Hearing for Alberta separation referendum question to be held in court
By Jack Farrell A special court proceeding on a proposed Alberta separation referendum question is scheduled to get underway today in Edmonton. Alberta’s chief electoral officer, Gordon McClure, referred the proposed question to the court last week, asking a judge to determine whether it violates the Constitution, including treaty rights. The question asks Albertans: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada?” Premier Danielle Smith and Justice Minister Mickey Amery have criticized the referral to the courts, saying the question should be approved and only face judicial scrutiny if it receives a majority vote. It’s not clear how the hearing will unfold, and McClure’s office says it can’t comment further because the matter is before the courts....
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Medical community heartbroken after fatal plane crash on Navajo Nation
By Josh Funk And Susan Montoya Bryan ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal investigators on Wednesday were trying to piece together what caused a medical transport plane to crash on the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona, killing the four people on board and leaving the medical community in neighboring New Mexico heartbroken. The two pilots, flight nurse and paramedic who were onboard were based out of Albuquerque and had worked with hospitals throughout the area. While authorities had yet to release their names, colleagues and friends shared condolences and prayers on social media. Many shared details about the crew’s dedication to patients and the incredible void left by the tragedy. The crew was on its way to pick up a patient from the federal Indian Health Service hospital in Chinle when...
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Premier Ford warns Trump could reopen CUSMA trade pact in the fall
By Kyle Duggan Ontario Premier Doug Ford is warning that U.S. President Donald Trump could choose to suddenly “pull the carpet out from underneath us” by opening up the trade agreement his administration negotiated with Canada during his first term. He said Ottawa needs to prepare for that to happen this fall. Ford made the comments after the country’s premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney met in private for the first time since Trump escalated his trade war by hitting Canada with a baseline 35 per cent tariff last week. The new tariff, which took effect on Friday after the two countries failed to hit an Aug. 1 deadline to secure a new trade agreement, applies only to goods not covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement on free trade, better...
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Community identifies 23-year-old as man shot dead by police in Ontario court
Wapekeka First Nation:A First Nation community in northwestern Ontario has identified the man who was shot dead by provincial police in a courtroom last week. Wapekeka First Nation says the community is mourning the death of 23-year-old Tyresse Kenny Padro Cree Roundsky, who died on July 31. Shibogama First Nations Council, which counts the First Nation as a member, confirmed that he was shot in a temporary courtroom housed at a youth centre. Wapekeka First Nation says he will be missed by his family, friends and primary caregiver. The Special Investigations Unit is investigating the shooting, which they say happened after a police officer was approached by a man with a knife at the fly-in courtroom in the middle of the day. Investigators say the man and the officer had...
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Yukon First Nation to oppose all new mining claims on its territory during planning
By Chuck Chiang A Yukon First Nation says it will oppose any new mining claims on its traditional territory as it begins a regional land-use planning process with the territory’s government. The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun says in a post on Facebook that it is issuing a notice to the mining industry that it will oppose any claim “through all available legal and political avenues.” The Nation says any such claim staked during the land-use planning process are “unwelcome” and “unlawful,” citing past court decisions that it says “strongly discourages staking claims in the areas” undergoing such a process. It says the Nation has adopted its own policy on mining that will govern the industry on its traditional territory while the planning process in pending. The notice comes...
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Carney to meet with three Métis groups on major projects bill today
By Alessia Passafiume Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet today with three provincial Métis groups to discuss his government’s major projects legislation. The legislation allows cabinet to quickly grant federal approvals for big industrial projects that are deemed to be in the national interest by sidestepping environmental protections and other legislation. Carney is expected to be joined by the Métis Nation of Alberta, the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan and the Métis Nation of Ontario. The Manitoba Métis Federation, which represents Red River Métis, declined an invitation to take part in the meeting Wednesday, saying that inviting the Métis Nation of Ontario undermines the integrity of the gathering and puts the government’s plans for major projects at risk. The Manitoba Métis Federation says the Métis Nation of Ontario has...
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Takeaways from AP’s report on Alaska Natives’ response to oil and mining proposals
By Peter Smith FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration and its allies have pushed aggressively for drilling, mining and logging in Alaska. This has intensified long-standing debate over extraction projects in the nation’s largest state, particularly within Alaska Native communities. Some view such projects as key to jobs and economic development. Others see them posing environmental risks as they’ve already faced severe fishing restrictions on the state’s longest rivers due to a collapse in the salmon population. Scientists are unsure of the causes of the salmon collapse — which possibly include warming waters and commercial fishing — but opponents of extraction say its possible impacts could be similar in terms of endangering subsistence traditions and food sources. They say this risks, in turn, damaging their sacred connections to...
