Investigates

Accusations of racist bullying in government jobs. Two Indigenous men asked to sign NDAs that would silence them. Backed by a legal expert, they're blowing the whistle and going public.

When two Mohawk men drowned 10 years ago today their deaths were quickly ruled accidents. But an investigation by APTN Investigates has changed that.

For more than two decades, Indigenous people standing up for their rights have faced the full weight of the state's power. From frontline clashes with specialized RCMP units, to being watched by Canada's intelligence agency, government actions have come under scrutiny. APTN Investigates asks: who's watching the watchers?

Underfunded, overwhelmed, and overlooked - Indigenous police forces are in crisis. As they battle soaring crime, a worsening drug crisis, and a funding model that doesn't recognize them as essential, APTN Investigates heads to the front lines to expose the true cost of underfunding First Nations policing.

In the final months of 2024, 15 Indigenous people were killed in police altercations or died while in custody. As recent calls for a national inquiry into systemic racism in policing go unanswered, APTN Investigates the strained relationship between Indigenous people and law enforcement agencies in Canada.

Once a thriving Ontario port, Depot Harbour was devastated by a 1945 munitions fire. Today, Wasauksing First Nation members say explosives and industrial toxins remain, while Canada delays a long-overdue cleanup.

For more than 50 years, the people of Grassy Narrows have lived with the serious health effects of mercury contamination. Residents say their community is the target of environmental racism. Now, plans for a nearby nuclear waste facility present a new threat.

The aim is to make communities safer. But the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act – or SCAN – is under scrutiny after being used to evict a family of 10 in the Yukon winter. Christopher Read introduces you to the woman who successfully took on SCAN in the Yukon Supreme Court.

Na-Cho Nyak Dun First Nation Chief Dawna Hope guides us through an incident on her people's traditional territory. A catastrophic mining failure that caused anger and confusion across the Yukon. For some, their worst fears are realized. Story by video journalist Rob Smith.

The Algonquin Nation has resided in the Ottawa River Basin since time immemorial. But the storing of nuclear waste - which will last for 15 generations - goes beyond their teaching of safeguarding the land for seven generations. Story by video journalist Tom Fennario.

Charles Oudie's body was found wedged in a Vancouver storm drain in 2015. Authorities declared his death an accident before the autopsy was complete. Oudie's family still has questions. Was it an accident? Or is there something more beneath the surface? Story by reporter Brittany Guyot.

With big city drug dealers moving into their communities and preying on the vulnerable, Anishinaabe from Wasauksing First Nation in Ontario begin to address the root causes of addiction that attracts them. And that begins with first speaking the truth. Story by reporter Kenneth Jackson.

When it comes to institutional child abuse in Canada, Quebec's Duplessis Orphans are considered second only to residential schools. Some Duplessis Orphans are Indigenous—and time is running out for justice to be done.

The Assembly of First Nations is the top rung of Indigenous governance. But behind closed doors, the AFN has been plagued by infighting and power struggles. APTN Investigates looks at the challenges facing Indigenous governance, from pre-contact to today.

In 2015, two Mohawk fishermen drowned. Police claimed they were stealing fish, took too many and the boat sank. Police didn't bother to test these claims. So we did and used the same boat.

Life in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside has been devastating for people just trying to survive. Wars on the poor. Wars on drugs. Crisis after crisis for the unhoused. In their own words, residents tell APTN Investigates' Rob Smith their tales of survival.

The Manwin Hotel in Winnipeg has been a hub for drugs and violence. It was the scene of two homicides in the last year. But with a lack of housing, it's also become a last resort for the city's vulnerable population.

Stanley Morris Peters was killed in a hit and run in 1987 near the community of Mount Currie B.C. and his body has never been found. More than 35 years later, his family continues to search for answers — and believes someone knows what happened.

Members of a First Nation in Alberta say urgent action is needed to increase financial transparency in their community. Court documents raise suspicions of how band money is spent, while Elders are forced off-reserve after their house is condemned.

A band council in the Fraser Valley has been found guilty of unlawfully denying band membership and writing themselves blank cheques. Yet, council remains in power as elders die waiting for justice. Kenneth Jackson returns to a story he first broke in 2017.

A Saskatchewan government report on the Prince Albert Police is kept secret. Deaths mount at corrections facilities around town. Christopher Read investigates policing and corrections in a community with a large Indigenous population — and a lot of jails, too.

Centuries-old errors and weak enrolment criteria have put thousands of Algonquin membership claims in doubt. After an internal investigation, APTN Investigates returns to Algonquin country — and we meet a family navigating the fallout.

The sharp rise in food prices hit even harder in the North. In a joint investigation with CBC's The Fifth Estate, Brittany Guyot visits families and experts in the North to find out the reason why their grocery bills are so high, and what needs to happen next.

This past spring, 30-year-old Gwich'in and Inuvialuk man Frank Gruben vanished without a trace from the small town of Fort Smith, NT. His disappearance has sparked concern over how the territory handles missing persons cases.

