COVID-19 in Indigenous communities: What you need to know
September 8, 2021
The number of active cases of COVID-19 in First Nations communities continues to rise as the delta variant-driven fourth wave of the pandemic progresses. As of Sept. 7, there were 1,580 active cases of the virus in First Nations across the country, according to the latest data from Indigenous Services Canada.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-covid-19-update-1.6168118
Ontario reports nearly 800 new COVID-19 cases, 10 more deaths
September 8, 2021
Ontario reported 798 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday — a spike from 554 the day before. The province also reported 10 additional deaths. Health officials conducted 29,684 tests over the past 24 hours for a positivity rate of 3.1 per cent.
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/09/09/ontario-covid-19-update-september9/
What are the major parties promising Indigenous people this election? Here’s a look at the platforms
September 8, 2021
With less than two weeks to go until the Sept. 20 federal election, observers have called it surprising and disappointing that Indigenous issues have fallen by the wayside on the campaign trail.
Indigenous voters can play kingmaker in the federal election
September 8, 2021
This federal election sees a record-number of self-declared Indigenous candidates vying for seats in Ottawa at 77 and that could translate into a record number of Members of Parliament.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/indigenous-voters-play-kingmaker-federal-224737026.html
A look into why there’s a record number of Indigenous candidates for the 2021 federal election
September 8, 2021
In a year where many people thought an election was unnecessary, a record number of Indigenous candidates have answered the call for their party and put their name forward. At present there are 77 candidates who identify as either First Nation, Inuit or Métis.
What You Need To Know About The Biggest Indigenous Issues This Election
September 8, 2021
One of the first things to learn about Indigenous communities is that we are not alike. Supporters of decolonization resist the idea that we are a singular voting block. Yet there are some shared concerns and major issues in Indigenous communities that are of importance for everyone going to the polls this September.
https://www.chatelaine.com/news/indigenous-issues-canada-election-2021/
Singh, Trudeau, O’Toole on boil-water advisories
September 8, 2021
During the official French-language leaders’ debate, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole said promises from Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau to deliver clean drinking water to some Indigenous communities were broken. Trudeau said the work will be completed to eliminate boil-water advisories.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/news/singh-trudeau-otoole-on-boil-water-advisories/vi-AAOeWkH
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation will not be provincial holiday in Ontario
September 8, 2021
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation will not be considered a provincial statutory holiday this year, an Ontario government spokesperson says.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8176430/national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation-ontario/
Feds accused of discrimination against off-reserve, non-status Indigenous People
September 9, 2021
The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples is filing a legal complaint against the Canadian government with the United Nations Human Rights Committee, alleging discrimination against off-reserve and non-status Indigenous People.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8177225/canada-government-discrimination-off-reserve-indigenous-people/
City of Sault Ste. Marie and Garden River First Nation partner to deliver free energy literacy webinar series
September 8, 2021
Energy affects everything we do from charging our phones to heating our homes. Understanding how energy works and how to manage it can save money and lower the world’s carbon footprint.
Nuclear waste repository negotiations ongoing in South Bruce region
September 8, 2021
The Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) in Ontario is considering a proposal for a deep geological repository for nuclear waste storage after having said no to something similar last year.
Letter to the editor: Settlement of the Robinson Huron Treaty case benefits all of northeastern Ontario
September 8, 2021
As people across Canada reflect on what the road to reconciliation really looks like, there is a chance to engage in real action right here in your community. You can call on your government at Queen’s Park to live up to their Treaty responsibilities. Demand that they negotiate, not litigate for all of us to benefit. We are all Treaty people. Chi-miigwetch. Chief Dean Sayers, Batchewana First Nation
Co-chair of Liberals’ Indigenous commission resigns after questions emerge about ancestry
September 8, 2021
Suzy Kies, the co-chair of the Indigenous peoples’ commission of the Liberal Party, has resigned from the position after her claim to Indigenous ancestry was called into question. Radio-Canada reported on Wednesday that it could not confirm Kies’s claims to Indigenous ancestry. Kies told Radio-Canada in an interview that her father is of European descent and her mother is of Indigenous descent.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/indigenous-peoples-commission-resignation-1.6168910
Crystal Shawanda mesmerizes at Bluesfest
September 9, 2021
Headlining the North Bay Capitol Centre’s Bluesfest, Crystal Shawanda mesmerized the audience with her soulful singing of the blues.
https://anishinabeknews.ca/2021/09/09/crystal-shawanda-mesmerizes-at-bluesfest/
Meet Sean Vanderklis, the new host of CBC Radio’s Superior Morning
September 8, 2021
Sean Vanderklis will join the CBC Thunder Bay team, taking over as the new voice of Superior Morning. Vanderklis, a Mississauga from Curve Lake First Nation born in southern Ontario’s Niagara region, was announced Wednesday as the next permanent host of CBC Radio One’s morning show across northwestern Ontario.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/sean-vanderklis-host-superior-morning-1.6168034
Survivors’ Secretariat Appoints Dr. Beverly Jacobs as Indigenous Human Rights Monitor
September 8, 2021
The Survivors’ Secretariat is pleased to announce that Dr. Beverly Jacobs, Mohawk Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Bear Clan, CM, LLB, LLM, PhD, has agreed to take on the role of Indigenous Human Rights Monitor for the Mohawk Institute Survivors’ Secretariat.