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Meet the N.W.T.’s semi-finalists in 2025’s Pow Wow Pitch
By Aastha Sethi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio The Northwest Territories’ Cassandra Blondin Burt, Corrine Bullock and Jamie Wetrade-Stevenson are semi-finalists in the 2025 Pow Wow Pitch. The annual competition celebrates Indigenous entrepreneurs from across the country while offering funding, mentorship and a national platform to showcase talent. Wetrade-Stevenson, a Tłı̨chǫ photographer from Behchokǫ̀, is one of 13 entrepreneurs selected in this year’s creative category. She has been living in Yellowknife for just over five years and began working in the field professionally in 2018. “It definitely feels a bit surreal and it just definitely feels super, super special,” she told Cabin Radio. “Something that inspires me to keep going is having representation, because when I was growing up I didn’t see a lot of myself in other people...
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First Nation disappointed as B.C. court rejects challenge to Mount Polley dam level
By Darryl Greer The B.C. Supreme Court has dismissed a First Nation’s bid to stop the level of a tailings dam being increased at the Mount Polley mine site, which suffered a catastrophic dam collapse that spilled millions of litres of waste and water 11 years ago. The Xatsull First Nation claimed the province’s approval of the plan to raise the level of the dam in B.C.’s Interior by four metres was improper and done without “meaningful” consultation with the nation. But Justice Michael Tammen ruled Wednesday that the provincial government’s consultation with the Xatsull was proper. “I view the consultation here as deep and, importantly, the process employed by the province provided Xatsull with ample opportunity to present their perspective,” Tammen said. The First Nation said in a statement...
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New long-term care facility designs to be submitted for approval within a month
By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com SIOUX LOOKOUT — Officials with the Meno Ya Win Health Centre say they intend to submit preliminary design documents for a new long-term care facility to the province on or before September 1. The hospital in Sioux Lookout received a $2.5 million planning grant from the province in late 2024; that money went “to complete the required planning, design and tender-ready submissions for the project,” Michelle Beaulne, Meno Ya Win’s director of corporate services said in an email to Newswatch, adding that will include working drawings. “We intend to undertake all of the detailed planning aspects necessary to enable the completion of the preliminary plan for the project to subsequently be reviewed to make the decision to proceed to the construction stage,”...
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Book recounts how First Nation had to work through trauma to realize a bright future
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Our Warrior Spirit is writer Les Couchi’s way of paying tribute to the Elders of Nipissing First Nation. The book came about when discussions were occurring in 2024 on how a $10 billion settlement of the Robinson Huron Treaty annuities litigation would be distributed among 21 First Nations in northeastern Ontario. A portion of the money received by Nipissing would go into a fund for the community to use and another portion was to be paid directly to individuals. “A lot of the younger people were asking for an equal share and I thought, they really don’t know what it was really like,” said Couchi, who suggested that the individual portion be calculated on a yearly basis and be distributed according to...
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Canada pushing to include Indigenous rights in United Nations plastics treaty
By Nick Murray Canada is pushing to bring language recognizing the rights of Indigenous peoples back into a United Nations plastics pollution treaty. Delegates from more than 170 countries are in Geneva to resume negotiations on a treaty that was supposed to be finalized last year. Countries are at odds on how far the legally binding agreement should go, with many nations opposing caps on plastic production. Following negotiations in South Korea in November, which ended without an agreement, the draft version of the treaty removed references to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Canada, with the backing of 45 other countries, presented a proposal Tuesday to put UNDRIP language back in to the treaty. Scientists estimate the world disposes of more than 350 million tonnes of...
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Provincial divisions on display as Carney convenes premiers to talk tariffs
By David Baxter and Kyle Duggan Ontario and Saskatchewan remained at odds over Canada’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war Wednesday as the premiers prepared to meet with the prime minister to talk trade. Prime Minister Mark Carney was holding virtual meetings in private with his cabinet and the premiers Wednesday afternoon, less than a week after Trump ramped up his trade assault on Canada with a baseline 35 per cent tariff. The new tariff applies only to goods not covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement on free trade, better known as CUSMA. The latest levy took effect on Friday after the two countries failed to hit an Aug. 1 deadline to secure a new trade agreement. Before meeting with Carney, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he...
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New elders facility off to great start in Rankin Inlet, mayor says
By Darrell Greer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kivalliq News Rankin Inlet Mayor Harry Towtongie says it was a wonderful day when the new Elders long-term care facility was announced for his community. The 24-bed facility — 22 permanent beds and two temporary-care beds — opened in May, with the first Elders beginning to arrive on May 26. Towtongie said hamlet council had been driving their MLAs to push the government to bring the facility to Rankin Inlet for at least 10 years before it finally happened. He said now that it’s here, it’s been a real boost to the community. “Now the Elders facility is finally here and the community is very happy about it,” said Towtongie. “The only complaint I’ve been hearing about the facility — and it’s a...
