National Indigenous News June 30

Darrell Stranger takes a look at some of the latest Indigenous news making headlines across the country. 

Transcript

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This is a look at your National Indigenous News. I'm Darrell Stranger. A shift in winds overnight has spared Fort Simpson Northwest Territories from the worst impacts of a vast out-of-control wildfire that forced an evacuation of the town Sunday. In an update issued at 10:30 p.m. Monday evening, fire officials said the wildfire near Fort Simpson had grown to more than 10,000 hectares in size and reached the highway west of the community. Thick smoke prevented aircraft from bombarding the area with water throughout the evening, and poor visibility and unpredictable fire behavior limited the work of ground crews. A shelter in place order has been issued to residents who had not already evacuated to Yellowknife. Tuesday morning brought good news as a cool wind was blowing over the town, according to Fort Simpson Mayor Les Wright, and the heavy smoke had cleared from the air. Currently there are eight air tankers, two planes, nine helicopters, and more than 40 wildland firefighters assigned to the fire. With the smoke cleared, firefighters are hoping to be able to more aggressively tackle the edges of the blaze where it has come closest to town. Over 100 wildfires are currently burning across the territory. Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet with Inuit leadership today in Kujuac, the largest community in the Nunavik region in northern Quebec, for the first trip by a sitting prime minister to the village in almost 20 years. Ensuring Inuit benefit from the tens of billions of dollars slated for shoring up the Canadian military's presence in the Arctic is one of the key priorities slated to be discussed at the Inuit Crown Partnership Committee meeting that Kearney will co-chair with Inuit Tapri Kanatami President Nitan Obed. The Department of National Defense is looking at ways to improve the Rangers, according to Crown Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alti. She said the government is looking at the opportunity to build dual-use community garages that the military and local community members can use to repair their equipment. Inuit leaders are also looking for a commitment from the federal government for legislation that would enable the first Inuit-led university to have satellite campuses across the country. Inuit Nuningat, the Inuit homeland made up of four regions across the north, including Nunavik, is also facing challenges eliminating tuberculosis. Nuunavik, in particular, has among the highest rates of TB not only in the country, but the entire world, according to the region's health officials. Ottawa pledged to eradicate TB in Inuit communities by 2030, but lately rates of the serious infectious disease have been rising instead of decreasing. Obed said the meetings will focus on those priorities and others, and said more political will is needed from all levels of government. A new research stream dedicated to supporting a vibrant, connected community of Indigenous researchers has launched at Unity Health Toronto. The initiative, called the Indigenous Health Research Stream, is founded on the knowledge that research led by and accountable to Indigenous communities can help rebuild trust and reshape how care is delivered. The stream is rooted in Indigenous values and principles and grounded in the firm belief that the work deserves to be uplifted, resourced, and reflected across every health discipline. The aim of the research stream is to build a thriving and networked community of Indigenous health researchers across all research pillars at Unity Health Toronto. They aim to do that by transforming Indigenous clinical care, by partnering with Indigenous community service providers and leaders, to be grounded in Indigenous worldviews and lived Indigenous realities, and to demonstrate interventions that are tangibly interrupting anti-Indigenous racism in health services and beyond. The stream emerged through two decades of relationship building and institutional commitment. In 2012, Well Living House, an action research center for Indigenous infants, children, and their families' health and well being, was officially launched. Today, Well Living House has expanded beyond one research center to become a cross cutting network of Indigenous Health researchers and multiple Indigenous scientists who hope to continue to grow across the pillars. That's a look at your National Indigenous News.