Indigenous Bar Association, MMIWG advocates glad coercion laws coming
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post Reforms to Canada’s Criminal Code that could have some positive influence on intimate partner violence came into effect on July 18. One of the most significant changes is the criminalization of the act of coercion in a relationship – still yet to be enacted. While most of the reforms are now in law, the coercion reform will come into effect at a later date after proper training has been undertaken by law enforcement agencies and court officers. The government has up to two years to make this law. Three pieces of legislation aimed at strengthening current legislation were recently passed in Canadian Parliament: The Combatting Hate Act; the Bail and Sentencing Reform Act; and the Protecting Victims Act. An announcement...
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More Than 200 Posters Honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous People at Edmonton Awareness Event
By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News More than 200 posters honouring missing and murdered Indigenous people lined the fence at Empire Park near Southgate Mall in Edmonton as community members gathered for a day of remembrance, awareness, and education. The grassroots event was organized by Treaty 6 First Nation member Lee Dreaver, who created the gathering to bring attention to the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people (MMIWG2S+). The event took place on June 30 from noon until 7 p.m. at Empire Park by Southgate Mall. Throughout the day, participants gathered every hour to sing songs in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous people. More than 200 posters were displayed along the baseball field fence, featuring individuals whose stories continue...
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Evacuations underway as new Okanagan, B.C., wildfire explodes in size
Evacuations are underway around Summerland, B.C., after a new wildfire west of Okanagan Lake exploded in size. Social media videos appeared to show multiple houses and other structures on fire in Faulder, west of Summerland, where residents posted that chunks of ash were falling. Erick Thompson with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen’s emergency operations centre said the fire was first detected at 5:30 p.m. Friday, but grew to 50 square kilometres in about three hours. He said the fire posed an immediate threat and those in the evacuation zone from Summerland north towards Peachland needed to get out in the face of one of the “quickest-moving, fastest-growing” fires the area had seen. Thompson said in a video briefing that the fire was showing aggressive rank-five behaviour, meaning that it had...
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2,000 kilometres, 1,000 tonnes of trash: Quebec group leads 16-day shoreline cleanup
By Morgan Lowrie As a marine biologist, Lyne Morissette grew tired of the “doom and gloom” of passively describing the impact of pollution on whales, turtles, and the rest of the wildlife inhabiting the St. Lawrence River. So, about eight years ago, she co-created an initiative with the modest goal of collecting 10 tonnes of trash along the shorelines of the river and seaway. This year, Morissette and a bus full of scientists, divers and volunteers are spending 16 days travelling some 2,000 kilometres up and down the river, where they’re teaming up with local volunteers and organizations on shoreline cleanups as part of the expanded project, now called Mission 1,000 tonnes. The blitz, called L’Expédition Saint-Laurent, includes stops in the Greater Montreal and Quebec City areas as well as...
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‘Like doomsday’: Thousands flee explosive B.C. wildfire as RCMP report possible death
By Brenna Owen RCMP in British Columbia say they are investigating a possible death in the explosive wildfire near Summerland in the Okanagan that has triggered a provincial state of emergency and forced thousands of people to evacuate. Firefighting helicopters were diverted to pluck dozens to safety from the blaze that Premier David Eby said on Saturday was “like a bomb” going off as it roared east toward Summerland and Peachland on the shores of Okanagan Lake. More than 20,000 people were ordered to flee, and evacuation alerts extended to the northern edge of Penticton, where many evacuees were sent. The Bald Range wildfire in British Columbia’s south Okanagan region has forced 20,000 people out of their homes in the Peachland and Summerland areas. Police have said they were investigating...
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Confusion and anger in wake of tainted evidence and a failed B.C. murder case
By Darryl Greer Gena Edwards, president of the BC Native Women’s Association, said that when Frederick Charlie was acquitted of second-degree murder last month in the killing of Vanessa Terry, there were gasps. It felt like “a punch to the stomach,” she said, as the Indigenous woman’s family started crying, before walking out of the court in Chilliwack, B.C. Terry was found dead in her home on a First Nation reserve near Agassiz, B.C., in 2024, in a case of alleged intimate partner violence. Her relatives say they’re grappling with an intense mix of anger, confusion and grief after the Crown presented no evidence at Charlie’s trial last month. The case collapsed when a judge threw out a confession and other statements by Charlie, saying they were tainted by “oppressive”...
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Poilievre tells Carney in letter to not concede to U.S. demands in tariff talks
By Craig Lord Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to show some “backbone” as trade negotiations ramp up with the United States. In a letter to Carney shared with reporters, Poilievre and his Canada-U.S. relations critic Shuvaloy Majumdar said that Ottawa has given in to several of Trump’s demands in the last year. The pair cited scrapping the digital service tax, removing Canada’s counter-tariffs and cutting the United States into a deal to share net toll revenue from the recently opened Gordie Howe International Bridge. Poilievre and Majumdar argued against Carney’s previous claim that no deal is better than a bad deal by pointing to job losses in manufacturing-heavy Canadian cities that rely on cross-border supply chains. “Canadians deserve a government that has the backbone...
