{"id":95143,"date":"2025-07-23T14:04:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=95143"},"modified":"2025-07-23T14:04:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:04:09","slug":"grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Chief Linda Debassige demands Ontario environment minister resign"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor ONTARIO\u2014The Anishinabek Nation has issued a firm and sorrowful song to the halls of power: water is life, and this sacred truth must no longer be subject to the push and pull of partisan tides. In a searing statement, Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige condemned Ontario and Alberta for attempting to block Bill C-61, a federal act that would safeguard source water, drinking water, wastewater, and related infrastructure on First Nation lands. \u201cWe are shocked,\u201d the Grand Council Chief wrote. \u201cWater is life and we will always defend our First Nation rights while ensuring that legislation aligns with the principles of reconciliation, sovereignty, and respect for our Anishinabek communities.\u201d The bill, carved over years of dialogue and co-drafted in… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor ONTARIO\u2014The Anishinabek Nation has issued a firm and sorrowful song to the halls of power: water is life, and this sacred truth must no longer be subject to the push and pull of partisan tides. In a searing statement, Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige condemned Ontario and Alberta for attempting to block Bill C-61, a federal act that would safeguard source water, drinking water, wastewater, and related infrastructure on First Nation lands. \u201cWe are shocked,\u201d the Grand Council Chief wrote. \u201cWater is life and we will always defend our First Nation rights while ensuring that legislation aligns with the principles of reconciliation, sovereignty, and respect for our Anishinabek communities.\u201d The bill, carved over years of dialogue and co-drafted in... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95143","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-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nGrand Chief Linda Debassige demands Ontario environment minister resign - 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\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grand Chief Linda Debassige demands Ontario environment minister resign - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor ONTARIO\u2014The Anishinabek Nation has issued a firm and sorrowful song to the halls of power: water is life, and this sacred truth must no longer be subject to the push and pull of partisan tides. In a searing statement, Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige condemned Ontario and Alberta for attempting to block Bill C-61, a federal act that would safeguard source water, drinking water, wastewater, and related infrastructure on First Nation lands. \u201cWe are shocked,\u201d the Grand Council Chief wrote. \u201cWater is life and we will always defend our First Nation rights while ensuring that legislation aligns with the principles of reconciliation, sovereignty, and respect for our Anishinabek communities.\u201d The bill, carved over years of dialogue and co-drafted in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/\" \/>\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=\"2025-07-23T18:04:09+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=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/23\\\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/23\\\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Grand Chief Linda Debassige demands Ontario environment minister resign\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-23T18:04:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/23\\\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":678,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/23\\\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/23\\\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\\\/\",\"name\":\"Grand Chief Linda Debassige demands Ontario environment minister resign - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-23T18:04:09+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/23\\\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/23\\\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/23\\\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Grand Chief Linda Debassige demands Ontario environment minister resign\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Grand Chief Linda Debassige demands Ontario environment minister resign - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Grand Chief Linda Debassige demands Ontario environment minister resign - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor ONTARIO\u2014The Anishinabek Nation has issued a firm and sorrowful song to the halls of power: water is life, and this sacred truth must no longer be subject to the push and pull of partisan tides. In a searing statement, Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige condemned Ontario and Alberta for attempting to block Bill C-61, a federal act that would safeguard source water, drinking water, wastewater, and related infrastructure on First Nation lands. \u201cWe are shocked,\u201d the Grand Council Chief wrote. \u201cWater is life and we will always defend our First Nation rights while ensuring that legislation aligns with the principles of reconciliation, sovereignty, and respect for our Anishinabek communities.\u201d The bill, carved over years of dialogue and co-drafted in","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2025-07-23T18:04:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"Grand Chief Linda Debassige demands Ontario environment minister resign","datePublished":"2025-07-23T18:04:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/"},"wordCount":678,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/","name":"Grand Chief Linda Debassige demands Ontario environment minister resign - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-07-23T18:04:09+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/grand-chief-linda-debassige-demands-ontario-environment-minister-resign\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Grand Chief Linda Debassige demands Ontario environment minister resign"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95143"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95144,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95143\/revisions\/95144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}