Ontario reports more than 4,400 new COVID-19 cases, 19 deaths
April 19, 2021
Ontario is reporting 4,447 new COVID-19 cases on Monday. The provincial total now stands at 421,442. Monday’s case count is higher than Sunday’s which saw 4,250 new infections. On Saturday, 4,350 new cases were recorded. It is also the sixth day in a row cases are above 4,000.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7768662/covid-19-ontario-cases-april-19-coronavirus/
Northern Chiefs release video message, vaccine key to cultural survival of Indigenous communities
April 19, 2021
The chiefs of five First Nations in Northwestern Ontario have released a joint video encouraging the public to get vaccinated, and looking to dispel online misinformation. In a PSA created by the Nokiiwin Tribal Council, the chiefs state the vaccine is a safe, “life-saving tool” that’s key not just to ensuring physical health, but also the cultural survival of Indigenous communities.
Ontario walks back new policing powers following pushback
April 17, 2021
Ontario’s government walked back some of its new policing powers one day after they were announced, now only allowing police to stop vehicles or people if they are suspected of participating in an organized public event or social gathering.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-police-random-spot-checks-1.5991872
Ontario Strengthens Enforcement of Stay-at-Home Order
April 16, 2021
The Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other health experts, is strengthening enforcement of the province’s Stay-at-Home order while imposing new travel restrictions and further strengthening public health measures. These urgent actions are targeted at stopping the rapid growth in COVID-19 case rates and relieving mounting pressures on the province’s health care system.
https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/61192/ontario-strengthens-enforcement-of-stay-at-home-order
Ontario Safely Expands Age Eligibility for AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine to 40+
April 19, 2021
Today, Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, issued the following statement to expand COVID-19 vaccination eligibility at pharmacies and primary care settings to individuals aged 40 and over: “Starting Tuesday, April 20, 2021, Ontario will offer the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to individuals aged 40 and over at pharmacy and primary care settings across the province.
Ford government looking to recess legislature: Local MPPs
April 18, 2021
Local MPPs say an apparent move by the Ford government to suspend Ontario’s legislature this week is a transparent attempt to avoid scrutiny over its handling of the pandemic.
First Nations in northeast share $875,000 to battle COVID
April 17, 2021
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely difficult on our Nation and has caused spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, and financial stress on our community members,” Gimaa Craig Nootchtai of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek said in a release. Nootchtai, Chief Larry Roque of Wahnapitae First Nation, Chief Chad Boissoneau of Mattagami First Nation and Nickel Belt Marc G. Serré announced the funding Friday.
COVID cases force closure of area First Nation school
April 16, 2021
At least one active case of COVID-19 is what prompted Curve Lake First Nation education department to close both schools until deemed safe to re-open.
‘Trust has been broken’: Pikangikum First Nation, the OPP, and the future of policing
April 16, 2021
Last month, Pikangikum First Nation chief and council voted to remove the Ontario Provincial Police from their community, about 230 kilometres north of Kenora, over allegations of sexual assault involving at least one member of the service. “This is not a course of action we take lightly and the consequences are far-reaching,” said Chief Dean Owen in a statement. “Trust between our organizations has been broken.”
RCMP denied for Pikangikum, who are still without police
April 19, 2021
Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police won’t be headed to Pikangikum First Nation, after Kenora MP Eric Melillo called on the federal government to intervene in the community’s policing crisis.
https://www.drydennow.com/articles/rcmp-denied-for-pikangikum-who-are-still-without-police
Over $3.3 million to three local First Nation projects
April 18, 2021
To help remote and isolated communities in northwestern and Northern Ontario through the COVID-19 pandemic, the provincial and federal governments have invested in three projects in area First Nation communities.
