Hots Docs to screen film documenting endeavour to change “horrific” city name
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com A documentary about a First Nation’s request to have the name of Powell River, B.C. changed will have its world debut at Toronto’s Hot Docs Festival this month. The film, titled təm kʷaθ nan – Namesake, features interviews with members of the Tla’amin Nation, who have spent years attempting to get the name of its neighbouring city altered. According to Tla’amin belief, as stated in the film’s trailer, names carry history, teachings and responsibilities. Powell River gets its name from Israel Wood Powell, who served as B.C.’s superintendent of Indian Affairs for 17 years from 1872 to 1889. Powell played a key role in the establishment of Indian residential schools. He also had a role in banning the potlach and in the...
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Métis artist sees medicine in colour communicating love to international audience
By Patrick Quinn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com As the Canadian government increasingly showcases the cultural contributions of Indigenous peoples, creators like Jason Baerg are finding new international audiences for their work. The Cree-Métis artist recently collaborated with designer Christopher Solar on a piece of furniture for one of Canada’s official diplomatic residences in Mexico. Commissioned by Global Affairs Canada, Solar built the arc-shaped walnut table with a band of 40 coopered slats to provide a continuous surface for Baerg’s painted artwork. When the panels were returned, Solar wrapped them around the table’s ends with inlaid fragments of reclaimed copper from the roof of Canada’s Parliament building fastened on top during the final assembly. “I designed it with a cabinet-like form as a way to provide as much vertical surface...
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Pause of Indigenous rights act won’t be confidence vote, B.C. election prospect fades
By Wolfgang Depner British Columbia Premier David Eby said he may extend the current legislative session to find support among individual First Nations over his plans to suspend parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. “Even now, we are engaging with chiefs to try to find a path forward in a way that they can support, and I hope to be able to have some chiefs standing with us to say, ‘look, we don’t like this, but we understand the government’s concern,’” he said at a news conference on Monday. The proposal comes after NDP house leader Mike Farnworth announced that the planned legislation to suspend the act — which Eby says poses legal peril to the province — will no longer be a confidence vote,...
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Dozens of volunteers on the ground in Manitoba First Nation at risk of flooding
By Brittany Hobson Flood prevention efforts are underway in a Manitoba First Nation, with dozens of volunteers from across Canada travelling to the community to set up sandbags and other protection measures. More than 30 volunteers from Team Rubicon, a veteran-led national humanitarian aid organization, are on the ground in Peguis First Nation, located along the Fisher River north of Winnipeg. The first team arrived in the community Friday after leadership appealed to the federal government to send help as it prepares for the threat of devastating floods. Tim Kenney, chief operating officer of Team Rubicon, expects there to be up to 70 volunteers with the organization’s operations from Canada and the U.S. in Peguis this week. “This is one of the rare opportunities that we have to get onto...
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18,000 lives later, B.C. marks 10 years since declaring overdose emergency
By Ashley Joannou Events are planned across British Columbia today to mark 10 years since the province declared a public health emergency related to the overdose crisis that has since killed more than 18,000 people. A “moment of silence and minute of rage” is scheduled for this afternoon at the B.C. Legislature in Victoria as part of a rally being organized by advocacy groups including Moms Stop the Harm, Doctors for Safer Drug Policy and the Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users. Similar memorial events are planned in Prince George, Cranbrook and Powell River along with an online webinar on Indigenous approaches to harm reduction and an art show in Victoria. On April 14, 2016, the emergency declaration was issued after the province had reported 474 apparent illicit drug deaths...
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Court grants stay in counting Alberta separatism petition signatures
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News The Court of King’s Bench has ordered the chief electoral officer not to count signatures for a separatist referendum petition until the court decides whether the petition was properly initiated. Justice Shaina Leonard issued her ruling in favour of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) and the Blackfoot Confederacy’s request for a stay in the counting of petition signatures on April 10, the day after arguments wrapped up in the First Nations’ application for judicial review. Leonard emphasized that separatist organization Stay Free Alberta can continue collecting signatures for its referendum petition and that her “decision has no impact whatsoever” on its May 2 deadline. “Specifically, the Chief Electoral Officer shall not certify the petition results or make a referral to...
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First Nation blasts boat decision
By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brandon Sun The chief of Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation issued a statement last week saying he did not consent to the return of motorboats at Clear Lake. Chief Dwayne Sonny Blackbird, responding last Wednesday to Parks Canada’s boat policy announcement earlier in the day, said the decision did not reflect a collaborative or mutually supported outcome, even though engagement sessions took place. “Our people have a sacred responsibility to protect these waters,” Blackbird said in a public letter. “Engagement without consent is not partnership, it is process without authority. We will not allow our rights to be interpreted as agreement where none has been given.” He said the First Nation, which has land on the northwest shore of Clear Lake, would continue to...
