Inuit association wants the next Nunavut government to make Inuktut the primary language
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI), Nunavut’s largest Inuit organization, released a list on Oct. 21 detailing its most pressing issues for candidates running for MLA in the territorial election, and language is right at the top. Inuktut education, Inuit employment, housing, infrastructure, food security, the Inuit Child First Initiative, health equity, mental wellness, suicide prevention and addressing drug-related harm were the main priorities NTI wants to see candidates focus on. “We want to see a government that advances Inuktut education, ensures homes are food secure and our communities are safe, and creates opportunities for Inuit to thrive today and in the future,” NTI President Jeremy Tunraluk said on October 21. NTI said it wants to work with the next government to...
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Uncontacted Indigenous groups could vanish within a decade without stronger protections, experts say
By Steven Grattan BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — From the depths of Brazil’s Amazon to Indonesia’s rainforests, some of the world’s most isolated peoples are being squeezed by roads, miners and drug traffickers — a crisis unfolding far from public view or effective state protection. A new report by Survival International, a London-based Indigenous rights organization, attempts one of the broadest tallies yet, identifying at least 196 uncontacted Indigenous groups in 10 countries, primarily in the South American nations sharing the Amazon rainforest. Released Sunday, the report estimates that nearly 65% face threats from logging, about 40% from mining and around 20% from agribusiness. “These are what I would call silent genocides — there are no TV crews, no journalists. But they are happening, and they’re happening now,” said Fiona Watson,...
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Audit finds federal department couldn’t account for 132 Indigenous artworks valued at $14.4 million
By Alessia Passafiume The federal government has lost track of more than 130 Indigenous artworks and risks losing the trust of Indigenous artists if it doesn’t take better care of its collection, an internal audit found last year. The report, dated November 2024, was posted earlier this month on the Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada website. It tracked the operations of the department’s Indigenous Art Centre from April 2019 to August 2024. The audit noted the Indigenous Art Centre’s collection — first established by the federal government in 1965 to protect, preserve and promote Indigenous art — consists of more than 5,000 artworks from First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists. The collection is valued at roughly $14.4 million. The audit does not say how much the mislaid artworks are...
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Throne speech focuses on ‘strong, safe and secure’ Saskatchewan
By Nicole Taylor, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The World-Spectator The provincial government of Saskatchewan opened its legislative session with an agenda targeting economic growth, community safety, affordability and infrastructure. The Throne Speech acknowledged global economic pressures, including the shifting trade relationships and tariffs imposed by the United States and China, and Saskatchewan’s capacity to respond due to its natural resources, diversified export markets and growing labour force. The government recognized that Saskatchewan currently leads Canada in several labour and investment indicators, including employment among women, youth and Indigenous people, as well as private capital investment, which grew 17.3 percent last year to $14.7 billion and is projected to reach $16.2 billion in 2025. The Throne Speech discussed the resource base beyond oil, potash and uranium; such as aluminium, cobalt, copper,...
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James Cree Nation Chief ffended by mandatory federal branding on Orange Shirt Day funding
By Alessia Passafiume The chief of James Smith Cree Nation says he’s offended by Ottawa’s requirement that promotional materials for Orange Shirt Day events funded by the federal government carry government branding. Kirby Constant told The Canadian Press the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is meant to honour survivors of residential schools and day schools — and those who never made it home — and to mark the legacy of those institutions in First Nations communities today. James Smith Cree Nation received roughly $6,700 from the federal Canadian Heritage department to hold events in the community for Orange Shirt Day on Sept. 30. The community’s events included a memorial walk, a sweat ceremony, a feast and a beading class. Some of that money was also spent on honorariums for...
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Chief says he was behind legal threat that got boats banned on Clear Lake
By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brandon Sun CLEAR LAKE — The chief of a western Manitoba First Nation is taking responsibility for the boat ban at Clear Lake, saying he threatened Parks Canada with legal action if motorboats were allowed back this year. Chief Dwayne Sonny Blackbird of Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation told the Sun Friday that he called an official at Riding Mountain National Park last spring and threatened to take action if boats were reintroduced. The action came from his deep interest in the health of the lake, he said. “It’s supposed to be protected for future generations,” Blackbird said. “And it doesn’t look like that. That’s why I’m here.” The boat ban came shortly after his phone call, he said. Parks Canada announced the boat...
