September 23 2022

Nickel Belt News

If elected mayor, Les Ellsworth says he’ll focus on public safety and provide strong leadership

BY IAN GRAHAM

EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

Thompson mayoral can didate Les Ellsworth says he entered the race to be come the head of council because he’s seen the city decline and believes it needs strong leadership to reverse that trend.

The current first-term member of council believes he’s the person to provide it because of a long history of leading and being part of a union and other organiza tions and the amount of time he will have to dedicate to the job.

“The biggest reason I de cided to run is two words,” the 43-year resident of the city told the Thompson Cit izen Sept. 15. “I care. I care about this city.”

In the first week since he officially launched his cam paign, though his intention to seek the mayor’s seat was no big secret before then, Ellsworth said he gave away almost all of his signs to supporters and knocked on residents’ doors on 15 streets in the city. Based on what he’s heard on those

doorsteps, the issue first and foremost in the minds of residents is Thompson’s downtown core. The can didate estimates that’s the first thing 95 per cent of people he’s spoken to have brought up.

“There’s people that don’t want to go downtown

anymore,” Ellsworth says.

Drawing upon his work ing days in health and safety and as president of United Steelworkers Local 6166, which represents hourly workers at Vale Manitoba Operations, Ellsworth says safety and security is his top priority.

“If I can’t bring you and your family home safely at the end of the day from grocery shopping or visit ing any other building or business in town, I have not done my job,” he says.

Noting that Thomp son has routinely had the worst score in Statistics Canada’s annual Crime Se verity Index, except when it finishes second to North Battleford, Sask., despite spending 22 per cent of its annual budget on 38 RCMP officers, a much larger com plement than similar-sized communities elsewhere in Manitoba have, Ellsworth says the key is to use those resources strategically.

“The police are saying we need more. They will not get more out of me,” said Ellsworth, noting that the unionization of RCMP officers and the union’s signing of a contract with retroactive pay increases could eat up even more of the city’s budget without a single additional officer on the streets. He takes pains, however, to note that the problem isn’t the police but

council failing to meet with them to discuss priorities often enough. “They’re doing what they think is best, not what the elected [councillors] think is best and that’s not their fault. What we need to do is sit down and give direction to them.”

Book a way to preserve and pass on memories of growing up in Churchill

Ellsworth believes improving the downtown core requires better en forcement of laws against public drinking and actually writing tickets for contra vening them. He said he understands that the people drinking in public will probably never pay those fines but says the statistics on how many tickets are handed out can be used as ammunition in the battle to convince higher levels of government how big the problem is.

“It’s not about the ability to pay. It’s about being able to say to the government, that’s the issue we have in Thompson.”

Over his four years on council, Ellsworth says he’s seen the elected body do a couple of things backward.

It’s reduced public partici pation in local governance by changing how commit tees work and put the cart before the horse when it comes to setting priorities.

“Our mayor and council is more driven by adminis tration than the other way around,” he says. “I want to lead and that’s the differ ence. As a mayor I won’t be taking instruction from my city manager or anybody else. I’ll be giving that along with my team. You need a strong leader during this time in our history at the helm of our City Hall.”

Though mayor of Thomp son is a part-time position, the candidate vows to de vote his full attention to it.

“I’m involved in a lot of committees in Thompson,” says Ellsworth, who is re tired. “They will all be hist ory if I’m elected mayor. All of them. My time, my focus will be on Thompson. What you will get, make no doubt about it, is a full-time mayor with part-time pay. I will be visible in this town in places that people have never seen a leader of this city.”

Scooptram fire strands 177 Lalor miners underground for hours Sept. 14

Nearly 200 workers waited for as long as 12 hours in refuge stations after a scooptram caught fire in Hudbay’s Lalor Mine in Snow Lake Sept. 14.

BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

Miners started being evacuated one at a time from each refuge station around 10 p.m. Wednes day night and the last of the 177 workers returned to the surface by about 1 a.m. Sept. 15.

Though she’s now written a book about her experiences growing up in Churchill, Addictions Foundation of Manitoba northern director Gisele deMeulles said writing wasn’t something she always thought she would do.

A friend of one of the miners told CBC News that he received a text say ing the workers had been in the refuge station since about noon.

For all the harsh weather and the dangers of polar bears, deMeulles said if it had been viable she would

Hudbay said the fire started in the rear tire of the scooptram.

The same piece of equipment caught fire again on Thursday, neces sitating a second evacua tion and bringing a halt to normal mine operations, which were expected to resume by Sept. 16.

Snow Lake Mayor Peter Roberts told the Winni

“In my youth I never felt good at writing,” she said. “But when I moved to Thompson to get into the school of social work, at that point I had to write for university and realized, ‘Holy, I’m not bad at this, right?’ I certainly developed a lot of skill in university and came out of there with a very strong skill in my writing and confidence in my writing. I write very clear and that’s it. It’s there.

Some people say it’s kind of blunt or direct. I don’t tend

do. My mom’s an elder and she’s an artist, she’s got so many wonderful stories because she always tells her stories at Parks Canada in Churchill and I’ve always hounded her, ‘Please, just put it on tape, I will write it for you because your story is going to be lost,’ and she’s never done it and I thought,

27,’ and they went ‘What?’”

Looking back, some of those experiences are things she might not do again.

“I did some pretty bizarre stuff like fuel hauls into the high Arctic at -35,” said deMeulles. “It didn’t dawn on me until after. That was a very dangerous thing to do. Being on a plane full of fuel

to such a small population now,” deMeulles says.

Though she’s not there any longer, her parents and her sister and other family members still are.

fire, which was reported to RCMP around 3 p.m. Sept. 14.

“I miss the shoreline, I miss the rock, I miss the polar bears even though they’re very dangerous and I really miss the Hudson Bay,” she says. “When I go back home, standing on the Hudson Bay looking out on the bay, it just gives you an incredible sense. You feel so

Now that she’s got one book under her belt, deMeulles says she may try to produce another.

Manitoba Workplace

“My cousin owns the hardware store there,” she says.

Because of that, deMeulles finds it hard to

think the people of Churchill really want to thrive. They’ve built their worlds there. How would we feel if someone came to you and said, ‘I’m sorry, you have to leave your home community and we’re going to displace you somewhere else and all your loved ones and your history is gone?’”

Safety and Health is also investigating. No injuries to miners were reported to have

resulted from either fire, both of which were extin guished by Hudbay mine rescue teams.

“I have another book in me,” she says. “It’s a darker story, more about personal growth and struggles. Maybe in the next five years it’s something I’ll focus on doing.”

Serving Norman Region since

Addictions Foundation of Manitoba northern director Gisele deMeulles has written a book about her experiences growing up, mostly in Churchill.

Delivering News to the Nickel Belt since 1960

peg Free Press that there were fewer people in the mine when the second fire broke out because it start

ed while staff were still monitoring the scooptram. Hudbay will investigate the circumstances of the

Thompson Citizen photo courtesy of Les Ellsowrth

After one term on council, Les Ellsworth is seeking to become the next mayor of Thompson on Oct. 26.

Thompson Citizen file photo

Lalor Mine in Snow Lake. 177 miners were trapped in refuge stations at the mine for hours after a scooptram caught fire Sept. 14. The same scooptram caught fire again Sept. 15.

School district fills 19 teaching positions over difficult recruitment summer

BY IAN GRAHAM

EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

The School District of Mystery Lake was success ful in recruiting teachers for open positions over the summer but barely man aged to duplicate that feat when it came to ensuring sufficient candidates for school board trustee in the Oct. 26 election.

At the board’s first meet ing in three months on Sept. 13, superintendent of hu man resources and policy Angele Bartlett said 19 teachers had been hired since the board’s last meet ing in mid-June. The pro cess wasn’t easy, though.

“It was difficult this year,” she said. “It came down to the wire no doubt.”

Bartlett said part of the issue is that virtual hiring fairs are just not as effective as in-person events.

“It’s easier to sell when you’re there in person,” she said, making it a stressful summer for her and prob ably even more so for prin cipals who didn’t know if they were going to have classrooms without teachers until the very last minute.

“I can well imagine everyone was feeling the grind a little bit,” she said.

It seemed there were few er people willing to consid

er the idea of making the move up north to Thomp son this summer than in years past, said Bartlett, ac knowledging that difficulty finding employees is not a problem limited to the edu cation field and that she be lieves the COVID-19 pan demic and changes people made to their way of life during 2020 and 2021 like ly play a role in recruiting challenges.

“I don’t believe there’s a huge shortage of teachers out there,” she said, not ing that universities were still graduating aspiring teachers.

Bartlett also said she

hoped the staffing situation would remain stable over the course of the 2022-23 school year.

“I just hope I don’t have any long-term leaves be cause then things become even more challenging,” she said.

The first board meet ing of the new school year came a week before the deadline for potential mayors, councillors and school board trustees to register as candidates for the upcoming municipal election. At that time, only two — incumbent trustees Lindsay Anderson and Mi chelle Tomashewski — had

registered to run for school board in Thompson.

Two other incumbents — current board chair person Don Madconald, who is nearing the end of his second term as trust ee, and Li Cripps, who has spent half a term on the board after winning a byelection two years ago — announced during the meeting that they would not be running again.

“I think that several trustees are in similar pos itions,” said Macdonald.

