APTN News Brief

Our lead story: Ginoogaming—a First Nation in northern Ontario under a state of emergency since 2024—seeks urgent assistance with its overwhelming drug crisis.  

Our lead story: an offer of flood-related compensation from Hydro-Québec to four Algonquin Nations—stemming from the impacts of hydroprojects over the past 100 years—falls far short of what the affected parties expect.

Our lead story: the federal government announces over $400 million in support towards construction of a long-promised, all-season highway through the northern territory of Denendeh. >interstitial: zapsplat.com  

Our featured story: tributes pour forth from across British Columbia and beyond following news of the recent passing of prominent Tsleil-Waututh leader and B.C. MLA Joan Phillip / Amshen after a long battle with cancer. >interstitial: zapslat.com

Our lead story: as a toxic drug crisis continues to harm and take lives in the Yukon, advocates have sounded the alarm over the relative rise in use of synthetic opioid cychlorphine in the territorial capital. >Interstitial: zapsplat.com

Our lead story: 41-year-old Elizabeth Taqaq Kumak becomes Quebec's fourteenth femicide of 2026 after she's allegedly killed by her partner last week in Inukjuak.

Our featured story: after a clean Liberal sweep of all three Monday by-elections, a First Nations professor wonders whether voters' apparent validation of the Liberals' trade-focused agenda could see the cause of Reconciliation take a back seat.

Our lead story: friends, family and supporters of the late Barbara Kentner gather in Ottawa to call for a review of the recent decision to fully parole a man convicted in her death nine years ago.

Our featured story: months after a serious altercation at a Winnipeg Dollarama between an Impact Security Group employee and an Indigenous man led to charges against the guard, ISG now employs an Indigenous 'ambassador' at the store.

Our featured item: APTN's 'Truth & Politics' panel weighs in on a new climate emergencies report which found 134 First Nations and 40,000 evacuees were impacted by Canadian wildfires in 2025.

Our lead story: renewed turmoil at the top levels of the Southern Chiefs Organization—representing 33 Anishinaabe and Dakota nations in southern Manitoba—as another call emerges for the ouster of current SCO grand chief Jerry Daniels.  

Our lead story: a rise in uranium exploration sites in northern Saskatchewan prompts the Clearwater River Dene Nation to initiate traffic checks on vehicles travelling through their lands.

Our lead story: with talks between Canada and the U.S. breaking down late Friday evening, and a new round of 50% American tariffs on Canadian goods looming, Indigenous businesses are among those expected to be hurt by the 'trade war.'

Our featured story: recently unveiled in Ottawa, the national monument 'Thunderhead'—dedicated to victims of 2SLGBTQI+ discrimination—is said to be the only one of its kind in the world.

Our featured story: the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) call upon the Manitoba government to stop the province's public energy utility from adding three natural gas powered turbines to an existing facility in Brandon. >Interstitial: zapsplat.com  

Our featured story: with the province's first supervised consumption site now in its first week of operation, Manitoba's premier hopes it will be seen as just "another part of our healthcare system."  

Our lead story: family of the late Barbara Kentner are devastated by the news that Brayden Bushby—the non-Indigenous man convicted in Kentner's 2017 death in Thunder Bay—has been granted full parole. 

Our lead story: a tentative agreement is announced allowing the expansion of the controversial Churchill Falls mega-dam, a federally-backed deal that could see a tripling of hydroelectricity generated for transmission from Labrador through Quebec.

Our featured story: members of Namaygoosisagagun, a First Nation in northern Ontario consumed by wildfire last month, are left reeling after a recent tour of what remains of the area.

Our lead story: the untimely passing of a 4-year-old Inuk boy from northern Quebec—said to have died in his parents' arms in a Montreal hospital on August 3—sparks the social media campaign, "Justice for Jusi."

Our featured story: in a letter to prime minister Mark Carney and Alberta premier Danielle Smith, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs says a jointly-proposed pipeline neither accounts for potential climate impacts nor respects the duty to consult First Nations.

Our featured story: Manitoba RCMP now investigate the "suspicious" death of a 4-year-old at a home on the Long Plain First Nation, along with serious injuries to two other girls on scene, ages 1 and 2, who had to be taken to hospital. >Interstitial: zapsplat.com

Our featured story: ten years after a white Saskatchewan farmer shot and killed 22-year-old Colten Boushie of Red Pheasant Cree Nation, a documentary of the subsequent trial is screened for the anniversary in Saskatoon. >Interstitial: zapsplat.com  

Our lead story: a two vehicle collision near Provost, AB kills Kiara Mooswa, a 24-year-old inmate at the Edmonton Institution for Women, as well as the two federal correctional officers transporting her. >Interstitial: zapsplat.com

Our featured story: a racist banner spotted near Edmonton provokes outrage and fear among First Nations, with some saying it's just the latest example of anti-Indigenous hate leading up to a pivotal Alberta referendum.

Our lead story: Mi'kmaw land protectors hoping to meet with Nova Scotia premier Tim Houston about his economic agenda come away disappointed after they are provided no opportunity to do so before or after his latest speaking event in the town of Truro.

