LIVE: Chiefs of Ontario Special Chiefs Assembly
February 3, 2021
The Chiefs of Ontario Special Chiefs Assembly will be held online from February 3-4, 2021. For more information and to register, please visit: https://www.chiefsmeeting.com/coo-sca-2021.
Watch live: https://www.youtube.com/user/ChiefsOfOntario
COVID-19 in Indigenous communities: active cases in First Nations continue to decline
February 3, 2021
The number of active COVID-19 cases in First Nations across the country continues to decline after reaching new highs in January, according to the latest data from Indigenous Services Canada. As of Feb. 1, there were 2,228 active cases reported compared to 3,847 active cases a week prior.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-covid-19-update-1.5897493
Coronavirus: Ontario to begin vaccinating northern First Nations communities
February 2, 2021
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Tuesday that the province will receive 63,400 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine by Feb. 5 which will be administered to the most vulnerable. He added that public health teams will begin vaccinations of First Nations communities in Northern Ontario as part of Operation Remote Immunity this week.
Ontario reports 1,172 new COVID-19 cases; 67 more deaths
February 3, 2021
Ontario reported 1,172 more COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, along with 67 more deaths, as an ongoing data reconciliation effort between Toronto and the provincial government clouds the accuracy of the data. Ontario reported 745 cases on Tuesday (completely excluding Toronto and several other public health units) as well as 1,969 cases on Monday and 1,848 on Sunday.
https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-reports-1-172-new-covid-19-cases-67-more-deaths-1.5293687
Ontario Continues Accelerated Vaccinations of Most Vulnerable Despite Vaccine Delays
February 2, 2021
Ongoing vaccine delays and reduced shipments have forced the Ontario government to update its goal of completing the administration of first doses of COVID-19 vaccines to residents in each long-term care, high-risk retirement and First Nations elder care home to February 10. Amidst these delays, vaccination teams will be distributing vaccines in First Nations fly-in communities in the north as part of Operation Remote Immunity, beginning this week.
Feds announce new made in Canada COVID-19 vaccine
February 2, 2021
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada will be producing vaccines to battle COVID-19. According to Trudeau, Precision NanoSystems and Novavax will be manufacturing COVID-19, protein based vaccines in the future.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/feds-announce-new-made-in-canada-covid-19-vaccine/
New COVID-19 case in Pikangikum
February 2, 2021
Staff with the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority say they’ve confirmed another case of COVID-19 in Pikangikum, bringing the community’s total to three active cases. SLFNHA adds all three are safely isolating in the community, and case and contact management has been ongoing with their Preventing Infectious Diseases team, who are monitoring the situation.
https://www.drydennow.com/local/new-covid-19-case-in-pikangikum
Ontario Strengthening Mental Health Services in the Justice System
February 2, 2021
The Ontario government is investing $6.48 million to strengthen mental health and addiction supports for victims, front-line workers, Indigenous families and youth involved in the justice system. The funding will allow victim assistance organizations to hire more staff, and provide safe housing and mental health services for First Nations youth and families and help community organizations provide COVID-19 emergency services.
Indigenous child welfare is grounded in community and children’s needs
February 2, 2021
The recent enactment of Bill C-92, an act “respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families,” will shift Indigenous child welfare to Indigenous-operated organizations, and is expected to come with many positives for the families and communities it focuses on: First Nations, Inuit and Métis.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/indigenous-child-welfare-grounded-community-223747011.html
Opinion: Why Murray Sinclair should be Canada’s next governor general
February 2, 2021
If ever there was an opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade, the need to appoint a new governor general is it. Surely the prime minister should wish to put the current fiasco behind him without delay. And with the prospect of an election in sight, the country needs to do so.
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/packer-why-murray-sinclair-should-be-canadas-next-governor-general
Systemic racism in Canadian health care is hurting Indigenous people and it must be addressed
February 3, 2021
Leaders from Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, a non-profit political advocacy organization, and its northern branch, Keewatinohk Inniniw Minoayawin, met with government officials and health-care partners last week in a two-day conference to address anti-Indigenous racism in the Canadian health-care system.
‘If I was white I’d be coaching for sure,’ TSN Originals looks at Ted Nolan and the NHL
February 2, 2021
Ted Nolan doesn’t beat around the bush when talking about why he isn’t coaching a National Hockey League team. “If I was born in Toronto and my skin was white, I’d be coaching,” Nolan tells reporter Rick Westhead in a special TSN Originals documentary: Unwanted Visitor.
George Armstrong’s granddaughter names hockey school in his honour
February 3, 2021
Kalley Armstrong used to devote some time researching her family’s history. And now, the 30-year-old is doing her bit to preserve the memory of her late grandfather, hockey legend George Armstrong, a four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who died last month at the age of 90.
