SaskPower reschedules major outage affecting northern region
By Nicole Goldsworthy, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SaskToday.ca, SASKTODAY.ca NORTH — SaskPower has rescheduled a planned power outage that will affect communities across a large portion of northern Saskatchewan, including La Ronge, Candle Lake, Stanley Mission and several First Nations. The outage is now scheduled for June 14 from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will impact customers in Spruce Home, Meath Park, Weirdale, Paddockwood, Christopher Lake, Emma Lake, Candle Lake, Montreal Lake, La Ronge, Stanley Mission, Grandmothers Bay and Narrow Hills Provincial Park. The outage will also affect residents of Little Red River Cree Nation, Wahpeton Dakota Nation and Hall Lake First Nation, along with rural customers in communities north and northeast of Prince Albert extending to Anglin Lake, Little Bear Lake and north to La Ronge. According to...
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Killer of Niagara winemaker still deemed a threat, board says
By J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator Four years after he killed renowned Niagara winemaker Paul Pender while in the grips of a psychotic episode, Bradley House of Six Nations remains “a significant threat to public safety.” So says the Ontario Review Board, which monitors violent offenders deemed “not criminally responsible” for their actions due to underlying mental disorders. But the board recently granted House permission to attend a 90-day residential substance abuse treatment program outside the forensic psychiatry wing of St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, where the 35-year-old has been held in secure custody since the end of his trial for second-degree murder in 2024. House pleaded not guilty, though both sides agreed he killed Pender outside the winemaker’s cottage near Selkirk in Haldimand County in...
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‘Our culture being represented’: Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish Nations gear up for FIFA World Cup
By Abby Luciano, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Shore News It’s hard for Chris Overes not to get excited about soccer. He practically grew up on the soccer field, starting to play in Lynn Valley at age five and continuing on through high school. “Soccer was what one could afford over hockey, and I’m glad I did because I loved it,” he said. Now 58, Overes still loves the sport, watching the FIFA World Cup when it comes every four years. So when he saw the opportunity to design a jersey for the səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) with his daughter Tamia Overes, he couldn’t resist. “Being able to create a jersey is exciting because it’s the world’s biggest sport, so how can one not be overly stoked?” he said. Designing the...
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Beaver sculptures welcome tourists in downtown Toronto ahead of World Cup
By Ritika Dubey Four-foot-tall rodents have taken over downtown Toronto. Some lurk under trees, while others peer through office tower windows or stand guard near busy intersections. It’s hard to miss these colourful beaver statues with wide grins and a soccer ball clutched under their right paw if you happen to stroll through the eastern downtown neighbourhood of Old Town Toronto. The installations are a part of an artistic scavenger hunt running as Canada’s largest city prepares to host World Cup soccer matches this week. And no two beavers look the same. One wears the Brazilian flag. Another is painted with a view of the Toronto skyline. And yet another sports the classic red-and-black Canadian plaid. Visitors sit around the Canada beaver sculpture in a park in Toronto, Friday,...
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Inuit group calls for overhaul of Nutrition North, poverty reduction frameworks
By Alessia Passafiume The organization representing Inuit in Canada says the federal government program meant to subsidize the high cost of food in the region, isn’t working and should be scrapped. The call to shut down Nutrition North is part of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami’s new poverty reduction strategy, set to be released Tuesday. The report says the program has failed to improve food security in Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homelands, and that its fragmented approach is not fully aligned with Inuit priorities. “It’s a scattershot approach in a policy environment that is begging for specific intervention,” ITK president Natan Obed told The Canadian Press. “We want to take back control more of this space and say, ‘If the government of Canada is going to spend a dollar on poverty reduction,...
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Brantford Police Arrest Man After Suspicious Incident Involving Teenage Girl
By Alex Murray Writer Brantford Police Service (BPS) arrested and charged a man on June 6 following a suspicious incident involving a teenaged girl on the morning of Friday, June 5, 2026. After the incident was reported on Friday, BPS sought assistance in identifying their suspect from anyone who might have witnessed the incident. Around 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., a teenage girl was walking near Brock Street and Colborne Street East when she was accosted by an adult male who engaged her in conversation. The youth did not enter the adult male’s vehicle and was able to leave the area safely. A later report said the man also grabbed the girl’s shoulder during the interaction. On June 6, BPS said they arrested a 28-year-old man from Paris and charged...
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House of Commons passes bill criminalizing forced sterilization
By Canadian Press Staff The House of Commons has passed a long-awaited law criminalizing forced or coerced sterilization. The law states that sterilization without legal consent constitutes aggravated assault, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. Survivors and advocates have been pushing for a change to the Criminal Code since 2015. The Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice estimates as many as 15,000 Indigenous people have been sterilized without their consent since the 1890s, some as recently as last year. Some physician groups, including the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, warned earlier this spring that the bill could cause doctors to worry about how they treat patients in an emergency. The bill was put forward in the Senate last year by Sen. Yvonne Boyer and now...
