Hereditary chief sentenced to house arrest for sexually assaulting teen
By Bob Mackin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A B.C. Supreme Court judge in Smithers sentenced a Lake Babine Nation hereditary chief on Monday, Dec. 16 to two years less a day — including 18 months house arrest — for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in Burns Lake. Justice John Harvey noted that Ronnie Mathew West, 64, had pleaded guilty on the first day of his scheduled trial in November 2023, three years after the crime. Harvey decided that a conditional sentence to be served in the community, plus three years probation, was “fit and proper.” In his oral verdict, Harvey said that the victim stayed overnight at West’s residence on a pullout couch after helping West build a smokehouse. Without asking, West got into bed with the girl, who resisted....
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‘Human error’ caused spill of up to 8,000 litres of fuel off B.C.’s coast: government
BC-The Canadian Press-Human error during a fuel transfer at a fish farm off the west coast of British Columbia has resulted in a spill into the water of up to 8,000 litres of diesel. The B.C. government said in a report on its website that the spill happened Saturday at the Grieg Seafood fish farm near Zeballos, on the northwest side of Vancouver Island. The report said the company has placed an absorbent boom around the spill site, but natural resources consultants say they haven’t been able to find any recoverable diesel on the water. It said a visible sheen has been seen north and west of the spill site and the Canadian Coast Guard has sent out an advisory to other mariners to avoid the area of the spill....
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In the news today: Parliament set to break after turbulent fall
A roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed… Parliament set to break after turbulent fall Members of Parliament are set to begin their holiday break later today, capping off a tumultuous fall sitting filled with non-confidence votes, filibusters, stalled legislation, a growing deficit and the finance minister’s resignation. After Chrystia Freeland’s bombshell departure from cabinet Monday morning, several Liberal MPs called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step aside as well. Ontario MP Chad Collins left an evening caucus meeting telling reporters the Liberal caucus is divided and that the party needs a leadership race. Dominic LeBlanc was sworn in as the new finance minister Monday, minutes after the government’s fall economic statement was released. The economic update shows the deficit has grown...
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How Squamish Indigenous parents are reclaiming love
Content warning: This article contains references to residential school trauma, physical and emotional abuse, intergenerational trauma, domestic violence and substance use. Parenting is never easy. It’s a journey filled with joy, challenges, and constant learning. How can you raise children to feel loved, secure, and proud of themselves while you’re still healing from generational wounds? For many Indigenous families, this question isn’t just about parenting—it’s about survival, healing, and rediscovery. Randall W. Lewis, Deanna Lewis, and Anjanette Dawson have all asked themselves these questions. Their journeys as parents show their commitment to their children and their efforts to heal, and rebuild connections to culture, family, and identity. These are stories of resilience expressed through everyday acts of love and hope. A father’s promise: Ta’hax7wtn’s story “I told myself my kids...
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Liberals table fall economic update despite losing finance minister
OTTAWA-The Canadian Press-Liberal House Leader Karina Gould has tabled the government’s fall economic statement in the House of Commons. The autumn budget update includes some new measures to encourage business investment and beef up border security ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House next month. But the resignation of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has ignited significant uncertainty over Canada’s economic and fiscal outlook. Freeland shocked the political world this morning when she announced her sudden resignation after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told her Friday he was moving her out of the finance portfolio and offering her another role in cabinet. She oversaw the development of the fall fiscal update but did not table it or deliver the planned speech in the House of Commons. Her speech was scrubbed...
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The Latest: Events unfold on Parliament Hill after Freeland’s cabinet resignation
OTTAWA-Canadian Press-Chrystia Freeland has resigned from cabinet, leaving her post as deputy prime minister and finance minister on the same day she was expected to deliver the government’s fall economic statement. The move reignited calls for Trudeau to step down and call an election. Here’s the latest. 3:54 p.m. ET Government House Leader Karina Gould informs the House of Commons that given the day’s events, the finance minister’s statement that was expected at 4 p.m. would not be happening. She tables the fall economic statement document, which includes some new measures to encourage business investment and beef up border security ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House next month. The document shows a much larger deficit than expected for the fiscal year that ended last March, partly because...
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Chrystia Freeland’s resignation letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
OTTAWA–(CP)-Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned from the Liberal cabinet on Monday, posting her resignation letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on social media. Here is the letter: “Dear Prime Minister, It has been the honour of my life to serve in government, working for Canada and Canadians. We have accomplished a lot together. On Friday, you told me you no longer want me to serve as your Finance Minister and offered me another position in the Cabinet. Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the Cabinet. To be effective, a Minister must speak on behalf of the Prime Minister and with his full confidence. In making your decision, you made clear that I no longer credibly enjoy that confidence...
