Here and abroad, health-care workers bear witness to the world’s worst atrocities
By Suzanne Shoush Indigenous Health Faculty Lead, University of Toronto As a physician, I remember the first time I saw a child dying. She was in the pediatric intensive care unit, flown in from a remote First Nations community with her family on the way. Intubated and sedated to cope with the blisters covering her little body, she’d had three of her four limbs amputated — the result of a horrific meningococcal infection. I remember standing rooted to the ground, unable to walk away from her bedside, wanting more than anything to undo her suffering. This was long before I became involved in academic medicine as Indigenous Health Faculty lead for the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, yet it profoundly shaped my understanding of...
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‘Absolutely tragic’: RCMP identify remains of child found in Manitoba barn
RCMP have identified a toddler whose remains were found in a barn in Manitoba this past summer. Mounties said Xavia Skye Lynn Butler would have been between one and two years old at the time of her death but did not say when the girl died. Her remains were located in a barn on a property near Grahamdale, about 200 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, on June 3. Her death is being investigated as a homicide. RCMP said the last time investigators have been able to physically place Xavia was approximately a year before her remains were found, and there were no missing person reports filed about her in that time. Sgt. Paul Manaigre said the girl was from Pinaymootang First Nation but had lived on the property at one point...
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Hajdu backs Marathon’s activity centre plan
THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay-Superior North’s member of Parliament says Marathon has her support as it seeks federal funding for a $65-million sports and recreation centre “I’ve been working with the mayor of Marathon on a potential route towards getting some of the shortfall covered through federal investment,” Patty Hajdu said Friday after an unrelated announcement at Lakehead University. “The most likely pathway will be through the Infrastructure Canada funds,” she said. Marathon Mayor Rick Dumas confirmed Friday that the town has filed a funding application with the federal Green Municipal Fund for $35 million. A $15-million funding application with the Ontario government will be filed soon, he added. Designs for the two-storey, 100,000-square-foot Marathon Active Living Centre building include a lap pool, a leisure pool, a hockey rink, changing...
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Quebec religious group focused on suicide prevention files constitutional challenge
(CP)-A Quebec religious group headed by a man who lost his son to suicide has filed a constitutional challenge against the municipality of Waterloo after it was ticketed for going door-to-door to share its message about suicide prevention. Groupe Jaspe, a Christian group based in Magog, Que., received two tickets in February, worth over $900 after fees, for violating a city bylaw requiring non-profit groups to obtain a permit for “selling, collecting or soliciting in the municipality.” But rather than pay the tickets, Claude Tremblay, the group’s president and founder, is taking the municipality to court for what he said is a violation of his Charter rights. “The constitution gives us the right to share our faith,” Tremblay said in an interview. The challenge argues that the bylaw’s provisions “constitute...
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North Dakota state park will no longer be named for Civil War general who fought Native Americans
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota state park will no longer be named after a Civil War-era general who led attacks that killed hundreds of Native Americans. Sully Creek State Park, in the rugged Badlands near Medora, is now Rough Rider State Park, the state Parks and Recreation Department announced Sunday. The name change was also made with the announcement of plans for a $4 million expansion of the park’s campground and other amenities. The park, established in 1970, is popular with hikers and horseback riders. The change follows a national move to rename places with names many people now find offensive or unjust. As part of that effort, the federal government in recent years has renamed hundreds of geographic features that had names that contained an offensive term...
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Junot Ave. youth transitional housing project on schedule
By Clint Fleury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THUNDER BAY – A transitional housing project for Indigenous young adults is on schedule and on budget said officials with the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre, which will be managing the new facility alongside the Metis Nation of Ontario. It’s been seven months since the shovels went into the ground and construction is well underway on the 58-unit Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services project at 125 Junot Ave. S., beside the Boys and Girls Club. Katie Bortolin, director of housing at the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre, said the project should be complete by January 2026. The three-storey transitional housing facility will have 58 units of mixed group and independent living quarters. Bortolin said anyone “Indigenous self-identified and at risk of homelessness” between the...
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Haldimand former mayor Marie Trainer dies following car crash
Marie Trainer, sitting Ward 4 councillor and former mayor of Haldimand County, has died. In a social media post, Trainer’s son, Steven, said his mother died on Thursday, nearly two months after being involved in a serious collision. “At 7:30 this morning our beloved mother passed away from complications due to her September 7th car accident,” Steven Trainer wrote on Oct. 31. Trainer’s 40-year political career began when she was elected as a Hagersville ward councillor in 1985. She was mayor of the town of Haldimand from 1991 to 1993 and led the amalgamated Haldimand County as mayor from 2003 to 2010. The self-styled “People’s Mayor” won two countywide mayoral elections before losing in 2010 to Ken Hewitt. Trainer made national headlines thanks to controversial comments during a 2006 standoff...
