For Cat Lake students, graduation is a small miracle
“It's just not an education story — it's a social story,” Chief Russell Wesley told Canada's National Observer.
Urban Indigenous Communities in Ottawa
Matteo Cimellaro will be covering urban Indigenous communities in and around Ottawa.
Canada's National Observer is a proud participant of the Local Journalism Initiative, which supports the creation of original civic journalism that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada.
Clean energy project at old mine could provide battery storage for Ontario’s grid
A technology that generates power by pumping and recirculating water between two reservoirs may soon be in place at an abandoned Ontario iron ore mine.
New federal money for wildland firefighter training bolsters First Nations’ community efforts
The funding, earmarked in Budget 2022, promises $28 million over five years to train 1,000 new community-based firefighters. The pilot involves nine Indigenous organizations and communities.
‘The money’s not there’: First Nations schools in Ontario stretched thin by limited resources, piecemeal funding
Longtime grassroots staff, who serve First Nations students from the North because it is meaningful, are stretched thin from years of underfunding and under-resourcing.
Mining companies are snapping up claims to develop Indigenous land
Reconciliation isn’t the only thing threatened when mining exploration companies fail to get consent from Indigenous nations, says one ethical investor.
Mining and conservation can go hand in hand, environment ministers say
Mining projects and protected land can co-exist, two provincial environment ministers said at a press conference on Friday.
Road to Ontario’s Ring of Fire will undergo federal environmental assessment
The Northern Road Link Project, a highway leading to the region in northern Ontario, is part of a larger push to develop mining projects in the area and capitalize on critical minerals like copper, chromite and nickel that play a vital role in the energy transition.
Indigenous education in Thunder Bay was broken. Now there are signs of hope
This is the story of what comes after the Seven Youth Inquest; it's about the First Nation students in Thunder Bay now and the grassroots that serve them.
First Nation launches court challenge testing B.C.’s legal commitment to recognizing Indigenous rights
The Gitxaała Nation's court challenge is testing how much teeth British Columbia's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act will have on the laws of the province, setting up precedent for the federal equivalent that enshrined UNDRIP into law in 2021.
As the Prairies burn, Indigenous communities deserve equal support: Indigenous Climate Action
Colonialism causes climate change, and Indigenous rights are the solution — a tagline for Indigenous Climate Action that has taken new meaning following Alberta and Saskatchewan's wildfire crisis.
Anishinaabe artist reinvents the lounge chair as a ‘place of gathering’
Caroline Monnet’s lounge chair, accompanied by a table, is designed to be a multigenerational “place of gathering,” marked by sloped curves and finished ash wood that is locally sourced.
‘The violence pandemic continues’: MPs declare MMIWG2S a national emergency
The motion was tabled by Leah Gazan, NDP critic for women and gender equity, and arrived just before Red Dress Day on May 5.
CRA Indigenous representation far below Canadian population creating gaps in services, critics say
The Canada Revenue Agency has an Indigenous representation problem in both Indigenous employment and language services, critics say.
Researchers urge CRA to file taxes for vulnerable groups to avoid benefit disruption
The Canada Revenue Agency has already shown it can file simple income tax returns for clients, essential for vulnerable populations like low-income Indigenous people to access benefits and credits.
CRA must tackle trust issues, discrimination against Indigenous clients, report says
Limited trust in the federal agency has also led to many Indigenous Peoples having “a reluctance to interact, or being stressed when dealing with CRA and putting it off as a result,” the CRA report found.