High expectations, tight budget pose a challenge for Manitoba’s new premier
By Steve Lambert THE CANADIAN PRESS WINNIPEG- By all accounts, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is still in a honeymoon phase, almost three months after leading his New Democrats to an election win that ousted the former Progressive Conservative government. Recent opinion polls suggest he is riding high, including an Angus-Reid survey earlier this month that suggested his approval rating is tops among Canada’s premiers. But political analysts say the real test lies ahead, as Kinew tries to fulfil promises to boost health care, improve education and give raises to public-sector workers while dealing with the province’s chronic deficits. “I think (the New Democrats) have done a number of things to allow them to say they’re off to a good fast start, but many of those things have been of a...
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Sharing Our Stories: Little paper / Ken’ nikahiatonhsera:’a
Story told by: So:se Raientonnis, Edited by: Emma McLaughlin – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Translated by: Sahawiso:ko’ Arquette The Indian agent in Canada was like a monarch. He was the justice of the peace, he could hold court, pass judgment and so on. Everything had to go through him. Any kind of resolution the band council passed in Kahnawa:ke used to have to go to the Indian Agent’s office for approval. If he approved it, he would sign it and send it to Ottawa. If he disapproved it, it didn’t pass. They had a lot of say in the reserve. I think there were three agents altogether. The first Indian agent was in 1821, then he was replaced by some man named LeTourneau. After LeTourneau left, Brisebois came in in...
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Norfolk council puts off Indigenous acknowledgment
By J.P. Antonacci Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Despite being just down the road from Canada’s most populous First Nation, Norfolk County does not officially acknowledge the past and present contributions of Indigenous peoples. One councillor wants to change that. But Tom Masschaele’s efforts to institute an Indigenous acknowledgment have thus far been stymied by a council afraid of the legal repercussions of formally recognizing Norfolk’s neighbours from Six Nations of the Grand River, Mississaugas of the Credit and beyond. “I believe we have a duty to work toward truth and reconciliation _ not just on Orange Shirt Day, but every day,” Masschaele said of his push to recognize “the historical and current contributions of Indigenous Peoples throughout Canada, and particularly in Norfolk County, that have added to the rich cultural and...
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Green gifts a way to conserve species, landscapes
Miranda Leybourne Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Nature Conservancy of Canada is encouraging shoppers to think green this holiday season and give a gift of conservation that will last well into the future. Through the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC) 28th annual green gifts program, shoppers can symbolically adopt a species or a landscape across the country. For six decades now, the NCC, a non-profit organization that works with individuals, First Nations, communities, businesses and governments, has worked to conserve plants, animals and over 15 million hectares of natural landscapes. Through the symbolic adoption of a species or landscapes, people can support NCC to conserve critical habitats and ensure a future for a species that is at risk. The funds gathered through the gifting program will also help to build...
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Feds mark eight year anniversary of TRC report
By Marc Lalonde Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The federal ministers responsible for Indigenous portfolios weighed in on the eighth anniversary of the groundbreaking report issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its corresponding Calls to Action. “We are taking steps toward nation-to-nation, Inuit-Crown, and government-to-government relationships to support Indigenous Peoples to achieve self-determination,” said Crown-Indigenous Relations minister Gary Anandasangaree, Indigenous Services minister Patty Hajdu and Northern Affairs minister Daniel Vandal. The ministers said truth must be the first thing considered when implementing those Calls to Action over the last eight years_ including coming to terms with the shameful Residential Schools policies of the past. “Truth must come before reconciliation,” they said. “We are reminded of this fact as communities across the country continue the painful work at former Residential...
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One step closer for Metis Local 1990 receiving land from Grande Prairie
By Jesse Boily Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The City of Grande Prairie will enter negotiations with Metis Local 1990 about transferring the land on which its elder caring centre sits. The building is owned by the Metis local, but the city owns the land. “It’s been a long time coming,” said Metis Local 1990 president Shannon Dunfield. She said transferring the land to the Metis Local 1990 will help with future planning for the Elder Caring Shelter. “It’s (elder shelter) been in the community for 20 years, and it’s a service that’s needed, and we want to keep going with it, and I think this transfer will be able to help us do that.” Coun. Gladys Blackmore said she has long been a supporter of the Metis Local 1990 owning...
