Court gives green light to part of ’60s Scoop’ class action
By Alessia Passafiume The Federal Court has rejected the federal government’s motion to dismiss a claim for monetary relief in a class-action lawsuit brought by non-status individuals and Métis who were involved in the so-called “’60s Scoop.” It’s also granting the plaintiffs’ request for a motion declaring that the Crown had a duty of care to these kids — but only the ones placed or adopted through Saskatchewan’s Adopt Indian Métis [AIM] program. The ’60s Scoop refers to a period when governments in Canada oversaw the large-scale removal of Indigenous children from their homes to live outside of their communities, mostly with non-Indigenous caregivers. A class-action settlement for survivors saw the federal government pay about $750 million in compensation — but Métis were largely excluded from that because child welfare...
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Indigenous Leaders Urge Hudson Bay Company Not to Sell Sacred Artifacts
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News (ANNews) – Indigenous groups are cautioning against the Hudson’s Bay Company’s (HBC) intention to auction off its collection of thousands of pieces of art and artifacts, which could include items of cultural, historical and spiritual importance for First Nations in Canada. “The HBC’s legacy is inseparable from the post-contact history of the original peoples on this land,” Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) Grand Chief Kyra Wilson wrote in an April 22 letter to HBC, which filed for bankruptcy in March. “These artifacts are not simply ‘valuable assets’ or one-of-a-kind collectibles, but pieces of living history, some of which may be sacred, stolen from First Nations or properly First Nations-owned.” As part of its efforts to pay back $1 billion it...
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Alberta Premier Smith punts suggestions she’s stoking separatism talk
By Lisa Johnson Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is deflecting accusations that she’s stoking the fires of separatism, despite her government moving to lower the bar for holding a referendum. Earlier this week, Smith’s government proposed legislation that would make it easier for citizens to call for a vote to secede from Canada, drawing heated condemnation from Indigenous leaders who warn it would violate treaties. A vocal set of right-wing supporters are pushing for an Alberta exit following the federal Liberals’ election win Monday. Smith told reporters Thursday that she won’t presuppose what questions Albertans might bring to a ballot. “I’m not going to prejudge what citizens are going to do for a petition,” Smith said. Asked if she would acknowledge that she has opened the door for separatism to gain...
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New B.C. legislation to speed up public and private projects, says minister
By Wolfgang Depner New legislation proposed in British Columbia would accelerate major public and private projects, including mines and other natural resource operations, Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma said Thursday. The government has previously promised to speed up permitting to improve the provincial economy after last year’s election, then amid tariff and annexation threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. Ma said in the legislature that the Infrastructure Projects Act tabled Thursday will designate projects that are significant to the province and oversee their planning, procurement and delivery. She said the changes would give the province additional power to speed up government projects as well as other significant enterprises that provide economic, environmental or social benefits for the province. Ma said the legislation would give cabinet the power to designate projects as...
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Here’s what the Liberals promised for health care. But can they deliver?
By Nicole Ireland Until U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats to Canadian sovereignty came along, many thought health care would be a key issue in the federal election. Instead, it came across as an after-thought to more immediate economic concerns that often hijacked campaign headlines. “I can’t recall an election in recent decades where less attention was given to health care,” said Nelson Wiseman, a professor emeritus in political science at the University of Toronto. Wiseman pegs the oversight to tense relations with the United States and the Trump administration, which he says “eclipsed virtually all other issues except affordability.” Health issues are certainly no less pressing and the Liberals included several health-care pledges in their platform. Now that the party has been handed another mandate, here’s what doctors,...
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New guide will help Indigenous-owned electrical utilities be successful
By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter On the final day of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference in Toronto, which concluded April 29, co-emcee Jesse McCormick made a newsworthy announcement. He revealed FNMPC officials had released the Indigenous Utilities Paper, subtitled The Emergence of Indigenous-Owned Electrical Utilities in Canada. McCormick mentioned how Niilo Edwards, the FNMPC’s CEO and executive director who died this past December, was at last year’s conference discussing a national Indigenous electrification strategy. “He noted you will see in the next decade the proliferation of Indigenous utilities across this country because that is what our electrification sector needs in order to meet its demand,” said McCormick. Edwards had played a key role in the creation of the Indigenous Utilities Paper. “Niilo was always keen...
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Two fly-in First Nations along James Bay evacuating amid spring flooding
-CP-A fly-in First Nation on the shore of James Bay in northern Ontario has asked its community members to evacuate after spring flooding cut off the road to its airport. The Kashechewan First Nation Youth Advisory says in a social media post that flooding began to take over the airport road on Thursday morning, with water believed to have reached the airport as well. Kashechewan Chief Hosea Wesley also says residents should get boats ready in case the flooding rises above the community’s dike. Community members were later told to gather on the baseball field, to be taken to the neighbouring Fort Albany First Nation and flown south from there. The Cree community declared a state of emergency last month when spring flooding began threatening the area and prompted some...