There's a new Canada Water Act in the works, and the Trudeau government says Indigenous rights will be bolstered. APTN Investigates takes a look at what that might mean – especially for communities where clean water has been something they've had to fight for.

A gust of wind drifts through the prairie grass and into the city of Edmonton. A peaceful setting until you learn the history of the area. The rural city limits have long been an informal resting ground in Alberta's capital city, where dozens of missing women's remains have been located, many of whom worked in the sex industry. Thirty-seven women have been found in rural areas outside of the city. The rural outskirts of the city have been referred to as the “killing fields” by sex workers and advocates alike for decades.

After decades of lobbying, four communities in Vermont have been recognized by the state as Abenaki. But Abenaki in Quebec are calling the process flawed... and alleging that the groups are committing cultural identity theft on their ancestral territory.

There are still more questions than answers regarding the mysterious deaths of two Mohawk fishermen on the Bay of Quinte. APTN Investigates reporter Kenneth Jackson meets with families and community members to clear the air, fill in gaps in the police investigations – and face some difficult truths.

Two Mohawk fishermen went fishing on the Bay of Quinte eight years ago. They never came home. Police ruled that their deaths were accidental, but the families believe they were killed. APTN Investigates reporter Kenneth Jackson sets out to discover what really happened that night.

The move is on to remove people whose claims to Algonquin citizenship are based on questionable information. But legitimate Algonquin are asking themselves, has political and cultural damage already been done?

The remains of Indigenous women in Winnipeg landfills sparked outrage. Reporter Brittany Guyot speaks to those affected and uncovers just how many Indigenous women have gone missing or murdered in recent years in the city.

Two Indigenous mothers are seeking answers. Allegedly, staff at Saskatchewan hospitals told them that their babies died shortly after birth. Years later, there's evidence these babies may have survived. The families tell Investigates' Christopher Read that they're now hoping for a reunion with their stolen children.

If we're in a war against climate change, then Canada's north is arguably on the front line of that battle. Reporter Christopher Read recently went to the Yukon to look at efforts to reduce the number of diesel generators.

They are polar opposites of Canada's correctional system. On one side, a supermax prison is criticized for extreme isolation, excessive confinement, and no services. On the other, an Indigenous healing lodge with cultural services and many empty beds. Find out who ends up where in The Prison Within.

For years, APTN Investigates has been following the story of Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance. The Saulteaux sisters were convicted of the second-degree murder of Anthony Dolff in 1994. Their cousin admitted to killing the farmer. Still, the sisters were put in prison where they've been – for the most part – for nearly 30 years.

John Derek Mills is a Cree man from Waterhen First Nation. He's a '60s Scoop survivor with a long juvenile record. A life of crime culminated in a botched armed robbery in 1996. Originally sentenced to seven years, Mills is still behind bars nearly three decades later. He feels he has fallen through every crack in the justice system.

Although solitary confinement was abolished in 2019, it continues to operate under different names. Joey Toutsaint estimates he has spent more than 2180 days in isolation. And he says every day has been a battle to overcome his thoughts of suicide. APTN Investigates is taking viewers inside corrections facilities to see what's really behind the overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples in Canada's justice system. See the four-part series here: aptnnews.ca/insidecorrections

There's a silent epidemic of sexual abuse in First Nation communities across Treaty 3 territory in northwestern Ontario. APTN speaks to survivors who say the only way to stop it is by talking about it.

It was meant to be the largest settlement agreement in history. Forty billion dollars for Indigenous children who have suffered in Canada's child welfare and health care systems. Noah, now 21 years old, is among the leaders in this fight for dignity, compensation and the well-being of future generations.

Marilyn James has fought for recognition for her people for three decades, facing opposition every step of the way. The feds consider her people extinct. BC courts ruled she has no standing. And now her cousins south of the border have a supreme court victory granting hunting rights. Members have frozen her out. Denouncing her claims as false. Her story is one of genocide, identity and baskets.

Violence on the streets of Winnipeg is at an all-time high with random attacks and murders. APTN Investigates goes right to the root of the problem through the lives of former gang members and finds a message of hope that things can change.

Nuxalk people want to protect their pristine ecosystem and stop mining exploration. To do so they're employing a unique tactic - placing totem poles in the mountains as a warning to outsiders.

APTN journalist Brittany Guyot identifies alleged Catholic Church abusers who worked at various residential schools and in Indigenous communities. She speaks with survivors and a priest who left the country after charges were brought forward.

In the quiet border town of Fort Frances, Ontario, women and children are being sexually exploited and too often by the very people and institutions that are supposed to protect them. APTN Investigates speaks to the victims, identifies convicted sex offenders and alleged abusers.

This summer, Pope Francis apologized for the role the Catholic church played in Canada's Indian residential school system. APTN Investigates takes a look back at the historic apology and speaks with survivors about a path forward.