Ottawa’s focus groups report low awareness of federal deficit, budget updates
By Craig Lord The Liberal government is getting ready to table its 2026 budget on Thursday — but Ottawa’s own focus groups suggest Canadians aren’t watching the state of the federal purse too closely. Finance Canada commissioned market research firm Environics to host a series of roundtables with Canadians roughly a week after Ottawa tabled its spring economic update on April 28. Mid-year fiscal updates offer Canadians a glimpse of federal finances between budgets and sometimes include announcements of new items or spending priorities. Over the course of a week, Environics conducted 10 online focus groups across the country involving 73 people, divided between younger and older Canadians. A final report from the focus groups was delivered by Environics on June 4, a month before the federal government embarked on...
Register
Volunteers move thousands of migrating salmon by hand after DFO abandons project
By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Barkley Sound, B.C. – Thornton Creek Hatchery manager Dave Hurwitz is piping mad. This fall, Hurwitz witnessed a crew from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) shut down a salmon enhancement project at Salmon Creek in Barkley Sound during a critical time in the chum river-run. Instead of completing the job, he said DFO left a migratory barrier at the site – and a lot of unanswered questions. “How could they leave this stream to die on the operating table? What was the showstopper? I’d like to know,” Hurwitz cussed. A couple years ago on October 19, 2024, Hurwitz said a “catastrophic” rainfall event caused the fish ladder to fail at Salmon Creek, a spot in Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ territory known as...
Register
Cabinet to discuss Kitikmeot Inuit employment pilot project
By Daron Letts, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Nunavut’s cabinet ministers will discuss a proposed pilot project that would see only Inuit hired for territorial government positions in the Kitikmeot Region. Cambridge Bay MLA Fred Pedersen pitched the idea in the legislative assembly Monday. “We can take it into consideration,” said Human Resources Minister Annie Tattuinee. Pedersen’s proposal would see non-Inuit employees offered similar positions in other regions. Only Inuit would be allowed to replace them. This practice would apply to positions that become open as non-Inuit staff retire. Pedersen suggested the pilot project could run for five years, but its length would be up to cabinet. “I look forward to hearing what cabinet’s thoughts are on it,” he said during an interview. The current Inuit employment rate in...
Register
Physician writes the realities that Indigenous youth live with
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Samantha Erron Gibbon admits she didn’t set out to write a collection of short stories for youth, but “then it came about that the stories I was writing were youth oriented.” The four short stories and one long poem that comprise Gibbon’s debut collection At Ends We Rest are powerful, sad and hopeful. And realistic, she stresses. “Unfortunately, our lives are touched by loss, and our lives are touched by the MMIWG (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls) tragedies and by addiction,” said Gibbon, a Métis-Cree physician from Edmonton. “If I weren’t to depict those in our stories, I’d be taking away from not only the reality of what my youth have to live with and what we have to deal...
Register
Monarch butterflies get tiny trackers to help scientists follow their mysterious migration
By Dorany Pineda As a child, Rebeca Quiñonez-Piñón wondered where monarch butterflies stop for a meal and a night’s rest on their long migrations across North America. Now she and other scientists are attaching tiny tracking devices to hundreds of butterflies to find those critical stopover locations before they disappear. Swarms of dazzling orange-and-black monarchs use environmental cues to travel some 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) from as far as southern Canada to spend the winter in forests of oyamel fir trees in central Mexico, a protected biosphere reserve that’s also a World Heritage site. For decades, however, scientists have struggled to build a clear picture of the butterflies’ routes, how far they fly each day and where they settle at night. Solar-powered radio tags attached to nearly 1,750 monarchs this...
Register
Premier Main says Ottawa should have the right to cancel Nunavut mining projects
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Prime Minister Mark Carney wants the ability to cancel mining licences and claims on government-owned land in Nunavut if a cancellation is in the national interest. Premier John Main said he supports Ottawa’s legislative effort to do just that. The federal government would not have to rely on national security justifications to cancel a mining project in Nunavut under Bill C-31, but instead remove licences and claims based only on an opinion that stopping a mine is in the national interest. “We support Canada in terms of asserting national security or the national interest in Nunavut,” Main told Nunavut News on Oct. 21 after endorsing the bill in the legislative assembly. Main said the reasons for cancelling a mining project...
