Winter Count exhibit highlights Indigenous art to counter settler narrative
By Patrick Quinn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com The National Gallery of Canada’s newest exhibition explores perspectives of the winter season across diverse cultures and artistic expressions. Comprising more than 160 works spanning two centuries, Winter Count: Embracing the Cold marks the first major collaborative project between the gallery’s Canadian, European and Indigenous curatorial departments. “Winter will never stop being our first common language,” wrote director Jean-François Bélisle in the exhibition catalogue. “A tongue of resilience, imagination and kinship. Winter Count reflects the Gallery’s desire to weave together multiple art histories around a theme that has been extremely impactful in Canada.” The exhibition is named for the tradition among many Plains peoples to record the passing of each year with the painting of its most significant event onto buffalo hide....
Register
More known about 2 people who perished in trailer inferno
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal Grieving is set to continue this morning in Fort William First Nation as provincial investigators continue to probe Saturday’s early-morning trailer fire believed to have claimed the lives of two young men. A statement posted to the community’s website on Monday offered “sincerest condolences” to the victims’ “families and loved ones.” “No words can ease the pain of such a devastating loss, but please know that you are surrounded by the strength, love and prayers from Fort William First Nation,” the statement said. The two men who died are believed to be Michael Johnstone Junior and Shay Boucher. Police have not confirmed the identities. In an online post on Sunday, Fort William First Nation Chief Michele Solomon said her community was...
Register
Canada’s best fish recovery happens with Indigenous partners — but they’re rare: audit
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer Indigenous-federal partnerships are producing some of the strongest signs of fish stock recovery in Canada, but such collaborations are rare, shows a new fishery audit. The audit highlighted a major gap — also seen in another recent study — about how Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) draws on Indigenous knowledge: Nearly 87 per cent of its scientific documents included no meaningful Indigenous input. Only nine per cent involved Indigenous Peoples in the process and about three per cent showed Indigenous knowledge helped shape the research and put their knowledge on equal footing with Western science. For Russ Jones, hereditary chief of the Haida Eagle moiety, his community’s herring rebuilding plan is proof of what long-term Indigenous leadership and co-governance can...
Register
First Nation chooses herring recovery over income
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer A First Nation on BC’s central coast has voted to keep its 2026 spawn-on-kelp herring fishery closed, sacrificing income and tradition in hopes of rebuilding a fragile keystone species. In spawn-on-kelp harvesting, herring lay eggs on kelp and submerged hemlock branches, then harvesters collect the eggs but leave the fish alive. For many Heiltsuk harvesters, the vote to maintain the fishery closure means setting aside a seasonal paycheque that families depend on, said William Housty, director of the Heiltsuk integrated resource management department in Bella Bella, BC. Roe on kelp can sell for more than $300 per kilogram. “It shows how important conservation is and that people are willing to give up their part of their annual economy for the...
Register
Trio of battery storage sites possible for Chatham-Kent
By Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice Three new battery storage developments could be coming to Chatham-Kent, if Ontario’s Independent Electricity Operator (IESO) gives them the go-ahead. At the Dec. 1 meeting, municipal council endorsed the trio of projects, that, if constructed, would generate more than $90 million for C-K over 20 years as part of community support agreements. Aypa Power Canada is looking at building the Queen’s Line Reliability Project Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) on Queen’s Line near Dillon Road, as well as the Bloomfield Reliability Project, adjacent to the Bloomfield Business Park south of Chatham. The Sandhill BESS project would be located east of Wallaceburg on Baseline Road. However, it’s still early. Each company has to submit their proposals to the IESO. If approved, rigorous...
Register
Brantford police are giving tickets for good deeds this December
By Celeste Percy-Beauregard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator This December, you could get a ticket from Brantford Police Service whether you’re naughty or nice. For the first time, the service will be issuing “positive tickets” to “co-operative, safety-minded, and courteous community members” to create awareness and support for Lansdowne Children’s Centre, BPS spokesperson Robin Matthews-Osmond said. The centre helps kids with physical, communication and/or developmental needs in Brantford, Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk counties, Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. “During traffic stops, RIDE programs, and community events, officers may issue a Positive Ticket, a simple thank-you for being a safe, responsible, and caring member of our community,” BPS posted to Facebook on Monday. The ticket has information about how to donate...
Register
Support for development projects comes in
By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal The Government of Canada has spent nearly $5 million into 10 Northern Ontario Indigenous economic development projects through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario’s Northern Ontario Development Program. MP Patty Hajdu, minister of jobs and families and minister responsible for FedNor, was met by northern First Nation chiefs and leaders for the announcement at the Nokiiwin Tribal Council, Friday afternoon. The Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, commonly referred to as FedNor, has transformed over the last five years to be focused on Indigenous economic prosperity and equity, Hajdu said, adding that FedNor works within Indigenous communities so that Indigenous leaders and organizations know that FedNor applies to them too. “You’re not limited to working with Indigenous Services...
