‘Can’t imagine Alaska without Canada’: Resolution would affirm Canadian sovereignty
By Fakiha Baig America’s 49th state is showing support for the country that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to make its 51st. Republican Rep. Chuck Kopp of Alaska, which shares a border with the Yukon and is separated from the contiguous U.S. by Canada, says the state doesn’t support the president’s trade war and annexation bid against Canada. He has proposed a joint resolution in the state legislature that would affirm Canada’s sovereignty and recognize the enduring, centuries-old ties between Alaska and Canada. “This resolution, more than anything, is to present a unified voice of restoration and reconciliation among old allies and friends at a time when trade restrictions have jeopardized and challenged that relationship,” Kopp said in testimony this week before the Alaska senate resources committee. “The trust and...
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New CEO on the job at Matawa First Nations Management
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THUNDER BAY – Matawa First Nations Management, an agency serving nine Anishinaabe communities in northern Ontario, has a new chief executive officer. Sharon Nate, an Eabamatoong First Nation member and Lakehead University education alumna, started in her new position Tuesday. She replaces David Paul Achneepineskum, who has opted for semi-retirement after 25 years as CEO. “I’d like to acknowledge David Paul and the legacy that he’s leaving behind here,” Nate said Tuesday in a Zoom interview from her office on Court Street S. “They are certainly big shoes to fill, and I’m looking forward to carrying on what was started and looking forward to starting new beginnings as well.” Nate brings over 20 years of experience in education, leadership, teaching and advocacy for...
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First Nations’ drinking water an issue ‘of utmost importance’
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source OGOKI POST — According to Indigenous Services Canada, 23 First Nations in Ontario are under long-term drinking water advisories. One such community is Marten Falls First Nation, at the junction of the Albany and Ogoki rivers. “Marten Falls has been under a boil water advisory for close to 20 years,” Chief Bruce Achneepineskum said Tuesday in a phone interview. “That’s a long time.” Achneepineskum agrees with the Chiefs of Ontario that clean tap water in First Nations is a highly important issue in the April 28 federal election. The chiefs organization wants the next federal government to revive Bill C-61, clean-water legislation for First Nations that died on the order paper the moment Parliament was prorogued in January. “Ensuring that...
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KDFN marks 20 years since signing of final and self-government agreements
By Talar Stockton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News Chief Sean Uyenets’echᶖa Smith held a copy of Together Today For Our Children Tomorrow as he spoke to an audience assembled at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre on March 29, 2025. The small orange book is the same document Elijah Smith and a delegation of Yukon First Nations leaders presented to Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau in 1973. That document laid out a vision, Smith told the News. “It was a vision based on the dreams and aspirations of First Nation people in the Yukon, but as well as our individual nations, you know, that we came from and how to kind of create those opportunities for their children, for citizens, but their children and their grandchildren and for each and...
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Local fighters set to debut at Rumble in the Cage 69 in Alberta
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. —Northern Combat Club’s Clint Parker is “really excited” for the debut of three of his fighters in a mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. Timber Bigfoot, Aiden Hoffmeyer, and Marc Schaefer will test their skills at Rumble in the Cage 69, slated for April 5th in Lethbridge, Alberta. The regional event in Southern Alberta was founded by MMA competitor Lee Mein back in 2000 and has featured top veterans in the sport – including Mein’s son, Jordan – in fights before they headed to sport’s top promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). All three fighters have extensive experience in Parker’s Northern Combat Invitational (NCI), and Schaefer recently won gold at a grappling competition in Edmonton. “I’m basically bringing down a...
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Unsolved violent crimes in Native American communities to get more attention with FBI surge
By Susan Montoya Bryan ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The FBI is sending extra agents, analysts and other personnel to field offices in 10 states over the next six months to help investigate unsolved violent crimes in Indian Country, marking a continuation of efforts by the federal government to address high rates of violence affecting Native American communities. The U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday that the temporary duty assignments began immediately and will rotate every 90 days in field offices that include Albuquerque, Phoenix, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Portland, Oregon, and Jackson, Mississippi. The FBI will be working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit, tribal authorities and federal prosecutors in each of the states. “Crime rates in American Indian and Alaska Native...
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Dehcho Grand Chief wants Ottawa to speed up land talks
By Claire McFarlane, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio Dehcho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian is calling on the federal government to speed up the Dehcho Process by increasing the frequency and duration of negotiations. Negotiations with Canada are suspended until a new federal government is sworn in and establishes a mandate following this month’s election. The Dehcho First Nations, or DFN, says federal negotiators have indicated that once talks resume, they will continue their previous schedule of meeting for three days every six weeks. “Canada’s policy is slowing talks down to a snail’s pace,” Grand Chief Norwegian was quoted as saying in a press release. “The new government should get serious about finishing an AIP” – agreement in principle – “within a year.” The Dehcho Process is the name given...
