New education deal for Manitoba First Nations
Ottawa has signed a new education agreement with nine Manitoba First Nations.
The deal secures funding for a Manitoba First Nations School Board equal to what non-indigenous students in the province receive.
Officials say the funds will be used to provide culturally relevant and high quality academics.
The program is expected to manage both elementary and secondary students beginning Fall 2017.

Conservatives stopped collecting fire data on reserves
Ottawa is under heavy criticism for ceasing the collection of fire data on reserves.
Indigenous Affairs minister Carolyn Bennett told Parliament her department ceased collecting data six years ago to ease the “reporting burden” on First Nations communities.
In 2011 Harpers conservatives eliminated the tool First Nations used to report fire data – effectively halting that information from being collected.
A recent house fire on Oneida Nation of the Thames that killed five people has brought the issue to the forefront of discussions again.
A 2011 federal report on fire insurance says First Nations residents are 10 times more likely to die in a house fire than people living off reserve.
The report also says fires are nearly 2.5 times more likely to occur than elsewhere in the country.

Mexican officials upset with racial comments on indigenous women
A Mexican governor is being criticized by human rights officials for telling the country’s indigenous women to sleep with clothes on to avoid having so many children.
Governor Omar Fayad of Hidalgo was recorded making the comments during the presentation of environmentally responsible community cooking ovens being delivered to an indigenous town.
Fayad joked the towns ovens were worn out because the women did not heed his warning to sleep with their clothes on and had too many children.
Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission told Fayad the country’s political leaders should respect indigenous people’s right to have as many children as they wish.

New traffic lights for Ohsweken
Construction in the village of Ohsweken is nearing completion with the installation of new traffic lights.
The lights were removed at the intersection of Chiefswood Road and Fourth Line as part of major upgrades to the community’s infrastructure.
New left hand turning lanes have been created for both the north and south sides of Chiefswood Road.
Advance greens are now in place in all directions and right hand turns on red are no longer permitted in any direction.
The upgrades also include hand signals for pedestrians in the village.
The new lights are equpped with a flashing red pre-emption feature controlled by Six Nations Fire and Emergency Services to halt traffic while emergency vehicles pass through.