Mystery Lake has often had enough trustee candi dates to make it the envy of other school districts,

particularly rural ones that struggle to attract as many candidates as there are spots on their boards, but Les lie Tucker, who has been a board member for three terms, said she can under stand people’s reluctance, though she didn’t reveal at that time that she is not seeking a fourth term.

“It’s not the most fun I’ve ever had the last few years as a trustee,” she said, pointing to challenges such as the pandemic and the abandoned provincial edu cation reform legislation known as Bill 64 which proposed doing away with elected school boards.

BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

An organization that rep resents Northern Manitoba First Nations says the prov incial government is failing to ensure that Indigenous hunters can harvest enough moose for their own con sumption before issuing licences to non-Indigenous hunters.

Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, a political advocacy organization that speaks on behalf of two dozen northern First Na tions, says it has written to provincial government officials about this issue three times in the space of nine months and has yet to receive a response.

An initial letter to Pre mier Heather Stefanson and provincial ministers was sent last Dec. 7, MKO Grand Chief Garrison Set tee said in a Sept. 16 press release. That was followed by another letter on May 30. On June 7, during a meet ing with Indigenous Recon ciliation Minister Alan La

gimodiere, MKO repeated its demand that First Na tions hunters be given top priority for available moose once conservation goals have been achieved.

“Although Minister La gimodiere directed provin cial officials to ‘have a con versation’ with MKO about MKO’s demands, no such conversation with MKO has been initiated or requested by Manitoba,” Settee said.

MKO sent a third letter to the premier and ministers on Sept. 14, five days before licensed moose hunting in much of the MKO region began Sept. 19.

MKO’s stance is that non non-Indigenous hunt ers shouldn’t be given li cences to hunt moose in the areas of its First Nations until Indigenous hunters have had the opportunity to catch sufficient moose for First Nations’ members consumption.

Settee said it can be es tablished through traditional knowledge and expert evi dence that every moose

not protected by conserv ation regulations could be consumed as food by First Nations.

The Public Interest Law Centre of Legal Aid Mani toba reviewed MKO’s legal opinion and says Supreme Court of Canada rulings dating back 30 years estab lish that First Nations are constitutionally granted top priority to harvest moose and that Manitoba issuing moose hunting licences to non-Indigenous hunters and the lottery system through which these licences are allocated is limiting First Nations’ right to hunt moose for food.

“Manitoba is vulnerable to a claim of unjustifiably infringing First Nations’ right to harvest moose,” said Public Interest Law Centre director Byron Williams and independent lawyer Natalie Copps, who provided analytical support on legal matters involving the law-making capacity of MKO First Nations.

Thompson Citizen photo by Posnov/Getty Images

A crossing a highway in Ontario. Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak says the prov ince is infringing on First Nations’ right to hunt moose for food by granting moose-hunting licences without giving Indigenous hunters top priority.

No paving being done in Thompson for the second straight year

BY IAN GRAHAM

EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

Paving work that was supposed to be done this year as part of a five-year road renewal program in Thompson supported by federal and provincial infra structure funding will not go ahead until next year — and it will cost significant ly more than was originally anticipated.

At their Sept. 12 meet ing, Thompson city council voted 5-4 to award a tender for 3.5 kilometres of paving work on Beaver Crescent, Nelson Road and other lo cations to Maple Leaf Con struction at a cost of about $6.77 million plus taxes. That was one of two bids received for the proposal, the other being from Nel son River Construction at a price of about $9.75 million. Both companies said that because of resource levels the work could not be done until 2023.

The four councillors who opposed awarding the con tract — Earl Colbourne, Les Ellsworth, Jeff Foun tain and Duncan Wong — argued that it might make more financial sense to combine this work and what

is planned to be tendered for next year into one con tract to reduce mobilization costs.

Fountain also said that agreeing to a price 44 per cent higher than the budget ed amount of $5 million sends a signal that the city is willing to absorb nearly any price increase.

When design, engineer ing and resident service costs from AECOM are fac tored into the work, the total cost is about $7.2 million.

In order to pay the addi tional $2.1 million, the bulk of which is covered by fed eral provincial Investing in Canada Infrastructure Pro gram funding, the city will need to use $351,000 from its infrastructure reserve.

Ellsworth said he’d be lieve that the work would begin in the spring when he sees it.

“I’ve never seen them come in spring,” he said, al lowing that that could have to do with when tenders are sent out and approved. “I’m doubtful they’ll be here.”

He also said that if price increases like this become the norm, the $33 million in federal and provincial fund ing the city is getting over

five years won’t be enough to help the city repave 20 kilometres of city roads, as planned.

“The 20 kilometres we talked about doing won’t be 20 kilometres,” he said. “I believe Thompsonites would like to get at least 20 kilometres out of this money.”

Deputy mayor Brian Lun dmark said it’s doubtful that the city would get a better price on a larger contract that won’t be ready to tender until December of this year, if all goes according to plan.

“It’s not going to get cheaper next year,” he said.

Mayor Colleen Smook said council should make sure this work gets done and look at the feasibility of combining other roadwork planned for 2023 with that planned for 2024.

“We’ve got the commit ment from the tender for these prices right now,” she said.

This is the second year in a row in which no road paving has been done in Thompson. The year before that, it was only Thompson Drive eastbound between Quart Street and Mystery Lake Road.

NEW WINDOWS, NEW DOORS, AND SO MUCH MORE!

NOTICE OF 2023 BOARD OF REVISION

Pursuant to Section 41 of the Municipal Assessment Act, NOTICE.is.hereby.given.that.the.2023.Assessment.Rolls. for the City of Thompson will be open for inspection starting on.September.6,.2022. at.City.Hall,.226. Mystery.Lake.Road,. Thompson, Manitoba during normal office hours Monday to Friday.8:30.a.m..to.4:30.p.m.

The.public.is.also.advised.that.the.Board.of.Revision.will.sit. to.hear.applications.for.revision.on: DATE: October 6, 2022 TIME: 5:00 pm

PLACE:.Council.Chambers, .City.Hall.2nd.Floor, 226 Mystery Lake Road Thompson, Manitoba

A. person in whose name property has been assessed,.a. mortgagee in possession of property under subsection 114(1) of The Real Property Act, an occupier of premises who is required.under.the.terms.of.a.lease.to pay.the.taxes.on.the. property, or the assessor may make application for the revision of.an.assessment.roll.with.respect.to.a).liability.to.taxation;. b) amount of assessed value; c) classification of property; or.d).refusal. by.an.assessor. to.amend.the.assessment.roll. under.subsection.13.(2).

An.application.for.revision.must: .a).Be.in.writing;

b) Set out the roll number and legal description of the assessable property for which.a.revision is sought;

c) Set out w hich of the matters referred to in subsection.42(1).are at.issue,.and.the.grounds.for each.of.those.matters;

d) Be filed by delivering it or causing it to be delivered to the office above or by serving it upon the secretary, at least 15 days before the scheduled sitting.date.of.the.board.(By.September.20,.2022).

Anthony McInnis, City Manager August 26, 2022

To the Editor:

Your article (Sept. 6) and editorial regarding the Burntwood Curling Club’s financial dilemma reflects a sad state of af fairs for volunteer-based organizations in Thomp son. Unfortunately, their problem is indicative of deeper troubles that com munity leaders must ad dress. Will they?

Many of these organiz ations came about in the first 20 years of Thomp son’s life when the com munity was growing rapidly and it was filled with miners, tradespeople, and business people. Of course, those were days of prosperity. Jobs and money were everywhere and Thompson residents supported extracurricular causes and projects. Al though the average work stay at Inco in the early days was 17 days, many people did remain to build a family, community, and a lifestyle of art, sports, culture, and service.

In the early days, volun teers started the Thompson Zoo, Rotary Fair (Nickel Days), Twilight Waterski Club, Mystery Mountain, the Legion, the curling club, golf club, Heritage North Museum, horse stables, stock car club, TNT swim club, snow mobile club, the hospital auxiliary, the friendship centre and many others such as Rotary, Lions, Kin, Elks, Royal Purple, and IODE. Later the hu mane society, skateboard park, Rotary splash park, and Spirit Way were also all started by volunteers. They raised their funds mostly from memberships and fundraising.

A community profile in the mid 1970s showed nearly 150 volunteer and non-profit groups. Today there are less than 50!

After the 1990s and the downsizing of Inco, Thompson’s population, businesses and jobs began to dwindle and disposable income money went with it. Many businesses are no longer local owner/oper ators who used to always support these volunteer organizations with dona tions and gifts for their bonspiels, tournaments, draws, races, festivals, etc. Today, many businesses are run by absent landlords and local managers have less authority to become community involved and make donations. Many of these services and duties now fall into the hands of the City of Thompson.

Thompson’s challenge today is that the money pool has shrunk with Thompson’s smaller popu lation and lower-paying jobs. The culture of vol unteerism is also declining across the country. This is not to take anything away from the sport and youth groups that offer great programming for kids and families at the rec centre. (I hate saying TRCC!) At least, they have an advan tage: using city-owned venues.

One of the key differ ences with non-profits is that there are two kinds — those that are regis tered non-profit corpor ations with staff and an office and those that are totally volunteers run out of someone’s home. The Thompson Community Foundation has been very successful with funding to many registered organiz ations, but smaller volun teer groups fall through the cracks and are not eli gible. The city no longer holds trust funds for un incorporated clubs which makes it much more diffi cult to raise money.

