National library association calls for release of remaining residential school records

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Investigators found the remains of a 77-year-old American man on Wednesday at the scene of a fire that destroyed a hotel in western Newfoundland on the weekend.

Eugene Earl Spoon, a guest at the hotel, was visiting Newfoundland from Kansas. His remains were found Wednesday morning during a search of the debris left behind after the fire tore through the Driftwood Inn in Deer Lake, N.L., on Saturday, the RCMP said in a news release.

“RCMP (Newfoundland and Labrador) extends condolences to the family and friends of the missing man,” the news release said.

Spoon was last seen Friday evening in the community of about 4,800 people in western Newfoundland. The fire broke out early Saturday morning, the day Spoon was reported missing.

Several crews from the area fought the flames for about 16 hours before the final hot spot was put out, and police said Wednesday that investigators are still going through the debris.

Meanwhile, the provincial Progressive Conservative Opposition reiterated its call for a wider review of what happened.

“Serious questions have been raised about the fire, and the people deserve answers,” Tony Wakeham, the party’s leader, said in a news release Wednesday. “A thorough investigation must be conducted to determine the cause and prevent such tragedies in the future.”

The party has said it spoke to people who escaped the burning hotel, and they said alarm and sprinkler systems did not seem to have been activated during the fire. However, Stephen Rowsell, the Deer Lake fire chief, has said there were alarms going off when crews first arrived.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Researchers out of Alaska say some polar bears in the Arctic now face a greater risk of contracting several pathogens that weren’t a threat to the animals decades ago.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One, says the bear population in the Chukchi Sea between Alaska and Siberia doesn’t appear to be harmed by the illnesses, but the findings are among the most rapid changes for such exposures ever reported among polar bears.

The study released on Wednesday says it highlights the need for increased surveillance of the polar bear population, including to see if the pathogens remain in flesh that could be consumed by people.

Researchers compared blood samples taken from the area’s bears from 1987 to 1994 and compared them with samples taken from 2008 to 2017.

The report says they found statistically significant increases in pathogens related to five illnesses, with the highest being a parasite found in many common animals including cattle, goats, wolves and foxes, which jumped from 13.7 per cent exposure to 65 per cent.

Lead author Karyn Rode, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center, says the increase in that parasite may be linked to decreasing sea ice that forces bears to spend more time on land.

“As sea ice loss has occurred, polar bears in the population that we’ve studied specifically have increasingly summered on land, and also females in this population den on land,” she says.

“So, females are spending more time on land than males do, and females had higher exposure to some pathogens that were terrestrially based. So, that sort of does follow the path of: there’s been environmental change, specifically for polar bears, that’s changed their behaviour, that’s changed their exposure.”

Rode says the findings suggest it’s not just polar bears that are being exposed to an increase in pathogens, but also the animals that they eat.

In Arctic communities, she says the polar bear is hunted for its meat.

“I think it just goes along with a lot of other literature that there are changes in pathogen transmission pathways. And these are pathogens that we know can cause disease in wildlife and in humans.”

She says the study emphasizes the need for greater surveillance.

The study looked at whether bears had been exposed to pathogens, she notes, not whether high levels remained in the flesh that could be consumed by people.

“The next step is to try to better understand what is the risk to people who are consuming them,” Rode says.

“People have gotten some of these diseases from other wildlife, so it can happen. We don’t know if polar bears have it in their tissues that’s being consumed in a way that could be transmitted.”

She says that will be the next step to be studied.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

WINNIPEG – The effort to find the remains of two slain First Nations women believed to be in a landfill is on track and excavation in the target area is set to start in early December, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Wednesday.

“I hope that everybody in the province and across the country sees that Manitoba values and honours Indigenous women,” Kinew told reporters as he stood at the Prairie Green Landfill north of Winnipeg.

Kinew also addressed the families of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, who joined him at the site.

“I hope that as you see the progress that’s been brought here today that it brings you some measure of healing,” the premier said.

Preliminary excavation of a four-metre-deep top layer of material — above the area that searchers will initially focus on — is underway, said a government official.

The area is 10 metres deep, but the province said an assessment has been done to determine the amount of waste that needs to be moved.

A building is also being constructed for searchers, a power line to the building has been installed, road access has been built, and hiring interviews for searchers are in progress.

Forensic experts have been working with RCMP and the chief medical examiner’s office to establish a protocol if remains are found.

Police believe the remains of Harris and Myran were sent to the privately run landfill in May 2022. Jeremy Skibicki admitted to killing Harris, Myran and two other Indigenous women and putting their remains in garbage bins.

The remains of Rebecca Contois were found in a garbage bin and in a different landfill. Those of an unidentified woman whom Indigenous grassroots community members have named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, have not been located and police have not said where they are believed to be.

Skibicki was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced earlier this year to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

Several family members and supporters held bundles of tobacco wrapped in red, yellow and brown cloth as they flanked Kinew.

“I think it’s important to acknowledge that there is a lot of work that needs to get done. But for our families, we’re finally seeing that light at the end of the tunnel,” said Cambria Harris, a daughter of Morgan Harris.

She said relatives planned to later lay down the tobacco ties at a healing lodge set up at the landfill — something they do every time they visit.

Betsy Kennedy, acting grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, reiterated the importance of handling the search with the respect, care and diligence the families deserve. It’s a sentiment former grand chief Cathy Merrick advocated for before her death last month.

Kinew also honoured Merrick during the event.

“This search of Prairie Green was something that she held very dear … we dedicate these activities not only to the families that are gathered with us here today, but also to the late grand chief.”

Police and the province’s former Progressive Conservative government had rejected calls to search the landfill, partly because of asbestos and toxic material and as there’s no guarantee the remains will be found.

The Tories took out election campaign ads before last year’s vote that promoted their decision to “stand firm” against a search.

Kinew promised there would be a search if the NDP was elected. Earlier this year, the province committed $20 million to the search, matching a federal contribution.

“The search of the Prairie Green landfill was always feasible. It was always possible. It required political will,” said Kinew.

The premier said the project has been designed to provide the highest environmental standards and protection for the area and ensure the health and safety of all workers.

“I hope we can bring your loved ones home,” Kinew told the families.

“But the most important thing is we’re going to try.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 23, 2024.

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