Coalition expands access to books for young Indigenous children in SW Ontario
CBC
The Aboriginal Babies and Beyond Coalition, along with London's Child and Youth Network, is providing books selected from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to children living on and off reserves in London and Middlesex County.
Books geared to children up to five-years-old can be delivered for free to those identifying as First Nations, Metis or Inuit.
"Parents are so excited," said Jacquelyn Keep, resource consultant for the Enji-Maajtaawaad Early Years Program located on Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
"Their children are very excited to be able to receive their own book or directly in the mail."
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library expanded from the United States to Canada in 2006. Keep said that the Ontario government helped to bring the program to First Nations, Inuit and Metis children living on reserves, but funding was cut in 2020.
In response, Keep said Enji-Maajtaawaad Early Years Program looked for opportunities to partner and provide books for children both on and off reserves. The organization partnered with members of the Aboriginal Babies and Beyond coalition to do so.
Keep said there is growing interest among parents now that the Imagination Library is more widely accessible.
She said 86 households from Chippewas of the Thames First Nation and Munsee-Delaware Nation have subscribed, along with 12 households from Oneida Nation of the Thames. Off-reserve numbers in London and Middlesex County are at 12 and going up.
"Every day we're receiving emails, so that's wonderful," Keep said.
The Aboriginal Babies and Beyond coalition also provides free book bundles for infant, toddler, and preschool ages on and off reserves.
With the help of the Child and Youth Network, Keep said the Imagination Library will be continuously available to parents.
Free books from the program will be available to children until they are five years old.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.
The toxic drug crisis has taken more than 47,000 lives in Canada since 2016 and the synthetic opioid fentanyl has become a household name. But now, what's believed to be an even more potent class of synthetic drugs is showing up in drug busts across the country: nitazenes.
The Liberal government and the NDP have agreed to introduce a two-month GST vacation on certain items before the holiday season, Radio-Canada has learned.
Veterinarians are warning Londoners to make sure their dogs are vaccinated and keeping clean after a deadly virus outbreak was declared in London this week.
Registered nurses rallied in St. John's Wednesday as part of a week-long convention, again calling on the Newfoundland and Labrador government to create permanent solutions to staff shortages and workplace violence.
New poll results released by Narrative Research suggest the Progressive Conservatives are heading into Tuesday's provincial election with a commanding lead over their political rivals.
A measles outbreak in New Brunswick is set to push Canada's annual case count to the highest it's been in five years, highlighting how infectious the disease is and how low vaccination rates have allowed it to take hold, says an immunologist.