No home for new books in Kahnawake
By Miriam Lafontaine Local Journalism Initiative Well over 1,000 books were recently donated to the Kahnawake library. Unfortunately for community members, those 78 boxes of books remain locked up at the old water filtration plant across from the hospital, as the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) has yet to open a temporary location to re-open the essential service missing since the summer. The generous donation of books came out of an Orange Shirt Day initiative organized by Canada’s Privy Council Office (PCO) in late September. The week-long book drive in Ottawa came together thanks to Todd Kuiack, the Indigenous champion there. “I thought perhaps we could get one book for every employee that works here at the Privy Council Office, and we certainly exceeded that,” Kuiack said. Both he and...
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Northern Ontario First Nation says yes in referendum on possible nuclear waste site
The Canadian Press-A northern Ontario First Nation has decided it is willing to continue with the process to potentially become host to a deep geological repository for Canada’s nuclear waste. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization plans to select a site this year where millions of bundles of used nuclear fuel will be placed in a network of underground rooms connected by cavernous tunnels. The process for the $26-billion project has already been narrowed down to two far-apart sites, and the organization has said it would require approval from both the municipality and the local First Nation. The town council of Ignace, between Thunder Bay and Kenora, voted in favour earlier this year, and its counterpart Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation has now also voted yes. The First Nation says in a...
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Quebec party supports member who accused fellow politicians of denigrating minorities
The Canadian Press-A Quebec political party has voted to support one of its members facing backlash for saying that racialized people are regularly disparaged at the provincial legislature. Québec solidaire members adopted an emergency resolution at the party’s convention late Sunday condemning the hate directed at Haroun Bouazzi, without endorsing his comments. Bouazzi, who represents a Montreal riding, had told a community group that he hears comments every day at the legislature that portray North African, Muslim, Black or Indigenous people as the “other,” and that paint their cultures are dangerous or inferior. Other political parties have said Bouazzi’s remarks labelled elected officials as racists, and the co-leaders of his own party had rebuked him for his “clumsy and exaggerated” comments. Bouazzi, who has said he never intended to describe...
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Immigration pilot targets rural municipalities
An immigration pilot program designed to bring labour to rural areas has been announced in a partnership between the Province of Manitoba and several Westman municipalities. The province on Friday announced a three-year pilot called the West-Central Immigration Initiative, in which the province will partner with seven rural municipalities and Gambler First Nation to address labour market needs and stimulate economic growth, the province said. “By working together, we’re responding to the local needs for skilled workers in rural Manitoba and ensuring Manitoba continues to be a welcoming province,” said Labour and Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino. The estimate is that between 240 to 300 people will be needed to meet labour needs in the next three years. This is according to a survey of 85 employers in the region and...
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Nova Scotia senator wants to help Nunavut as Senate vacancy lingers
By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Nunatsiaq News While Nunavut’s sole Senate seat remains vacant, a Nova Scotia senator hopes to help Nunavummiut in the upper chamber on issues such as infrastructure and national defence. Sen. PJ Prosper was in Iqaluit last week for meetings with local and territorial government officials and Inuit organizations. A lawyer, he was appointed to the Senate in 2023 following a lengthy career in Mi’kmaq leadership and governance. “For Mi’kmaq people, we have a word — L’nu — which is inclusive of, certainly, Mi’kmaq people. But all Indigenous people, we consider to be L’nu,” Prosper said in an interview. “I want my work in the Senate to help all L’nu people.” Prosper’s tenure overlapped with the final months of former Nunavut senator Dennis Patterson,...
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‘The Energizer Bunny’: Chief Terry Paul celebrates 40 years as Chief
By Meghan Dewar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Cape Breton Post MEMBERTOU FIRST NATION-Chief Terry Paul is one of Canada’s longest-serving consecutive politicians and believed to be the longest consecutively elected chief. Chief Paul started his career with Boston Indian Council before returning home to Membertou where he joined the Membertou Band Council as the Economic Development Officer and then Band Manager. He was elected as Chief in 1984 and took on the additional role of C.E.O. in 2012. Chief Terry Paul has a long list of accomplishments under his belt. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2017, he has tripled the land base for the Membertou reserve and increased employment rate to approximately 80% in the community. He has also increased community’s graduation rate from 30% to...
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New Zealand’s founding treaty is at a flashpoint. Why are thousands protesting for Māori rights?
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A proposed law that would redefine New Zealand’s founding treaty between the British Crown and Māori chiefs has triggered political turmoil and a march by thousands of people the length of the country to Parliament to protest it. The bill is never expected to become law. But it has become a flashpoint on race relations and a critical moment in the fraught 180-year-old conversation about how New Zealand should honor its promises to Indigenous people when the country was colonized -– and what those promises are. Tens of thousands are expected to throng the capital, Wellington, for the final stretch of the weeklong protest march on Tuesday. It follows a Māori tradition of hīkoi, or walking, to bring attention to breaches of the 1840 Treaty...
