Ottawa outlines details of $600M for CanCon in latest budget
By Anja Karadeglija The federal government has released details on how its promised $600 million for Canadian content will be spent, and the Canada Media Fund is getting the largest chunk. The fund will receive $213.4 million that the government says will support the industry in a variety of ways, including through production and promotion of content. Various independent production funds will receive $185.1 million and the independent local news fund is getting $80 million of that sum. Other allocations include $67 million for the Canada Music Fund, $51 million for the Indigenous Screen Office and $68.5 million for Telefilm Canada. While the government promised the industry $600 million in annual funding last June, last week’s federal budget only allocated funding for this fiscal year. The direct funding is meant...
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Six candidates running in regional Nunavut Inuit association presidential election
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News The Kitikmeot Inuit Association election campaign is underway, with six candidates throwing their hats in the ring. Jeannie Ehaloak, Rosabelle Klengenberg, Lawrence Otokiak, Simon Komangat, Raymond Quqshuun Sr. and David Audlatak Nivingalok all registered before the Nov. 6 deadline. Ehaloak is from Cambridge Bay, where she was a mayor from 2011 to 2017 and an MLA for the community from 2017 to 2021. Klengenberg, also from Cambridge Bay, is on the board with Ilitaqsiniq, a culture-based, non-profit organization. She also served with the Nunavut Literacy Council. Otokiak is the director of the Red Fish Arts Society, the Kitikmeot Inuit Association’s social and cultural vice-president, and is also a resident of Cambridge Bay. Komangat, from Gjoa Haven, is a sculptor and...
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Q&A: Meet the new Kanesatake electoral officer
By Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door It’s been a long road, but Kanesatake should be heading into the new year having finally elected a new Council. The person responsible for making sure it goes as planned this time around is recently selected chief electoral officer Loretta J. Pete Lambert, a lawyer from Little Pine Cree Nation. The election is set for December 19, more than 16 months after previous chief electoral officer Graeme Drew shocked the community by cancelling the August 2, 2025, contest on the eve of election day, shocking the community and pushing Kanesatake into a full-blown governance crisis. In making his decision to suspend the poll – and in effect cancel the election – Drew cited his belief that there were several ineligible...
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Pacific Link Pipeline: Indigenous leaders challenge Ottawa’s Fast-Tracked Consultation timeline
By John Wirth, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News As the Prime Minister’s office fast-tracks the Pacific Link oil pipeline under new major projects legislation, First Nations leaders warn that a two-month consultation window compromises free, prior, and informed consent. In a bid to distance Canadian energy interests from the USA, PM Carney and Premier Danielle Smith announced that through the “Pacific Link oil pipeline,” Canada will have its first “National designation” from its major projects office. But not everyone embraces the news. The weight of it haunts the future of Indigenous communities’ access to clean drinking water and should not be rushed. Prime Minister Mark Carney eagerly pledged that his major projects agenda would not compromise Canada’s obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous...
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Native American women made history in tribal, state and federal elections
By Savannah Peters ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A third-grade field trip to the Navajo Nation Council sparked Crystalyne Curley’s political ambition when she witnessed a fiery debate erupt between two tribal lawmakers. “I thought to myself at a very young age, that’s where I want to be,” Curley said. On Election Day, Curley surpassed that childhood dream and broke a barrier she says she never imagined as a nine-year-old: She was elected the first woman president of the Navajo Nation. This week’s elections brought a wave of milestone victories, from the nation’s first Black female governor to the first openly gay man and first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. It also marked a turning point for Native American women, whose leadership in their families and communities has rarely translated...
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Attending the Arctic Circle Gathering as an Inuk Youth was transformative and inspiring Slugline: LJI-NL-arctic-circle-assembly-indigenous
By Frey Blake-Pijogge, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews The shaking of hands and small smiles welcome me to Reykjavík, Iceland. So does the rain. I meet the rest of the Arctic Indigenous Youth Cohort the evening before the annual Arctic Circle Assembly starts, all of us tired after journeying from our many time zones that tightly span the planet’s North. On the streets downtown, people are buzzing. Reykjavík feels alive. And everywhere in the city of nearly 150,000, I see signs about the global assembly, held from Oct. 8-10. Every October, the world’s northernmost capital city hosts the event, the largest annual gathering of its kind. Organizers say more than 2,500 people from 75 countries attended this year. Over three days, participants take in the event’s more-than-200 sessions — including...
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Mohawk Council of Kahnawake brings concerns to Carney
By Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) has sent an open letter to prime minister Mark Carney objecting to its exclusion from an international meeting in Tiohtià:ke and a failure to acknowledge the meeting took place on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory. The summit between Canada and representatives of the European Union (EU) came as part of Carney’s push to strengthen and diversify the country’s international partnerships in the face of an increasingly unpredictable United States and a damaging trade war. The letter highlights Council’s belief that Kahnawake was deprived of the opportunity to take part in discussions affecting its own interests and that a land acknowledgment should have been recited at a minimum. “I mean, you’re in the traditional territory of the...