Sadly, local organiz ations continue to cease one at a time and their lost activities reduce the qual ity of life and reasons for families to stay in Thomp son. The Twilight Water ski Club had to close last year and their building and assets are in a deplorable condition. What a shame!

The Norplex Pool is a sep arate matter but, without it, there is a loss of div ing and swim teams. The 60-year-old Thompson Ski Club runs a multi-million winter recreation facility and provides incredible services without a cost to the Thompson taxpayer, yet has its own challenges. Has any councillor been to Mystery Mountain over the past four years to see or support what the club does for the benefit of the public? Spirit Way Inc. built features and host ed international events over 17 years that won awards, attracted visitors, reinvested $3 million into the community and built landmark features. Yet, when the group stopped in 2020, there was not one councillor who com mented, thanked, or rec ognized the dozens of past volunteers.

In 2017, Spirit Way Inc, Boreal Discovery Centre, and Ma-Mow-We-Tak Friendship Centre hosted AuroraFest150 with 52 events over 10 days. Their Guinness Wolf Howling

happen if they are mostly gone.

Volker Beckmann Thompson Beckmann has re ceived volunteer awards from the Rotary Club, Community Foundation, the provincial govern ment and the Senate of Canada.

RCMP seeking four Easterville home

Four men from Easterville are wanted by police in connection with an assault that left another man with serious injuries.

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event was the largest event ever held in Thompson (2,300 people) and made positive national TV news. Sadly, not one councillor attended any event. The Boreal Discovery Cen tre can be a major asset for Thompson, but has been struggling for years. Volunteers have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into a world-class wolf facility that sits in limbo since COVID began. It should get strong city support to becoming a high-profile education, conservation, and tourism centre. Other wildlife ad vocates in the world are willing to partner. The Heritage North Museum is a jewel that struggles as support from the city has dwindled over the years.

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Although the city has recognized single volun teers annually for years, our community lead ers must do much more.

City to support RENT

There are solutions to stop the decline. Will the new council take a proactive approach and work to leverage the resources, fundraising, and labour that these groups provide at a fraction of the cost of what the city can do?

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Chemawawin RCMP were alerted around 11 a.m. March 11 that a 24-year-old man was being taken to the Easterville nursing station for treatment of serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Investigation determined that four men entered the victim’s home earlier that morning, assaulting him and causing extensive damage before leaving.

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Look what happened when volunteers were asked to organize the 2017 Mani toba Winter Games! Cities with negative brands can be turned around by host ing high-profile events or building new attractions. Good governance includes public engagement. Only good can come from this.

TREE SUNS TOWING is looking for a general labourer. Call 204-677-4801. 12-2-nb

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Furthermore, the city could organize a focus group workshop to brain storm ideas and turn them into reality. Set up an ad hoc team to review poli cies and programs to sup port volunteer groups. Even designate a coun cillor to work with and support them. They could donate funds based on in centives that invest money back into the community. There are many provin cial and federal grants that volunteers often do not know about. The city munity pride and improve

The curling club and others provide a tremen dous service and need city support. Lack of volun teers has many detriment

Police are asking for the public’s assistance in finding 29-year-old Mitchell Howard Ledoux, 27-year-old Steven Shane Klyne, 26-year-old Shawn Eric Umpherville and 20-year-old Nathan Walter Umpherville, all from Easterville, who are believed to have fled to Winnipeg. The four face numerous charges including aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and breaking and entering.

Anyone with information on any of the suspects’ whereabouts is asked to call Chemawawin

RCMP at 204-329-2004 or Crime Stopper Anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

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RCMP seeking four Easterville home

non-life-threatening injuries. Investigation determined that four men entered the victim’s home earlier that morning, assaulting him and causing extensive damage before leaving.

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Police are asking for the public’s assistance in finding 29-year-old Mitchell Howard Ledoux, 27-year-old Steven Shane Klyne, 26-year-old Shawn Eric Umpherville and 20-year-old Nathan Walter Umpherville, all from Easterville, who are believed to have fled to Winnipeg. The four face numerous charges including aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and breaking and entering.

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New Winnipeg Ronald McDonald

House held grand opening Sept. 14

BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

A new, larger Ronald Mc Donald House in Winnipeg held its grand opening Sept. 14.

Located three blocks away from Health Sciences Cen tre, the site of Manitoba’s children’s hospital, the new house is about 48,000 square feet, more than four times as large as the Bannatyne Avenue house, and features 40 bedrooms, each with their own private bathroom, com pared to 14 bedrooms at the current building, which has already been sold.

Other improvements at the new house include se cure parking.

“We needed a larger fa cility to serve and support more families,” said Wendy Galagan, CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities Manitoba. “The number of 40 bedrooms was deter mined based on the needs of Manitoba and pediatric health care.”

The new $20 million building will lower the num ber of times that families are turned away from staying at Ronald McDonald House, which charges eligible fam ilies just $10 a day, because there are no vacancies.

“As an organization and as a staff, the hardest thing to say to us is that we’re full and we can’t serve a family,” said Galagan.

In 2021, the house and the Ronald McDonald Family Room in HSC served 866 families, providing nearly

4,000 nights of accommoda tion and saving those fam ilies over a million dollars in out-of-pocket expenses.

Approximately 40 per cent of families who stay at Ronald McDonald House while their children are in hospital travel 100 kilo metres or more round trip to get the care they receive in Winnipeg and Galagan says that about 10 to 15

per cent of the families the house accommodates in a typical year are from North ern Manitoba.

Jennifer Zolinksi of The Pas is a member of one northern family that used the house this year. Her son was born premature and immedi ately admitted to the Neo natal Intensive Care Unit at HSC, where he stayed until two days before what had

been his expected due date at the end of August. Though she and her son are back at home now, her family spent over 100 days at Ronald Mc Donald House while he was being treated.

“It’s really hard to put into words how meaningful that place really was,” said Jen nifer, whose husband Chad had to return to The Pas to work, though he visited them

in Winnipeg when he could. The cost of approximately $1,000 to stay at the house would have only covered a few nights in a hotel, said Jennifer, and the Zolinskis also appreciated that it was a safe place that offered free transportation to and from the hospital. ”I think that was good peace of mind for him.”

Jennifer said she didn’t

even know there was a Ronald McDonald House in Winnipeg prior to her stay there but she appreciates knowing that staying there will be an option when she takes her son back for fur ther treatment.

“Knowing that we can de pend on somebody like that is so important,” she said. “You just feel so much better knowing that.”

Province signs two more forestry revenue-sharing agreements with northern First Nations

The provincial govern ment announced Sept. 20 that it has signed memoran dums of understanding on forestry revenue-sharing with two more Northern Manitoba First Nations.

One of the agreements is with Norway House Cree Nation and the other is with Chemawawin Cree Nation.

The new MOUs commit the province to sharing 45 per cent of timber har vesting dues from areas in proximity to NHCN and CCN with the First Na tions. The two-year pilot projects are retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year.

A memorandum of agreement was signed by the province and NHCN on Aug. 2, with the govern ment committing to creat ing a tree-planting program to train and employ youth and community members.

A multiphase traditional land use study will be led by NHCN, with priority given to the area and in terests fo the First Nation.

Timber will also be provid ed for NHCN’s sawmills to support the goal of build ing approximately 500 homes in the community.

recognize both [Natural Resources and Northern Development] Minister [Greg] Nesbitt and former minister Scott Fielding for moving these agreements forward."

The provincial previous ly signed similar MOUs with Opaskwayak Cree Nation and Mosakahiken Cree Nation in August.

If you wish to speak at the hearing or make a written submission, please contact the Board Secretary, Dr. Darren Christle at 204-945-2638 or toll-free 1-866-854-3698, no later than October 1, 2022.

For more information, visit http://www.pubmanitoba.ca

Manitoba Public Utilities Board 400-330 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 0C4

Phone: 204-945-2638 | Email: publicutilities@gov.mb.ca

“I am glad to see the Manitoba government working with First Na tions on natural resour ces development and we welcome the opportunity to share the benefits,” said CCN Chief Clarence Easter. “In addition to revenue sharing, we look forward to being involved in the development of a sustainable, viable, for est management planning process and economic de velopment in our areas.”

“The NHCN chief and council unanimously agreed to move forward with this revenue sharing agreement. I am pleased that the people of my nation will finally start receiving their share of revenues generated from the abundant resources on our traditional terri tory,” said Anderson. “The understanding of our treaty with Canada was based on sharing the lands and wat ers. This is a good start from the Manitoba gov ernment that is willing to work with NHCN and we

“These MOUs repre sent another purposeful step forward that our gov ernment is taking on the path of reconciliation, as we work to correct past wrongs,” said Nesbitt. “I am honoured to sign these historic agreements, which will allow CCN and NHCN to now benefit from for estry operations on their traditional territory.”

Manitoba says it allocat ed more than $1 million toward grants to support resource-related econom ic development last year, including $200,000 to im prove the viability of the province’s forestry sector by encouraging more In digenous participation in the economic opportunities it provides. are encouraged to attend the hearing, observe the hearing via live streaming, or provide your perspectives through the Board’s online comment tool.

Thompson Citizen photo courtesy of Ronald McDonald House Charities Manitoba

Ronald McDonald House Charities Manitoba unveiled its new Winnipeg Ronald McDonald House on Sept. 14. The $20 million building has nearly three times as many bedrooms as the current house on Bannatyne Avenue and is over four times larger.

