Local Journalism Initiative

Source: Local Journalism Initiative


Council moves ahead on former hospital site amid pushback over pace

Niagara-on-the-Lake council is moving ahead with the recommended next steps for the former hospital on Wellington Street, but not without some debate over whether the town is moving either carefully or too slowly on deciding what to do with the old building — particularly, some say, with an election coming down the pike later this […]

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Updated testing finds no PCBs in stormwater pond on former St. Catharines GM site, but it might not be a ‘risk-free facility’

Amid intense public scrutiny of the contaminated former General Motors site in St. Catharines, including concerns about an offline filtration system meant to eliminate toxic chemicals from stormwater runoff, the property owner has ordered further lab testing on the northern portion of the 55-acre property, the City has shared.  In a post on the City […]

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Free-to-use Calgary startup Foqos aims to build healthy phone habits

If creating boundaries between you and your smartphone is on the list of New Year’s resolutions, a Calgary software developer might be able to offer support. In late 2024, Ali Waseem felt stuck with the endless options and distractions social media presents. Now, one year later, his idea has helped more than 50,000 people kick […]

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Iqaluit lawyer takes Nunavut’s legal services board to court

Iqaluit lawyer Alison Crowe is taking the Legal Services Board of Nunavut to court after the board denied her application to join its criminal defence panel. Crowe is asking a judge to order the board, which is responsible for providing legal aid services in Nunavut, to add her to the panel, which is the board’s […]

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REDACTED: City of Brampton’s $4-billion electric bus deal leaves taxpayers completely in the dark

$245 for 1,799 pages: 1,622 completely redacted—words covered by large blocks of black to hide them from the public. The Pointer is trying to uncover the details behind a $4-billion deal, the largest of its kind in the municipality’s history, between the City of Brampton and a foreign company that not many in Ontario have […]

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Manitoba shelves plans for teacher exchange program

The Manitoba government has shelved plans to organize teacher exchanges to address workforce shortages and give urban and northern professionals an opportunity to learn from one another. The now-defunct teacher interchange committee was created to bring together bureaucrats, school leaders from Winnipeg and northern Manitoba and representatives from Gakino’amaage: Teach for Canada in 2024-25. Gakino’amaage, […]

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Domestic violence convictions falling in Nunavut, but explanation lacking

Domestic violence charges in Nunavut have been leading to fewer and fewer guilty verdicts, with 2023 seeing the lowest number of intimate partner violence convictions since 2011, Statistics Canada data shows. Only 29 per cent of domestic violence cases in the territory resulted in a guilty verdict in 2023, the most recent year for available […]

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‘Institutional failure’: MUNL student, faculty unions respond to Delores Mullings’ departure

The fallout continues at Memorial University, where the institution’s first vice provost of equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism  (EDI-AR) has left the role before the end of the five-year term. Memorial University Students’ Union (MUNSU) Director of Campaigns  Rana Abuidris says the departure of Delores Mullings and the broad  claims Mullings laid out in an […]

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RCAF wants more than 1,200 security personnel to protect F-35s, other planes

The Royal Canadian Air Force wants to hire more than a thousand new security personnel over the next five years at bases across the country — just as it brings its new F-35 stealth fighter jets into service. Internal documents from spring 2025, obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access-to-Information law, show the Air […]

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Parks Canada eyed boat-ban pros and cons

A Parks Canada document shows that staff weighed pros and cons — including a legal threat from Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation — before deciding to ban motorboats from Clear Lake last May. A briefing document was prepared for Thomas Sheldon, the acting superintendent of Riding Mountain National Park at the time, requesting his decision before […]

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What to know as Trump targets child care and social service funding to 5 states led by Democrats

President Donald Trump’s administration has told states that it is restricting some social safety net funds that cover services including child care subsidies, cash assistance and job training for low-income families with children. The administration says the moves are designed to root out fraud as a result of reported problems, but five Democratic-led states are […]

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‘There’s no heat, no hot water’: Tense exchange between Brampton councillor and corporate landlord underscores the plight of city’s renters

On December 10, Brampton Councillor Pat Fortini walked into the apartment building at 507 Balmoral Drive. He was disgusted by what he saw. He shared his experience with his fellow councillors during a meeting the next day, and confronted the representative of the building owner standing before him in the council chamber. “I was there […]

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