Four-week murder trial begins for 2 men in 2024 highway shooting near Calgary
By Bill Graveland A four-week jury trial has begun for two men charged following a 2024 deadly roadside shooting near Calgary. Arthur Wayne Penner, 37, of Edmonton and Elijah Blake Strawberry, 29, of O’Chiese First Nation each face a charge of second-degree murder. They are also charged with attempted murder. The shooting occurred along a roadway in Rocky View County, east of Calgary. One of the men, Colin Hough, 45, died. The other was seriously injured. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2026. ...
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A small northern Ontario town refused radioactive waste. It’s gone to Sarnia instead
By Leah Borts-Kuperman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Narwhal For decades, radioactive waste sat near the shore of Lake Nipissing. It looked like an innocuous pile of gravel in what was otherwise a stretch of forest. People began using it to backfill lots, fill spaces under decks and build fire pits. In the 1970s and ’80s, Nipissing First Nation began using it to build roads. It wasn’t normal gravel, though. It was mine tailings, containing the metal niobium, left there when the Nova Beaucage mine shuttered in 1956 after just seven months of operation. “The company just walked away and left it with no remediation at all,” Geneviève Couchie, business operations manager at Nipissing First Nation, said. Couchie led a project to clean up the tailings, which first started in...
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Auditor general reports on avian flu vaccines, First Nations funding
By Catherine Morrison Two federal watchdogs released five audits Monday, including probes into federal workplace accessibility and avian flu. Here are some of the highlights: Indigenous Services Canada failed to monitor funding for First Nations A report from auditor general Karen Hogan found that Indigenous Services Canada failed to effectively implement, monitor or assess funding for First Nations. The report looked at measures introduced under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, who made resetting Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples a priority for his government. The audit found that more than $6.5 billion has been provided to First Nations and First Nations-led organizations through 10-year grants, but the government didn’t consistently monitor whether recipients remained eligible for continued funding. The audit also said the department didn’t assess whether the grants were helping...
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In ‘B.C.’s’ interior, a syilx program is returning burrowing owls to the grasslands
By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews This story is a collaboration between IndigiNews and The Narwhal. Nine-year-old John Smithers cradles a tiny burrowing owl in his hands, preparing to release it into the grasslands of Upper Nicola Band (UNB) territory. Like other young syilx people, he’s grown up hearing stories about the small birds of prey whose populations have plummeted in the region in the last century or so. The owls – known in syilx culture as guardians, guides or messengers – were “once a common element” in landscapes stretching from the southern Interior of “B.C.” all the way to Manitoba, according to “Canada’s” Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife. Now, burrowing owl sightings are rare. In 2003, the Government of Canada listed the burrowing owl as...
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Audit finds flood hazard mapping behind schedule, doesn’t account for climate change
By Sarah Ritchie and Catherine Morrison Federal efforts to map parts of the country facing the highest risk of flooding are not on track to finish by the 2028 target date and don’t account for the effects of climate change, Canada’s environment watchdog said in a new report. The report was one of five issued by environment commissioner Jerry DeMarco and auditor general Karen Hogan on Monday. The other audits reviewed Canada’s avian flu response, First Nations funding, the climate resilience of federal assets, and how well the government accommodates accessibility needs in the public service. The flood mapping report found the flood risk awareness portal under development at the Public Safety Department does not consider how climate change is affecting flood patterns. “Climate change projections and easily available flood...
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Calgary trial begins after worker stops to help stricken truck, gets shot to death
By Bill Graveland Colin Hough was in his work truck one summer day when, hoping to lend a hand, he pulled up to a burning vehicle on the side of a rural road and was shot to death, court heard Monday. Hough was the second person to be randomly fired upon at that spot, east of Calgary, on Aug. 6, 2024, Crown prosecutor Photini Papadatou told jurors on the opening day of the trial of Arthur Penner and Blake Strawberry. The statement is not evidence but an outline of what the Crown hopes to prove in the Court of King’s Bench trial, which is scheduled to last a month. Minutes earlier that fateful day, Papadatou told court, Matthew Andres was doing surveying work — his electricity company truck parked roadside...
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Doig celebrates opening of hide house with gathering
ROSE PRAIRIE, B.C. — Drums, traditional knowledge, and bison were on display as a new cultural experience centre opened at Doig River First Nation (DRFN). ‘Aẕís Kwą̂ – a Dane-zaa term translating to ‘Hide House’ – was opened with a gathering on Thursday, April 30th. DRFN councillors Starr Acko, Brittany Robertson and Korbin Davis were in attendance and apologized for Chief Justin Davis, who was unable to attend due to having recent surgery. “This space represents an important milestone of our community and a meaningful investment in the preservation and continuation of our culture,” Acko told attendees. “This space is more than a physical structure.” “It reflects our collective commitment to protecting cultural knowledge, honouring our ancestors and ensuring that traditional practices remain strong and accessible for generations to come.”...
