Assembly of First Nations National Chief criticizes Carney at annual assembly calls budget a “setback”
OTTAWA-National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak did not hold back in highlighting the missteps of Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Canadian government towards First Nations people, in her opening address at the Special Chiefs Assembly on Dec. 2. “I can’t think of a better place to discuss the future of this country,” she said. From the Rogers Convention Centre in Ottawa, Woodhouse Nepinak used her platform to address a variety of issues the federal government has continuously ignored, despite requests from First Nations leaders across the country—especially with regards to the incoming federal budget. She also criticized Canada for missing their chance to make good on their expedition and lack of consultation on the major projects Bill C-5 earlier this year. “Last month’s budget was an opportunity to demonstrate through...
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National chief rips Carney government’s approach to consultation with First Nations
By Alessia Passafiume National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak is slamming Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government over what she calls its failure to consult meaningfully with First Nations and cuts to federal investments in First Nations communities. Speaking to the Assembly of First Nations’ December meeting today, Woodhouse Nepinak says First Nations will continue to protect their rights, in and outside of the courts. This afternoon Carney will address hundreds of chiefs gathering in Ottawa for the three-day assembly. Carney’s appearance before the chiefs comes just days after Ottawa signed a pipeline agreement with Alberta, which some First Nations leaders have condemned over environmental risks and a lack of consultation. Prime ministers and their cabinets traditionally attend the December AFN meeting to gauge the outlook of First Nations leadership and field...
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Writers weigh in on the premise that colonialism, genocide of Indigenous peoples is a structure, not a past event
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Settler colonialism and genocide against Indigenous people continue today, contend numerous contributors to On Settler Colonialism in Canada. “I think it is a shock…and it is this moment of clarity,” said Emily Grafton of those claims. Grafton, who is Métis, co-edited with David B. A. MacDonald the collection of 20 submissions to the book. MacDonald is Indo-Trinidadian and Scottish settler. Contributing writers are Indigenous, as well as White, Black, Asian, South Asian and Jewish settlers. They all bring unique perspectives to the subject matter. Settler colonialism as “a structure and not an event” is a statement put forward by scholar Patrick Wolfe in 2006, and a concept drawn on repeatedly by contributors. “What Patrick Wolfe does…(is) he offers this moment for people...
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‘The border crossed us’: Parallax(e) exhibit unveils the human cost of colonial boundary-making
By Aaron Walker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com A new exhibition at The Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford, B.C. is confronting one of the enduring legacies of colonial mapping in Canada: The drawing of the 49th parallel and its impact on First Nations communities whose territories, cultures, and ceremonial travel long pre-date any border with the United States. Running until May 30, 2026, Parallax(e): Perspectives on the Canada–U.S. Border presents historical materials with new works by Indigenous artists that reveals what official maps omitted. “The border created divisions and conflicts between our communities and within our family,” said Skwxwu7mesh storyteller and artist T’uy’t’tanat–Cease Wyss, one of the exhibit’s Indigenous curatorial collaborators. “The border crossed us with no … acknowledgment of our existence with the lands and waters that were divided....
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Carney to address Assembly of First Nations gathering in Ottawa
By Alessia Passafiume OTTAWA-Prime Minister Mark Carney will address hundreds of First Nations chiefs gathered in Ottawa today for the December meeting of the Assembly of First Nations. Carney’s appearance before the chiefs could be a tense moment, coming just days after Ottawa signed a pipeline agreement with Alberta, which some First Nations leaders have condemned over a lack of consultation and environmental risks. “Canada is at a crossroads in its relationship with First Nations,” Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak told The Canadian Press. “Our rights are being threatened in new ways, but we’re not afraid. Far from it. First Nations across the country are stronger than ever.” Prime ministers and their cabinets traditionally attend the December meeting to gauge the outlook of First Nations leadership...
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Thomson, Weston families’ bid for Hudson’s Bay charter to go uncontested: source
By Tara Deschamps No competing bids for Hudson’s Bay’s royal charter have emerged, paving the way for the Thomson and Weston families to purchase the artifact for $18 million, a source says. The Canadian Press is not naming the source familiar with the auction process because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The charter signed by King Charles II in 1670 is one of the oldest documents connected to Canada and even predates the country. It created Hudson’s Bay and gave the business a fur-trading monopoly along with control of one-third of modern Canada and Indigenous relations for decades to come. It has been in need of a new home since HBC filed for creditor protection in March and began selling assets, including its leases and 4,400 pieces of...
