National Gallery brings rarely seen drawings out of the vault for exhibition
-CP-Rarely seen artwork by masters including Degas, Picasso, Klimt and Munch are being brought into the light for a special exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada. Normally locked in a dark, temperature-controlled room, more than 120 mostly paper-based drawings and sketches will be the stars of “Gathered Leaves: Discoveries from the Drawings Vault,” starting Friday. They include a 1924 watercolour, ink and gouache piece by Wassily Kandinsky acquired mere weeks ago, a 1913 graphite sketch by Gustav Klimt, and two pastels by Edgar Degas – “Racehorses” c. 1895-99, and “Dancers,” c. 1891. Senior curator Sonia Del Re notes some are large, extremely elaborate and highly polished pieces, bucking conventional notions of paper-based images as preparatory exercises for more ambitious work in other materials. “It’s an area that is perhaps...
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Manitoba launches security pilot project in Portage hospital
By Dave Baxter Local Journalism Initiative A new partnership will see First Nation Safety Officers (FNSO) patrolling at Portage la Prairie’s hospital, as Manitobans continue to raise concerns about safety and security at emergency rooms and health-care facilities. The NDP government has announced a new pilot project that will have Long Plain First Nation Safety Officers stationed at Portage District General Hospital on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. These officers will patrol the hospital and its surrounding campus, parking lots and properties, according to Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara. “Everyone deserves to feel safe when they are accessing health care,” Asagwara said in a media release announcing the three-month pilot project. “This is an incredible opportunity to work with our partners in Long Plain First Nation...
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Songwriter inspired to pen latest piece from book purchased at a yard sale
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Whenever he needs a little bit of inspiration, Indigenous folk rocker Mike Bern starts sifting through his collection of books. Bern, a member of Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, did just that and the end result is a song he wrote titled We Are The Stars, a ballad which was released as a single on Nov. 29. Bern said he was inspired to write the song after reading a poem in a book he had purchased a few years ago. He had bought the book at a yard sale in Maine. The book, titled Algonquin Legends, was published in the 1800s. An American journalist, Charles G. Leland, who died in 1903, had collected various stories from Indigenous narrators, relating to myths and...
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Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador expected to sign Churchill Falls energy deal
QUEBEC (CP)-Quebec Premier François Legault and Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey are scheduled to announce an energy agreement Thursday that could end decades of friction between the two provinces. Officials from both provinces have been working to negotiate a new deal surrounding the Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant in Labrador. The current agreement, signed in 1969, is widely seen as lopsided in Quebec’s favour. Legault told reporters in Quebec City Wednesday that he would be flying to St. John’s to take part in what his office bills as “an important announcement for Quebec’s energy future.” His finance minister, Eric Girard, told reporters that he could not comment on specifics but added: “It’s certain that if there were an agreement, that would be extremely positive for Quebec.” The current agreement has...
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K’ómoks becomes first Indigenous government to appoint justice of the peace
By Spencer Sacht-Lund Local Journalism Initiative K’ómoks First Nation has appointed as its inaugural justice of the peace the former head of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. On Thursday, K’ómoks named trailblazing judge Marion Buller to the new judicial role. According to the First Nation, it’s the first Indigenous government in the country to create such a post with lawmaking powers taken back from the Indian Act. “This will be a wonderful opportunity to incorporate not only trauma-informed processes and practices, but also to place the emphasis on healing,” Buller said at a press conference last week, “because ultimately the goal is the safety and the health of the community.” Buller added in a statement that she hopes to be an “independent change-maker” for...
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Fossil fuel giant BP wants to start selling gas in New Brunswick
By Natasha Bulowski Local Journalism Initiative BP wants to expand and supply natural gas in New Brunswick, according to an application filed to the provincial regulator. The application said the company would not be selling directly to residents and was filed to the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board on Oct. 25 — four days after Premier Susan Holt was elected. “It shows that they have a renewed interest in the Maritimes and shows that they’re thinking long term,” Mario Levesque, a political science professor at Mount Allison University, told Canada’s National Observer in a phone interview. “It’s not going to change over the next year or two or three, but … they’re kind of lining up their ducks in order to be prepared on the ground for when things...