Indigenous environmental group says activities responsible for cut in greenhouse gas emissions
September 8, 2021
A new report by the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) says Indigenous resistance is having a major impact on stopping or delaying greenhouse gas pollution in the United States and in Canada.
Blue-Green Algae Confirmed In Wabigoon Lake
September 8, 2021
The Northwestern Health Unit has confirmed a toxin-producing blue-green algae bloom in Wabigoon Lake in Dryden. Algae blooms in the Larson Bay and Maple Road areas were reported on August 30. The body of water has since been sampled and tested by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks.
https://www.ckdr.net/2021/09/08/blue-green-algae-confirmed-in-wabigoon-lake/
5 Indigenous Female Filmmakers To Watch At TIFF And Beyond
September 8, 2021
There is something quietly happening in the film industry in this country: Indigenous women are creating space for themselves and each other. Writers, directors and producers are making a wide range of movies, everything from documentaries focused on the hard truths of Canada’s history to post-apocalyptic feature films.
Back to School During Ontario’s Fourth Wave
September 7, 2021
Annie Kidder, executive director at People for Education; and Caroline Alphonso, education reporter at the Globe and Mail talk to Nam Kiwanuka about the challenges that lie ahead as the province attempts another in-class learning school year. Will students and parents feel safe in that environment? And, have students fallen too far behind?
https://www.tvo.org/video/back-to-school-during-ontarios-fourth-wave
‘We’re running out of time’: Why some want quick justice against residential school staff
September 9, 2021
When Jolene Mayer thinks of the future for reconciliation, she sees a clock. “We’re running out of time,” said Mayer, who is Métis and lives in The Pas, Man. Mayer’s great-grandmother went to a residential school in Saskatchewan. She says the people who abused her kin, and thousands of other children, have yet to be brought to justice.
FSIN calls on feds, policing partners to help curb tragedies on Indigenous communities
September 8, 2021
Avoidable and preventable tragedies. That’s how the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) described recent events in Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan.
Sask. First Nations say RCMP were warned about Shawn Moostoos before fatal shootings
September 8, 2021
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations says the RCMP was previously warned about Shawn Moostoos, the man accused of murdering two people and wounding another last weekend on the James Smith Cree Nation reserve in northeast Saskatchewan.
Mi’kmaq printing company struggling with orange shirt shortage
September 8, 2021
A Mi’kmaq printing company on Prince Edward Island is gearing up for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, but a worldwide shortage of orange shirts is making it hard to keep up with demand.
Regina planning commission to review demolition request for site where Louis Riel’s body was kept
September 8, 2021
Regina’s planning commission will be reviewing an application to demolish a downtown heritage site connected to Louis Riel. The Burns Hanley Building is a heritage property at 1863 Cornwall Street. It was the former location of the 1883 St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church. This was the church where Louis Riel’s body was briefly kept after his execution before it was sent to Winnipeg.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/demolition-request-louis-riel-planning-1.6168282
Family of Burton Winters makes emotional plea for answers as search and rescue inquiry begins
September 8, 2021
Newfoundland and Labrador’s ground search and rescue inquiry heard testimony Tuesday in Makkovik, with 14-year-old Burton Winters’s stepmother calling for answers, nine years after the boy froze to death on the sea ice after abandoning his stuck snowmobile.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/burton-winters-family-inquiry-1.6167456
Two First Nations challenge Ottawa’s rejection of Grassy Mountain coal mine
September 8, 2021
Two Southern Alberta First Nations have filed for a judicial review of a federal decision rejecting a new open-pit coal mine in the Rocky Mountains, arguing that the government failed in its duty to consult them about the project.
Nearly 30 years after the original ‘war in the woods’ — what’s changed?
September 8, 2021
Clayoquot Sound, home to Canada’s most famous logging blockade, is championed as one of the country’s most successful eco-tourism economies. Now, with decades of hindsight and the Fairy Creek blockades much in the news, we wondered what lessons were learned and what challenges remain for the landscape Indigenous communities and their partners fought to protect?
https://thenarwhal.ca/newsletter-tofino-bc-war-in-the-woods/
Gitxsan woman resigns from council position in Terrace, B.C., due to racism
September 9, 2021
‘Very derogatory comments’: Jessica McCallum-Miller is a Gitxsan woman who says she resigned from the City of Terrace council in British Columbia due to racism. More on this story coming soon to APTN National News.