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Alberta Appeal Court upholds sentence for Ontario trucker in Edmonton hotel killing
Alberta’s top court has dismissed a Crown appeal of the sentence handed to an Ontario truck driver convicted in the 2011 death of a woman found in an Edmonton hotel bathtub. Cindy Gladue, a 36-year-old Métis and Cree woman, bled to death in the tub in 2011. A jury found Bradley Barton not guilty in 2015 of first-degree murder, but the Alberta Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada ordered a new trial. He was then convicted of manslaughter and handed a 12 1/2-year sentence. The Crown argued that sentence was “demonstrably unfit” and recommended 18 to 20 years, saying Gladue’s vulnerability as an Indigenous woman and the sexual nature of the offence should have been given more weight. Three Appeal Court justices unanimously ruled the sentence was not...
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Visitors to Six Nations facing series of charges after complaints of local disturbance
OHSWEKEN, ON- Six Nations Police have charged an Amaranth, Ontario couple with multiple offences after a disturbance at a local business. Police said they received complaints of possible impaired guests at a public community area Saturday Sept. 21, 2024, at about 11:10 p.m. including concerns a male visitor on the property was operating a motor vehicle while potential impaired. Police did not comment on where the incident occurred. Police said they arrived on the scene and saw a woman “being disruptive to the “community area,” and signs of impairment on both individuals. After speaking with witnesses at the scene police said they were able to place both individuals behind the wheel of the vehicle on separate occasions prior to their arrival and observed damage to a fence. As a result,...
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Norfolk County resident facing Intimate Partner Violence charges
(NORFOLK COUNTY, ON) – A Norfolk County individual is facing charges following an investigation into an incident of intimate partner violence. At about 6:13 p.m. on Thursday, October 31, 2024, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Norfolk County Detachment responded to a dispute at a Norfolk County address. Upon arrival OPP found two individuals were involved in a dispute inside a vehicle, during which the victim was physically assaulted, sustaining minor injuries. Upon locating the vehicle, officers arrested an individual without incident. A 30-year-old resident of Norfolk County has been charged with the following alleged offences: Assault – spousal, Assault cause bodily harm – choke, suffocate, or strangle. The accused is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Simcoe at a later date. Individuals experiencing intimate partner violence...
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After series of scandals, Quebec’s new youth protection boss promising transparency
The new director of Quebec’s youth protection system promised on Thursday to shed light on what’s ailing the troubled network and to provide more transparency. “We’re going to have to turn on a big light in our house, in all the closets, in all the rooms,” Lesley Hill told reporters in Quebec City. “We might find cobwebs and we’re going to have to clean them.” Hill, who worked in various roles in the health system for decades, came out of retirement to take the position after a series of scandals cost Catherine Lemay, the previous director, her job earlier this week. “I’m coming back to make a difference for the young people,” Hill said, adding that since her retirement she has continued to work with some of the youth who...
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Blood Tribe men to ‘walk in her shoes’
By Alexandra Noad – Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Blood Tribe men will be strutting their stuff in high heels to help raise funds for the Kainai Women’s Wellness Lodge. The annual event “Walk in Her Shoes” domestic violence awareness walk will begin at 10 a.m. on Nov. 20, at the Multi Purpose Building in Standoff and will finish at the Chief Shot Both Sides Blood Tribe Administration Building. Some prominent figures who have partnered with the Kainai Women’s Lodge, who will be strapping on their heels for the event, are Blood Tribe Police Service, Kainaiwa Children’s Services and Blood Tribe Recreation and Parks. Doris Low Horn, manager of Kainai Women’s Wellness Lodge, says with November being family violence month across Canada, this is the 11th year they have...
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B.C. Métis group leaves Métis National Council assembly, mulls removal entirely
The Métis National Council says its election for a new president will be delayed after the Métis Nation of British Columbia withdrew from its annual general assembly, leaving more questions about the future of the body that was a significant force in advocating for Métis rights nationally and internationally. The Métis National Council, which was once made up of provincial Métis groups from across the country, has in recent years seen those organizations pull out in order to advocate for their causes independently. The Manitoba Métis Federation pulled out of the group in 2021, citing concerns with membership in the Métis Nation of Ontario. The Métis Nation of Saskatchewan pulled out in September for similar reasons. The B.C. group said it has withdrawn from the annual general assembly happening this...