Former grand chief making history in Quebec
February 1, 2021
Konrad Sioui former Grand Chief of the Huron-Wendat community of Wendake in Quebec is making history. He has a new leadership position at the head of the SAAQ, the province’s automobile insurance board.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/videos/former-grand-chief-making-history-in-quebec/
First Nations in Quebec ‘ready and waiting’ for COVID-19 vaccines
February 2, 2021
Several First Nations in Quebec will begin vaccinating its members against COVID-19 in February — if vaccine supplies are available. Gesgapegiag, a Mi’kmaw community in the Gaspésie, is waiting to administer 400 doses over a three-day period.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/quebec-first-nations-vaccination-1.5898128
Warming tent in Cabot Square honours Raphaël André, who died steps from shelter after curfew
February 2, 2021
A warming tent for the Montreal homeless population is being erected in Cabot Square and will be open during curfew hours for the next two weeks. The tent is meant to honour Raphaël Napa André, a 51-year-old Innu man who was found dead mere steps away from the Open Door shelter earlier this month, after public health officials had ordered it closed overnight.
Brandon baby returned after Dakota Ojibway CFS takes over from non-Indigenous agency
February 2, 2021
A baby has been reunited with his parents two months after being taken at birth after a Brandon, Man. nurse reported to child welfare authorities, that she felt that dad used “unsafe language” near the infant.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/birth-alert-dakota-ojibway-child-and-family-services/
Voting fraud found in 2017 Manitoba First Nation election, but nothing will happen
February 2, 2021
A federal review into the Oct. 28 election in Pinaymootang First Nation has concluded that widespread voting fraud took place. While this is not the first time that an appeal has been filed after Chief Garnet Woodhouse was elected, this time a federal review concluded there was fraud and vote buying.
‘He wasn’t suicidal’: Family of Rodney Levi disputes witness statements of shooting
February 2, 2021
The family of Rodney Levi is debunking a witness statement that said he wished to die at the hands of the RCMP. “He wasn’t suicidal, that was from an unreliable witness that just wanted to be involved in the situation,” said Linda Levi, Rodney’s sister told APTN News in an email.
New leader of Winnipeg Inuit organization ready to help her community
February 3, 2021
The new executive director of Tunngasugit, an Inuit-specific resource centre in Winnipeg, is ready to help Inuit in the Manitoba capital. “I love that I am an Inuk working in an Inuit organization, working for Inuit,” said Nikki Komaksiutiksak.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/tunngasugit-inuit-centre-winnipeg-1.5898365
Former Sipekne’katik chief discovers a dozen half-siblings he never knew he had
February 3, 2021
Rufus Copage is still reeling over the discovery his granddaughter helped him make in early 2020. Using DNA kits from the genealogy company Ancestry, they learned that Copage, of Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia, had nine half-brothers and three half-sisters scattered across Canada.
Special adviser hopes new position will help combat racism at University of Saskatchewan
February 2, 2021
Verna St. Denis knows her new job at the University of Saskatchewan will be challenging, but important. On Jan. 21, St. Denis, a member of the Beardy’s & Okemasis’ Cree First Nation and an internationally known scholar, was seconded to the position of special adviser to the president on anti-racism and anti-oppression.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/special-adviser-racism-1.5897489
First Nations Police searching for woman last seen in November
February 2, 2021
The Manitoba First Nations Police Service (MFNPS) is asking for the public’s help to find a woman who was last seen in November. Tammi Timara Isabelle Spence, 28, was last seen at the beginning of November in Sandy Bay First Nation, but her current whereabouts are unknown. MFNPS said they received the report Spence was missing on Monday.
https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/first-nations-police-searching-for-woman-last-seen-in-november-1.5292203
Local First Nations request forensic audit of Indigenous student funding
February 3, 2021
Two First Nation chiefs have requested a forensic audit of 20-years worth of funding for Indigenous students in the Prince George School District.
‘Miss Gladue’: Language in second Barton trial in death of Cindy Gladue has changed says lawyer
February 2, 2021
As the manslaughter trial of Bradley Barton continues in Edmonton, the family of Cindy Gladue has a lawyer with them in court to make sure there are no further indignities to the victim.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/cindy-gladue/
Ponoka family upset after grandfather’s remains delivered to community mailbox
February 3, 2021
Canada Post has apologized to a Ponoka man and his family after the remains of their dearly departed grandfather were delivered to a community mailbox instead of the family home. Michael Okeymaw’s 90-year-old grandfather died in December from COVID-19-related causes. Bill Herrera’s cremated remains were supposed to arrive from Yakima, Wash., last week via registered mail.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ponoka-remains-canada-post-1.5897162
Alberta expands self-isolation hotel initiative to include First Nations and rural communities
February 2, 2021
All Albertans, including First Nations living on and off reserve, are now eligible to receive financial support in order to self-isolate. The program is for those who must isolate or quarantine and aren’t able to safely do so in their home. It includes a free-of-charge hotel room stay for up to 14 days with “culturally appropriate” food and a one-time payment of $625 for isolating.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/alberta-expands-self-isolation-hotel-161302485.html
Canada supports First Nations asset management infrastructure planning in British Columbia
February 2, 2021
Today, Patrick Weiler, Member of Parliament for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, on behalf of the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services, announced $883,674 to support asset management planning programs in 45 First Nations in British Columbia.
https://www.miragenews.com/canada-supports-first-nations-asset-management-508181/
‘It’s residential school Sunday’: Indigenous prison guards sue Correctional Service Canada
February 2, 2021
Jennifer Constant says she joined the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to work her way into the Aboriginal Initiatives Department. Instead, the guard from Deh Gah Gotie Dene Band in the Northwest Territories found her years at CSC “gruelling.”
