Rick Garrick

Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa re-emphasized his call for action on First Nations youth suicide in Ontario after more suicides were committed during the holiday season across Nishnawbe Aski Nation.

“Back in December I brought up the issue of youth suicide in a couple of the communities, in Constance Lake and Webequie and also one of the First Nations in southern Ontario,” Mamakwa says during an interview. “I didn’t know that come the holidays there would be a number of more (suicides) that would be happening over the two-week period in our communities.”

Marten Falls delivered an update on its proposed all-season Community Access Road during a Public Information Centre session at the Valhalla Inn in Thunder Bay.

“Marten Falls has been wanting an all-season road to the community for a long time and they’ve been working on it for a number of years now,” says Bob Baxter, Marten Falls citizen and member of the Community Access Road project team. “We’re just in the environmental assessment stage and consulting stage right now to collect feedback from the public and the communities that will be affected.”

Although the James Bay Winter Road connecting Attawapiskat, Fort Albany, Kashechewan and Moose Cree First Nations is set to open for full loads on Feb. 3, concerns are being raised about the winter roads in northwestern Ontario.

This fall’s Wake the Giant Music Festival will feature a variety of musicians, including Metric, July Talk, Crown Lands and Thunder Bay local Coleman Hell, on Sept. 14 at Prince Arthur’s Landing in Thunder Bay. The music festival will also feature Nick Ferrio, Wolf Saga, Ansley Simpson, Battle Nation Drum Group and local band Luke Warm and the Cold Ones, as well as some Dennis Franklin Cromarty First Nations High School (DFC) student performances.

The Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) released its Journey to Safe SPACES: Indigenous Anti-Human Trafficking Engagement Report at the Italian Cultural Centre in Thunder Bay.

“Together, we have been able to look deeply at what is needed to safely exit Indigenous women and girls from human traffickers and gangs,” says Cora-Lee McGuire-Cyrete, executive director of ONWA.

The report includes input gathered from people who were most directly impacted by human trafficking and survivors who were willing to share their stories.