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Judge releases private land owners from Aboriginal title fight
By John Chilibeck Local Journalism Initiative In what’s being described as a landmark decision, a judge has ordered that several big industrial defendants and everyday private property owners must be removed from a lawsuit launched by the Wolastoqey Nation. But there’s a big catch. If the Aboriginal title claim is proven in court, Indigenous leaders could still demand reparations for the taking and transfer of their land by the Crown – or today’s provincial and federal governments – more than 200 years ago. “We are thrilled by this decision and so happy the court put an end to the attacks on our claim,” said Chief Allan Polchies of Sitansisk, or St. Mary’s First Nation, in a release on Friday. “We applaud the Honourable Justice Gregory for her courageous and well...
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New Indigenous-owned mining royalty company a first in Canada
The Canadian Press-In June of this year, a new company called Nations Royalty Corp. began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange. With minimum fanfare, the new company quietly hit a milestone on the road to Indigenous economic reconciliation in this country, becoming the only mining royalty company in the world that is majority-owned by Indigenous people. Backed by billionaire Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra, Nations Royalty aims to lure investors with the promise of exposure to Indigenous-owned royalties, which company executives say is the last untapped pool in Canada. But for the Nisga’a Nation — the self-governing B.C.-based First Nation that owns 77 per cent of the company — Nations Royalty is also a key part of the path to economic independence. “One of the goals of our Nation is...
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Salmon return to lay eggs in historic habitat after largest dam removal project in US history
The Associated Press-A giant female Chinook salmon flips on her side in the shallow water and wriggles wildly, using her tail to carve out a nest in the riverbed as her body glistens in the sunlight. In another moment, males butt into each other as they jockey for a good position to fertilize eggs. These are scenes local tribes have dreamed of seeing for decades as they fought to bring down four hydroelectric dams blocking passage for struggling salmon along more than 400 miles (644 kilometers) of the Klamath River and its tributaries along the Oregon-California border. Now, less than a month after those dams came down in the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, salmon are once more returning to spawn in cool creeks that have been cut...
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Power station plans colliding with First Nation’s concerns
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative reporter A proposed multimillion-dollar upgrade to Ontario Power Generation’s Kakabeka Falls generating station is being planned without Fort William First Nation’s input, recalling an outdated and painful era that left Indigenous people being “bulldozed,” the community warned on Friday. “The existing hydroelectric facility was originally developed over 120 years ago without consultation with the Nation, and resulted in flooding, changes to waterways, and irreparable damages to Fort William First Nation’s cultural heritage and ways of life,” the community said in a news release. Work on the 118-year-old station is anticipated to begin next year. The project is expected to take two years, bumping up the power station’s output by 13 per cent to 27 megawatts. Once the upgrade is complete, the station — which is...
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Decision on hold regarding stance on nuclear waste transport
Oliver Paipoonge Mayor Lucy Kloosterhuis says her council will hold off mulling a potential resolution opposing the transportation of spent nuclear-fuel rods through their municipality “until after we hear both sides of the story.” Kloosterhuis said council heard at Tuesday’s meeting from environmental-group reps who oppose the transportation of the rods, but made no decision on a resolution. She said the municipality expects to hear from the project’s proponent, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), but no date for that presentation has been set. There are only two more council meetings before the annual Christmas break, Kloosterhuis noted. Under the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s plan, fuel rods would be transported by truck or rail to a proposed underground storage facility either west of Ignace, or to another candidate location in...
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String of three murders in Nova Scotia raises alarm about intimate partner violence
Canadian Press-Groups working to help victims of domestic violence in Nova Scotia say a recent string of murders of women provides just a glimpse of the extent of intimate partner violence in the province, and they say more action is needed to protect victims. Miia Suokonautio, executive director of the YWCA Halifax, says that while the three killings in the past month have shocked the public, gender-based violence is much more prevalent than what is reported publicly. “Whether it’s zero (deaths reported) or one or two or three, we know based on our experience that gender-based violence is happening all the time,” Suokonautio said. Since Oct. 18, three murder-suicides involving couples have been reported by police in Nova Scotia, and in each case a man killed his female partner before...
