Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok planning to leave politics to spend time with famil
The premier of Nunavut has announced he will not seek re-election when his term as a member of the territorial assembly expires this fall. P.J. Akeeagok says he’s leaving politics to spend more time with his family and not for another political position. Akeeagok has served as premier since November 2021, when he was elected for the first time to the territorial assembly. He had previously been president of one of three regional Inuit associations in Nunavut. Akeeagok says in a statement that his decision to leave politics comes after deep reflection and heartfelt conversations with his family. He says among the accomplishments that stand out for him is a devolution agreement that returned control of lands and natural resources to Nunavut. “I am deeply grateful to my fellow premiers...
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Time to power up economy, leaders say
By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal The Ontario government has developed an integrated energy plan aimed at sustaining energy sources for generations to come. Stephen Lecce, minister of energy and mines, said Ontario is home to critical minerals, natural resources, a skilled workforce and an industrial base that global markets need. “But none of it moves, none of it grows, without the energy to power it,” he said on the provincial website. Lecce says Ontario chooses to “act decisively to secure our energy future.” He presented the Energy for Generations: Ontario’s Integrated Plan to Power the Strongest Economy during the June 16-17 G7 summit in Alberta, and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) was listening. Rick Dumas, NOMA president, said they welcome the energy plan that positions...
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Road realignment unearths Native artifacts
By Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice The preservation of ancient Indigenous artifacts has resulted in a delay for the Talbot Trail realignment project. The effort is also costing Chatham-Kent more money. At its June 23 meeting, council approved close to $1.4 million in contract amendments to cover the costs of an archeological assessment and First Nations field work participation. In a presentation to council, AECOM archeologist Adria Grant outlined the process to date. Because governance of Ontario’s archeological sites falls under the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, strict guidelines must be followed. According to Grant, an archeological assessment is a standard piece of every environmental assessment and if artifacts are discovered, further investigation is required. Because of what was found at the Talbot Trail project site, a...
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Grieving daughter wonders if Eskasoni stray dogs contributed to father’s death
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post ESKASONI – A grieving daughter just wants answers. Ariel Dennis wants to know if a pack of stray dogs in Eskasoni chased her father on his bicycle causing him to crash into a culvert on Father’s Day and die six days later in a Halifax hospital. The issue of stray dogs in Eskasoni has been an ongoing one for a long time and Dennis doesn’t want this happening to any other family. There were no eye-witnesses – that she knows of – to the actual crash at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning in a well-treed residential area with overgrown ditches along the road. However, she has heard from one neighbour who says she saw her father, Steven Herney, biking...
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Iqaluit mental health tour about ‘listening,’ says governor general
By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Gov. Gen. Mary Simon says this week’s Iqaluit visit is all about hearing people’s personal experiences and their suggestions for dealing with mental health issues in Nunavut and across Canada. What Rideau Hall calls her Mental Health Learning and Listening Tour is about “listening to people with lived experience across the country, including the North and Indigenous communities,” Simon said in an interview Monday. “It’s also trying to bring people together that are thinking about, what are the solutions?” Simon spent part of Monday, her first day in the city, at the Tukisigiarvik Centre. That organization provides a range of Inuit cultural services, including counselling and skills development as well as daily meals and a laundry service. After viewing a showcase...
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Like giant ‘Lego set’: Arviat modular homes factory eyes April opening
By Arty Sarkisian, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Arviat’s modular homes factory is substantially completed and expected to start manufacturing houses in April. “We’re really excited. This year on the sealift, we’re already bringing the raw material up to Arviat to start the production,” said Guillaume Guida, Sakku Investments Corp. vice-president of business development. Modular construction is a process where components for houses are built off-site in a factory, shipped out to where the home will be located and assembled there. The roughly 64,000-square-foot factory – nearly the area of four hockey rinks – with a 21,500-square-foot warehouse, situated in Nunavut’s third-largest community of roughly 2,900 residents, is expected to produce about 40 homes a year. The project is led by Sakku Investments Corp., the business arm of the...
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North Carolina sheriff steps down after sexual misconduct charges
BRYSON CITY, N.C. (AP) — The longtime sheriff of a western North Carolina county whom some women accused of sexual misconduct has quit before he could be permanently removed. Curtis Cochran, who was first elected Swain County sheriff in 2006, retired from the post effective July 1, according to a statement from the county Board of Commissioners. The chief deputy is performing the sheriff’s duties while the commissioners decide who will serve out the remainder of Cochran’s four-year term through late 2026, the statement said. Cochran, 72, was charged in state courts with felonious restraint and misdemeanor sexual battery, soliciting prostitution and assault on a female, according to June 27 arrest warrants. The same day, Ashley Hornsby Welch, the district attorney for Swain and six other far western counties, filed...
