Indigenous language showcased on new West Coast bus stop signs, a first for BC Transit
By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa West Coast, BC – BC Transit has incorporated Nuu-chah-nulth language on all the new bus stop signs within the refreshed West Coast Transit System, a historical first for the province’s official transit service provider. Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ (Ucluelet First Nation) language keepers Marge Touchie (ʔaʔasmacy̓ak) and Jeneva Touchie (Čakʷaasiqḥw̓iłim) worked on the translations for stops within Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ traditional territory. “It’s an honour to share language within our community, it connects us and shows that representation matters,” said Jeneva in a written statement. Prior to the bus stop signage, Jeneva and Marge also supported the translation of street names within the municipality of Ucluelet and provided the Ucluelet Co-op with words and phrases for displays. “Bit by bit we are incorporating more language within our...
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Supreme Court dismisses appeal from Saskatchewan government involving Métis group
-CP-The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed an appeal from the Saskatchewan government over a lawsuit alleging a Métis organization wasn’t consulted over uranium exploration permits. The unanimous ruling lets Métis Nation Saskatchewan proceed with its legal action against the province, after permits were granted three years ago in northwest Saskatchewan near Patterson Lake. The court says it was not an abuse of process for Métis Nation Saskatchewan to sue the province on the issue. The organization filed a claim in 2021 against the province arguing it had Aboriginal title and rights to the land. Saskatchewan argued the claims were an abuse of process, as Métis Nation Saskatchewan has other lawsuits against the province over consultation issues. A Court of King’s Bench judge sided with Saskatchewan and struck portions of...
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Leonard Peltier remains defiant in AP interview, maintaining innocence and vowing continued activism
By Graham Lee Brewer BELCOURT, N.D. (AP) — More than 50 years after a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation landed him in federal prison, Leonard Peltier remains defiant. He maintains his innocence in the deaths of two FBI agents in 1975 and sees his newfound freedom — the result of a commutation from former President Joe Biden — as the beginning of a new phase of his activism. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life fighting for our people, because we ain’t finished yet. We’re still in danger,” Peltier, now 80, said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press at his new home on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, his tribal homeland in North Dakota, near the Canadian border. There among the rolling, often snow-covered hills,...
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Vancouver council approves pause on supporting housing; housing minister disappointed
By Brieanna Charlebois and Ashley Joannou -CP-Vancouver’s council has approved Mayor Ken Sim’s plan to temporarily halt net new supportive housing projects in the city. The change is a disappointment for B.C.’s Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, who said Thursday that they know supportive housing works to give people a second chance. A news release from Sim’s office says it will allow the city to focus on “renewing aging, deteriorating stock,” and transition temporary modular housing into permanent homes, while pushing for more supply elsewhere in the region. The city says the pause doesn’t apply to housing for seniors, women, families, youth aging out of care, housing related to health care, or “social housing with occasional supports.” Councillors heard from more than 80 residents, many voicing concerns about the proposal, but...
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Most northwest winter roads not open to transports
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source PIKANGIKUM – Most winter roads to remote First Nations in Northwestern Ontario are now open to light loads only. “The past couple of days we had it closed to heavy traffic, (and open to) just light small vehicles,” Pikangikum First Nation council member Richard Keeper said Wednesday. He said a spell of warmer weather made the winter road to Pikangikum, 100 kilometres north of Red Lake, a tad iffy. “But I think we’re open now because we’re going to have somebody monitoring the road and they’re going to be working on the road daily as the heavy trucks come in,” he added. Pikangikum is not alone among northwest First Nations throttling down winter road traffic. Sandy Lake First Nation, for...
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Doig River First Nation to receive infrastructure loan for urban reserve development
By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A northeast B.C. First Nation received the green light for investment from financial backers on Wednesday. First Nations Bank of Canada (FNBC) announced Doig River First Nation (DRFN) as among the first approved loans from the new Indigenous Land Development Loan Program. DRFN Chief Trevor Makadahay described the announcement on February 26th as “game-changing.” The program is an initiative of FNBC and the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB). Five First Nation infrastructure projects are to receive funding totalling $140 million. DRFN would not disclose to Energeticcity.ca the financial terms of the loan or the amount allocated specifically to the Nation, but said the funding will be used to oversee the development of Naache Commons, a DRFN development on...
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‘Do better’: Murder victims’ families react after possible remains found in landfill
By Brittany Hobson WINNIPEG,MAN-CP-When Elle Harris got a phone call about potential human remains found at the landfill where searchers are trying to find her mother and another slain First Nations woman, she was overcome with a sinking feeling. “My heart dropped right down to my stomach,” she told reporters Thursday. Since December, trained search teams, including forensic anthropologists, have been combing through debris at the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg with the hopes of finding the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran. The two women were killed at the hands of a serial killer in 2022. The Manitoba government, which is spearheading the search with guidance from family members and First Nations leaders, announced Wednesday that suspected human remains had been discovered at the site. It could...