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Permanent salmon conservation hatchery to open in Chilcotin
By Andie Mollins, Local Journalism Initiative The Tŝilhqot’in National Government (TNG) is partnering with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to open a salmon conservation hatchery. The hatchery will be operated by the TNG in collaboration with the DFO and is intended to support the Tŝilhqot’in by helping local fish recover from recent population declines. “It’s our main food source so we have to keep the stock up…so that our people can have a good fishing season every year,” said vice-chair of TNG and Tŝideldel Nits’ilʔin (Chief) Otis Guichon in an interview with Black Press Media. A TNG press release notes Tŝilhqot’in territory, which includes the entire Chilcotin watershed, is a salmon stronghold and is home to the strongest annual sockeye run of the Fraser River. The watershed includes three salmon-bearing...
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Homeland Security shares new details of mysterious drone flights over New Jersey
NEW JERSEY-(CP)The large mysterious drones reported flying over parts of New Jersey in recent weeks appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio, according to a state lawmaker briefed Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security. In a post on the social media platform X, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia described the drones as up to 6 feet in diameter and sometimes traveling with their lights switched off. The Morris County Republican was among several state and local lawmakers who met with state police and Homeland Security officials to discuss the spate of sightings that range from the New York City area through New Jersey and westward into parts of Pennsylvania, including over Philadelphia. The devices do not appear to be being flown by hobbyists, Fantasia wrote. Dozens...
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Nine wind projects rolled out to meet B.C.’s surging clean energy demands
By Rochelle Baker Local Journalism Initiative BC Hydro has unveiled nine new wind projects to meet the growing demand for clean energy while keeping rates affordable for public and industrial users. Adrian Dix, the new Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions, announced the projects alongside Premier David Eby on Monday. Dix said the projects will enhance B.C.’s clean energy supply, strengthen the economy and uphold the province’s commitment to affordable rates and reconciliation with Indigenous communities. So they can be completed as quickly as possible, the province intends to exempt the new wind projects — and any future wind energy projects — from environmental assessment, while ensuring First Nations’ interests and environmental concerns, Dix said. The successful proponents were among 21 proposals submitted to BC Hydro in response to its...
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B.C. First Nation to develop salmon hatchery with Fisheries Department
BC-(CP)-The Tsilhqot’in National Government in British Columbia says it has formed a “historic partnership” with the federal Fisheries Department to develop a permanent salmon conservation hatchery in its territory. It says the hatchery will be managed by the nation, which is host to three salmon-bearing watersheds: the Chilcotin, the Chilko, and the Taseko rivers. The First Nation says the recovery of fish stocks has been a “long-standing nation-wide priority” and a larger, permanent hatchery will help bring back wild stocks, while supporting traditional fishing practices. It says its lands are home to spawning and nursery grounds for a sockeye run, noting that the salmon have faced significant challenges resulting in low returns. Joe Alphonse, Tsilhqot’in National Government’s tribal chair, says in a news release that a landslide this summer that...
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Feds release funds for women’s organizations in the North
ByTalar Stockton Local Journalism Initiative Eleven million dollars of federal funds have been released for northern women’s organizations. The announcement was made in Whitehorse on Dec. 8, 2024, by Marci Ien, the federal minister of women and gender equality and youth. The funds are spread across 16 different women’s organizations from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL, to Prince George, B.C. However, over $5 million of the funds will go to Toronto-based Canadian Women’s Foundation for programming focused on gender equality in the North. Ien was joined by Yukoners Élodie Bernard of Francophone organization Les EssentiElles and Liz Peredun of Yukon Women in Trades and Technology (YWITT). The organizations received $584,070 and $599,096, respectively. Peredun, the executive director of YWITT, said the funding was “a testament to endorsing the belief of what...
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Collecting donations for Six Nations Food Bank
Six Nations Police along with everyone’s buddy “Buster” were spotted at Veterans’ Park last week setting up to collect donations for Six Nations Food Bank in time for Christmas. (Photo by Jim C. Powless)...
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AFN demands national inquiry into systemic racism in policing, police-related deaths
The Canadian Press OTTAWA-The Assembly of First Nations is demanding the federal government launch a national inquiry into systemic racism in policing and the deaths of First Nations people. A resolution penned by Chief Allan Polchies of St. Mary’s First Nation says despite 20 individual inquiries and commissions into the police and justice system since 1989, the federal government has failed to make substantive changes to address systemic racism within the RCMP and other agencies. Polchies told those gathered at the AFN’s special chiefs assembly in Ottawa that First Nations people should feel safe on their own lands, and shouldn’t be afraid of police. His resolution comes after a string of incidents between Aug. 29 and Sept. 24 that left nine First Nations people dead during or after interactions with...