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‘I’m proud of our team’: Women’s shelter getting federal cash
By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative FORT ALBANY – Fort Albany First Nation is receiving federal funding to help provide safety and support for women and families. On Oct. 23, the federal government announced over $58 million for 12 Indigenous housing projects in Ontario. Among the recipients is the Fort Albany Women’s Shelter. TimminsToday reached out to the government to clarify how much the local cut of the funding is but did not receive a response. The women’s shelter in the remote community on the James Bay coast has been operating for 14 years. On June 18 it expanded with the grand opening of Neydayhe’s Place, a transitional home for women fleeing domestic violence. The new facility is named in honour of Neydayhe Sutherland, a 13-year-old girl who died in...
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Survivors call on Canada to criminalize residential school denialism
Residential school survivors are calling on Canada to criminalize residential school denialism, echoing one of the findings in a report about unmarked graves and burial sites associated with the institutions. Doug George, a survivor of the Mohawk Institute, said Canadians need to acknowledge the schools’ place in history and to ensure the children who died are not silenced. “Canadians might be, you now, maybe feeling as though it’s been a bit overwhelming over the past few years,” George said, referencing the announcements from First Nations about their efforts to locate their missing children. “But you can imagine what it’s like for us and our children and our communities? … You can’t hide behind these things. You’ve got to come to grips with it.” He was one of three survivors who...
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“It’s been a long fight, and we got this far,”: We’koqma’q to receive 125M from feds in land claim settlement
By Meghan Dewar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The federal government has announced a $125 million settlement to We’koqma’q First Nation for their land claim. They began the claim in 1982 and filed it in 2008 to settle a dispute that dates back to 1862. The land claim is in regards to approximately 400 acres of land that was absorbed by neighbouring community of Whycocomagh improperly. The $125 million settlement will be distributed to each We’koqma’q band member, amounting to $75,526 per resident and $30 million leftover for the community. For residents under the age of 19, their funds will be placed in a trust fund until they are the eligible age to access it. ‘WE WOULD HAVE BEEN EARNING THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY’ Chief John Leonard Bernard shared that the...
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Man who killed eagles on a Native American reservation gets nearly 4 years in prison
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A Washington state man accused of leading a wildlife trafficking ring on a Native American reservation that killed thousands of eagles and hawks to sell on the black market was sentenced Thursday to nearly four years in prison. The trafficking ring operated for years on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwest Montana, exploiting high demand among tribal members for feathers and other bird parts that are used in powwows and sacred ceremonies. The defendant and others killed at least 118 eagles, 107 hawks and as many as 3,600 birds overall, prosecutors said. Juvenile golden eagles in particular were targeted because their black and white feathers are highly desired among Native Americans, officials said. The poaching operation centered on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana, which...
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Aquaponics project grows food in water with koi fish waste
By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter By using the waste of Koi fish to grow fresh produce, Vancouver Island University (VIU) engineering student Jayden Corbeil (Iversen) is hoping to improve food supply issues in remote communities with an open-source aquaponics project. A collaboration with the Haíɫzaqv Climate Action Team from Bella Bella in the central coast of B.C., the Hesquiaht member’s capstone project looks at manufacturing a small-scale, semi-automated aquaponics system. The project will be placed in a classroom at the Bella Bella Community School. Haíɫzaqv Climate Action Team hopes to eventually upscale Corbeil’s proof-of-concept aquaponics system to a larger unit to increase food security for their region. “The big goal is to remove reliance on external suppliers,” said Corbeil, the 2019 Alberni District Secondary School Valedictorian. “I don’t want people...
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Alberta introduces bills affecting transgender people, pronouns at school
Alberta has introduced a trio of bills focusing on transgender people and students using preferred pronouns. Premier Danielle Smith’s government proposed Thursday one bill that would require children under 16 to have parental consent if they want to change their names or pronouns at school. Moments after the legislation was introduced in the legislature, LGBTQ+ organizations Egale and Skipping Stone Foundation announced they will be taking legal action, calling it discriminatory. A similar law is on the books in Saskatchewan, where the government invoked the notwithstanding clause, a measure that allows governments to override certain Charter rights for up to five years. Smith told reporters she believes the Charter allows for limits on rights and that her government’s restrictions are reasonable. “We have all kinds of restrictions on the ability...
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‘Dances with Wolves’ actor is again indicted on sexual abuse charges in Nevada
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A grand jury in Nevada has again indicted Nathan Chasing Horse on charges that he sexually abused Indigenous women and girls for decades, reviving a sweeping criminal case against the former “Dances with Wolves” actor. The 21-count indictment unsealed Thursday in Clark County District Court, which includes Las Vegas, again charges the 48-year-old with sexual assault, lewdness and kidnapping. It also adds felony charges of producing and possessing child sexual abuse materials. It comes after the Nevada Supreme Court in September ordered the dismissal of Chasing Horse’s original indictment, while leaving open the possibility for charges to be refiled. The court sided with Chasing Horse, saying in its scathing order that prosecutors had abused the grand jury process. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson quickly vowed...
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