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Lesley Hampton brings Indigenous identity and inclusivity to Canadian fashion
By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com TEMAGAMI FIRST NATION – For Lesley Hampton, fashion has never just been about clothing, it’s been about creating the space she longed for as a child. A member of Temagami First Nation, the designer is now a household name in Canadian fashion circles, with her inclusive and mental-health-forward brand featured everywhere from Toronto Fashion Week to Holt Renfrew’s designer floor. Hampton’s path to the runway was shaped by global experiences, reconnection, and a desire to redefine who belongs in fashion. “I’ve always known that I’m Indigenous,” Hampton told TimminsToday. “I’ve always known my connections to Temagami have been very strong. But as a youth and adolescent, I actually grew up internationally — middle school in Australia, high school in England.” Her mother was...
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ISC changes Jordan’s Principle Funding reimbursement guidelines
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER-Six Nations Administration is advising Jordan’s Principle clients to hold onto receipts after notifying the community that effective July 7, neither the office nor Jordan’s Principle’s office can fulfill Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) approvals from previous fiscal years prior to March 31, 2025. Six Nations can, however, fulfill ISC approvals for the current fiscal year – that is, April 1 to March 31 2026 – and it can thus reimburse approved services with receipts from the approved time period. The shift is due to operational changes within ISC. “We understand that this direction will deeply impact some families,” wrote Public relations Coordinator Darrien bomberry. While these directions are beyond our control, we remain committed to advocating for children in the community and will continue to...
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Ontario ‘unleashes’ climate catastrophe as scientists warn Paris Agreement ‘no longer attainable’
By Anushka Yadav, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer Brampton resident David Laing was jolted awake at 2 a.m. on November 10, 2024, by an eerie roar tearing through his neighbourhood. “As I’m lying there awake, thinking, I’ve never heard wind so strong before, my phone goes off and it’s a tornado warning saying, you need to seek immediate shelter,” Laing recalls. “This is Brampton? In November? This is not natural. This is not normal.” Laing has been environmentally conscious for most of his life, but that night marked a turning point. A creeping fear set in — not just about one storm, but about the broader trajectory of Ontario and the planet. That fear is absent from the Progressive Conservative (PC) government’s latest budget, Bill 24 , ironically titled...
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New books share stories of Kahkewistahâw elders
By Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The World-Spectator The latest volumes sharing the history and lived experiences of elders on Kahkewistahâw First Nation were launched during a special gathering on June 20. One of many celebrations during Kahkewistahâw’s annual pow wow weekend, community members gathered at the Elder’s Centre for the launch and to obtain copies of their own. “A lot of times, people judge us because they don’t know what happened a long time ago,” said Wendy Alexson during the launch. “So I hope after reading the stories, you’ll know what they went through.” Alexson was featured in Okêhtê Ayima Chief Kahkewistahâw’s Elders Volume Four, and she described what it was like to see her truth in print for the first time. “I have my story in one,...
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Doig River First Nation unveils high-speed connectivity in community
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca ROSE PRAIRIE, B.C. — Members of a large northeast B.C. First Nation community will soon have access to high-speed internet connectivity. Doig River First Nation (DRFN) IT manager Thomas Whitton shared the details with Energeticcity.ca about the full upgrade, which is partially up and will be fully operational by the end of summer thanks to a solar power project. Whitton said upgrading the entire community was “a meaningful step forward,” and one of his first goals when he became IT manager for DRFN back in 2022. “What we had in place previously was a wireless network that the band provided to the community,” said Whitton. “We saw anywhere from five megabits per second up [and] capped out at maybe 35 megabits per...
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Protests, rallies, continue over plans to store nuclear waste in northern Ontari
By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY — Representatives from a number of area First Nations joined other like-minded groups in their continued opposition to plans to store spent nuclear fuel in Northwestern Ontario. The latest rally against the proposed deep geological repository took place in Thunder Bay’s Waverley Park late Friday afternoon under sunny skies, after most of a day’s worth of rain and stormy weather cleared out. It was organized in partnership between Grassy Narrows First Nation (Asubpeeschoseewagong) and Fort William First Nation. “One voice alone is not enough to put a stop to nuclear waste coming through our communities and nuclear waste entering our waterways, but it’s our collective effort (that) can certainly make an impact,” Fort William Chief Michele Solomon said in her...
