NAN calls for more accountability on First Nations drinking water advisories
March 2, 2021
The Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation says the federal government needs to improve its commitment to bringing clean drinking water to First Nations. The auditor general released a report Friday finding that Indigenous Services Canada has not provided enough support to ensure that First Nations have ongoing access to safe drinking water.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/nan-auditor-general-report-water-1.5932345
Vaccine distribution plans still underway for Waterloo region’s urban Indigenous community
March 1, 2021
As residents over 80 gear up to get vaccinated, the plans to vaccinate Waterloo region’s urban Indigenous population are still currently being developed. But those involved say that’s because it needed to be done in the most culturally relevant way possible.
Six Nations officials urge people to stay home at COVID-19 cases spike
March 1, 2021
Health officials in Six Nations of the Grand River are urging people to stay home as active cases of COVID-19 spike locally. Ohsweken Public Health says the area is dealing with 116 active cases, the most since the start of the pandemic.
Six Nations students to do online learning for rest of school year
March 1, 2021
The Six Nations of the Grand River says that all students in the First Nations territory will finish this school year online. The Six Nations Council says it will reopen schools in September for in-person learning.
How COVID-19 is affecting First Nations
March 1, 2021
How is the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting First Nation communities? This week we are speaking with Dr. Jessica Jackman. She is the public health physician for the Atlantic region of Indigenous Services Canada.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/videos/how-covid-19-is-affecting-first-nations/
Ontario’s daily COVID-19 case count falls for fifth straight day
March 2, 2021
Ontario reported 966 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday along with 11 more deaths, extending a slow downward trend in new cases to five days, albeit on significantly lower testing volume.
https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-s-daily-covid-19-case-count-falls-for-fifth-straight-day-1.5330008
Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine not recommended for seniors, Canadian committee says
March 1, 2021
The National Advisory Committee on Immunizations (NACI) has recommended against using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in people aged 65 and older, although Health Canada has authorized it to be used in adults of all ages.
Former director of Ontario’s police watchdog questions force used by Thompson RCMP officer
March 2, 2021
The former head of Ontario’s police watchdog is questioning the force a Thompson RCMP officer used against a First Nations man, who was punched twice by the officer after throwing a hat at him.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/thompson-iiu-force-rcmp-wfpcbc-cbc-1.5932622
Two more First Nations open winter roads after warm weather, COVID-19 delay season
March 1, 2021
Officials in Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations say the winter roads to their communities are now ready for at least partial loads, while Eabametoong is still putting the finishing touches on its road.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/northwestern-ontario-winter-roads-1.5930362
That Dress: Fashion shoot by Indigenous artists sparks trauma, apologies—and reflection
March 1, 2021
A two-year-old photo shoot with a Cree model wearing an Anishinaabe designer’s dress that was dedicated to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) has ignited pain and trauma, and raised thorny questions for Indigenous women’s advocates.
Lac Seul Doctor Leading Human Trafficking Study
March 2, 2021
A year long study on the reality of human trafficking in Northwestern Ontario is underway. Funded by Ontario’s Solicitor General in cooperation with Provincial Police, Dr. Anita Olsen Harper of Lac Seul First Nation has been selected to do the research study.
https://www.ckdr.net/2021/03/02/lac-seul-doctor-leading-human-trafficking-study/
How First Nations are using radio in the fight against COVID-19
March 1, 2021
In March 2020, I was working as a nurse practitioner in three Matawa First Nations communities. The week before the COVID-19 pandemic was announced, I was seeing patients at the walk-in clinic with issues ranging from sore throats to suicidal thoughts. These people were now in lockdown — how could I help from isolation?
https://www.tvo.org/article/how-first-nations-are-using-radio-in-the-fight-against-covid-19
Wiikwemkoong Prevention Services amplify knowledge and awareness through education at virtual human trafficking conference
March 2, 2021
Wiikwemkoong Prevention Services transformed its annual human trafficking conference into the Chitwaa Jiijak Ahzhiit! Sacred Spirit That’s Lost – Human Trafficking Virtual Conference this February due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Memorandum of Understanding signed by Webequie First Nation and Juno Corp.
March 1, 2021
Webequie First Nation and Juno Corp. have announced a new cooperation agreement to foster economic participation opportunities and advance exploration and potential mining partnerships in Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire.
Ontario Supports Indigenous Women Fleeing Domestic Violence in Sault Ste. Marie
March 1, 2021
The Ontario government is providing over $550,000 to help create safe and affordable housing for Indigenous women and their children in Sault Ste. Marie. The funding is being delivered through the Social Services Relief Fund and will support women fleeing domestic violence who are homeless or at risk of homelessness during COVID-19.
https://ihtoday.ca/ontario-supports-indigenous-women-fleeing-domestic-violence-in-sault-ste-marie/
Revitalizing Indigenous cultural practices key to ending gender-based violence
March 1, 2021
The Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC) has released a comprehensive report demonstrating the connections between youth engagement in cultural rights-of-passage ceremonies and eliminating gender-based violence.
