The Fort Frances mayoral race is on: Calder and McTaggart throw their names in the ring
By Liam Oliver Neilson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Fort Frances Times With just over a month left for candidates to declare themselves in the race for Fort Frances Town Council, only two names have emerged so far in the contest for a mayor to replace Andrew Hallikas, who is not seeking another term. Lifelong Fort Frances residents Brent Calder and John McTaggart both feel strongly that they can make a positive impact on the community as they gear up for a campaign that will conclude with the municipal election on Oct. 26. All nominees for mayor and council will be confirmed by Aug. 24. Calder said he decided to throw his hat in the ring so he can work towards bringing positive changes to the community he calls home. “I’m...
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From the 2010 Olympics to the World Cup, Vancouver has pioneered Indigenous inclusion
By Anne M. Peterson VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Scattered among the many big screens airing World Cup matches and the food stands with local fare like poutine, Vancouver’s fan festival includes exhibits recognizing the host city’s Indigenous communities: the Squamish, the Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh nations. The First Nations have been involved in more than just the fan fest, however. They are partners with the local World Cup organizing committee, drawing on a tradition started at the 2010 Winter Olympics. It’s the latest example of how Indigenous inclusion has increasingly figured into big sporting events, from the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Vancouver’s goal was to ensure that the First Nations were at the table in the planning process for...
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Canada’s resource push meets a housing crunch in northwest BC
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer Some of Canada’s biggest economic ambitions run through small cities in northwest BC. Terrace and Prince Rupert sit along BC’s trade corridor to the Pacific, where the province and Ottawa are looking to expand LNG exports, mining, transmission infrastructure and port capacity tied to Asian markets. But they’re already struggling with tight rental markets, aging infrastructure and little room for the workers needed to support that growth. Their mayors say governments are moving quickly on major projects while housing plans for the small cities absorbing the pressure lag behind. “There’s a wave coming to northwest BC that I do not believe anybody can brace for,” Terrace Mayor Sean Bujtas told Canada’s National Observer. “And we’re already behind.” Last week, Prime...
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Summer wind storm hits Six Nations community wide
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Six Nations Group Announces $60k In Latest Funding Round, Appoint 4 New Board Members
By Alex Murray Writer For the third time in 2026, grassroots organizations at Six Nations of the Grand River have a chance at extra funding courtesy of Six Nations Group (SNG). Operated through SNG’s Economic Development Trust (EDT), the third round of grassroots funding for this year was announced on July 2 and has $60,000 available for community investment into grassroots organizations. The EDT will start accepting eligible applications on July 6, 2026, with the deadline coming about a month later at 4:00 p.m. on August 5, 2026. Applications can be accessed at sixnationsedt.ca. This grassroots funding stream is aimed at established volunteer groups and organizations that administer projects and initiatives benefitting the community at Six Nations. Eligible applicants will not have regular employees or a registered board of directors....
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Six Nations Survivors Secretariat funding uncertain
The Six Nations Survivors Secretariat is facing another year of uncertainty over federal funding. Survivor Secretariat Executive Lead Laura Arndt SNEC asked Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC)l to allow it to keep approximately $157,000 in unspent funding at the General Finance Committee meeting on July 6. The funds are from a previous $1 million allocation from SNEC to cover the organization for the 2024-2025 fiscal year after the federal government provided no funding. Arndt said the Secretariat was forced to carefully manage last year’s funding after receiving no federal funding during the 2024-25 fiscal year until the final day of that fiscal year. The Secretariat had prepared for the possibility of having to close its doors before Six Nations stepped in with emergency funding. The Secretariat has two options for...
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“Dish with One Spoon” reflected in new IKEA kitchen installation
By Alex Murray Writer Growing up as a descendant of someone as famed and respected as legendary Six Nations runner Tom Longboat would be an honour for anyone. If you’re into marathons, like his great-great-grandson Kristian Jamieson is, running in Longboat’s shadow could also lead to a lot of added pressure. But instead of pressure, Jamieson says picturing his legendary ancestor running ahead of him serves as an engine to push him harder and further. “I was thinking of Tom Longboat running up those hills. I was like, ‘Man, this guy was so fast. Don’t get dropped by him, Kristian,’” Jamieson told Turtle Island News. “‘Imagine he’s in front of you running, and you’re just trying to run as fast as you can and not let him drop you and...
