OPP seek public’s help in locating missing federal offender
Lisa Hutchinson TORONTO (ON) – The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are seeking the public’s help in locating a federal offender believed to be in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). The OPP announced on March 31, 2026, the Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (R.O.P.E.) Squad had launched a search for a federal offender wanted on a Canada Wide Warrant after breaching the terms of their Statutory Release. A Statutory Release is a legal requirement that allows certain fixed-sentence federal inmates in Canada to serve the final third of their sentence in the community under supervision after completing the first two-thirds of their sentence. They are expected to report to a Correctional Service of Canada parole officer and follow specific conditions, including travel restrictions. OPP described the offender, Lisa Hutchinson 44...
Register
Indigenous operators struggle for equal pay, training equity as most First Nations deal with ‘appallingly insufficient water supply’
By George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Macleod Gazette A lack of good water infrastructure persists as a health and welfare threat for Indigenous communities across Canada, as two days underscoring the issue surfaced last week in the Alberta legislature. National Indigenous Water Operator Day was March 21 in Canada, followed by World Water Day on March 22. Both earned a mention from Scott Cyr, the UCP member representing Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul. “As we often say, water is life, and those who protect it deserve our highest respect and support,” Cyr said in a member statement last Wednesday. “While much of their work goes unseen … water operators provide an essential service and the foundation of health and safety in Indigenous communities every single day, and this government will...
Register
Federal ‘God squad’ poised to exempt oil and gas drilling in the Gulf from endangered species rules
By Matthew Brown A U.S. government panel convened Tuesday for the first time since 1992 to consider exempting oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act due to unspecified national security concerns, a move critics say could doom a rare whale species and harm other marine life. Nicknamed the “God Squad” by groups who say it can decide a species’ fate, the Endangered Species Committee comprises several Trump administration officials and is chaired by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Republican President Donald Trump has made increased fossil fuel production a central focus of his second term. He wants to open new areas of the Gulf off the Florida coast to drilling, and has proposed sweeping rollbacks of environmental regulations disliked by industry. Defense Secretary Pete...
Register
Iqaluit builds real-life Inuit village as part of Qaggiq 2026
By Arty Sarkisian, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News There were a lot of songs, cheers and mitten-muffled claps over three days of the Qaggiq festival in Iqaluit this past weekend. “I think even the lighter is frozen,” said elder Mary Panipak, who was lighting the qulliq at the start of the festival on Friday. Iqaluit builds real-life Inuit village as part of Qaggiq 2026 (Nunatsiaq News photo) It was -30 C and windy as about two dozen people gathered near the road to Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park at what the organizers called the “Inuit village.” Eventually, someone brought Panipak a working lighter; the qulliq was lit and the events carried on. The free festivities ran from Friday to Sunday, bringing together performers for drum dancing, throat singing, theatre and...
Register
Alberta proposes election blackout on citizen-led proposals for referendum questions
By Lisa Johnson Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government is proposing major changes to its law governing citizen-led petitions for the third time in less than a year. Justice Minister Mickey Amery introduced Monday a bill that, if passed, would make it impossible to start a petition for a constitutional or policy referendum a year before or a year after a provincial election. Petitions currently completed or underway wouldn’t be affected by the two-year blackout period, and corresponding deadlines for holding a referendum would be repealed. Amery told reporters before introducing the changes that they’re about creating a consistent window for those looking to bring proposals forward. “We want voters to be able to weigh in on election matters during elections without having citizen-led initiatives stand in the way of that,”...
Register
Clayoquot Sound’s only tree farm licence subdivided into three lots to assert First Nations’ land visions
By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Clayoquot Sound, BC – The logging tenure for a landscape made famous by the “War in the Woods” protests on the west coast of Vancouver Island has been divided up into three new Tree Farm Licences (TFL) to assert First Nations’ unique land-use visions. TFL 54 in Clayoquot Sound was transferred from MaMook Natural Resources, which is owned by a partnership of five central region First Nations (Ahousaht, Tla-o-qui-aht, Hesquiaht, Toquaht and Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ), and reconfigured into TFL 66, TFL 67 and TFL 68. According to the Ministry of Forests, Tla-o-qui-aht is now the holder of TFL 66 comprising over 13,000 hectares within their territory, TFL 67 is held by Ahousaht and comprises over 29,000 hectares in Ahousaht territory and Hesquiaht is now...
