Ontario Regional Chief RoseAnne Archibald welcomes joint investment for water infrastructure in 37 First Nations in Ontario
March 29, 2021
“I have been a strong advocate for the Ontario Chiefs’ calls for safe drinking water and am pleased that 37 First Nation leaders were successful in advancing their water and wastewater infrastructure projects,” said ORC Archibald.
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 on First Nations reserves,
March 29, 2021
On First Nations reserves, as of March 29 Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) is aware of- 24,719 confirmed positive COVID-19, 931 active cases, 1,113 hospitalizations, 23,507 recovered cases, 280 deaths.
https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1598625105013/1598625167707
Ontario sees 2,336 new COVID-19 case, single-day high for ICU admissions
March 30, 2021
Ontario confirmed 2,336 more cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, as a government agency that tracks hospitalizations reported the biggest single-day jump in admissions of patients to intensive care since the pandemic began.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-ontario-march-30-2021-vaccine-update-1.5969379
Contribute to the Surviving Hate Project
March 25, 2021
The Criminal Code of Canada defines a hate crime as a criminal act targeting a person or property based on their affiliation to an identifiable group. This includes everything from verbal harassment through to vandalism and physical assault.
http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/2021/03/contribute-to-the-surviving-hate-project/
Ontario isn’t ruling out another delay to school spring break as COVID-19 cases rise
March 30, 2021
Premier Doug Ford is dangling the possibility that Ontario’s already-delayed March Break for schools could be postponed yet again as the province confronts its third wave of COVID-19.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-march-break-april-postponed-covid-19-school-1.5968931
New data shows COVID-19 pandemic now ‘completely out of control’ in Ontario, key scientific adviser says
March 30, 2021
A new briefing note from a panel of science experts advising the Ontario government on COVID-19 shows a province at a tipping point.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-covid-19-ontario-1.5968720
Suspend AstraZeneca use for people under 55, vaccine committee recommends
March 29, 2021
Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is recommending provinces pause the use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine on those under the age of 55 because of safety concerns — guidance most provinces said today that they would follow.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/astrazeneca-under-55-1.5968128
Statement from the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health – Use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in younger adults
March 29, 2021
As Chief Medical Officers of Health, we take vaccine safety very seriously. In Canada there are mechanisms to investigate and share reports of serious adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination to determine if they are causally linked to COVID-19 vaccines.
GTA’s first drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Canada’s Wonderland to see 100 cars roll in on Day 1
March 29, 2021
Priority groups eligible for COVID-19 vaccines can sit tight behind the wheel in Maple March 29 when receiving their shots, and enjoy the view of great, green Leviathan. No, Vaughan is not suddenly adjacent to a vast body of water, but it is still home to Canada’s Wonderland, and the theme park’s humungous parking lot, with a view of its Leviathan roller-coaster, is officially the Greater Toronto Area’s first drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination site.
COVID study reveals that more mental health supports are needed on First Nations
March 29, 2021
A new report by a committee of MPs — who spent the past year studying the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Indigenous populations in Canada — has revealed that the reservations, many of which have very limited access to resources, need extra mental health support during the pandemic.
A talk with a Water Warrior: Autumn Peltier
March 29, 2021
The Shingwauk Anishinaabe Students Association hosted a talk with Autumn Peltier and her mother Stephanie Peltier, “Our Water, Our Future: A Conversation with Water Defenders.” This talk was in alignment with the Sugar Moon, which is celebrated as the Anishinaabe New Year. This marks the time of year when the sweet water begins to run, and the medicine it produces balances the blood and provides healing.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/talk-water-warrior-autumn-peltier-203929997.html
Yellowhead Institute puts Indigenous policy expertise first
March 30, 2021
As an Indigenous-led think tank, Yellowhead Institute offers an important and overdue framework for holding both Canadian and First Nations governments accountable, by centering on Indigenous knowledge and community as it produces critical policy perspectives in a way that other think tanks simply never have before.
‘Resurgence and brilliance’: How this program is supporting Indigenous fashion
March 29, 2021
“The most recent thing I learned was snaring rabbits,” says Kait Adams. “I like going home, being with my grandmother and my aunt, spending all our time listening to stories, going out back to collect resources that end up as these cool jewellery or regalia pieces and then sharing them with friends and family and having them wear it. That’s what’s important to me.”
