NWHU made it throught Ont. measles oubreak without a case
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source KENORA — The Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) got through Ontario’s year-long measles outbreak without any cases of the infectious disease, the health unit said Tuesday in a news release. “Thanks to the vigilance of our community members and consistent efforts of community partners and health care providers, we made it through the Ontario outbreak without any cases,” said the release. “Every action taken, including checking destination risk when travelling, getting vaccinated and watching for symptoms, kept our communities safe.” The health unit provides MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella and varicella) immunizations to children in schools according to provincial standards that recommend the vaccine for children ages 4 to 6. Patients can get the MMRV vaccine at a primary care clinic or...
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Thunder Bay Council rejects bid to axe shelter village
By Clint Fleury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY – City council voted to stay the course on the shelter village project. Coun. Rajni Agarwal’s notice of motion to remove the temporary shelter village from the city’s 10-part human rights-based community action plan was debated on Tuesday, with the majority of council saying they want to keep the village. Agarwal needed a super majority to strike the village from the plan; however, it was only coun. Trevor Giertuga who sided with her on the vote. Agarwal argued the city should be chasing federal funding to build permanent housing instead of investing in temporary measures. “The community wants a program that helps everyone. We need to look at the project, and I’ve asked to remove the village and replace it...
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Brant County OPP busts driver with suspended licence, no insurance
BRANT, ONT. – The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has charged two people after a traffic stop in Brant County. On Oct. 17, at approximately 4:24 p.m., an officer stopped a vehicle on Cockshutt Road North. OPP said further investigation revealed the driver was under licence suspension and had no current insurance coverage on the vehicle. As a result, 30-year-old Roy Isaacs of Brantford was charged with driving while under suspension and failure to surrender a vehicle permit. The owner of the vehicle, 26-year-old Sidney Isaacs of Brantford, was also charged with permitting a motor vehicle to be operated without insurance. In light of this occurrence, the OPP is reminding drivers to ensure anyone operating a motor vehicle on a highway has a valid licence and insurance. Those with information related...
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OPP, MTO initiative aims to improve road safety in Haldimand
OPP, MTO initiative improves road safety in Haldimand HALDIMAND COUNTY, ONT. – The Haldimand County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) recently partnered with Ministry of Transportation (MTO) officers from Hamilton and Niagara on a co-ordinated commercial vehicle inspection initiative, designed to improve road safety. On Oct. 19, officers conducted a total of 20 inspections, which resulted in 19 charges for issues including improper brakes, no directional signals and emissions. Further, 12 vehicles were taken out of service due to safety concerns and five licence plates were removed. The initiative demonstrates the ongoing commitment of the OPP and its partners to ensure commercial vehicles travelling throughout the province meet safety standards and regulations. It will continue to collaborate with the MTO, as well as other agencies, to ensure compliance and public safety...
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AFN says it’s talking to the Vatican about returning sacred items
By Alessia Passafiume The Assembly of First Nations says it’s talking to the Vatican Museum about repatriating a number of sacred items from its collection. National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says there are still a number of logistical issues that need to be addressed before the items can be returned, including protocols to ensure their safe transfer. The AFN says it will announce further details only after plans are finalized with the Vatican. Woodhouse Nepinak says the items held in the museum are “living, sacred pieces” and must be treated as such. She says the work is very important to First Nations communities which have been calling for the return of their artifacts for years. Woodhouse Nepinak thanked the late Pope Francis for his work to advance the repatriation of...
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Indigenous Services failing to improve critical First Nations services, audit says
By Alessia Passafiume Indigenous Services Canada is falling far behind on its efforts to address long-standing health and infrastructure problems in First Nations communities, the federal auditor general said in a report released Tuesday. Auditor General Karen Hogan said despite an 84 per cent increase in its spending since 2019, Indigenous Services Canada continues to struggle to expand access to clean drinking water and emergency services in First Nations communities. She found the department has failed to implement roughly half of the recommendations her office made between 2015 and 2022. Twenty years after the auditor general first raised concerns about First Nations’ access to clean drinking water, 35 long-term drinking water advisories remain in place and nine of them have been active for a decade or more, Hogan found. She...
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National chief calls for federal government to deem First Nations policing essential
By Alessia Passafiume The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations chided the federal government Monday for failing to deliver on its promise to introduce legislation to declare First Nations policing an essential service. Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak told MPs on the House of Commons Indigenous affairs committee that the failure of governments to equally fund First Nations police services is leaving communities unsafe, with no way to address crime and hold perpetrators accountable. Former prime minister Justin Trudeau promised his government would bring forward a new First Nations policing law in 2020 but the law has yet to materialize. “First Nations police forces, they’re not trigger-happy, they don’t kill our people. They’re trying to be grounded in community,” Woodhouse Nepinak said, seated in front of a handful of First...
