Minister planning to table First Nations water bill despite provincial opposition
By Alessia Passafiume The federal minister of Indigenous services says her government plans to reintroduce legislation to ensure First Nations’ rights to clean drinking water — despite calls from Alberta and Ontario for it to scrap the bill altogether. Two provincial environment ministers sent a letter to their federal counterpart this week calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to abandon legislation they see as undermining competitiveness and delaying project development. “Prime Minister Mark Carney has made a commitment to do things differently,” Alberta’s Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz and her Ontario counterpart Todd McCarthy wrote in a June 30 letter to federal Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin. “We are hopeful that this new federal government will move away from policies and legislation that undermine competitiveness, delay project development and disproportionately harm...
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Members of First Nation in northern Ontario to return home after wildfire evacuations
By Rianna Lim Residents of a First Nation in northern Ontario will start returning home Friday after a wildfire threatened the community early last month and forced more than 2,000 people to evacuate, officials said. Sandy Lake First Nation said in a social media post on Tuesday that repatriation will start Friday evening, with security and essential service providers going first to help prepare for the arrival of other residents. The provincial government said Thursday that firefighting crews no longer need pumps and hoses in areas where the fire was sufficiently suppressed, although they continue to put out hot spots in southern and eastern sections of the fire. The fire that threatened Sandy Lake First Nation and Deer Lake First Nation is more than 1,900 square kilometres in size and...
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Ontario First Nation slowed down traffic on Trans-Canada Highway over mining laws
By Liam Casey A northern Ontario First Nation has completed a four-day demonstration that slowed down traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway, as it protests fast-tracked federal and provincial legislation designed to speed up mining and development. Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg Chief Louis Kwissiwa says they demonstrated alongside Highway 17 to show their disapproval of the federal Bill C-5 and the provincial Bill 5. The federal legislation that passed recently is designed to speed up major projects deemed to be in the “national interest.” A provincial law goes further and gives cabinet the power to suspend provincial and municipal laws in so-called special economic zones in order to speed up projects such as mines. Both levels of government want to mine the mineral-rich Ring of Fire region but the new laws have sparked...
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Fire safety game adapted into app
By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal Children and their families living in northern communities can be smarter and safer when it comes to fire safety, thanks to a new app being developed by a former firefighter. Shane Ferguson, a fire safety and firefighter training specialist with his company, Staying Alive Fire Safety, has developed an app to help Indigenous children and youths learn about fire safety practices that could save their lives and the lives of their families. The app is based on Ferguson’s original award-winning The Great Escape Game that he created in the late 1990s after pulling a child from under a bed in a burning home. The child later died from smoke inhalation. The game, which was accessed on a CD, was released in...
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Grand Erie Public Health issues heat alert
The Medical Officer of Health for Grand Erie Public Health has issued a heat alert for the Grand Erie Public Health region (Brantford-Brant and Haldimand-Norfolk), effective July 5, 2025. Heat Warnings are issued when the daytime temperatures are expected to reach at least 31 degrees Celsius with overnight temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius, or when the humidex is expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius. The warning will remain in effect until a cancellation notice is issued. While everyone is at risk from extreme heat, older adults, infants and young children, people with chronic illnesses, those working outdoors, and those without adequate housing or air conditioning are at greater risk of heat related illnesses. Symptoms of heat stroke and other heat related illnesses include: Dizziness or fainting Nausea or vomiting Headache Rapid breathing and heartbeat Extreme thirst Decreased...
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Agreement between Hydro-Québec and the Innu is a must for the development of the battery industry
By Jean-Sol Goulet-Poulin, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa In May 2024, Hydro-Québec and the Innu of Unamen Shipu signed an agreement over the Lac-Robertson generating station. The agreement aims to settle all disputes relating to this North Shore power station, built in the 1990s, that’s been the subject of a number of disputes and claims by the Unamen Shipu community. Hydro-Québec will pay the community $32 million in royalties over a 23-year period. Why did the Québec government only decide to offer these royalties in 2024, when the hydroelectric plant has been operating for nearly 35 years and has been contested by this community for so many years? Could the battery industry, itself, be the explanation? I’ve been interested in the issues of mining extractivism and Indigenous peoples’ rights in the...
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‘History in the making’: Emma Morrison reps Canada on world stage
By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com CHAPLEAU – When Emma Morrison stepped onto the Miss World stage in India, she wasn’t just representing Canada — she was making history. The 24-year-old from Chapleau Cree First Nation is the first Indigenous woman to represent the country at the international pageant. “It was such a great feeling,” she said in an interview with TimminsToday. “Regardless of the results, I knew that just being there and being present, that’s already history in the making.” Morrison recently competed at the 72nd Miss World Festival in Telangana, India. The pageant ran from May 7 to 31. Although Morrison didn’t place at the competition, which saw nearly 110 contestants from around the globe vying for the crown, she said her sense of pride and fulfillment...
