Niki Ashton

A chief of a northern Manitoba First Nation is condemning a decade-long nursing staffing shortage in northern and remote communities as “systemic racism.”

Niki Ashton, MP for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski in Northern Manitoba, has paid back her expenses from a Quebec trip over the Christmas holidays in 2022 profiled in a CBC News article released two weeks ago.

Ottawa continues to underinvest in disaster preparedness and mitigation on First Nations despite ballooning recovery costs from the worst wildfire season on record, according to documents shared with Canada’s National Observer.

As the ash settles on Canada’s record wildfire season, “business as usual from the federal government is not going to cut it,” NDP MP Niki Ashton told Canada’s National Observer.

In the wake of intense international criticism, ReconAfrica went to Global Affairs Canada for help. Ambassador Bob Rae dipped into his Rolodex next.

The NDP is calling on the federal government to invest in emergency preparedness for Indigenous communities in the midst of a devastating wildfire season.

NDP MP Niki Ashton, alongside other climate advocates, is urging the country’s largest stock exchange to suspend the listing of a Vancouver-based oil and gas company drilling in an ecologically sensitive area.

On grocery store shelves in Iqaluit, Nunavut, it is hard to find enough lettuce for a family-sized salad for less than 10 bucks. In more remote parts of the northern territory, basic items like an eight-pack of juice — or a handful of fresh veggies — can go for nearly $40. 

The federal government is spending 3.5 times more responding to climate emergencies in remote Indigenous communities than preventing them, an auditor general report found.

NDP agriculture critic Alistair MacGregor sponsored the motion Thursday morning. It followed his request for a study of inflation in the food supply chain and the profits of large grocery stores, a motion passed by the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food Wednesday evening. 

The NDP and Unifor are concerned a passenger rail service connecting Toronto and Quebec City could become privatized following a federal announcement last week.

Last year, Canadians were battered by wildfires, heat waves and floods, but a new private member’s bill aims to help communities weather the climate crisis.

If there has to be another election in the next few years, let’s hope it’s one that’s defined by some new faces — and new voices, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

The federal Liberal government mulled the possibility of barring Canadians who travelled abroad from receiving a sick leave benefit aimed at those who must quarantine due to COVID-19 on Sunday, January 3, 2021, amid fresh admissions of foreign excursions from a growing list of politicians and a national case count that surpassed 600,000.

A number of politicians have admitted to leaving the country over the December holiday period, even as their constituents adhered to public health guidance meant to curb the spread of COVID-19 and hunkered down at home.