https://www.drydennow.com/articles/over-33-million-to-three-local-first-nation-projects
Working from home on-reserve due to COVID-19? You may qualify for an income tax exemption
April 19, 2021
First Nations people who live on a reserve and have been working from home for an off-reserve employer may qualify for tax-free income. Pelletier-Demerah is a member of Fort Williams First Nation and works as an administrative assistant at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/on-reserve-work-from-home-tax-exemption-1.5991120
Rapid Housing Initiative aims to build 85 homes in seven northwestern Ontario Indigenous communities
April 19, 2021
Eighty-five new homes will be built in northwestern Ontario Indigenous communities through the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/rapid-housing-northwestern-ontario-1.5992392
Internal Emails Reveal RCMP’s Fragmented Response to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
April 18, 2021
The RCMP responded this week to a Tyee freedom of information request filed a year ago that asked what it spends investigating cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/04/19/Internal-Emails-Reveal-RCMP-Fragmented-Response-MMIWG/
Atikameksheng Anishinawbek, Wahnapitae and Mattagami First Nations and Canada highlight successful community-led solutions supported through the Indigenous Community Support Fund
April 16, 2021
The Government of Canada continues to make investments so that First Nations, Inuit and Métis have the support they need to keep their communities safe in response to COVID-19. Today, Gimma Craig Nootchtai of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, Chief Larry Roque of Wahnapitae First Nation, Chief Chad Boissoneau of Mattagami First Nation and Marc G. Serré, Member of Parliament for Nickel Belt and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources, on behalf of the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services, highlighted community-led solutions undertaken to prepare, prevent and respond to COVID-19 in these communities.
Artists in Deshkan Ziibiing showcase their talents in video series
April 19, 2021
Some of the many talented artists and craft workers in Deshkan Ziibiing [Chippewas of the Thames First Nation (COTTFN)] are having their abilities showcased in a series of videos to be shared on Facebook.
Sioux Lookout Woman Honored By Provincial Government
April 19, 2021
A Sioux Lookout resident and a northwestern Ontario support group are two recipients of the 2020-2021 Attorney General’s Victim Services Awards of Distinction.
https://www.ckdr.net/2021/04/19/sioux-lookout-woman-honored-by-provincial-government/
Local woman spreading love ‘One Bead at a Time’
April 17, 2021
That’s what happened to Bradford resident Jennifer Bahinski after completing an ancestry DNA test at age 41 ‘just for fun’. The test is what led to the discovery of her Native Indigenous roots, and a new business venture.
https://www.bradfordtoday.ca/local-news/local-woman-spreading-love-one-bead-at-a-time-3638898
Laurentian makes one-time commitment to offer Indigenous studies courses in spring
April 17, 2021
Negotiations between Laurentian University and the University of Sudbury have resulted in a one-time commitment to offer six courses from the University of Sudbury’s Indigenous studies program for the spring term.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/indigenous-studies-sudbury-laurentian-spring-1.5991442
Indigenous Leaders: The protester inside the energy industry
April 17, 2021
If there’s one skill Kaella-Marie Earle takes from her days of protesting the energy industry it’s that she’s very good at getting large groups of people pretty excited. At 29, the Sudbury-born engineer-in-training with Enbridge Gas is an emerging figure as a budding Indigenous leader who’s out to bridge the cultural gap between Canada’s Indigenous people and the energy industry.
‘We don’t want any more tears’: First Nations urge Ottawa to boost mental health spending
April 17, 2021
First Nation leaders are urging the federal government to make a serious commitment in the federal budget to increasing mental health funding. The Assembly of First Nations is asking for $1.3 billion to improve mental health resources for on-reserve and off-reserve members.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/indigenous-mental-health-resources-federal-budget-2021-1.5989070
Indigenous Services Minister acknowledges mental health crisis as a hidden pandemic
April 16, 2021
During a press conference, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller recognized that COVID-19 has created a hidden pandemic in the form of a mental health crisis. He also said that poor housing and poor health in Indigenous communities go hand in hand.
Aquaculture Act proposed for Canada
April 17, 2021
Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms in fresh or saltwater and can take place either in lakes (open-net pens) or in land-based facilities. Aquaculture is a large-scale commercial industry that is quickly becoming a key agri-food sector. This sector includes the involvement of a number of Anishinabek Nation First Nations. It provides economic benefits and food security to the local and regional economy and has the potential to double production by 2028.
http://anishinabeknews.ca/2021/04/17/aquaculture-act-proposed-for-canada/
‘They need to make it happen’: Billions needed in budget to lessen social gap for Indigenous Peoples
April 17, 2021
Indigenous people, organizations and businesses will be looking for Ottawa to deliver on core issues like clean water, housing, health care, economic development, child welfare reform and ending systemic racism when Justin Trudeau’s Liberals table the federal budget for the first time in two years on Monday.
Opinion: UNDRIP legislation turning into a distraction from real action on Indigenous self-determination
April 19, 2021
One would have thought the kinks of UNDRIP legislation would have been worked out by now. Indeed, they have not. Opposition to C-15, which is now being studied in committee, is coming from all sides. Rather than forging ahead with this legislation, we need to step back and think about what we are trying to achieve, and how to best protect the rights and improve the lives of Indigenous peoples in Canada.
