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.

280 Articles

Is the credibility of carbon credits at stake in negotiations at COP27?

If "confidentiality" stays in the final version of Article 6, regulators will have a severely limited scope when investigating a country's created carbon credits. The move could leave a backdoor for double-counting and fake emission cuts.

Negotiating survival

Matteo Cimellaro

November 21st 2022

Canada spends more on responding to climate emergencies in First Nations than preventing them, auditor general says

The federal government is spending 3.5 times more responding to climate emergencies in remote Indigenous communities than preventing them, an auditor general report found.

Matteo Cimellaro

November 16th 2022

‘We’re not in igloos anymore’: Seal Summit wraps with hope for a growing market for Inuit hunters

Reconseal is a co-operative started by Inuk and non-Inuk sealers. The two are teaching each other hunting techniques, worldviews and cultures in the spirit of reconciliation while providing seal to urban Inuit in the South.

Matteo Cimellaro

November 14th 2022

Conditional sentencing limits threaten reconciliation in Canada’s criminal justice system, advocates say

All eyes turn to Parliament with the courts upholding the constitutionality on limits to conditional sentencing. Now it's a question if Bill C-5, which will remove some mandatory sentencing, will pass. But will the bill go far enough?

Matteo Cimellaro

November 11th 2022

Will Supreme Court decision on conditional sentencing perpetuate Indigenous mass incarceration?

In a 5-4 split decision, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled last week that “tough-on-crime” legislation that restricts discretionary conditional sentences is constitutional.

Matteo Cimellaro

November 8th 2022

What Canada’s fall fiscal update means for Indigenous nations

Will advancing reconciliation in Canada hit a dead end with the feds' critical minerals strategy? And how will changes to the Land Management Act impact First Nations and legislation? That and more in the fall economic statement.

Matteo Cimellaro

November 4th 2022

Feds and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami establish an Inuit health research network, but ‘unacceptable reality’ of long travels remain

The funding that supports Inuit-led research could inform future health-care infrastructure priorities.

Matteo Cimellaro

November 3rd 2022

Ottawa Community Housing inks benefits agreement, collaborates with nearby First Nation on new development

Indigenous communities need more than free-market solutions to systemic inequities. Ottawa Community Housing's benefits agreement, alongside a new development project in partnership with Pikwakanagan, will offer some solutions to Indigenous communities.

Matteo Cimellaro

November 2nd 2022

Indigenous clean energy initiative charges up for a second round, but with fewer participants and less funding

Ten participants are eligible for up to $1,525,000 each in funding over three years, for a total of just over $15 million, to support clean energy projects in remote Indigenous communities.

Matteo Cimellaro

October 26th 2022

Film about boreal deforestation set to screen on the Hill for lawmakers

Old-growth logging in the boreal forest, which stretches across the country to every ocean, is quickly turning Canada’s forests into a carbon source, rather than a carbon sink.

Matteo Cimellaro

October 25th 2022

After decades of work by Indigenous community activists, Winnipeg is finally receiving funding for a 24/7 shelter

The around-the-clock safe space for Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse folks fleeing gender-based violence will save lives, advocates say.

Matteo Cimellaro

October 24th 2022

Indigenous health clinic in Ottawa urges hospitals to confront racism in their ranks

Wabano wants the health-care system in Ottawa and surrounding areas to take ownership and confront the racism Indigenous Peoples face regularly at hospitals and walk-in clinics.

Matteo Cimellaro

October 21st 2022

First Nation in Yukon calls for public inquiry after court orders release of sex offender back to community

Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm said his community was not properly consulted about the return of Christopher Schafer, who has a criminal history of violence and sexual assault.

Matteo Cimellaro

October 19th 2022

Inmate advocate cries foul after organization shut out of justice ministers meeting

The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, like the Native Women's Association of Canada, was shut out of a meeting with justice ministers, leaving holes in advocacy when Indigenous prisoners make up 32 per cent of the inmate population.

Matteo Cimellaro

October 14th 2022

‘We shouldn’t have to beg for safety’: MP slams feds as money pledged to support Indigenous women and girls remains unused

Less than two per cent of a $742-million fund allocated by the feds to prevent violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited peoples has been spent.

Matteo Cimellaro

October 13th 2022