Canada

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While the Conservatives have pledged to severely restrict overdose prevention sites, and the Liberals say they're reviewing their effectiveness, the federal NDP and Greens have come out in support of harm reduction for drug users and services like these.

B.C.'s health minister defends the province's network of sites aimed at preventing overdoses, while one harm reduction advocate worries the life-saving services are becoming a political football.

At a news conference last month announcing police had determined the woman previously only known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe was 30-year-old Ashlee Christine Shingoose, Deputy Chief Cam Mackid told reporters police drew that conclusion in part because of information gleaned from a second interview they did in December with the serial killer convicted in her murder — more than 2½ years after he first spoke to police.

"Unfortunately the way our legal system works, once we interview someone once, we don't get to ask them any further questions until they go to court, unless there's new charges," (Deputy Chief Cam) Mackid said (on) March 26, adding there were "legal concerns" and police didn't want to "do anything that might jeopardize" his convictions.

Legal expert David Milward said while he found the police explanation for why it took them so long to talk to Skibicki again "baffling," it's easy to second-guess decisions made in something as complicated as a homicide investigation.

"But at the same time, I'm not sure if, you know, 'Oh, we didn't want to jeopardize, there was some sort of legal constraint, we could have jeopardized [the case]' — I'm not convinced that that was necessary as a justification."

Indigenous legal advocates in northwestern Ontario are sounding the alarm over the Ontario government's cancellation of its contract with Starlink, citing concerns with people's access to legal services in remote First Nations.

Last month, Premier Doug Ford announced he'd be ripping up the $100-million deal with Elon Musk's internet provider, as a retaliatory measure in the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war.

But in northwestern Ontario, this means the end of the Starlink-Navigator Program delivered by Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation (NALSC), which "permitted community members, who often do not have access to internet, or reliable internet, an opportunity to participate in virtual courts."

Kashechewan First Nation has declared a state of emergency as the threat of spring flooding looms over the community on northern Ontario's James Bay Coast.

In a public notice shared with community members on social media, Kashechewan First Nation Chief Hosea Wesley said evacuations of children, elders and vulnerable residents would begin Monday.

Kashechewan faces flooding almost every spring due to ice breakup on the Albany River. As a result, it schedules a precautionary evacuation, which sees hundreds housed in hotel rooms in cities and towns to the south.

The federal government has promised to move the entire community of 2,000 people to a new location by 2029.