mine: Canada downplayed arsenic exposure as an Indigenous community was poisoned
By Arn Keeling and John Sandlos Decades of gold mining at Giant Mine in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, has left a toxic legacy: 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide dust stored in underground chambers. As a multi-billion government remediation effort to clean up the mine site and secure the underground arsenic ramps up, the Canadian government is promising to deal with the mine’s disastrous consequences for local Indigenous communities. In March, the minister for Crown-Indigenous relations appointed a ministerial special representative, Murray Rankin, to investigate how historic mining affected the treaty rights of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. We document this history in our forthcoming book, The Price of Gold: Mining, Pollution, and Resistance in Yellowknife, exposing how colonialism, corporate greed and lax regulation led to widespread air and water pollution, particularly...
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Premiers call for improved relationship with China during trade war with the U.S.
Canada’s premiers have called on the federal government to improve the country’s relationship with China in the face of the ongoing trade war with the U.S. With tariffs and constant economic threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Ontario Premier Doug Ford say the country will need to deal more with China. The premiers have gathered in Huntsville, Ont., for the third and final day of the Council of the Federation meeting. “If we’re truly going to move and expand our reliance away from the United States in any way, shape, or form — and I would suggest the only way to do it is on additional products produced, not existing — we’re going to have to deal with China, and so we’re going to need...
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Ontario First Nations say they’ll resurrect ‘Idle No More’ movement over twin ‘C’ bills
By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor ONTARIO—Nine First Nations in Ontario have filed a joint legal application in Ontario’s Superior Court seeking to strike down two recently passed laws—one federal and one provincial—that they say violate their constitutional rights and threaten the environment. The nations—Alderville, Apitipi Anicinapek, Aroland, Attawapiskat, Fort Albany, Ginoogaming, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, Oneida Nation of the Thames and Wabauskang—announced their case at a press conference at Queen’s Park on Wednesday. The legal challenge targets Bill C-5, also known as The One Economy Act, and Bill 5, Ontario’s Special Economic Zones Act. Both laws were passed earlier this year and aim to accelerate the approval of major infrastructure and resource development projects deemed to be in the national or provincial interest. The First Nations...
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Grand Chief Linda Debassige demands Ontario environment minister resign
By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor ONTARIO—The Anishinabek Nation has issued a firm and sorrowful song to the halls of power: water is life, and this sacred truth must no longer be subject to the push and pull of partisan tides. In a searing statement, Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige condemned Ontario and Alberta for attempting to block Bill C-61, a federal act that would safeguard source water, drinking water, wastewater, and related infrastructure on First Nation lands. “We are shocked,” the Grand Council Chief wrote. “Water is life and we will always defend our First Nation rights while ensuring that legislation aligns with the principles of reconciliation, sovereignty, and respect for our Anishinabek communities.” The bill, carved over years of dialogue and co-drafted in...
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Six Nations features in new docuseries looking at birth through an Indigenous lens
By Celeste Percy-Beauregard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator A new docuseries about reclaiming Indigenous traditions around birth could serve as a useful tool for health-care workers and people who are expecting — whether they’re Indigenous or not, says filmmaker Rebeka Tabobondung. “We binge-watched it,” Katsitsionhawi Hill said of the eight-part “Spirit of Birth” docuseries, out now on APTN’s Lumi app. Although Hill and her partner, Joe Doolittle, were featured in the series, they were curious to see “what other people are doing, too, and what we wanted to do differently for this baby,” she told The Spectator. The docuseries was inspired by Tabobondung’s own experience giving birth nearly 20 years ago. As she spent time in Wasauksing First Nation (between Barrie and Sudbury) connecting with family, she told...
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The case for North American Indigenous free trade
Support for a North American Indigenous trade coalition would leverage the continent-wide potential of Indigenous trading networks. It’s a win-win-win. by David Carrière-Acco Policy Options Canada should be looking for ways to strengthen Indigenous trading networks as it responds to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and considers how to stabilize the economy. Indigenous nations have been trading amongst themselves since time immemorial, moving goods, services and ideas across North and South America. Long before the Europeans arrived, fish from the Pacific were traded for metals from the Canadian Shield. However, these extensive trade relationships have been disrupted through colonialism and, more notably, by the Indian Act. Most Indigenous communities, businesses, and entrepreneurs would like the Canadian government to re-establish inter-tribal trade relations across Turtle Island, i.e. North America. Doing this will...
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NYS Senate Native American relations committee joins calls for Haudenosaunee Olympic inclusion
By Ryan Zunner Buffalo Toronto Public Media Republican members of the New York State Senate’s Subcommittee on State-Native American Relations are joining calls from other state and federal officials in support of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s inclusion in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The confederacy is made up of six nations — Oneida, Onondaga, Mohawk, Tuscarora, Seneca and Cayuga. Lacrosse will take to the Olympic field for the first time since the 1908 games. The sport is a traditional and spiritual game for the Haudenosaunee that stretches back centuries. “It’s only fitting Native American tribes are properly represented as an independent, sovereign nation as the sport returns to the Olympics for the first time in more than 100 years,” said State Senator Rob Ortt, who co-authored the letter to the...
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Premiers call for improved relationship with China during trade war with the U.S.
By Liam Casey Canada’s premiers are calling on the federal government to improve the country’s relationship with China, make changes to the bail system and spend more money on health care. They are meeting for the third and final day of their gathering in Huntsville, Ont. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Ontario Premier Doug Ford say the country will need to deal more with China given the challenges of the ongoing trade war with the United States. The premiers say in a statement they’d like the federal government to prioritize work toward the removal of Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola, peas, pork and seafood. The premiers met with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday to discuss the trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump after meeting with First Nation leaders...
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Six Nations Police seeking help in identifying four people after a smoke-bomb ignited inside a local business
Two of four suspects Six Nations Police are seeking after a smoke bomb was ignited inside a local business (SNP Photo) OHSWEKEN, ON – Six Nations Police are seeking the public’s help after a smoke-bomb type firework was ignited inside a local business causing damage to the business. Police are looking for, four individuals, believed responsible for damaging a Chiefswood Road business Saturday, July 19th, 2025 at about 11:58 a.m. Six Nations Police attended the area business to find that a smoke-bomb type firework that emits flame and smoke was ignited in the establishment.The device caused minor damages to the interior of the building as a result of the smoke residue and burning. Police said “fortunately, no additional fires were ignited in the area.” The four suspects ignited...
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Six Nations Haudenosaunee celebrate the 98th annual Jay Treaty Border Crossing
Six Nations Haudenosaunee celebrated the 98th annual Jay Treaty Border Crossing Saturday July 19th marching across the Rainbow Bridge from Niagara Falls NY to Niagara Falls Ontario marking Indigenous rights to cross freely into the two countries. (Supplied Photo)...
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‘No level playing field’: NAN leader says he can’t accept Bill C-5
By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com OTTAWA — After meeting with senior federal ministers and listening to Canada’s Prime Minister, the leader of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation says he can’t accept the Building Canada Act as-is. NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler was one of many Indigenous leaders from across Canada that attended a summit in Gatineau on July 17 with Prime Minister Mark Carney and other senior ministers. The large-scale meeting was organized over widespread opposition by First Nations to the Building Canada Act — a piece of legislation which is part of the broader Bill C-5 — that aims to fast-track projects deemed to be in the “national interest,” particularly those around energy security, natural resource development and the economy. “We heard words like ‘duty to consult’...
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