March 31, 2016.

Joanne McDonald knows both personally and professionally the impact diabetes can have on a person’s life.

McDonald is a member of the Enoch Cree Nation and serves as community health representative at the local health centre. She’s also the mother of three children with type 2 diabetes and married to a diabetic. 

Joanne McDonald with her family: husband David and three children all have diabetes. She says a new clinic operating on the Enoch Cree Nation has made a difference.
(Photo: supplied)

The Calgary Peace Prize 2016 will be awarded to Justice Murray Sinclair, Dr. Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild, the three commissions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The Calgary Peace Prize recognizes outstanding individuals from the global community, who work toward making the world a more just, safer and less violent place.

This year it celebrates the commissioners’ many contributions to the advancement of Indigenous rights and reconciliation in Canada.

The list of recipients for this year’s 21st Annual Esquao Awards is out. Notable and noteworthy women from across the province will share the stage on April 15 as they are presented with awards, one-by-one, in areas ranging from community involvement in justice activism to environmental work.

Saddle Lake First Nation woman named first Indigenous CAO for Nanaimo

March 30, 2016.

Indigenous artists have a week longer to submit their proposals for artwork that will accompany Edmonton’s light rail transit line at Tawatinâ bridge.

The nation-wide call went out early January. But the need to revisit the bid package and “add some more context” has provided artists with a little longer to respond, says Jenna Turner, communications director with Edmonton Arts Council, which is conducting the public arts program on behalf of the city.

Inaugural award goes to Indigenous fashion designer

Update: CBC Thunder Bay has confirmed nine people were killed in the Pikangikum First Nations fire.

The fire began late March 29 at a single house on the reserve. The fire is under investigation, with police currently at the scene. The reserve is located near the Manitoba-Ontario border and has made headlines for health problems, including a suicide crisis.

 
Sixty people have been arrested in Quebec, Ontario, Kahnawake and on Six Nations at Brantford with police targeting a money laundering ring, reports CTV Montreal.

Operation Tarantula (Mygale) resulted in 70 raids March 30 targeting biker gangs who are said to have worked with criminals on reserve to buy tobacco in the United States, which was smuggled it into Canada and sold in Kahnawake and Six Nations.