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In apology to Inuit, minister calls relocations decades ago a ‘failure’
By Alessia Passafiume -CP-Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree apologized Thursday afternoon on behalf of the federal government for its role in the Dundas Harbour relocations between 1934 and 1948, saying it is “long overdue.” “The Government of Canada deeply regrets the decisions that led to your relocations and the suffering that resulted from them. We recognize and acknowledge the profound harm done to your families, your communities, and your way of life,” Anandasangaree said to those gathered in Arctic Bay. “For taking you from your homes and families, for the hardships you endured, for the displacement and ruptures of kinships with the nuna [land], and for the promises that were broken, we offer our sincerest apology. We are sorry.” The relocations were part of Canada’s strategy to maintain a national...
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Human rights museum removes Buffy Sainte-Marie from exhibit
By Steve Lambert -CP-The Canadian Museum for Human Rights has removed singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie from an exhibit because of questions about her First Nations identity. The musician and activist was among more than a dozen people featured in an exhibit at the Winnipeg museum titled “human rights defenders” until December. A museum official says the move was made following a CBC report that said Sainte-Marie has a birth certificate from Massachusetts and that family members in the U.S. indicated she doesn’t have Indigenous heritage. Matthew Cutler, the museum’s vice-president of exhibitions says that after the report there were extensive consultations with Indigenous communities and advisers. Sainte-Marie has said the report contained mistakes and omissions and that she has never lied about her identity. Sainte-Marie’s Order of Canada appointment was terminated...
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Arctic territories unite against U.S. annexation threats
By Matteo Cimellaro, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer For Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok, comments from U.S. President Donald Trump about a possible takeover of Canada feel personal. Akeeagok sees them as a direct threat to the hard-fought sovereignty of the northern territory. His family was directly involved in the forced relocations of the 1950s, in which Inuit were taken from their communities and shipped to Resolute Bay and Grise Ford, “really as human flagpoles,” to claim Canada’s sovereignty, Akeeagok explains. “When I look back at my own history with my own family, and there are many families that are impacted that really have paid a heavy price in terms of asserting Canada’s sovereignty over the North, and so, it’s very personal,” Akeeagok said in an interview with Canada’s...
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Bronze statue of women’s rights pioneer cut off at ankles, stolen from Edmonton park
EDMONTON-A life-sized bronze statue of Canadian women’s rights pioneer Emily Murphy who said Indigenous people have noplace in the future, has been stolen from a city park. David Turnbull of the Edmonton Arts Council said Thursday only the shoes remain of the statue. He said it appears the statue was sliced off near the ankles with a power tool earlier this week. A plaque glued to the stone platform it stood on is also missing. Edmonton police are investigating. Murphy was Alberta’s first female judge and one of the so-called Famous Five women behind the 1929 Persons Case. The case successfully challenged laws that prevented women from being appointed to the Senate because they were not considered legal “persons.” Turnbull said Murphy was also controversial figure as she also had...
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Gov’t can’t override First Nation authority with mining: Fiddler
By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal During a visit to Thunder Bay late last week, Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford reiterated his election promise to speed up project approvals in the mineral-rich Ring of Fire by pushing Ottawa to remove what he called “unnecessary federal barriers and red tape” from major projects under provincial jurisdiction. Ford says his vision to unlock the economic potential of the critical minerals mined in the Ring of Fire is critical in the face of looming tariffs from the U.S., but it does not sit well with Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN). NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler is calling on Ford and the Ontario government to “immediately retract these assertions and uphold the promises that the government made in treaty that respects...
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Iqaluit recovery centre road named Akausigiarvik Road
By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Akausigiarvik Road, which means “to feel better road,” will be the name of the street that leads to Aqqusariaq, Nunavut’s new addictions recovery centre which is under construction in Iqaluit. City councillors voted in favour of the name Tuesday night. The city’s planning department proposed it after consulting elders. “By selecting a name that resonates with the centre’s purpose, it strengthens a sense of unity and intention behind both the road and the recovery centre,” said Maiya Twerdin, the city’s planning clerk, in a presentation to council. “The decision to have an Inuktitut street name is a clear demonstration of the city’s commitment to preserving and promoting Inuktitut, particularly in spaces that will be a positive healing space for Nunavummiut.” The...
