Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
An Indigenous-owned clothing line is celebrating Indigenous hockey culture while encouraging and supporting young Indigenous athletes in the sport.
"Smudge the Blades" sells a wide variety of sportswear and hockey gear with clever designs that bring Indigenous culture and humour to the rink. The designs include slogans such as "Hockey is good medicine," "First Nations hockey sensation" and "Kitâskwêw, pihtakwatâw," which is Cree for "He shoots, he scores."
"Before I launched Smudge the Blades, I had this idea for about two years prior. I just kind of made some funny shirts that I thought would maybe make people laugh. I kept them on my computer then one day I just decided to make a website," Smudge the Blades founder Harlan Kingfisher told CTV News.
A father of four from Sturgeon Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan, Kingfisher named his company in honour of his late grandfather, who would perform smudging ceremonies to bring healing to his community. Smudging also became an important pre-game ritual for Kingfisher, after his grandfather made the suggestion.
"One day, I wasn't doing good in the playoffs. He told me, 'Why don't you smudge your hockey gear, smudge your stick?'" Kingfisher explained.
Kingfisher has had many fond memories of growing up and playing hockey -- but he also knows what it's like to experience racism on the ice. He recalls one instance while he was a junior hockey player playing for an Indigenous-owned team he during road game in a small town in Manitoba.
"I'd never seen anything like it. The whole entire crowd just cheering, yelling at you guys, spitting on you, throwing garbage. They had nets above us that they had to put up so garbage wouldn't hit us. You hear the comments, 'Drunk Indians, get off our ice,'" said Kingfisher.
Today, Kingfisher uses his platform on social media to call out and raise awareness of racism that continues to be pervasive in hockey.
"I call out people. I call out organizations and since I've been doing that, people have messaged me and is letting me know their stories," he said.
When spectators yelled racial slurs at 16-year-old Keagan Brightnose during a hockey game last month, he almost quit playing.
"It didn't make me feel too well. I just kind of kept it to myself and I just texted my mom what happened," Keagan said.
Keagan's father, Earl Brightnose, says the clothing line has created an online social community that brings more awareness to the issue.
"It created some exposure of how racism is really taking its effect in hockey," Brightnose said.
Hockey can also be an expensive sport, as hockey gear and fees can cost thousands of dollars. A portion of Smudge the Blades' sales have been going towards supporting Indigenous families who otherwise can't afford to enroll their kids in hockey programs.
Kingfisher says he just recently reached out to a mother who was about to tell their kids they couldn't play hockey this season because of the high cost in fees.
"I covered their hockey fees and got them to play this year," said Kingfisher. "I really want to pay it forward to all of the indigenous youth that need help."
Kingfisher also hopes his clothing can also educate Canadians about hockey's Indigenous roots.
"Hockey in Canada is everyone's game and as Indigenous people, we created the Mic-Mac hockey stick. It's in our blood, and Indigenous hockey is so huge," said Kingfisher.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
The Ukrainian village of Ocheretyne has been battered by fighting, drone footage obtained by The Associated Press shows. The village has been a target for Russian forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
The erstwhile group of senators and MPs studying the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act over the "Freedom Convoy" was supposed to present its findings in December. December of 2022, that is.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.