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University says event with One BC leader on residential schools not permitted
The University of Victoria says it isn’t allowing an event involving the leader of the One BC political party and two people who have publicly questioned suspected unmarked graves on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops. A letter from the university to One BC Leader Dallas Brodie, Jim McMurtry and Frances Widdowson says the event, scheduled for Tuesday, is not permitted because it did not go through the appropriate booking process and there isn’t enough time to ensure proper safety planning. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs says it is deeply concerned the event, under the guise of freedom of speech, will promote residential school denialism and cause further harm to survivors. Both McMurtry and Widdowson have questioned a May 2021 announcement that more than 200 suspected...
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US air travelers without REAL IDs will be charged a $45 fee
Air travelers in the U.S. without a REAL ID will be charged a $45 fee beginning in February, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday. The updated ID has been required since May, but passengers without it have so far been allowed to clear security with additional screening and a warning. The Department of Homeland Security says 94% of passengers are already compliant and that the new fee is intended to encourage travelers to obtain the ID. REAL ID is a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card that meets enhanced requirements mandated in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Obtaining the ID — indicated by a white star in a yellow circle in most states — means taking more documents to the motor vehicle agency than most...
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Miller named new culture minister as Carney fills gaps left by Guilbeault
By Anja Karadeglija Prime Minister Mark Carney named Montreal MP Marc Miller as the new minister of Canadian identity and culture on Monday in a small cabinet shuffle to fill holes created when Steven Guilbeault resigned from cabinet last week. Guilbeault will remain a Liberal MP but submitted his resignation on Thursday after Ottawa signed an energy pact with Alberta that paves the way for a new oil pipeline to the British Columbia coast. Miller was in former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet between 2019 and 2025 but was not included in Carney’s cabinet until now. In addition to culture and identity, he was named minister for official languages. Government Transformation Minister Joël Lightbound replaces Guilbeault as Carney’s Quebec lieutenant, while Environment and Climate Change Minister Julie Dabrusin assumes responsibility...
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Province takes control of Near North school board, sparking local backlash
By David Briggs, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, BayToday.ca The Ministry of Education assumed control of the Near North District School Board (NNDSB) earlier today, and union leader Rob Hammond has concerns, stating Minister Paul Calandra’s decision amounts to “A direct assault on our local democracy.” Hammond is president of the Near North Teachers’ Local, part of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, and he sees today’s decision as the tip of the spear, with more takeovers to come. For Hammond, the stakes are high. He predicts funding cuts to students with special needs and, eventually, the removal of all elected trustee positions. See: BREAKING: Province seizes control of troubled Near North District School Board With no trustees, local voices will be silenced, warned NNDSB trustee Ashley St. Pierre. As for...
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Search of Winnipeg landfill for woman killed by serial killer starts: Kinew
By Brittany Hobson Searchers began combing through the first truckload of material at a Winnipeg landfill on Monday morning in hopes of finding the remains of a woman killed by a convicted serial killer more than three years ago. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew confirmed that the official search of Brady Road landfill for the remains of Ashlee Shingoose began after a First Nations ceremony took place with the woman’s family. “I was there this morning to smoke the pipe with her parents, Albert and Theresa, as well as her sister…who is working on the search,” Kinew told reporters at an unrelated event later in the day. “It’s an important bond that these parents have with their child that they’re trying to bring home in a very tragic situation as a...
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Activists, politicians mark World AIDS Day calling for criminal law reform
By Dylan Robertson AIDS activists are calling on the Liberals to stick with a Trudeau government promise to reform the laws on HIV disclosure, and to get Canada’s efforts to end the pandemic back on track. The HIV Legal Network says Canada’s stalled progress on preventing new HIV cases — especially among Indigenous people in the Prairies — is driving up government spending by millions of dollars. The group is calling on Justice Minister Sean Fraser to take up the Trudeau government’s stalled plan to reform laws used to prosecute people with HIV who don’t disclose their status to sexual partners, even when it’s impossible for them to transmit the virus. To mark World AIDS Day, MPs and senators who are part of the Global Equality Caucus are asking Ottawa...
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Kugluktuk emergency food bank will serve up to 250 residents
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News The Hamlet of Kugluktuk has opened an emergency food bank courtesy of funding from the Nunavut Food Security Coalition and Food Bank Canada, senior administrative officer Kevin Niptanatiak said. On Nov. 19, the hamlet registered 89 community members for the emergency food bank, a service which Niptanatiak said can feed a total of 250 residents. Until March of this year, the Inuit Child First Initiative fed over 550 Kugluktuk residents, he said. “The reason we wanted to open the food bank was to give help to people with food security that did not have enough to fill those gaps but also struggle to put food on the table,” Niptanatiak said. Every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to noon at the back...
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Generations of Indigenous leaders brace for a new battle over another pipeline
By Alessia Passafiume For some First Nations leaders, the prospect of conflict with provincial and federal governments over plans to send another pipeline to the B.C. coast brings back vivid memories of years past. For many First Nations youth, it’s a whole new call to action. “My ancestors — all the ancestors of every First Nations person here in what is now called British Columbia — have stories about our people having to stand on the front lines, rain or shine,” said Katisha Paul, the youth representative for the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and co-chair for the United Nations’ Global Indigenous Youth Caucus. “It’s our responsibility to continue on this journey.” Longtime Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart Phillip has been around for many of those acts...
