B.C. First Nations declare state of emergency over opioid crisis and mental health

FREDERICTON – A look at Susan Holt, leader of the Liberal Party of New Brunswick.

Born: April 22, 1977.

Early years: Raised in Fredericton, she attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., and then spent a year in Toronto before moving abroad for three years, spending time in Australia and India.

Education: Bachelor of arts in economics and a bachelor of science in chemistry from Queen’s University.

Family: Lives in Fredericton with her husband Jon Holt and three young daughters.

Before politics: CEO of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, CEO of the New Brunswick Business Council, civil servant, business lobbyist, advocate, consultant and executive with an IT service company that trains and employs Indigenous people.

Politics: Worked as an adviser to former Liberal premier Brian Gallant. Won the leadership of the New provincial Liberal party in August 2022 and was elected to the legislature in April 2023.

Quote: “It’s daunting when you think about the challenges that we’re facing in health, and we’ve brought together a team that can tackle those challenges.” — Susan Holt on Sept. 8, 2024, introducing her party’s platform on health care.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

WINNIPEG – A Manitoba court is being asked to declare Lake Winnipeg a person with Constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of person.

The contention is contained in a lawsuit filed by the province’s Southern Chiefs Organization, which hopes to use the lawsuit to force the government to hold public hearings on Manitoba Hydro’s licence renewal to continue regulating the lake’s waters for power generation.

The lawsuit says Lake Winnipeg, one of the world’s largest, has a spirit, is alive and is suffering.

It cites declines in the lake’s fish, wildlife and vegetation, as well as problems with algae, E. coli bacteria and invasive species.

The lawsuit blames those problems on Manitoba Hydro’s manipulation of water levels, which reverses natural flows and prevents the lake from flushing itself clean.

No statements of defence have been filed.

The lawsuit is latest attempt to establish rights for natural bodies.

The Innu First Nation in Quebec has declared personhood for the Magpie River and Alberta’s Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has sought the same for the Athabasca River.

Neither claim has been tested in court.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba said Thursday “there’s no animosity” toward the organization following an offseason in which his name was prominently mentioned in trade rumors.

“It’s part of the business of hockey,” Trouba said following the first day of training camp for the reigning Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers.

According to reports, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury had negotiated a trade that would send New York’s captain to Detroit in late June. The trade fell apart, however, when Trouba submitted his 15-team no-trade list to the Rangers on June 30 and included the Red Wings on it.

“Obviously, had the no-move that turned into the partial no-trade,” said Trouba, whom New York acquired in a trade with Winnipeg in June 2019 and signed to a seven-year, $56 million contract one month later. “That’s life, contracts, hockey business, whatever you want to call it.

“I knew that was coming that summer. It’s not by surprise. It was obviously something that was negotiated at the time.”

The 30-year-old’s insistence that his relationship with Drury is fine echoes what the executive said in a pre-training camp conference call with reporters.

“Jacob and I talk all the time as GM and captain should,” Drury said. “We’ve had a number of different conversations over the course of the summer on a lot of different things. He is very clear as to where he stands with me and what I think of him as a player and as a leader.”

Still, Trouba realizes that the 2024-25 season is likely the last for the current iteration of the Original Six franchise. The Rangers have qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the last three seasons, and have reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 and 2024. Following last spring’s six-game series loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, Drury wondered aloud in a conference call with reporters if the Rangers’ core players could lead the franchise to a Stanley Cup.

“(It’s) an opportunity that we have in front of us that in all likelihood will probably be the last crack for this core,” Trouba said. “I don’t think that’s a secret by any means. (A) group that’s kind of grown together, spent some years together here, and there’s something we want to accomplish.”

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