Climate change made Ontario, N.W.T. fire conditions roughly twice as likely: report
By Jordan Omstead The conditions underlying intense July wildfires in Ontario and Northwest Territories were made roughly twice as likely due to human-induced climate change, said a new report published Thursday. The report by an international team of scientists says what were once rare fire conditions are now increasingly likely today due to climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels. “The geographic spread of these fires is scary and shows that despite preparedness from wildfire governance, adaptation alone is not enough,” said Theodore Keeping, a co-author and Imperial College London research associate. “We need to rapidly move away from fossil fuels to avoid events like this becoming even more of a reality.” The World Weather Attribution report says early observations indicate the hot, dry and windy conditions fuelling...
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Canada’s justice system enhances protections for intimate partner violence victims
By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Last month, significant changes to Canada’s Criminal Code were passed into law to strengthen protections for victims of gender-based violence, and to keep children safe from predators. The Protecting Victims Act (Bill C-16) received Royal Assent on June 18. Most of the changes came into force on July 18. “In general, all of the changes that are in this announcement are designed to provide more recognition of vulnerable victims and their experience of the criminal legal system and trying to mitigate that with support,” said Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director of the Vancouver-based Battered Women’s Support Services. The law gives the justice system stronger tools to intervene earlier to sexual violence, gender-based, and intimate partner violence before it turns fatal, according to...
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Iqaluit hunters prepare to net bowhead whale
By Daron Letts, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News There will be “maktaaq everywhere” on Iqaluit’s shore on Aug. 14 if members of the Amaruq Hunters and Trappers Association manage to catch their first bowhead in four years. An unidentified member of the Amaruq Hunters and Trappers Association prepares whale meat following a hunt of a bowhead whale near Iqaluit in August 2022. The association is planning another bowhead hunt next week. (Photo by Bill Williams, Special to Nunatsiaq News) Twenty-four hunters of all ages are set to take part in the hunt next week. “We have lots of people involved — a lot of young people,” said Naulaq Inookie, chair of the association’s qalugiaq planning committee, which is co-ordinating the hunt. The last bowhead hunt in Iqaluit was in...
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Terrace Bay station will improve EMS response: Muir
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY — A new and “modern” EMS station in Terrace Bay will improve service and aid in recruitment of paramedics, Superior North EMS chief Shane Muir says. “We’re really excited about the new Terrace Bay station that’s going to be put up in the community, and it’s going to service the whole region,” he said in an interview Wednesday. Paramedics at the station, to be built at 1006 Highway 17, will respond to calls in communities including Schreiber, Rossport and Pays Plat First Nation as well its host township in “a hub model,” he said. Muir said paramedics will be housed in the area and the new building will have a gym and other facilities in addition to room for up...
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Climate change made Ontario, N.W.T. fire conditions roughly twice as likely: report
A new report says the conditions that fuelled July wildfires in Ontario and the Northwest Territories were made roughly twice as likely due to human-induced climate change. The report by an international team of scientists says what were once rare fire conditions are now increasingly likely today due to climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels. The World Weather Attribution report says early observations indicate the hot, dry and windy conditions underlying fires in the Northwest Territories could now be expected to occur every two to six years, and every six to 15 years in Ontario. In a world without human-caused climate change, the report suggests those conditions would have been much rarer, or less than once in 40 years. Early estimates suggest this is the worst wildfire...
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Nuu-chah-nulth’s 2026 Tlu-piich Games get underway with canoe races
By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Port Alberni, BC – Dozens of Nuu-chah-nulth athletes raced canoes across tiipis (Canal Beach) at John Douglas Park in the sweltering Alberni Valley peak summer sun, as the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) officially opened the 2026 Tlu-piich Games on Aug. 5. Wearing a bright fluorescent green Tlu-piich Games T-shirt, rookie coordinator Brevin Charleson joked that he took the “heat” from a sticky 28C day and the “heat” from all the participants with ease. “I just sweat it off. The people and the heat. Just go with the flow and things work out,” said Charleson. “Day One was awesome. It went exactly how we wanted it to go. We were out here in the park on the beach by the water, so a...