Ontario changing child-welfare system to stop teens from aging out of care unprepared
March 2, 2021
Unlike many teenagers, Abdoulaye Diakhaby was petrified to turn 18. He had spent the previous four years in the child-welfare system living first in a foster home, then a group home. But at 18, he was forced to be on his own.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-changing-child-welfare-system-aging-out-1.5932470
Night Raiders director Danis Goulet on why setting Indigenous stories in the future is activism
March 2, 2021
The former ImagineNATIVE executive director discusses making room for children and paving the way for Indigenous storytelling in Canada Director Danis Goulet brought her kids to the Night Raiders set. Her 11-year-old daughter got to call “action” on some of the most intense sequences in the dystopian thriller, which receives its world premiere today (Tuesday, March 2) at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Hosts of Northbeat, Igalaaq bid adieu to pursue new projects
March 1, 2021
A pair of veteran Inuit CBC North television hosts are moving on from their current roles. Longtime Igalaaq host Madeleine Allakariallak will be leaving the CBC to take on a newly-created position with airline Canadian North, while Juanita Taylor, host of Northbeat, will join a new CBC network team based in the North.
Joyce’s Principle unanimously adopted by the Chiefs of the AFNQL
March 1, 2021
The Chiefs of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL), gathered in a virtual assembly on February 26, unanimously voted a resolution to adopt Joyce’s Principle.
Kanesatake cardboard box sledding race
March 1, 2021
Ever wonder what APTN staffers do with their weekends during a pandemic? Well for some us – it involves cardboard, a rubber chicken, a whole lot of snow – and the annual Kanesatake cardboard box sledding race. Reporter Lindsay Richardson explains.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/videos/kanesatake-cardboard-box-sledding-race/
Running out of water a constant fear for some on Tsuut’ina Nation
March 1, 2021
Kylie Meguinis holds a kettle under her kitchen tap. She doesn’t take her eyes off the water level or the ruler line marked on its side. “I just put enough water that I am going to use,” she says from her Tsuut’ina Nation home.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7669565/clean-water-fear-tsuutina-nation/
Sask. Indigenous groups support letter of intent submitted to obtain 6M doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine
March 1, 2021
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations says it submitted a letter of intent to obtain at least six million doses of the newly-approved Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine. “Our First Nations leaders decided that we should take advantage of our international relationships and secure our own supply of this life-saving vaccine,” Cameron said in a statement.
Indigenous, Black, Filipino people disproportionately affected by COVID-19: report
March 1, 2021
Manitoba has released a report showing COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Indigenous, Black and other people of colour in the province. “This is systemic and it is seen in every jurisdiction,” Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, said Monday.
Piapot FN goes visual with COVID-safety photo billboards
March 2, 2021
The old cliché says a picture is worth a thousand words; Piapot First Nation figures seven more won’t hurt. The Cree nation north of Regina is using photo-billboards with short, seven-word phrases to remind its members to stay COVID-safe through the pandemic.
https://leaderpost.com/news/saskatchewan/piapot-fn-goes-visual-with-covid-safety-photo-billboards
How the feds’ moderate livelihood fishing policy fell apart
March 1, 2021
Federal government documents reveal how two decades of piecemeal policies on Mi’kmaw fishing rights finally fell apart following the Sipekne’katik First Nation’s launch of a self-governed lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia last year.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/how-the-feds-moderate-livelihood-fishing-policy-fell-apart/
Class-action lawsuit alleging systemic racism within Correctional Service Canada gains momentum
February 28, 2021
As it awaits certification, a proposed class-action lawsuit filed last month against Correctional Service Canada (CSC) is garnering a lot of support. The statement of claim was filed Jan. 11 on behalf of two Indigenous officers who have worked for the prison agency in Saskatchewan and Alberta, Jennifer Sanderson and Jennifer Constant.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/csc-class-action-lawsuit-systemic-racism-1.5931257
Missing teenage girl not seen in 10 days may be in Winnipeg: RCMP
March 1, 2021
RCMP are asking the public for help to find a 15-year-old girl who hasn’t been seen for 10 days. Anakeisha Sunshine Thomas was reported missing on Thursday, but was last seen on Feb. 19, when she was dropped off at the Peguis Mall, according to an RCMP news release issued on Monday.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/peguis-first-nation-missing-teenager-rcmp-1.5932328
Manitoba RCMP say a First Nations man assaulted an officer. Court documents suggest that’s not what happened
March 1, 2021
On June 6, 2019, Brian Halcrow woke up in a jail cell in Thompson, Man., with four stitches across his forehead, a torn-up sweater and no recollection of how he got there.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/rcmp-thompson-iiu-wfpcbc-cbc-1.5928237
We Dance for Life
March 1, 2021
One of the spokespeople for a national healing event says not everyone who wanted to was able to speak at the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry, but a new, group art project in Western Canada, Ontario and Quebec may help with that on a smaller scale.
https://www.cjwwradio.com/2021/03/01/113625/
Alleged logging on ancient B.C. First Nation burial site prompts province to investigate
March 2, 2021
Officials with the B.C. government are investigating alleged logging at a registered archeological site near the Sunshine Coast community of Sechelt, believed to be an ancient shíshálh Nation burial site with about 200 cairns, or stone mounds.