Our lead story: as the out of control Bradley Creek wildfire rips through an area near Vernon, B.C.—destroying some 230 homes, including thirty Okanagan Indian Band residences—a provincial official warns "we've never seen [such] fuel dryness." >Interstitial: zapsplat.com

Our lead stories: regional wildfire updates from British Columbia's North Okanagan and from northwestern Ontario, areas whose First Nations populations are among those forced to evacuate.

Our lead story: the Chiefs of Ontario back calls for a public inquiry into the provincial response to recent wildfires—necessitating the evacuation of several First Nations—but the Ford government will only commit to a review. >Interstitial: zapsplat.com  

Our lead story: on World Day Against Human Trafficking in Persons, a newly-released report maps cross-Canada corridors for such crimes, including at least 38 unresolved Indigenous disappearances. >Interstitial: zapsplat.com  

Our lead story: left without power mid-winter for an entire week, Pimicikamak Cree Nation launches legal action against Manitoba Hydro, the province, and the feds for negligence and breach of duty.

Our lead story: disturbing video of a woman being tasered and punched by Saskatchewan RCMP officers on Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation sparks outrage.

Our lead story: the fly-in First Nation of Shamattawa in northern Manitoba declares a state of emergency due to an ongoing outbreak of Hepatitis A, seeking both immediate supports and help with long-standing inequities. >Interstitial: ZapSplat.com  

Our lead story: some First Nations observers raise flags about prime minister Mark Carney's newest senior advisor, citing inflammatory comments Scott Gilmore wrote following a tragic 2016 shooting incident in Saskatchewan.  

Our lead story: hundreds of kilometres away from wildfires across northern Ontario, a post-secondary institute in Tyendinaga steps up to coordinate local relief and support efforts for First Nations evacuees.

Our featured story: asked about a proposed inter-provincial pipeline that would stretch from Hardisty, AB through to refineries in Sarnia, ON, Manitoba premier Wab Kinew says "he is willing to entertain the idea," provided it's "done in the right way."  >Interstitial: zapsplat.com

Our lead story: critical of what they deem provincial negligence in response to recent northern Ontario fires, chiefs of affected First Nations call on cabinet ministers and senior officials to step down, further demanding a public inquiry be called.

Our lead story: as northern Ontario wildfires force many First Nations residents to evacuate, premier Doug Ford visits the region without prior notice to Nishnawbe Aski Nation, a move its grand chief Alvin Fiddler described as "very disrespectful."

Our lead story: as leadership takes in initial aerial imagery of what's left of Collins First Nation following last week's massive blaze, the Anishinabek Nation calls out governments for their lack of support.

Our lead story: with residents of Collins, ON—aka Namaygoosisagagun First Nation—still in shock following their community's destruction by wildfire, the search is on for long-term accommodations in Thunder Bay as leaders prepare evacuees for a extended recovery period away from what's left of their homes.

Our featured story: the fast tracking of major projects in Canada remains a concern among many First Nations, a topic that came up a lot Wednesday at this week's AFN general assembly in Ottawa.

Our lead story: able only to watch their home town burn to the ground, residents of Collins First Nation flee for their lives by boat—one of at least five northern Ontario First Nations evacuated due to wildfires. Interstitial: zapsplat.com  

Our lead story: a proposed nuclear waste storage site near Wabigoon First Nation and the northwestern Ontario town of Ignace stirs mixed reaction, as some imagine economic benefits, others environmental catastrophe.  

Our lead story: new Canadian data from a first-ever national survey of respectful maternity care paint a picture of widespread mistreatment and disrespect towards Indigenous people during pregnancy and childbirth. 

Our lead story: a public health emergency is declared in the Island Lakes region of northeastern Manitoba, as four First Nations jointly call on all levels of government to combat a health and housing crisis for their roughly 17,000 Ansininew citizens. >Interstitial: zapsplat.com

Our lead story: at the B.C. coroner's inquest into the 2022 death of 20-year-old Tatyanna Harrison—last seen in downtown Vancouver months before her body was identified on a yacht in Richmond—Harrison's mother is shocked to learn the fate of her daughter's remains. >Interstitial: zapsplat.com  

Our lead story: an inmate dies at the Thunder Bay District Jail—a facility some call a 'death trap'—just weeks after calls for its closure by First Nations leaders and the family of another man who died at the institution.

Our lead story: a family from Kinonjeoshtegon First Nation demands answers from the Manitoba government after the death of 25-year-old Kiana Everett in provincial custody.

Our lead story: Prime minister Mark Carney and Alberta premier Danielle Smith jointly announce a proposed west coast pipeline that, if built, would see a million barrels per day flow largely alongside the existing Trans Mountain corridor. >Interstitial: zapsplat.com

Our lead story: prime minister Mark Carney travels to B.C. to announce a major economic partnership agreement with premier David Eby, including $10B to expand capacity at the Roberts Bank terminal, $3.5B for the North Coast Transmission Line, and $3B to replace the George Massey Tunnel.