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Treaty 8 First Nations comes out of 2026 AGM with new name, water agreement with Dene Nation
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News (ANNews) – Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta has voted unanimously to henceforth be known as Treaty 8 Sovereign Nations, which the organization attributes directly to the “unprecedented political climate being fostered by the current Alberta government.” Treaty 8 Sovereign Nations announced its new name the day after the 2026 Honouring Our Treaty Gathering and Annual General Meeting wrapped up on July 30 on Woodland Cree First Nation territory. A July 31 news release from Treaty 8 Sovereign Nations states that the modified name better “reflects and reinforces the sovereignty held by every First Nation throughout Treaty No. 8 Territory,” noting that the Treaty was signed in 1899 – six years before Alberta came into existence. “This historic change sends...
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Brantford Police Seeking Public’s Help In Locating Missing Man
BRANTFORD, ONT-The Brantford Police Service (BPS) is looking for the public’s help to locate a missing 50-year-old man. The man, identified by BPS as “Mark,” is 5’6” and about 130 pounds with a thin build and ear-length blonde/grey hair with a blonde/grey beard. Mark also has what BPS described as an “abstract tattoo” on his left bicep, though a current clothing description was not available. Mark was last seen on July 27, 2026, on the famed Sunset Boulevard in the affluent Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California. According to BPS, he may have been in contact with friends and family in the Brantford area, which led to the call for the Brantford public’s help in locating Mark. His family and friends are very concerned about his well-being, BPS said,...
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Brantford Police Seeking Witnesses After Injured Man Dies
BRANTFORD, ONT-Following an incident that resulted in the death of a man, the Brantford Police Service (BPS) is seeking witnesses and footage from nearby dash or doorbell cameras. At around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, BPS was dispatched to the area of Park Road North and Dunsdon Street in the Brier Park neighbourhood in northern Brantford. BPS located an injured man on the roadway upon their arrival on the scene. The man was transported to hospital where he was pronounced deceased following life-saving efforts. BPS investigators are attempting to determine the circumstances of the incident. To assist in the investigation, BPS is asking anyone who was in the area at the time, or who may have seen something, to contact police. BPS said investigators are particularly interested in...
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N.B. police seize 4.3 million contraband cigarettes in four weeks, officials say
By Eli Ridder New Brunswick officials say police have seized millions of contraband cigarettes representing $1.1 million in lost tax revenue, after the provincial Liberal government boosted funding aimed at shutting down illicit tobacco and cannabis sales. Officers from various police agencies intercepted more than 4.3 million illicit cigarettes in three major investigations during a four-week period in May and June, authorities said Wednesday. Justice and Public Safety Department peace officers say they have seized more than eight million contraband cigarettes in New Brunswick so far during 2026, worth approximately $3.72 million in missed tax revenue for the provincial and federal governments. Public Safety Minister Robert Gauvin said the seizures are not only about taking illegal products off the streets and recovering tax revenue for the government, but also tackling...
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Wildfire destruction mounts in B.C. Interior, structures lost on 120 more properties
Wildfire destruction in British Columbia’s Interior continues to mount, with authorities outside Clinton saying structures have been destroyed on about 120 properties, adding to the loss of about 230 homes near Okanagan Lake over the weekend. Colton Davies, an information officer with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, says some properties have lost multiple structures, with the destruction stemming from the massive Pear Lake fire that forced the evacuation of Clinton and surrounding areas on July 24. Davies says about 1,500 properties in the district remain under evacuation order due to the fire, and some of their residents have suffered “tragic” losses. He says the district is still working to determine the exact number of buildings destroyed in the district, while the village’s Mayor Roland Stanke said last week that damage...
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Six Nations Firefighters beat the heat with Sunset Splash
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First Nations Chiefs of Police: “We are not a pilot program”
By Turtle Island News staff Crime, and especially organized crime, continues seeping into First Nation communities across Canada while the government sits on its hands. That’s why the First Nations Chiefs of Police Association (FNCPA) is calling on all levels of government to take steps to allow First Nations to take the lead in combatting the ongoing crisis. Many First Nations have declared states of emergency because of organized crime and other public safety threats over the past year. Sayisi Dene First Nation in northern Manitoba declared one in June 2026 and the Anishinabek Nation made a declaration in November 2025. Ginoogaming and Long Lake #58 First Nations in northwestern Ontario declared a joint state of emergency in May. The declaration was made following an increase in criminal activities from outside...