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Liberal Housing Minister Sean Fraser says he won’t seek re-election
OTTAWA-(CP)-Housing Minister Sean Fraser says he will not be running in the next federal election, citing a need to spend more time with his family. Fraser made the announcement Monday morning at a news conference in Ottawa ahead of a cabinet meeting and the fall economic statement. His announcement comes as Chrystia Freeland also announced she is leaving her cabinet post as finance minister. He said he came to this decision months ago, while he was recovering from a back surgery operation and was spending more time with his kids at home. “My kids aren’t getting any younger and they’re going to need their dad around,” he said. “Our path to creating a family was a challenging one. We’ve experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows,” Fraser...
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Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland quits cabinet the day of fall economic statement
OTTAWA-(CP)-Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has resigned from cabinet on the day she is set to present the government’s fall economic statement. In a resignation letter posted to social media, she said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered her another role in cabinet on Friday, but that the only “honest and viable path” is to leave cabinet. In the letter, which was addressed to Trudeau, Freeland said she and the prime minister have found themselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada. “To be effective, a minister must speak on behalf of the prime minister and with his full confidence. In making your decision, you made clear that I can no longer credibly enjoy that confidence and possess the authority that comes with it,” she said in the letter. The...
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Pierre Poilievre is The Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year for second year in a row
Canadian Press-For the second year in a row, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been chosen as The Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year. Editors across the country placed Poilievre at the top of the list in 2024. He captured just over a quarter of the vote among a group of 10 candidates. “The worm has turned on the current government and Poilievre has tapped into the zeitgeist,” said Wendy Cox, the Globe and Mail’s deputy national editor for B.C. “Whether that means he’ll be an effective prime minister appears to be beside the point.” Running miles ahead of his opponents in the polls throughout the year, Poilievre has cemented his position as Canada’s prime minister-in-waiting. His fierce, carefully crafted sound bites aimed with precision at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and...
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How toxic impact of Mount Polley disaster filters through B.C. waters, 10 years later
Canadian Press-Former Xatsull First Nation chief Bev Sellars recalls an emergency meeting after the Mount Polley Mine disaster, where elders were in tears as they thought of fish swimming through the toxic waste that had inundated their territorial waters. She thinks of the 2014 disaster often. “There are physical changes you can still see,” Sellars said. “There’s still things happening in the lake.” The catastrophic collapse of a tailings dam in the B.C. Interior sent about 25 million cubic metres of poisoned water from the copper and gold mine surging into waterways including Polley and Quesnel lakes on Aug. 4, 2014. The impact is now filtering though the legal system, with 15 federal Fisheries Act charges laid last week against Imperial Metals Corp. and two other firms. The environmental impacts...
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If Canada’s government changes, what happens to the Dehcho Process?
By Claire McFarlane Local Journalism Initiative With a federal election scheduled next year, Dehcho negotiators are starting to plan for the possibility of a Conservative government in Ottawa. Most polling currently shows the Conservatives 20 points or more ahead of the Liberals and on course for a majority government unless something significant changes. The question of the election – which must be held by October 20, 2025 – came up at a virtual town hall hosted by the Dehcho First Nations on Tuesday evening. The meeting was held to discuss the Dehcho Process, the name given to negotiations over land, resources and governance between DFN and the Northwest Territories and federal governments. “Once there is a final agreement, then you would have a Dehcho government that’s in place. And immediately,...
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Liberal Housing Minister Sean Fraser won’t seek re-election: official
Canadian Press-Housing Minister Sean Fraser will not be running in the next federal election, according to a senior government official, adding to a growing list of cabinet ministers exiting federal politics. The official, who is not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said Fraser is not seeking re-election for family reasons. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to chair a cabinet meeting on Monday. Fraser, who was a frequent target of Conservative attacks over the government’s handling of the immigration and housing files, was considered a strong communicator and rising star for the Liberals. He’s expected to address his decision to not seek re-election on Monday. Fraser was recently asked is he is planning a bid to lead the Nova Scotia Liberals after the party was decimated in last month’s...
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Enbridge reports 265,000-litre oil spill in Wisconsin
Canadian Press-Calgary-based pipeline giant Enbridge says it has cleaned up about 60 per cent of a nearly 265,000-litre oil spill in Wisconsin that was discovered last month. Enbridge says the spill was discovered by an employee conducting a visual inspection of its Line 6 at the Enbridge Cambridge Station, west of Milwaukee, on Nov. 11. Line 6 is a nearly 750-kilometre pipeline carrying crude oil from Superior, Wis., to a terminal near Griffith, Ind. Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner says state and federal regulators were immediately notified after the spill was discovered. Kellner adds the faulty pump transfer pipe that caused it has been repaired. Enbridge has recovered about 60 per cent of the spill by excavating within the pump station itself. “Removal of impacted soils is continuing,” Kellner said. “We...
