Birch Island--Whitefish River First Nation held a traffic slow down today on Highway 6 in front of the community centre from 9 am until noon. Other bands from the surrounding area and Manitoulin Island joined in the education campaign in support of the Idle No More protest. Participants handed out pamphlets in support of the Idle No More protest to cars as they pasted through the peaceful crowd. Whitefish R ...

LITTLE CURRENT—Bill Caesar presented a deputation to council last week on behalf of the residents of White’s Point and the surrounding area regarding the increasing problem that residents are having with their personal water systems and lines due to dropping water levels. Mr. Caesar proposed to council that a municipal water line be run from the town to White’s Point serving approximately 74 homes along the ...

LITTLE CURRENT—After reviewing several letters from downtown Little Current business owners pertaining to incidents involving patients of the Water Street methadone clinic, the Northeast Town sent a letter to the clinic building’s owners, the Robinson Pharmacy Group, informing them that the clinic must stop dispensing methadone within 30 days at that location or the company would be charged with nuisance un ...

To the Expositor: Read the full press release of the MCSEA, explaining why it cancelled the appeal process phase of its opposition to the McLean’s Mountain wind project. These statements stand out to me: serious health harm has already occurred from this project. The turbines are not even turning and people are languishing in debilitating illness: First Nations people, including elders, feel “disrespected” ...

To the Expositor: In the December 8, 2012 edition of the Sudbury Star, reporter Carol Mulligan lists the details of staff layoffs at two St. Joseph’s Health Centre Long Term Care facilities. A day or so later, Ms. Mulligan’s front page headline reads “Scrutiny of nursing homes needed.” Her article told the story of Donald Savoie, who gained an audience with the Ontario Ombudsman to discuss his father’s horr ...

SHEGUIANDAH FIRST NATION—It has been four months since Councillors Derek Assiniwe and Kevin Mishibinijima and fellow protestors packed up their encampment and signs from the roadside of Highway 6 on the Sheguiandah First Nation. For two months in the summer, the councillors protested day in and day out against Chief Orville Aguonie and what they felt was bad leadership of their community. The council of the ...

To the Expositor: There is a story that I vaguely remember from Sunday school. Paraphrased it goes as follows: “Jesus was confronted by a crowd who were about to stone a woman found guilty of adultery. His reaction was to exclaim, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” The crowd quickly dispersed. Perhaps Stephen Harper and his cronies and those who wish to heap criticism on Chief Theresa Spence ...

The chaos thrust upon Ontario’s families last Friday, resulting from the most recent public episode in the feud between the Ontario government and its elementary and secondary teaching professionals, is a clear demonstration of the need for immediate reconciliation. Ontario’s elementary-level teachers had planned a single day of protest for last Friday when they would not be in their classrooms. Adequate no ...

MANITOULIN—Telephone service was temporarily down last Friday across Manitoulin and the North Shore after a Bell Canada fibre-optic line was severed in Lively during construction, prompting communities on the Island to evoke emergency plans as 911 service was down. Service to Manitoulin went down between 9:30 and 10 am and was not restored until 2:30 am on Saturday morning. “When we received notification of ...

To the Expositor: I want to congratulate the protestors for standing up for their rights against the government and it’s about time because this Bill C-45 is just going to destroy everything; the land itself and the rights of people and this will affect everybody, not just the aboriginals, because all of your rights are being taken away as human beings and this Harper government is just abusing his powers. ...