Latest news with #Olena
NDTV
30-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
'To Kill A Tyrant': Zelensky's Pick At Book Fair Raises Eyebrows
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife browsed the stalls at a literary fair in Kyiv on Friday and left with some new reading material - a book entitled "To Kill A Tyrant." Zelensky, who has led his country throughout the three-year war with Russia, has repeatedly described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a dictator. He did not reveal if he intended, with his book purchase, to send a message to his Kremlin counterpart. #Watch | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife, First Lady Olena, picked up some new reading material while browsing the Book Arsenal - a literary fair in Kyiv. One of the books purchased by the head of state was 'To Kill a Tyrant'. Zelensky, who has led his… — NDTV WORLD (@NDTVWORLD) May 30, 2025 He picked up the book, by Italian academic Aldo Andrea Cassi, in the Ukrainian-language version, according to a post about his visit to the book fair on his account on the social media platform Telegram. A photo he posted showed Zelenskiy's wife, Olena, thumbing through a copy of the book as her husband stood next to her. Zelenskiy said it was one of several titles he and his wife had picked up at the fair. The full title of the book is: "To Kill A Tyrant; A History Of Tyrannicide From Caesar To Gaddafi." It was published in Italian in 2022, and according to a summary released by the publisher of the Italian edition, it poses the question: "Is it right or wrong to kill a tyrant? And if it is, who decides?"
Yomiuri Shimbun
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Russia and Ukraine Complete Prisoner Swap Hours after Moscow Launches Major Aerial Assault
The Associated Press Ukrainian serviceman Vitaly kisses his wife, Olena, after returning from captivity during a POWs exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 25, 2025. KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war. Hours earlier, the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Late Sunday, Ukrainian cities came under attack for a third straight night with Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reporting that air defense forces were working in the capital against enemy drones. Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv military administration, said Kharkiv and its suburbs were also under attack by drones. Information about victims was being clarified, Syniehubov said, urging residents to 'stay safe places until the end of the alarm.' Earlier, Russia's Defense Ministry said each side exchanged 303 soldiers, following the release of 307 combatants and civilians each on Saturday, and 390 on Friday — the biggest total swap of the war. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Sunday's exchange, saying on X that '303 Ukrainian defenders are home.' He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the 'Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.' Nataliya Borovyk, the sister of released Ukrainian soldier Ihor Ulesov, was overwhelmed when she learned of her brother's return. 'My uncle had to calm me down and put me in a taxi so I could get here,' she told The Associated Press. 'A moment like that stays with you forever.' Borovyk said the family had been waiting anxiously for news, and that she had hoped her brother might be released in the first part of the exchange on Friday. 'We were worried about all the guys. He wasn't there on Friday, but I was here — I at least greeted them, I stood there until the very end and waited, (hoping) maybe he would appear after all.' In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month — the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks — Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. The exchange has been the only tangible outcome from the talks. Largest aerial attack of the war The scale of the onslaught was stunning — Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, the largest single aerial attack of the war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force. In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press. There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes. For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century, Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia — a longstanding demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe has not materialized in ways to deter Russia. 'These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities,' Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sunday's targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions. 'America's silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages' Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said. 'Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help.' President Donald Trump on Sunday evening said he is not happy with Putin. 'I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people and I don't like it at all,' he told reporters after leaving his New Jersey golf club. Keith Kellogg, Washington's special envoy to Ukraine, condemned the Russian attacks on X, calling it 'a clear violation' of the Geneva Protocols. 'These attacks are shameful. Stop the killing. Ceasefire now.' Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight. 'Sleepless night' Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service. 'A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night,' Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, adding that the assault 'lasted all night.' Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris. In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17. Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine. Kyiv Mayor Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building's walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed. The scale of Russia's use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion. A village engulfed in smoke and rubble In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears. 'The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it's just terrible,' said 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine's most devastated cities. She told the AP she was grateful her daughter and grandchildren hadn't joined them for the weekend. 