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Activists mark World AIDS Day by calling for criminal reform, prevention funding
By Dylan Robertson Activists marked World AIDS Day on Monday by calling on the federal government to honour a Trudeau government promise to reform the laws on HIV disclosure, and to provide enough funding to get Canada’s efforts to end the pandemic back on track. The HIV Legal Network says Canada’s stalled progress on preventing new HIV cases — especially among Indigenous people in the Prairies — is costing governments millions of dollars. “We have failed to meet these targets by virtually every metric,” the group’s co-director Sandra Ka Hon Chu told a news conference last Thursday on Parliament Hill. She cited data from the Edmonton-based Institute of Health Economics, which pegged the average lifetime cost of a new HIV infection at roughly $1.44 million. While that sum is mostly...
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Province takes control of Near North school board, sparking local backlash
By David Briggs, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, BayToday.ca The Ministry of Education assumed control of the Near North District School Board (NNDSB) earlier today, and union leader Rob Hammond has concerns, stating Minister Paul Calandra’s decision amounts to “A direct assault on our local democracy.” Hammond is president of the Near North Teachers’ Local, part of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, and he sees today’s decision as the tip of the spear, with more takeovers to come. For Hammond, the stakes are high. He predicts funding cuts to students with special needs and, eventually, the removal of all elected trustee positions. See: BREAKING: Province seizes control of troubled Near North District School Board With no trustees, local voices will be silenced, warned NNDSB trustee Ashley St. Pierre. As for...
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Miller named new culture minister as Carney fills gaps left by Guilbeault
By Anja Karadeglija Prime Minister Mark Carney named Montreal MP Marc Miller as the new minister of Canadian identity and culture on Monday in a small cabinet shuffle to fill holes created when Steven Guilbeault resigned from cabinet last week. Guilbeault will remain a Liberal MP but submitted his resignation on Thursday after Ottawa signed an energy pact with Alberta that paves the way for a new oil pipeline to the British Columbia coast. Miller was in former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet between 2019 and 2025 but was not included in Carney’s cabinet until now. In addition to culture and identity, he was named minister for official languages. Government Transformation Minister Joël Lightbound replaces Guilbeault as Carney’s Quebec lieutenant, while Environment and Climate Change Minister Julie Dabrusin assumes responsibility...
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Activists mark World AIDS Day by calling for criminal reform, prevention funding
By Dylan Robertson Activists marked World AIDS Day on Monday by calling on the federal government to honour a Trudeau government promise to reform the laws on HIV disclosure, and to provide enough funding to get Canada’s efforts to end the pandemic back on track. The HIV Legal Network says Canada’s stalled progress on preventing new HIV cases — especially among Indigenous people in the Prairies — is costing governments millions of dollars. “We have failed to meet these targets by virtually every metric,” the group’s co-director Sandra Ka Hon Chu told a news conference last Thursday on Parliament Hill. She cited data from the Edmonton-based Institute of Health Economics, which pegged the average lifetime cost of a new HIV infection at roughly $1.44 million. While that sum is mostly...
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New HIV prevention guidelines say doctors should not be ‘gatekeeping’ PrEP Slugline: HIV-Prevention-Guidelines
By Hannah Alberga A coalition of doctors across Canada is releasing a new guideline for prescribing medications that can prevent HIV infection, with a strong focus on increasing the promotion and awareness of the expanding class of drugs. The clinical guideline published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal provides 31 recommendations and 10 good practices for prescribing antiretroviral medication before and after a potential HIV exposure to prevent infection. Lead author Dr. Darrell Tan said 19 physicians volunteered their time over the last three years to review the latest research and write the new guidelines, as the range of available pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) options has expanded since the last guidance was released in 2017. The recommendations are aimed at reducing the rise of HIV infections...
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As the Similkameen River runs ‘black,’ regional leaders plan future of watershed protection
By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews y̓ilmixʷm (Chief) kalʔlùpaɋʹn Keith Crow says the Similkameen River is being failed by those tasked to care for it, and more must be done to protect the waterway for future generations. The river “has been black for the last month,” he told a room full of regional officials in smǝlqmíx and syilx homelands on Nov. 21. “(The Similkameen River) is where our name comes from. It’s who we are,” Crow added. “And we’re failing it.” Crow — the chief of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band (LSIB) — made the comments during a meeting of the Okanagan Similkameen Collaborative Leadership Table. The group consists of more than 20 elected syilx leaders, mayors and other regional government officials from throughout the region. It was...
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