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Manitoba chiefs call for search of Winnipeg landfill for Tanya Nepinak
By Brittany Hobson -CP-First Nations leaders in Manitoba say the search of a Winnipeg landfill for the victim of a serial killer must include recovery efforts for another First Nations woman who went missing more than a decade ago. Tanya Nepinak was last seen in Winnipeg in September 2011 and police believe her body was dumped in a garbage bin and taken to the Brady Road landfill. “We need to bring Tanya home,” said Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson in a statement Tuesday. “We need all levels of government and the Winnipeg Police Service to come together to discuss a plan to bring Tanya Nepinak home.” Police searched a small portion of the landfill for Nepinak in 2012 but were unsuccessful in recovering her remains and called...
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Gitanyow chiefs tell B.C. court LNG project threatens salmon rights
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer A proposed northern British Columbia liquified natural gas project threatens vital salmon habitat, and Gitanyow cultural practices and economic opportunities, the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs argued recently in court. In a February hearing, following a petition filed in October, they told a B.C. Supreme Court Justice that the provincial government’s decision to exclude Gitanyow from consultations on the building of the LNG project violates their rights. The chiefs are seeking to overturn a decision by the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office that didn’t include the Gitanyow in discussions about the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG project which would see a terminal built at the mouth of the Nass River. This is critical salmon habitat for Chinook salmon, a species already at risk. An...
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Investors swap suits for boots in land restoration success
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer A group of investors traded their suits for boots to survey an area in southern Ontario where they listened closely to Indigenous communities and researchers about ways to repair the land. They were gathered in Ontario’s Carolinian Zone, a highly populated stretch of land between Toronto and Windsor, where the ecosystem has been seriously damaged by high levels of development. The money-holders were interested in setting up a so-called “conservation impact bond” in partnership with Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, whose members would be paid to repair the habitat. Beneficiaries of the improved lands — which could include local governments or insurance companies — would repay investors and ensure a fair profit. As a crucial first step, Diane-Laure Arjalies,...
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Costs will decide if Six Nations rebuilds or repairs its former health centre shut down by mold
Six Nations Gane’ Yohs Health Centre remains closed after mold infestation a year ago (Photos by Jim C. Powless) By Lynda Powless Editor OHSWEKEN, ON –Whether Six Nations gets a newly rebuilt federally funded health centre will depend on costs to either rebuild or remediate the former Gane’ Yohs Health Centre shut down last April when mold was found in the building. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) communications coordinator Caitlin Court sent out an update Monday March 31, that said SNEC has directors and an executive team working with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) representatives to address the mold found at Gane’ Yohs Health Centre a year ago. The community notice, sent out by the communication’s coordinator, said Six Nations of the Grand River (SNGR) wanted to remind the community not all...
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Manitoba chiefs call for search of Winnipeg’s Brady Road landfill for Tanya Nepinak
By Brittany Hobson The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says a potential search of a Winnipeg landfill for the victim of a serial killer must include recovery efforts for another First Nations woman who went missing more than a decade ago. Tanya Nepinak was last seen in Winnipeg in September 2011. Police believe her body was dumped in a garbage bin and taken to the city-run Brady Road landfill. Officers searched a small portion of the landfill for Nepinak in 2012 but were unsuccessful in recovering her remains and called off the search after a week. The Manitoba government has committed to searching Brady Road for the remains of Ashlee Shingoose, one of the four First Nations women Jeremy Skibicki has been convicted of killing. Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief...
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Former Sheshatshiu drug dealer says employment, resources needed to help those struggling
By Heidi Atter, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Mental health workers are clearing land for a traditional Innu camp as a safe place for people to detox from the effects of alcohol and drugs as parents and leaders from Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation continue fighting the drug crisis ravaging their community. Amid the preparations, a woman who once sold drugs in the community says more employment resources and attainable training are needed to help people stop dealing and turn to meaningful work instead. On March 24 a group of community members held a meeting where about 60 Innu, including members of the local band council and the Innu Nation, discussed what organizers are calling a crisis. The following day the group met with RCMP representatives, then went door-to-door to speak with...
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Sault Ste. Marie-Algoma PPC candidate says party most aligned with Trump
By Margaret Kirk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Sault Star Harry Jaaskelainen has launched his campaign for the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) in the newly formed Sault Ste. Marie-Algoma riding. Jaaskelainen previously ran in the former Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing riding, where he said PPC support tripled between the 2019 and 2021 elections. This year, he hopes to double their share of the vote, which stood at five per cent in the last election. Originally, Arnold Heino was expected to run for the PPC, as he did in the recent provincial election, but withdrew for personal reasons. “I was in the wings waiting if I was needed,” said Jaaskelainen. The PPC was founded by Maxime Bernier, a former member of the Conservative Party. Jaaskelainen said the Conservative Party is no longer conservative, in...
