Indigenous MP says he has the money and the signatures to contest Liberal leadership
-CP-Nova Scotia MP Jaime Battiste says he has the money and the signatures he needs to join the federal Liberal leadership race. Speaking in Halifax today to Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqey chiefs from across Atlantic Canada, the Indigenous politician from Cape Breton made the announcement as a 5 p.m. eastern deadline for applications loomed in Ottawa. If he makes the deadline, Battiste will become the only First Nations candidate in the race to replace Justin Trudeau, and the first Indigenous candidate ever to be in the running to become prime minister of Canada. Battiste says he knows he’s an underdog in the race, but he says he relishes the challenge. The candidates who have already submitted the required documents and an initial $50,000 deposit to the party include former finance minister...
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Quebec maple syrup producers fear ‘major consequences’ if Trump tariffs go ahead
By Joe Bongiorno -CP-Quebec’s maple syrup producers are worried their industry will take a big hit if U.S. President Donald Trump goes ahead with his threat to slap 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports next month. Joël Vaudeville, spokesman for Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, says his group’s 13,500 members expect sales will drop if the tariffs drive up the price of their products in the United States. Vaudeville questions whether Americans, who in 2023 bought $368 million worth of Quebec syrup, will be willing to pay more, adding that a loss in sales could spell “major consequences” for Quebec’s industry. He says exports to the United States last year accounted for 55 per cent of Quebec’s total production. Quebec produces nearly three-quarters of the world’s maple syrup production, he...
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Purdue Pharma and owners to pay $7.4 billion in settlement to lawsuits over the toll of OxyContin
By Geoff Mulvihill -AP-Members of the family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, and the company itself, agreed to pay up to $7.4 billion in a new settlement to lawsuits over the toll of the powerful prescription painkiller, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday. The deal, agreed to by Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family members who own the company and lawyers representing state and local governments and thousands of victims of the opioid crisis, represents an increase of more than $1 billion over a previous settlement deal that was rejected last year by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Sacklers agreed to pay up to $6.5 billion, Purdue to pay $900 million, for a total of $7.4 billion. It’s among the largest settlements reached over the past several years...
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Former Six Nations Elected Chief Encourages Reconciliation to Liberal Party Leader Candidate
Federal candidate for Liberal Party Leader Karina Gould says she has been encouraged in her bid to be party leader by Six Nations’ former Elected Chief Ava Hill. After entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould said Thursday (Jan. 25th, 2025) she had spoken with the former elected chief recently and received her support. “I spoke with former Six Nations Chief Ava Hill and am thrilled to have her support.” She said she spoke with Hill about the importance of reconciliation with First Nations to herself and to Canada. “We spoke about reconciliation, and it is something we continue to talk about the leadership race. It is such an important matter and its about who we are as Canadians and where we want...
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Diabo looks back on first six months while also looking ahead
By Marc Lalonde, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter In the six months since Cody Diabo was elected to the role of Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Grand Chief he’s accomplished a lot and is looking for more over the course of the term. Diabo was elected on July 6, and said he looks back on his first six months in office with pride. “It started very early at the AFN General Assembly,” in downtown Montreal in late July, where Diabo held federal political leaders’ feet to the fire with pointed questions about whether they would apologize to Kahnawake for events during the summerof 1990. “That was a highlight, speaking to (Conservative leader Pierre) Poilievre and (NDP leader Jagmeet) Singh, among others, as well as the AFN meetings in December.” Additionally, Diabo was...
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Education minister remembered as husband, dad… and huge Jets fan
By Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Winnipeg Jets customized a memorial jersey for Nello Altomare with a number that nods to the hockey superfan’s final role as Manitoba’s 35th minister of education. Roughly 1,000 mourners who packed into Transcona Country Club for a public funeral Wednesday learned the career educator died shortly after the Jets’ 6-1 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 14. The game marked his family’s final group viewing of their favourite team — an activity that typically involved the father of two adult children standing and yelling at the TV in their Transcona home. Altomare, who was in blood-cancer remission, spent his last 4 1/2 years living with complications from chemotherapy. He was 61. In a eulogy, Jason Drysdale described his longtime teacher friend...