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Mowachaht/Muchalaht launch Aboriginal title claim against the province
By Nora O’Malley Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Victoria, BC – Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation (MMFN) is taking the Government of British Columbia to court in pursuit of self-governance and land stewardship of their unceded traditional territory. Tyee Ha’wilth Mike Maquinna and Ha’wilth Jerry Jack announced on Thursday, Dec. 12 at the Hotel Grand Pacific in Victoria that they are a filing a title claim in the British Columbia Supreme Court. The First Nation seeks a declaration of Aboriginal title and monetary compensation for the infringement to their historical lands. Located on the west coast of Vancouver Island around Nootka Sound and the town of Gold River, MMFN says the title claim aims to bring decision making and ecological stewardship back into the hands of MMFN following the devasting impact of Crown-authorized...
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Banks commit $20M for First Nations centre’s green retrofit
By Mike Pearson Local Journalism Initiative THUNDER BAY – Matawa First Nations Management, a non-profit organization supporting nine First Nations, has landed $20 million in financing for its energy retrofit project at its Training and Wellness Centre. The federal Canada Infrastructure Bank is lending Matawa $15 million through the bank’s Indigenous Community Infrastructure Initiative while Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is lending $5 million. The millions are to finance an energy-efficiency retrofit of the former long-term care building that now houses the Matawa Training and Wellness Centre, where upgrades are expected to reduce energy consumption by about 70 per cent. Matawa CEO David Paul Achneepineskum made the announcement Friday at the building, with retrofit work underway as he spoke. Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu, bank representatives and chiefs from Matawa...
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B.C. demonstrates lack of commitment to UNDRIP: Xatśūll First Nation
By Andie Mollins Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Xatśūll First Nation is calling on the province of B.C. to clarify its stance on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). This is following the government’s approval of the Cariboo Gold Project in Wells which spans across several First Nation territories, including Xatśūll’s. In a press release dated Dec. 12, Xatśūll said it is “calling on Premier David Eby, Minister Jagrup Brar and Minister Tamara Davidson to clarify the Province’s stance on UNDRIP and to rectify the inconsistent application of UNDRIP across provincial ministries.” The nation has not given its consent and has been publicly calling for a halt on the mining project since Nov. 7 because of environmental, economic and health concerns associated with the project. The...
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Gallagher found guilty on all three counts in Canada Day shooting in Osoyoos
By Keith Lacey, Local Journalism Initiative The evidence Steven Gallagher was the man who pulled out a handgun and fired a bullet that struck and wounded a young man during Canada Day celebrations on July 1, 2022 on White Sands Beach on Osoyoos Lake was “overwhelming”, said a veteran judge Friday. Following almost two hours of reviewing the evidence in a two-week trial, Justice Shelley C. Fitzpatrick found Gallagher guilty of aggravated assault, one count of pointing a firearm and one count of discharging a firearm. Following the guilty verdict, Gallagher stood up in the prisoner’s box and interrupted his defence lawyer David Hopkins, who was in the process of asking Justice Fitzpatrick that a Gladue Report be prepared before his client was sentenced. A Gladue report is a pre-sentencing...
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Law firm warns $47.8B First Nations child welfare reforms could be lost with election
OTTAWA-(C P)-A legal review commissioned by the Assembly of First Nations is warning a $47.8 billion deal to reform the First Nations child welfare system could be moot if there’s a change in government in the upcoming year. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP also warns there is no guarantee a new government would be willing to negotiate or make similar commitments to what the governing Liberals have proposed. The Conservatives, who have a wide lead in the polls, did not respond to repeated requests for comment about whether or not they would negotiate with First Nations. The $47.8-billion agreement was struck in July to address decades of underfunding of child welfare programs on reserves that tore First Nations children from their families to be placed in foster care. The Canadian Human...
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Indigenous communities mobilize against Bill 32
By Marc Lalonde Local Journalism Initiative A number of Indigenous groups around the province are putting their voices together against Bill 32, a new provincial cultural-safety bill aimed at making First Nations and Inuit users of the healthcare system more comfortable. The Assembly of First Nations Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL), the Conseil des Atikamekw de Manawan (CADM), Quebec Native Women (QNW), Joyce’s Principle Office (JPO) and the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission (FNQLHSSC) all spoke out against the bill. They said the bill’s creation, despite the government’s “good-faith” participation, doesn’t go far enough in protecting First Nations and Inuit healthcare system users. “Furthermore, it is deplorable that the government didn’t choose to do things differently: prior, free and informed consent in the context of...
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