{"id":97094,"date":"2025-09-15T08:46:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T12:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=97094"},"modified":"2025-09-15T08:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T12:47:12","slug":"petitions-call-for-bza-chiefs-removal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/15\/petitions-call-for-bza-chiefs-removal\/","title":{"rendered":"Petitions call for BZA chief’s removal"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source ROCKY BAY \u2014 Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek (BZA) members \u201cjust want to move forward\u201d but can\u2019t do that until their chief steps aside, Mercedes Hardy told Newswatch on Friday. That, she said, is why she and other members started a petition for the removal of Chief Gladys Thompson. The paper petition and a complementary online petition will be presented Sunday at a BZA band meeting in Rocky Bay, Hardy said. One band councillor has told Newswatch he expects there will be \u201canother motion to toss (Thompson) out\u201d at Sunday\u2019s meeting. Hardy said the petition is a last resort, but the chief has left dissatisfied BZA members with no alternative. The band office and medical centre in Rocky Bay have been closed… <\/p>\n

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By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source ROCKY BAY \u2014 Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek (BZA) members \u201cjust want to move forward\u201d but can\u2019t do that until their chief steps aside, Mercedes Hardy told Newswatch on Friday. That, she said, is why she and other members started a petition for the removal of Chief Gladys Thompson. The paper petition and a complementary online petition will be presented Sunday at a BZA band meeting in Rocky Bay, Hardy said. One band councillor has told Newswatch he expects there will be \u201canother motion to toss (Thompson) out\u201d at Sunday\u2019s meeting. Hardy said the petition is a last resort, but the chief has left dissatisfied BZA members with no alternative. The band office and medical centre in Rocky Bay have been closed... <\/p>\n

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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-97094","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":"\nPetitions call for BZA chief's removal - 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\/09\/15\/petitions-call-for-bza-chiefs-removal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Petitions call for BZA chief's removal - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source ROCKY BAY \u2014 Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek (BZA) members \u201cjust want to move forward\u201d but can\u2019t do that until their chief steps aside, Mercedes Hardy told Newswatch on Friday. That, she said, is why she and other members started a petition for the removal of Chief Gladys Thompson. The paper petition and a complementary online petition will be presented Sunday at a BZA band meeting in Rocky Bay, Hardy said. One band councillor has told Newswatch he expects there will be \u201canother motion to toss (Thompson) out\u201d at Sunday\u2019s meeting. Hardy said the petition is a last resort, but the chief has left dissatisfied BZA members with no alternative. The band office and medical centre in Rocky Bay have been closed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/15\/petitions-call-for-bza-chiefs-removal\/\" \/>\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=\"2025-09-15T12:46:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-15T12:47:12+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=\"2 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\\\/09\\\/15\\\/petitions-call-for-bza-chiefs-removal\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/15\\\/petitions-call-for-bza-chiefs-removal\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Petitions call for BZA chief’s removal\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-15T12:46:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-15T12:47:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/15\\\/petitions-call-for-bza-chiefs-removal\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":462,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/15\\\/petitions-call-for-bza-chiefs-removal\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/15\\\/petitions-call-for-bza-chiefs-removal\\\/\",\"name\":\"Petitions call for BZA chief's removal - 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