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Alberta’s top court dismisses Crown appeal of sentence of man in Calgary chef murder
The Alberta Court of Appeal has rejected a request to review the sentence given to a man convicted in the death of a well-known Calgary chef. Anthony Dodgson was found guilty in 2023 by a jury of second-degree murder after fatally stabbing Christophe Herblin while his accomplice, Tommie Holloway, was convicted of manslaughter. Court heard Dodgson and Holloway broke into the restaurant with plans to get through a wall into an adjacent cannabis shop. They fled when a car drove by and returned later to continue their robbery attempt but became frustrated when Herblin showed up. Holloway smashed Herblin’s car windows in order to lure him into the parking lot. Dodgson attacked him and stabbed him nine times. Herblin was a longtime executive sous chef at the Glencoe Golf and...
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Indigenous chiefs call for Alberta Premier Smith to stop stoking separatism talk
Two First Nations chiefs are accusing Alberta Premier Danielle Smith of “attempting to manufacture a national unity crisis” and are calling on her to stop stoking the fires of separatism. Smith’s government has proposed legislation that would make it easier for citizens to call for a referendum on seceding from Canada. Chief Sheldon Sunshine of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and Mikisew Cree Nation Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro say in a letter that the premier is enabling a referendum on separation, and a “fanatical cell of individuals,” when Canadians need to unite against U.S. tariffs. Smith has said it would be up to Albertans, not her government, to put the separation question on a ballot and that she supports Alberta sovereignty within a united Canada. But the chiefs say even if Smith...
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Assembly of First Nations joins calls for Hudson’s Bay to return ceremonial items
By Brittany Hobson The Assembly of First Nations is joining calls for Hudson’s Bay to immediately halt the sale of artifacts and return any cultural, ceremonial and sacred items to the Indigenous communities that they belong to. National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says some items may represent vital and genuine aspects of cultural heritage and identity. An Ontario judge has given Canada’s oldest retailer permission to move forward with an auction of the 4,400 artifacts and art pieces, along with the 355-year-old royal charter that launched the company. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs first requested a stop to any sale without proper consultation with First Nations. An advocacy group representing some northern First Nations in the province has also joined in, saying its communities were instrumental in the development of...
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Kashechewan calls for helicopters after airport access cut off by flooding
By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com KASHECHEWAN FIRST NATION – With floodwaters rising rapidly, Kashechewan First Nation is now conducting emergency helicopter evacuations after the community’s only road to its airport was submerged under water. In a post from Kashechewan First Nation Youth Advisory around 8 a.m. today (May 1), leadership confirmed that the airport road had been overtaken by floodwaters, a situation not seen since 2006. Community leaders are now calling for helicopters to airlift remaining residents, prioritizing families with children. “Just 30 minutes ago at 7:13 a.m., our airport road was compromised and has begun to flood, our flood coordinators in Kashechewan predict that the airport itself will begin to flood as well,” the statement reads. “The chief said in a live feed at roughly 7:40 a.m....
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Rapidly rising river has Fort Albany bracing for flooding
By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com FORT ALBANY – As the Albany River continues to rise rapidly, residents of Fort Albany First Nation are preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. Martin Nakochee, a Fort Albany resident, Weeneebayko Area Health Authority employee, and First Nation councillor, lives along Riverside Road — about 50 to 60 feet from the riverbank. He said the water is rising at an alarming pace. “My wife was supposed to be going across — she works for Air Creebec — and not even five minutes later when I drove back, by the time we got to the bank there, it was already underwater,” Nakochee told TimminsToday. In case the river overflows, Nakochee has been taking precautions. He’s moved belongings from the basement, loaded...
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Mental health trouble leads to public safety issues, Vancouver’s mayor says
By Chuck Chiang People are “sick and tired” of inquiries and reviews into a recurring pattern of people in a mental health crisis becoming involved in violent incidents, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said Wednesday. His comments came days after an SUV was driven at high speed through a crowd at a Vancouver festival held by the Filipino community, killing 11 people and injuring dozens more. Later Wednesday, the province announced it was declaring a provincial day of remembrance and mourning for the victims, to be held on Friday. The mayor said the man accused of the attack at the Lapu Lapu Day festival was under the care of a mental health team and on “extended leave,” a term referring to leave from involuntary treatment. “This is incredibly difficult to hear...
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Walk With Our Sisters returns to continue fight for MMIWG
By Ken Kellar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Fort Frances Times While awareness has risen over the past three years, as long as there are missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG), there will be walks in their honour. The third annual Walk With Our Sisters event is scheduled for Monday, May 5, 2025. The event, which is held each year in order to raise awareness around the crisis of MMIWG, begins at the Fort Frances Senior Centre, then proceeds north on Victoria Avenue before turning west onto Scott Street and ending up at the United Native Friendship Centre (UNFC). Each year the walk aims to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, to acknowledge the grief and torment families of these women continue to suffer,...