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Prominent totem pole returning to family after nearly 60 years due to deterioration
The Greater Vancouver Harbour Authority says a carved cedar totem pole that has stood between the ocean and British Columbia’s Parliament buildings since 1966 will be returned to the family of the artist due to its deterioration. A statement from the authority says the Kwakiutl Bear Pole carved by Kwakwaka’wakw artist Henry Hunt was repaired and repainted in 2014, but further deterioration has prompted its move to Fort Rupert on the northern coast of Vancouver Island. It says the pole will rest at the home of Hunt’s son. His son, Stan Hunt, says it was “amazing to think about how many people from around the world have learned about First Nations’ art and culture through this totem pole.” The pole has stood at the corner of Belleville and Government streets,...
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Auditor finds gaps in federal government’s cybersecurity shield as threats multiply
By Jim Bronskill The federal auditor found “significant gaps” in the government’s cybersecurity services, monitoring efforts and responses to active attacks on information systems. In a report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, Auditor General Karen Hogan said the federal government must continually bolster its defences as cyberattacks become more sophisticated, pervasive and harmful. In separate reports released Tuesday, Hogan found fault with federal efforts to respond to Canadians’ questions about tax issues, provide adequate housing for military members and address health and infrastructure problems in First Nations communities. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the Communications Security Establishment and Shared Services Canada are responsible for protecting federal information technology systems and operations. Hogan said the organizations work together and with departments and agencies to prevent data theft and limit disruptions...
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Rural areas need natural gas: mayor
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal Access to natural gas is “critical” if small municipalities like Conmee Township ever hope to expand and achieve “long-term energy security,” the township’s mayor says. In a letter last month to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Sheila Maxwell says natural gas helps “communities attract investment and enable economic growth.” “Conmee is committed to advancing local growth while ensuring access to energy infrastructure needs,” Maxwell says in the letter. The township is among rural Thunder Bay municipalities that remain without access to natural gas, even though the 14,000-kilometre Canadian Mainline gas pipeline passes through an area just north of the city as it winds across the country. Maxwell and other local municipal officials are hoping that might change as the province...
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A timeline of US attacks in the Caribbean and what Congress has had to say
By Ben Finley And Konstantin Toropin WASHINGTON (AP) — In less than two months, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth say the U.S. military has killed 32 people in seven strikes against drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea. Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. He has asserted the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, relying on the same legal authority used by the Bush administration when it declared a war on terror after the Sept. 11 attacks. But as the number of strikes has grown, a debate in Congress has escalated over the limits of the president’s power. The attacks have occurred without any legal investigation or a traditional declaration of...
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Auditor general releases reports on military recruitment, cybersecurity today
By Catherine Morrison Canada’s auditor general is taking a deep dive into military recruitment and cybersecurity as her office releases a new round of reports today. Auditor General of Canada Karen Hogan is set to table six reports in Parliament mid-morning on Tuesday. One report will focus on whether the Canadian military has recruited and trained enough members to meet its operational requirements. In August, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his government was hiking entry-level pay for Canadian Armed Forces privates by 20 per cent for the regular force and 13 per cent for reservists. He said other military members would also receive pay raises, with smaller increases for higher ranks — part of a broader plan to boost recruitment and operational readiness. Ottawa also announced it was creating new...
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From warning to reality: Canada’s escalating hate crisis demands action
By Frederick John Packer, and Davut Akca Widespread, unrestrained hatred and polarization in the United States recently jolted Americans when conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was gunned down in broad daylight. As thousands of attentive students at Kirk’s Utah event watched in horror, thousands more have seen it unfold online — an experience none will easily forget. In the aftermath of the shooting, the U.S. became engulfed in extremist reactions, unsubstantiated accusations and escalatory rhetoric. The hatred and violence have barely subsided. U.S. President Donald Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth stoked further fears while addressing an assembly of American generals and admirals and warning of an “enemy from within” that needs to be met with military force in some of America’s largest cities. Language fuels extremism Political violence has long...
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Indigenous Services failing to improve critical services for First Nations, AG finds
By Alessia Passafiume Indigenous Services Canada is falling far behind on its efforts to address long-standing health and infrastructure problems in First Nations communities, the federal auditor general says. In a report released today, Auditor General Karen Hogan says that despite an 84 per cent increase in spending since 2019, Indigenous Services Canada continues to struggle to expand access to clean drinking water and emergency services in First Nations communities. She says the department has failed to implement roughly half of the recommendations her office has made between 2015 and 2022. Twenty years after the auditor general first raised concerns about First Nations’ access to clean drinking water, 35 long-term drinking water advisories remain in place and nine of them have been active for a decade or more, Hogan says....