Employers, students will come together at high school job fair next week

BY IAN GRAHAM

EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

High school staff mem bers took it upon themselves to be the bridge between their students and local busi nesses in need of employees and say the response has been phenomenal.

R.D. Parker Collegiate will host a job fair on the afternoon of Sept. 28 and the organizers say the re sponse from businesses and other organizations has shown that the demand for workers bodes well for stu dents seeking employment.

“I just thought it would be a good connection for the community to have be cause it didn’t seem like we had something like it,” says Jeff Paradis, a P.E. teacher at the school who noticed over the summer and earlier that companies seemed to be having difficulty attract ing enough workers.

He wasn’t sure at first how businesses would react to the idea of a high school job fair but once Safeway responded positively to invitation, the initiative gained steam.

Though the demand for workers appears top be higher than the supply right now, not just in Thompson but throughout Canada and the world, it can be tough figuring out how to get your first job, says RDPC guid ance counselor Courtney Beauchemin, who Paradis recruited to help organize the job fair.

“A lot of kids just don’t think they they qualify for

a job,” she said. “They don’t think that they’re good enough for a job so it’s tricky to try to encour age them to apply. I think this is a good way for us to just bring people to us and show them, hey, you could get this job, you’re just as good as anyone else to apply for this career and job or go to school for this.”

Given the technology-fo cused world that we are all

St. Theresa Point man gets life in prison for killing his mother

A 20-year-old St. Theresa Point man was sentenced in August to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 10 years for killing his mother in 2020.

Kelton Wood’s senten cing hearing was the first Court of Queen’s Bench (now the Court of King’s Bench following the death of Queen Elizabeth II) pro ceeding held in St. Theresa Point and was attended by approximately 20 family and community members inside a small courtroom and about 20 more listen ing outside via a speaker, the Winnipeg Free Press reported Sept. 16.

Wood bludgeoned his mother Charlotte, 35, to death on Sept. 24, 2020 court heard, and also stabbed her and burnt her.

Band constables re sponded to an anonymous call about blood in the house and found Wood in a t-shirt and shoes stained with wet blood.

Kelton Wood confessed to RCMP, saying that he snapped after arguing with his mother about access issues involving his child.

Kelton Wood, who had been abused and introduced to drugs by his mother, was placed in care when he was 12 but moved back in with her after turning 18 because he had nowhere else to live.

Family members said dur ing the hearing that they hoped he would receive the medical and mental health supports he needs in prison.

“We will always love him and wish him a better life and a journey of healing,” Charlotte’s sister Karen Taylor said in a victim im pact statement.

Kelton Wood, who plead ed guilty to second-degree murder for his mother’s death earlier in 2022, apolo gized for his crime.

“Sure, she used to abuse me, neglect me but that doesn’t call for taking a life,” he said.

living in and the recent experiences of students being isolated during the remote learning periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, walking into a business and asking to speak to someone about a job can be daunting.

“Anxiety is a big thing,” Beaucheamin says. “A lot of our kids are scared to go into the community hand

have a conversation. Hav ing them in the building definitely takes off all that pressure.”

The job fair is divided into two sections. The first part, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., is for students, who will get time ahead of the event to develop and print resumes that they can hand out at the job fair. From 4 p.m. to 6

p.m., the event will open up to the general public.

“We know it’s not just high school students that these companies are look ing for,” Beauchemin says. “We just thought it was a good opportunity to open it up to more than just our student body.”

Bringing employers into the high school not only puts them in front of poten tial workers, it also helps students and the public see how many options there are for employment or careers in Thompson.

“I’ve lived her my whole life and some of these com panies I didn’t even know existed in Thompson,” says Beauchemin.

The job fair is also an opportunity for the school to provide its students out-ofthe classroom learning that provides a skill most people will need in their lifetime: the ability to find a job.

“It’s good if we can ex pose them to more real-life opportunities, real-world situations,” says Paradis.

“Even if they come to the job fair with no intention of getting a job, just to meet employers, shake a hand, make eye contact, discuss wages, expectations for employment, anything like that, that’s vital, vital know ledge come later years.”

With industries ranging from hospitality to edu cation to policing experi encing difficulties finding enough workers right now,

using tactics like job fairs and hiring events that put employment opportunities in front of people is tak ing its place alongside the more passive strategy of just waiting for applicants to show up on their own. The Northern Manitoba Sector Council is hosting a job fair at the Thompson Regional Community Centre on Oct. 20 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. And on the same day as the RDPC job fair, representa tives from the North West Company’s recruitment team will be at the Best Western Hotel in Thomp son, hosting a hiring event for Northern and NorthMart stores throughout northern Canada. The company says it frequently used similar events to find workers prior to the COVID-19 pandemic but that it hasn’t had one in Thompson for quite a while.

“We are glad to be back on the road,” said North West Company media co-ordin ator Ellen Curtis. “It has been about 10 years since we’ve been in Thompson and are optimistic about our upcoming visit, as Thomp son is a hub for the north. We find that getting out and personally connecting with job seekers is an effective way to attract talent. All who are interested in serv ing customers are welcome; in particular, we are hoping to connect with members of the Indigenous population who may want to relocate back to their communities.”

Thompson Citizen photo by Ian Graham

A help wanted sign on the door of Domino’s Pizza in Thompson. Businesses and potential employees will have an opportunity to get together under one roof during a Sept. 28 job fair at R.D. Parker Collegiate.

Wednesday, September 28, 2022 noon – 1 pm

MAPS

Unit B – 117 Commercial

For any questions contact at 204-677-3031.

Donation helps RDPC enhance its outdoor cultural space

BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

A successful pitch to 100 Women Who Care Thomp son last June has brought R.D. Parker Collegiate closer to having a perma nent outdoor space for landbased learning and cultural programming with Indigen ous elders and knowledge keepers.

RDPC presented to the local charitable organiza tion, which makes quar terly donations to worthy local causes through a vot ing-based competition, pri or to the end of last school year and was successful in receiving the support of a majority of members.

“It was very exciting to find out that we got it,” says Chrissy Roeckenwagner, a teacher in RDPC’s Path

ways program who made a brief presentation via Skype to 100 Women Who Care’s members, beating out two other candidates for a do nation of $5,500. “I was a little bit surprised.”

The money will go to ward the purchase of a teepee for the school’s out door cultural space, which currently has some fire pits and a storage shed.

“We really want to in clude elders and knowledge keepers in the school as much as possible,” said Ro eckenwagner. “In order to do that, we wanted a really nice, comfortable space for elders to use and knowledge keepers to have.”

Seeing the effect that outdoor land-based learn ing had on students who had been anxious, withdrawn

and very quiet while schools were doing remote learn ing during the COVID-19 pandemic has convinced Roeckenwagner that the outdoor cultural space is beneficial to their mental wellness and engagement.

“I had them on the land with the knowledge keep ers,” she recalls. “I basic ally took a step back and they were organizing them selves, they were active, they were more together than I’ve ever seen. The shy ones were getting involved and it was just amazing.”

Eventually, the high school hopes to have a building with heat for land-based activities and has received other grants and continues to seek more. But, combined with about $1,800 that the Youth Ab original Council has raised through taco-in-a-bag sales and other fundraising activ ities, there is now enough money for the teepee.

“They definitely gave us a huge boost towards it,” Roeckenwagner said of the 100 Women Who Care do nation. “Fundraising would have gone on for quite a bit longer but they were able to top us up so that now we can afford the teepee.”

Cara Butler of 100 Women Who Care Thomp son said it was clear to the members that RDPC be lieves in the value of an outdoor cultural and landbased learning space.

“Ms. Roeckenwagner spoke very passionately about her school’s project and our members listened,” said Butler. “We are excited to see their project unfold.”

Thompson Citizen photo courtesy of Chrissy Roeckenwagner

R.D. Parker Collegiate principal Bonnie Rempel and Pathways program teacher Chrissy Roeckenwagner, centre, receive a cheque for $5,500 from Kate Roth, second from left, Kim Rudolph, second from right, and Cara Butler, right, of 100 Women Who Care Thompson in June.

Quality Inn says thanks to its housekeepers

BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

Quality Inn & Suites Thompson housekeepers competed in a variety of fun and work-related competi tions Sept. 14 in honour of International Housekeeper Appreciation Week.

Events included bed-mak ing and towel art competi

played in the hotel lobby so guests could vote for their favourite. The winner of that competition and each of the winners of the other competitions received $25 gift cards for their efforts.

Being a hotel housekeep er can be a tough job, Popli said, particularly over the last few years as a result of

the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s more challenging,” Popli said. “They have to wear protection gear and use more special and tough chemicals to kill those viruses. We are fortunate with the people we have. We are blessed and they are doing a fantastic job. They work really hard.”

Quality Inn & Suites Thompson housekeepers wrapped their partners in toilet paper during a mummy-making contest on Sept. 14.

Thompson Citizen photo courtesy of Akanshu Popli Quality Inn & Suites Thompson housekeepers pose with a cake during International Housekeeper Appreciate Week.

Thompson Citizen photo by Ian Graham

Quality Inn & Suites Thompson housekeepers pose with appreciation certificates presented to them by general manager Akanshu Popli on Sept. 14.

Sheila North, journalist and former MKO grand chief, seeking AMC leadership

Former Manitoba Kee watinowi Okimakanak grand chief and longtime CBC and CTV journalist Sheila North is seeking to lead the Assembly of Mani toba Chiefs.

