Ontario FirstNations Girl Who Refused Chemo For Traditional Therapy Dies

 Connie Walker, CBC News
Makayla Sault, the 11-year-old Ontario First Nation girl who refused chemotherapy to pursue traditional indigenous medicine and other alternative treatments, has died.

The girl died Monday after suffering a stroke Sunday.

"Surrounded by the love and support of her family, her community and her nation … Makayla completed her course. She is now safely in the arms of Jesus," her family said in a statement published by the Two Row Times.

The girl’s case made national headlines and ignited a debate about the validity of indigenous medicine and the rights of children to choose their own treatment. The Saults are from the New Credit First Nation near Caledonia, Ont.

FirstNations Chiefs call for protests over transparency act

Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger and some of the chiefs that have assembled in Winnipeg for Assembly of First Nations Election in Winnipeg on Tuesday, December 9, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Trevor Hagan

Chinta PuxleyThe Canadian Press
Chiefs at an Assembly of First Nations meeting are calling for the aboriginal community to rise up against the federal government’s transparency law that requires them to disclose their salaries online.

The Conservative government is taking six First Nations in Alberta and Saskatchewan to court to force them to comply with the law. It is also withholding “non-essential” funding from almost 50 others that failed to meet the deadline for disclosure.

The new law requires bands to post audited financial statements, as well as the salaries and expenses of chiefs and councillors, on a public website.

Delbert Wapass, chief of the Thunderchild First Nation in Saskatchewan, represents one of the bands being taken to court. He said his council already shares its financial information with its members. Wapass, who has a masters degree in education, said he earns $65,000 a year.

FirstNations takes government to court over financial transparency law

A group of First Nations protesters hold hands and dance in a circle during a demonstration in Surrey, B.C., in January 2013. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press
The federal government is being taken to court over a law that requires First Nations to make public their financial information.

The Onion Lake Cree Nation, which straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, filed a statement of claim Wednesday in the Edmonton offices of the Federal Court.

Onion Lake began its court case on the same day as the Aboriginal Affairs-imposed deadline for First Nations to post their financial documents on a public website.

"Because of the deadlines and the time frames, we decided enough is enough," Chief Wallace Fox told a news conference in Edmonton.

"On behalf of our people, the Cree people of the Onion Lake Cree Nation, the statement of claim was the last step in a long journey to get the federal government to sit and talk with the nations."

The Conservative government's First Nations Financial Transparency Act required First Nations to post audited financial statements and information about the salaries and expenses of chiefs and councillors on a public website by July 29.

Manitoba taking over FirstNations policing program

A polar bear welcomes you to the town of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

Chinta PuxleyThe Canadian Press
Manitoba says it will fill a void left by the end of a federal band constables program by replacing front-line peace officers on dozens of reserves with better-trained safety officers.

Federal funding for the band constable program runs out in March and Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney has rejected any extension.

Manitoba’s governing NDP has criticized the decision as a “line of attack” on First Nations communities and on Wednesday introduced a bill to fund safety officers with an expanded mandate.

Attorney General James Allum said Ottawa is pulling out of the program but is leaving $1.4 million on the table. Manitoba has already dismissed the cash as insufficient and has decided to match that money and use it to pay the salaries of safety officers whose skills are tailored to the needs of individual First Nations communities.