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‘Very different Christmas’ for those affected by B.C. wildfires this season
By The Canadian Press British Columbia’s 2023 wildfires were a life-changing disaster for many, and their impact has echoed into the holiday season. The fire season was already breaking records by mid-August when forecasters warned that dry lightning and strong winds on the way were a recipe for catastrophe. Thousands were forced to leave in the southern Interior ahead of fast-moving wildfires. Fire officials described a ferocious fight to save homes, but hundreds were burned to their foundations in the Okanagan and Shuswap regions. From fire chiefs, to those who lost their homes, to Pumba the pig, here’s how some affected by the emergency are spending their holiday season: ___ ‘I DON’T THINK WE’VE EVER BEEN STRONGER’ Paul Zydowicz is among 13 members of the Wilson’s Landing Fire Department who...
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Canadian Rangers training expands in Eeyou Istchee
By Patrick Quinn Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Canadian Rangers Patrol Group visited Cree communities in November to conduct several training sessions. Following a week of exercises in Nemaska, there was an opening ceremony and basic military indoctrination for the organization’s 29th patrol in Ouje-Bougoumou. Quebec’s Canadian Ranger program was first established in 1997, consisting largely of Indigenous members, to provide a military presence in the North for sovereignty protection and emergency preparedness. “I’m the sergeant in 1/8Nemaska 3/8 and we try to get as many Rangers as are available,” said Clarence Jason Jolly. “I like that they integrate our traditional knowledge and practices into the training. Ice rescue training to save someone from hypothermia was especially beneficial to refresh our knowledge and skills.” The Nemaska patrol group began in...
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‘Diminished’ hope: Yellowhead Institute to end reports on TRC calls to action
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- Canada has been so slow to carry out recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that an Indigenous-led think tank says it has decided to stop publishing an annual report tracking its progress. “At first, the project invoked hope and determination. If only the Canadian public knew about their government’s lack of action, we believed, perhaps things would change,” said the annual report from the Yellowhead Institute, a research and education centre based at Toronto Metropolitan University. “That hope, as those who have followed us on this journey may have noticed, has begun to diminish in the fifth year of this project.” The Truth and Reconciliation Commission spent years investigating and documenting the history, and lasting harms, of church-operated, government-funded residential schools that...
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Qapik Attagutsiak, last survivor of Inuit war effort and beloved elder, dies at 103
By Bob Weber THE CANADIAN PRESS Qapik Attagutsiak was already a young woman in 1940, a mother at ease on the land and a skilled midwife, when she heard about a conflict occurring among many people in faraway lands. Qapik, who preferred using that name in the Inuit tradition, was hunting walrus with her family near Foxe Basin when the local Catholic priest told her about battles being fought by men jumping from planes. “Inuit are afraid to kill other people,” Qapik told a Parks Canada interviewer in 2018. “We were afraid that our husbands would be killed if they encountered anyone who had jumped from an airplane. We would think that they will never come back.” No paratroops landed in what is now Nunavut during the Second World War....
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CP NewsAlert: Record shattering 2023 wildfires voted Canadian news story of the year
HALIFAX -The wildfires that disrupted the lives of thousands of Canadians, and shattered records for the amount of forest burned, have been voted The Canadian Press story of the year. An unusually mild and dry winter in much of the country set the stage for an unprecedented season that led to 200,000 people fleeing their homes. The fires consumed an area three times the size of Nova Scotia, more than doubling the previous record set in 1995. From Halifax to British Columbia to Yellowknife, Canadians were forced from their homes as the fires burned, and the resulting smoke made for hazardous air conditions far from the flames. Six firefighters in B.C. died, including four killed in a road crash as they returned home from a two-week deployment. The wildfire story...
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Nunavut Arctic College students build a home in Rankin Inlet
By Stewart Burnett Local Journalism Initiative Reporter There’s a new public housing unit on the block in Rankin Inlet, and though it won’t solve the housing crisis alone, the initiative represents a collaborative effort to give students real-world experience and tackle the Nunavut 3,000 challenge together. “It’s not just building a house,” said Albert Netser, dean of technology and trades with Nunavut Arctic College (NAC). “It’s building our people.” The project saw approximately 40 students play a role in the three-bedroom house build from start to finish. The unit, located in Rankin Inlet’s old town, was officially transferred to the Nunavut Housing Corporation Tuesday, Dec. 19. Students in the Sanatuliqsarvik Nunavut Trades Training Centre Apprenticeship Program received mentorship and experience that many don’t have a chance to acquire without such...
