Thomas inks three-year contract with Halifax Thunderbirds
By Sam Laskaris Writer Six Nations member Brody Thomas has been given an opportunity to prove he belongs in the big leagues. The Halifax Thunderbirds, who compete in the professional National Lacrosse League (NLL) signed Thomas to a three-year contract earlier this month. Thomas, who is 22, was considered a free agent. His actual NLL draft year was a year ago but he wasn’t selected by any team then. Thomas started turning some heads this season with his solid defensive play with the Six Nations Rivermen, the local Senior B men’s squad. “There was always scouts around during the season as there always is,” Thomas said. Those talent seekers were also at the national Presidents Cup tournament held in August in Edmonton. Thomas and his Six Nations teammates competed at...
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Brown registers hat trick to lead Ironmen to victory over host Jets
By Sam Laskaris Writer Mitch Brown picked a rather opportune moment to accomplish a feat which he had last fulfilled when he was a teenager. Brown, a 33-year-old forward with the Six Nations Ironmen, completed his hat trick this past Friday, scoring with just 13 seconds left in the game to lift his squad to a 6-5 victory over the host Strathroy Jets. It was the first road win of the year for the Ironmen, who are competing in their second season in the Northern Premier Hockey League (NPHL). The W also boosted Six Nations’ record to 2-0. The Ironmen had also beat the Akwesasne Wild 8-5 in their home opener staged on Oct. 4. Brown originally thought that overtime would be required to settle Friday’s match in Strathroy. “At...
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Six Nations teen has adjusted to Junior A ranks with Burlington squad
By Sam Laskaris Writer Though he only turned 16 earlier this month, Six Nations member Calder Anderson is making an impact in his first season of junior hockey. Anderson is a forward with the Burlington Cougars, a Junior A squad that competes in the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL). He’s participating in a circuit that includes players who are turning 21 this season. But that hasn’t prevented Anderson from making contributions to the Cougars. He scored six goals and added one assist in his first 16 regular season matches with the Burlington club. “It’s been pretty good,” Anderson said of his rookie season in the OJHL, this past Friday after the Cougars’ 5-4 overtime win against the Oakville Blades. “A bit of adjustment going from guys all my age to...
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Six Nations annual fall festival brought in crowds
There was a big turnout at the Six Nations Groups’ annual Fall Festival at Chiefswood Park on Saturday including pumpkin painting, rides, live music, a petting zoo, face painting, vendors and raffle prizes. The festival is organized annually by the SNG (fromerly Six Nations Economic Development Corp) giving community members a chance to stroll through the park, enjoy activities from climbing high to decorating pumpkins or shopping....
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A First Nation community in Canada is using a data center to preserve its heritage
By Kelvin Chan WIIKWEMKOONG UNCEDED TERRITORY, Ontario (AP) — For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples have passed down their traditions and culture through oral storytelling. Now, a Canadian Indigenous community is using a data center to help preserve its heritage. The Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory in rural Ontario installed a small data center as it modernized its recordkeeping systems. Among the digital files it holds are video recordings of Anishinaabe speaking their native language. “Our language is one of the biggest things that most First Nations across the country are losing,” said Wiikwemkoong Chief Tim Ominika. “We will have our knowledge keepers, our language speakers who may be moving on to the spirit world, but their legacy is still going to be protected for many years to come by having our...
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‘More than just a headline:’ Winnipeg family seeks public inquiry into police death
By Brittany Hobson First Nations leadership and the family of a First Nations girl fatally shot by Winnipeg police are renewing calls for a public inquiry into police-related deaths of Indigenous people. Eishia Hudson was shot on April 8, 2020, after police responded to reports of a liquor store robbery and chased a stolen Jeep. Police have said the stolen vehicle “rammed” into a police cruiser and hit other cars during the pursuit before shots were fired. An inquest into the 16-year-old’s death, which concluded on Friday, heard an officer fired two shots at Eishia because he believed the lives of fellow officers were in danger. William Hudson, Eishia’s father, is pushing for the province to call a public inquiry to examine the broader issue of police-related deaths and how...