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First Nations chiefs in B.C. call on Carney, Smith, to halt pipeline advancement
By Fakiha Baig A group that represents numerous First Nations across British Columbia is calling on Ottawa and Alberta’s government to halt efforts to advance the West Coast pipeline, saying expanding the oil industry will accelerate climate change and disasters. “The destructive and disastrous consequences of expanding fossil fuel production extend far beyond any single territory,” the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs said in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith. “From catastrophic wildfires to destructive floods and rising seas, the impacts of climate change are already being felt across this country. Every new fossil fuel project deepens that crisis.” The letter is signed by the group’s heads, including Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, and it said B.C. Premier David Eby also has a copy...
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Conservatives tell Carney to show ‘backbone’ as trade team heads back to Washington
By Craig Lord Canada’s top trade negotiators are heading back to Washington this week for more meetings with the Trump administration as the Opposition Conservatives urge Prime Minister Mark Carney to stop making concessions in pursuit of a tariff-free deal. Negotiations between Canada and the United States have ramped up in recent weeks ahead of an Aug. 19 deadline that would see a range of Canadian exports hit with 50 per cent tariffs. Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Janice Charette, Canada’s chief negotiator, will be back in Washington this week for another round of talks, LeBlanc’s spokesman Gabriel Brunet told The Canadian Press on Sunday. Canada’s trade team has met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer twice in the past two weeks. Brunet said talks have broadly covered the...
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Footage reveals B.C. village in ruins, as grim accounts emerge in wildfire’s wake
By Brenna Owen The footage is near silent, but for the occasional gasp and whispered expletive, as the driver passes slowly through the smouldering ruins — all that remains of Faulder in the British Columbia southern Interior. Dozens of structures are reduced to their foundations, in a landscape of burnt-out cars and scorched trees. Faulder, with a population of about 215, was one of the first areas overrun by the explosive Bald Range wildfire as it surged east toward Okanagan Lake and Summerland, forcing the evacuation of about 20,000 people by Saturday. Will Roelfsema supplied the video, saying it was taken by relatives still in the area; he declined an interview Sunday, saying in a statement that he and his family were exhausted. “We’ve had to evacuate twice now in...
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Woman dead in B.C. wildfire as grim video reveals village in ruins
By Brenna Owen The wildfire raging near Okanagan Lake in British Columbia’s southern Interior claimed the life of an 80-year-old woman as she tried to escape the flames, police said on Sunday, as video footage and grim accounts emerged of nearby devastation. A statement from Penticton RCMP said the resident of Meadow Valley, northwest of Summerland, B.C., had been trying to flee with a family member “when she died suddenly,” believed to be a result of the fire. Police said the death, reported early Saturday by a witness who was also evacuating, was the only known fatality in the blaze that has forced about 20,000 people out of their homes and left the community of Faulder a smouldering ruin. The BC Coroners Service was investigating the nature of the woman’s...
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Barrier-free travel for Inuit across Alaska, Canada, and Greenland is a human rights issue, leaders argue
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News The Inuit Circumpolar Council recently reaffirmed its campaign to create barrier-free travel for Inuit across their traditional homelands in the Arctic. In its July 25 declaration on the final day of the organization’s general assembly in Iqaluit, the group said it would continue “calling upon states to provide for free and unrestricted movement for all Inuit across our heart and homeland.” Inuit Nunangat includes Siberia in Russia, Alaska, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik (Northern Quebec), Nunatsiavut (Labrador) and Greenland. The idea has been part of the Inuit Circumpolar Council’s mandate since 1977. Having the Inuit region of Chukotka in Russia included in a free travel zone for Inuit is not likely in the near future, conceded Makivvik president Pita...
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Here are major reports, inquiries and lawsuits into police racism in Quebec
By Erika Morris As a police station in a Montreal multicultural neighbourhood grapples with allegations of racism and brutality made public in June, local residents are preparing for a public meeting with city officials and the chief of the police force on Tuesday. Many residents say there have been long-standing allegations and concerns about police brutality and racism affecting neighbourhoods in the city. Here’s a look at some major reports and lawsuits regarding allegations of police racism in Quebec over the years. The Bellemare Commission: After an officer shot and killed Antony Griffin, a 19-year-old Black man in Montreal, in 1987, the Quebec human rights commission launched an inquiry into allegations of racism by police forces. In his final report, lawyer Jacques Bellemare highlighted discriminatory practices and persistent tensions. The...