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Northern Manitoba city declares state of local emergency due to wildfire
Wildfires that had receded in northern Manitoba have begun to roar back, forcing a wave of new evacuations and a major hub for people living in the north to declare a state of emergency. The province reported 81 active fires on Monday with 16 of those threatening communities, leaving some residents to leave their homes immediately, flee a second time or prepare to leave on a moment’s notice. Fire is threatening the northern city of Thompson and its 13,000 residents, resulting in officials declaring a local state of emergency effective until Aug. 6. The city said in a Facebook post that it’s a precautionary move to ensure leadership is prepared for changing conditions. “It gives the city the ability to take action, if necessary, to protect residents and property,” the...
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First Nation’s fight for clean water stalls amid federal-provincial tensions
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer A remote northern Ontario First Nation’s daily struggle for safe drinking water is stuck in the middle of a political fight between the federal and provincial governments. Every morning, families of the Pikangikum First Nation wake up to a water crisis that has become routine. Most homes have no running water. Families start the day not with a shower, but with a trek to the lake — hauling buckets, breaking through ice in the winter and rationing bottled water when it’s available. Even the band office relies on a decaying septic tank and water tank with no plumbing. “Daily life is a very, very long day simply because people don’t have a direct water source,” said Carolina Budiman, senior health...
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Scientists map recovery for endangered orcas off British Columbia’s coast
By Brenna Owen A new report from a group of more than 30 experts says a population of endangered killer whales off the coast of British Columbia and Washington state is showing no sign of recovery under the current conditions. There is an “urgent need for more robust actions” to save the southern resident killer whales from extinction, says the report released by the David Suzuki Foundation and Raincoast Conservation Foundation on Monday. Despite measures adopted by Canada and the United States since 2019, the report says the whales face a “high probability of extinction” if conditions don’t change. Lance Barrett-Lennard, cetacean scientist with the Raincoast foundation, says there is “no convincing reason” to believe the whales, which are genetically distinct from other orcas, will recover without stronger measures. A...
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Province announces $20 million to support those affected by wildfires
By Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince Albert Daily Herald At a press conference in Prince Albert on Monday the Government of Saskatchewan announced a commitment of $20 million to support communities and individuals affected by this year’s devastating wildfires. Through the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), a dedicated Recovery Task Team (RTT) has been established to lead the province’s wildfire recovery efforts. “Assisting recovery efforts for communities impacted by this year’s wildfires remains a top priority for our government. The SPSA’s recovery task team has been meeting with communities that were devastated by the wildfires in order to determine priorities with the recovery effort,” Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister Tim McLeod said. “Those discussions have revolved around the initial phase of supporting communities through the development of...
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Reversal on online voting for Kanesatake Elections
By Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door The officer tasked with managing the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) election has decided to cancel plans to offer voters an online voting option, citing changes in the landscape and the need to shore up faith in the election. “I’ve changed my position, and I think it’s the right decision,” said Graeme Drew, the chief electoral officer, who has been a strong advocate for the inclusion of an online voting option. The Custom Electoral Code that outlines the rules of Kanesatake elections makes no mention of online voting in its text, nor any alternative forms of casting a ballot. Only mail-in ballots and in-person ballots are referred to in the code. However, Drew had expressed his belief that because the...
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Ontario ‘unleashes’ climate catastrophe as scientists warn Paris Agreement ‘no longer attainable’ Slugline: LJI-ON-ontario-climate-paris-goals
By Anushka Yadav, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer Brampton resident David Laing was jolted awake at 2 a.m. on November 10, 2024, by an eerie roar tearing through his neighbourhood. “As I’m lying there awake, thinking, I’ve never heard wind so strong before, my phone goes off and it’s a tornado warning saying, you need to seek immediate shelter,” Laing recalls. “This is Brampton? In November? This is not natural. This is not normal.” Laing has been environmentally conscious for most of his life, but that night marked a turning point. A creeping fear set in — not just about one storm, but about the broader trajectory of Ontario and the planet. That fear is absent from the Progressive Conservative (PC) government’s latest budget, Bill 24 , ironically titled...
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Seven homes destroyed by fire on Manitoba First Nation, community’s leadership says
A wildfire in northern Manitoba has destroyed seven homes in a day the chief and council of the local First Nation are calling “horrendous.” Officials of Tataskweyak Cree Nation say in a Facebook post that a fire that ignited northwest of the community on Friday was fanned by strong winds, and that approximately 175 residents have been evacuated east to Gillam, Man. Tataskweyak was evacuated earlier in the fire season and had lifted the order in mid-June, but then had to push back the date when people could return due to problems with its water system. It’s not the only Manitoba community facing another evacuation — 600 residents of Lynn Lake have also been ordered out of their community for the second time this year due to wildfires after town...
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