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Inquest into death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet hears and sees woman’s final moments
By Paola Loriggio Regis Korchinski-Paquet expressed difficulty breathing and reported losing control in a fight with her family in a series of agitated 911 calls shortly before she fell to her death from a 24th-floor balcony while police were inside her home, a coroner’s inquest heard Thursday. Some of the 29-year-old Afro-Indigenous woman’s final moments were laid bare as jurors watched a compilation video that overlaid the recordings of five 911 calls and two police microphones with CCTV footage from the hallway outside her home and video from a police cruiser on May 27, 2020. The calls made to 911 over roughly half an hour late that afternoon, including three by Korchinski-Paquet herself, brought six police officers and two paramedics to the west Toronto building in short succession. Korchinski-Paquet’s mother,...
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Winnipeg family seeks public inquiry after inquest into teen’s fatal police shooting
By Brittany Hobson The family of a First Nations girl fatally shot by Winnipeg police is renewing calls for a public inquiry into police-related deaths of Indigenous people. Eishia Hudson was killed in 2020 after the vehicle she was driving was involved in a liquor store robbery and police chase. The inquest into the 16-year-old’s death, which concluded last week, heard an officer fired two shots at Eishia because he believed the lives of his fellow officers were in danger. William Hudson, Eishia’s father, says he is pushing for the province to call a public inquiry to examine the broader issue of police-related deaths and how Manitoba investigates them. The inquest examined whether the use of force was appropriate and whether systemic racism played a role in Eishia’s death because...
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Sarnia officer honoured as Hero Beyond the Badge in Aamjiwnaang
By Blake Ellis, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Petrolia Lambton Independent A Sarnia police officer has been honoured for his role in Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous people. When Const. Tyler Callander was selected to be the first community officer in Aamjiwnaang First Nation, he didn’t realize his role is connected to Truth and Reconciliation. “Now that I am here and I am invested and it is part of who I am now,” said Callander. “I consider what I do everyday part of that Truth and Reconciliation.” Callander received the Heroes of the Badge Award on Monday at Aamjiwnaang First Nation. The award recognizes members of Ontario’s policing community whose contributions go beyond the normal expectation of their role. Sarnia Police Service has provided policing services to Aamjiwnaang First Nation under...
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Checkpoint controversy deepens as Bloodvein members call for removal
By Steven Sukkau, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Sun The Manitoba Wildlife Federation is renewing its call for a controversial highway checkstop near Bloodvein River First Nation to be moved onto reserve land, as a dispute over hunting access takes a new turn following allegations that a provincial minister offered economic development funding while seeking the checkpoint’s relocation. Bloodvein Chief Lisa Young told the Winnipeg Free Press that Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures Minister Ian Bushie offered up to $250,000 for economic development during a private conversation in September, while also indicating the First Nation would receive a letter directing it to move the checkstop off a provincial highway. Young said she felt she was being pressured and interpreted the offer as a bribe. Bushie denied offering money in exchange...
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A First Nation community in Canada is using a data center to preserve its heritage
By Kelvin Chan WIIKWEMKOONG UNCEDED TERRITORY, Ontario (AP) — For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples have passed down their traditions and culture through oral storytelling. Now, a Canadian Indigenous community is using a data center to help preserve its heritage. The Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory in rural Ontario installed a small data center as it modernized its recordkeeping systems. Among the digital files it holds are video recordings of Anishinaabe speaking their native language. “Our language is one of the biggest things that most First Nations across the country are losing,” said Wiikwemkoong Chief Tim Ominika. “We will have our knowledge keepers, our language speakers who may be moving on to the spirit world, but their legacy is still going to be protected for many years to come by having our...
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Group assisting long-planned review of firearms — including SKS — has yet to meet
By Jim Bronskill An advisory group that’s supporting a federal review of firearms classification — including a look at the SKS rifle — is expected to hold its first meeting this fall, almost a year after Ottawa announced the review. Public Safety Canada says members of the Firearms Classification Technical Advisory Group, appointed to provide expert advice to the department and the RCMP, “will be meeting later this fall.” The Liberal government has faced fresh questions about the SKS after a document filed in a U.S. court said the killer in the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., mass shooting talked about having an SKS gun. Eighteen-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed eight people in the Feb. 10 Tumbler Ridge attack before taking her own life. The RCMP has declined to release details about...
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New Inuk recruit talks benefits, challenges of policing in his hometown
By Dominique Gené, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Cst. Jerry Patterson has always wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. His father Allen Patterson served as a police officer with the Kativik Regional Police, now known as the Nunavik Police Service, for seven years. “I spent my entire youth watching my dad be a cop,” Jerry Patterson said. “It inspired me to pursue that path.” Now, Patterson is one of three Inuit officers in the Nunavik Police Service, which is working to increase Inuit recruitment. The number of Inuit officers has remained at three since at least last year, despite the hiring of Patterson in July, due to another Inuk officer who left the service a few months ago and has since taken a position with another police service....