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In the polar bear capital of the world, a community lives with the predator next door and loves it
CHURCHILL, Manitoba (AP) — Sgt. Ian Van Nest rolls slowly through the streets of Churchill, his truck outfitted with a rifle and a barred back seat to hold anyone he has to arrest. His eyes dart back and forth, then settle on a crowd of people standing outside a van. He scans the area for safety and then quietly addresses the group’s leader, unsure of the man’s weapons. “How are you today?” Van Nest asks. The leader responds with a wary, “We OK for you here?” “You’re good. You got a lot of distance there. When you have people disembarking from the vehicle you should have a bear monitor,” Van Nest, a conservation officer for the province of Manitoba, cautions as the tourists gaze at a polar bear on the...
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Spirit School founder among business award finalists
By Bhagyashree Chatterjee Local Journalism Initiative When Danielle Searancke first arrived in Squamish 22 years ago, it wasn’t spirituality that brought her—it was race cars. Originally from York Factory First Nation in Manitoba, Searancke had a career in motorsports, a far cry from the spiritual work that now defines her life. “My background in First Nations healthcare and motorsports wasn’t spiritual at all.” It wasn’t until after the birth of her firstborn child in 2013 that reading with a local medium changed her path. “She told me I could do this work, though I didn’t believe it at first,” she said. “I joined a class in Surrey and trained under that medium for years. I loved the process of spiritual development. It requires deep self-reflection and learning the language of...
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California will rename places to remove racist term for a Native American woman
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A racist term for a Native American woman will be removed from nearly three dozen geographic features and place names on California lands, the state Natural Resources Agency announced Friday. California Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022 signed a bill into law that bans use of the word “squaw” in future place names and ordered the agency rename all places that used the slur, including on streets, bridges, public buildings and cemeteries, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. New names have been selected in consultation with California’s Native American tribes for over 30 locations in 15 counties. The California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names will work to implement approved replacement names by Jan. 1. One example is in the city of West Sacramento, where local officials worked...
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Blueberry River First Nation Elder calls for governance reform
By Ed Hitchins Local Journalism Initiative FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Members of Blueberry River First Nation (BRFN)’s elders council have announced the removal of councillor Shelley Gauthier during a press conference in Fort St. John on Friday afternoon. Under band custom, Gauthier represented the family of Edward Apsassin, and family members did not agree that their best interests were being represented. Family members expressed serious concerns, including an overall lack of transparency and undermining the family’s trust. BRFN Elder Clarence Apsassin expressed his concern about the First Nation’s governing structure at a conference room in the Holiday Inn Express off Alaska Highway. According to Apsassin, the decision to remove has been posted in BRFN offices for at least two weeks, and the motion to remove Gauthier will be presented...
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Iqaluit man imprisoned 12 years following sexual assault of a minor convictions
By Kira Wronska Dorward Local Journalism Initiative Editor’s note: This story contains details that some readers may find disturbing. The Nunavut Court of Justice has handed down a 12-year sentence in a sexual abuse case involving a minor. Robert Sheaves will serve 4,308 days in prison after his 48 days in custody was accounted for, justice Paul Bychok decided in Iqaluit on Nov. 12. “Old habits, they say, die hard,” wrote Bychok in the opening of his sentencing judgment. “So too, evidently, do old habits of thought. In 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada… issued a landmark unanimous decision directing courts to modernize its approach to sentencing offenders who sexually abuse children. Despite the Supreme Court’s declared ‘determination’ to see jail sentences increase in appropriate cases for these heinous crimes,...
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City supports budget increase for physician recruitment
By Kimberly De Jong Local Journalism Initiative Reorter City of Brantford Council received the Community Physician Recruitment Program 2024 and 2025 Action Plan during its Committee of the Whole, Planning and Administration meeting on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. At the recommendation of the Community Health Care Task Force, the Physician Recruitment Committee, which was first created in 2001 after the catchment area known as “Brant,” which includes Brantford, County of Brant and Six Nations of the Grand River, was designated as an “underserviced area” by the provincial government. Since 2002, the City of Brantford has supported Community Physician Recruitment with an annual financial allocation and each year, an agreement is executed between the parties outlining the amount of funding and its intended purpose. The Physician Recruitment Committee has received an...
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More logging is proposed to help curb wildfires in the US Pacific Northwest
The Associated Press-U.S. officials would allow increased logging on federal lands across the Pacific Northwest in the name of fighting wildfires and boosting rural economies under proposed changes to a sweeping forest management plan that’s been in place for three decades. The U.S. Forest Service proposal, released Friday, would overhaul the Northwest Forest Plan that governs about 38,000 square miles (99,000 square kilometers) in Oregon, Washington and California. The plan was adopted in 1994 under President Bill Clinton amid pressure to curb destructive logging practices that resulted in widespread clearcuts and destroyed habitat used by spotted owls. Timber harvests dropped dramatically in subsequent years, spurring political backlash. But federal officials now say worsening wildfires due to climate change mean forests must be more actively managed to increase their resiliency. Increased...
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