North, who served as MKO grand chief from 2015 to 2018, is running for election as AMC grand chief for the second time. She also ran for the position in the spring of 2021 but was beaten out by incum bent Arlen Dumas, who was stripped of the leader ship this summer as a result of an AMC investigation into sexual harassment and sexual misconduct al legations that were made against him.

North finished second to Perry Bellegarde in the Assembly of First Nations election for national grand chief in 2018.

A member of Buniboni bee Cree Nation at Oxford House, North also spent as time as the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs com munications officer and is well-known for her journal ism about missing and mur dered Indigenous women

and girls.

“My overriding reason in running for this position is that I feel we, as First Na tions, are at a critical time to reset our relationships and work towards unity for the greater good, to foster stronger relationships with people from other commun ities, organizations, and all

MORTGAGE SALE

The land and building known as 109 Button Street, Churchill Manitoba, as described in Certificate of Title No. 2359765/3, will be sold by public auction by a Licensed Auctioneer on October 12, 2022, at 10:30 a.m.

The auction sale will be held by way of video or telecon ference.

There will be no in-person attendees at the auction.

In order to participate you must pre-register at least 24 hours prior to the auction by contacting Keith Senden at either (204) 954-6421 or auctions@fillmoreriley.com.

The Vendor is informed that the property consists of a one storey dwelling approximately 1,120 square feet, with living room, kitchen, 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, crawl space base ment, on a lot approximately 60 feet x 100 feet.

Realty taxes (excluding any accruing water charges) are paid to December 31, 2021.

Prior Charges: Nil.

TERMS OF SALE

A deposit of $15,000.00 by way of certified cheque or bank draft payable to Fillmore Riley LLP, or cash (the cash com ponent of the deposit not to exceed $7,500.00), and the balance according to conditions which will be available electronically by contacting the individual below prior to the auction. The property will be sold subject to a Reserve Bid of $105,500.00 plus such other additional and incidental costs which may be incurred by the Vendor from the 15th day of September, 2022 to the date of auction and which costs will be announced prior to the commencement of the sale.

The auction sale will be conducted pursuant to an Order for Sale issued by the District Registrar. Certain parties may be prohibited from purchasing the property, including but not limited to, parties who by virtue of their employment or relationship to a person involved in the sale process would have special knowledge of the circumstances pertaining to the sale. For more information and a list of prohibited purchasers please visit: www.teranetmanitoba.ca

Should the successful bidder have attended by teleconfer ence and/or video conference, the bidder will have 24 hours to execute the Auction Sale Conditions and to provide them together with the deposit to our office as set out below.

Further information may be obtained from:

FILLMORE RILEY LLP Barristers and Solicitors

1700–360 Main Street Winnipeg, MB R3C 3Z3

File No. 400784-3755/KAS/bk (kyl)

Attention: Keith Senden Phone: 204-954-6421

auctions@fillmoreriley.com

levels and departments of governments,” North said in a Sept. 21 press release announcing her candidacy. “While AMC’s integrity and reputation have suf fered over the recent years, I am prepared and willing to lead the ways through which all its members can rebuild AMC into a cred ible, valid and reliable pol itical voice that is truly rep resentative of its members. We all understand the value of the impact this can have, from each individual First Nation to each individual family and its members. We must work at this for it means facilitating the em

powerment of our people’s voices as united fronts.”

The AMC represents 62 of 63 Manitoba First Na tions, whose chiefs elect the grand chief. The bye lection to select Dumas’s replacement will be held Oct. 25-27 in Winnipeg and the winner will hold the position for a three-year term.

In addition to Dumas, a member of Mathias Co lomb Cree Nation, Ron Evans of Norway House Cree Nation is the other northerner to have served as AMC grand chief, in back-to-back terms from 2005-2011.

MORTGAGE SALE ADVERTISEMENT

The land and building known as 84 Lynx Crescent, in the City of Thompson, in the Province of Manitoba as described in Certificate of Title No. 2841691/3 will be sold at auction on Wednesday, the 19th day of October, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. The auction sale will be held by way of video or teleconference. There will be no in-person attendees at the auction. In order to participate in the auction sale, you must pre-register at least 24 hours prior to the auction by contacting Sonia at 204-9576437 or by email at sruppel@ltglc.ca.

The Vendor is informed that there is situated on the property a detached single family bungalow of approximately 1,000 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, living room, eat-in kitchen, full basement and a detached double garage.

TERMS: Deposit of $33,000.00 by certified cheque, bank/credit union draft or solicitor’s trust cheque to Levene Tadman Golub Law Corporation, or cash (the cash component of the deposit not to exceed $7,500.00) to be provided within 24 hours of the date and time of auction and the balance in accordance with the conditions to be announced at sale.

The Property is sold subject to a RESERVE BID of $178,334.29 plus such other additional and incidental costs which may be incurred by the Lender from the 13th day of September, 2022 to the date of auction and which costs will be announced prior to the commencement of the Sale.

Property Taxes are paid to December 31, 2021.

Purchaser to be responsible for payment of any outstanding water accounts owing by the Mortgagor.

Property is subject to Caveat 33795N/3, Caveat 33796N/3, 35708N/3.

The auction sale will be conducted pursuant to an Order for Sale issued by the District Registrar. Certain parties may be prohibited from purchasing the property, including but not limited to, parties who by virtue of their employment or relationship to a person involved in the sale process would have special knowledge of the circumstances pertaining to the sale. For more information and a list of prohibited purchasers please visit: www.teranetmanitoba.ca

Further information and copies of Conditions of Sale may be obtained from:

LEVENE TADMAN GOLUB LAW CORPORATION

Barristers & Solicitors

700–330 St. Mary Avenue Winnipeg, MB. R3C 3Z5

Attention: Mara Koven-Lapointe/Sonia File No. 120886 Phone No. 957-6437

Three candidates for Thompson mayor, 12 for eight council seats School board election won’t be necessary this year because there are only seven candidates for seven available spots

BY IAN GRAHAM

EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

Thompson has enough candidates to make mayoral and council elections necessary but the seven school board trustee candidates will be acclaimed.

Incumbent mayor Collen Smook will be challenged by former city councillor and frequent mayoral candidate Ron Matechuk, as well as by current member of council Les Ellsworth in a three-way race. A random draw held Sept. 21 determined that Smook’s name would be at the top of the ballot, with Matechuk’s second and Ellsworth’s third. No more than half of the current council could be back next term. In addition to Ellsworth, councillors Jeff Foun tain, Braden McMurdo and Andre Proulx all decided not to seek re-election. Brian Lundmark, Duncan Wong, Kathy Valentino and Earl Colbourne are all hoping to continue in their roles.

There are eight other people seeking to become council lors. They include Chiew Chong, who finished tied with Proulx for eighth place in 2018 and ended up losing to Proulx in a byelection. Rita Werstroh, who ran for council four years ago, has once again stepped forth as a candidate. The other council hopefuls are Louis Fitzpatrick, Addie Colbourne, former School District of Mystery Lake trustee Sandra Oberdorfer, Robert Chuckrey, Joyce Mcivor and James MacIntrye.

Only two of the current school board members are among the seven people who put their names forth as candidates for the seven available school board spots and will be elected by acclamation. Lindsay Anderson and Michelle Tomashewski, both of whom are currently in their first terms as trustees, will be back for a second term. New trustees will be Abby Humby, Mike Lawson, M. D. Sharker, Henk Warnar-Brown and Bryan Young, who ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2018.

Incumbents Don Macdonald, Leslie Tucker, Li Cripps and Guido Oliveira did not seek re-election.

Mayoral and council elections will take place on Oct. 26. Advance polls will be on Oct. 17 and Oct. 19.

Help keep Thompson

Thompson Citizen file photo

Former Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak grand chief and journalist Sheila North is once again seeking to become the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs grand chief.

God Save the Queen in the rules, but barely heard

BY MAGGIE MACINTOSH LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Principals across the province were breaking the law daily when they stopped playing God Save the Queen in Manitoba schools, according to a dusty regulation requiring the Canadian royal anthem be sung during Elizabeth’s reign.

Manitoba is the only province that legislated the song as part of the everyday routine in K-12 buildings.

The Schools Patriotic Observances Regulation states the start of every regular instructional day must begin with pupils singing O Canada , while opening exercises or the end of the day must include singing the first verse of God Save the Queen , re named God Save the King after Elizabeth’s death.

Social studies teacher Kevin Lopuck said he was “totally surprised” to learn the regulation, which is not enforced, remains intact. It has been decades since he stood for the royal anthem in a local classroom.

A spokesperson for

Manitoba Education con firmed the regulation is still in place, but indicated the department stopped enfor cing it in the late 1990s.

Lopuck said his Grade 11 students are often fascinat ed to find out Canada has a constitutional monarchy during his history course. “Their interest, from the kids’ side of things, is the pageantry, the pomp and circumstance. They always get a kick out of the line of royal succession,” he said.

The Legislative Li brary’s archives indicate the singing of the royal anthem was explicitly enshrined in law in 1964, five years after the queen made her first appearance in Manitoba during a na tional tour.

At the time, Progressive Conservative Duff Roblin was Manitoba’s leader and PC MLA George Johnson, who would become the province’s 20th lieuten ant-governor, oversaw the education file. Roblin, a proponent of classical con servatism, welcomed and met the queen on Manitoba soil in July 1959.

The daily routine faded in the following decades, a

decline that prompted the PC government to issue a reminder to public and funded private schools in March 1998.

