Local Indigenous veterans share their experiences
By Alexandra Noad, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lethbridge Herald Indigenous people have always fought to protect their land, but Indigenous Soldiers returning home after serving in the First and Second World had their status taken away and were not given the same recognition their white peers did. Because Indigenous veterans were often overlooked, in 1994 in Winnipeg Manitoba, the first Indigenous Remembrance Day was recognized on Nov. 8 to honour their service, resilience and leadership, while also recognizing the unique challenges they face during and after military service. On Wednesday, Kendrick Fox (Naatoiipiksi-Holy Hitter) and Tricia Willows (Niiookskasokaatsiim-Three Holy Roots), who are both Blackfoot veterans attending the University of Lethbridge, had the opportunity to share their experiences and were honoured with blankets and an honour song. Fox chose to pursue...
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Former detention centre transformed into Indigenous-led cultural hub
By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com KIRKLAND LAKE – A former youth detention centre in Kirkland Lake has found new life as an Indigenous-led training and cultural space. North Eastern Ontario Family and Children’s Services (NEOFACS) has transferred ownership of its property at 175 Government Road — the former Pineger Youth Centre — to Keepers of the Circle, marking what both organizations describe as a meaningful act of reconciliation. “This is NEOFACS putting action into reconciliation,” Bertha Cormier, Keepers of the Circle’s executive director, told TimminsToday. The transfer follows several years of collaboration between the two organizations and approval from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. The Pineger site, which operated from 1993 until its closure in 2021 following a provincial restructuring of youth justice services, had...
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Pathways to humanitarian permanent residency tighten as Ottawa focuses on economy
By David Baxter The federal government is cutting the number of spots available in its refugee humanitarian and permanent residency streams for next year. The updated immigration levels plan released this week shows 49,000 spaces for refugees seeking permanent residency in 2026, down from about 58,000 this year. The Canadian Council for Refugees points out the federal budget also contains a one-time initiative to grant permanent residency to an additional 115,000 protected individuals who are already in Canada. Gauri Sreenivasan, Canadian Council for Refugees co-executive director, said her group sees the new levels plan offering a “mixed result” for refugees. “We have almost 150,000 refugees in the backlog waiting for that signal that Canada is their permanent home, waiting for the opportunity to bring their families,” she said, adding the...
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Cape Breton First Nation has ‘strong claim’ for displacement restitution
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post Membertou First Nation is moving ahead with its Kings Road Specific Claim against Canada and hopes to submit it to the federal government in 2026. “We’re going to bring forward a strong case,” says Membertou First Nation executive director Trevor Bernard. “And we hope the process will not be an adversarial one.” The year 2026 will mark the 100-year anniversary of the time the first homes were built at the present site of Membertou after the community was forced to move from prime waterfront land in Sydney. The First Nation in Cape Breton is seeking to right the wrongs done in the early part of the 20th century when the historic community was forced from its two-and-three-quarter acre waterfront land...
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Communities shut water intake from B.C. lake after fuel spill reaches 80,000 litres
A local official says small communities on Kamloops Lake in British Columbia have been shutting down their intakes from the waterway after it was revealed that more than 80,000 litres of aviation fuel spilled on its shores in a train derailment last weekend. The province’s estimate of the spill size was increased more than six-fold late Wednesday, prompting a request for water-quality results from Michael Grenier, director for Area J of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. Grenier says the spill is “substantially larger” than what was “originally anticipated,” creating a concern for communities that draw water from the lake and downstream. He says he’s anxious to see water test results that the district was “insisting on” on Wednesday. B.C.’s Environment Ministry says results from samples collected on Sunday and Monday have...
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‘Shoot me’: No charges for RCMP in killing of Alberta boy who called 911 for help
By Aaron Sousa Hoss Lightning, 15, was scared and alone the night he called 911 for help and was shot and killed by a pair of responding Mounties in a field south of Edmonton. A decision by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, the province’s police oversight body, says the teen’s death, while tragic, was not criminal and the two officers involved won’t be charged. The agency’s acting executive director, Matthew Block, says the officers believed the boy was pointing a gun at them from inside a backpack. No gun was found. “It is not reasonable to expect an officer who believes he is about to be shot to act like a perfectly calm and rational person,” he says in the report released Thursday. “When a person pretends to point...