Register
Inuvialuit kayak, other items from Vatican unveiled at Museum of History
By Alessia Passafiume An Inuvialuit kayak more than a century old was unveiled Tuesday at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., along with a handful of other priceless Inuit items returned to Canada from the Vatican collection on Saturday. The kayak, elegantly hand-built from driftwood, sealskin and sinew, was one of the artifacts earmarked for repatriation by Inuit representatives who were given a private showing of the Vatican’s holdings in the Amina Mundi exhibit during a trip to Rome in 2022. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed was part of that delegation, which visited Rome to accept Pope Francis’s apology for the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s residential school system. Obed said the late pope told him in conversation that “if items were taken forcibly or without consent,”...
Register
Boy trying to slide on snow dies after being struck by vehicle in northern Manitoba
SHAMATTAWA FIRST NATION-Mounties say a six-year-old boy is dead after children in a community in northeastern Manitoba were seen holding onto moving vehicles to slide on the snow. RCMP say officers were called to a nursing station Friday on Shamattawa First Nation, about 460 kilometres east of Thompson, about a child who had been hit by a vehicle. Police say the boy was hit by the vehicle as it was backing up in a parking lot. They say the child was taken to the area’s nursing station but later died. RCMP say witnesses reported seeing children in the area hanging onto the bumpers of moving vehicles to slide on the snow. Mounties say they are still investigating the boy’s death. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec....
Register
Conservatives say they’ll amend pipeline motion to get Liberal support
By Sarah Ritchie The political gamesmanship continues in the House of Commons today ahead of a vote on a Conservative motion that aims to pin down the Liberals on whether they support building a pipeline to the B.C. coast. The Conservatives now say they will amend the motion to make sure the Liberals can support it. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has put forward a motion that says MPs support construction of a pipeline to carry Alberta bitumen to the coast, along with an “appropriate amendment” to legislation banning most oil tankers off the northern B.C. coast. The Liberals said this morning they don’t support the motion because it excludes most what was laid out in the memorandum of understanding Ottawa signed with the Alberta government last month. Natural Resources Minister...
Register
How Indigenous Seniors Shaped Edmonton’s New ETS Bus Wrap
By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News EDMONTON- When the Aboriginal Seniors Centre in Edmonton was approached to help design a new ETS bus wrap, the idea quickly evolved into something far more meaningful than an art project. It became a community conversation, a cultural teaching, and a rare moment of visibility for Indigenous seniors who too often feel unseen. For Milly Karhioo-Saadeh, Indigenous Relations Strategic Planner with the City of Edmonton, the project reflects what meaningful relationship-building truly looks like. “For me, this work is fundamentally about relationships — and the only way to build relationships is by being present with Indigenous people and communities,” she explained. Listening First: Creating Space for Seniors’ Voices The idea of a bus wrap began months earlier, when Karhioo-Saadeh brought...
Register
New report finds escalating food insecurity in Manitoba
By Brenda Sawatzky, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Niverville Citizen Food insecurity in Manitoba continues to trend upwards according to a recent report undertaken by Harvest Manitoba. About 60,000 Manitobans currently turn to foodbanks, and since 2020 the need for foodbanks has increased across the province by a whopping 150 percent. Across all provinces, Manitoba sadly boasts the highest child poverty rate. Here, one of every four children lives in poverty conditions. “Overall, one quarter of all Manitobans are living in some form of food insecurity and one in ten are living in what would be considered severe food insecurity,” the report states. “In a recent Statistics Canada Survey, almost half of Canadians expressed that rising prices affected their ability to make ends meet.” Equally startling is the demographic shift...
Register
Indigenous explainers: How the First Nations education program benefits School District 60 students
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — With her stoic demeanour and unmistakable presence, one might see Pat Jansen as an Indigenous knowledge keeper or storyteller. In a way, she is one: but rather than telling the stories of her people of Horse Lake First Nation in Alberta, she shapes children’s stories as the principal of Indigenous education in School District 60 (SD60). Sitting at the desk in her office, she tells the story of how she came to be an educator – going back to her school days, when she was part of what she described as a “silent generation” of Indigenous people. “You don’t know of [colonial education] when you are growing up,” said Jansen. “You are amidst it and it is...
Register
B.C. First Nation meets with Alberta minister to oppose changing tanker ban
By Ashley Joannou Cameron Hill was six or seven years old in the 1970s when he and his father took to the water in a wooden skiff to help form a blockade to stop a ship of oil executives who were looking for a tanker route through Gitga’at First Nation territory on B.C.’s northern coast. Five decades later, now as the First Nation’s deputy chief, Hill is repeating a pledge to protect the water on which the nation depends, as talk returns to a possible pipeline in the north and oil tankers traversing their waters. Hill was part of a group of Gitga’at First Nation leaders who met Friday with Alberta’s Minister of Indigenous Relations Rajan Sawhney, a meeting that he described as a “open and honest” as leaders expressed...
