{"id":106963,"date":"2026-07-17T08:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=106963"},"modified":"2026-07-17T08:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:36:11","slug":"hodgson-pitches-major-projects-to-first-nations-as-wildfires-scorch-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/hodgson-pitches-major-projects-to-first-nations-as-wildfires-scorch-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Hodgson pitches major projects to First Nations as wildfires scorch communities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Alessia Passafiume As Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson pitched First Nations chiefs in Ottawa on Thursday on the federal government&#8217;s major projects push, chiefs in Ontario and Quebec were scrambling to secure federal help for communities forced to evacuate due to wildfires. One small northwestern Ontario community, Namaygoosisagagun First Nation \u2014 also known as Collins First Nation \u2014 has burned to the ground. Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict and Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige said the community is being left behind by Indigenous Services Canada because it isn&#8217;t recognized as a First Nation by the federal government. Anishinabek Nation has been fundraising on Collins First Nation&#8217;s behalf. Chiefs and officials gathered in Ottawa this week for the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting held a blanket dance&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F07%2F17%2Fhodgson-pitches-major-projects-to-first-nations-as-wildfires-scorch-communities%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Alessia Passafiume As Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson pitched First Nations chiefs in Ottawa on Thursday on the federal government&#8217;s major projects push, chiefs in Ontario and Quebec were scrambling to secure federal help for communities forced to evacuate due to wildfires. One small northwestern Ontario community, Namaygoosisagagun First Nation \u2014 also known as Collins First Nation \u2014 has burned to the ground. Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict and Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige said the community is being left behind by Indigenous Services Canada because it isn&#8217;t recognized as a First Nation by the federal government. Anishinabek Nation has been fundraising on Collins First Nation&#8217;s behalf. Chiefs and officials gathered in Ottawa this week for the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting held a blanket dance... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F07%2F17%2Fhodgson-pitches-major-projects-to-first-nations-as-wildfires-scorch-communities%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hodgson pitches major projects to First Nations as wildfires scorch communities - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/hodgson-pitches-major-projects-to-first-nations-as-wildfires-scorch-communities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hodgson pitches major projects to First Nations as wildfires scorch communities - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Alessia Passafiume As Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson pitched First Nations chiefs in Ottawa on Thursday on the federal government&#8217;s major projects push, chiefs in Ontario and Quebec were scrambling to secure federal help for communities forced to evacuate due to wildfires. One small northwestern Ontario community, Namaygoosisagagun First Nation \u2014 also known as Collins First Nation \u2014 has burned to the ground. Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict and Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige said the community is being left behind by Indigenous Services Canada because it isn&#8217;t recognized as a First Nation by the federal government. Anishinabek Nation has been fundraising on Collins First Nation&#8217;s behalf. Chiefs and officials gathered in Ottawa this week for the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting held a blanket dance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/hodgson-pitches-major-projects-to-first-nations-as-wildfires-scorch-communities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T12:36:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/17\\\/hodgson-pitches-major-projects-to-first-nations-as-wildfires-scorch-communities\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/17\\\/hodgson-pitches-major-projects-to-first-nations-as-wildfires-scorch-communities\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Hodgson pitches major projects to First Nations as wildfires scorch communities\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T12:36:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/17\\\/hodgson-pitches-major-projects-to-first-nations-as-wildfires-scorch-communities\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":957,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/17\\\/hodgson-pitches-major-projects-to-first-nations-as-wildfires-scorch-communities\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/17\\\/hodgson-pitches-major-projects-to-first-nations-as-wildfires-scorch-communities\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hodgson pitches major projects to First Nations as wildfires scorch communities - 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