Non-profit to end Indigenous housing project despite one year left on lease
By Joshua Santos Writer KITCHENER-WATERLOO,ONT-Tenants of an Indigenous housing complex will have to look elsewhere to live as new leadership decided to suspend its transitional housing program in Waterloo with one year left on its lease. The KW Urban Native Wigwam Project (KWUNWP) said the decision to pause transitional housing at 34 Bridgeport Rd. was difficult but necessary to ‘re-envision’ the program. It however comes at the price of forced evictions on short notice. “We currently house 12 people and our team is working to find alternative housing and supportive housing,” said Laury Turcotte, executive director of KW Urban Native Wigwam. “Any community member can return to our future transitional housing.” The organization will close the building at the end of March. Staff state the lease for the temporary location expires...
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Eeyou-Innu Rock Band takes on Toronto
By Patrick Quinn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Nation After exciting audiences throughout the Cree Nation and beyond since June, the Eeyou-Innu Rock Band will be taking their passionate show to Toronto for an Indigenous music showcase January 31 at the Imperial Pub. The Mistissini-based band will headline the “Music is Medicine” event alongside special guests David Meawasige and Kevin Schofield (aka The Tennessee Cree). While it will be their first performance in Canada’s largest city, the group’s quickly growing confidence makes them believe they’re ready for any stage. With four lead singers blending rock, gospel and Indigenous music in both Cree and Innu, they bring a unique presence to every show they play. Last winter’s Big Rock Music Festival planted the seeds for the band’s formation, with some of...
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Who’s in and who’s out of the Liberal leadership race
By Nick Murray and Kyle Duggan -CP-The federal Liberals are running their first leadership race in more than a decade to replace the departing Justin Trudeau. The deadline for registering to vote in the leadership contest passed on Jan. 27 and candidates have until Feb. 17 to submit their full entry fee of $350,000. The winner will be named on March 9. Candidates had until Thursday to declare their intention to run and pay an initial, refundable $50,000 deposit. Here’s a quick look at who’s in and who’s out. Who’s in Jaime Battiste The Cape Breton MP and chair of the Liberal Indigenous caucus became the first Mi’kmaw lawmaker elected to Parliament in 2019. Battiste expressed interested in running on Jan. 13 and said he was putting together an exploratory...
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Brantford-Brant Chamber preparing for MP-MPP Breakfast
By Kimberly De Jong, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brant Beacon Brantford-Brant Chamber of Commerce is gearing up to host its 17th annual MP and MPP Breakfast in Brantford on Friday, February 28, 2025. David Prang, CEO for the Brantford-Brant Chamber of Commerce, said that during the event, the MP and MPP of the day for Brantford-Brant will partake in an hour-long moderated, facilitated discussion with the Chamber President, John Oddi. “The MP and the MPP are given topics in advance, and those topics are generated by our Advocacy Committee, which is composed of Chamber members, volunteers and board members, as well as just general volunteers that are interested in the political aspects of the community,” said Prang. “They’re topical questions that are both provincial and federal in nature; there’s often...
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Haida hereditary chief proposes pyrolysis machine to eliminate landfills
By Radha Agarwal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince Rupert Northern View Roy S. Jones Jr., a hereditary chief from Haida Gwaii, is advocating for a machine that claims to convert municipal waste into energy and potentially eliminate landfills. He leads Aboriginal Equity Partners Incorporated (AEPI), a First Nations-owned business, and owns Pacific Balance Marine Management Corporation. Jones explains that this pyrolysis machine, built by their partner company Endpoint Recovery, uses a thermal cracking system to convert municipal solid waste, plastics, tires, and medical waste into commercially valuable products such as diesel and synthetic graphite. However, the appliance cannot process metal and glass. “Pyrolysis is catalytic cooking of matter without oxygen. It’s an ancient practice, the Egyptians did it,” said Jones. “It’s really interesting, because we could totally eliminate garbage dumps.”...
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Squamish Nation reveals ambitious land use plans in North Vancouver, Squamish
By Abby Luciano, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Shore News Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) is one step closer to reaching their ambitious development goals for the North Shore and Squamish areas following the approval of a wide-sweeping plan for Nation lands. The Squamish Nation council recently approved the first phase of its Land Development Strategies plan, putting the focus on two sites in North Vancouver and one in Squamish. Each site will honour the Nation’s history while also offering housing, economic development and community amenities, said Squamish Nation council member Sxwíxwtn (Wilson Williams), adding that the plan aims to create 600 homes over the next 25 years. The Land Development Strategies aim to align both current and future Squamish Nation needs while reflecting cultural and ancestral significance, a press release...