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Clearwater Seafoods in Nova Scotia lays off workers at plant in Lockeport: mayor
Clearwater Seafoods has laid off about half its workers in Lockeport, N.S., where the local plant is the town’s largest employer, the mayor of the tiny southwestern community said Thursday. Derek Amalfa said the company has decided to shut down lobster processing at the plant, but he said the facility will continue to process scallops. The town is home to 480 people. Clearwater’s website says the plant, known locally as Pierce Fisheries, employs 145 people who process about four million kilograms of sea scallops and lobster annually. “It’s a lot of shock and sadness,” Amalfa said in an interview. “All of the people who lost their jobs are longtime employees, and they are all our friends and neighbours and family. This is going to have a deep in pact in...
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Ottawa announces $270-million agreement for Inuit-led conservation efforts in Arctic
-CP-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced a $270-million agreement for jobs and conservation projects in the Qikiqtani region, a majority-Inuit territory that is part of Nunavut. Trudeau told reporters today in Montreal the deal includes $200 million from the federal government and $70 million pledged by donors in Canada and elsewhere. The prime minister says the investment is projected to attract $318 million over 15 years to the region, where about 20,000 people live in 13 communities from Hudson Bay to Ellesmere Island. The SINAA deal — sinaa means the edge of the ice flow in Inuktitut — includes a network of proposed Inuit-led water and land conservation areas in the Arctic region. Trudeau was joined in Montreal by Olayuk Akesuk, president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, whose group is...
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‘It’s a heavy day’: Families react after potential remains found in Manitoba landfill
By Brittany Hobson Relatives of two murdered Indigenous women expressed shock, hope and anger Thursday, after receiving news that potential human remains have been found at a landfill where their loved ones were believed to have been taken. “I think the shock of everything has finally hit me,” Melissa Robinson, a cousin of Morgan Harris, said at a press conference sitting beside other relatives “To every one of you that said no (to a search), to every one of you that didn’t believe in us, do better,” said Harris’s daughter Elle Harris. “How could you say no to a little girl. That’s my mom in there.” Police believe the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were taken to the Prairie Green Landfill north of Winnipeg in May 2022. Jeremy...
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Manitoba becomes first province to join national pharmacare program with $219M deal
By Sarah Ritchie Manitoba became the first province to officially join Ottawa’s pharmacare program today, giving it access to federal funding to cover the cost of birth control and diabetes medications. Health Minister Mark Holland made the announcement in Winnipeg this morning. The federal government will spend $219 million on pharmacare coverage for Manitoba over four years and says contraceptives and diabetes medications will be provided “at little to no direct cost” to Manitobans. The Manitoba government launched a program last fall to cover the cost of birth control for its residents. The federal Pharmacare Act became law in October, setting the stage for Ottawa to begin negotiations with provinces and territories. The program was a key part of the supply-and-confidence agreement between the Liberals and the NDP that kept...
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Number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rises to 242,000, highest level in 3 months
By Matt Ott Applications for U.S. jobless benefits rose to a three-month high last week but remained within the same healthy range of the past three years. The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose by 22,000 to 242,000 for the week ending Feb. 22, the Labor Department said Thursday. Analysts projected that 220,000 new applications would be filed. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs. The four-week average, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, climbed by 8,500 to 224,000. Some analysts say they expect layoffs ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency to show up in the report in the coming weeks or months. Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at tax and advisory firm RSM, said he doesn’t expect a “bursting of the...
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Two-time JUNO Award-winning Oji-Cree artist Aysanabee playing the Savoy Theatre
By Meghan Dewar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post Glace Bay will have the opportunity to listen to the musical creations of two-time JUNO award-winning Oji-Cree artist Aysanabee at the Savoy Theatre on March 12th. The Indigenous artist will be stopping in during his first-ever Canadian headlining tour, ‘Now and Then.’ Aysanabee is an alternative indie artist who is a member of the Sucker Clan from the Sandy Lake First Nation in Northwestern Ontario. He is currently based out of Toronto and creates music under his mother’s maiden name. In March 2024, he made history and became the first Indigenous artist to win JUNO Awards for Alternative Album of the Year and Songwriter of the Year for his EP ‘Here and Now,’ released in 2023. The show will take...
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Premier Moe says pipelines that would cross Saskatchewan considered ‘pre-approved’
By Jeremy Simes Premier Scott Moe says Saskatchewan wants pipelines built and is encouraging other provinces and the federal government to get behind the cause. Moe says on social media that all pipeline projects that cross his province would be considered “pre-approved.” He says he supports pipelines that go across the country and into the United States. His office says federal regulations and politics have hindered development and that the energy industry requires certainty. Pipelines that cross provincial boundaries or the Canada-U.S. border are reviewed by the Canada Energy Regulator and approved by the federal government. Ottawa also has a legal duty to consult Indigenous groups whose treaty rights may be affected by projects. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2025. ...
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