Register
B.C. First Nations file legal challenges of federal decision on Pacific Link pipeline
Several First Nations in British Columbia have filed legal challenges to the federal government’s decision to list the proposed Pacific Link oil pipeline between Alberta to B.C.’s coast as a project of national interest, fast-tracking its review. A statement from Tsartlip First Nation on Vancouver Island says it has filed a Federal Court application for judicial review on the move, saying Ottawa has not “given sufficient information about the project and its potential impacts.” The St’at’imc Chiefs Council, representing nine nations along the proposed pipeline route in B.C.’s Interior and Fraser Valley, says it has also launched legal action asking the court to overturn the listing as a project of national interest. The group says in a statement that approving the Pacific Link project without full assessment of risks to...
Register
Kuujjuaq Greenhouse gets $1M in federal funding
By Dominique Gené, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News The Kuujjuaq Greenhouse has $1 million in federal funding to expand local food production and processing in the community. Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty toured the greenhouse Friday morning as part of a funding announcement from Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions. It’s a federal program that gives financial support to small and medium-size businesses and non-profit organizations. The money will go toward the construction of a new service building connected to the existing greenhouses that were built in 1999 and 2012, said Roxane Archambault, a member of the four-person volunteer committee managing the Kuujjuaq Greenhouse. The project is operated by the municipality. The new building will include an insulated space to help extend the...
Register
Six Nations Police urge parents to check Halloween Candy after sharp object found
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER- Six Nations Police are urging parents to check their children’s Halloween candy after a sharp object was found in Halloween candy . SNP received a report of a small blade found in their child’s Halloween candy October 31, at about 10:30 p.m.,. SNP said the parents had been inspectng the candy when they found the small blade among the candy. The child had been trick-or-treating along 6th Line. SNP are urging parents and guardians to carefully inspect all Halloween candy for sharp objects or other potential hazards before allowing children to consume it....
Register
N.S. court orders more detailed allegations in $10M illegal lobster lawsuit
-CP-A Nova Scotia court has ordered a commercial fishing group seeking $10 million in damages related to alleged illegal lobster buying to name names and provide more details about its allegations. The Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance, a group representing thousands of independent, multi-species commercial fishers and associations across the Maritimes, filed a lawsuit against Independent Fisheries Ltd. and its president Xiaoming (Mark) Mao in November 2024. The suit also names the owners and operators of Fisher Direct Ltd. and Seawell Holdings Ltd., both based in Shag Harbour, N.S., as defendants. The alliance alleged that it had conducted an investigation revealing the defendants participated in a conspiracy to transport, process and sell illegally caught lobster. It claimed the alleged scheme has diminished lobster stocks in St. Marys Bay, a rich fishing...
Register
November highlights Native American cultures, from salmonberry picking to traditional tattoos
By Jessica Hill LAS VEGAS (AP) — Fawn Douglas puts an urban spin on traditional basketmaking. Instead of using desert plants, she tightly weaves heavy conduit wire to form the base of a basket she plans to display at the new Wai Gallery in Las Vegas. There, she and her partner, A.B. Wilkinson, showcase pieces from Indigenous artists and host free art programs, from collage projects to sidewalk chalk paintings. Douglas, a Las Vegas Paiute Tribe citizen, says she sees how art can heal and bring people together. “They’re off their phones. They’re having actual conversations together,” Douglas said. The gallery and IndigenousAF storefront dismantle stereotypes, including that Native Americans and Alaska Natives are a monolith and all live on reservations, she said. It opened just ahead of National Native...
Register
County Examines Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Goals
By Fred Groves, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Tilbury Times Reporter The County of Essex is being urged to do a better job with its Truth and Reconciliation Action Plan. Early in September, members of county council and administration met in a closed-door education session with Dillion Consulting and its partners, Indigevisor Inc. On August 25, Alana Vigna of Dillon sent a letter to the county stating, “the County’s first ever Strategic Plan (2023) recognized the need to build stronger relationships with Indigenous communities and groups and that the County has largely not taken steps to advance the applicable Calls to Action that were recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.” Recommendations from the consultant to the county include guidance on how to best build relationships and develop a County-specific Truth...
Register
What Bigfoot can teach us about predicting the impacts of climate change
By Leah Borts-Kuperman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Narwhal Using night-vision goggles and thermal cameras, believers in Bigfoot traverse North American forests under the cover of darkness, as the large ape-like creature is believed to be nocturnal. Some Bigfoot trackers use plaster kits to make casts of suspected footprints; they record first-hand sightings and mysterious knocking sounds in detailed online databases, much like birders document observations on eBird. On Oct. 10, about 50 of these believers — many avid outdoors-people who also spend their time camping, hunting and trapping — gathered at a church in North Bay, Ont., to discuss their experiences looking for Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch. It was a good turnout for a small northern city on Thanksgiving weekend. The energy was lively but focused and, at...