Magnetawan First Nation protest organizer receives $880 COVID law fine
March 29, 2021
The Anishinabek Police Service has confirmed officers laid a charge against a resident of Magnetawan First Nation, north of Parry Sound, for violating COVID-19 laws during a protest on the territory Feb. 25. That is according to Insp. Barry Petahtegoose, director of operations for the service’s south region, which covers Magnetawan, Shawanaga and Wasauksing First Nations.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/magnetawan-first-nation-protest-organizer-122116623.html
Anishinabek Nation stands up for First Nation rights in the fight against climate change
March 29, 2021
The Anishinabek Nation appeared at the Supreme Court of Canada to stand up for First Nation rights and jurisdiction in the fight against climate change. The Anishinabek Nation recently intervened before the Supreme Court of Canada in the Reference re: Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act appeal, jointly and in support of the United Chiefs and Councils of Mnidoo Mnising. The key issue in this case was whether the matters addressed in the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act are of sufficient national concern that they fall within federal jurisdiction.
Point of View: A powerful act of kindness
March 30, 2021
You might think this is a story about hockey , or hockey cards or Ethan Bear or perhaps Ethan Bear hockey cards, but the story I am going to share with you is a story about an act of kindness and a shared middle name that changed three strangers’ lives for the better during a global pandemic, and just happened to involve Ethan Bear hockey cards.
https://anishinabeknews.ca/2021/03/30/a-powerful-act-of-kindness/
ORIGIN to host Share your Roots VR Competition
March 30, 2021
ORIGIN is providing an opportunity for four Indigenous Knowledge Keepers, artists, storytellers or people offering Indigenous experiential tourism experiences to create a virtual reality (VR) experience through its Share Your Roots VR Competition. Launched in partnership with Uber and the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, the competition has an entry deadline of April 5. Information about the competition is posted online.
https://anishinabeknews.ca/2021/03/30/origin-to-host-share-your-roots-vr-competition/
Indigenous virtual reality company looking for knowledge keepers, storytellers, artists to promote culture
March 29, 2021
A virtual reality company based in Fort William First Nation in Ontario that is using their technical know-how to promote Indigenous cultures. Partnering with Uber and the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB), ORIGIN is hosting a competition called Share Your Roots, looking for more people to share their culture.
Government of Canada Invests Over $1 Million to Advance Gender Equality for Indigenous Women and Girls
March 29, 2021
Indigenous women and girls experience systemic, disproportionate and intolerable inequities in many areas of their lives. The Government of Canada is committed to putting an end to this by supporting organizations that play a critical role in empowering Indigenous women and girls to fully participate in all areas of our economic and social life.
An archeological discovery near Timmins unearths thousands of Indigenous artifacts
March 29, 2021
An archeological discovery near Smooth Rock Falls, northwest of Timmins, is being called a major archeological deposit. Thousands of ancient Indigenous artifacts were found on the banks of the Mattagami River at Yellow Falls.
Government blames residential school survivors and critics in compensation litigation
March 29, 2021
The federal government blames the comments of survivors and public officials for undermining faith in the residential school compensation process, according to a legal filing obtained by CBC News.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/government-blames-residential-school-survivors-153452768.html
Ottawa refutes CHRT ruling on Jordan’s Principle eligibility
March 27, 2021
Indigenous children’s advocates are outraged that on March 12, the Government of Canada filed its written submissions before the Federal Court in support of two applications for judicial review of Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) rulings which relate to compensation and the definition of a First Nations child for the purposes of Jordan’s Principle eligibility.
Violence against Indigenous women is a public health crisis, summit hears
March 29, 2021
Violence against Indigenous women is a public health crisis and governments should respond to it as such, a UN representative told a summit on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women on Monday.
Government of Canada announces $20 million to help communities respond to increasing opioid-related overdoses
March 29, 2021
In many areas across Canada, the COVID-19 pandemic has tragically worsened the ongoing health crisis of opioid-related harms and deaths. People who use drugs continue to face barriers and risks related to the toxicity of the illegal drug supply and reduced access to health and social services, including life-saving harm reduction and treatment.
