Israeli airstrikes kill 23 in Gaza as outcry over aid blockade grows
Palestinian children scrape a pot for leftover food after all meals were distributed at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Friday, May 9, 2025.
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CBC
4 hours ago
- CBC
Mother in Old Crow, Yukon, starts petition to clean up and improve recreational spaces
Social Sharing Living in a small and remote northern community like Old Crow, Yukon, can mean limited access to recreational activities — especially when many of the spaces meant for activities like baseball or soccer are being instead used to store industrial equipment and supplies. Jeneen Frei Njootli, a Vuntut Gwitchin citizen and mother of two young children in Old Crow, has started a petition to try to change that. Njootli says the community needs options available for outdoor play. "Every single one of our fields has [construction] equipment in it," Njootli said. "There's nowhere safe for our children to play soccer or play baseball, because they're being used as industrial storage." Njootli said there are shipping containers, rolls of chain-link fencing, building materials such as loose gravel, and organic material on those recreational fields, making them unsafe and unusable for kids. According to Njootli, that leaves few options for families and kids: the playground at the school, a playground located in the "downtown" area, or in one of the community's subdivisions. Njootli said the community of about 250 people used to have an arena where children and youth could skate and play, but it was recently demolished after the condition of the building became too unstable for public use. Njootli said a government services shop is set to be built in the vacant space. Njootli said the shop is needed, but that it's frustrating there's been no discussion about creating a recreational space to replace the arena. "Our youth need to know they matter. Show them that they matter by prioritizing spaces that are just for them," Njootli said. The online petition, signed by 85 people from Old Crow and elsewhere as of Wednesday afternoon, urges the Vuntut Gwitchin chief and council "to prioritize, protect, and invest in recreational spaces that serve all of our community members," by relocating the government services shop to another site, by cleaning up the baseball diamond and soccer field, and by developing a new multi-use recreation space at a site on the riverfront. Njootli said the issue is one for the whole community to address. "This has been years and years and years in the making," Njootli said. "Over a decade of slow, corroding of community spaces in favour of development. Yes we need the development, but it can't come at the cost of our recreation spaces." CBC News contacted the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation about the issue but the First Nation declined to comment. CBC News also reached out to Vuntut Gwitchin MLA Annie Blake, but she wasn't immediately available for an interview. Jeneen Frei Njootli's brother, Stan Njootli Jr., said recreation creates healthy children, and healthy families. He said he feels that there's a lot of effort to "build up" Old Crow, but not enough being put toward supporting sustainable recreation. "That's where the healing really begins for First Nations people," Stan Njootli Jr. said. "It's on the land, and being active.
CBC
5 hours ago
- CBC
Parents worried about impacts of wildfire evacuations on kids
With at least 21,000 people forced from their homes by wildfires in Manitoba, some parents are worried about what the evacuations could mean for their children's education, socialization and well-being.
CBC
12 hours ago
- CBC
Manitoba caregiver worried wildfire evacuation will have lasting impacts on children
Wildfire evacuee Irvin Head from Cranberry Portage, who cares for his niece and two nephews, is concerned about what the evacuation means for children's education, socialization and well-being away from school. Head and his family, who are among the 21,000 wildfire evacuees from Manitoba, were forced out of their home at the end of May and have been staying in Winnipeg since. The family has mostly been cooped up inside with their electronics and pets, apart from a visit to the Assiniboine Park Zoo last week facilitated by the Canadian Red Cross, Head said. The evacuation experience has been stressful and full of uncertainty for the children, he said. "The kids feel it just as much as we do, but they express it differently," Head said. "It's necessary for the kids to be able to have those activities and have some sort of normalcy, because if we're stuck in our, where we're renting, and there's nothing for them to do there, they lose that sort of schedule. Like, they say, 'Oh, I miss my school friends. I wish I could go to school again.'" Head's 14-year-old nephew is missing out on core memories at school, including his Grade 8 trip to Churchill that's been cancelled. "It's upsetting, and the best we could do is say, 'OK, we'll go to the zoo, this and that,' but you can sort of tell he was really disappointed," he said. "It's going to be every kid's problem who had to miss out on that sort of stuff." Cranberry Portage's evacuation last year due to a different wildfire meant some high school graduates missed out on their postponed graduation, he said. Northern schools closed Head's nephew and two nieces are among about 800 children in the Frontier School Division who've been displaced due to evacuation orders brought on by wildfires in the last few weeks. They're from seven schools in Bissett, Cranberry Portage, Cross Lake, Lynn Lake, Sherridon and Snow Lake, Frontier chief superintendent Tyson MacGillivray told CBC News. It's the most significant evacuation he can recall his division ever having to work through, he said. "It's a very stressful time for families and students, and they're navigating and using their tools to make this the best that they can, given the severe circumstances that they're under," MacGillivray said. In the last two weeks, poor air quality due to wildfire smoke has also forced some day closures at schools in Brochet, Gillam, Leaf Rapids, Norway House, South Indian Lake and Wabowden, he said. "One day you may have great air quality. The next day, depending on the wind, the community can be blanketed by smoke, so it's really on a case-by-case basis … to make that call on whether we should continue with classes or postpone them for the day." MacGillivray says for now, the division is focused on student wellness and getting in touch with displaced families scattered across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario to make sure they have activities and feel well supported. He hopes most of the evacuees will be able to go back to their communities in the next week to 10 days, and children can return to school for the remainder of the academic year. "As soon as we have the OK to get back into the community, we'll re-engage our kids," to make sure students are in a good place and prepared for their next grade level, MacGillivray said. 'We're in survival mode' Frontier School Division and Louis Riel School Division are among those helping the Cross Lake Education Authority put on a field day in Winnipeg on Wednesday. The event's activities include balloons and bouncy castles, along with games and learning booths for displaced students. "That's at least something we can do," Pimicikamak Cree Nation Coun. Vivian Scott said Tuesday. The chief and council have mainly been preoccupied with making sure community members are fed and have a place to stay for the night, since the First Nation declared a state of emergency last month due to a nearby out-of-control wildfire, Scott said. They continue to deal with daily accommodation and payment issues with the Red Cross, she said. "As for learning, I wish good luck to all our parents with that, because … we're in survival mode," Scott said. Head is grateful his family was able to secure an Airbnb during the evacuation, although they're also plagued with questions and worries about whether they'll be reimbursed. "If this continues on for longer than they plan, how is this going to pan out?" he said. "Are we going to have to transfer the kids if we have to stay here for longer?" Head would be open to having the children continue their education online, similar to COVID-19 pandemic times, or getting learning materials from schools, so they can resume their studies until they can go home. "I don't know if this situation is going to get any better before it gets worse," he said.