2021 Federal Election
This election is tight — and last night’s debate likely did little to change that
September 9, 2021
They came. They pitched. They argued. The federal party leaders held the first of two back-to-back debates on Wednesday — a spirited and occasionally raucous encounter in French that provided glimpses but no sustained view of the differences among them.
Party leaders preparing for English language debate after French tilt
September 9, 2021
Five federal party leaders are licking their wounds and prepping their zingers after an occasionally testy debate Wednesday that came ahead of Thursday’s first and only one in English.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8177158/leaders-english-debate-canada-election-french/
Lacklustre second leaders debate short on emotion, heavy on talking points
September 8, 2021
With less than two weeks before election day and an increasingly tight race between parties, Canada’s political leaders had a largely flat debate Wednesday, where each participant mostly served viewers pre-packaged lines on hot-button issues such as the deficits, the environment, healthcare and Indigenous policy.
Opinion: Two debates for Quebec. One for the other 30 million of us
September 8, 2021
We call them the leaders’ debates. There are three this time. Two of the three are in Quebec. Because Quebec is such a big province and so perfectly settled in the Confederation. Quebec is also by act of the Liberal government officially a nation, and a unilingual one, too. Cake possessed, and cake eaten.
NDP shares plan for a new deal for northern families
September 9, 2021
Committing to create and support good jobs, protect communities from the effects of climate change, and put reconciliation into action, New Democrats shared their commitments today, to make life better and more affordable for families across Northern Ontario.
https://saultonline.com/2021/09/ndp-shares-plan-for-a-new-deal-for-northern-families/
Conservatives’ $60B health care promise amounts to just $3.6B increase in first five years: PBO
September 8, 2021
The Conservatives have released a costing breakdown of their platform commitments that says a government headed by Erin O’Toole would deliver $52.5 billion in new spending over the next five years, with no plan to return to budgetary balance before then.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservatives-platform-costs-otoole-1.6168097
Opinion: We’re still not getting simple answers to simple questions during this election campaign
September 8, 2021
Are you getting as frustrated as I am by the unwillingness of the leaders to answer straightforward questions with straightforward answers? The amount of question-dodging has reached new levels during this 44th general-election campaign. How many times have you seen the following: a journalist asks a clear question, the leader gives a gobbledygook-filled answer, and then the journalist says, “Well, that didn’t answer the question at all, but here’s my follow-up.”
Whose file is it anyway? The feds, the provinces, and who controls what
September 7, 2021
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau wants to deter “renovictions” and ban blind-bidding on real-estate sales. He also wants to hire doctors and nurses. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wants to nationalize private long-term-care companies and restore the Northlander train between Toronto and northern Ontario. Conservative leader Erin O’Toole wants to knock down interprovincial trade barriers.
https://www.tvo.org/article/whose-file-is-it-anyway-the-feds-the-provinces-and-who-controls-what
Liberals ask election watchdog to investigate allegation of Conservative collusion with gun lobby
September 8, 2021
Liberal candidate Mark Gerretsen has written to Canada’s elections watchdog, asking him to investigate whether the Conservatives have broken the Canada Elections Act.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberals-elections-watchdog-gun-lobby-1.6168265
Jagmeet Singh seen as most competent and trustworthy leader by Vote Compass users
September 8, 2021
Jagmeet Singh is the most trustworthy and competent federal party leader on offer right now, according to roughly 300,000 people who participated in CBC’s Vote Compass online survey. But Singh’s personal popularity doesn’t seem to be lifting up his party much.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/vote-compass-leaders-scored-on-competence-and-trust-1.6168515
UPDATED: Advance voting for federal election starts Friday
September 8, 2021
Advance voting for the upcoming federal election begins Friday, Sept. 10. Elections Canada says advance polls will be open across the country from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time daily from Friday until Monday, Sept. 13 inclusive.
https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/advance-voting-for-federal-election-starts-friday-4313734
Ways to vote
September 8, 2021
To vote, you must be a Canadian citizen, be at least 18 years old on election day and prove your identity and address. Your health and safety is our priority—measures are in place to keep you safe, no matter how you choose to vote. Plan early. During a pandemic, things can take a bit more time. Make a plan and choose the voting option that works best for you. You can vote almost any time.
How to watch the 2021 federal leaders’ debate, in English, Inuktitut or Denesuline
September 8, 2021
The leaders of Canada’s five main political parties will meet in an English-language debate on Thursday, Sept. 9, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. and this year, simultaneous interpretation in Inuktitut and Denesuline will be provided.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/leaders-debate-how-to-languages-1.6168600