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Prince Harry says visiting Canadian veterans is the highlight of his Toronto trip
By Rianna Lim Veterans at a care centre in Toronto gathered Thursday to present their art therapy work to Prince Harry and share their stories ahead of Remembrance Day, as they reflected on the lasting impact of their sacrifices in service. The Duke of Sussex called it a highlight of his two-day visit to Toronto, which included several events in support of Canadian veterans and military members. Sitting in a woodworking studio at Sunnybrook Hospital’s veterans centre, a group of residents painted red poppies onto wood carvings. Among them was Ozzie Reece, 75, who served in the Canadian military for more than three decades. Remembrance Day is important to him and it’s something he looks forward to, he said, because it’s a reminder of his family’s ties to service. “It...
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Vintage Hudson’s Bay blankets, more paintings headed for online auction
By Tara Deschamps If you’ve ever wanted to own a vintage Hudson’s Bay blanket, you’ll soon have a chance. The company is putting 52 blankets, including two dating back to 1900, up for sale later this month. Some of them are almost 100-year-old point blankets with HBC’s classic green, red, yellow and indigo motif, while others are slightly more recent and feature scarlet, lavender, wild cranberry, rose, empire blue and gold hues. The blankets will join 107 pieces of art ranging from depictions of HBC’s fur-trading era to portraits of its past governors to form a group of 159 treasures destined for the first of several online auctions Heffel Fine Art Auction House is hosting on behalf of the former department store. The first online sale will run from Nov....
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Brant Council discusses backing for battery storage project
By Kimberly De Jong, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brant Beacon County of Brant Council received a request for a municipal support resolution for a proposed Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) during its regular Council meeting on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. With Ontario facing energy demands, Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) has been undergoing a large-scale effort to secure enough energy resources for the 2030s and beyond. Bogdan Dinu of Ferma Energy and Aaron Weigel of Innergex Renewable Energy Inc., explained that Ferma intends to submit a proposal to IESO for a BESS with an anticipated capacity of 250 Megawatts (MW), on a 95-acre parcel of land located at the corner of Bishopsgate Road and Fairfield Road (south of Burford and just north of Scotland). “The site, which will be...
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Crews are working to fix Alaska Native villages devastated by flooding. But will residents return?
By Mark Thiessen, Gene Johnson And Becky Bohrer KWIGILLINGOK, Alaska (AP) — Darrel John watched the final evacuees depart his village on the western coast of Alaska in helicopters and small planes and walked home, avoiding the debris piled on the boardwalks over the swampy land. He is one of seven residents who chose to remain in Kwigillingok after the remnants of Typhoon Halong devastated the village last month, uprooting homes and floating many of them miles away, some with residents inside. One person was killed and two remain missing. “I just couldn’t leave my community,” John said while inside the town’s school, a shelter and command post where he has helped solve problems in the storm’s aftermath. But what will become of that community and others damaged by the...
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Inuit just want to be treated the same as everyone else, says Kaludjak
By Darrell Greer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kivalliq News International Inuit Day is marked on the calendar to be celebrated annually on Nov. 7. Known in some circles as International Circumpolar Inuit Day, it invites people to explore Inuit culture through their art, stories and histories. Noel Kaludjak, of Rankin Inlet, said the truth is that there’s people out there who don’t think much of Inuit culture. He said to them, Inuit are little more than uneducated people with little to offer their country, or society in general. “We’re seen as not going to war or taking part in protecting Canada,” said Kaludjak. “They like our art, in most cases, and, of course, the land that we live on because it has lots of minerals, oil and stuff. “They like...
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Haldimand OPP investigate truck stolen from Cayuga residence
HALDIMAND COUNTY – Hadimand County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are investigating the theft of a truck taken from a Haldimand Road 32 Cayuga residence. The theft occurred between October 30, 2025, at 4:00 p.m., and November 3, 2025, at 8:30 a.m.. The stolen vehicle is described to be a 2011 black coloured Ford Flex with Ontario licence plate DDTH 129. Anyone with information regarding this ongoing investigation is asked to contact the Haldimand OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you can submit an online tip at www.helpsolvecrime.com, or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, where you could be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2000....
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Indigenous leaders say federal budget falls short on health care, education
By Dylan Robertson The federal budget fails to offer the investments in health and education their communities desperately need, some Indigenous leaders said Wednesday, a day after the Liberals tabled the latest fiscal plan in the House of Commons. The budget froze annual base funding for Indigenous health and social services and for treaty work. Ottawa says that freeze amounts to a two per cent cut at a time when most federal agencies face a 15 per cent cut. Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said the freeze will have serious impacts on communities with high birthrates. She also said the budget offers no plan to close the education gap that holds back economic growth in Indigenous communities. “Sadly, yesterday’s budget did not include any generational investments...