Register
Fourth trial ordered for Nunavut teacher accused of sexual abuse
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Editor’s note: This story contains details that some readers may find disturbing. For the fourth time since 2018, a former Sanikiluaq teacher will stand trial relating to charges of sexual abuse against Inuit children. Johnny Meeko successfully appealed his conviction of 29-year sentence for the alleged abuse that spanned 1984 to 2003. Meeko can ask the Nunavut Court of Justice to be released from prison on Jan. 5, 2026, when a new trial will be scheduled. The previous judge made errors in admission of evidence and instruction to the jury, creating an unfair trial for Meeko, the Nunavut Court of Appeal ruled in a decision released on Dec. 5. Specifically, one piece of witness testimony was ruled to have been...
Register
N.S. RCMP says it was already tackling illegal cannabis before minister’s directive
By Lyndsay Armstrong The Nova Scotia RCMP say they have no plans to change their approach to tackling illegal cannabis in the province, despite a new provincial government directive calling for a police crackdown. Nova Scotia RCMP spokesperson Cst. Mandy Edwards said that’s because Mounties in the province are already enforcing existing laws. “For us it’s business as usual. This does not change how we operate and enforce those provincial and federal laws,” Edwards said in an interview Monday. The comments come a few days after Justice Minister Scott Armstrong issued the directive to the RCMP and other Nova Scotia police forces, instructing them to prioritize cannabis enforcement. It specifically directs police to focus on intelligence collection, identify and disrupt illegal cannabis operations and distribution networks and report “enforcement outcomes”...
Register
Eby rejects a recall of the legislature, will amend, not repeal UN Indigenous Act
By Wolfgang Depner Opposition politicians and a business group are urging the British Columbia government to recall the legislature in order to repeal the Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples Act after the province’s Appeal Court ruled in favour of Indigenous groups over the mineral claims regime. Trevor Halford, the interim leader of the Conservative Party of B.C., said Monday the uncertainty can’t drag on until the next session of the legislature in February. “Reconvening the (legislature) is appropriate, when a court decision creates urgent legal, or constitutional consequences requiring immediate legislative action,” Halford said, standing just outside the closed doors to the main legislative chamber. The Dec. 5 ruling says that the provincial declaration should be “properly interpreted” to incorporate the UN declaration into law immediately, and...
Register
National Arts Centre promotes communications exec Annabelle Cloutier to CEO, president Slugline: NAC-New-President
By Cassandra Szklarski The National Arts Centre has appointed a longtime communications executive to its top post. NAC’s board of trustees says Annabelle Cloutier begins a five-year term as president and chief executive officer immediately. Cloutier takes the reins after serving as NAC’s executive director of strategy and communications and corporate secretary to the board. She worked closely with former president and CEO Christopher Deacon, who retired Dec. 3 and describes Cloutier as someone who “lives and breathes the arts of the stage.” Cloutier is credited with helping the NAC usher in a digital transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and navigate a post-pandemic renewal, and was central to 50th anniversary celebrations and the launch of the Indigenous Theatre, both in 2019. More recently, she helped steer cultural showcases at Expo...
Register
Inuvialuit kayak, other items from Vatican to be unveiled at Museum of History
By Alessia Passafiume A selection of Inuit items returned from the Vatican this weekend will be shown at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., today. They include a traditional Inuvialuit kayak, believed to be one of five built more than 100 years ago. First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders welcomed back dozens of Indigenous artifacts released from the Vatican collection at Montreal’s airport on Saturday. The 62 items ultimately will be returned to their communities of origin as an act of reconciliation. First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders have for years called on the Vatican to repatriate Indigenous items in their collection. Indigenous leaders were on hand Saturday to watch as the priceless artifacts were removed from the belly of an Air Canada cargo jet in large crates....
Register
Gull-Masty signals go-slow approach to changing First Nations status eligibility
By Alessia Passafiume Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty says the Assembly of First Nations sent a strong signal to her government to end the second-generation cutoff in the Indian Act, but her government won’t make that change without broad consultations with leaders. First Nations chiefs voted last week to support Senate amendments to a government bill that would expand eligibility under the Indian Act by eliminating the provision that prevents individuals from registering for status under the Indian Act if they have a parent and a grandparent who did not have status. Gull-Masty says that while she has heard from chiefs who want the issue addressed, not all chiefs participate in AFN meetings. She says that while there’s a national consensus on dropping the second-generation cutoff, she still has work...
Register