Diversity a must for reworked school system: advocates
March 30, 2021
Educators and community advocates are concerned the provincial government’s education reforms will reinforce systemic racism in the public school system and further marginalize visible minority voices.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/diversity-must-reworked-school-system-053552844.html
Saskatchewan First Nation creates its own police force to enforce a war on drugs
March 29, 2021
The Poundmaker Cree Nation has declared a state of emergency: calling it a war on drugs. By creating their own police force, the Nation will be enforcing custom laws of banishment for anyone involved in drug abuse and trafficking.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/saskatchewan-first-nation-creates-own-234530972.html
Sipekne’katik community members stand guard as Canada threatens to remove Treaty Truckhouse
March 29, 2021
About 30 Sipekne’katik community members and supporters have surrounded a building on the Saulnierville wharf, the site where the fight for a moderate livelihood fishery started in the fall, to, again, defend their treaty rights.
Mohawk, Mi’gmaq in Quebec join forces for ‘Inter-Nation Vaccination Clinic’
March 29, 2021
Manon Jeannotte is not a big fan of needles – but she couldn’t miss out on her shot to receive a dose of the Moderna vaccine this past weekend. “There’s still a bit of stress,” Jeannotte told APTN News as a paramedic disinfected her right arm with an alcohol swab. “Not because of the camera, but because of the vaccine.”
Ontario committing $200M to Tourism and Hospitality sectors
March 30, 2021
The Ontario government is providing $200 million to help stabilize the tourism industry and protect jobs across the province as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. This comes following the release of the provincial budget, which was announced at $173 billion for the 2021-2022 fiscal year.
https://www.drydennow.com/local/ontario-committing-200m-to-tourism-and-hospitality-sectors
Manitoba limits AstraZeneca vaccine, reports 136 new cases of COVID-19 variants
March 29, 2021
Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization has recommended that it not be given to people under the age of 55. “Despite the findings that there was no increased risk of blood clots overall related to AstraZeneca in Europe, a rare, but very serious side effect has been seen, primarily in young women, in Europe,” explained Dr. Joss Reimer, head of Manitoba’s vaccine implementation task force.
Saskatchewan research shows First Nations suffer cardiac arrest at younger age
March 29, 2021
Wes Lambert’s heart stopped at his wedding reception in Saskatoon 15 years ago. “I got up to go to the podium, and I did not make it,” he recalls. He was 50 years old, an unusually young age for a cardiac arrest. Lambert, a member of the Flying Dust First Nation, is not alone.
Urban Indigenous Families Getting Help Thanks To PCRC Project
March 29, 2021
The Portage Community Revitalization Corporation (PCRC) and Portage Urban Indigenous Peoples Coalition has a program focused to help Indigenous urban residents in Portage la Prairie. Indigenous community coordinator Cornell Pashe says it’s the result of funding that’s been made available.
https://portageonline.com/local/urban-indigenous-families-getting-help-thanks-to-pcrc-project
Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation leaders urge members to get vaccine amid community hesitancy
March 29, 2021
Leaders in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation say vaccine hesitancy and low case counts are keeping people away from a community immunization clinic but they’re urging members to still get vaccinated.
N.S. couple brings Mi’kmaq language to Emmy-award winning TV show
March 29, 2021
A Nova Scotia couple’s dedication to preserving their Mi’kmaq language has taken them across the ocean to help film the Emmy-award winning TV series Vikings, where they coached actors.
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1879301699536
City report recommends John A. Macdonald statue be removed from Regina’s Victoria Park
March 29, 2021
A City of Regina report headed before Regina’s city council is recommending the Sir John A. Macdonald statue in Victoria Park be removed and placed into storage while a future location is found.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/recommendation-remove-john-a-macdonald-statue-1.5967555
Relaunch of a dental therapy program in Sask. would address needs of First Nations
March 29, 2021
Nearly a decade after Canada’s National School of Dental Therapy shut its doors, three Saskatchewan organizations have joined forces in an effort to resume the teaching of dental therapy in the country.
Carleton Partners in Major National Project to Rebuild First Nations Governance
March 29, 2021
In 17 ambiguous words, Section 35.1 of the Constitution Act, 1982 set Canada on a new path that is still unfolding. The section reads: “The existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed.” “We possess that inherent right to self-government; we possess that right because it was bestowed upon us by our Creator, by natural laws [and] we’ve never voluntarily given up that right,” says Edmund Bellegarde, Tribal Chief and CEO at File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council Inc. in Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask.
https://newsroom.carleton.ca/story/rebuild-first-nations-governance/
New Indigenous media lab at University of Winnipeg to help creators combine art and technology
March 29, 2021
The director of a new Indigenous media lab at the University of Winnipeg envisions it as a community hub for many of the up-and-coming and established artists who call the city home. “When I look at artists globally and nationally, we’re leading the way in terms of digital new media artwork,” said Julie Nagam, director of Aabijijiwan New Media Lab.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/aabijijiwan-media-lab-winnipeg-1.5966433
Family of 9 year old Arizona Cardinal building lodge in her memory
March 29, 2021
Arizona Cardinal was just nine years old when brain cancer took her life on Feb. 7, 2021. APTN News first showed Arizona last Halloween, when families of her St. Albert community visited her outside her home. She was too sick to trick or treat herself.
