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Established in 1983 to serve the needs of northern Alberta, Windspeaker became a national newspaper on its 10th anniversary in 1993.
Sipekne’katik First Nation has filed an appeal with Nova Scotia’s Minister of Environment claiming the province “failed to accommodate and engage in deep and meaningful consultation” before granting industrial approval to AltaGas Ltd. for the operation of the Alton natural gas storage pond project in Sipekne’katik traditional territory.
“There was consultation, but with a very narrow…
John Joe Sark, a member of the Mi’kmaq Nation traditional government, is petitioning the federal government to change the name of the Port-la-Joye—Fort Amherst historic site near Charlottetown, saying it’s an insult that a national park in Prince Edward Island is named for a military general who wanted to kill Aboriginal people with smallpox. Sark wants the name of General Jeffery Amherst…
Internal government documents show that it will cost $2 billion to eliminate mould and chronic overcrowding on reserves in Manitoba, about 13 times more than the $150 million the federal government promised for all First Nations across Canada this year, reports the Canadian Press.
Reports from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, obtained under access-to-information legislation, say…
Manitoba will change how it publicly reports the number of children in its care by excluding those who are voluntarily transferred by their guardians. More than 10,000 children are currently reported, but about 700 will be discounted once the voluntary placements are removed from the publicly-reported numbers. Other provinces don’t count their voluntary placements, which include children under…
People involved in Voices of the North, Northern Spirits and their friends, gathered at St. Albans Church in Prince Albert Feb. 13 to record a professional version of “Lean on Me”, dedicated to the Saskatchewan community of La Loche after the community suffered a mass shooting that killed four people and injured many others. About 40 to 50 people worked with a six-person production crew. The…
The island community of Beausoleil First Nation in Georgian Bay, Ont. says its ferry is on its last legs. The ferry, the only access to the mainland, makes the hour-long round trip to Christian Island 14 times a day, every day, allowing people to access goods and services, as well as medical appointments. Chief Roland Monague says the 65-year-old vessel, the M.V. Sandy Graham, is no longer…
Toronto’s Indigenous community is mourning the loss of two young men who were killed in two separate incidents within the space of two weeks. Quinn Taylor was 29, and Kiowa Wind McComb was 20 years old.
Taylor was shot to death in Toronto’s Chinatown on Spadina near Nassau Street early on the morning of Jan. 31. McComb (Ojibway/Cree) was the victim of a stabbing on Feb. 9 in Toronto’s…
The speeches were short at this year’s Valentine’s Day Strawberry Ceremony for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The group of 400 people gathered at Toronto Police Headquarters at Yonge and College streets was considerably smaller than in previous years, likely due to the bitter minus-28 degree temperature.
Cups of water and several hundred strawberries, the women’s…
The Métis Nation-BC and the Adoptive Families Association of BC signed a memorandum of understanding Feb. 9 to help find permanent homes for Métis children and youth currently in the care in the province. There are more than 4,000 Aboriginal children and youth in care, including more than 1,000 Métis children, reads a press statement. The MOU wants to safely reduce this number while supporting…
Paddy Hajdu, MP for Thunder Bay, Ont., said First Nation students arriving in the city to attend school are made to feel less welcome than refugees or other minorities arriving to the city. “It’s appalling, it’s ashaming for my community, but for our country as well, that Indigenous young people who come to Thunder Bay to study are subjected to racism that includes things like people flinging…
Katzie First Nation and the City of Pitt Meadows in B.C. have created three historic agreements over the page 18 months that focus on communications protocols and the provision of water, sewer, and fire protection services. The process began with the intention of replacing expired service agreements. The communities crafted the new service agreements, and strengthened their relationship by…
The federal government will not appeal a decision by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal that found Canada discriminated against First Nations children by underfunding child welfare services on reserves. The government made the announcement Feb. 22. Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said the ruling demonstrates the present system is failing, which is unacceptable in this day and age. “We…
Greenpeace is supporting the Waswanipi Cree Nation, as well as scientists and environmental organizations, as they urge Premier Philippe Couillard to protect the last pristine forest on Cree ancestral territory.
Greenpeace said proposed logging roads and clearcuts, currently under government review, threaten more than 113,000 hectares of forest, south of the Broadback River.
“…
An Ontario Provincial Police officer demonstrated ignorance of treaty relationships and rights when he pulled Nigigoonsimikinkaaning First Nation Chief Will Windigo over for having a quartered moose in his truck, he said, and that disturbed him more than the aggressive treatment of the officer against his hunting party.
Windigo said his truck was pulled over last fall, but the officer…
February 17, 2016
Families and loved ones of murdered and missing Indigenous men and boys hope this upcoming national inquiry focused on women and girls will have an impact on their plight as well.
And so does Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett.
“We believe by doing an excellent piece of work, if we design a commission properly and can get to those…