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Eby says B.C. tried to involve private owners in Cowichan Aboriginal title case
By Nono Shen British Columbia Premier David Eby says the province previously tried unsuccessfully to get private property owners involved in the landmark Cowichan Tribes Aboriginal title case, as the City of Richmond prepares to host a meeting for owners potentially affected by the ruling. The city has sent letters to owners in the area where the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled the Cowichan Tribes hold Aboriginal title, with Mayor Malcolm Brodie saying over the weekend that hundreds of peoples’ properties may be affected by the case in which they had no prior involvement. Eby says the province tried to have property owners served in the case, but was rejected by the court, and it’s “totally reasonable” that owners are now anxious about the case’s implications. The Aug. 7...
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Ottawa hasn’t defined ‘national interest’ under major projects law
By Nick Murray The federal government still has not issued specific criteria to define the “national interest” under its new major projects law, despite calls from MPs to do so. The Building Canada Act allows the government to identify projects in the “national interest” for faster approval processes, which could include exemptions from certain environmental laws. As the government rushed the bill through the House of Commons in June, MPs studying it at the committee stage amended it to suggest that the government offer its criteria for determining which projects are in the national interest, and to require it to issue a timeline for when that might happen. The amendment was moved by the Conservatives and narrowly passed on a 5-4 vote, with the Liberals opposing it. In response, Privy...
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Three men charged with murder of Manitoba woman after years-long investigation
By Steve Lambert Three men have been charged with killing a Manitoba woman who disappeared in 2020 and whose remains were found three years later on an abandoned property near the Saskatchewan boundary. RCMP said Monday the three men were all known to Melinda Lynxleg, of Tootinaowaziibeeng Treaty Reserve, also known as Valley River First Nation, and one was a close relative. “This is an extremely complex investigation,” Sgt. Morgan Page of the RCMP major crimes section told reporters. “We’ve been working with our lab and with all of the witnesses and the people surrounding Melinda at the time of her death,” she added later. Lynxleg, a 40-year-old mother of six, was last seen at a residence near Grandview, Man., in April 2020. Her body was found in June 2023 on...
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What to know about the recovery efforts in Alaska following ex-Typhoon Halong
By Becky Bohrer JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The mass evacuation by military aircraft of hundreds of residents from Alaska villages ravaged by the remnants of Typhoon Halong is complete, and officials and local leaders are turning attention to trying to stabilize damaged infrastructure and housing where they can before the winter freeze sets in. The focus of major response efforts following back-to-back storms that battered western Alaska has been the Yup’ik communities of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, which are near the Bering Sea and have histories of flooding. While more than a dozen communities reported damage from the remnants of Halong earlier this month, Kipnuk and Kwigillingok were devastated by storm surge and water levels that reached record highs. Homes were swept away, some with people inside. Winds in the region...
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Province Backs Indigenous Language Revitalization with $4.5M Funding
By Steven Sukkau, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Sun The Manitoba government is making a landmark investment in Indigenous language revitalization, committing more than $4.5 million to launch two new university-level degree programs designed to train fluent speakers and future teachers of Indigenous languages. Premier Wab Kinew and Advanced Education and Training Minister Renée Cable announced the initiative Friday, describing it as a key step in preserving and passing on Indigenous languages to future generations. “Preserving the Indigenous languages of our province means passing them on to future generations. Indigenous youth will be healthier if they can speak the traditional language of their communities,” said Kinew. “These programs train a new generation of fluent Indigenous language speakers and teachers to carry on Manitoba’s Indigenous traditions.” University of Winnipeg will receive...
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Quebec government abandons Bill 97
By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase Rising tensions and repeated breakdowns in negotiations between stakeholders has resulted in the provincial government scrapping Bill 97 in its entirety, although some form of forestry reform is still a possibility. The decision was made after Jean-François Simard was appointed as the province’s new minister of Natural Resources and Forests in last month’s cabinet shuffle. “Today, Premier François Legault announced the end of Bill 97 in order to start fresh,” Ian Lafrenière, minister of First Nations and Inuit Relations, said last Thursday. The proposed forestry bill was responsible for amassing an unprecedented coalition against it, from First Nations, environmental groups and labour unions to forestry associations. According to Peter Graefe, a political science professor at McMaster University, this overwhelming opposition has made...
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