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Governments put up $17M for wildfire risk reduction in southern Yukon
By Talar Stockton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News The federal and territorial governments are forking over $17 million for southern Yukon communities to reduce wildfire risk. The federal money — $13.8 million — comes from the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, while the territorial government is contributing $3.2 million. Alongside Sima Road in the Whitehorse South Fuel Break, Yukon minister of environment Nils Clarke announced the money would be going to projects in Teslin, Whitehorse and Haines Junction. Clarke was accompanied by Yukon MP Brendan Hanley and Rebecca Alty, the federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. The funding will go into two streams, Clarke said. One stream will be to dedicated maintaining and retreating areas where firesmarting has already occurred to “ensure that the areas remain effective at reducing fire...
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Wheel fell off RCMP trailer, sparking Lytton, B.C., fire that triggered evacuations
By Nono Shen and Brieanna Charlebois -CP-Mounties say a out-of-control wildfire that has triggered evacuations near Lytton, B.C., was caused when a wheel fell off an RCMP trailer in a “tremendously unfortunate” incident. Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said in a statement released Thursday that the “equipment failure” that sparked the Izman Creek fire, about 250 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, happened on Tuesday afternoon on Highway 12. The wildfire began a day after the fourth anniversary of a fire that destroyed most of the village of Lytton, and it has now grown to 155 hectares. Clark said that it appears the right-side wheel of the trailer was “ejected” in the incident that caused a fire in a grass-filled ditch. An officer tried to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher,...
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Gwich’in firm questions GNWT’s procurement approach
By Jacksen Friske, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio Gwich’in leaders and a Fort McPherson business say the GNWT is “overlooking” treaty agreements and Indigenous-run companies when awarding contracts on settlement land. In May, the Northwest Territories’ Department of Infrastructure posted a tender seeking a contractor to acquire gravel from a quarry and stockpile it at two locations along the Dempster Highway. Two companies placed bids on the contract – LJ’s Contracting and Ramida Enterprises. LJ’s Contracting, a registered Gwich’in company, has been operating in the Fort McPherson area since 1992. The company said the work would cost $1.5 million, adjusted to $1.3 million through the N.W.T. government’s business incentive policy, which is designed to make the selection of local firms more attractive to the GNWT. Ramida Enterprises, an excavation...
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EPA puts on leave 139 employees who spoke out against policies under Trump
By Melina Walling The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday put on administrative leave 139 employees who signed a “declaration of dissent” with its policies, accusing them of “unlawfully undermining” the Trump administration’s agenda. In a letter made public Monday, the employees wrote that the agency is no longer living up to its mission to protect human health and the environment. The letter represented rare public criticism from agency employees who knew they could face blowback for speaking out against a weakening of funding and federal support for climate, environmental and health science. In a statement Thursday, the EPA said it has a “zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging and undercutting” the Trump administration’s agenda. Employees were notified that they had been placed in a “temporary, non-duty, paid status”...
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First Nations chiefs split on ‘nation-building’ law
By John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Daily Gleaner Two First Nations chiefs on the east coast are at polar opposites when it comes to the Liberal government’s new law that will fast-track big projects. Hugh Akagi, who leads the Passamaquoddy Nation in the southwestern corner of the province, released a video late last month calling upon the Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney to kill the bill, which the Senate passed unamended, giving Ottawa extraordinary new powers to fast-track big projects. The Conservatives voted with the Liberal minority government to pass the legislation. Akagi told Brunswick News in an interview that passing the law without any notice or meaningful consultation had raised serious concerns about the Canadian government’s integrity, particularly when it comes to respecting Indigenous rights. “Let’s start...
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Calgary Flames prospect Cullen Potter brings mom’s hockey heritage with him
By Donna Spencer Some say he has his mother’s hands. Jenny Schmidgall-Potter was among the first women to combine motherhood and elite hockey when she twice gave birth to children and returned to the U.S. women’s team. The four-time Olympian and a competitor at 10 world championships had daughter Madison in 2001 and son Cullen in 2007. Cullen Potter was a first-round pick, 32nd overall, in this year’s NHL draft by the Calgary Flames. “Cullen has unbelievable hands,” said his mom. “People always say, ‘Jenny, you had great hands’ … it’s just something you work on.” Schmidgall-Potter and the U.S. claimed the first Olympic gold medal awarded in women’s hockey in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. She also won four world titles with the Americans. She ranks fifth all-time in points...