“It has recently come to my attention that some schools may not be re specting the requirements for daily patriotic exer cises,” education minister Linda McIntosh wrote in the notice.

McIntosh’s ministerial directive indicated pupils were expected to “stand erect in an attitude of attentiveness” during God Save the Queen . Students who no longer knew the words or music were ex pected to learn them im mediately as part of their civic responsibility.

“It turned out to be real ly controversial,” said Reg Klassen, who was princi pal of Westgate Mennonite Collegiate in 1998.

Klassen, now super intendent of Frontier School Division, said he recalled initiating plans to comply with the order at his school, but cannot re member if it ever happened due to intercom challenges.

“If we did comply, it didn’t last long,” he said, noting

the strict ministerial direc tive was short-lived.

The career educator and his administrative col leagues always worked hard to shorten announce ments whenever possible because lengthy bulletins ate into the school day, Klassen added.

Throughout the 1997-98 and 1998-99 school years, debate over whether or not Manitoba schools should have to play God Save the Queen made headlines in the Winnipeg Free Press

Proponents argued the anthem should be sung daily to acknowledge Canada’s constitutional monarchy and pay tribute to the queen and her rep resentatives in Rideau Hall and Government House.

But critics called the practice outdated. Ian MacIntyre of the Mani toba Teachers’ Society was quoted saying, “Everyone should know the words to O Canada … (but this re quirement) isn’t going to turn anyone into a model citizen.”

When NDP MLA Drew Caldwell became the edu cation minister in 1999, he scrapped the directive.

Caldwell said the move was a minor agenda item that reflected the fallout of an international shift from the end of the British em pire to the Commonwealth.

“It was just another step towards assertion of independence and sover eignty,” he said, adding the introduction of the lasting regulation likely stems from the fondness Mani toba had for the queen, and vice versa.

Brant-Argyle School may have been the last ele mentary school to play the royal anthem daily before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools and pub lic health orders banned traditional assemblies.

“It had been tradition for so long and our school is pretty deeply rooted in tradition,” said an employ ee at the K-8 building, located in the hamlet of Argyle.

The site was grant ed heritage designation because it is steeped in Manitoba history. It’s the last functioning school of a standard design of rural schools built in the early days of the 20th century.

The school has resumed

assemblies solely on Mon days, following the height of the pandemic. It has not, however, resumed the roy al anthem tradition.

Modern-day announce ments in Manitoba are far more likely to include a land acknowledgement than the royal anthem.

The president of the Manitoba Social Science Teachers’ Association said the queen’s death is a teachable moment to discuss government struc tures, as well as the mon archy’s role in colonization and reconciliation.

Lopuck said he screens a video that captured the events of Canada Day 2021 at the Manitoba legislature, during which citizens top pled statues of Queen Vic toria and Queen Elizabeth, in his classes. “The point that I want to emphasize is that it is a really complex conversation,” he said.

Ending the monarchy would not only require updating the constitution and getting all provinces on board, along with a slew of other changes, but also addressing treaty relation ships with the Crown, the educator noted.

‘We’re still here:’ Indigenous leaders express mixed emotions after queen’s death

BY JEREMY APPEL LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, ALBERTA NATIVE NEWS

Indigenous leaders are mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth while ac knowledging the role the British Crown played in jus tifying the genocide of In digenous Peoples on Turtle Island and expressing hope for entering a new era of relations with the monarchy.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Roseanne Archibald was in London, where world leaders gath ered to pay their respects to Her Majesty.

Archibald told reporters she was “really conflicted” when she received an in vitation to attend, because she didn’t want to be seen as endorsing the Crown’s mistreatment of Indigenous peoples. But at the same time, First Nations have a unique relationship with the Crown that ought to be acknowledged, she added.

“When I reached out to a number of chiefs to talk about it, they indicated that I had to be here to make a representation that we’re still here — that we’ve survived colonization, that we have survived geno cide, and that we have this long-standing relationship with the Crown,” Archibald said at a Sept. 17 media availability.

Chief Sheldon Kent of Black River First Nation in Treaty Five, who spoke alongside Archibald, agreed their presence makes an im portant statement.

“The message that we’re sending here today is we’re still here. We’re not going

anywhere. We still believe in that relationship with the British Crown, be cause that’s who we signed treaties with. Canada was formed later and Canada has abrogated our treaties,” Kent said.

Archibald declined to make any criticisms of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, despite having asked in May for the queen to apologize for her role in residential schools, because her sub jects and family were still in mourning.

However, she said In digenous leaders want to bring a delegation to Lon don once King Charles has officially ascended to the Crown, and bring him to Canada to act on Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action #45, which calls for the Crown to issue a royal proclamation on reconciliation.

“I want to be respectful of the fact that he just lost his mother, and I’m just not prepared to speak ill of any one during their mourning period,” Archibald said.

The First Nations Leader ship Council offered its condolences to the royal family, recognizing the “direct relationship” In digenous peoples in Canada have with the Crown, before asking King Charles to do the right thing and revoke the Doctrine of Discov ery, which “dehumanized non-European while em pires waged war and stole lands, resources and wealth that rightfully belonged to Indigenous peoples all over the world.”

While the Doctrine of

Discovery was initially issued by the Vatican as a papal bull in 1452, it was used by the British and French empires to justify their plunder of Indigenous

lands.

“With the new British monarch, King Charles III is in a position to acknow ledge the historic crimes committed by his predeces

Share your views

sors and set the stage for a new relationship with In digenous Peoples around the globe,” the council said in a statement. “As an ad vocate on climate change,

King Charles III must take strong action to mitigate climate change in collab oration with Indigenous Peoples.”

Building a Plan with Manitoba Seniors

The Manitoba government is developing a Manitoba Seniors Strategy and is looking for input from the general public, seniors, family members and caregivers, and people working with, or providing services to seniors.

This is the second in a series of consultations through EngageMB. This survey focuses on the future: ideal states and priorities.

Visit EngageMB today, provide your input, and help Manitoba become the ideal place to age in Canada.

Manitoba government puts more urgency into honouring queen than Orange Shirt Day: residential school survivor

BY DAVE BAXTER

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, WINNIPEG SUN

One residential school survivor says she believes the province put a lot more urgency last week into find ing ways to honour and mourn for Queen Elizabeth, than it did into honouring and remembering residen tial school survivors, and those who never made it home from residential schools.

And it’s left her believ ing the province is not be ing sincere when it says it is committed to truth and reconciliation.

“Once again they have shown it’s just words, but it’s no actions, and no heart,” residential school survivor Vivian Ketchum said Sept. 16.

“Reconciliation involves more than words, reconcili ation involves the heart. That’s what they don’t seem to understand.”

On Sept. 13, Premier Heather Stefanson an nounced that Sept. 19 would be recognized as a day of mourning to “encourage Manitobans to honour and pay their respects to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”

All non-essential govern ment services and offices were closed for the day on Monday to mourn the queen, who died earlier this month.

A 21-gun salute took place on the south grounds of the legislative building, coinciding with the federal memorial service for the queen in Ottawa, and was followed by a Royal Gun Salute of 96 rounds “to honour each year of Her Majesty’s life,” the prov ince said.

But on Sept. 15, two days after that announcement, Stefanson confirmed that Sept. 30, which is recog nized across the country as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also often referred to as Orange Shirt Day, will not be made an official statutory holiday in the province this year, but will instead be “recognized” as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Indigenous leaders and residential school surviv ors in Manitoba have been asking the province to make the day a stat holiday for more than a year.

Although neither Sept. 19 or Sept. 30 have actual ly been named statutory holidays, Ketchum said she was disappointed seeing the speed at which decisions were made for the day of the queen’s funeral, and the delays that have continued in making Orange Shirt Day a holiday.

“Residential schools were a historical event in Can ada and very much here in Manitoba,” Ketchum said.

“It happened right here in Canada and it should be remembered, and it should be a day off for people to mourn and to learn.”

She said she also knows the importance of Sept. 30 from her own experiences, as Ketchum said she was just five years old when she was first forced to attend the Cecilia Jeffrey Residential School in Northern Ontario, and she experienced abuse at the hands of some of the adults who were working at that school.

“It’s all very disappoint ing,” Ketchum said.

In an emailed statement sent to the Winnipeg Sun

last week a spokesperson for Manitoba’s Labour Minister Reg Helwer said the timing was not right to have Sept. 30 be named a stat holiday by the end of this month, because of how “complex” making those changes can be at the provincial level.

“Unfortunately, estab lishing statutory days off provincially is much more complex and impactful than establishing them for feder al employees and federally regulated industries,” the email read. “Provincially regulated days cover more than 95 per cent of business es and workers, whereas federal workers and feder ally defaulted industry com prise less than 5 per cent.”

In a second email that was sent to the Sun Sept. 18, a provincial spokesperson defended the province’s ef forts at reconciliation with Indigenous people, and at recognizing the importance of Sept 30.

“Manitoba was among the first few provinces to recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconcilia tion and for the second year in a row now, Manitoba is recognizing Sept. 30 as a critical day for reflection, learning and healing,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added the province is working to wards the goal of eventually making Sept. 30 a statutory holiday in Manitoba.

“The province is act ively consulting Indigen ous leadership, residential school survivors and other stakeholders on how to best proceed in making Sept. 30 a provincial statutory holi day,” the spokesperson said.

— Dave Baxter is a Lo cal Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Lo cal Journalism Initiative is funded by the government of Canada.

