‘Authentic Indigenous experiences’: Tourism businesses grow to 1,900 countrywide

‘Authentic Indigenous experiences’: Tourism businesses grow to 1,900 countrywide

Jenifer Redsky and her sisters run Oceah Oceah — a First Nations paddling company with a mission to connect people “with and to water” in Tkaronto (Toronto). “As an Indigenous woman, we’ve always been taught that we have a special connection to the water,” said Redsky. “My sisters and I really believe that by doing the work that we do, by giving people lessons, teaching them the skills, bringing them down to the water, we’re increasing people’s connection to the water, their relationship to the water, how they treat the water and how they protect it alongside us.”

Cattle struggles deepen in Alberta

Cattle struggles deepen in Alberta

A second rural municipality in Alberta has declared an agricultural disaster because of drought this spring as beef producers head into summer, a period typically of less rain. “We haven’t seen the total effects of the drought,” said Stan Schulmeister, reeve of the County of Paintearth east of Red Deer. “But the agricultural producer that’s strictly dealing with livestock is going to find it very difficult to find feed this year because it’s almost province-wide, the damage to the hay crop and so on.”

8 grandmothers from Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation organize protest against mine project

8 grandmothers from Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation organize protest against mine project

"It concerns us. The water, the land, the medicine on it will be destroyed. The caribou that are roaming in that area and all the mushrooms and wild rice there. All of it would be contaminated," said Elder Eileen Linklater, one of the eight grandmothers who organized the protest. "Mines usually have spills. Yes, they build reservoirs, but they overflow and it would go into water streams. Also, they will release a lot of gasses into the air." Asked to comment on the concerns being expressed by the protesters, Foran said some of the information the concerns are based on is "misleading and untrue."

Expanding Indigenous Education at LPCI

Expanding Indigenous Education at LPCI

This year Lawrence Park CI built their capacity as a school to raise greater awareness of essential Indigenous Education by not only opening up an interactive lesson with the Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada Giant Floor Map for their own staff and students to take part in, but also by inviting the students and staff of John Ross Robertson JPS and Glenview SPS to engage in lessons with the map as well.

H2O Innovation Awarded Six New Water Treatment Projects, Totalling $9.4 M

H2O Innovation Awarded Six New Water Treatment Projects, Totalling $9.4 M

The Corporation was awarded two First Nations projects in Northern Alberta, Canada. The first contract involves a drinking water rental system to provide water for the community of Garden River while the full-scale drinking water project is being completed. The other project is for an emergency expansion of the John D’Or drinking water plant to accommodate the needs of communities that have been displaced by the recent wildfires. “It is essential that our Indigenous communities have access to reliable drinking water and wastewater treatment equipment. Our service team has prioritized the rapid deployment in support of Indigenous Services Canada and the local communities,” stated Frédéric Dugré, President, Chief Executive Officer and co-Founder of H2O Innovation. This project has already commenced and is expected to be completed in July 2023.

The depths of Canada's chronic Indigenous community water problems start at the top, say experts

The depths of Canada's chronic Indigenous community water problems start at the top, say experts

Jocelyn Burzuik, president of Sundance Construction, an Indigenous-led contracting firm in Sandy Hook, Man., opened with a dire prediction that despite millions of dollars in government investments, the problems with water and sewer projects on First Nation and Métis communities haven't gotten any better and will only get worse. She described a "devolving situation" with the life cycle running out on existing systems that eventually will "cascade into one great big huge failure of systems across the entire country, and I don't think people are aware of what's coming."

Water use restriction issued for County of Newell

Water use restriction issued for County of Newell

Low water flow in the Bow River has forced the Eastern Irrigation District (EID) to issue a water use restriction for the County of Newell. The EID says they have seen a dramatic drop in average river flow levels in both the Bow River and Highwood River this year. In a typical year flow in the Bow River starts to drop off by the middle and end of July. This year the EID says the Bow River dropped by the beginning of June.

Indigenous group heading to Seattle for Intertribal Canoe Journey

Indigenous group heading to Seattle for Intertribal Canoe Journey

"We are exercising our inherent rights to raise awareness about the concerns affecting our waters by being visible and conducting ceremony throughout our territory," says Wolske, organizer of Shining Water Paddle. Shining Water Paddle, an initiative by members of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, held its third annual ceremonial journey June 5 as they paddled around Lake Simcoe which has a shoreline perimeter of 303 km. Azhoonyang or Shining Waters is the Anishinabe name for Lake Simcoe, which is located in southern Ontario in the Territory of the Chippewa Tri Council, (Georgina Island, Rama and Beausoleil First Nations). Georgina Island is located in the southern shore of Lake Simcoe. The Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation have been living under a long-term boil water advisory for years. A 2017, $2.6-million investment from Indigenous Services Canada was implemented to upgrade the community's water treatment plant, however residents in the eastern and southern part of the community still do not have access to treated drinking water.

Experts call on Alberta government to strengthen treaty relationships

Experts call on Alberta government to strengthen treaty relationships

Treaty obligations outlined by Standingontheroad included the medicine chest clause or  "universal health care, assured to First Nations free of cost" as well as rights around education, fishing, hunting, minerals and clean drinking water. "We are all treaty people," Standingontheroad said. "We all agreed to share this land and respect treaty between our peoples."

Action needed as Canada loses nearly 300 football fields of grasslands daily

Action needed as Canada loses nearly 300 football fields of grasslands daily

Canada’s iconic Prairie grasslands are in peril, but the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has sprung into action to try to save the vital ecosystems. Its Prairie Grasslands Action Plan proposes to conserve more than 500,000 hectares (more than 5,000 square kilometres) by 2030 —- six times the size of Calgary. In a recent interview with The Weather Network, Jeremy Hogan, NCC's director of prairie grassland conservation, said only 18 per cent of Canada's original grasslands remain. "We have taken the grasslands for granted a little bit. They're one of our most productive ecosystems in terms of food production, but also services like water storage, filtration [and] preventing droughts and floods," said Hogan.