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Assembly of First Nations chiefs put Canada’s leaders on hot seat
By Lynda Powless Editor OTTAWA- Despite calls from First Nations, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not commit to holding a national inquiry on systemic racism in policing in addressing the Assembly of First Nations Ottawa gathering. Speaking at the AFN Thursday (Dec 5) session Trudeau acknowledged the pain of First Nations mothers who have had to bury their children after an interaction with police. Trudeau and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh addressed the Assembly of First Nations gathering in Ottawa two days after the chiefs passed a resolution calling for an inquiry into policing and police-related deaths. That resolution came after nine First Nations people were killed in less than four weeks in August and September. Three women whose sons and daughters died during or after an interaction with police took to...
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Six Nations own source revenues continues to bail out band deficits
By Lynda Powless Editor Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC), who has had its 2023-2024 audit for weeks, finally dropped the document on its website Monday showing the community is picking up over $9 million in costs to run government programs. The almost six-month late audit shows last year (2022-2023) the band received a total of $120,103,972 in federal and provincial government transfers compared to the cost to run the band at $129,262,977. Without Six Nations own source revenues SNEC would have been facing an almost $10 million deficit. Looking at the 2023-2024 audit it shows Six Nations own source revenues totaled $38,763,053, that included $11,663,674 in Ontario First Nation Ltd Partnership (OFNLP) funding, rent and land related revenues of $14,685,707, donations of $1,314,742, Investment income of $10,561,290 ,a Grand River...
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Ontario First Nations mull next steps on child welfare amid various legal opinions
CP-First Nations leaders are split over next steps after a landmark $47.8 billion child welfare reform deal with Canada was struck down, prompting differing legal opinions from both sides. The Assembly of First Nations and a board member of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society have received competing legal opinions on potential ways forward. Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict says the chiefs he represents are still hoping the reform agreement with Ottawa that chiefs outside the province voted down two months ago is not moot. Chiefs in Ontario are interveners in the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal case that led to its realization. He added there are also concerns that some of the elements in the new negotiation mandate outlined by chiefs in an October assembly go beyond the...
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Justin Trudeau…stop the tears…call an inquiry
Indigenous women, mothers, stood in front of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the Assembly of First Nations Special Chiefs Assembly in Ottawa last week. They took a deep breath, and they tried, often stopping to wipe away tears, to tell, not just their story but the story no parent ever wants to tell, the death of their child. They told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau their children died in interactions with police. Edith Wells told Prime Minister Trudeau her son died after being tackled, punched and tasered by police at a Calgary hotel. She told everyone within hearing distance, “They murdered my boy, they killed my son,” as she broke down in tears and was helped from the room. AFN chiefs passed a resolution during last week’s conference calling for an inquiry...
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First Nations want in on Arctic Sovereignty talks
AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, Regional Chief Kluane Adamek, and Dene National Chief and Regional Chief George Mackenzie Call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Include First Nations in National Dialogues on Arctic Sovereignty -First Nations leaders are calling on Canada to include them Canada’s Arctic Foreign Policy document. The Arctic Foreign Policydocument was updated recently to include additional points on Indigenous sovereignty, meaningful consultation and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDA). “As the Prime Minister and Canadian Premiers convene to discuss pivotal issues such as Arctic sovereignty, national security, and cross-border trade, it is crucial to acknowledge that the future of Canada’s relations with the United States and the transitions facing our economy cannot be effectively addressed without the active involvement of...
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Martin feeling more confidence in sophomore season with Toronto Rock
By Sam Laskaris Writer Now that he has a year of pro experience under his belt, Six Nations member Justin Martin agrees his situation is a bit different. Martin was a rookie with the Toronto Rock, members of the National Lacrosse League (NLL), last season. He ended up collecting 16 points (10 goals and six assists) in 18 regular season games. He then chipped in with four points, including a goal, in the team’s three playoff contests. But now that he’s in his second year in the pro loop, Martin, nicknamed Skibbs, is no longer the shy player wondering what will happen as he makes his way around the league. “I feel like I have my footing now,” Martin said this past Saturday, moments after the Rock’s home opener. “I’m...
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