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‘They just wanted to get it done’: New freedom of information rules keep Ontario in the dark, warns MPP
By Paige Seburn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Lake Report How much should the public be able to see inside the government? Ontario’s latest budget bill, passed last week, is putting that question front and centre. The spring budget, Bill 97, changes freedom of information laws so that citizens can no longer use freedom of information requests to get records from the premier’s or cabinet ministers’ offices, even if those records are about government decisions. That rule also applies to past records. Individuals can still request documents from government ministries, but the new rules cut off access to the political offices where many key decisions are discussed and shaped. The move is being condemned by Ontario’s opposition parties and other critics as a violation by the Ford government of the...
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‘First step’: Alberta separatists deliver referendum petition, tout 300K signatures
By Jack Farrell Alberta separatists handed in a massive petition Monday to try to trigger a referendum on the province leaving Canada, touting a final tally of nearly 302,000 signatures after months of campaigning. Waving Alberta flags and sporting matching blue hoodies, more than 300 supporters gathered at the Elections Alberta office in Edmonton as a convoy of trucks delivered the paperwork. Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta and main organizer of the petition, first pulled in with a trailer containing 42 banker boxes of petition sheets. “You guys brought us here. Without you guys, none of this would happen,” Sylvestre said. “You stood in the cold, you got abused and people yelled at you…. It was not easy.” Provincial law requires 178,000 signatures to force such a...
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Manitoba Tory gets one-day suspension from the legislature chamber
By Steve Lambert The Speaker of the Manitoba legislature, Tom Lindsey, tossed a Tory Opposition member from the chamber Monday, warned that other politicians could follow, and laid down a new list of words that will now be forbidden during debates. Lindsey’s latest attempt to restore order follows an often-chaotic spring sitting that has seen heckling reach high levels of volume and, according to Lindsey, increasingly low levels of quality discourse. “Members of the public … feel that what they’re seeing going on in this chamber is terrible, and they’re begging me to do something about it,” Lindsey said, adding that some school teachers have said they don’t like their students witnessing question period during visits to the building. Lindsey ordered Progressive Conservative member Wayne Ewasko to leave the chamber...
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Police search for suspects in Oklahoma shooting that sent at least 18 people to hospitals
By Nick Ingram And Alonzo Adams EDMOND, Okla. (AP) — A weekend shooting at a lakeside park in Oklahoma that left nearly two dozen people injured erupted when a group began arguing at an unsanctioned party packed with young adults, a witness said Monday. Authorities were continuing to search for suspects Monday in the shooting that critically injured at least three of those hurt. No arrests have been made. It wasn’t clear how many of the injured had been shot, police said Monday in a statement. It provided few answers about what had happened. The shooting broke out Sunday night at a public park near a campground at Arcadia Lake, a popular swimming and boating spot in Edmond, just north of Oklahoma City, said Edmond police spokesperson Emily Ward. Jeremiah...
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Indigenous people honor and raise awareness for relatives who are missing or have been killed
By Savannah Peters And Nancy Marie Spears ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Across the country, Indigenous people are gathering this week to honor loved ones who are missing or have been killed and to call for better data collection, law enforcement response and reforms to make their communities safer. From U.S. state capitols and tribal community spaces to the streets of major cities, hundreds of marches, rallies, talking circles, self-defense classes and candlelight vigils are planned for the week of May 5, which is observed as a national day of awareness for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples movement. The day reflects both the collective grief and the resilience of Indigenous communities, where the federal government has a legal responsibility to ensure public safety. All too often, resources to prevent and...
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David Eby says he doesn’t get why Ottawa is focused on pipeline, not B.C. softwood
By Wolfgang Depner British Columbia Premier David Eby said he doesn’t understand why the federal government continues to push a new oil pipeline from Alberta, while it fails to include B.C.’s softwood lumber industry in its latest round of tariff relief. He said it’s unclear to him why Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week that a new pipeline is “more likely than not,” when no private proponent for the project has yet come forward. “We haven’t seen anything to indicate that this project is any further along than it was a year ago now, with much hype, and not a lot of material reality,” he told reporters Monday at the provincial legislature. Eby said he privately tells Carney that B.C.’s “real projects” in the energy sector “deserve at least...