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Nunavik Police Service aims to relaunch cadet program
By Cedric Gallant, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavik Police Service is reviving its cadet program with hopes to increase its Inuit staff. The program will recruit 18-year-old Inuit to accompany officers in activities such as prevention work, bike rallies and school presentations, said Nunavik Police Service Chief Jean-Pierre Larose in a French interview from his Kuujjuaq office. After a summer or two as a cadet, they can decide if they would like to enter the Royal Canadian Mounted Police program that Nunavik police have been using to recruit other officers. The six-month program, offered in Regina, trains a police officer from scratch. After graduating, they can be hired to enter Nunavik’s police service. “I must admit, there is a lot of work to do,” Larose said of his team’s need...
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Aukkauti, a Nunavik story made whole again
By Cedric Gallant, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Aukkauti holds his friend’s dead son in his arms and looks out into the packed crowd in Satuumivik gymnasium, with elders sitting in the front row. He’s the lead character in the namesake play Aukkauti, an adaptation of a story told across multiple generations in Nunavik. Aukkauti premièred Thursday at the Puvirnituq Snow Festival, a production of Aaqsiiq Inuit Theatre. “What was important for me was to show the authenticity of the events,” the play’s author Lisa Koperqualuk said in an interview. She has been working on bringing Aukkauti’s story to life for the past seven years. The story is a tragic one, and it’s true. Aukkauti made the fatal mistake in 1899 of shooting his friend’s son, which led to...
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Entering ‘exciting professional development’
By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Jason Rasevych is changing the narrative for First Nations. Well known as a negotiator, business advisor, Indigenous business ambassador and entrepreneur, Rasevych has now become a top scholar. President and founder of the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA), Rasevych is one of 52 Canadians who have been accepted into the competitive seventh cohort of the Harvard Business School executive education certificate program. The Leading People and Investing to Build Sustainable Communities program was delivered in partnership with the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada at Harvard University in Boston, Mass., last week. Rasevych said he is “grateful and humbled” to be selected as one of the Indigenous leaders for the Harvard program, which he called “prestigious.” He said the timing of it is...
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CIBC and Indigenous-led Longhouse Capital Partners form strategic relationship
-CP-CIBC Global Asset Management says it has entered into a strategic relationship with Indigenous-owned and led asset management firm Longhouse Capital Partners Inc. The bank says the relationship will give its institutional clients opportunities to expand access to private markets through investments in Indigenous-managed alternative investment options such as private infrastructure debt. It says Longhouse focuses on private infrastructure debt so Indigenous communities can invest in assets like transmission lines, renewable energy, and transportation projects. Paul Cugno, chief operating officer of Longhouse, says the relationship with CIBC will help its efforts to provide both long-term stable financial returns and economic self-determination for Indigenous communities. The deal comes as a range of efforts are underway to increase Indigenous infrastructure ownership, including a federal loan guarantee program. It also comes as banks...
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Ginoogaming still in state of emergency despite temporary bridge
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source GINOOGAMING — Ginoogaming First Nation has a functioning temporary bridge to Longlac, but the First Nation’s leadership says the community will remain in a state of emergency until they once again have a permanent crossing. Ginoogaming closed the decades-old bridge between the First Nation and Longlac and declared a state of emergency in early November after engineers determined the span was at risk of immediate failure. The temporary bridge, made necessary by the deterioration of an old span across the Making Ground River Bridge, opened to traffic last Nov. 30. The federal government promised to form a working group with Ontario focused on bridge repair and maintenance. But, according to Ginoogaming Chief Sheri Taylor, that promise has gone largely unfulfilled....
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FRAUD TEXT SCAM ALERT: The OPP WARNS ONTARIANS ARE BEING TARGETED IN “SMISHING” FRAUD
OTTAWA, ON- Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)are warning the public to any text based appearing to come from financial institutionsm retailers and others afte cybercriminals began “ramping up text-based scams” in a move to steal personal and banking information. The tactic, OPP say is known as “smishing”, a combination of “SMS” (short message service) and phishing. The tactic relies on “deceptive text messages to trick recipients into clicking malicious links or calling fraudulent numbers”. OPP said the smishing messages often appear to come from financial institutions, courier companies, online retailers or government agencies. Clicking on the links can lead to identity theft, financial fraud or malware being installed on your device. Examples of smishing attempts are available in the additional content section to help Ontarians recognize these scams. In 2024, the...
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