R.O.P.E. squad seeking public help in locating federal offender Joshua Gray
(TORONTO, ON) – The Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (R.O.P.E.) Squad is requesting the public’s assistance in locating a federal offender wanted on a Canada Wide Warrant as a result of a breach of his Statutory Release. Joshua Gray is described as a Caucasian male, 44 years of age, 5’10” (178cm), 140 lbs (63.5 kgs) with brown hair and green eyes. GRAY has numerous tattoos; Letters-Left Hand Joker Skull-Left Upper Arm Person with Bandana with Pistol-Left Upper Arm A Cross-Left Upper Arm 2 owls-Left Upper Arm ‘Believe’-Right Forearm Skull-Right Upper Arm Angry Rodent-Right Foot A Design-Right Ribcage He is currently serving a 6-year, 9-month and 9-day sentence due to: Armed Robbery Possess Schedule I Substance for Purpose of Trafficking Disguise with Intent Possess Schedule I Substance. The offender is known to...
Register
Get to know the new chief of West Point FirstNation
By Jacksen Friske, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio West Point First Nation’s newest chief, Devon Felker, has been attending council meetings since before he could remember. “My mom was chief of West Point First Nation years ago, in the early 2000s, when I was just a baby. She would take me to the assembly meetings all around the Dehcho,” Felker told Cabin Radio. Felker, a 26-year-old from Hay River, Northwest Territories, was elected as chief on July 3. He has served as a member on the First Nation’s council since 2019. One lesson Felker said he learned as a councillor that he will carry into his role as chief is: “Be equal, because everyone has their different ideas of what’s right and you’ve got to kind-of try and balance...
Register
Number of homeless people in Toronto more than doubled between 2021 and 2024: report
By Maan Alhmidi The number of homeless people in Toronto has more than doubled between the spring of 2021 and last fall, a newly released survey showed. Toronto’s Street Needs Assessment survey estimated that 15,400 people were homeless in Toronto last October, up from about 7,300 in April 2021. “These data highlight the failure of multiple systems, such as affordable housing, health care, mental health, income support, and the justice system,” a city report said. “People are left with nowhere to turn, and the shelter system or staying outdoors become the last resort.” The report said the increase in Toronto mirrors the situation in Ontario and across Canada after the COVID-19 pandemic directly affected homelessness rates. “Specific groups continue to be overrepresented among those experiencing homelessness, outlining the need for...
Register
Nunatsiavut to Nunavik: 25 Years of Learning, Connection, and Youth Empowerment
GATINEAU, QC, July 08, 2025 — In celebration of its 25th anniversary, the Students on Ice (SOI) Foundation sets sail on its latest educational expedition on July 12, bringing together 22 youth from around the world for a transformative journey from Nain, Nunatsiavut, to Kuujjuaq, Nunavik. From July 12–27, 2025, aboard the Mi’kmaq-owned icebreaker Oqwatnukewey Eleke’wi’ji’jit (MV Polar Prince), participants will travel alongside a team of educators, scientists, Indigenous Elders, artists, and leaders. Throughout the journey, they will engage with the culture, knowledge, and stewardship initiatives of Inuit communities in Nunatsiavut and Nunavik. “As we celebrate 25 years of Students on Ice, I’m filled with gratitude for the thousands of youth, educators, and Indigenous partners who’ve shaped this journey,” says SOI founder and president Geoff Green. “This summer’s expedition from...
Register
Brantford Police shut down illegal psilocybin storefront for second time
BRANTFORD, ONT-Brantford city police have seized over $29,000 in illegal psilocybin and a 28-year-old Hamilton man is facing trafficking charges after police raided a city storefront. The Brantford Police Service Drug and Firearm Enforcement Unit executed the search warrant at an illegal retail psilocybin storefront on Murray Street near Chatham Street after receiving information the illegal business had reopened after having been shutdown previously. Police seized 2596.5 grams of psilocybin with an estimated street value of $29,674 after executing the search warrant July 2, 2025, at the storefront. The seizure involved multiple police units including the Brantford Police Service Core Engagement and Response Unit, Criminal Intelligence Unit and Forensic Identification. A 28-year-old man from Hamilton was arrested at the scene and stands charged with Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking...
Register
Three area police services host 2025 Special Olympics Ontario Provincial Summer Games
BRANTFORD, ON – Over 1000 athletes competiting in the 2025 Special Olympics Ontario Provincial Summer Games are ready to hit the games taking place from July 10-13, 2025, across Brantford, Brant County, and Six Nations of the Grand River. The games are being hosted by the three police services that include the Brantford Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police, and Six Nations Police Service and see competitions in athletics, Bocce, golf, soccer and softball, while bringing the communities together to highlight the talent, dedication, and spirit of athletes with intellectual disabilities. This event represents the highest level of Special Olympics competition in Ontario, with athletes competing for the chance to advance as part of Team Ontario to the Special Olympics Canada Summer Games, taking place in Medicine Hat, Alberta from August...
