After a voting day nail-biter on August 14, Gaston Cooper was elected Chief of Ouje-Bougoumou over former Deputy Chief Lance Cooper. Angel Mianscum was elected Deputy Chief ahead of Harry Bosum.
While cooler and rainy October weather is dampening the remaining blazes in Eeyou Istchee, an exceptionally hot and dry September sparked flareups near Wemindji’s access road and forced it to close again as the month ended.
As still smouldering fires are left for the changing seasons to extinguish, Indigenous firefighters and emergency coordinators across Canada are looking back at this summer’s disastrous wildfires to improve future responses.
While parts of Eeyou Istchee are still burning, regional fire marshal Lee-Roy Blacksmith said that fires are becoming less intense and “SOPFEU has withdrawn their troops” – waiting for them to be naturally extinguished. Remaining blazes are still observed by satellite and occasional flyovers to ensure communities are not endangered.
At a special members’ meeting August 12, the Cree Nation of Washaw Sibi selected a location for their future village. After considering four options, community members overwhelmingly chose a site near the town of Matagami.
The Cree Youth Protection Commission started its work in Mistissini September 7 with the goal of overhauling the Youth Protection system to make it more responsive to Cree needs.
In the wake of Meta blocking news from its social media platforms, The Quebec Community Newspapers Association (QCNA) has released a list of tips to guide its members. Without the ability to share direct links on Canadian Instagram or Facebook, domestic news outlets are scrambling to keep reaching their online audiences.
As the changing season brings cooler and wetter weather, Quebec’s forest-fire prevention agency SOPFEU is reducing its crews and moving management operations for the James Bay region to Val-d’Or. While fires continued to burn throughout Eeyou Istchee, most are under observation and don’t pose a threat to communities or infrastructure.
After a week of escalating blazes near Wemindji, the community’s access road and the Billy Diamond Highway between kilometres 390 and 590 were closed August 14. With severe fires reaching near the roadside, the situation was to be reassessed daily to seek safe windows for essential travel.
The situation across Eeyou Istchee remains precarious amidst an unprecedented forest fire season, forcing the Cree Nation Government to postpone the Annual General Assembly scheduled for August 29-31 in Eastmain to October 24-26.
