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Assembly of First Nations chiefs on Thursday unanimously voted against the federal government’s marquee gun-control legislation over concerns about last-minute amendments, saying they would put treaty rights at risk with the criminalization of guns First Nations people commonly use for hunting.
Their vote on the final day of their annual winter meeting adds to mounting pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to back down from surprise changes in the bill introduced late in the parliamentary process, report Marsha McLeod and Marieke Walsh. The government introduced a permanent definition for all assault-style weapons that would be automatically prohibited and a 307-page list of guns that stipulates which firearms would be banned and where there would be exceptions.
AFN National Chief, RoseAnne Archibald, speaks during the assembly's meeting in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
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Coroner’s jury calls for better cultural training after Cree teen’s death
A coroner’s jury has recommended British Columbia stop housing Indigenous foster children in group homes as soon as possible and do more to ensure the care they get is professional and sensitive to their cultures and histories.
The five jurors spent eight days hearing frequently shocking testimony from the adults responsible for varying degrees of Cree foster teen Traevon Desjarlais-Chalifoux’s care before he killed himself in his Abbotsford, B.C., group home on Sept. 13, 2020. Many of the jurors’ recommendations centred on the clear need for teens like him to receive much more care specific to their Indigenous cultures, something he got little of from the workers at Rees Family Services Inc., which operated his group home and still has a handful of others in the Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver.
- From the archives: Who failed Traevon? A Cree teen’s death in an Indigenous agency’s group home points to a ‘broken’ system
WNBA star Brittney Griner released as part of prisoner swap with Russia
WNBA star Brittney Griner arrived in the U.S. Friday after she was freed from Russian detention Thursday in a high-profile prisoner exchange that involved notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
The deal secured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad, but did not include another American, Paul Whelan, who the U.S. has said has been jailed for nearly four years over “sham espionage” charges.
- Explainer: Who is Viktor Bout, the ‘Merchant of Death’ arms dealer Russia swapped for Brittney Griner?
Inside the upheaval at the National Gallery of Canada
A few days after the dismissal of four senior staff members at the National Gallery of Canada in mid-November, employees trudged into an all-hands virtual meeting, where its interim director and chief executive Angela Cassie only glancingly acknowledged the terminations, saying “change is never easy.”
In the online meeting, questions started to pile up in a chat window that was visible to the entire group. How many more positions would be made redundant? How did the people who had just been let go – including the Audain senior curator of Indigenous art – not “align” with the gallery’s focus on inclusion and Indigenous ways?
The issues at the National Gallery were building before the recent dismissals, reports Shannon Proudfoot. Interviews with 10 donors and current and former staff members reveal resentment and disaffection among employees have been simmering ever since Sasha Suda, Cassie’s predecessor, became the gallery’s new director and CEO in 2019.
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Also on our radar
BoC deputy signals end is near on rate hikes: After seven consecutive rate hikes, the central bank could hit pause as early as next month as it shifts to a more “data-dependent” approach to monetary policy, Sharon Kozicki said on Thursday.
Rwandan-backed militia killed 131 villagers in Congo massacre, UN says: The M23 insurgents were also responsible for the abduction and rape of dozens of others and the destruction of houses in two captured villages, the UN investigation found.
Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary release causes media frenzy: Thursday’s release of the first episodes from the documentary series prompted live coverage by most major media outlets in Britain, including from the BBC, which had a live blog with blow-by-blow commentary as reporters pored over each episode.
Celine Dion diagnosed with rare neurological condition: The Quebec-born singer announced that she has “stiff person syndrome,” which is characterized by sudden severe muscle spasms. Dion says it affects “every aspect” of her life and ability to use her vocal cords the way she’s used to.
Morning markets
Global stocks set for weekly loss: World stocks rose on Friday on expectations China’s economy would strengthen as COVID-19 curbs ease, but stocks were heading for a 2-per-cent weekly loss in nervy markets ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week. Just after 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.14 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.29 per cent and 0.06 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei ended up 1.18 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 2.32 per cent. New York futures were positive. The Canadian dollar was lower at 73.37 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Does soccer really unite the world? Of course not
“One of the ironies of modern football is that national teams whip up passions in a kind of carnivalesque performance of patriotic partisanship. But the players themselves are mostly colleagues in club teams all over Europe who usually speak several languages and are often close friends off the field, making them unsuitable avatars for this type of chauvinism. They are members of an extremely wealthy, truly cosmopolitan elite. So, the football stars are, in a sense, united, even if the World Cup unites no one else.” - Ian Buruma
Today’s editorial cartoon
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
Living better
The 10 best TV shows of 2022, and where to watch them
With hundreds of shows on offer, TV critic John Doyle whittles down the list of this year’s best by putting an emphasis on new material. From The Bear, a darkly comic show about a young chef, to The Staircase, a dramatization of the well-known case of the death of Kathleen Peterson who was found dead at the bottom of a staircase, here’s where to find them now.
Moment in time: Dec. 9, 1956
Five CFL players killed
A mountain climber holds a piece from the airplane wreckage, May, 1957.Supplied
Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 810 left Vancouver this day in 1956 for Calgary. The plane immediately hit inclement weather over the Cascade mountains and turned back for Vancouver after losing one of its four engines. That’s when the DC-4 North Star was lost. It wasn’t until the following May, after five months of searching, that the wreckage was located on Mount Slesse near Chilliwack, B.C. Among the 62 dead were five players returning from the Canadian Football League east-west all-star game (Shrine Game). Calvin Jones was the lone Winnipeg Blue Bomber, while the other four (Mel Becket, Mario DeMarco, Ray Syrnyk and Gordon Sturtridge) were Saskatchewan Roughriders. The numbers of the latter players (40, 55, 56, 73) were retired by the football club, and the DeMarco-Becket Memorial Trophy, donated by the families, continues to recognize the most outstanding lineman in the CFL’s western division. Two other football players were booked on the same flight, but as fate would have it, never got aboard. Edmonton Eskimos star quarterback Jackie Parker had decided to visit family. His teammate, full back Normie Kwong, the future lieutenant-governor of Alberta, had also missed the flight. The crash site is protected today as part of the Mount Slesse Memorial Trail. Bill Waiser
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