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Kanesatake addresses still listed as Oka
By Fern Marmont, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door In recent years, Kanesatake residents have noticed their addresses being listed as Oka by online retailers and other organizations, yet the issue remains unresolved, with Canada Post saying discussions with the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) are still in the preliminary stages. The problem has left some community members frustrated that Kanesatake continues to be excluded from address databases, despite previous assurances that steps would be taken to correct the issue. John Harding, who first noticed the issue two years ago and brought it to the MCK’s attention, said his address is still automatically changed to Oka on various delivery platforms. “Nobody’s taken responsibility for it, and everybody said, ‘Well, we’re sorry, we’re going to fix it,’ but nothing’s been...
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Why Indigenous stewards are bringing ‘good fire’ back to Canada’s forests
By Jordan Omstead Spring comes to Leona Antoine’s field in patches. The snow retreats from the Nicola River valley, leaving islands of wet grass scattered across her family’s land. It’s an invitation to carry on a practice she first learned from her grandfather. Antoine, who is Syilx and Nlaka’pamux, remembers her grandfather’s joy when he would drop a match and watch a low, patchy fire creep across the field. The fire would clear away dead brush, allowing sunlight to reach the ground. Nutrients would get recycled back to the soil. Within weeks, fresh green grass would shoot up alongside huckleberries and other traditional medicines, she said. Antoine, a former forest firefighter and forestry consultant living in Merritt, B.C., calls it “good fire.” Her grandfather came of age when Indigenous communities...
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Dialogue about Inuit-specific housing funding underway, says Indigenous Services Minister
By Daron Letts, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Inuit-Nunangat’s share of billions of dollars in federal housing and infrastructure funding announced in Thursday‘s budget remains undetermined, but that could change soon, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty said Saturday in Iqaluit. “I think that we’ll have greater clarity in the next few days,” Gull-Masty said during a news conference at the Inuusirvik Community Wellness Hub. It marked the start of a two-day visit to the territory, her first trip to the eastern Arctic. In addition to her role as Indigenous Services minister, Gull-Masty is the Liberal MP for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, the sprawling Quebec riding that includes Nunavik. The Liberal government’s budget allocated $30 billion for First Nations housing and infrastructure as part of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new commitment to eliminate...
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No changes for Fort Frances residents following hydro dam operator rebrand
By Liam Oliver Neilson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Fort Frances Times The owner of the Fort Frances Generating Station has sold off its U.S. power assets and rebranded Canadian assets from FirstLight to Caelo Energy. Despite this change, Fort Francians can expect the same services with no difference in costs. The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), Caelo Energy’s parent company, announced Tuesday that it had completed the sale of its U.S. operations, including the FirstLight brand under which the Fort Frances plant had been held, to private equity firm Hull Street Energy. “We’ve gone through several name changes of whoever owns and operates that generating station, and there really should be no impact other than people’s email domain changing,” said Joerg Ruppenstein, president and CEO of Fort Frances...
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Experts decry Nunavut’s ‘Band-Aid’ approach to foster care
By Daron Letts, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News The broken child welfare system in Nunavut is rooted in the territorial government’s colonial approach to the problem, say some with years of experience with the system. “The taking of Indigenous children never stopped at residential school,” said Jeremy Young, who was separated from his mother as a child. “It only continued with foster care.” Young spoke to Nunatsiaq News about his experience in Nunavut’s foster care system Thursday in response to the latest report by the federal auditor general into the territorial government’s handling of youth in its care. Tuesday’s report, the fifth over 15 years, shows little has changed. The Nunavut government is failing to account for the number of children in its care, failing to do consistent check-ins...
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Manitoba Métis Federation ‘appalled’ at lack of Métis funding in federal budget
By Alessia Passafiume The Manitoba Métis Federation says it’s appalled by the lack of Métis-specific funding in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new budget. While First Nations and Inuit have targeted funding measures in the budget, Métis do not, despite having pressed the government for supports in areas like housing and health care. The only mention of Métis in the budget is in association with $806 million set aside over five years to implement a Trudeau-era Indigenous child welfare law. Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand says there is “no doubt” Red River Métis citizens will be angered by the fact that their needs were dismissed in the budget. He says the MMF met with ministers and the prime minister ahead of the budget and he’s disheartened his requests were not...