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Haldimand County Man facing More Charges In OPP Child Sexual Exploitation Case
CAYUGA, ONT-A Haldimand County man is facing additional charges after Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) uncovered additional victims in a child sexual exploitation investigation that spanned two countries. In April 2026, the Haldimand County OPP Crime Unit arrested and charged the man in an online child luring investigation with assistance from the OPP Child Sexual Exploitation Unit, OPP Digital Forensics Unit, and Provincial Animal Welfare Services. Since that initial arrest, the continuing investigation has uncovered additional victims in both Canada and the U.S. As a result, a half dozen new charges under the Criminal Code have been laid against Christopher Petley, 27: Possession of child sexual abuse and exploitation material Luring a child by means of telecommunications (three counts) Making child sexual abuse and exploitation material (four counts) Making available child...
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Magnitude 4.3 earthquake strikes off Haida Gwaii coast in B.C. waters
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake has struck off British Columbia’s coast, with shaking reported across the islands of Haida Gwaii. Earthquakes Canada says the quake struck at 4:48 a.m. local time on Friday just a few kilometres from Haida Gwaii’s northwest coast and at a depth of 17.6 kilometres. The federal agency says there were multiple reports of shaking on the islands, including in Masset and Sandspit, although there is no word on any damage. The closest community to the epicentre is the village of Port Clements on Haida Gwaii, some 73 kilometres away. The provincial Emergency Info BC social media account says if residents experience a quake they should drop and take cover. The area of the quake is roughly 800 kilometres northwest of Vancouver. This report by The Canadian...
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Reconciliation or recolonization? What Canada can learn by looking abroad
By Connor Guyn, Climate Policy Researcher, University of British Columbia; Sophia Alex Walters, PhD Candidate, Anthropology; Graduate Research Assistant, University of British Columbia; and Tariq Harney, PhD Candidate, Graduate Research Assistant, Center for Climate Justice, University of British Columbia This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. ___ There has been a surge in anti-Indigenous sentiments and politics in Canada, seen most recently in a rancorous race to lead the British Columbia Conservative Party, as well as in provincial protests denying the harms of the residential school system. According to the messaging at the B.C. leadership race, repealing the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA)...
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Grand Erie Public Health: How To Avoid Mosquito and Tick Bites This Summer
It’s summer in the Grand Erie area, which means people need to be on the lookout for pesky mosquitoes and ticks. Grand Erie Public Health (GEPH) sent out a media release on Thursday (August 6) reminding residents to be wary of insect bites this summer season. It also shared a few simple precautions to avoid illnesses carried by ticks and mosquitoes. These might include Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), and West Nile virus. GEPH says tick populations have increased in recent years, causing the risk of tick-borne illnesses to rise. Ticks are most commonly found in tall grass, wooded areas, and marshlands. To reduce the risk of tick bites, GEPH suggested five precautions residents should take: • Don’t walk around barefoot or barelegged in tall grass. Instead, wear...
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Ford calls on Carney to extend gas tax cut or make it permanent
By Allison Jones Ontario Premier Doug Ford is urging Prime Minister Mark Carney to make a gas tax suspension permanent, or at least extend it beyond its looming expiry. Carney announced in April that the government would pause collection of the federal fuel excise tax on gasoline and diesel until Labour Day, as a way to counteract rising gas prices. It saves Canadians 10 cents per litre on regular gasoline and four cents on a litre of diesel. Ford has written today to Carney asking him to keep the tax break in place until Jan. 1, 2027, or to make the suspension permanent. Ontario first temporarily cut its provincial gas tax rate by 5.7 cents in 2022 and repeatedly extended it until eventually making it permanent last year, keeping the...
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Interim Indigenous languages commissioner says she’s participating in probe of office
By Alessia Passafiume The interim commissioner of Indigenous languages says she knows her office has work to do on rebuilding trust with Indigenous communities, and she is participating fully in a government-ordered audit. Candice St-Aubin, a former senior assistant deputy minister of strategic policy with Indigenous Services Canada, was appointed interim commissioner for a term of up to 90 days, or until a permanent commissioner is selected. “Having seen the reporting coming in, my eyes were wide open. Financial stewardship is something that is ingrained in me, much like ethics and codes of conduct, but also managing people,” St-Aubin told The Canadian Press during an interview in her downtown Ottawa office. The Canadian Press reported earlier this year that half a dozen sources, including former employees, said the Office of...
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On weekend when southern B.C. burned, violators of fire bans were caught in the act
By Brenna Owen On a weekend when thousands of people were forced to flee a ferocious wildfire that destroyed hundreds of homes along Okanagan Lake, others were lighting illegal fires nearby, and in other parts of British Columbia’s Interior ravaged by blazes. The B.C. Conservation Officer Service said Thursday that officers patrolling the Clinton, 70 Mile House, Okanagan Lake and Boston Bar areas — all of which have been threatened by out-of-control major fires that remain out of control — handed out 18 tickets for illegal fires over the long weekend, when hot weather and powerful winds turned some fires into infernos. The impact of the eruption in fire activity continued Thursday, with the evacuation zone along the shores of Okanagan Lake expanding south, while a fresh contingent of 200...
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