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No date set for Iroquois Lodge elders move to Brantford lodge
By Alex Murray Writer Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC ) still has no firm date for the relocation of Iroquois Lodge residents from Delhi to Brantford. Six Nations CEO Debra Jonathan could not provide SNEC with a firm relocation date at its July 28th council meeting. Jonathan said the Ministry of Long-Term Care is still waiting on the City of Brantford to sign off on a few outstanding reports before the move from Delhi to the Foxridge facility in Brantford can happen. “I know there’s a lot of questions about when our residents will be moving from the Delhi site to the Brantford Foxridge site,” Jonathan told council. “Once those [reports] are received and reviewed then the move can begin.” Jonathan said they had hoped the reports would have been...
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One year since Kanesatake election halted
By Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door Not many Kanehsata’kehró:non predicted the community would go an entire year without an election after the community’s general election was suspended last year. On August 1, 2025, chief electoral officer Graeme Drew wrote in a public statement that flaws in the electoral code led to him putting a stop to the election scheduled for August 2. The decision, in the short-term, upended the community’s governance and threw into question how the community could move forward politically. Now, in the long-term, the community still grapples with ripple effects of the unknown. A Federal Court order allowed an interim caretaker council made up of five outgoing Council chiefs to govern under a limited mandate while a judicial review, which will answer how...
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Six Nations Elected Council Briefs
NDP want to set up info table SNEC also heard a brief presentation from Erin Green, a Six Nations member and summer intern with Ontario’s NDP party. She formally requested permission to set up an NDP outreach table at Veteran’s Park in August. Green, her regional organizer, and other NDP volunteers and interns would talk to residents, answer questions they have about the NDP, gather feedback on Indigenous issues, and gauge community interest in the NDP. However, Jonathan said this was a request that should first be reviewed by the Six Nations Ethics Committee to ensure community interests are protected prior to SNEC approval. She offered to connect Green with Rachel VanEvery, Six Nations Executive Director of Data, Analytics, and Insights, to get that process going. WATERMAIN BREAK Jonathan said...
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SNEC To Begin Financial Management Board Certification To Access Flexible, Long-Term
Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) could soon access more flexible, long-term funding after they approved a recommendation to complete the Financial Management Board (FMB) certification process. The recommendation, which was made at SNEC’s general council meeting on July 28, also called for Six Nations to work with its Finance Committee and the First Nations FMB to develop a Financial Administration Law. The Finance Committee reccomendation said the moves would position SNEC to access “one of the most competitive sources of long-term financing available to First Nations in Canada.” This would strengthen SNGR’s, “ability to pursue transformative economic development opportunities that generate sustainable wealth for current and future generations,” read the recommendation. The funding source in question is Indigenous Service Canada’s (ISC) New Fiscal Relationship Grant (NFR), a flexible, predictable, 10-year...
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First Nations Policing a right!
While Canada and Ontario play with funding formulas First Nations people are dying. And it’s all because of a dollar figure. The time is long over-due for both Canada and Ontario to stop the violence and death mounting in First Nation communities across Canada created largely because First Nations Policing has not been declared an essential service. That’s right. In every city and town across the country policing is an emergency service with funding from various levels of government paying the bills. Not in First Nation communities. Not in communities where First Nations Police are combating increases in organized crime as criminals learn of the funding vacuum and ability to hide in plain sight. Instead, Ottawa treats it as a discretionary program. You know. You can almost hear the bureaucratic...
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Today in History
Aug 4 In 1998, the Nisga’a First Nation signed a historic treaty with the federal and B.C. governments. The treaty gave them exclusive rights to resources in the 2,000-square kilometre area along the Nass River in B.C., a cash settlement and a self-designed system of government. In 2010, 20 first-degree murder charges against serial killer Robert Pickton were formally stayed after the Crown announced it would not pursue the rest of its case against the former farmer because he already faced the stiffest sentence available in Canadian law. He was convicted in December 2007 of second-degree murder of six other women and sentenced to 25 years in prison before being eligible for parole. The Supreme Court of Canada upheld those convictions. Aug 6 In 2009, Donald Marshall Jr., the man...
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UNDER THE NORTHERN SKY: The Ring Of Forest Fire
By Xavier Kataquapit Forest fires have always been a deep worry for those of us who live in the far north of Ontario. We are surrounded by endless forests and we know full well what it means when these trees start to burn in the peak heat of summer. I remember a few hot summers in the 1980s, when I was growing up in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast, seeing large columns of smoke rising west of our community. It is a frightful thing to know that you are isolated from the world and that fire might reach your home. I also lived and worked as a writer for several years in Iroquois Falls, in northeastern Ontario and I learned from many of their community...
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