Province puts out calls for contractors to fix, maintain three former mine sites

BY ERIC WESTHAVER FLIN FLON REMINDER

Saskatchewan’s environ ment ministry is continuing work to remediate three long-abandoned mines in areas near Creighton.

Work at the Newcor, Vista and Western Nuclear mine sites is moving ahead, with requests for proposals issued recently for work on all three sites.

“Remediation of New cor, Vista and Western Nuclear mine sites in the Creighton area is part of a Ministry of Environment program to clean up aban doned, non-uranium mines in northern Saskatchewan,” reads a statement about the projects provided by a ministry spokesperson to

Heritage North Museum, Inc. Call for Proposals for Snow Removal Winter 2022-23

Heritage North Museum is requesting proposals for snow clearing services. This includes: plowing and salting of all paved areas (parking lot and back door lane), entrances, and all walkways to permit the safe access and movement of staff/general public if snowfall of 3cm/1inch or more occurs.

Contract Period: This agreement shall become effective on October 15, 2022 and shall terminate on April 30, 2023.

Proposals are to indicate cost for entire season based on above information.

Specifications of snow removal equipment are to be supplied with proposals.

All applicants must provide a copy of their liability insurance and be in good standing with WCB.

For scope of services information and/or to direct proposals by 4:00 pm, Friday, October 7, 2022 contact:

Heritage North Museum

Crystal Brown – Executive Director 162 Princeton Dr. Thompson, MB, Canada R8N 2A4

Telephone: (204) 677-2216 E-mail: hnmuseum@mymts.net

them Flin Flon Reminder

“These are three of six sites identified and pri oritised based on risk as sessments. Progress con tinues on all three sites in the Creighton area.”

Work at the Newcor mine site, located on the Douglas Lake road about two kilometres away from Creighton, wrapped up last fall. That work included moving on-site mine waste into three specifically en gineered areas, planting native bushes and grass and installing a new concrete cover on the opening to the old mine shaft.

According to the spokes person, an inspection of the site that took place in June showed that grass seeded at the site was starting to grow, but erosion and pool ing surface water at the site will need further work.

As a result, the min istry put out a request for proposals for a company to work on the site, per forming long-term main tenance and monitoring. The province expects to pick a contractor this month, estimating that the work will have to take place for at least a decade at the site.

“The contractor will monitor groundwater con ditions, complete vegeta tion surveys and reseed as needed. They will inspect for erosion and recommend repairs, as well as inspect the cover systems,” said the spokesperson.

The ministry is also asking for people to avoid using motor vehicles off the road at the site, espe

cially where grass has been planted, in an effort to en sure the grass grows prop erly and to avoid erosion.

For the Vista mine, locat ed a few kilometres further down the Douglas Lake road, assessment work was done by SNC-Lavalin on the site last summer, end ing with a risk assessment and a corrective action plan for the site.

“The plan included rec ommended options for site remediation, including covering contaminated ma terials, treating and dewa tering ponds, recontouring the site, addressing mine openings and demolishing old foundation ruins,” said the ministry spokesperson.

Another SNC-Lavalin report came for the West ern Nuclear mine site, lo cated on the western shore of Hanson Lake about 90 kilometres west of Creigh ton. The company was com missioned by the ministry to develop another plan, similar to the Vista one, for the site in spring 2021.

As a result of the two re ports, the ministry posted requests for proposals for contractors to prepare final action plans for both mine sites. That call for propos als ended Sept. 7 and no successful contractors have yet been named.

“The work will include engaging with local stake holders on final plans, preparing engineered specifications for select ed options, and finalizing costs to complete the work at both sites in the coming years,” reads the spokes person’s statement.

Thompson Citizen ohoto courtesy of QMPOINTS LP An aerial photo shows work at the Newcor mine site near Creighton in 2021.

Trudeau says RCMP could receive ‘additional resources’ to combat harassment against journalists. Advocates argue increased funds not the solution

BY NATASHA BULOWSKI LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, CANADA’S NATIONAL OBSERVER

The RCMP could receive more federal funds to com bat the increasing harass ment and threats directed at Canadian journalists, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in response to a recent call for action. But more dollars for policing won’t address the problem, journalists and targeted individuals say.

Trudeau’s comments came in response to an open let ter sent by 50 news organ izations and press freedom groups, including Canada’s National Observer and the Canadian Association of Journalists. The letter urged policymakers and police to take immediate steps to address several recently re ported threats and work with organizations to combat the abuse of journalists.

In an official response dated Sept. 5, Trudeau con demned the ongoing online hate and harassment cam paigns targeting journalists — most often women, In digenous Peoples, members of the 2SLGBTQI+ com munity and journalists of col our — and acknowledged the “chilling effect” these threats have on democracy.

Trudeau’s formal response did not put a number on the “additional funds” that could come. The RCMP’s annual budget is roughly $4.2 billion.

“A free and independent press is the backbone of a strong democracy, and any

attempts to undermine that need to be denounced by leaders across the board,” his letter reads.

The letter that prompted Trudeau’s response em phasized the need to view threats towards journalists as a co-ordinated pattern, not isolated incidents, and to take a co-operative approach across police forces. This pat tern is illustrated by the use of language commonly used by domestic extremist groups in different threatening emails and the backlash journalists are facing for showing soli darity with those targeted, the organizations wrote.

While CAJ president Brent Jolly appreciates Trudeau’s acknowledgment of the problem, he says increasing RCMP funding is “not some thing that we were advocat ing for.”

“What we had asked for was operational effective ness and for the various law enforcement agencies, not just the RCMP but others, to ensure that they’re deploying the resources that they have in an effective way and are taking these reports very seriously,” Jolly told Can ada’s National Observer in an interview.

Jolly said he also would have liked to see more spe cifics on the federal govern ment’s future plans, instead of rehashing what has already been done.

“Clearly, that hasn’t been adequate in order to address the problem because it con tinues to get worse,” he said.

Police are very well re sourced, but it took a letter backed by the Hill Times, Global News and the Toronto Star for Ottawa and Toronto police to take a co-ordinated approach to threats against Global News reporter Rachel Gilmore, Toronto Star pod cast co-host and producer Saba Eitizaz, and Erica Ifill, a columnist with the Hill Times and co-host of the Bad + Bitchy Podcast, said Ifill in an interview with Canada’s National Observer.

“The police don’t have a resource problem. They have a resource allocation prob lem,” said Ifill.

“I am paying taxes for the police for a response that they’re not giving me, which I feel is not my tax dollars be ing spent properly… We are financing the inadequacies of the police.”

She questions why police are the first line of defence in these cases. For example, there are actions newsrooms can take without police in volvement, like communicat ing directly with Twitter and other platforms to report and crack down on troll accounts. When it’s necessary to file a report, newsrooms need to unequivocally support their employees, she said. In Ifill’s case, Hill Times managing editor Kate Malloy offered to file a police report with her, acting as a “buffer” when interacting with an institution that has a well-documented history of discrimination against racialized people.

Ifill maintains this should

be standard practice in every newsroom. Community re sponses are also key to sup porting journalists and tar gets of online hate, she said. Support in the form of things like food or safe housing is invaluable, and Ifill said she had to lean on her commun ity of friends for this kind of support.

“When it comes to sec urity, again, security is not just about hiring people with guns,” she said. “Security is about [community care].”

Although the open letter focused on the inadequate police response and the risk a co-ordinated harassment campaign poses to democ racy, “we cannot rely on the police to protect freedom of expression in this country,” said Nora Loreto, a Que bec-based writer, activist and former columnist at Canada’s National Observer

“Policing has never been the solution to this stuff,” said Loreto, who regularly speaks about the far-right and social movement organizing.

“The police have demon strated that … they’re incap able or unwilling to protect freedom of speech of jour nalists because journalists are often the ones who are criticizing the state. If we’re not criticizing the state, we might be criticizing police themselves,” she said. “These are sensitive institutions that are not going to be able to come to our defence when we’re also criticizing them at the same time.”

On Sept. 1, Trudeau told

the media the government will look at the idea that the rise in threats and harass ment is “part of a systemic approach to weaken our

democracy, to intimidate those who are there to hold to account.”

Thompson Ski Club

Mystery Mountain Winter Park AGM

Wednesday, October 5

6:30 - 7:30 pm

Mary Fenske Boardroom

—with files from the Can adian Press support our Thompson Golf Club Championship. Golf Club Pro Shop

Higher learning

BY MAGGIE MACINTOSH LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Shaundria Yellow back travelled almost 600 kilometres by plane — a 90-minute flight via Per imeter Aviation — to get to class for the first day of Grade 12.

The 17-year-old has be come accustomed to the lengthy back-to-school commute since September 2020; it was then she made the difficult decision to leave God’s River and the close-knit community she grew up in to complete the latter years of high school.

“I get homesick pretty often. Not as much as I did (when I first moved), but I still get homesick — most ly for my parents because they’re awesome people and who wouldn’t miss their parents?” said Shaundria, who just started her final year at Maples Collegiate in Winnipeg.

Not unlike her four older siblings, most of Shaun dria’s 22 classmates chose to stay put with a Grade 9 education, the highest level offered on the remote reserve.

Last year, around 2,300 First Nation students who ordinarily live on reserves in Manitoba attended a provincial school to study grades 9, 10, 11 or 12.