Register
Neglected North Shore Plantation Waterways Fueled Damaging Hawaii Floods
By Thomas Heaton, Blaze Lovell And Caitlin Thompson/Honolulu Civil Beat Sarah Ghio leans on the rear bumper of her dead silver SUV, taking a sip of juice to wet her chapped lips. It’s her sole alternative since she returned to her flood-stricken North Shore Oʻahu farm, where tap water remained unsafe to drink. You can see the exhaustion in her face, hear it in her voice. Ghio lives off the grid on leased land once owned by Dole Food’s sister company Castle and Cooke, a small piece of more than 300 acres still framed by the pineapple plantation’s century-plus-old irrigation ditches. Invasive weeds have, over time, strangled that ditch system, which merges with natural streams to carry water through farm fields and out to the ocean. If the Kona low...
Register
Mark Taylor’s Flutes: Connecting Audiences to Indigenous Sound and Culture
By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News (ANNews) – The flute, one of the oldest instruments known to humankind, has long carried stories through generations. The Indigenous flute held particular importance in courtship, ceremony, and storytelling. Today, Cree flutist Mark Taylor continues that legacy, mastering both the craft and the music, and sharing it with audiences across Edmonton. “I grew up in Treaty 5, just outside of Winnipeg, in a small town called Selkirk, Manitoba. I did not grow up on a reserve,” Taylor recalled. “When my father and his siblings were being taken to residential school, my grandmother – who had attended residential school herself – told them to go hide. They ran into the bush and hid. A lot of my family didn’t go back...
Register
‘Full of gratitude’: First Nations child welfare deal approved
By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWOnewswatch.com TORONTO — First Nations leaders in Ontario are celebrating a decision by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal over the future of child welfare. On Monday, the tribunal approved the Ontario Final Agreement — the nine-year, $8.5-billion deal that the Chiefs of Ontario and Nishnawbe Aski Nation reached with the federal government in 2025 that will give communities control over things like foster care, child protective services and adoption in their First Nations. “The chiefs have the authority to decide how to look after their own children and what is in the best interests of their children,” Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler told a press conference in Toronto Monday afternoon after the tribunal issued its decision. “I’m so full of gratitude...
Register
Human rights tribunal approves massive child welfare deal for Ontario FirstNations
By Alessia Passafiume The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has approved a landmark First Nations child welfare deal between the federal government and First Nations in Ontario, partially ending a decades-long discrimination case. Monday’s decision comes after chiefs twice voted down a national $47.8 billion deal proposed by the federal government to reform the child welfare system, and a tumultuous two years of political infighting in the country’s most prominent First Nations organization on the way forward. The tribunal said it chose to issue a “letter decision” ahead of a formal decision to come later, so First Nations in Ontario do not lose a full year of funding under the agreement. It said it reserves the right to make changes to the letter decision after its release. “In choosing to work...
Register
Federal government rejects Inuit association requests on assault-style weapons ban
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News The federal government has declined to extend the amnesty period for assault-style firearm owners to turn their guns in to police by Oct. 30. Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) asked the federal government on March 26 to delay the ban on rapid reloading guns by five years. “The amnesty period will expire on Oct. 30, 2026. After this date, owners of prohibited firearms who do not come into compliance with the law risk losing their possession and acquisition licence and [would be] facing criminal liability,” said Simon Lafortune, press secretary for the Minister of Public Safety. In addition, NTI also asked the Government of Canada to allow Inuit to use the soon-to-be banned weapons during an extended amnesty period. The federal...
Register
B.C. Conservative leadership hopeful Fulmer enters ‘unite the right’ deal with Brodie
By Wolfgang Depner B.C. Conservative leadership candidate Yuri Fulmer and breakaway MLA Dallas Brodie have announced a “unite the right accord” to avoid vote-splitting if Fulmer becomes Opposition leader. “British Columbians are desperate for real change, but they are concerned that a split vote will hand the NDP another majority,” Brodie, the leader and sole legislator for the OneBC party, said in a joint statement with Fulmer. “Today, we have resolved those concerns.” Brodie has drawn accusations of bigotry for campaigning against what her party calls the “reconciliation industry,” while entrepreneur Fulmer is one of six remaining candidates to succeed former leader John Rustad. Fulmer said in an interview that he made the deal with Brodie because he is a “pragmatist” and a business person, who sees OneBC polling around...
Register
Nunavut Inuit association giving $163.8 million to regional Inuit associations for housing construction
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) concluded its board meetings in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 30 by approving the disbursal of $163.8 million for housing construction during the 2026-27 period. Homes built using those funds will be transferred to NTI’s Igluvut Corporation, an affordable housing non-profit organization for Inuit in the territory. In addition, NTI will spend $28 million on food security, Inuit self-determination in health, and community health workers through local organizations providing wellness programs. Those plans are part of NTI’s $30.2-million operating budget for this year. This year, $2.85 million will be spent on accompanying patients of medical travel through the bereavement and compassionate travel program, an increase of nearly 30 per cent per cent from last year. NTI is...