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Cold Lake First Nations restorative justice program gets provincial funding
By Chantel Downes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeland This Week The funding is part of Alberta’s broader 2025-26 investment in restorative justice initiatives, with the province announcing $720,000 in grants for 19 non-profit organizations, municipalities and Indigenous communities. For Cold Lake First Nations, the latest grant builds on earlier funding over the last two years that helped lay the groundwork for the program, according to information from the Government of Alberta. The announcement came as part of Alberta’s March 27 funding release, which said Budget 2026 is investing $1.3 million in restorative justice initiatives for the fiscal year, including the Alberta Restorative Justice Grant and the Youth Justice Committee Grant. Individual restorative justice grants can be worth up to $50,000 and must be used for operational activities. Minister of Justice...
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Clean energy groups call for East-West grid connections, investments in renewables
By Alessia Passafiume A coalition of clean energy groups is calling on Ottawa to connect the country through a grid powered by renewable energy. The David Suzuki Foundation says Canada is facing an energy affordability crisis, while demand for energy is set to expand in the coming decades. The foundation and 15 allied organizations say the solution to that crisis is investing in clean energy by upgrading the existing grid and connecting it between provinces and territories. They say a revamped and expanded clean energy grid will deliver more jobs and improve Canada’s energy independence, while saving people money on their energy bills. “Through a clean, connected Canadian grid, we can deliver affordable energy, create tens of thousands of good union jobs and build a stable economy for generations to...
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Many US Catholics are dismayed by Trump’s unprecedented broadside at the first American pope
By David Crary, Peter Smith And Steve Peoples WASHINGTON (AP) — A majority of U.S. Catholic voters supported Donald Trump in his 2024 presidential victory. Yet across the broad Catholic political spectrum – even among conservative-leaning bishops – there is dismay over Trump’s unprecedented verbal assault on the Pope Leo XIV, the first American to lead their church. Leo says he is sharing a Gospel message and not directly attacking Trump or anyone else with his appeals for peace and criticism of attitudes fueling the war. Criticism of Trump came from Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and from Minnesota-based Bishop Robert Barron, who only a few days ago was applauding Trump as an Easter guest at the White House. Barron called the president’s remarks...
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Carney issues call for unity, says no time for ‘politics as usual’
By Kyle Duggan Prime Minister Mark Carney greets his wife, Diana Fox Carney, as he arrives to speak at the Liberal national convention in Montreal on Saturday, April 11, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a call on Saturday for political unity and for Canadians to dispatch with “politics as usual” as the country confronts a crumbling international order it once benefited gainfully from. Carney made the remarks to Liberal party rank-and-file in a speech to rally the troops on the closing day of the party’s national convention in Montreal. Carney addressed two large existential threats posed to Canadians: the rapidly changing geopolitical environment, and major leaps forward in artificial intelligence technology. He assured supporters that such threats also present major opportunities for the country, if...
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As session returns, Eby’s government faces ‘peril’ over DRIPA: political scientist
By Wolfgang Depner A political analyst says British Columbia Premier David Eby faces a “moment of real peril” as legislators return to Victoria this week. Eby has staked his government on plans to suspend sections of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act for up to three years. The premier has told First Nations leaders in a recent meeting that he plans to introduce legislation to suspend the sections this week. Stewart Prest from the University of British Columbia says he does not understand why the premier would risk his office on the issue, and that the plans make a promise by the Conservative Party of B.C. to repeal all of DRIPA more appealing. First Nation leaders have voiced opposition to Eby’s plans, and one of them —...
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B.C. First Nation asks UN body to count cultural losses in spill compensation formula
By Wolfgang Depner Delegates from a First Nation along British Columbia’s coast will lobby an international maritime body headquartered in the United Kingdom to change the compensation formula for oil spills. Chief Marilyn Slett, elected chief of the Heiltsuk Nation in northwestern B.C., will be in London on Tuesday to address the International Maritime Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations. The IMO sets global standards for the safety, security and environmental performance of international shipping, and Slett says she will ask the organization’s legal committee to include Indigenous cultural losses. Slett points specifically to the events that happened almost exactly a decade ago, when the tug Nathan E. Stewart hauling a tank barge ran aground some 10 nautical miles west of Bella Bella, B.C. The hull of the...