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Alberta’s latest pipeline push dredges up ghosts of projects past
By Lauren Krugel Few are as acquainted with Canada’s graveyard of defunct oil pipelines as Alex Pourbaix, a former executive at the company behind the Keystone XL and Energy East proposals. “You can see the scars on my back,” he quipped at a news conference earlier this month, twisting his body at the lectern for emphasis. Pourbaix was on hand as the Alberta government announced plans to propose a new West Coast bitumen pipeline to the freshly created federal Major Projects Office, which aims to speed along projects deemed in the national interest. The former chief operating officer at TransCanada Corp. — now known as TC Energy — and CEO of oilsands giant Cenovus Energy Inc. is co-chairing a panel tasked with developing Alberta’s pipeline application. Industry players and the...
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Trump administration posts notice that no federal food aid will go out Nov. 1
By Adriana Gomez Licon The U.S. Department of Agriculture has posted a notice on its website saying federal food aid will not go out Nov. 1, raising the stakes for families nationwide as the government shutdown drags on. The new notice comes after the Trump administration said it would not tap roughly $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as SNAP, flowing into November. That program helps about 1 in 8 Americans buy groceries. “Bottom line, the well has run dry,” the USDA notice says. “At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats.” The shutdown, which began Oct. 1, is now the second-longest on record. While the Republican...
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What to know about uncontacted Indigenous peoples and efforts to protect them
By Steven Grattan BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — From the depths of Brazil’s Amazon to Indonesia’s rainforests, some of the world’s most isolated peoples are being squeezed by roads, miners and drug traffickers — a crisis unfolding far from public view or effective state protection. A new report by Survival International, a London-based Indigenous rights organization, attempts one of the broadest tallies yet, identifying at least 196 uncontacted Indigenous groups in 10 countries, primarily in the South American nations sharing the Amazon rainforest. Released Sunday, the report estimates that nearly 65% face threats from logging, about 40% from mining and around 20% from agribusiness. “These are what I would call silent genocides — there are no TV crews, no journalists. But they are happening, and they’re happening now,” said Fiona Watson,...
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‘It’s a lot of fun’: Nunavut residents head to polls for election day
By Fakiha Baig It’s election day in Nunavut. Residents across 22 constituencies are to head to the polls to elect their next member of the legislative assembly. The territory has a consensus style of government rather than the more common multi-party system so candidates run as independents. The candidate who receives the most votes in a constituency becomes the MLA. After the election, the MLAs will select the Speaker, premier and ministers in a secret ballot election. Premier P.J. Akeeagok, who represented the Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu riding, announced in July he isn’t seeking re-election and plans to spend more time with his family. MLA and Health Minister John Main, who is running again in the Arviat North-Whale Cove riding, says several issues are at stake. “Health care is a big one,” he...
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Trump ends trade talks with Canada over tariffs ad that Ontario premier now says he’ll phase out
By Will Weissert And Seung Min Kim WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced he’s ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a television ad sponsored by one of its provinces that used the words of former President Ronald Reagan to criticize U.S. tariffs — prompting the province’s leader to later pull the ad. The post on Trump’s social media site came Thursday night ratcheted up tensions with the U.S.’s northern neighbor after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he plans to double his country’s exports to countries outside the U.S. because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs. White House officials said Trump’s reaction was a culmination of the administration’s long, pent-up frustration about Canada’s strategy in trade talks. Later Friday, Ontario premier Doug Ford, whose province had...
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Cowichan lawyer says treaty could recognize both Aboriginal and private title on land
By Wolfgang Depner The lawyer representing the Cowichan Tribes says he is “frustrated and disappointed” with what he calls “misinformation” about his clients’ ground-breaking Aboriginal title case in Richmond, B.C. David Rosenberg says his clients are not targetting privately held land in the title area on the Fraser River and that if the province negotiates in good faith, the “likely outcome” is a treaty recognizing Aboriginal title while allowing private owners to continue to hold fee-simple title. He cites a recent letter from the city telling private owners in the title area that the ruling may compromise the “status and validity” of their own title rights, saying his clients aren’t seeking any remedy that would extinguish fee-simple title that is Canada’s most common form of property ownership. He says the...
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First sockeye salmon in 86 years return to upper Columbia, nearing BC
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer For the first time in over 86 years, two sockeye salmon made history by surviving to make the journey partway to their home waters in the upper Columbia River. The pair, released as tiny fry in British Columbia two years ago, are a glimmer of hope for the Indigenous-led push to bring salmon back to their ancestral waters, and they are calling on governments to take immediate action to support the work. “Those two salmon returning means the chance exists to bring back culture, bring back their language, bring back ceremony and the ability to have our place,” said Mark Thomas, from Secwépemc Nation and chair of the Bringing the Salmon Home executive working group. The Bringing the Salmon Home...