Some teenagers are spon sored to study specialty programs in urban centres, including Thompson, River ton and Winnipeg. Others, such as Shaundria, do not have access to a basic K-12 education program at home.

As public school classes get underway amid a new school year, they all must adapt to new routines in unfamiliar places with lim ited support systems.

“It’s 2022. Canada is theoretically a first world country, yet we’re still re quiring kids from northern and isolated communities to leave their home, trav el hundreds of miles … to go live with strangers and attend a high school in a strange city where they don’t know anybody,” said Karen Froman, a historian who teaches Indigenous history at the University of Winnipeg.

“We’re still requiring these kids to leave home and come under the care and control of non-Indigenous people who are complete strangers to them, just like in the residential schools.”

The federal government needs to “step up” and provide high school educa tion on every reserve, said Froman, who is a member of Six Nations of the Grand River and is of mixed Mo hawk and Irish-English-

Dutch ancestry. As far as the assistant professor is concerned, the arrangement places “a really unreasonable burden” on students who can be as young as 13 and pressures them to conform to white, urban standards.

When Shaundria first ar rived in Winnipeg at age 15, the sheer number of people and the culture shock were overwhelming.

Maples’s student popu lation is approximately 1,600. That’s roughly three times the size of Manto Sipi First Nation, located along the northern shores of God’s Lake in northeastern Manitoba.

What she misses most is fishing, hunting and being on the lake on a regular basis. But Shaundria said she has kept forcing herself to pack her bags and make the move, determined to cross the stage with a dip loma in 2023.

“I have a lot of nieces and nephews, and they don’t have a role model, so I try to be that,” she said.

Throughout the school year, Grade 12 student Deni Sinclair said she misses outings to the beach with her mother and siblings in Berens River First Nation, a five-hour drive north of her apartment in the city.

Fifteen-year-old Kingsley Yellowback said he feels the absence of the scenery on his reserve in God’s Riv er while he studies in the Manitoba capital.

Shaylene Bruce, 17, said she is grateful for her new found independence and opportunities in the city, al though she cannot help but feel she is being left out of major events at home.

“The worst part is leav ing your family, feeling like you’re missing out on the growth of your little siblings, your nieces and nephews. It sucks watch ing from a distance,” said the Grade 12 student, who is a member of Poplar River First Nation.

Poplar River is slated to open a complete high school later in autumn. It did not launch in time for Shaylene’s final year, so she boarded an hour-and-10minute plane ride to Win nipeg earlier this month.

Shaylene dropped out of Maples part-way through her first year in the city, cit ing the toll of isolation — compounded by COVID-19 restrictions on gathering and in-person schooling — on her mental health. She was living with a dis tant family member at the time and struggling with mathematics.

“I felt like I was behind everyone else when I came

here,” she said.

Teacher shortages, high educator turnover rates, trusting relationships be tween educators and learn ers, limited funding and family challenges are all factors that affect the qual ity of education in isolated communities.

From academic gaps to racism to starting high school in Grade 10, one year after orientation sessions typically occur and friend groups begin to form, there are countless challenges northern students face when they have to move for high school, said Ryan Cook, one of the vice-principals at Maples.

“When an Indigenous student walks through the building and I see them, I don’t necessarily always see them for who they are personally,” said Cook, a Cree Winnipegger whose family hails from Misi pawistik First Nation and Matheson Island.

“I see them for what has been handed to them and what types of challenges they face in their life. I start to see things on a bigger pic ture and I understand there needs to be specific things for them and there needs to be more programming for them because this coun try has put them at such a disadvantage.”

Those disadvantages can make students vulnerable, he said, adding awareness about street smarts and gang recruitment is important when learners arrive.

Maples runs field trips and other activities tar geted towards Indigenous students to build a sense of community, but the educa tor said not every student wants to participate and there could always be more offerings.

Seven Oaks School Div ision’s Wayfinders, a com munity-based mentorship and outreach program, pro vides tutoring services and other resources.

For members of Berens River, the community’s student services office or ganizes regular gatherings for teenagers in the city so they can all catch up, given teenagers are spread out at different high schools.

Sarah Disbrowe, private home placement and high school counsellor, wants to start running beading and drum-making workshops. Disbrowe is in charge of finding home placements for Berens River students — “a big thing that we battle with every year,” facilitat ing criminal record checks and communicating with all parties.

Host households receive $600 per month while stu

dents are given $177.65, including a fee to cover a monthly bus pass.

Disbrowe moved to the city with her eldest child so her daughter could complete high school here with her support several years ago. The mother of four is cur rently in Winnipeg with her two eldest children, Tianna and Tyvon, and her husband is home with their youngest kids.

“I would like all my family back together,” she said. Whether or not it af fects her job, Disbrowe said she would love to see her home community start to offer Grade 12.

In nearby Bloodvein First Nation, students, educators and caregivers are celebrat ing an expansion to offer Grade 10 this year — a small, but critical step to keep families together longer.

Miskooseepi School prin cipal Irene Rupp said they do not have the capacity to host all grades, but the latest addition is a welcome one that parents have long requested.

“There are kids who’ve gone to Grade 10 in the city and were experiencing a lot of culture shock. They were failing. They were not emotionally stable to do the work that was given to them over there. There was not much support for them,” Rupp said, adding some students got involved in drugs and gangs to fit in, in the past.

Given Ojibwa is often lo cal students’ first language, many face challenges learn ing how to read and write fluently in English at a sen ior level, noted the longtime educator, who was born and raised in Bloodvein and left to complete high school at Assiniboia Residential School when she was a teen.

All of these challenges are long-standing and, in part, why Bloodvein leaders partnered with colleagues across the Southeast Tribal Council to create a unique educational campus in Winnipeg’s Fairfield Park in 1995-96.

“The whole purpose of creating Southeast Col legiate was to have a high school for our Indigenous students to attend, run by Indigenous organizations, and to employ Indigenous people,” said Sheryl Mc Corrister, executive director and principal of the Grade 10-12 facility.

Before the turn of the century, the highest level of education students every where from Brokenhead Ojibway Nation to Pop lar River could achieve at home was Grade 9. While high schools have since

been built in many of the Cree, Oji-Cree and Ojibwa communities, gaps remain and the school continues to welcome nearly 150 pupils annually.

Ninety-three per cent of final-year students obtained their high school diploma in 2021-22. The five-year average is 78 per cent, owing to a significant drop in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

McCorrister attributes the success to the school’s holistic approach, includ ing thrice-daily meals, recreation programming, homework club, land-based learning and caring staff.

Upon their arrival, each student participates in an orientation session to learn about public transit use and safety in urban centres. Every pupil receives an individualized graduation plan. Learners are awarded for regular attendance and making the “principal’s honour roll” — a distinction given to anyone who earns an average of 80 per cent or above — on a monthly basis.

The executive director said she constantly reminds teenagers how strong they are for leaving home at such a young age to pursue their schooling and encourages them “to go above and beyond.”

“We are always under the microscope, as Indigenous people,” she said, adding she is frank with students about the importance of positive behaviour on and off school grounds.

Manitoba’s four-year graduation rate was 83 per cent in 2021. Among In digenous students, it was 51 per cent, or 40 percent age points lower than the non-Indigenous average.

The ongoing requirement to leave home to attain a high school diploma is one of the factors that con tinues to drive that gap, said Froman, of the U of W.

The Manitoba First Na tions Education Resource Centre opened Wapaskwa Virtual Collegiate in 2010 to run remote programs to fill the gap. However, reliable internet access, classroom space and skilled staff are all essential for a com munity to offer the option locally.

Given it is unlikely this annual migration of students will change in the short term, Froman said all par ties — bands, public schools and the federal government — should collaborate to im prove mental health support services for these students and provide 24-7 access to counselling.

The academic noted that in order to acknowledge the

countless challenges both on-reserve and off-reserve Indigenous students face in completing their edu cation, visible and public recognition of their success is critical.

“Not only for the students who are graduating, but for the students who are coming behind them. The younger students can look at these older students as role mod els,” said the academic, not ing special stoles and other celebrations instill pride in communities and break down negative stereotypes.

Cook said he is in the process of brainstorming ways to celebrate graduates at Maples and across Sev en Oaks, in addition to the division’s annual graduation powwow. In the past, stu dents have added beading designs to their caps and put eagle feathers in them.

If Shaundria was given the option to graduate in God’s River with the same quality of education offered in Winnipeg, she said she would have taken it.

The 17-year-old said learning her traditional language is incredibly im portant and there are few opportunities to study and practise Cree in Winnipeg.

“There’s still a lot I want to learn about my culture and all the fishing places, all the camping places and hunting spots,” she said. “There’s still a lot I have yet to learn.”

The executive director of the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Cen tre said every community should have a high school if they want one, according to the treaties.

Charles Cochrane said he considers himself and rela tives fortunate, because Ebb and Flow First Nation offers up to Grade 12.

“As a parent and as a grandparent, I cannot comprehend sending my 13-, 14-, 15-year-old child basically on their own to go live with maybe family, or maybe not. In some cases, it’s actually strangers. I wouldn’t do it,” he said.

In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for Indigen ous Services Canada said all students from a Mani toba First Nations have ac cess to secondary studies, either at home or in a town or municipality throughout the province.

“Indigenous Services Canada supports First Na tions control of First Na tions education,” wrote Jennifer Cooper. “(Ottawa) provides funding directly to First Nations and designated First Nations school author ities to support elementary and secondary education for First Nations students.”