Ontario Birchbark

Camp Loon 2015 saw 149
Junior Canadian Rangers from 19 First Nations from across the far north in
Ontario spend eight days in July in the bush north of Geraldton. The advanced
training emphasized safety on the land and water and in personal lifestyles.
The tent camp has been held annually since 2000 and operated this year with the
assistance of 47…

Filmmaker, actor, and director Shirley Cheechoo has turned to online fundraising to keep her Weengushk Film Institute afloat after being turned down by band offices and government. Cheechoo, known for her films Johnny Tootall and Moose River Crossing, says she has seen many troubled youth turn their lives around after studying at the non-profit training institute on…

The latest Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business research report, Community & Commerce Ontario, finds that community-owned corporations are a growing trend within Aboriginal economic development, increasingly creating wealth for both their communities and their non-Aboriginal neighbours. The strengths of AEDCs, which are community-owned businesses set up as corporations at arm’s length…

Serpent River First Nation Chief Isadore Day beat out two others to become the new Regional Chief for Ontario for the Assembly of First Nations. Day defeated Kettle and Stony Point First Nation Chief Tom Bressette, and Randall Phillips of the Oneida Nation of the Thames. Day didn’t wait long before taking action. He called on Canada and Ontario to work with First Nation leaders to implement…

The Chiefs of Ontario and the Government of Ontario have agreed to a political accord that will guide the relationship between First Nations and the province. The accord recognizes First Nations have an inherent right to self-government and commits the province and the Chiefs of Ontario to work together on shared priorities that improve the lives of First Nations people. The accord states, in…

A newly-released government-commissioned report says mercury levels in the sediment of Grassy Narrows’ Wabigoon River remain up to 20 times above natural levels, while fish are up to 15 times above consumption guideline levels. These findings place the river above the frequent adverse effects level—the highest risk threshold used by Environment Canada to trigger remediation in the St. Lawrence…

Days after more than 10,000 people marched through Toronto, in part, to mark a need for action on climate, Ontario and 21 other states and regions signed the first-ever Pan-American action statement on climate change. The Climate Action Statement highlights the urgency of combatting climate change, affirms that state, provincial and municipal governments are leaders in achieving impactful…

Niagara-on-the-Lake campus of Niagara College recently celebrated the grand opening of its Aboriginal Student Resource Centre. The dedicated space for Indigenous students will be used for cultural programming, events, workshops and Elder teachings, as well as a place to drop in and hang out, study, use the computers and check out the library for Indigenous resources. The school had been trying…

The federal government is providing $72,614 in funding through the Aboriginal Languages Initiative to the Wahta Mohawks for language lessons and learning resources for 2015–16. Wahta Mohawks Chief Philip Franks said the First Nation is pleased to get the funding. “This is an important first step in the development of a language program that will form an integral part of the foundation for…

A recently released report says public school teachers in Ontario are not receiving enough training on Aboriginal issues. Only 29 per cent of elementary schools and 47 per cent of secondary schools offer training on Aboriginal issues to teachers, said the report by People for Education, a research and advocacy group. The report comes on the heels of the release of the Truth and Reconciliation…

The Canadian Human Rights
Tribunal recently ruled that the federal government did retaliate against Cindy
Blackstock, president of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and
ordered the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to pay Blackstock $20,000 for pain
and suffering. The CHRT singled out the behaviour of David McArthur, former
special assistant to then…

Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler was in court June 9 in support of survivors in an ongoing legal battle with the federal government over documents relating to a 1990’s criminal investigation into widespread child abuse at St. Anne’s Residential School in Fort Albany First Nation.

In January 2014, Mr. Justice Perell of the Superior Court of Justice ordered Canada to…

The De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre, which offers a mix of traditional healing and western medicine, has outgrown its existing facilities. Capital planning campaigns for Hamilton and Brantford were officially launched at events in the two cities in early May. It is hoped that some of the funding for the multi-million dollar project will come from the Ministry of Health and…

Aboriginal post-secondary education got a two-fold boost recently from the province. In the budget, the government announced an additional $5 million in funding through the Post-secondary Education Fund for Aboriginal Learners. The additional support positions Aboriginal institutes of higher learning to achieve even greater student success while continuing to…

Ontario Regional Chief Stan Beardy says the 2015 Ontario budget does not answer how Ontario will work with First Nations over the next year. The budget, which projects slight increases in First Nations spending, contains no new programs or services to close the gap between First Nations and Ontarians. Ontario will follow through on previous promises to help remote First Nations in the…