First Nations exercising treaty rights to fight tar sands and Site C development
March 29, 2021
Canada built its prosperity on the exploitation of environmental resources. We now know how devastating our extraction economy is. Nevertheless, we still keep trying to build pipelines that carve through fragile ecosystems, develop tar sands that devastate the environment, build factories that spew chemicals into communities, and cut down forests that tear down rare and precious natural habitats.
From bottled water to tap: Lhoosk’uz Dené Nation finds solution to water troubles
March 30, 2021
After two decades of relying on bottled water, members of a B.C. First Nation west of Quesnel will soon be able to drink water directly from the taps in their homes. An approximate $600,000 packaged water treatment system is anticipated to be installed at the Lhoosk’uz Dené Nation this fall.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/bottled-water-tap-lhoosk-uz-160104169.html
B.C. municipality hands Ogopogo copyright to Syilx First Nation
March 29, 2021
The City of Vernon, B.C., has given up the copyright of a fictional creature’s name and transferred it to the Syilx First Nation, following criticism of cultural appropriation from Indigenous communities.
B.C. university offers first bachelor’s degree in Indigenous language fluency
March 29, 2021
Students at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus will soon be able to receive an Indigenous language fluency degree. Anne Kang, B.C.’s minister of advanced education and skills training, says the new bachelor’s degree of Nsyilxcn language fluency will boost the number of speakers at a time when Indigenous languages in B.C. are endangered.
Territories could get millions in top-up transfers for health care, infrastructure
March 29, 2021
A federal bill making its way through parliament could provide more pandemic support for northern governments. It’s part of Bill C-25, a proposed $7.2 billion nation-wide package for ‘urgent health care needs’ across Canada.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/bill-c-25-covid-19-federal-transfer-yukon-1.5968565
Online Tłı̨chǫ language class sees enrolment rise during pandemic
March 29, 2021
Inside Yellowknife’s Collège Nordique, Georgina Franki sits in front of a computer screen teaching a virtual language class to a group of students. Like many teachers during the pandemic, there’s been a bit of a learning curve.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/tlicho-college-nordique-1.5966552
Nunavut MP says fault for Nunavut’s housing problems ‘lies squarely with federal government’
March 27, 2021
Mumilaaq Qaqqaq says she won’t forget the smell of mould that permeated through houses she visited across the territory last year. “I needed to give myself a true understanding and a holistic perspective of what it means for an individual to not have access to safe space,” Qaqqaq wrote in her report, “Sick of Waiting: A Report on Nunavut’s Housing Crisis.”
Was it the right choice to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline?
March 29, 2021
A lawsuit filed by 21 states earlier this month seeks to overturn President Biden’s decision to cancel construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The suit, filed by attorneys general in Republican-led states, claims that Biden overstepped his authority when he revoked a federal permit for the pipeline as part of a flurry of executive orders signed on his first day in office.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/was-it-the-right-choice-to-cancel-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-151417939.html
UPCOMING EVENTS
Call for artist interpretations/artwork for the Assembly of First Nations 2021 Annual General Assembly
The Chiefs of Ontario Host Committee will be hosting the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) 42nd Annual General Assembly in Toronto in July 2021 and is currently accepting original Indigenous artwork to be submitted. Artwork will be used for materials by the Chiefs of Ontario Host Committee and the AFN in promoting the Assembly. We are seeking artwork that supports and promotes First Nations culture in Ontario.
Chiefs of Ontario Discussion Session on Federal Policing Legislation
Chiefs of Ontario’s Justice Sector is hosting a discussion session on March 29th from 3:00 – 5:00 pm with Leadership and technicians to share preliminary thoughts about a federal policing legislation. Contact Sarah-Grace Ross at sarah-grace.ross@coo.org for more information.
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.