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Alberta government pays out $95 million to end another coal policy lawsuit
By Jack Farrell The Alberta government is paying out $95 million to a coal mining company to end another one of the lawsuits launched against it over its policy flip-flop more than two years ago. The settlement with Evolve Power brings Alberta’s overall payout so far to nearly $240 million, as a separate agreement reached with another company, Atrum Coal, earlier this year saw the government pay $143 million. A notice published by Evolve Power, previously known as Montem Resources, to its shareholders last week says it is surrendering two coal leases to the government as part of the deal. “The board of directors, based on legal advice, believe this settlement is the best possible outcome having regard to the government’s actions and the impact on Montem,” the notice reads....
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Trump says he’s ending trade talks with Canada over TV ads quoting Reagan
By Will Weissert And Seung Min Kim WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced he’s ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a television ad sponsored by one of its provinces that used the words of former President Ronald Reagan to criticize U.S. tariffs. The post on Trump’s social media site came Thursday night ratched up tensions with the U.S.’s northern neighbor after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he plans to double his country’s exports to countries outside the U.S. because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs. White House officials said Trump’s reaction was a culmination of the administration’s long, pent-up frustration about Canada’s strategy in trade talks. The U.S. president alleged the ad misrepresented the position of Reagan, a two-term president who remains a beloved figure...
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New Nunavut Inuit housing action plan to prioritize Elders, women and children fleeing violence
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News A Nunavut Inuit housing action plan from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) will prioritize homes for Elders, women and children fleeing violence and youth in crisis, a press release from the Inuit organzaition stated on Oct. 22. The plan, called Angirratsaliulauqta, will also seek to create affordable housing for Inuit that isn’t tied to a job or run by the Government of Nunavut. “Our vision is to transform housing in Nunavut for Inuit,” NTI President Jeremy Tunraluk said. Through the housing plan, NTI is creating a non-profit called Igluvut Corporation, which is aimed at building homes for Inuit in the territory. NTI will have two seats on the board of directors for Igluvut Corporation. The three regional Inuit organizations will each...
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Sioux Valley starts work on gaming-centre site
By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brandon Sun Sioux Valley Dakota Nation is moving ahead with its plan to relocate its gaming centre to the side of the Trans-Canada Highway. Groundwork started last week on a parcel near the Sioux Valley Petro station at the corner of the Trans-Canada and Highway 21, Chief Vince Tacan told the Sun on Thursday. A team is preparing a geotechnical assessment, he said, and if it goes well, Sioux Valley will get foundation work started before the snow flies. “We are moving pretty quickly on this,” Tacan said. “We’re hoping we can have it operational before the summer tourism season because that’s when we have the potential for the most revenues.” The First Nation plans to replace its existing complex, the Sioux Valley...
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Lake of Two Mountains dumping defendants feel unfairly targeted
By Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door Attending his hearing without a lawyer on Friday, Timmy Etienne, one of 13 defendants facing charges under the federal Fisheries Act for work carried out on the shoreline of the Lake of Two Mountains, entered a plea of not guilty. “I’m not guilty. I almost said I’m just going to plead guilty, but I’m not. It’s just a fact,” he told The Eastern Door. “If I plead guilty, they get their way. They could use that in the future against our future generations.” The government alleges defendants have carried out illegal work that harmed the fish habitat. For Etienne, Quebec’s interventions on the shoreline in Kanesatake represent an affront to the community’s sovereignty. He wants to sound the alarm, he...
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Caretaker Council returns to work in Kanesatake
By Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door Following last week’s Federal Court decision, which granted injunctive relief by designating the outgoing Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) chiefs as a caretaker council with a limited administrative mandate, the “quorum of five” returned to the office without incident on Monday. “We’re getting our footing back,” said MCK incumbent chief Serge Otsi Simon, one of the five caretaker council chiefs alongside Amy Beauvais, John Canatonquin, Denise David, and Brant Etienne. “We’re trying to consult with some of the people, some of the staff, what we missed, what’s going on, explaining our positions.” The group’s work will be to ensure that services to the community and projects already underway continue unimpeded by Kanesatake’s governance turmoil, that the community’s legal interests are...
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Fund is part of ‘economic reconciliation’ with First Nations: Rickford
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source KENORA — Since April, beef has been coming in from Penokean Hills Farms near Sault Ste. Marie to Grand Council Treaty #3 (GCT3) for distribution to communities across the treaty territory. It’s a successful partnership to improve food access in First Nations, and Greg Rickford says the province is proud to assist the project this summer with $250,000 from the Indigenous Economic Development Fund. “They’re doing some really exciting work in large-scale food distribution,” Rickford, minister of Indigenous affairs and First Nations economic reconciliation, said of GCT3’s Treaty 3 Investment Group. “They want to develop a food distribution centre, and that builds on previous investments that we’ve made with them to acquire operating agriculture facilities.” Rickford, whose Kenora-Rainy River riding...
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