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Indigenous peoples have to remain vigilant on energy, says former First Nations chief
By Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman The former chief of the Assembly of First Nations for Quebec and Labrador said he believes the energy industry is heading in the right direction in terms of reconciliation. But Ghislain Picard added Indigenous nations have to make sure their rights are respected amid recent pushes for development by the federal government. “There is good momentum, but at the same time, First Nations have no choice but to remain vigilant,” he told The Canadian Press on Thursday at an energy conference in Montreal. The former chief, who is from the Innu community of Pessamit, praised an effort by Hydro-Québec in recent years to include First Nations and Inuit in energy development projects, citing the utility’s 2035 action plan, which lists creating partnerships with Indigenous communities as a...
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Winnipeg’s Centennial Concert Hall hall under fire: Indigenous teacher alleges racial profiling
By Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press An Anishinaabe teacher is calling for a formal apology saying she was singled out by security officers and repeatedly demanded to show ID at a school event hosted at the Centennial Concert Hall. Seven Oaks School Division administration has requested a meeting with management of the downtown venue to discuss allegations of racial profiling reported by the teacher and a colleague who witnessed security guards confront her. “I didn’t blend in, in their eyes. I didn’t fit their vision of what a professional teacher looks like,” Pamela Morrison told the Free Press about the moments that left her feeling “dumbfounded” and “othered” upon arriving at the concert hall Tuesday. Hundreds of Seven Oaks teachers gathered in downtown Winnipeg that morning...
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MLA elected to Government of Nunavut cabinet
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Cambridge Bay MLA Fred Pedersen was chosen to fill the cabinet vacancy on Nov. 5, but his ministerial portfolios were not announced. “That has not been determined yet,” said Joanna Awa, press secretary for Premier John Main. The election by his MLA peers comes two days after MLA Brian Koonoo resigned from his four ministerial portfolios of Energy, Environment, Language, and Culture and Heritage. Pedersen was first elected MLA in the October 2025 territorial election and previously served as the executive director of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association. Arviat South MLA Jamie Kablutsiak will now become deputy speaker of the legislative assembly, replacing Pedersen in that role. Koonoo becomes a member of the Standing Committee on Legislation, the Standing Committee on...
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Winnipeg’s Centennial Concert Hall hall under fire: Indigenous teacher alleges racial profiling
By Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press An Anishinaabe teacher is calling for a formal apology saying she was singled out by security officers and repeatedly demanded to show ID at a school event hosted at the Centennial Concert Hall. Seven Oaks School Division administration has requested a meeting with management of the downtown venue to discuss allegations of racial profiling reported by the teacher and a colleague who witnessed security guards confront her. “I didn’t blend in, in their eyes. I didn’t fit their vision of what a professional teacher looks like,” Pamela Morrison told the Free Press about the moments that left her feeling “dumbfounded” and “othered” upon arriving at the concert hall Tuesday. Hundreds of Seven Oaks teachers gathered in downtown Winnipeg that morning...
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CanCon, espionage and Trudeau’s archives: Highlights from the 2026 federal budget
The federal government has tabled the 2026 budget proposing $142.1 billion in new spending and projecting a steady decline in the deficit. Here are some highlights from the new fiscal plan. Support for northern communities The federal government is earmarking $610 million over four years for the Nutrition North subsidy program, which is meant to help offset high grocery prices in the North. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the organization that represents Inuit in Canada, says the program has failed to actually improve food security and reduce prices. A chunk of change for Canadian content The federal budget includes the government’s promised $600 million in funding for the cultural sector — but only for one year. In June, Ottawa announced it would provide $600 million in annual funding for Canadian content to...
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Budget offers $4B in cultural funding for museums, ice rinks, CBC
By Anja Karadeglija The Liberal government says it is providing “unprecedented” support in the new federal budget for culture and recreation through $4 billion in funding over five years. “Culture is foundational to a strong, proud and sovereign Canada,” says the budget document tabled Thursday. The measures include a total of $783.1 million on a cash basis over five years for Canadian museums. The budget says the money will go to support Canada’s national museums, the National Battlefields Commission, the National Arts Centre and Library and Archives Canada. It is to “help repair and renew aging facilities, protect national collections, and sustain the exhibitions, performances, and services that connect Canadians to our history and culture.” The budget is also making admission to Canada’s national museums free for those under 25....
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Five things: What the budget means for your cost of living
By David Baxter The federal budget contains a lot of government jargon like “supercycles” and “mega deductions” that might mean little to people struggling with the high cost of living. Finance Minister Francois Philippe Champagne said Thursday the budget’s overarching goal is to strengthen both Canada’s sovereignty and the economy by boosting productivity rates that have sagged for decades. The idea is that a stronger economy will help many Canadians with day-to-day affordability challenges, but there are some targeted affordability policies in the 511 page budget document. Bigger Groceries and Essentials Benefit The Groceries and Essential Benefit, a rebranded version of the GST credit, is one of the government’s key affordability measures. The budget proposes a one-time 50 per cent top-up to the benefit for the 2026-27 fiscal year, that...
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