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Wheel fell off RCMP trailer, igniting Lytton, B.C., fire that triggered evacuations
By Nono Shen and Brieanna Charlebois Mounties say a wildfire that has triggered evacuations near Lytton, B.C. was caused when a wheel fell off an RCMP trailer in a “tremendously unfortunate” incident. Staff Sgt. Kris Clark says in a statement that the “equipment failure” that ignited the Izman Creek fire, about 250 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, happened on Tuesday afternoon on Highway 12. The wildfire began a day after the fourth anniversary of a blaze that destroyed most of the village of Lytton, and it’s now grown to 130 hectares and has been upgraded to the only wildfire of note in the province. Clark says it appears the right-side wheel of the trailer was “ejected” in the incident that caused a fire in a grass-filled ditch. Clark says an officer...
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What does it mean to be Indigenous?: Two new anthologies answer the question
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Two anthologies edited by sisters Stephanie and Sara Sinclair that will hit the bookstores in late July and late August complement each other, although they were conceived at different times. You Were Made for this World, aimed at youth, was the first project. Six to 12 months later, A Steady Brightness of Being, geared toward adults, became a reality. “As soon as we knew that there was going to be the adult companion book then we really started to see them as sisters and really tried to both find the right voices to exist in both anthologies, as well as the differing voices to strengthen them and to strengthen who they were speaking to,” said Stephanie, former literary agent and now publisher...
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‘Incredibly ambitious and probably really stupid’: R.T. Thorne’s sci-fi debut ’40 Acres’
By Alex Nino Gheciu R.T. Thorne says he could have played it safe with his debut feature. Instead, he swung for the fences, writing an epic sci-fi thriller about generational trauma, cannibalism and humanity’s connection with land — all set in what he calls “a post-apocalyptic world where the stakes are at the absolute highest.” “For my first film, it was incredibly ambitious and probably really stupid to write something like that,” the Calgary-born writer-director laughs in a recent video call from Toronto. “40 Acres,” out Friday, centres on a Black-Indigenous family in a famine-stricken future where a fungal pandemic has wiped out all animal life on the planet. When a marauding group of cannibals closes in on their farm, ex-military matriarch Hailey Freeman, played by Danielle Deadwyler, clashes with...
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Wildfire having low impact on local police
By Amanda Jeffery, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Drayton Valley and District Free Press Wildfire season is in full-swing, but thus far there have been few impacts on the manpower for the local RCMP detachment. Drayton Valley RCMP Sergeant Dan Ferri says this year, there has only been one significant wildfire reported for the area. In May, they were called out to a wildfire near Cynthia. “Our local members initially responded at the time of the report and very quickly it was managed and held by Alberta Wildfire. They took full control that day so no local members were stretched or present at that wildfire except for the initial response,” he says. Other than that, there have been no requests for support in many of the wildfires that have caused a...
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Celebrated poet Gimaa R. Stacey Laforme reflects on Grief, Hope, and Reconciliation
By Riley Murphy, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Caledon Citizen During National Indigenous History Month, residents were invited to join in a night of words and reflection by celebrated poet and storyteller Gimaa R. Stacey Laforme. The event, hosted by the Town of Caledon and IDEA Caledon, allowed attendees to gain insights into the power of poetry as art, as told by Laforme. Laforme, previously Chief of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN), has been serving his community for more than 20 years. Laforme shared poems from his books, Living in the Tall Grass and Love, Life, Loss, and a Little Bit of Hope: Poems from the Soul. His poetry collections invite non-Indigenous people to see through the eyes of Indigenous people, exploring topics such as peace and humanity,...
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Cooler conditions forecast for much of B.C., expected to aid in fire fight Slugline: Wildfires-BC
By Brieanna Charlebois British Columbia’s wildfire service says cool conditions and thunderstorms are in the forecast for much of the province as nearly 90 wildfires actively burn. Its latest situational report says thunderstorm activity is expected across the province, bringing a low to moderate chance of lightning provincewide. The BC Wildfire Service says nearly 75 per cent of the blazes burning in B.C. have been sparked by lightning. It says the Fort Nelson area in the northeast is getting the most rain, which will help reduce the intensity of the fires there. The service says north and central B.C. will see seasonal temperatures, and while there may be a slight drop in temperature in the south, hot and dry conditions are expected to linger. The forecast comes after an out-of-control...
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Public comment period opens for Kahnawà:ke residency law
By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase The Kahnawake Legislative Commission (KLC) has launched a five-week comment period to gather information from residents regarding Kahnawake’s Residency Law. The review period will last from June 23, until July 17, and will allow residents to share any thoughts or concerns they have with the legislation. Melanie Gilbert, General Manager of the Kahnawake Kanien’kehá:ka Registry Office, said the comment period is aimed at allowing the community to have a direct say in the criteria that defines who gets to live in Kahnawake. “We’re hoping that we’re going to get some feedback from the general population saying what the changes are that they would like to see,” Gilbert said. The information collected during this period will be used by KLC to amend portions...
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