Register
Alberta football coach faces sentence for making AI sex images
By Bill Graveland A southern Alberta girls’ football coach is facing a sentencing hearing for creating artificially generated sexualized images of some of his players. A Crown prosecutor told a judge in Lethbridge today that Justin Tillery should spend two years in prison. Tillery’s lawyer says a community sentence would suffice. Tillery was originally charged in 2025 with making, distributing, possessing and accessing child pornography, as well as transmitting an intimate image without consent. He eventually pleaded guilty to making and possessing child pornography. The judge is expected to reserve his sentencing decision. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2026. ...
Register
New funding envelope stokes hopes for Kanesatake Perimeter Security
By Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door Timed for a high-profile meeting between first ministers and First Nations leadership in Ottawa this week, the federal government announced $140 million for crime prevention and culturally sensitive community safety initiatives in Indigenous communities over four years, part of $2.5 billion in new spending. The announcement perked up the ears of those searching for new financial avenues for Kanesatake Perimeter Security (KPS), which faces an uncertain future after its current funding runs out on December 15. According to Public Safety Canada, more details on the new funding will be provided in the coming weeks. It’s so far unclear how crime prevention and culturally sensitive safety initiatives will be selected, or on what timeline the money could flow to community projects....
Register
Creating space for questions at Kanesatake women’s wellness centre
By Fern Marmont, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door The Tekontateriéntare Multigenerational Center for Women’s Wellness hosted its second moon teaching sleepover for its girls’ mentorship program, this time welcoming an older group to explore sexual health and childbirth in greater depth. The two-day gathering, held from October 23 to 24, combined the fun of a slumber party with frank conversations about relationships, contraception, pregnancy and the importance of women supporting women. “Yes, we’re their teachers in a sense, but we’re really like their aunties, and they feel comfortable with us,” said Patricia Gabriel, a community birth keeper at the Kanesatake Health Center (KHC). She added that the girls, ages 12 to 15, are part of the KHC mentorship program and that she has been teaching them for many...
Register
Chiefs advocate for improvements to northern Ontario airports
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com First Nations leaders from across Ontario held a news conference on Oct. 28 to call on the provincial and federal governments to provide funding for an airport infrastructure crisis. The Chiefs of Ontario (COO) and Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) held their event at the Sheraton Toronto Airport Hotel. There are 29 remote airports in northern Ontario and 27 of those directly service First Nations. “Many of them were built 40 years ago or 50 years ago,” said NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler. “Over the course of their lifetime there’s been very little or no effort made to improve those airports. And here we are in 2026 to give notice again to Ontario and Canada that we need resources to improve the safety...
Register
Family of First Nation woman who died amid lack of medical travel asks for OPP probe
By Liam Casey The family of a northern Ontario First Nation woman who died after she couldn’t get to crucial medical appointments following open-heart surgery has asked provincial police to investigate her death. Eva Mamakwa said her 31-year-old daughter, Miranda Mamakwa, died in September after Indigenous Services Canada’s non-insured health benefits program did not arrange travel for her followup appointments after the April surgery. Miranda Mamakwa lived in Fort Severn First Nation, a remote fly-in community on the mouth of the Severn River on Hudson Bay, with her three children and her parents. The NIHB program for First Nations and Inuit people covers medical, dental and mental health care not available through private insurance or provincial health plans. The family now wants Ontario Provincial Police to launch a criminal investigation...
Register
Two Nunavut Inuit associations advising on sale of Baffinland Iron Mines
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association will receive advisory fees for their participation in the sale of Baffinland Iron Mines, an Ontario Superior Court document dated Oct. 23 confirms. A participation agreement was signed by the two Inuit organizations on the condition that it remain confidential, the document states. “The participation agreement contains a confidentiality clause and was agreed to by the QIA and NTI on grounds that this agreement would be kept confidential and not form part of the public record,” the court document reads. Exactly how NTI and QIA will participate is confidential, in part due to the agreement containing “commercially sensitive information.” How much in advisory fees the Inuit organizations receive will also not be...
Register
Jean Marie River’s new chief wants to help others come home, like him
By Claire McFarlane, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio Tthets’éhk’édélı̨ First Nation elects Paul Simon as new chief Simon ran against incumbent Melanie Norwegian Menacho, who was acclaimed to the role in 2023. Speaking with Cabin Radio, Simon said he felt overwhelmed and speechless about the result. “I wasn’t sure how membership was going to vote, but I thought I’d throw my hat in the ring and see how it went,” said Simon. He describes Jean Marie River as his hometown, though he said he has spent most of his life living in Fort Simpson. In March, he returned to the community after working in Whatì as a public servant for the territorial government. Since July, he’s worked as the acting public works foreman for the First Nation. He said...
Register