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Detection dogs to search former residential school site near Chapleau
By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com CHAPLEAU – Members of three First Nations are working together to investigate the grounds of the former St. John’s Residential School. From Aug. 1 to 3, historic human remains detection dogs (HHRDD) will comb through heavily overgrown areas near the site slightly southeast of Chapleau. The search is part of an ongoing initiative led by survivors and supported by Chapleau Cree First Nation, Chapleau Ojibwe First Nation, and Brunswick House First Nation. “We’re mostly led by the survivors group, which we call the survivors working circle,” said Deanna Dixon, residential school initiative lead for Chapleau Cree First Nation. “It also includes intergenerational survivors, but we’re also led by our communities and our respective chief and councils as well.” Dixon said work began with...
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Low-income renters press governments for ways to cool apartments in heat waves
By Michael Tutton Sandra Walsh was struggling to breathe in her apartment when temperatures across Nova Scotia soared in July, but the woman on social assistance says her pleas for a government-funded air conditioner have been ignored. “With the high humidity, it effects my breathing and I have to gasp for air,” says the 46-year-old woman, recently diagnosed with a progressive lung disease. “Even taking frequent, cold showers isn’t really helping.” The resident of New Glasgow, N.S., is among many low-income Canadians with health conditions struggling to get government help to stay cool. She wants to buy a $300 air conditioner, but that would leave her with little money for food or medications. As of Wednesday, Walsh said it had been more than two months since she asked her income...
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Mattagami First Nation opens new $1.2M wellness centre
By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com MATTAGAMI – A new modern wellness centre in Mattagami First Nation is nicer than some of the gyms Chief Jennifer Constant has been to in bigger cities. In 2024, a $1.2 million facility opened in the community near Gogama, off Highway 144. Months earlier, the community had received confirmation that they’d received over $611,000 from Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), which was publicly announced on July 23. “Because there was so much interest in the space, we allowed people to start utilizing it and hired people on so we were able to cover the costs until the funds fully came through,” said Constant. The wellness centre is attached to the Odamino Centre, which also houses the rink. With a footprint of 2,550...
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AI-powered Inuktitut program is ‘within reach’
By Arty Sarkisian, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News To follow proper “net-iquette,” check your fishing nets regularly to make sure the fish are safe from birds and the net doesn’t rot in the water. “It protects your livelihood, maintains fish quality and shows courtesy to fellow fishers and environment,” says Ataatatsiaq — an AI-generated, grey-haired grandpa who speaks in Inuktitut. The video, titled Net-iquette: Pro Tips from Ataatatsiaq, was posted online a week ago by Kirt Ejesiak, founder of AingAI Indigenous Language Labs. The video is also available in English. For now, the grandpa’s voice is provided by a human interpreter — but that could soon be done solely using artificial intelligence, Ejesiak said in an interview. “We’re not there yet, but we really believe it’s within reach now,”...
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Manitoba Métis Federation turns down Carney’s invitation to talk major projects
By Alessia Passafiume The Manitoba Métis Federation is turning down Prime Minister Mark Carney’s invitation to discuss his government’s controversial major projects legislation, saying it won’t attend the meeting alongside another Métis group it says has no reason to exist. The federation, which represents Red River Métis, says Carney’s decision to include the Métis Nation of Ontario in Thursday’s meeting undermines the integrity of the gathering and puts the government’s plans for major projects at risk. Federation president David Chartrand says Ottawa is also propping up the Métis National Council by including it in the meeting, despite the fact that it has only two provincial members left due to conflicts related to the Métis Nation of Ontario. Carney promised meetings with First Nations, Inuit and Métis after Indigenous leaders said...
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Brantford Man facing Impaired Driving Charge
BRANTFORD, ONT-A 45-year-old Brantford man is facing impaired driving charges after Brantford Police Service (BPS) officers received a call alerting police to a possible impaired driver. BPS said officers were dispatched to the McMurray Street and Brant Avenue area after recieving the call at about 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 5, 2025l from a concerned citizen who saw a driver swerving and driving erratically. The caller provided a description of the vehicle along with the license plate to police who were then able to quickly locate the vehicle. A traffic stop was conducted on Brant Avenue near Bedford Street. Speaking with the driver, officers observed signs of impairment. The accused was transported to provide samples of breath as required by law. Samples provided were three times the legal limit. As a...
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