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The Key First Nation to elect new chief and council
By Bastien MacLean, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kamsack Times There are four candidates for chief and 24 candidates running for five council spots for The Key First Nation. All of the incumbent councillors are running again. Current Chief Clinton Key is also running for a council spot. Election day is June 12. Advance polls were held on June 2 in Vancouver at the Indian and Métis Friendship Center, June 4 at the Radisson Hotel in Edmonton and June 6 at the Ramada Downtown Hotel in Regina. There is one ballot for the position of chief, and a separate ballot where electors may vote for up to five council candidates. Candidates for chief are: Dustin Dayan Brass, Percy O’Soup, Clarence Papequash and Ron Papequash. Candidates for council are: Ferlyn Brass, Jay-Cee...
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Fort Pelly-Livingstone Museum unveils Red River Cart pavilion
By Bastien MacLean, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kamsack Times A model Red River cart built by Kelly and Armand Jerome of St. Northbert, Man. is now on permanent display at the museum. “The Red River Cart was a simple conveyance developed by the Métis people for use in their settlement of [the] Red River area”, per an informative signboard at the display. “The Red River cart was constructed using basic materials, oversized wheels, [it was] small but could carry heavy loads” said Donald Budz, president of the Fort Pelly-Livingstone Museum board. The settlers followed several trails, some which dipped south “into Pembina, North Dakota, then onto St. Paul, Minnesota”, while others followed a northern trail that went to Fort Pelly through Fort Qu’Appelle. This is “how the settlers moved around...
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What happens when the world’s breadbaskets start failing simultaneously?
By Ekamjot Dhillon, Phd Student, Global Governance, University of Waterloo Agriculture today is a massive, globally interconnected industry. That interconnectivity has brought jobs and varied foods to people who might not otherwise be able to access them. However, like many other industries today, agriculture is dependent on a small number of key regions that support a vast network. What made the modern food system seem resilient was never abundance alone. It was geography. Regions like the North American Prairies, Ukrainian Steppe and northern India grow much of the crops that feed humans and livestock. The system works because crop failures are expected to be local, not simultaneous. If one breadbasket region fails to produce one year, another could cover the shortfall. The Earth itself provides a kind of buffer, but...
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Feds planning evacuation centres in advance of wildfire season
By Nick Murray The federal government says it’s helping to set up evacuation centres across the country for people fleeing wildfires. At a recent news conference in Ottawa, Emergency Preparedness Minister Eleanor Olszewski said Ottawa would work with the provinces and territories to choose locations for the evacuation centres. “That’s something that we’re working on in conjunction with a number of provinces, is a plan for where some set evacuation centres could be so that they are ready, that they’re an appropriate size,” she said on May 28. Last year’s wildfire season was the second-worst on record, with nearly nine million hectares consumed — larger than the area of New Brunswick and P.E.I. combined and more than double the 10-year average. Olszewski said having evacuation centres in place would help...
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Gov. Gen. Louise Arbour’s first speech, in full
Former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour was sworn in Monday as Canada’s 31st Governor General. Here are the remarks she delivered during her installation ceremony in Ottawa, provided by Rideau Hall: — Dear Canadians. I am deeply honoured to stand before you here today. These halls were built on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation, a proud people who have cared for these lands and enriched them with their culture for millennia. We are gathered today in this Senate Chamber, where careful scrutiny is applied to the laws that will shape our future. Like the Supreme Court of Canada and the House of Commons, the Senate contributes to the dialogue through which Canadian democracy is expressed. I want to thank Prime Minister Carney, and His Majesty King Charles...
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What are we going to do with all the old fishing boats?
By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Tofino, B.C. – Down the dock of broken dreams lies a fleet of old fishing boats that are the end of their life – and there’s next to no money left in federal or provincial coffers to do anything with them. The federal Abandoned Boats Program (ABP), which was launched in 2017 with an initial investment of $6.4 million, was not renewed. “There is no more funding for ABP at this time,” said Transport Canada in a May 29 email. The program disposed of 223 abandoned and wrecked vessels in Canadian waters. Provincially, the Clean Coast, Clean Waters initiative (CCCW) that funded derelict vessel removal projects in Tofino, Ucluelet, Opitsaht, Tla-o-qui-aht and Ahousaht, removing a combined 65 vessels from these communities, is...