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PM Carney expected to name new governor general today
By The Canadian Press Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to name a new governor general today at a press conference in Ottawa. The governor general is appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the prime minister and usually holds office for five years. Mary Simon, Canada’s first Indigenous governor general, will reach the five-year mark of her tenure in July. Whit Fraser, the viceregal consort, told the Globe and Mail newspaper last month that he and Simon were apartment hunting. Following controversy over Simon’s struggles with French, Carney said the next viceregal representative would speak both official languages. Simon speaks English and Inuktitut and has improved her French but she is not fluent, despite taking lessons. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2026....
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Vigil to be held on Parliament Hill today for missing and murdered Indigenous women
By The Canadian Press Family and friends of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people are set to gather on Parliament Hill today. Participants plan to hold a press conference and a vigil for Red Dress Day. The event will be led by Bridget Tolley, founder of Families of Sisters in Spirit. Speakers will commemorate lost loved ones and comment on Canada’s progress 10 years after the launch of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Métis artist Jaime Black inspired the use of red dresses to represent missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls with an exhibit in 2010. Black displayed more than 100 red dresses around the University of Winnipeg campus to raise awareness of the issue. This report by The Canadian...
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Alleged defamation: Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac files lawsuit against Google
By Michael MacDonald Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac has launched a civil lawsuit against Google, claiming the online giant defamed him by falsely identifying him as a sex offender in an AI-generated summary. In December, the Juno Award-winning musician said he learned about the misinformation after a First Nation north of Halifax confronted him with the summary — known as an “AI overview” — then cancelled one of his concerts. The Sipekne’katik First Nation later issued a public apology to MacIsaac. In a statement of claim filed in February with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, MacIsaac says the summary falsely asserted he had been convicted of a series of offences including sexual assault, internet luring involving a child and assault causing bodily harm. As well, the summary wrongly stated...
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Yukon First Nation decries American push for oil and gas in the Arctic
By Noah Korver, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation expressed their continued opposition to oil and gas development in Northern Alaska on April 30, releasing a statement denouncing the planned sale of oil and gas leases within critical habitat for the Porcupine Caribou Herd. On April 20, the Alaska Bureau of Land Management released a Detailed Statement of Sale announcing the opening date for bidding on oil and gas lease tracts within the Coastal Plains area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The refuge sits along the northern coast of Alaska and abuts the border with the Yukon on its eastern side. Encompassing an area nearly double the size of Switzerland at 19.9 million acres, the ANWR is the largest designated wildlife refuge in...
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Inter-agency training teaches Yukon’s firefighters how to work together
By Noah Korver, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News Firefighters from across the Yukon are in Whitehorse this week as the city plays host to expert trainers who have come to share their experiences and knowledge with the territory’s first responders. Training kicked off on Monday with personnel from the Whitehorse Fire Department, Yukon Wildfire, Yukon First Nations Wildfire, and several regional volunteer fire departments. The training is focused on improving inter-agency operation during a large scale fire response. The City of Whitehorse occupies a very niche place in firefighting, with many of its sprawling neighbourhoods abutting vast expanses of wilderness on all sides. The transitional area where these developed lands meet undeveloped forest is known as the wildland-urban interface and presents unique challenges for firefighting. Interface fires often require...
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4 big water projects underway in South Dakota
By Bart Pfankuch/south Dakota News Watch In a wooded site along the west shore of the Missouri River, an engineering marvel was taking shape one afternoon in March that will eventually help provide fresh water to hundreds of thousands of people. Contractors hired by the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System had positioned 16-foot concrete rings above a structure known as a Ranney well that will draw water from an aquifer 140 feet below the surface. To form the sides of the giant well, workers jam several of the sleeves into the caisson structure that collects water through a series of pipes that extend outward at the bottom. The new well is part of a $150 million expansion of the Lewis & Clark system that provides 44 million gallons of...
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Poilievre: Carney should state what ‘leverage’ Canada has in trade talks
By The Canadian Press Prime Minister Mark Carney should spell out to Canadians what leverage the country has over the United States in coming trade negotiations, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre asserted on Sunday. That comes after Carney rejected characterizing energy and critical minerals as “leverage” in talks to renew the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, also known as CUSMA. Poilievre said Carney should explain how he intends to secure an end to sectoral tariffs and a renewal of the free-trade pact. “If energy and minerals are not going to be leveraged for Canada in these negotiations, what leverage does Mr. Carney claim to have?” Poilievre said while speaking with reporters at a press conference in Toronto. “He can’t tell us what leverage we have, what demands he’s making, what tariffs he wants...
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