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Bill Wilson, hereditary chief and father of former cabinet minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, dies
Bill Wilson, a hereditary chief and the father of former cabinet minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, has died. Wilson-Raybould announced his death on social media, saying her father’s life was “one of leadership and striving to make change.” Wilson helped get Indigenous title to land and treaty rights enshrined in the Constitution. He once told Pierre Elliott Trudeau that his daughters, Jody and Kory, would become prime ministers one day. Wilson-Raybould served in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet as justice minister and attorney general and briefly as minister of veterans affairs. She resigned from cabinet and was ousted from the Liberal caucus in 2019 following the SNC-Lavalin affair, in which she was allegedly pressured by the prime minister or his aides to help the company avoid a criminal prosecution. This report by...
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Human remains identified as a man reported missing in 2023: Sarnia police
-CP-SARNIA,ONT-Police in Sarnia, Ont., say human remains found south of the city last week have been identified as a man who was reported missing more than a year ago, as three suspects remain in custody for his alleged murder. Police say the remains were found in the area of Highway 40 and Lasalle Line on Jan. 18, and the coroner’s office has now identified them as belonging to 41-year-old Bradley James Ogilvie. Police say Ogilvie was reported missing in November 2023, when he was last seen leaving a house with three others who are now accused of killing him. Sarnia police say they deemed Ogilvie’s disappearance a homicide in September 2024. That month, three suspects were arrested and charged with first-degree murder after officers said they executed several search warrants...
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Serial shoplifter sentenced to house arrest in Prince George court
By Bob Mackin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A 39-year-old woman caught shoplifting from four different Prince George retailers in a six-month period in 2023 received a 30-day conditional sentence in provincial court on Thursday, Jan. 23. Amanda Blaine Ketlo pleaded guilty to three counts of theft under $5,000, failure to appear in court, breach of a release order and personation with intent to avoid arrest. Judge Cassandra Malfair ordered Ketlo to spend the 30 days under house arrest, with allowance to leave temporarily for employment and medical care. Ketlo also faces 12 months on probation. Crown sought a 39-day jail sentence, reduced to 21 days after factoring credit for time served. Defence proposed time served plus the 30-day conditional sentence. Malfair said Ketlo, prior to her 2023 offences, had a...
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Six Nations Burger Barn restaurant hit by fire
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER-Six Nations Police are investigating an early morning fire after a local award winning restaurant went up in flames around 3:30 a.m. today ( Monday, Jan., 27, 2025) . Burger Barn, a favourite restaurant, not just for Six Nations but surrounding communities, was gutted in the early morning fire destroying the building. Six Nations Fire and police were on scene. Further details have yet to be released. (Photo by Jim C. Powless) MORE TO COME…....
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‘Where I belong’: Nurse finds deep connection in the Far North
By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative PEAWANUCK – In the tiny fly-in First Nations community of Peawanuck, nestled near Polar Bear Provincial Park in Northern Ontario, Émilie Veilleux has found a life she never imagined. Veilleux wasn’t always a northerner. Born and raised in Quebec, she became a registered nurse and began her career in southern Canada. In 2015, a job as a travel nurse took her to the Far North, sparking a deep connection to the land and people. “I really started falling in love with Peawanuck specifically. I found the people were so welcoming. They’re very traditional and they showed me a lot of things,” she said. “I didn’t know Gilbert at the time, but I just really fell in love with the community, and I started asking...
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‘Canada’s making its mark’: Ontario creatives behind ‘Nosferatu’ celebrate Oscar noms
By Alex Nino Gheciu -CP-Traci Loader helped devise the haunting blood tears Lily-Rose Depp’s character cries in “Nosferatu.” On Thursday, the Ontario makeup artist said she couldn’t contain her own tears as she learned she’d earned her first Oscar nomination. “I’ve just been crying from happiness. As a Canadian, to achieve something like that, I just didn’t think it would happen in my career. It was really overwhelming and surreal,” Loader said on a video call from Toronto. The Newmarket, Ont., native is part of the team from Robert Eggers’ gothic horror film who are up for best makeup and hairstyling, along with England’s David White and Suzanne Stokes-Munton. “I’m just glad that it was Canadians that Robert clicked with for some of the key creative roles,” she said. Loader...
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‘Sick monster’: Ex-priest pleads guilty to indecent assaults of children in Nunavut
-CP-A Catholic priest’s sexual abuse of Inuit children decades ago in Igloolik, Nvt., transformed a once friendly and trusting hamlet into a place marred by anger and addiction, court heard Thursday. Wails and shouts could be heard in the Iqaluit courtroom where Eric Dejaeger, 77, pleaded guilty to indecent assaults against six girls and one boy between 1978 and 1982. He had previously been convicted of dozens of offences against children and some adults. A woman, whose relatives were abused by Dejaeger and was in court to offer support, read a victim impact statement describing the harm done to the tight-knit community. “I grew up in Igloolik, in a beautiful environment (where) everybody knows everybody, greeting each other with smiles and laughter. There was much respect for each other in...
