2 killed in Grand Rapids, Man., trailer fire hours after protest demanded better living conditions

Bobby Ballantyne protested earlier this week demanding better housing conditions on the Misipawistik Cree Nation. His mom and her partner died in a fatal trailer fire Saturday on the reserve and Ballantyne says it was in desperate need of repairs and would have caught fire easily. (Kathy Karol/Facebook)

Couple used oven to heat trailer in need of desperate repairs, deceased’s son says

By Austin Grabish, CBC News, Feb 18, 2018

Hours after he wrapped up a protest for better housing on their First Nation, Bobby Ballantyne awoke to learn his mother and her partner had died in a trailer fire in Grand Rapids, Man. 

Elsipogtog facing overcrowding crisis due to housing shortage

Packed into living rooms and sleeping on sofas, people in Elsipogtog are crammed into two and three-bedroom homes, waiting for more housing to be built. (CBC)

Elders, councillors say First Nation is facing a housing crisis as families are packed into small houses

By Tori Weldon, CBC News, June 20, 2016

People in Elsipogtog are calling for immediate action on what they say is a worsening housing crisis, as many band members live in crowded and deteriorating homes while they wait for the council to assign them a place to live.

Neskantaga First Nation in 3rd year of state of emergency over suicides

Children from Neskantaga First Nation greet Carolyn Bennett, minister of indigenous affairs, at the airport in the northern Ontario community on Friday, april 15, 2016. (Jody Porter/CBC)

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett explores conditions in remote community

By Jody Porter, CBC News, April 16, 2016

The chief of Neskantaga First Nation in northern Ontario says he is not lifting a state of emergency over suicides that was issued after four suicides in  2013 until the root causes of the crisis are addressed.

Chief Wayne Moonias made the remarks on Friday during a visit to his community by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett.

Pikangikum First Nation fire kills 3 children, 6 adults

A three-bedroom house on Pikangikum First Nation in northwestern Ontario burned to the ground Tuesday night. Three children and six adults were killed in the blaze. (Kyle Peters)

Cause of fire on remote reserve in northwestern Ontario not yet clear

CBC News, March 30, 2016

Pikangikum First Nation’s chief says a house fire that killed six adults and three children has brought things to a standstill on the northwestern Ontario reserve.

Flames engulfed a three-bedroom home on Dunsford Road after 11 p.m. Tuesday.

“The community is just shocked … We aren’t really doing much … just … idle,” Chief Dean Owen said.