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Nunavut asks Ottawa for higher fishing quotas and commercial access to waters off Baffin Island
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Community Services Minister Craig Simailak said he’s asked the federal fisheries minister for higher fishing quotas and commercial access to waters off Baffin Island. Simailak made the comments in response to a question from Pangnirtung MLA Johnny Mike on May 28 in the legislative assembly. “We’ve been meeting with Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ federal minister, and imploring to her office that we need a better, fairer share of quotas off of our adjacent waters,” said Simailak. “I have explained to her that it brings employment. It brings a better economy.” On Dec. 9, 2025, the federal government proposed awarding Greenland halibut — or turbot — fishing licences on the Davis Strait between Baffin Island and Greenland to the Nova...
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Treaty 8 chiefs warn independence vote could result in ‘civil disobedience’
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News ( Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta’s grand chief has written an open letter to Premier Danielle Smith calling on her to cancel October’s referendum on whether to pursue a future independence referendum. “We state this plainly so that there can be no misunderstanding: there is no lawful path by which Alberta can pursue separation from Canada while bypassing the rights, consent, and constitutional status of Treaty 8 First Nations,” wrote Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi in the June 3 correspondence. “That consent has not been sought. It has not been given. Nor will it be given under duress or through any process designed to circumvent our constitutional rights.” On Oct. 19, Albertans will be asked: “Should Alberta remain a province...
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Nisga’a Nation says it wasn’t consulted on proposed pipeline routes
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Nisga’a Nation in northwestern B.C. says it hasn’t been consulted on proposed routes for a new tar sands pipeline that pass through its modern Treaty lands. On June 1, the CBC reported that Alberta’s government is examining three potential routes to B.C.’s northern coast for a new bitumen pipeline that Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed to designate as a priority project in his memorandum of understanding with Premier Danielle Smith. The story was based on documents, “which were shown to local community leaders during private consultations on the proposed project this spring,” wrote CBC business reporter Kyle Bakx. The Nisga’a Lisims Government issued a June 2 statement to clarify that it wasn’t part of these consultations. “We can confirm that...
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Cuba’s iconic antique cars sit idle as US energy blockade deepens fuel crisis
By Martin Silva Rey HAVANA (AP) — A worsening fuel crisis across Cuba is testing the island’s famed “almendrones,” the vintage American cars that serve as vital shared taxis and embody the island’s ingenuity and endurance. These days, many of the iconic gas-guzzling antique cars sit idle, casualties of fuel shortages that have gripped Cuba since January and that Cuban officials blame on a U.S. energy blockade. Outside his modest concrete-block home on a dirt road in Las Minas, a town of about 2,000 people on the outskirts of Havana, Diriel Valdez is restoring a 1951 Chevrolet Deluxe. The burgundy body is intact and the original engine still works. Finding fuel for it, however, is another matter. Valdez is among thousands of Cubans waiting for fuel through a government reservation...
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The Key First Nation to elect new chief and council
By Kamsack Times, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter There are four candidates for chief and 24 candidates running for five council spots for The Key First Nation. All of the incumbent councillors are running again. Current Chief Clinton Key is also running for a council spot. Election day is June 12. Advance polls were held on June 2 in Vancouver at the Indian and Métis Friendship Center, June 4 at the Radisson Hotel in Edmonton and June 6 at the Ramada Downtown Hotel in Regina. There is one ballot for the position of chief, and a separate ballot where electors may vote for up to five council candidates. Candidates for chief are: Dustin Dayan Brass, Percy O’Soup, Clarence Papequash and Ron Papequash. Candidates for council are: Ferlyn Brass, Jay-Cee Brass, Jesse-Thomas...
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Gov. Gen. Louise Arbour says learning from differences key to strong society
By David Baxter and Catherine Morrison Extreme polarization and consensus are dangerous and a better Canada can only be built through the “peaceful management” of our differences, Gov. Gen. Louise Arbour said Monday, in her first speech as the King’s representative in Canada. The former Supreme Court justice said our ability to coexist peacefully, despite our differences, is critical to maintaining a lawful, rules-based society. “It is through our differences, and our fundamental right to express them, that we will nourish critical thinking, creativity and innovation,” Arbour said from the throne in the Senate chamber. “It is through our differences that we will build a common future.” Arbour, 79, said it is important to protect institutions where societal debates take place such as universities, the media, courtrooms, legislative spaces and...
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The Latest: Louise Arbour installed as Canada’s 31st Governor General
Former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour has been installed as Canada’s 31st Governor General, replacing Mary Simon. Today’s ceremony included a 21-gun salute, a poetry reading and musical performances by two Canadian artists. Here’s the latest on a historic day in Ottawa. All times are Eastern: 11:20 a.m. Soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee performs the national anthem as the ceremony concludes and Arbour walks out, smiling. 10:55 a.m. Arbour begins her speech, seated in the throne in the Senate, reading from the printed document inside a brown portfolio. She thanks now former governor general Mary Simon for her “remarkable service,” after which the audience gives Simon a standing ovation. Simon, clearly touched, smiles softly and at one point puts her hand over her heart in gratitude. Arbour says both extreme polarization and...
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