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Beaver moon, second supermoon of the year, lights up the night sky around the world
By Fatima Raza People around the world got a glimpse of the second supermoon of the year brightening the night sky. Called the Beaver Moon, it reached its peak in the morning hours on Wednesday. Jesse Rogerson, an astrophysicist and York University professor, says a supermoon is only possible when the moon is at its closest point to earth and in its full phase. He says the moon, like other objects in space, doesn’t orbit in perfect circles. Instead, it follows an elliptical pattern. That means there is a point in time during its orbit when it’s closest to Earth and a point in time when it’s farthest away. These points are called perigee and apogee, respectively. Tuesday night’s full moon was at perigee, giving us the illusion of an...
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Manitoba First Nations urge Ottawa to amend budget to reflect community needs
By Brittany Hobson Some Indigenous leaders in Manitoba say there is still time for the federal government to amend Tuesday’s budget in order to get First Nations input and get money where it’s needed. Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson says the proposed budget loops First Nations infrastructure into other initiatives. Wilson says that leaves leaders wondering whether cash previously set aside for communities has been allocated elsewhere. The budget introduced by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne did not break down funding between First Nations, Inuit and Métis, and it froze annual base funding for Indigenous health and social services and for treaty work. Ottawa says that freeze amounts to a two per cent cut at a time when most federal agencies face a 15 per cent cut. Brokenhead...
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Amuatiit fighting for a safe space
By Darrell Greer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kivalliq News Amautiit Nunavut Inuit Women’s Association president Tara Tootoo Fotheringham said her association was involved with the InuitMeToo movement, which currently has 1,300 signatures on its petition, since it first got started about the first week of October. Fotheringham said what brought the movement on was claims that the Manitoba Inuit Association (MIA) was trying to silence two women who took issue with an executive’s behaviour and identified to other people that they felt unsafe around him. “He used the MIA’s lawyer to try and silence them by sending them cease and desist letters,” said Fotheringham. “When we heard this, it really just angered us because it’s one thing to use your Inuit organization’s money to silence women for something that now...
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Treaty 8 Nation to head to Brazil as part of COP30 delegation
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A Treaty 8 Nation from northeast B.C. will be part of a delegation representing Canada on the world’s biggest stage focusing on climate change. According to a press release, First Nations Climate Initiative (FNCI) will be part of the Canadian government’s envoy at the United Nations climate change conference, better known as COP30 in Belem, Brazil later this month. This is the fourth year FNCI has been a part of the delegation. The FNCI is an Indigenous-led partnership between several B.C. First Nations – including Halfway River First Nation (HRFN) north of Fort St. John – dedicated to furthering Indigenous communities through “strategic climate action,” according to its website. Although FCNI was formed in 2019, HRFN didn’t...
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UN climate summit kicks off in Brazil’s Amazon with hopes for action despite US absence
By Isabel Debre And Mauricio Savarese BELEM, Brazil (AP) — World leaders descending on the United Nations annual climate summit in Brazil this week will not need to see much more than the view from their airplane window to sense the unfathomable stakes. Surrounding the coastal city of Belem is an emerald green carpet festooned with winding rivers. But the view also reveals barren plains: some 17% of the Amazon’s forest cover has vanished in the past 50 years, swallowed up for farmland, logging and mining. Often called the “lungs of the world” for its capacity to absorb vast quantities of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that warms the planet, the biodiverse Amazon rainforest has been increasingly choked by wildfires and cleared by cattle ranching. It is here on the...
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Conservative MP dismisses budget’s northern pledges
By Claire McFarlane, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio Conservative shadow minister for Arctic affairs Bob Zimmer says he doubts Liberals’ ability to deliver on promises made in the budget presented on Tuesday. Pledges related to the North in the budget include a $1-billion Arctic infrastructure fund and a major review of northern healthcare. Zimmer, the MP for Prince George–Peace River–Northern Rockies, said Liberal governments have been slow to deliver on promises made over the past decade. He cited incidents like the purchase of a hangar in Inuvik for military purposes, the delay in completing Inuvik’s runway extension and federal handling of the decades-long Giant Mine remediation project. In the case of the hangar, the Canadian government purchased it in 2024 after initially cancelling its lease for the facility in...
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Native American boarding schools in the US, by the numbers
By Mark Scolforo CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) — For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, the United States government and Christian denominations operated boarding schools where generations of Native American children were isolated from their families. Along with academics and hard work, the schools sought to erase elements of tribal identity, from language and clothing to hairstyles and even their names. The Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, where the remains of 17 students were exhumed and repatriated in recent weeks, served as a model for other schools. By the Numbers: ___ Number of schools: 526 An Interior Department review published in 2024 found 417 federally funded boarding schools for Native children in the United States. Many others were run by religious groups and other organizations. Burial sites: 74 (53...
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