Federal budget to commit more than $2B for child care, deficit not to exceed $400B: source
April 18, 2021
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will deliver the Liberal government’s first budget in two years on Monday, laying out more than $2 billion for a national child-care program while keeping the federal deficit for the past year under the $400 billion mark, CBC News has learned.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-budget-child-care-deficit-1.5992631
$150B global human trafficking industry happening in plain sight in Canada say experts
April 16, 2021
In recent months, human trafficking has made headlines in Canada as governments announce new legislation and new money to fight it. But sexual exploitation is not a new problem.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/investigates/aptn-investigates-exploited-human-trafficking-nova-scotia/
Joyce Echaquan posthumously awarded International Rosa Parks Prize
April 19, 2021
The late Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous woman who died last September in a Quebec hospital after filming staff insulting her, has been posthumously awarded the International Rosa Parks Prize.
Large scale developments threaten ancient Indigenous sites in Quebec
April 16, 2021
Development is on the brain in Quebec as the province works to find its financial footing following the losses of the COVID-19 pandemic. But by streamlining environmental and archaeological assessments during the rush to build, experts say ancient Indigenous sites could be destroyed – and their artifacts lost to history forever.
Emails show police chief’s upset over perception of force after Chantel Moore shooting
April 19, 2021
Edmundston’s police chief chafed at scathing comments by federal leaders after one of the force’s officers killed Chantel Moore last June, newly released documents show. Moore, a 26-year-old woman from Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation was shot by an officer during a wellness check early on June 4.
New Brunswick First Nations under no obligations to remit provincial taxes: expert
April 16, 2021
When current tax agreements between First Nations and New Brunswick expire, the province expects that provincial sales tax (PST) will be collected and remitted for on-reserve businesses.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7763242/new-brunswick-first-nations-provincial-tax-dispute/
Once an Inmate Now an Elder, Mi’kmaw Sweat Lodge Brings Healing to Prisoners
April 19, 2021
About 30 years ago, Toby Condo was an inmate starting a sentence at the Springhill Institution in northern Nova Scotia. Today, the man works there as an Indigenous elder.
Manitoba author’s picture book about motherhood, Indigenous tradition makes New York Times bestsellers list
April 17, 2021
A Manitoba author’s latest book is debuting at No. 3 on a New York Times bestsellers list. Tasha Spillett-Sumner’s picture book I Sang You Down From the Stars is on the American news outlet’s list of the current bestselling children’s picture books.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/picture-book-new-york-times-bestseller-1.5989607
Listuguj, Ottawa agree to collaborate on fishery regulations
April 18, 2021
Members of Listuguj First Nation hope a new fisheries agreement with the federal government will result in greater local control and economic growth. The Mi’kmaw community in Quebec, just across the river from Campbellton, N.B., has agreed to a five-year rights reconciliation agreement with the Minister of Fisheries and the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations.
Woman who shot FreshCo arrest video says incident was important to record
April 18, 2021
The woman who shot a video of a violent arrest by a private security guard at a Saskatoon FreschCo. earlier this week says she was frozen in fear as she watched the incident unfold before her. Now, after taking some time to reflect and steady herself, she says she’s glad she recorded the video, but wishes she had stepped in.
‘Disgusted’: Miller reacts to security guard’s actions toward Indigenous woman
April 16, 2021
Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller has expressed his disgust over a video showing a security guard in a physical altercation with an Indigenous woman who was accused of shoplifting from a grocery store.
Woman who shot arrest video at Saskatoon grocery store says she would have ‘fought the exact same way’
April 16, 2021
Starla Fiddler was making a trip to her neighbourhood FreshCo grocery story with her partner on Wednesday. When they arrived they noticed a woman who appeared to be struggling and held inside a vehicle against her will.
Volunteers continue search for missing Elsipogtog fisherman
April 17, 2021
A large-scale search is underway for any evidence of the Tyhawk fishing vessel or its missing captain. The New Brunswick based boat, owned by the Elsipogtog First Nation, sank off the coast of Cape Breton, N.S. earlier this month.
Cooking in Cree with Art Napoleon
April 19, 2021
The co-host of APTN’s Moosemeat and Marmalade teaches some Cree cooking phrases and talks about the importance of food to culture. You can listen to the full interview this week on Unreserved.