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Truck, bike thief to be jailed for more than seven months
By Bob Mackin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A 29-year-old man with a lengthy criminal record who pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen truck and bicycle was sentenced to more than seven months in jail and a year on probation. In Prince George Provincial Court on Wednesday, Jan. 22, Judge Martin Nadon sentenced Kyler Gregory Thomas Stevens to 815 days on nine counts. Stevens, however, qualified for credit for time served, so his net sentence amounts to 237 days. Crown prosecutor Kristina King called it “significantly mitigating” that Stevens also pleaded guilty to wilfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer and five counts of breaching a release order. “Wrapping up a significant number of files and saving significant court resources,” King told the court. “But that’s the only mitigating feature that...
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Three bison harvested in Indigenous-led Banff National Park ceremonial hunt
The first ceremonial bison hunt in Banff National Park has been completed under an Indigenous-led pilot project. Parks Canada and the Indigenous Advisory Circle say three animals were harvested in a free-range hunt last year. It was the first bison hunt on the land that now makes up Banff since before the park was established nearly 145 years ago. Parks Canada reintroduced bison to a remote area of the national park in 2017 more than a century after they were hunted to near-extinction. Indigenous communities and Parks Canada developed the hunting approach together after the herd grew from 16 to more than 130 animals within seven years. Officials from Blackfoot, Tsuut’ina, Stoney Nakoda and Métis communities in southern Alberta say in a news release that the hunt was meaningful. “Historically...
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Unhoused people displaced following fire at Labrador Inn
By Derek Montague, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Approximately two dozen unhoused people displaced by a fire at the Labrador Inn in Happy Valley-Goose Bay have received emergency shelter at the Salvation Army, which local MHA Perry Trimper said has provided accommodations at their church. “Everybody’s safe and comfortable,” said Trimper, adding he expects the situation to be resolved within a matter of days. An interior fire at the Labrador Inn Wednesday morning forced emergency crews to evacuate the hotel and homeless shelter. At 10:35 a.m. Happy Valley-Goose Bay firefighters responded to a call at the Inn and arrived within four minutes. According to Fire Chief Brad Butler, the fire damaged a couple of bathrooms and the hotel’s kitchen area but not the residential area. “Nobody was injured; it was a...
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‘No room for fossil fuel expansion’: Grand Chief Steward 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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Families sue TikTok in France over teen suicides they say are linked to harmful content
By Tom Nouvian CASSIS, France (AP) — In the moment when her world shattered three years ago, Stephanie Mistre found her 15-year-old daughter, Marie, lifeless in the bedroom where she died by suicide. “I went from light to darkness in a fraction of a second,” Mistre said, describing the day in September 2021 that marked the start of her fight against TikTok, the Chinese-owned video app she blames for pushing her daughter toward despair. ___ EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org. Helplines outside the U.S. can be found at www.iasp.info/suicidalthoughts. ___ Delving into her daughter’s...
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B.C. First Nation leader apologizes, walks back on Northern Gateway pipeline support
By Chuck Chiang -CP-The president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs apologized Wednesday and walked back comments he made earlier this week suggesting he supported reviving the Northern Gateway pipeline project. “I do not support resuscitating dead projects such as the failed Northern Gateway pipeline, which would have been an absolute disaster for our lands and waters,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said in a statement released by the union. “I sincerely apologize for any confusion on this point.” Phillip said he viewed his participation in protest movements and legal challenges against the pipeline plan that was scrapped in 2016 as “an absolute honour and privilege,” and he wanted to commend the thousands of others who also opposed it. The union said in the statement that the answer to the...
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Mount Polley boss says 2014 B.C. mine spill not toxic as firm faces fisheries charges
By Darryl Greer Canadian Press The president of the company involved in the Mount Polley environmental disaster that poured millions of cubic metres of mine tailings into B.C. waterways 10 years ago says the material spilled wasn’t toxic. Imperial Metals Corp. and two other firms were charged last month with 15 alleged Fisheries Act breaches, accused of allowing a “deleterious substance” from the mine’s tailings pond into several bodies of water. But Imperial Metals president Brian Kynoch says the mine tailings were “benign,” and the breach released traces of elements like copper and arsenic that are naturally occurring. Kynoch says no waters were poisoned by the spill, and testing showed that drinking water guidelines were not exceeded and fish numbers bounced back in the years following the spill. He says...
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Poilievre says he’s ‘not aware’ of more than two genders, has other priorities
By Alessia Passafiume -CP-Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday he is only aware of two genders — male and female — and that the government should leave questions of gender identity alone. A leading LGBTQ organization, reacting to Poilievre’s comment, said denying the existence of trans and gender-diverse people could contribute to the rise in discrimination and violence targeting them. In an interview with the CP24 news channel, Poilievre was asked about President Donald Trump signing an executive order declaring the U.S. will only recognize two sexes and that they are unchangeable. Poilievre said he is not aware of more than two genders and that if the host had “any other you want me to consider, you’re welcome to tell me right now.” Poilievre was then asked whether he would...