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New Inuk recruit talks benefits, challenges of policing in his hometown
By Dominique Gené, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Cst. Jerry Patterson has always wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. His father Allen Patterson served as a police officer with the Kativik Regional Police, now known as the Nunavik Police Service, for seven years. “I spent my entire youth watching my dad be a cop,” Jerry Patterson said. “It inspired me to pursue that path.” Now, Patterson is one of three Inuit officers in the Nunavik Police Service, which is working to increase Inuit recruitment. The number of Inuit officers has remained at three since at least last year, despite the hiring of Patterson in July, due to another Inuk officer who left the service a few months ago and has since taken a position with another police service....
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Mother of First Nation woman who couldn’t get medical transport and died seeks reform
By Liam Casey and Alessia Passafiume If only. It’s a phrase that plays over and over again in Eva Mamakwa’s mind. If only her daughter, Miranda Mamakwa, had made it to at least one followup appointment after open-heart surgery, she may be alive. If only Indigenous Services Canada’s non-insured health benefits program had arranged travel for just one of her four missed appointments, Miranda may be alive. The 31-year-old mother of three from Fort Severn First Nation died on Sept. 8, weeks after asking people on social media to seek action in case of her death. “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Eva Mamakwa said in an interview with The Canadian Press from her home before falling quiet, overcome with emotion. She is speaking out about her...
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Nunavut Inuit association holding election for two vice president positions
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Two vice-presidential positions are up for grabs at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) in a Dec. 14 election. Nominees can put their name forward starting on Nov. 2, and nominations close on Nov. 6. A criminal background check must be submitted as part of the nomination process. Inuit enrolled in the Nunavut Agreement who are over 16-years-old are eligible to vote. Currently, Paul Irngault is the only vice-president at NTI, but the land claims organization has historically had three vice-presidents. In 2025, NTI decided to reinstate a vice-president of finance position, responsible for serving as secretary-treasurer, chair of Inuit Social and Cultural Development Advisory Committee, Contribution Committee, Contracting Committee, and Igluvut Corporation. That role had been incorporated into the presidential position...
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Report urges ‘policy reset’ for Canada’s telecom sector to help operators invest
By Sammy Hudes A new report says the focus of Canada’s telecommunications policy should shift from lowering consumer prices to creating better conditions for companies to invest in their networks at a time when traditional revenues are plateauing and capital costs are expected to rise. The paper from U.K.-based Global System for Mobile Communications Association calls for a “policy reset” that prioritizes affordable and predictable spectrum pricing, support for 5G and AI infrastructure such as data centres, and improved regulatory certainty. It also recommends continued public-private funding to bolster rural and Indigenous connectivity. “Canada is reaching an inflection point in terms of telecoms policy,” said Niall Magennis, senior policy director for the association, which represents more than 1,000 mobile operators and related businesses across the world. “We have to remember...
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Canadians step up to give blood after fire at Alberta military base kills four
By David Baxter Canadian Blood Services says it has been “deeply moved” by a surge in public support following a deadly fire at a military base in Wainwright, Alta. The non-profit reported Monday that it saw a fourfold increase in the number of appointment bookings for blood donations on Sunday. Close to a dozen people were at the Edmonton Canadian Blood Services branch at opening Monday morning. Some had appointments booked before the fire, while others rushed to claim spots that were quickly being filled. Michael Harper said he arrived Monday morning hoping they would take his donation as a walk-in appointment. Harper said he was an army reservist and his unit served in the same armoury as Sgt. Morgan Wong — one of soldiers who died in Saturday’s fire....
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Maple leaf love: Albertans vote strongly to stay in Canada
By Jack Farrell O Canada, Alberta is staying put. In a historic referendum Monday, voters marked their ballots in overwhelming numbers to remain in the country that made Alberta a province 121 years ago. In early returns, about 76 per cent of Albertans said yes to Confederation, while 24 per cent said they wanted the province to hold a second, binding referendum on leaving. Both Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney lauded the result. “Thank you, Alberta!” Smith wrote on social media. “Albertans have voted for a stronger Alberta in a united Canada.” Smith said she would give a TV address Tuesday night to detail where the province goes from here. Albertans have voted in droves to stay in Canada. The result was satisfying for the pro-Canada...
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