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1886327363529
Here’s why the grand chief of the Gwich’in Tribal Council changed his name
April 18, 2021
It’s been his dream since he was a young adult to change his name to one that’s belonged to his family for generations but was obscured by early settlers. And now its official: The grand chief of the Gwich’in Tribal Council will go by the name Ken Kyikavichik.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/gwich-in-tribal-council-chief-name-change-1.5988304
Saving the salmon: why the Gitanyow are creating a new Indigenous Protected Area
April 17, 2021
When the sun sets in a bowl-shaped basin on Ana’miso mountain on Gitanyow lax’yip (territory) in northwest B.C., that means the sockeye salmon are running in Xsi’dax river. Historically, about 50,000 sockeye would come up this tributary of the Skeena. But this river, like so many, is suffering a devastating decline in abundance. These days, the spawning population is down to about 200 fish.
https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-salmon-gitanyow-indigenous-protected-area/
Town of Ladysmith, Stz’minus First Nation to replace red dresses torn down by vandals
April 16, 2021
The Stz’minus First Nation says it’s working with the Town of Ladysmith to replace a number of red dresses that were torn down along the highway near Oyster Bay. One hundred red dresses, meant to represent Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, were hung along the highway from Victoria to Port Hardy in January.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ladysmith-red-dresses-1.5991416
Wet’suwet’en granted $7.2m
April 16, 2021
The B.C. government has reached an agreement to give Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs $7.2 million in funding to support the implementation of their rights and title.
COVID-19 outbreak declared in Iqaluit
April 16, 2021
Iqaluit is experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak, the Government of Nunavut announced Friday. The announcement was made during a news conference on Friday morning, after 12 new cases were reported in the community overnight, bringing the total number of infections to 13.
https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/iqaluits-covid-19-cases-soar-to-13/
Dene governments in N.W.T. launch ice road caribou harvest monitoring
April 16, 2021
This winter Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories introduced new measures to protect the fragile Bathurst barren-ground caribou herd. In March, APTN News tagged along to check out the Tlicho Nation’s Ekwo (caribou) harvest monitoring program and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation caribou harvesting monitoring program.
Still no clear winner in Yukon territorial election four days after election day
April 16, 2021
Despite the Yukon territorial election taking place on Monday, the final results are still yet to be determined due to a tie in the territory’s least populated riding. APTN’s Sara Connors gives a breakdown of what is going on.
Misipawistik Cree Nation member Conner Roulette heading to Texas with U-18 Canada hockey team
April 17, 2021
Conner Roulette may only be 17 years old, but his skills on the ice have him touted as an elite NHL prospect. Roulette was recently one of 23 players named to the under 18 Canadian men’s team as one of the best players in the country at his age. The team will compete in Frisco, Texas as part of the IIHF U-18 World Championship.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/conner-roulette-misipawistik-cree-nation-team-canada-hockey/
UPCOMING EVENTS
Call for Proposals: Capacity-building funding for An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families for fiscal year 2021-2022
A call for proposals is now open to support capacity-building in relation to An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families for fiscal year 2021-2022. Funding is available to Indigenous Peoples, communities, and groups as they begin work to develop their own legislation and explore Indigenous-led models for child and family services.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/31P9GUe
Save the Date: Chiefs of Ontario 47th All Ontario Chiefs Conference 2021
The Chiefs of Ontario and Grand Council Treaty #3 will be hosting the 47th All Ontario Chiefs Conference 2021 on June 15-17, 2021. For the Chiefs of Ontario All Ontario Chiefs Conference (AOCC), please find the 1st Call for Resolutions attached. Deadline for Resolutions is Wednesday, May 26, 2021. For more information, please visit https://www.chiefsmeeting.com/aocc-2021.
Issue 9 of The Official Chiefs of Ontario Magazine, The Advocate is now online!
To view, please click here: https://www.mediaedgemagazines.com/the-chiefs-of-ontario-coo/oo21c/.
International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) Annual Meeting, May 17-21, 2021
Hosted by Michigan Technological University, the virtual conference will feature four days of scientific sessions and speakers focusing on our theme Bridging: Knowledge, Seven Generations, Land-to-Lake.
For more information and registration, click here: https://bit.ly/3nI8gUh.
Chiefs of Ontario Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates
Find Our Latest Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates Here. This website provides information on emergency planning and preparedness, as well as on the unique programs and services that are available to First Nations in Ontario during times of emergency.