Register
Painting begins on ‘Our Story, Our Wall’ mural to showcase Indigenous history following racist graffiti incident
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Community members, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, gathered at Treaty 8 offices in Fort St. John to send out a profound message in response to the hateful racist graffiti left on the building’s south wall last winter. In February, the wall was vandalized with profanities and swastikas, prompting an RCMP investigation into the incident. The Treaty 8 Tribal Association gathered with supporters for ‘Our Story, Our Wall,’ an event on July 7th to mark the beginning of a mural painted by Indigenous artist Alisa Froh. Garry Oker and Trail Acko were on hand as part of the Doig River Drummers, alongside representatives from the Indian Residential School Survivors Society and sponsor R360 Environmental Solutions Canada. Froh, a member...
Register
Hospital working to make western medicine better for Indigenous and First Nations patients
By Celeste Percy-Beauregard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator BRANTFORD, ONT-Patients at Brantford General Hospital and the Willett Urgent Care Centre in Paris can now voluntarily self-identify as Indigenous or First Nations. It may sound like a small change — but it will hopefully help connect more people with culturally safe care and better supports once they leave, Michelle Bomberry, manager of Indigenous Health Services at Brant Community Healthcare System (BCHS), told The Spectator. The hospital is based in Brantford, where around five per cent of the population identified as Indigenous as of the 2021 census profile. But it also serves residents from the neighbouring Six Nations of the Grand River (the most populous First Nation in Canada) and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. BCHS, which oversees the...
Register
Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok planning to leave politics to spend time with famil
The premier of Nunavut has announced he will not seek re-election when his term as a member of the territorial assembly expires this fall. P.J. Akeeagok says he’s leaving politics to spend more time with his family and not for another political position. Akeeagok has served as premier since November 2021, when he was elected for the first time to the territorial assembly. He had previously been president of one of three regional Inuit associations in Nunavut. Akeeagok says in a statement that his decision to leave politics comes after deep reflection and heartfelt conversations with his family. He says among the accomplishments that stand out for him is a devolution agreement that returned control of lands and natural resources to Nunavut. “I am deeply grateful to my fellow premiers...
Register
Time to power up economy, leaders say
By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal The Ontario government has developed an integrated energy plan aimed at sustaining energy sources for generations to come. Stephen Lecce, minister of energy and mines, said Ontario is home to critical minerals, natural resources, a skilled workforce and an industrial base that global markets need. “But none of it moves, none of it grows, without the energy to power it,” he said on the provincial website. Lecce says Ontario chooses to “act decisively to secure our energy future.” He presented the Energy for Generations: Ontario’s Integrated Plan to Power the Strongest Economy during the June 16-17 G7 summit in Alberta, and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) was listening. Rick Dumas, NOMA president, said they welcome the energy plan that positions...
Register
Road realignment unearths Native artifacts
By Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice The preservation of ancient Indigenous artifacts has resulted in a delay for the Talbot Trail realignment project. The effort is also costing Chatham-Kent more money. At its June 23 meeting, council approved close to $1.4 million in contract amendments to cover the costs of an archeological assessment and First Nations field work participation. In a presentation to council, AECOM archeologist Adria Grant outlined the process to date. Because governance of Ontario’s archeological sites falls under the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, strict guidelines must be followed. According to Grant, an archeological assessment is a standard piece of every environmental assessment and if artifacts are discovered, further investigation is required. Because of what was found at the Talbot Trail project site, a...
Register
Grieving daughter wonders if Eskasoni stray dogs contributed to father’s death
By Rosemary Godin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post ESKASONI – A grieving daughter just wants answers. Ariel Dennis wants to know if a pack of stray dogs in Eskasoni chased her father on his bicycle causing him to crash into a culvert on Father’s Day and die six days later in a Halifax hospital. The issue of stray dogs in Eskasoni has been an ongoing one for a long time and Dennis doesn’t want this happening to any other family. There were no eye-witnesses – that she knows of – to the actual crash at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning in a well-treed residential area with overgrown ditches along the road. However, she has heard from one neighbour who says she saw her father, Steven Herney, biking...
Register
Iqaluit mental health tour about ‘listening,’ says governor general
By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Gov. Gen. Mary Simon says this week’s Iqaluit visit is all about hearing people’s personal experiences and their suggestions for dealing with mental health issues in Nunavut and across Canada. What Rideau Hall calls her Mental Health Learning and Listening Tour is about “listening to people with lived experience across the country, including the North and Indigenous communities,” Simon said in an interview Monday. “It’s also trying to bring people together that are thinking about, what are the solutions?” Simon spent part of Monday, her first day in the city, at the Tukisigiarvik Centre. That organization provides a range of Inuit cultural services, including counselling and skills development as well as daily meals and a laundry service. After viewing a showcase...
