Inside the Liberty Village coyote fight: How bloody attacks and clashing views roiled a Toronto neighbourhood
The glass dome on the Allan Gardens Conservatory was shaking Wednesday morning, as drumming group Buffalo Charging played a thundering tribute to two coyotes that were shot and killed this week in Liberty Village by the City of Toronto. It was a song, the group said, the animals could dance to in the spirit world.
Anishinaabe grandmother Vivian Recollet, asked by the city to lead a ceremony reopening of one of the site's buildings, told attendees during her speech that the coyotes had been victims of humans' chronic carelessness with nature.
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Toronto Star
19-05-2025
- Toronto Star
Inside the Liberty Village coyote fight: How bloody attacks and clashing views roiled a Toronto neighbourhood
The glass dome on the Allan Gardens Conservatory was shaking Wednesday morning, as drumming group Buffalo Charging played a thundering tribute to two coyotes that were shot and killed this week in Liberty Village by the City of Toronto. It was a song, the group said, the animals could dance to in the spirit world. Anishinaabe grandmother Vivian Recollet, asked by the city to lead a ceremony reopening of one of the site's buildings, told attendees during her speech that the coyotes had been victims of humans' chronic carelessness with nature.
Winnipeg Free Press
24-04-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Rage and empathy
A new documentary about the prevalence of human sex trafficking in western Canada aims to enlighten and empower. Winnipeg plays a central role in Butterfly: Into the Maze of Human Trafficking, a feature-length film highlighting the lived experiences of survivors and advocates. 'It's a gateway, it's a really important place,' Montreal-based filmmaker Viveka Melki says of the focus on Winnipeg. 'They're going from Winnipeg to Calgary to Edmonton to Vancouver, this is the route that the victims are being moved.' SUPPLIED Filmmaker Viveka Melki has made three documentaries about sex trafficking in Canada. Butterfly — which premières Thursday and is available to stream online for free via Telus Originals — focuses on the stories of three women from B.C., Alberta and Manitoba who were trafficked as children and teens by strangers, family members and while in foster care. This is the third film Melki has produced about sex trafficking in Canada, a national issue she's been covering with equal parts rage and empathy since meeting a victim for the first time six years ago. Healing is a major theme in her latest doc, with its title referencing the metamorphosis of a butterfly. 'It's astonishing, the human capacity for resilience and courage and the way we find light after all that,' Melki says. Prior to the film's release, Raine Seivewright was feeling apprehensive but hopeful. 'I haven't really talked about that piece of my story in a long time, but I think it's important for others to see that there's a life outside of human trafficking because sometimes it can feel so far away to reach milestones in life like higher education, employment and purchasing their own home,' says Seivewright, who is Métis and lives in Winnipeg. MELKI FILMS Raine Seivewright is a Métis woman living in Winnipeg. Seivewright entered Manitoba Child and Family Services when she was 12 and placed in a group home where she was exposed to human trafficking and was sexually abused until she was 17. (The failings of the child welfare system are another recurring theme in Butterfly.) Seivewright went on to become an advocate for victims of trafficking, but stepped away from the work following negative experiences with the media and academia. She agreed to share her story with Melki because the filmmaking process didn't feel exploitative or transactional. Butterfly opens with a trigger warning, contact information for help lines and a disclaimer about consent. Due to the sensitive subject matter covered, Melki and her production company, Melki Films, operate within a framework of living consent. MELKI FILMS Grandmother Chickadee Richard is a kookum and Anishinaabe elder from Sandy Bay First Nation. Subjects are able to rescind their participation at any time during filming or even after a project is released. They also receive an honorarium — something that's uncommon in documentary filmmaking — and are provided access to support workers if needed. 'The value of the story is not only how you had the interview, but how you treated those people for the 10 years after. We don't just come into people's lives and leave,' Melki says. To contact survivors, she went through front-line workers and 'guardians' who knew the women's stories and were able to vet her intentions and approach. In Winnipeg, Grandmother Chickadee Richard put Melki through the ringer before facilitating contact with Seivewright. Richard, a kookum and Anishinaabe elder from Sandy Bay First Nation, played an important role in Seivewright's healing journey by sharing her traditions, teachings and language. 'And reminding, not just me, but so many ikwe women in the community of just how sacred we are,' adds Seivewright. MELKI FILMS Richard and Seivewright visit the monument honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls at The Forks. Richard is included in the documentary along with Kyra Wilson, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, and Mitch Bourbonniere, a community activist with the Mama Bear Clan. Melki hopes Butterfly helps viewers understand the pervasiveness of sex trafficking in Canada. She also hopes the documentary inspires change within the child welfare system. 