10-year-old B.C. boy raises more than $3K for hospice that cared for his dying great-aunt
February 3, 2021
A 10-year-old member of the Lake Babine and Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nations has turned the cultural tradition of not cutting your hair for a year after a loved one dies into a fundraiser for the Prince George Hospice Society, raising more than $3,000 in the process.
Grand Chief gets a kidney
February 2, 2021
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, long-standing president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, has found a kidney donor and will be undergoing surgery for the transplant Wednesday. Phillip, who is the former Penticton Indian Band Chief and has served as the chair of the Okanagan Nation Alliance for 15 years, reached out to the public for help finding a kidney in June 2020.
Indigenous comics gear up for livestreamed night of laughter
February 2, 2021
Keith (Bubbas) Nahanee was looking to lift the spirits of members from his Squamish Nation back in 2014. From January through September of that year, Nahanee’s First Nation in British Columbia suffered 41 deaths.
Indigenous history on dazzling display at Vancouver’s Bill Reid Gallery
February 2, 2021
Indigenous history is now on dazzling display at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art. The stunning works, from contemporary artist Luke Parnell, mark his debut with the downtown Vancouver gallery.
W.T. to get fewer doses than expected this month because of Moderna vaccine delay
February 2, 2021
The Northwest Territories says a delay in shipments of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Canada means the territory will receive fewer doses than expected this month.
YKDFN and federal gov’t agree to further talks about apology and compensation for Giant Mine
February 3, 2021
The Yellowknives Dene First Nation and the federal government agreed to set up a formal process to discuss an apology and compensation for the First Nation for a mine that operated on its land without its consent for several decades.
Yukon pushed to develop protections for irreplaceable wetlands threatened by mining
February 2, 2021
An independent panel is urging the Yukon government to develop a wetlands policy to protect unique streams, bogs, fens and peatland from mining because there are no known ways to fully restore these sensitive ecosystems once disturbed.
https://thenarwhal.ca/yukon-wetlands-mining-protections-urged/
‘There’s a place they can go to be with them’: MMIWG2s+ memorial planned for Whitehorse
February 2, 2021
The Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council is accepting artist’s proposals for a monument commemorating missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit+ people (MMIWG2S+).
Final hearings extended for Nunavut mine expansion
February 3, 2021
Environmental hearings for an expansion of the Mary River Mine on north Baffin Island are being extended, again. An additional hearing is now being planned for March, the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) announced Tuesday, after a two-week technical meeting being held in Iqaluit and Pond Inlet fell a week behind schedule.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/final-hearings-extended-for-nunavut-mine-1.5898382
History, Controversy & Indigenous Involvement – Death of Keystone XL
February 2, 2021
For many, few stories have been as captivating and as frustrating as that of the stop-and-start Keystone XL pipeline project, which appears to officially be reaching its end following the inauguration of President Joe Biden on Wednesday, January 20, 2021.
https://www.todayville.com/calgary/history-controversy-indigenous-involvement-death-of-keystone-xl/
Colleen Echohawk aims to be Seattle’s first indigenous mayor: ‘We have to find ways to change’
February 3, 2021
Colleen Echohawk, a Native American woman and key advocate in Seattle’s homelessness crisis, is running for mayor of the Pacific Northwest city and laying the groundwork for it to potentially elect its first indigenous mayor.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Save the Date: Chiefs of Ontario 15th Annual Health Forum
The Chiefs of Ontario 15th Annual Health Forum will take place on February 23-25, 2021. This year’s theme is Sharing Stories: The True Test of Resilience Amidst Pandemic.
For more information, please visit: https://www.chiefsmeeting.com/coo-health-forum
Annex 9 Climate Change Modelling Experts Workshop, March 22, 2021
As a follow up from the 2019 Climate Change Modelling Experts Workshop hosted in Ann Arbor, Annex 9 is working with GLISA to host another virtual workshop in March.
For more information, please contact Chris Hoyos at Chris.Hoyos@coo.org.
2021 Great Lakes Day, March 1, 2021
The annual Great Lakes Day features dialogue on Great Lakes priorities by regional leaders and members of Congress who play a critical role in shaping Great Lakes policies.
For more information, click here: https://bit.ly/3sjaa10
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
Request for Proposals: Early Learning and Child Care Asset Mapping Report Consultant and Economist Team
You are invited to submit a proposal for a project by the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) to utilize your research expertise and economic expertise to create an Early Learning and Child Care Report that analyzes the existing landscape of early learning and child care programming and services in Ontario for First Nations children 0-6 years old.
Contract Opportunity: Research and Knowledge Translation Specialist
The Chiefs of Ontario (COO) is inviting applications for a contract position: Research and Knowledge Translation Specialist
https://chiefs-of-ontario.org/contract-opportunity-research-and-knowledge-translation-specialist/
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.
Issue 8 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/oo20/