Register
Like giant ‘Lego set’: Arviat modular homes factory eyes April opening
By Arty Sarkisian, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Arviat’s modular homes factory is substantially completed and expected to start manufacturing houses in April. “We’re really excited. This year on the sealift, we’re already bringing the raw material up to Arviat to start the production,” said Guillaume Guida, Sakku Investments Corp. vice-president of business development. Modular construction is a process where components for houses are built off-site in a factory, shipped out to where the home will be located and assembled there. The roughly 64,000-square-foot factory – nearly the area of four hockey rinks – with a 21,500-square-foot warehouse, situated in Nunavut’s third-largest community of roughly 2,900 residents, is expected to produce about 40 homes a year. The project is led by Sakku Investments Corp., the business arm of the...
Register
North Carolina sheriff steps down after sexual misconduct charges
BRYSON CITY, N.C. (AP) — The longtime sheriff of a western North Carolina county whom some women accused of sexual misconduct has quit before he could be permanently removed. Curtis Cochran, who was first elected Swain County sheriff in 2006, retired from the post effective July 1, according to a statement from the county Board of Commissioners. The chief deputy is performing the sheriff’s duties while the commissioners decide who will serve out the remainder of Cochran’s four-year term through late 2026, the statement said. Cochran, 72, was charged in state courts with felonious restraint and misdemeanor sexual battery, soliciting prostitution and assault on a female, according to June 27 arrest warrants. The same day, Ashley Hornsby Welch, the district attorney for Swain and six other far western counties, filed...
Register
Lesley Hampton brings Indigenous identity and inclusivity to Canadian fashion
By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com TEMAGAMI FIRST NATION – For Lesley Hampton, fashion has never just been about clothing, it’s been about creating the space she longed for as a child. A member of Temagami First Nation, the designer is now a household name in Canadian fashion circles, with her inclusive and mental-health-forward brand featured everywhere from Toronto Fashion Week to Holt Renfrew’s designer floor. Hampton’s path to the runway was shaped by global experiences, reconnection, and a desire to redefine who belongs in fashion. “I’ve always known that I’m Indigenous,” Hampton told TimminsToday. “I’ve always known my connections to Temagami have been very strong. But as a youth and adolescent, I actually grew up internationally — middle school in Australia, high school in England.” Her mother was...
Register
ISC changes Jordan’s Principle Funding reimbursement guidelines
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER-Six Nations Administration is advising Jordan’s Principle clients to hold onto receipts after notifying the community that effective July 7, neither the office nor Jordan’s Principle’s office can fulfill Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) approvals from previous fiscal years prior to March 31, 2025. Six Nations can, however, fulfill ISC approvals for the current fiscal year – that is, April 1 to March 31 2026 – and it can thus reimburse approved services with receipts from the approved time period. The shift is due to operational changes within ISC. “We understand that this direction will deeply impact some families,” wrote Public relations Coordinator Darrien bomberry. While these directions are beyond our control, we remain committed to advocating for children in the community and will continue to...
Register
Ontario ‘unleashes’ climate catastrophe as scientists warn Paris Agreement ‘no longer attainable’
By Anushka Yadav, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer Brampton resident David Laing was jolted awake at 2 a.m. on November 10, 2024, by an eerie roar tearing through his neighbourhood. “As I’m lying there awake, thinking, I’ve never heard wind so strong before, my phone goes off and it’s a tornado warning saying, you need to seek immediate shelter,” Laing recalls. “This is Brampton? In November? This is not natural. This is not normal.” Laing has been environmentally conscious for most of his life, but that night marked a turning point. A creeping fear set in — not just about one storm, but about the broader trajectory of Ontario and the planet. That fear is absent from the Progressive Conservative (PC) government’s latest budget, Bill 24 , ironically titled...
Register
New books share stories of Kahkewistahâw elders
By Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The World-Spectator The latest volumes sharing the history and lived experiences of elders on Kahkewistahâw First Nation were launched during a special gathering on June 20. One of many celebrations during Kahkewistahâw’s annual pow wow weekend, community members gathered at the Elder’s Centre for the launch and to obtain copies of their own. “A lot of times, people judge us because they don’t know what happened a long time ago,” said Wendy Alexson during the launch. “So I hope after reading the stories, you’ll know what they went through.” Alexson was featured in Okêhtê Ayima Chief Kahkewistahâw’s Elders Volume Four, and she described what it was like to see her truth in print for the first time. “I have my story in one,...
Register
Doig River First Nation unveils high-speed connectivity in community
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca ROSE PRAIRIE, B.C. — Members of a large northeast B.C. First Nation community will soon have access to high-speed internet connectivity. Doig River First Nation (DRFN) IT manager Thomas Whitton shared the details with Energeticcity.ca about the full upgrade, which is partially up and will be fully operational by the end of summer thanks to a solar power project. Whitton said upgrading the entire community was “a meaningful step forward,” and one of his first goals when he became IT manager for DRFN back in 2022. “What we had in place previously was a wireless network that the band provided to the community,” said Whitton. “We saw anywhere from five megabits per second up [and] capped out at maybe 35 megabits per...
Register