Indigenous youth group to send testimonials of ‘violent’ Vancouver police action to United Nations
March 1, 2021
An Indigenous youth group is hoping the United Nations will step in and help them seek justice after they claim they were “brutalized” by Vancouver Police Department officers who broke up what they say was a peaceful protest last week.
DNV to look into adding Indigenous land acknowledgement to council meetings
March 1, 2021
The District of North Vancouver is set to start looking into how best to include an Indigenous land acknowledgement in future council proceedings.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/dnv-look-adding-indigenous-land-020539264.html
?Esdilagh First Nation receives first COVID-19 vaccine
March 1, 2021
?Esdilagh First Nation (Alexandria) was relieved to finally receive its first round of coronavirus vaccines on Friday, Feb. 26. “It’s quite frustrating the way things have been rolling out for our community in general,” Coun. Chad Stump said.
IIO agrees to Indigenous civilian monitor to assist its probe into police shooting of Aboriginal man
March 1, 2021
B.C’s police watchdog has committed to appointing a Tla-o-qui-aht civilian monitor into its investigation of the police shooting of 28-year-old Julian Jones, an Indigenous man.
Indigenous man shot dead by Tofino RCMP, B.C. police watchdog investigating
February 28, 2021
A young Tla-o-qui-aht man was shot dead by Tofino RCMP in a residence on Saturday night, community leaders have confirmed. B.C. RCMP said in a written statement that at around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday two officers from Tofino RCMP attended a residence on the Opitsaht reservation as they searched for a woman believed to be in distress.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tofino-death-rcmp-1.5931241
Professors challenge B.C’s racist history ahead of 150th anniversary of joining Canada
March 1, 2021
A new educational resource is looking at the long history in British Columbia of racist policies and the resiliency of the many Indigenous, Black and racialized people who have been affected.
University of Lethbridge kicks off virtual Indigenous Awareness Week
March 1, 2021
Each year, the University of Lethbridge hosts a variety of events to celebrate its Indigenous Awareness Week. The goal is to celebrate Indigenous people’s culture and heritage, while acknowledging past and present students.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7670643/university-of-lethbridge-virtual-indigenous-awareness-week/
No house call policy, limited paramedic services costing lives, N.W.T. MLA says
March 1, 2021
A policy that prohibits nurses from making house calls is endangering lives, especially when they cannot be transported to a health centre in timely manner, according to an N.W.T. MLA.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nursing-house-calls-nwt-1.5930310
Lutselk’e ‘outraged’ Frontier Lodge stuck in N.W.T. government’s ‘bureaucratic trap’
March 1, 2021
Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation is “outraged” that more than a year after purchasing the Frontier Fishing Lodge, they are stuck in a “bureaucratic trap” over permits, says Chief Darryl Marlowe. The First Nation is concerned that unless licensing issues are resolved “there won’t be a business left to license,” Marlowe said in a Monday news release.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/lutselk-e-lodge-permit-frontier-lodge-1.5932822
Yukon First Nations say approving mineral exploration without a land use plan violates their rights
March 1, 2021
Two Yukon First Nations are renewing calls for a regional land use plan to be completed before any new development on their traditional territories is considered, including a mineral exploration project right next door to Tombstone Territorial Park.
https://thenarwhal.ca/yukon-first-nations-mineral-use-plan-antimony-creek/
Modernization plan of Official Languages Act fails Inuit in their homelands
March 1, 2021
Newly re-elected Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) President Aluki Kotierk is disappointed but not surprised that the plan to modernize the Official Languages Act is “similar” to when it was created in 1969 and made Canada an officially bilingual country.
Délınę Got’ınę Government to have greater say in cleanup of abandoned mines near Great Bear Lake
March 1, 2021
People in Délınę, N.W.T., will have greater control over how a group of abandoned mines will be cleaned up near their community. The Délınę Got’ınę Government signed an agreement with the federal government last Wednesday to form a pair of committees that will allow community members a say in decisions about the clean-up.
‘They shouldn’t be in the community’: Fort Liard resident sounds alarm over bison herds
March 1, 2021
One Fort Liard, N.W.T., resident is asking the territory to control the area’s bison population before someone gets hurt, after hearing about a deadly encounter with the animal last year in Yukon.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/fort-liard-bison-concerns-1.5930357
Inuit midwives say they reluctantly quit after experiencing years of mistreatment
February 28, 2021
Cas Augaarjuk Connelly and Rachel Qiliqti Kaludjak never wanted to stop working at a Nunavut birthing centre, but they say years of mistreatment, racism and a lack of support from their government left them no choice.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/inuit-midwives-mistreatment-1.5931244
UPCOMING EVENTS
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/.
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 more information, please visit https://www.chiefsmeeting.com/aocc-2021.
Save the Date: Chiefs of Ontario Engagement Sessions: First Nations Water Legislation
The Chiefs of Ontario Environment Department will be hosting a two-day engagement session on March 3-4, 2021. The focus of the 2-day fulsome engagement sessions includes creation of First Nations-led policies and solutions related to access to safe, clean and reliable drinking water.
For more information, please visit: https://www.chiefsmeeting.com/water-engagement-sessions
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.
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.