'I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us,' Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, 'After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here it's the ground floor.'' 'She said, 'No, mum, I'm not coming.' And thank God she didn't come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the children's rooms were,' Fedorenko said. No halt in fighting The POW exchange was the latest of scores of swaps since the war began but also the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians. Still, it has not halted the fighting. Battles have continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes. Russia's Defense Ministry quoted Yaroslav Yakimkin of the 'North' group of Russian forces as saying Sunday that Ukrainian troops have been pushed back from the border in the Kursk region, which Putin visited days ago. 'The troops continue to advance forward every day,' Yakimkin said, adding that Russian forces have taken Marine and Loknya in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, which borders Kursk, over the past week, and were advancing in the Kharkiv region around the largely destroyed town of Vovchansk. Speaking on Russian state TV on Sunday, a Russian serviceman said that Putin was reportedly flying over the Kursk region in a helicopter when the area came under intense Ukrainian drone attack during his visit. Putin's helicopter was 'virtually at the epicenter of repelling a large-scale attack by the enemy's drones,' said Yuri Dashkin, described as commander of a Russian air defense division. He added that Russian air defense units shot down 46 drones during the incident.
Japan Today
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Russia and Ukraine complete prisoner swap hours after Moscow launches major aerial assault
Ukrainian serviceman Vitaly kisses his wife, Olena, after returning from captivity during a POWs exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) By SAMYA KULLAB and OLEKSII YEROSHENKO Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war. Hours earlier, the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia's Defense Ministry said each side exchanged 303 soldiers, following the release of 307 combatants and civilians each on Saturday, and 390 on Friday — the biggest total swap of the war. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Sunday's exchange, saying on X that '303 Ukrainian defenders are home." He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the 'Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.' Nataliya Borovyk, the sister of released Ukrainian soldier Ihor Ulesov, was overwhelmed when she learned of her brother's return. 'My uncle had to calm me down and put me in a taxi so I could get here,' she told The Associated Press. 'A moment like that stays with you forever.' Borovyk said the family had been waiting anxiously for news, and that she had hoped her brother might be released in the first part of the exchange on Friday. 'We were worried about all the guys. He wasn't there on Friday, but I was here — I at least greeted them, I stood there until the very end and waited, (hoping) maybe he would appear after all.' In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month — the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks — Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. The exchange has been the only tangible outcome from the talks. The scale of the onslaught was stunning — Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, the largest single aerial attack of the war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force. In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press. There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes. For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century, Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia — a longstanding demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe has not materialized in ways to deter Russia. 'These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities," Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sunday's targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions. 'America's silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages" Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said. 'Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help." Keith Kellogg, Washington's special envoy to Ukraine, condemned the Russian attacks on X, calling it 'a clear violation' of the Geneva Protocols. 'These attacks are shameful. Stop the killing. Ceasefire now.' Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight. Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service. 'A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night,' Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, adding that the assault 'lasted all night.' Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris. In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17. Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building's walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed. The scale of Russia's use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion. In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears. 'The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it's just terrible,' said 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine's most devastated cities. She told the AP she was grateful her daughter and grandchildren hadn't joined them for the weekend. 'I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us," Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, 'After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here it's the ground floor.'' "She said, 'No, mum, I'm not coming.' And thank God she didn't come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the children's rooms were,' Fedorenko said. Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. 'They burned to death,' he said. "I want to bury them, but I'm not allowed yet.' The POW exchange was the latest of scores of swaps since the war began but also the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians. Still, it has not halted the fighting. Battles have continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes. Russia's Defense Ministry quoted Yaroslav Yakimkin of the 'North' group of Russian forces as saying Sunday that Ukrainian troops have been pushed back from the border in the Kursk region, which Putin visited days ago. 