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A mother who alleges the federal government and RCMP took a a “negligent” and “lackadaisical” approach to investigating missing and murdered Indigenous women will attend a hearing this week that will determine if her lawsuit moves forward, her lawyer says.
Anthony Merchant says Diane BigEagle, whose daughter Danita Faith has been missing since 2007, will be there for the Federal Court certification hearing in Regina for the proposed class-action lawsuit by families of missing and murdered Indigenous women.
The suit, which was launched in 2018, alleges systemic negligence on the part of the RCMP in investigating cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women, and says family members have been forced to endure mental anguish because of the RCMP’s failure to properly investigate and prosecute the disappearances.
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said in an emailed statement that the government opposes certification of the lawsuit saying it is inconsistent with previous rulings surrounding private duty of care and contains cases where the RCMP is not the police of jurisdiction.

The president of the Metis Nation-Saskatchewan says he’s tested positive for COVID-19.
The organization says in a news release that Glen McCallum learned Friday that he’d tested positive for the novel coronavirus, despite being asymptomatic.
It says McCallum was tested as a preventative measure given his role in the community.
The release says McCallum contracted the virus despite taking precautions.
It says McCallum is self-isolating and following all public health protocols, and he and the Metis Nation-Saskatchewan are supporting contact tracing by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

An Indigenous lawyer has filed a lawsuit against the firm that represented survivors of Indian day schools, alleging she was not compensated for years of her work on the class-action case.
Joan Jack, 59, who is from Berens River First Nation in Manitoba and is also a day school survivor, said the class-action was her life’s work.
The Federal Court approved a settlement agreement in 2019 for survivors of day schools. It included $55 million in legal fees for the international law firm Gowling WLG.
In a statement of claim filed last Thursday in Winnipeg, Jack said she was responsible for initiating the original day school student claim and spent years making sure survivors got justice. She alleged Gowling took over the case and she was never compensated.
Gowling has not filed a statement of defence and the allegations have not been proven in court.

One person in Brant County has tested positive for the West Nile Virus.
This is the first West Nile Virus case in the county. There were no cases in the region in 2019 and five cases in 2018.
A patch of mosquitos were tested in the county this summer and came back positive for the virus.
Brant’s Medical Officer of Health says August and September are the months where the most cases of West Nile are seen. And says the risk of people having serious illness from the virus is low.

Six Nations says they will reopen some of the outdoor sports facilities in Ohsweken as part of the Phase 2.5 of community reopening.
Ohsweken’s Parks and Recreation facilities were closed to facilitate the COVID-19 Assessment Centre.
Now the Sports Field, Running Track and Ball Hockey Rink in Ohsweken are reopening on September 28 for reserved use.
Participants can book the facilities on September 21.
The Splash Pad and Softball Diamonds and Skate Park will remain closed.
The Six Nations COVID-19 Information and Assessment Centre will continue to operate outside of the Six Nations Community Hall.