Register
B.C. introducing legislative amendments to increase wood fibre supply
The B.C. government says it’s making legislative changes to bolster access to wood fibre, including timber damaged by wildfires, insects and windstorms. The forests ministry says the changes will potentially increase the supply of fibre by as much as 17,700 truckloads, and the changes will allow BC Timber Sales to auction off contracts for forestry thinning, wildfire risk reduction and damaged timber salvage. A statement from the ministry says these “fibre-generating activities” will be available to forestry contractors and value-added mills. It says the new amendments to the Forest Act and Forest and Range Practices Act will create more opportunities for loggers and contractors while strengthening partnerships with First Nations. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says the changes will matter for mill workers who will see a “steady stream of timber,”...
Register
Job seekers pack Ramara job fair amid cost-of-living squeeze
By Danielle Pitman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, OrilliaMatters.com With last year’s talk of tariffs and trade wars still swirling, the current state of the economy is overshadowed by the rising costs of living. A job fair organized by the Ramara Chamber of Commerce and Chippewas of Rama First Nations economic development department provided a window into the local job market. There was a lot of engagement from the community. Within the first couple of hours of Thursday’s event, more than 75 people had signed the registration form. This year there were also more employers who responded quickly, said Carol Benedetti, office administrator with the Ramara Chamber of Commerce. The OPP had a table with details about two jobs: civilian data entry clerks and provincial communications operators. Both positions begin on...
Register
Human rights tribunal approves massive child welfare deal for Ontario FirstNations
By The Canadian Press The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has approved a landmark First Nations child welfare deal between the federal government and First Nations in Ontario, partially ending a decades-long discrimination case. Monday’s decision comes after chiefs across the country twice voted down a national $47.8 billion deal proposed by the federal government to reform the child welfare system. The tribunal said it chose to issue a “letter decision” ahead of a formal decision to come later, so that First Nations in Ontario do not lose a full year of funding under the agreement. It said it reserves the right to make changes to the letter decision after its release. “In choosing to work with the (Chiefs of Ontario) and the (Nishnawbe Aski Nation), and in recognizing their rightful...
Register
‘Carney is at a crossroads’ with First Nations, says AFN national chief
By David P. Ball, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews Prime Minister Mark Carney has earned a “mixed” report card over his first year in office, according to the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). Asked to grade the Liberal leader’s performance, Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak told IndigiNews he “is at a crossroads” if he wants to earn Indigenous people’s trust while also achieving his economic ambitions. She gave the former central banker positive grades for his willingness to meet with and hear from chiefs, Woodhouse Nepinak noted. Carney marked one year since being sworn into office on March 14. He raised hopes for many Indigenous leaders with his subsequent election platform. “At the core of a Mark Carney-led government will be a fundamental commitment to advance the process...
Register
Human rights tribunal approves massive child welfare deal for Ontario FirstNations
By The Canadian Press The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has approved a landmark First Nations child welfare deal between the federal government and First Nations in Ontario, partially ending a decades-long discrimination case. Monday’s decision comes after chiefs across the country twice voted down a national $47.8 billion deal proposed by the federal government to reform the child welfare system in 2024. The decision marks a step toward resolving a dispute that began in 2007 when the Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society filed a joint human rights complaint about federal child welfare funding. In a ruling on that complaint in 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal concluded the federal government had discriminated against First Nations children by underfunding the on-reserve child welfare...
Register
Vancouver Island First Nations gain control of three Clayoquot Sound forestry areas
By Brenna Owen Tyson Atleo, a hereditary leader of the Ahousaht First Nation, says the creation of three new forestry areas to be managed by his community and two others on the west coast of Vancouver Island marks the realization of a long-standing promise. Atleo recalls assuring the community more than 15 years ago that “we would find a pathway forward to regaining control over some of our forest resources.” The vision is to manage the forests of Clayoquot Sound, a globally recognized biosphere that includes Tofino, B.C., in a way that reflects the nation’s interest in ecological integrity and balance it with access to economic opportunity, he said. The total combined area of the three new tree farm licenses is about 52,000 hectares, with Ahousaht set to manage about...
Register
Strangers drawn to Membertou’s good-natured lifetime achievement award winner
y Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post For 49 years, Anthony “Ikey” Paul has been driving a school bus in Membertou. What’s most delightful to him these days is when he runs into those then-teenagers from years ago with their grandchildren in tow. He has always driven high school-age students and says they were the “best kids.” “There was no problem with any of the kids when I was driving,” says Paul. And he jokes: “We knew who all their parents were.” Paul is now a supervisor and drives occasionally. Laughing, he says at times he will see a student get on a bus that is a child of someone he drove in the past, “and I’ll go: oh no, there’s gonna be trouble – because they’re...
Register