'The troops continue to advance forward every day,' Yakimkin said, adding that Russian forces have taken Marine and Loknya in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, which borders Kursk, over the past week, and were advancing in the Kharkiv region around the largely destroyed town of Vovchansk. Speaking on Russian state TV on Sunday, a Russian serviceman said that Putin was reportedly flying over the Kursk region in a helicopter when the area came under intense Ukrainian drone attack during his visit. Putin's helicopter was 'virtually at the epicenter of repelling a large-scale attack by the enemy's drones,' said Yuri Dashkin, described as commander of a Russian air defense division. He added that Russian air defense units shot down 46 drones during the incident. Associated Press writers Elise Morton in London and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Moment Ukrainian soldier kisses his wife after being freed during Russia and Ukraine's swap of over 300 more prisoners
A Ukrainian prisoner of war broke down in tears as he lovingly kissed his wife after he was freed in an exchange with Russia today. Serviceman Vitaly embraced his wife Olena in the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war. He was one of several hundred soldiers to have been swapped only hours after a major Russian drone-and-missile attack struck the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions, killing at least 13 people and injured dozens. Russia 's Defence Ministry said each side brought home 303 more soldiers, after each released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday - the biggest swap of the war. Crowds welcomed the soldiers home, who were draped in the bright colours of the Ukrainian flag. Others held up photos of missing loved ones to the returned servicemen, hopeful they might be able to tell them anything about the men pictured. Medics were also at the scene to attend to the POWs as the soldiers filed out from buses to an undisclosed location. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the exchange, saying on X on Sunday that '303 Ukrainian defenders are home.' He was one of several hundred soldiers to have been swapped in the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the 'Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service'. The POW exchange was the latest of scores of swaps since the war began but also the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians. In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month - the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks - Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. The exchange has been the only tangible outcome from the talks. Ukrainian officials described last night's onslought as the largest aerial assault since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with the Kremlin firing 367 drones and missiles. In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones. There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes. For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century. Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia - a longstanding demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe has not materialized in ways to deter Russia. 'These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities,' Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sunday's targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions. 'America's silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages' Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said. 'Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help.' Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defence persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service. 'A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night,' Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, adding that the assault 'lasted all night.' Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris. In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged eight, 12 and 17. Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building's walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed. In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears. 'The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it's just terrible,' said 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine's most devastated cities. She said she was grateful her daughter and grandchildren hadn't joined them for the weekend. 'I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us,' Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, 'after all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here it's the ground floor.'' 'She said, `No, mum, I'm not coming.' And thank God she didn't come, because the rocket hit [the house] on the side where the children's rooms were,' Fedorenko said. Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. 'They burned to death,' he said. 'I want to bury them, but I'm not allowed yet.' Battles have continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes. Russia's Defense Ministry quoted Yaroslav Yakimkin of the 'North' group of Russian forces as saying Sunday that Ukrainian troops have been pushed back from the border in the Kursk region, which Putin visited days ago. 'The troops continue to advance forward every day,' Yakimkin said, adding that Russian forces have taken Marine and Loknya in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, which borders Kursk, over the past week, and were advancing in the Kharkiv region around the largely destroyed town of Vovchansk. Speaking on Russian state TV on Sunday, a Russian serviceman said that Putin was reportedly flying over the Kursk region in a helicopter when the area came under intense Ukrainian drone attack during his visit. Putin's helicopter was 'virtually at the epicenter of repelling a large-scale attack by the enemy's drones,' said Yuri Dashkin, described as commander of a Russian air defense division.