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Merry Christmas from Turtle Island News
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Hamilton changes site trucking waste stop after MOE says no
By Lisa Iesse Writer HAMILTON – Ontario’s ministry of environment has pulled the brakes on 8,000 cubic metres or 16,000 tons of Chedoke Creek waste enroute to a local suburban landfill site in Hamilton. About one month ago, in a message posted on their website the city announced the clean-up was complete. “The in-water targeted dredging activities are completed, concluding the four-month effort to remove sediment from the bottom of Chedoke Creek.” It was a job that came with a $10.4 million price tag. “We’re running around 32 trucks a day of dried material as we’re able to,” Nick Winters, the city’s director of water told city council on November 21. About 2 weeks ago, the province stepped in warning that the planned dumping site, the GFL landfill in Stoney...
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Six Nations Elected Council confused on fire truck costs
SNEC NEEDS FIRE TRUCK COSTS EXPLAINED Six Nations Fire Department continues to work toward purchasing a ‘new’ fire truck, but by the time they receive it, it will already be two years old. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) deferred a motion to approve the truck at its General Council meeting on December 12, despite the motion being labelled “time sensitive.” Elected Chief Sherri-Lyn Hill said they needed to “clarify the numbers.” The deferred motion stated the invoices for the Four-door Extreme Tactical Sawtooth was $182,287 with a total cost of $366,574 coming from Minor Capital funds of 2021-2021 and 2022-2023. Councillor Kerry Bomberry pointed out that by the time the fire department receives the truck it will already be two years old, but they will pay the sticker price of...
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Feds pushing First Nations to sell their land to developers for housing
Conservative Members of Parliament (MP) are pushing Indigenous communities toward selling land to developers for housing instead of funding community builds. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) was told Conservative MP’s are pushing “assimilation” at the General Council meeting on December 12. Councillor Helen Miller gave a report on a lobbying trip she took to Ottawa on December 4 as part of delegation through the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Committee on Housing and Infrastructure. “It was quite the event with them. They were attacking us, you know,” she said. “They kept saying, ‘we’ve got to worry about everybody in Canada, not just you. We’ve got to worry about housing for everybody.’” They were there to meet with six MP’s to try to secure more funding for Indigenous communities to meet...
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Hydro One told to work out kink before SNEC approves plan
Hydro One needs to prepare accurate information before asking Six Nations for permission to work on the territory. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) is asking Hydro One to bring more specific information to them after a presentation by Chris Grol, Indigenous Relations Coordinator didn’t have the information necessary at the General Council meeting on December 12. Grol came to SNEC asking for two band council resolutions to allow Hydro One to complete two projects. One was a customer request on Seneca Road to upgrade the power supply to their residence, which would require Hydro One to install a new, larger, hydro pole. He said that may require clearing more of the area around the pole. The other request was unclear, but required two new, upgraded hydro poles to supply more...
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SNEC to mark phase two of development
Six Nations will pause its orientation to celebrate the Onondaga Buildings with the community. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) was invited to the celebration of the new buildings on Harold Road and despite having scheduled orientations decided at the Political Liaison Committee meeting on December 11 that they would take a break to have the entire council attend. “It is actually a pretty big deal,” Councillor Greg Frazer said. “They do a lot of work we don’t have to cover in terms of cost for Habitat for Humanity. I think it’s good to show an appearance.” The event will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Six Nations Community Hall on December 19. The event boasts that it will “honour the hard work, dedication, and the community engagement...
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Issue of Metis recognition haunting First Nations’ organizations
Metis potentially receiving First Nation’s status and rights continues to dominate conversions at First Nation’s political meetings and Six Nations is at the forefront. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) members attended meetings for the Chiefs of Ontario (COO), Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and, Iroquois Caucus in the last three weeks and the Metis issue was brought up at all of them, which SNEC discussed at its Political Liaison meeting on December 11. Elected Chief Sheri-Lyn Hill discovered she’s responsible for the Bill C-53 portfolio for the Iroquois Caucus said she is working to get up to speed. Bill C-53, which passed second reading in June and has been sent to a standing committee to accept First Nations positions on the bill, before going to a third reading and then...
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Woman who lured doulas with pregnancy claim pleads guilty
BRANTFORD / SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND – The Brantford woman who confessed to staging pregnancies plead guilty to over 20 charges involving doulas across the province. On March 13, Kaitlyn Braun, who is 25 years old, was arrested and accused of misleading a number of doulas with claims of pregnancy and miscarriage from June 2022 to February 2023. The identity of the doulas has been blocked by a publication ban. At a Brantford court on Thursday (Dec. 7) Braun pleaded guilty to 21 of 52 charges of fraud, indecent acts, false pretenses and mischief. Among the charges Braun pleaded guilty to was a charge of mischief for falsely misleading the Brantford police in February, by accusing another person of the crimes. Doulas are professionals hired to provide support to...