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Oka gas station forced to cancel tax
By Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has determined the Belisle Gas Station in Oka can no longer grant the exemption for sales tax for Kanehsata’kehró:non after July 1, The Pines Reporter has learned. In a statement, Revenue Quebec shared they were informed by the CRA in January that after a new validation was conducted by the national agency “an address containing one or more businesses had been incorrectly located within the geographic boundaries in 2015 and was actually outside the territory covered by the Decree.” Revenue Quebec is responsible for administering the tax exemption for First Nations in Quebec, but the geographic scope for Kanehsata’kehró:non tax exemption is established by the federal government. This new analysis was done at the request...
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Marathoner Kristian Jamieson’s Chase For 2:24 and Great-Great-Grandfather Tom Longboat
By Alex Murray Writer Growing up as a descendant of someone as famed and respected as legendary Six Nations runner Tom Longboat would be an honour for anyone. If you’re into marathons, like his great-great-grandson Kristian Jamieson is, running in Longboat’s shadow could also lead to a lot of added pressure. But instead of pressure, Jamieson says picturing his legendary ancestor running ahead of him serves as an engine to push him harder and further. “I was thinking of Tom Longboat running up those hills. I was like, ‘Man, this guy was so fast. Don’t get dropped by him, Kristian,’” Jamieson told Turtle Island News. “‘Imagine he’s in front of you running, and you’re just trying to run as fast as you can and not let him drop you and...
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Editorial: Finger pointing…really!
A spat between Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC and now the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs’ Council (HCC) reared its head last week and it hasn’t changed. Only one of the players is new. The local men’s group was the spark that ignited the current fire with both sides demanding accountability over funds and land decisions and who gets to make those decisions. The local men’s group went to SNEC seeking their support, and we would guess money, to launch the class action lawsuit against the HCCC demanding accountability for how it spends funds it receives on behalf of the community from any government bodies or lands negotiations. And it goes further. It wants to know how the dollars were spent. A noble pursuit. Unfortunately, one sided. Six Nations has two governing...
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UNDER THE NORTHERN SKY: Hot Summer Days In Attawapiskat
By Xavier Kataquapit Hot summer days have finally arrived and we are all enjoying the warm weather. These hot days remind me of growing up in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast in the 1980s. There was never much to do in our home, so our activity was always about running around the neighbourhood to be with our friends and cousins. We had a TV in the house but it only supplied CBC, TVO and a church channel that broadcast either a live church service or non-stop reruns of ‘Ben-Hur’, ‘Moses’ or ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’. Since there was no entertainment at home, we wandered off into the neighbourhood in search of our cousins. Our relatives were only a few houses away and our play...
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Rivermen defeat previously undefeated Merchants
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Six Nations Rivermen ensured that the final weekend of Ontario Series Lacrosse (OSL) regular season action will have some significance. The Rivermen kept their hopes of finishing atop the standings of the seven-team league alive by beating the visiting Brooklin Merchants 13-8 this past Saturday. That match was held at Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA), the home facility for the local Senior B men’s squad. For the Merchants, the defending OSL champions, the setback was their first loss of the season. “It was a huge game (Saturday) for us,” said Rivermen forward Marshall Powless. “We needed to bounce back after falling short to them last weekend.” The Merchants, who play their home games in Whitby, had defeated the visiting Rivermen 12-8 on June 27. With Saturday’s...
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Tournament organizer keen to add Six Nations teams
By Sam Laskaris Writer For the second straight year some Six Nations members will be participating in a national hockey tournament. But Stephane Friday, a tournament organizer for the U21 National Indigenous Junior Hockey Championships, is hoping Six Nations starts icing its own teams at the event as early as next year. The second annual tourney is scheduled for July 16-19. All matches will be staged at Westwood Arena in Toronto. A handful of Six Nations members also participated at last year’s inaugural tournament, which was in Toronto. This year’s event will feature 22 clubs, up significantly from the 10 squads that took part a year ago. Sixteen teams will compete in the male division. And there will also be six entrants in the female grouping. Though team rosters had...
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SPORTS BRIEFS: Attack looking to return to winning ways
By Sam Laskaris Writer The Grand River Attack will be looking to get back into the win column this weekend. The Six Nations-based squad, which competes in the Women’s Major Series Lacrosse, had won its first three matches this season. But the Attack now finds itself sporting a .500 record, 3-3, as it is on a three-game losing streak. The Grand River side will be playing two contests this Saturday at the Chedoke Twin Pad Arena in Hamilton. Up first is a match against the defending league champion Mimico Mountaineers. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. No doubt that will be a tough test for the Attack as the Mountaineers are sitting atop the standings of the 11-team WMSL, having won six out of their first seven starts...