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Northern Ontario First Nations claim billions over Robinson Treaties
By Margaret Kirk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Next week, the federal and provincial governments are required to offer a long-anticipated settlement for the Robinson Superior Treaty (RST), an amount expected to surpass the historic $10-billion payout recently awarded to Robinson Huron Treaty (RHT) signatories. This marks another major milestone in Canada’s reconciliation efforts, as First Nations along Lake Superior move closer to justice for 150 years of unfulfilled treaty promises. Members of Garden River, Mississauga, Batchewawa and Thessalon First Nations — all which neighbour the Sault Ste. Marie community — have been awarded upwards of $100,000 in settlement money as treaty holders, but not without some controversy of how each First Nation has decided to allocate the funds. Next, neighbours along the Lake Superior shores to the west of the...
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Unhoused people displaced following fire at Labrador Inn
By Derek Montague, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Independent An interior fire at the Labrador Inn in Happy Valley-Goose Bay has left hotel management and the provincial government looking to house around 20 people for at least one night in the dead of winter. At 10:35 a.m. Happy Valley-Goose Bay firefighters responded to a call at the Inn and arrived within four minutes. According to town Fire Chief Brad Butler, the fire damaged a couple of bathrooms and the hotel’s kitchen area but not the residential area. “Nobody was injured; it was a quick knock-down by the fire department,” Butler said. “[The fire] was in behind walls. We had to rip walls and ceiling out,” he said, adding his firefighters “did a good job, and [the fire] didn’t extend too...
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Quebec coroner says man found near U.S. border in 2023 died of drowning, hypothermia
By Morgan Lowrie -CP-A 44-year-old Haitian man found dead in 2023 after he had tried to cross into the United States made a final phone call to his wife before succumbing to hypothermia and drowning in shallow water, a coroner has found. The body of Fritznel Richard was discovered on Jan. 4, 2023, in a ditch containing 45 centimetres of water near the U.S. border in St-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que., says the report by coroner André-H. Dandavino. Richard had been living in Montreal but wanted to join his wife, who had already crossed to the United States, in the hopes of obtaining a green card. He died trying to cross the border on foot through some fields on Dec. 23, 2022. That night, as heavy snow fell around him, Richard called his...
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The Latest: The Pentagon will send 1,500 troops to secure US-Mexico border, officials say
-AP-Donald Trump is remaking the traditional boundaries of Washington, unleashing unprecedented executive orders and daring anyone to stop him. Here’s the latest: Trump administration has paused US resettlement of ‘Afghan allies,’ citing vetting Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, the new chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a military veteran, told the AP that the Trump administration had intentionally paused the planned U.S. arrival of more than 1,600 Afghans already cleared for resettlement in the United States. Mast cited “questions about the vetting of these individuals.” The Trump administration in its first days announced it was suspending overall U.S. refugee admissions for at least three months, while it considered whether to resume or end the program. The pause includes the U.S. travel of remaining Afghans who worked alongside...
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B.C. First Nation leader apologizes, walks back on Northern Gateway pipeline support
By Chuck Chiang -CP-The president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs is apologizing and walking back comments suggesting he supported reviving the Northern Gateway pipeline project, and now says he doesn’t support “resuscitating dead projects.” In a statement released by the union, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip says the pipeline rejected in 2016 “would have been an absolute disaster” for British Columbia’s land and waters, and his participation in opposition to the project was “an absolute honour and privilege.” The union says in the statement that the answer to the Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific “is still no,” while Phillips says he wants to “sincerely apologize for any confusion.” Phillip was asked at a news conference on Tuesday about Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s suggestion of reviving the...
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No ‘Team Canada’ without First Nations land rights, BC leaders say
By Rochelle Baker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer First Nations leaders say they must be part of “Team Canada” — and decision makers on resource projects — to combat looming U.S. tariffs as they head into a key annual summit with the B.C. government. Eby’s opening remarks at a press conference for the ninth B.C. Cabinet and First Nations Leaders’ Gathering on Tuesday focused on the province working closely with Indigenous leadership to address challenges, such as housing affordability, the toxic drug crisis, global inflation and the threat of the U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. However, chiefs with the First Nations Leadership Council made it clear that making headway on rights and title issues, decision-making around resource projects and aligning B.C. laws with the province’s Declaration on...
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