CBC
19-04-2025
- General
- CBC
Alberta school divisions cutting support staff after lapse in Jordan's Principle funding
School divisions across Alberta are reckoning with a federal funding change that means less money for Indigenous students learning off-reserve. Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) in northern Alberta eliminated 105 full-time equivalent educational assistants earlier this month. It comes after the Wild Rose School Board in central Alberta laid off 46 educational assistants in December, citing the same reason. Jordan's Principle is a legal rule to ensure First Nations children get services they need without delay. It's named after five-year-old Jordan River Anderson from Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba. He died in 2005, caught in a two-year battle between the province and Ottawa over who would pay for his care. NLPS said in a statement that 280 students in the division were receiving services through federal Jordan's Principle funding, and it applied following the same criteria that had been approved in previous years, asking for $7 million. Following significant delays and uncertainty in receiving the funding, the division paid for the services using its reserves so students could receive support for as long as possible. Kristin Degagne was one of those laid off in the division. She had been working with a First Nations child who received Jordan's Principle funding to provide support for severe medical and educational needs. The student uses a wheelchair and is non-verbal. Degagne said the two of them had built up a relationship over the child's first two years in elementary school. "I have lots of worries," she said. "There's such a connection. A lot of students rely on that connection to actually make it through the day. "It's hard, it's heartbreaking. They don't know what to do. They struggle with when things are different." Degagne said while she's sad she lost her job, she feels bad for the students and the staff. In an interview with CBC News, Vanessa Roesler said her six-year-old autistic daughter Olena has been greatly affected. When it's time to go to school, Olena screams, cries, and hides — now that she has a new EA that she has no pre-existing relationship with. Roesler thinks her daughter, who is non-verbal, will have to move to half-day schooling due to the disruption in her routine. Roesler is a single parent in Kikino Métis Settlement, northeast of Edmonton, and her children go to a school in Lac La Biche, which is part of NLPS. She said while Métis children are not eligible for individual Jordan's Principle funding requests, the school had a high percentage of First Nations children so Olena's educational assistant was funded through federal funds. Roesler said Jordan's Principle funding being used to hire so many essential staff, signals a problem with the system. "It's very unfortunate that our school system had to rely on that type of funding. "There never should have been federal dollars blurring those lines if it wasn't going to be permanent." Yvonne Lessard is another Métis parent in the division, based in Lac La Biche. After fighting to get an education assistant for her eight-year-old son Emersyn for two years, he no longer has one. Lessard said her son will struggle without someone to help regulate him and manage his ADHD, "I worry as a parent. I'm working full time and I know I'm going to get calls from the school to go and try to help deal with him," Lessard said. "Him having that EA support, I felt great about it — the stress was off." What changed? On February 10, Indigenous Services Canada changed the guidelines for Jordan's Principle funding. The ISC said in a statement that funding will not be approved for school-related requests unless it is linked to a "specific health, social or educational need of the First Nation child or if required by substantive equality." All other requests from school boards off-reserve and private schools will be redirected to provincial authorities or other existing provincial and federal programs. This led Edmonton Public Schools to conclude it is no longer eligible for the program. It had been receiving funding since 2019-2020 and budgeted for $2.5 million this school year. "Recently we've been advised that children who are off reserves will no longer qualify for access to Jordan's Principle," superintendent Darrel Robertson said at the April 9 school board meeting. Robertson said since school boards started applying for this funding a few years ago, he was always aware that it wasn't a given. "I recall personally expressing some caution around utilizing these resources to hire staff," he said. What now? Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said he wrote to federal Minister of Indigenous Services Canada Patty Hajdu in December, calling for immediate action to expedite the review process. "These layoffs threaten to undo years of work building trust, fostering relationships, and supporting First Nations families," the letter read. "I don't understand why the federal government just can't provide the funding that they agreed to," Nicolaides told CBC News. Jennifer Cooper, spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada said in a statement that supporting First Nations children is a provincial and federal responsibility — but added ensuring equal access to educational services for all students is a provincial one. Lorraine Muskwa, COO of the advocacy group First Nations Health Consortium, which helps families with Jordan's Principle applications, said these circumstances go against the values of the principle. "And that was the intention not to happen — this jurisdictional fight. And unfortunately we're hearing that if it is a First Nations child, we'll just refer them to Jordan's Principle," Muskwa said. "I went to school off-reserve. They didn't have Jordan's Principal then. But if there was a service I needed, I received that service … So again, where's the province in this?"