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Trump covets Greenland for its location. Here’s why
By Danica Kirka, Stefanie Dazio And Lorne Cook Location, location, location: Greenland’s position above the Arctic Circle makes the world’s largest island a key part of security strategy. Increasing international tensions, global warming and the changing world economy have put Greenland at the heart of the debate over global trade and security, and U.S. President Donald Trump wants to make sure his country controls the mineral-rich island that guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America. Trump’s repeated demands for the territory and threats to take it by force have rattled the NATO alliance and discomfited European allies who have long relied on the U.S. as a partner in their defense. Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally that has rejected Trump’s overtures. Greenland’s...
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Growing B.C. wildfire closes Highway 1, more evacuation alerts issued
By Wolfgang Depner A growing wildfire in British Columbia’s Fraser Canyon has forced further evacuation alerts and the closure of a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway. The province’s transportation website, Drive BC, says the Brunswick Creek fire has forced the closure of Highway 1 between Boston Bar Station Road and Ainslie Road North. The closure comes after new figures from the BC Wildfire Service show that the fire burning near Boston Bar, B.C., has grown to 18 square kilometres as of Tuesday afternoon. The closure coincides with an evacuation alert from the Fraser Valley Regional District covering 48 properties north of Boston Bar, along both sides of the Fraser River. B.C.’s Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness says about 150 properties are now under evacuation order and about 255...
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Growing B.C. wildfire closes Highway 1, more evacuation alerts issued
By Wolfgang Depner A growing wildfire in British Columbia’s Fraser Canyon has forced further evacuation alerts and the closures of a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway. The province’s transportation website, Drive BC, says the Brunswick Creek fire has forced the closure of Highway 1 between Boston Bar Station Road and Ainslie Road North. The closure comes after new figures from the BC Wildfire Service show that the fire burning near Boston Bar, B.C., has grown to 18-square kilometres as of Tuesday afternoon. The closure coincides with a new evacuation alert from the Fraser Valley Regional District covering 48 properties north of Boston Bar, along both sides of the Fraser River. B.C.’s Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness says about 150 properties are now under evacuation order and about 255...
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Canadian North Airlines cancels flights in Fort Simpson, N.W.T., due to wildfire
Canadian North Airlines says it’s cancelling all flights in and out of Fort Simpson, N.W.T., until July 18 due to a wildfire that forced residents from their homes last month. The airline, which connects remote communities in the territories to hubs in the south, including Edmonton and Ottawa, says it will assess its schedule and make adjustments when it’s safe to do so. An evacuation order was issued for the village of about 1,300 people on June 28. Most residents have been staying at a gymnasium-turned-evacuation-centre in Yellowknife, nearly 700 kilometres east of Fort Simpson. The wildfire is estimated to be about 150 square kilometres in size. Kele Antoine, chief of Liidlii Kue First Nation, says one home in the community burned down on Saturday. “The homeowner has been notified,”...
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New Brunswick starts process to revive key mine producing key antimony mineral
By Eli Ridder The New Brunswick government is taking a step towards restarting extraction of a mineral the federal government says is essential for national security. The province says it selected Avenir Minerals, a subsidiary of Canadian firm Agnico Eagle Mines, to work on an agreement that would allow exploration of the former Lake George antimony mine site. The Natural Resources Department says the site was once North America’s largest mine that primarily produced antimony, a mineral used in the production of flame retardants and lead-acid batteries. The province says Canada, the United States and the European Union all consider antimony a critical mineral, as the global supply is heavily concentrated in China. Today’s announcement comes as New Brunswick aims to revive its mining sector amid renewed interest from Western...
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Resident forced out by wildfire worries his village could become another Lytton, B.C.
By Wolfgang Depner A wildfire evacuee in British Columbia says a fire burning in the Fraser Canyon near his home has stoked fears that the community could be wiped out, much like Lytton five years ago. New figures show that the Brunswick Creek fire near Boston Bar, B.C., has grown to 18-square kilometres from 12- square kilometres measured on Monday. Attila Banhegyi was ordered to leave his home in North Bend with the Brunswick Creek fire burning nearby, and he says residents are concerned of a forecast that calls for blowing northeast winds toward their community. The fire comes just days after the fifth anniversary of the blaze that killed two people and burned much of the Village of Lytton, about 45 kilometres north of North Bend in the Fraser...
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