Category: Special Sections

A Haida Gwaii community is one step closer to restoring its traditional Indigenous name.  The Village of Queen Charlotte, located on the southern end of Graham Island in the archipelago off B.C.’s North Coast, was given that name in 1908 by white settlers. But on Monday, council members voted unanimously to restore the ancestral Haida name, […]

One of the commanding officers who led the initial RCMP response to Nova Scotia’s mass shooting says he momentarily thought a fellow officer might be the perpetrator behind the killings after a report of a marked police cruiser at the scene. Steve Halliday, a retired staff sergeant, testified Tuesday at the inquiry examining the shootings that […]

Warren Dingman calls them “chicken wars” — paltry poultry disputes that crop up on B.C.’s Gulf Islands each year as dependably as a cockerel’s crow. Ground zero for 2022 is Salt Spring Island, where concerns about rooster noise have led to bylaw tickets, spreads in the local newspaper and even a pro-rooster petition. As Islands Trust head bylaw officer, […]

Outside the entrance to the community warming shelter on the north-side downtown core in Thunder Bay, Ont., paramedics respond to a suspected overdose. Staff at Elevate NWO, a community-based harm reduction organization in northwestern Ontario, had called 911 after an individual was non-responsive in its lobby. At the same time, staff were called a block up […]

Canada’s military ombudsman is joining the chorus of those accusing the Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence of failing to address long-standing barriers to the recruitment and retention of women, visible minorities and Indigenous people. Gregory Lick says in a new report that the military and department have adopted numerous initiatives over the last […]

The Saskatchewan government is hoping to pass amendments that will allow municipalities the ability to permit alcohol consumption in outdoor public spaces, but the Opposition says it will not support the change in time for summer. On Tuesday, the government will look for support from the Opposition to have the bill pass through all stages. The government […]

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says he doesn’t need overwhelming support in a leadership review because the pool of voters has been diluted by thousands of angry members bent on destruction. “This is a totally different dynamic,” Kenney said from Washington, D.C., where he was to appear Tuesday before a Senate committee to discuss the North […]

Members of the Black community in Canada on Monday are warning this country is also vulnerable to hate crime as they react with shock and horror to Saturday’s bloodshed in Buffalo that left 10 Black people dead. “Canada is not immune to it,” Velma Morgan, the chair of Operation Black Vote Canada, told CBC News Monday.  “We’ve […]

Angie Koch of Fertile Ground Farm in St. Agatha, Ont., carries two flats of kohlrabi transplants. This is her 15th season on the farm. (Submitted by Angie Koch) Kathy Breen admits she had “absolutely zero knowledge of farming, let alone dairy farming” when she married her husband and moved from the city to the country […]

Now that residential school survivors have an initial apology from Pope Francis for the conduct of some Catholics at the facilities, president of the Métis National Council Cassidy Caron says the Queen should be the next to apologize. Following a suggestion from a Métis residential school survivor, Caron is calling on Queen Elizabeth II, as Canada’s head of state and leader of the Anglican Church, to apologize for the operation of residential […]

Illegal marijuana grow operations most often crop up on the Ontario Provincial Police’s radar in Essex County, and during raids, farm workers are “almost every time” completely unaware of the criminals behind the cannabis, police told CBC News. Organized crime entities use illegal cannabis grow operations as “easy, quick” cash that’s “relatively risk free,” according to Det.-Insp. […]

Both a retired Mountie and a criminal defence lawyer involved in the public inquiry into Nova Scotia’s mass shooting say there was “more than enough” evidence for a search warrant given three public complaints about the gunman over three years. They also say an RCMP officer who visited the gunman more than a dozen times […]