APTN News InFocus

Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, 25, is Nunavut’s new member of Parliament.

She won for the New Democrats – the first time that party has won the seat since Nunavut became a territory 20 years ago.

Qaqqaq has worked various government jobs in the territory including as an employment adviser and wellness specialist, but she’s also a well-known activist and public speaker.

That and more on this episode of APTN InFocus.

It's a problem that doesn't go away, government after government, generation after generation. There's a housing crisis affecting too many First Nations and the problem exists off-reserve too.

On this episode, we’re putting Housing Crunch InFocus.

Is the problem getting worse? Getting better?

On the season premiere of APTN InFocus: A Brandon Manitoba family, who is in a bitter battle with Michif CFS over their five-month-old infant son, says the system is unfairly rigged against families who are forced to comply with unreasonable demands like unwarranted supervised visits.

They say if you try to fight back, you risk losing your child for good to the system.

There are 11,000 kids in care in Manitoba.

Their baby is one.

Indigenous voters showed up in record numbers in 2015, with several First Nations communities even running out of ballots temporarily.

The result — a record 10 Indigenous MPs elected to the House of Commons –or three per cent of the 338 seats, which is proportional to the number of Indigenous adults who live in Canada.

In our season finale, we put democracy InFocus.

On this episode of InFocus we discuss child apprehension and the video of an RCMP officer interviewing an Indigenous teen after she reported a sexual assault.

On this episode of InFocus we discuss the Nazi flag flap that drew the world’s eye to Saskatchewan, the boom you might not know about in Indigenous business in Canada and a province struggling with one of the highest HIV rates in North America.

On this episode of InFocus: From the west coast to the Golden Horseshoe surrounding Toronto, there is evidence to suggest serial killers are hunting and disproportionately, Indigenous women and girls are their prey.

And those serial killers likely number far more than the average person imagines.

That’s according to Michael Arntfield, a Western University criminologist and serial killer expert who studies murder patterns for the Murder Accountability Project in the U.S.

Every year, many communities across Turtle Island near rivers and lakes brace for the possibility of a spring flood.

Often, traditional lands have become flood-prone from man-made dams or diversions or communities were moved onto flood plains by the Canadian government.

For Little Saskatchewan First Nation on Lake St. Martin, 255 kilometres north of Winnipeg, it’s meant 20 plus years of being prepared for massive spring flooding.

In this episode, we put flooded reserves InFocus.

An average family of five people who have status cards could be more than $20,000 richer each year if treaty annuity payments were based on today’s land values.

Currently, treaty people with status cards get $5 a year based on land values from the 1800s – that’s $20 if you’re a family of five.

That and more on this episode of InFocus.

Some 900 people live in Grassy Narrows and health official say 90 per cent have signs of mercury poisoning, which include vision and hearing impairment, tremors, and decreased cognitive function.

That and more on this episode of APTN InFocus.