'We can do better now that we know better, but let's not pretend it doesn't exist because it's a real problem, it's happening within the system,' she says. Seivewright hopes the film is a beacon for other victims and survivors; as well as an education on the impact of colonization and poverty on Winnipeg's long history of human trafficking — an ongoing issue that disproportionately affects Indigenous women and girls. 'It's politicians, police officers, it's someone's dad, someone's uncle who's purchasing (sex from traffickers),' she says. MELKI FILMS Mama Bear Clan heads out on patrol. 'This is what's going on within our borders and we can educate our children, protect them and let them understand and know that they are sacred and they have the power to practice boundaries and demand respect from other people.' Eva WasneyReporter Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva. Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
01-03-2025
- CBC
4 years after William Ahmo's death, supporters at vigil want to ensure 'he's not just a statistic'
Four years after the death of an inmate of a Manitoba corrections facility, the sting of his death hasn't dissipated nor have the calls for justice ceased. Friends and family of William Ahmo were among a crowd of more than two dozen supporters that gathered for a vigil in his memory outside the provincial law courts building in Winnipeg on Friday evening. "This is just to remember that he's not just a statistic. He's just not another man who was murdered in the justice system," said Louise Menow, a close friend of Ahmo's who organized the vigil, which coincided with Aboriginal Justice Awareness Day. Ahmo got into an altercation with corrections officers at the Headingley Correctional Centre in February 2021. The 45-year-old was taken to hospital in medical distress and taken off life support a week later. The province's chief medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, but corrections officer Robert Jeffrey Morden was acquitted in Ahmo's death last September — nearly a year after Manitoba provincial court Judge Tony Cellitti heard the case's closing arguments. The court was shown a video more than 20 minutes long that showed Ahmo saying "I can't breathe" more than 20 times while under restraint. Several people who attended the vigil, including Menow, had signs around their neck with a picture of Ahmo, along with the words "I can't breathe." The day of Ahmo's death — Feb. 14 — was already an important one for Menow, and she can't believe it's been four years since her friend died. "It's really hard, you know, given the anniversary of his death is my sobriety date," Menow said through tears. "I just feel like that's what makes me keep going, to walk for him, to be the voice for him and many others who have gone on." An Anishinaabe man from Sagkeeng First Nation in southeastern Manitoba, Ahmo was the son of Sagkeeng Chief E.J. Fontaine's first cousin. Fontaine knew Ahmo for most of his life and doesn't believe he deserved to die the way he did. "We need to ensure that the tragic death of William within the justice system is not forgotten and those types of incidences need to be stopped where our people experience racism within the justice system," Fontaine told CBC News. "By gathering like this … we're still making our voices heard by being here and ensuring that William's death is not forgotten." Fontaine said he believes the high number of incarcerated Indigenous people is contributing to incidents like the one that took Ahmo's life. "The way William was treated in the prison and the way he died was an awful death. [Corrections officers] ganged up on him and held him down like a dog and made him die through awful means. And those types of things should never happen to any human being — never mind an Indigenous person," Fontaine said. The Southern Chiefs' Organization called Indigenous Justice Awareness Day an opportunity to reflect on the history and the barriers that First Nations people face while navigating the justice system, according to a statement Thursday. "It brings attention to the systemic barriers and racial discrimination that First Nations people face and serves as a call to action for reform. This day encourages conversations and advocacy around creating a justice system that is more fair, equitable, and culturally relevant," the organization's statement reads in part. But it will never bring Darlene Ahmo's son back. "William's life mattered, you know, he was a human being just like everybody else, and what happened to him was really tragic and very traumatizing for me and my family," an emotional Ahmo said. An appeal filed against Morden's acquittal was denied, Ahmo said, and the family continues to wait for an inquest, which is required by Manitoba's Fatality Inquiries Act if it's believed a person died as a result of use of force by police. "We've been respecting the court system and we've tried our best to respect what is out there, but at the same time we're suffering in silence," she said. While she holds onto the good memories, like her son being there for her grandson at his high-school graduation in 2018, Ahmo is saddened that he won't be present for his post-secondary graduation from the University of Manitoba this spring. "I'm really gonna miss him being there and being so happy in front of his son."