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Fortress Louisbourg history shows importance of settlers’ friendships with Mi’kmaq
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post In the beginning from time immemorial, Mi’kmaq lived on land in Unama’ki (Mi’kmaq word for Cape Breton) that they did not consider as owned in the colonial way of thinking. The land could neither be sold to strangers nor given away. But the peaceful L’nu were willing to share it with new peoples who showed up. For 500 years – ever since visiting ships sailed into Cape Breton waters – the goodwill of the Mi’kmaq has been essential to the well-being of travellers to the shores of Unama’ki. Stories abound on this island of peaceful and helpful relationships that lasted for centuries, such as the Mi’kmaq and the French and the Scots. Mi’kmaq historians accept that one of the first...
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Judge orders temporary pause on Alberta separation referendum petition process
By Jack Farrell An Alberta judge has put up a roadblock on a petition drive to force a vote on the province quitting Canada. Justice Shaina Leonard, in a written decision issued Friday afternoon, says organizers can continue collecting signatures. But she says Elections Alberta can’t verify those names or otherwise refer the matter to Premier Danielle Smith’s government until an overall decision is issued on the associated First Nations’ court challenge. Lawyers for multiple First Nations are calling for Alberta’s citizen-initiated referendum process and a separatist group’s use of it to be halted, saying without due consultation it amounts to a treaty violation and is unconstitutional. They were in court in Edmonton this week trying to get the petition drive stopped in the meantime. Lawyers for the Alberta government...
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‘There’s still no justice’: Fifth walk to be held for Fort Nelson homicide victim
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT NELSON, B.C. — For a fifth time, the walk to remember a slain resident of Fort Nelson has been organized by his family wanting answers in his death. Artchie Gairdner, a Métis man, was found dead in his household back in 2021. Autopsy results confirmed the 69-year-old’s death as a homicide. Gairdner’s niece, who has organized the event, said there’s “still no justice”. She spoke to Energeticcity.ca on condition of anonymity. “I believe that [the RCMP] did not do a full investigation,” the woman said. “There are other murders and missing people in Fort Nelson, within a couple of years of Artchie, too.” RCMP media relations officer Sgt. Kris Clark confirmed to Energeticcity.ca Gairdner’s murder case remains open with an investigation...
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Minister approves Canadian Rangers to help Nunavut hamlet amid power problems
Canada’s emergency management minister says she has approved a request from the Nunavut government to urgently deploy the Canadian Rangers to the Hamlet of Gjoa Haven to help distribute drinking water amid icy cold conditions. A statement from Eleanor Olszewski says the Canadian Army Reserve members will also assist with logistical support in the community on King William Island, which the local energy provider says has been suffering from power outages for several days. Olszewski’s statement says the situation has threatened the community’s water system, triggering a local state of emergency. She says the Government Operations Centre within Public Safety Canada is working with the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces to ensure the residents of Gjoa Haven have the support and resources they need. Qulliq Energy...
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Commercial salmon fishing to open in California for the first time since 2022 as population rebounds
By Sophie Austin SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Federal fishery managers voted Sunday to open waters off the coast of California to commercial salmon fishing for the first time since 2022, with the population rebounding after wet winters ended a long drought. The decision by the Pacific Fishery Management Council to allow limited commercial and recreational salmon fishing off the coast is a win for the state’s salmon fishing industry, which has grappled with years of season closures due to dwindling fish stocks. The council, which manages fisheries off the West Coast, barred commercial salmon fishing off California for the past three years. It voted last year to allow some recreational fishing for the first time since 2022. The council is an advisory group to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, which...
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Grand Chief Stewart Phillip says ‘heartsick’ MLA wife doesn’t support DRIPA
By Marissa Birnie A First Nations leader whose wife is a B.C. government legislator says she doesn’t support Premier David Eby’s plan to suspend parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, and is “heartsick” over the issue. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, who was among B.C. Indigenous leaders who condemned the suspension plan at a Vancouver news conference, says Eby has “sidelined” his caucus during DRIPA negotiations and the NDP has a “leadership issue.” Phillip, who is president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and whose wife is MLA Joan Phillip, says he can’t speak on her behalf but other legislators should vote with their conscience. Joan Philip — who is suffering an undisclosed illness — is one of three Indigenous members of Eby’s caucus, which holds...
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Former NHL star to visit Fort Nelson for documentary screening
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT NELSON, B.C. — Two northeast B.C. bands have collaborated to screen a documentary and welcome a former NHL star next week. A veteran of 739 NHL hockey games, Jordin Tootoo will visit Fort Nelson for a screening of a documentary based on him and a Q&A session with community members on Thursday, April 16th. ‘Tootoo’ will be screened at Fort Nelson’s Phoenix Theatre. The event is being organized by Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN) and Prophet River First Nation (PRFN) alongside School District 81 and Sandy Hart of Remax Action Realty. Directed by Michael Hamilton, the 2025 film explores the trials and tribulations of former NHL star Jordin Tootoo, from his humble beginnings in Rankin Inlet in Nunavut to his voluntary...
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