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Murder charges laid against three people in fire pit death on Alberta FirstNation
-CP-Murder charges have been laid against three people almost a year after a man was found dead in a fire pit on a First Nation in northern Alberta. RCMP say the major crimes unit took charge of the investigation after officers in Lac La Biche found the human remains in the area of the Kikino Metis Settlement. A joint investigation involving multiple detachments led to police identifying three suspects in the death of 34-year-old Jeremy Collins of Kikino. Mounties say 33-year-old William Curtis White and 26-year-old Amber Hope were arrested last week and charged with first-degree murder and with indignity to human remains. Police say a third suspect, 31-year-old Randall Louis Gadwa of Kehewin Cree Nation, was charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday. All three accused are to go before...
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Trudeau’s tenure lauded for reconciliation gains but key issues remain unresolved
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter -ANNews- In the wake of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing his resignation on Jan. 6, Indigenous leaders across Canada praised him for his commitment to reconciliation while acknowledging that there’s still much work to get done. Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said in a statement that Trudeau presided over “important progress in areas such as clean water, housing, education, and child welfare,” but cautioned that there have been “significant delays in progress on key issues” in recent months. She noted that the AFN has “not yet received a commitment” from the federal government on reaching a new child welfare reform agreement after the original $47.8-billion deal was voted down by the AFN membership, “which we have repeatedly sought.”...
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‘No room for fossil fuel expansion’: Grand Chief Stewart Phillip clears the air on pipelines
By Matteo Cimellaro, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Long-time climate advocate and First Nation leader Stewart Phillip is walking back controversial remarks he made on Tuesday. Canada’s climate advocacy world gasped in unison after Phillip appeared to suggest building out pipeline infrastructure at a news conference. Phillip, who is the Grand Chief of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, was a strong critic of pipelines like Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline and the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion when those projects were under consideration in the early- to mid-2010s. On Tuesday, he said those years were a “different time.” With the uncertainty of the U.S. President Donald Trump, Canada has “no choice” but to reconsider fossil fuel development, Phillip told reporters. “If we don’t build that kind of infrastructure, Trump will,” Phillip...
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Federal fisheries minister does about-face on unpopular baby eel quota redistribution
-CP-Federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier has shelved a controversial proposal that would have shifted baby eel quota away from longtime licence holders to their employees. In December, Ottawa announced a “pilot project” to redistribute 27 per cent of the Maritime catch of about 10,000 kilograms of baby eels — known as elvers — from nine commercial licence holders to 120 people who would operate on their own. Each of the 120 recipients — who had previously worked for the commercial licence holders — would have gained the right to catch 22 kilograms of the translucent eels in rivers this spring. But a number of the fishers set to receive the quota spoke out against it, saying they prefer being employees and would feel less safe having to operate on their...
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Former priest pleads guilty to indecent assaults of children in Nunavut
-CP-A defrocked Catholic priest pleaded guilty Thursday to indecent assaults against seven children decades ago in Nunavut. Court heard Eric Dejaeger committed the offences between 1978 and 1982 at or near the hamlet of Igloolik. Six of the children were girls and one a boy. Prosecutor Emma Baasch described each of the assaults in graphic detail in the Nunavut Court of Justice. In some cases, it began with the priest offering the children candy. Court heard Dejaeger gave a picture of Jesus to one girl to colour before taking her on his lap and assaulting her. The victims were as young as four at the time the assaults began, Baasch told court. Of one victim, the prosecutor said, “Mr. Dejaeger told her she would go to hell if she...
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Trump’s inheriting a solid economy, making it harder to lower borrowing costs or inflation
By Christopher Rugaber WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has pledged cheaper prices and lower interest rates, but an economy transformed by the pandemic will make those promises difficult to keep. Economic growth is solid, driven by healthy consumer spending. And budget deficits are huge and could get even larger. Meanwhile, businesses are borrowing more to step up their investments in data centers and artificial intelligence, leading to a greater demand for loans that can raise interest rates. And if Trump follows through on his promises to impose widespread tariffs on imports and deport millions of immigrants, economists expect inflation could worsen — making it less likely the Federal Reserve will cut its key interest rate much this year. All of these trends will likely keep borrowing costs higher, including...
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Private investigator looking into fatal Moose Factory hit-and-run
By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com MOOSE FACTORY — A Moose Factory father has stepped up his efforts to uncover the truth behind his daughter’s death. Robert Chum has enlisted the help of Ellen White, a private investigator and owner of Pulse Private Investigators based in Toronto, to look into the death of his daughter, Loni Chum. In November 2023, Loni’s body was found on Jaban Street in Moose Factory, a remote island community in Northern Ontario. Originally from the north, in university White worked in Moosonee, where she met members of the Chum family. “Who would have known when I was a young kid working as a tour guide with these guys, that 40 years later, I would be looking into their relative’s homicide,” White told TimminsToday. White’s...
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