SHEGUIANDAH FIRST NATION—Today (Wednesday) will mark 42 days of protest for those on the picket line on the Sheguaindah First Nation who say they will remain until the chief, Orville Aguonie, tenders his resignation. Last Wednesday, August 29 a full meeting of chief and council was to be held at the band office council chambers. The week before, the two protesting councillors (who call themselves MECS, Majo ...

MANITOULIN—A delegation from the Manitoulin Municipal Association (MMA) met with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) annual meeting last week in regards to concerns it has to the implementation of the 1990 land claim agreement with First Nations—notably with taxation and the downloading of costs on municipalities. “We met with Kathleen Wynne, m ...

SHEGUIANDAH FIRST NATION—Today, Wednesday, August 22, marks day 30 of the protest on the Sheguiandah First Nation which has the community at odds over the protestors’ main goal—to see the resignation of Chief Orville Aguonie. The protestors first began their campaign one month ago to bring to light alleged issues of nepotism, criminal charges against the chief and what Councillors Derek Assiniwe and Kevin M ...

To the Expositor: The updating of the Official Plan for land use and zoning has been recently launched by the Manitoulin Planning Board. There has been some discussion about the involvement of the First Nations in developing the new Official Plan. The current Official Plan states that attempts were previously made to include the First Nations within Manitoulin District into the planning process back in 1979 ...

M'CHIGEENG--An officer from the United Chiefs and Council Manitoulin (UCCM) Anishnaabe Police is facing a charge of assault after a 2010 domestic assault in Mindemoya. The Ontario Provincial Police began an investigation into the assault on May 5, 2012. According to a press release from the police, the accused was not on duty at the time of the alleged assault. The name of the accused was not released to pr ...

To the Expositor: Holding public office in a First Nation community can indeed be a precarious position for any First Nation leader. The position of United Chiefs and Councils of Mnidoo Mnising (UCCMM) Tribal Chair, currently being held by Franklin Paibomsai, is no exception. He is being held to the same scrutiny, and indeed praise, as the case may be, as any other leader, native or non-native. I am aware t ...

by Alicia McCutcheon OTTAWA—Union of Ontario Indians Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee said he is not deterred by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s “shenanigans”—cutting down his Tuesday meeting at the historical Crown-First Nations gathering to “a couple of hours”—and nor should the rest of the chiefs be. The chiefs learned Monday at a gathering of the Assembly of First Nations that the Prime Minister wou ...

AUNDECK OMNI KANING—The McLean’s wind farm project proposed by the Northland Power Inc. (NPI) was a major issue on the agenda of the newly elected chief and council of Aundeck Omni Kaning (AOK) First Nation’s annual planning session. As a result, Chief Patsy Corbiere told The Expositor on Monday that her community will be sending a request for a delay in the Ministry of Environment’s (MOE) 60-day public rev ...

Tom Sasvari The Recorder MANITOULIN—Not only did the number of deer harvested during this past week’s annual deer gun hunt on Manitoulin Island decrease significantly, the number of hunting violation charges laid by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) also went down dramatically. “The hunt was a little slower this year as there were not as many hunters and the number of charges are down,” said MNR Conse ...

M’CHIGEENG—A M’Chigeeng man has been charged in relation to the death of a M’Chigeeng woman this past summer. On July 3, United Chiefs and Council of Manitoulin (UCCM) Anishnaabe Police responded to a call from the Mindemoya branch of the Manitoulin Health Centre. A 22-year-old woman, Trista Panamick, was pronounced dead as a result of a likely methadone overdose. As a result of their investigation, UCCM of ...