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Squamish Nation players celebrate communal solidarity at softball tourney
By Ina Pace, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Squamish Chief Nation players and non-Nation players came together at the recent spring tournament, uniting as a ‘big, small family.’ Squamish Nation members celebrated community solidarity at this year’s slo-pitch softball spring league tournament in Squamish, in which they took third place. The Icebreaker Slo-Pitch tournament, hosted by the non-profit Squamish Slo-Pitch Association (SSPA), took place April 25 to 27, highlighting solidarity with a large community turnout and a “huge victory” for the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Ts’a’nsut. Ts’a’nsut’s creator and manager—and Nation councillor—Deanna Lewis described Icebreaker as one of this year’s best tournaments, explaining that whilst the fall tournament, dubbed ‘Fall Ball season’ is when new players are introduced, the spring league is the literal icebreaker for the teams, an opportunity to bond and...
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Split vote lifted Gunn to victory despite controversy
By Rochelle Baker and Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporters, Canada’s National Observer Controversial Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn ended his successful campaign the same way he started it: by keeping his whereabouts secret and avoiding questions from the media. Gunn, whose inflammatory social media history drew national attention and widespread calls for his removal as candidate, was elected in North Island-Powell River with 39 per cent of the vote. He flipped the riding, defeating NDP candidate Tanille Johnston, who garnered 33 per cent of the vote. Liberal Jennifer Lash carried 26 per cent and Green Jessica Wegg drew 2 per cent. Early campaigning helped Gunn, when the Liberal Party was still looking for candidates in many BC ridings as late as December, said Mario Canseco, pollster and the president of...
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Elections Canada to investigate voting barriers in Nunavik
By Maura Forrest Elections Canada says it will investigate “shortcomings” that prevented some people in Nunavik from casting their vote in Monday’s federal election. In a statement Wednesday, chief electoral officer Stéphane Perrault apologized to residents of the northern region of Quebec, which is the homeland of Inuit in the province. “I deeply regret that some electors in Nunavik were not able to cast their vote,” he said. “Over the last three years, Elections Canada has engaged with Indigenous communities across the country and made it a priority to remove barriers and improve voting services for Indigenous electors. “Nevertheless, the shortcomings of our services in Nunavik during the general election underscore the importance of the work that remains.” Perrault said the agency will “review the circumstances that led to this...
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Group banished from Haida Gwaii in wake of man’s death by vehicle
By Radha Agarwal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince Rupert Northern View Tensions have risen on Haida Gwaii following the death of Luke Pearson. Tyson Young was charged with second-degree murder on April 25 after he allegedly ran down Pearson with a vehicle on April 22. Staff Sergeant Kris Clark of the RCMP confirmed Young remains in the custody of BC Corrections until the matter concludes or he is granted bail in the Supreme Court. The incident, which took place on Haida Gwaii, has led to a series of protests and incidents of solidarity from other First Nations communities, with many northwest B.C. residents expressing their anger over what they perceive as growing drug-related issues and violence in the region. Videos shared on local Facebook groups show residents of Haida Gwaii...
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For Mi’kmaq fishers working within Ottawa’s baby eel rules, it’s a ‘peaceful’ season
By Michael Tutton Some Mi’kmaq harvesters say working within Ottawa’s quotas for the contentious baby eel fishery is helping calm the tense atmosphere in their river workplaces. In the shallows of the Gold River last Friday night, as the tiny, translucent eels known as elvers emerged from the mud, Jay Pennell — a member of the nearby Wasoqopa’q First Nation — swept his nets back and forth through the water and recalled past confrontations. “There’s been lots of incidents on rivers we’ve been on in prior years,” Pennell said. “But right here on Gold River, there’s been nothing this year …. It’s very peaceful.” By day he’s a carpenter in the community 75 kilometres southwest of Halifax; at night he dons hip waders and dips a mesh net in the...
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Erosion concerns raised over Wilmot land-grab site stripped of crops
By Ethan Braund, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Woolwich Observer Erosion on a portion of farmland stripped of crops is the latest concern raised by the region’s land grab in Wilmot Township. Municipalities downstream of the site – where the Region of Waterloo is looking to turn 770 acres of farmland into an industrial development– may suffer the consequences, says agrologist Ann Loeffler. A portion of the land acquired by the region was stripped of its healthy corn crop in the summer of 2024. Loeffler says she tried to warn the region of the possible negative effects. “I pointed this out to the region last fall and said this could be a real problem waiting to happen. The responsible thing to do here would be to put some silt fences or...
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