top of page

Portfolio

doyle-simon.webp
Patrick Doyle for The Toronto Star

Mary Simon made history when she was appointed Canada’s governor general. Here’s how she’s reshaping her role

Published in Toronto Star | November 10, 2024

In an interview, the first Indigenous person in the post reflects on the first three years of her mandate, a tenure met with praise but also criticism.

sinclair-wyld-cp.webp
Adrian Wyld for The Canadian Press

‘Canada has lost a giant’: Murray Sinclair, judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, dies at age 73

Published in Toronto Star | November 4, 2024

Manitoba’s first Indigenous judge and the second in Canada, Sinclair lived a life dedicated to public service. An Anishinaabe leader in the justice system, his legacy will have a lasting impact felt by Indigenous people.

spencer-colby-cp.webp
Spencer Colby for The Canadian Press

Final report on missing children and unmarked graves at residential schools calls for ‘justice’ from Canada

Published in Toronto Star | October 29, 2024

Independent Special Interlocutor calls for an Indigenous-led legal framework to support search and recovery efforts.

elijah cardinal-whitford-sportsnet.png
Elijah Cardinal-Whitford for Sportsnet

"They Didn't Defeat My Spirit"

Published in Sportsnet | September 30, 2024

A tool of propaganda, assimilation, and abuse that could also provide students with rare moments of freedom and community, sport's place in the residential school system is a complicated one that can only be understood through the stories of survivors.

arndt-iwanyshyn.webp
Nick Iwanyshyn for The Toronto Star 

Residential school survivors are still fighting for access to records. They can’t heal, until they know

Published in The Toronto Star | September 30, 2024

Families and survivors seeking information from various churches and government bodies are hitting roadblocks. It’s also made it hard to paint the bigger picture of what happened.

remiorz-polieivre-afn.webp
Ryan Remiorz for The Canadian Press

Pierre Poilievre sharply criticized after speech to First Nations: ‘You have a lot of education to do’

Published in The Toronto Star | July 11, 2024

Some First Nations leaders sharply chastised Pierre Poilievre on Thursday after they said his first speech to the Assembly of First Nations’ annual general assembly ignored the pressing social issues facing their communities. 

justin-tang-cp.webp
Justin Tang for The Canadian Press

Justin Trudeau’s government is losing its momentum on Indigenous reconciliation, leaders say — and they’re worried a Conservative government could be worse

Published in The Toronto Star | June 21, 2024

Nine years after Justin Trudeau came to power campaigning on a new relationship with Indigenous people, Indigenous leaders say his government’s once considerable rate of progress is slowing — and they are worried about that momentum reversing if the Conservatives topple the Liberals in the next election.

nickiwanyshyn.webp
Nick Iwanyshyn for The Toronto Star 

Rising violence, funding shortfalls: Indigenous police say Ottawa has left them teetering on the edge

Published in The Toronto Star | June 17, 2024

Their policing resources are stretched thin and if something doesn’t change Indigenous forces in Ontario could disband. 

adrianwyldcp.webp
Photo by Adrian Wyld for The Canadian Press

Trudeau government shows little progress on murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls recommendations, critics charge

Published in The Toronto Star | June 3, 2024

Five years after the release of a landmark report on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, the federal government continues show little commitment to ending the crisis, Indigenous leaders told a news conference.

cindy-blackstock-jamespark.webp
Photo by James Park for The Toronto Star

‘If it’s not required, why even ask for it?’ First Nations slam Ottawa for requesting confidentiality agreements in child welfare negotiations

Published in The Toronto Star | May 30, 2024

First Nations leaders say they are being “gagged” by the federal government because it’s asking them to sign confidentiality agreements before Ottawa will negotiate funding deals under Canada’s new child and family welfare law.

MNA.jpg
Photo courtesy of Métis Nation Alberta for The Toronto Star

Are these Métis nations’ dreams of self-governance dead? Here’s what we know about the latest developments in a contentious bill

Published in The Toronto Star | April 24, 2024

The Métis Nation-Saskatchewan’s announcement it was withdrawing its support for Bill C-53 — legislation aimed at recognizing Métis self-governance by creating a path for treaties between Canada and some Métis governments — has created uncertainty about the contentious bill’s future.

adrian-wyld-afn-cp.webp
Photo by Adrian Wyld for The Canadian Press

Reconciliation not a priority for Trudeau government, First Nations leaders say

Published in The Toronto Star | April 17, 2024

he Assembly of First Nations is calling for a renewed commitment to reconciliation from the federal government, with First Nations leadership saying the federal budget tabled on Tuesday showed Indigenous Peoples are not a priority

blair-gable-star.webp
Photo by Blair Gable for The Toronto Star

Federal budget’s $918M for Indigenous housing and infrastructure falls far short of what advocates say is needed

Published in The Toronto Star | April 16, 2024

Tuesday’s federal budget committed more than $9 billion in new funding for Indigenous initiatives, focusing on education and youth, on-reserve supports and economic opportunities.

jayson-mills-torstar.webp
Photo by Jayson Mills for The Toronto Star

Why are Indigenous people so overrepresented in Canadian prisons?

Published in The Toronto Star | April 11, 2024

When the government repealed some mandatory minimum prison sentences, it was responding to the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prisons. Why hasn’t it worked?

adrian-wyld-cp.webp
Photo by Adrian Wyld for The Canadian Press

She says this alternative to prison saved her life. So why isn't Canada investing in more of them?

Published in The Toronto Star | April 2, 2024

Healing lodges were proposed to Ottawa as an alternative to federal institutions. But supporters said the federal government has not done enough to support them.

liam-richards-cp.jpg
Photo by Liam Richards for The Canadian Press

Auditor’s reports expose Ottawa’s failure to support Indigenous housing and policing, AFN national chief says

Published in The Toronto Star | March 20, 2024

New reports from Canada’s auditor general prove that Ottawa has failed Indigenous communities when it comes to housing and policing, says the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

rj-johnston.jpg
Photo by R.J. Johnston for The Toronto Star

'Our guys don't have somewhere to go': Trudeau government criticized for taking too long to fund Indigenous housing

Published in The Toronto Star | February 27, 2024

Housing organizations supporting Indigenous people say they are desperate for the money Ottawa's new housing strategy is preparing to distribute.

adrian-wyld-cp.webp
Photo by Adrian Wyld for The Canadian Press

'Monumental': Supreme Court rules Indigenous child welfare law is constitutional

Published in The Toronto Star | February 9, 2024

The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a law that gives Indigenous nations sole jurisdiction over the welfare of Indigenous children in a landmark challenge of federal legislation by Quebec.

justin-tang-cp.webp
Photo by Justin Tang for The Toronto Star

Trudeau government's probe into abuse in Canadian sports is lacking, critics say

Published in The Toronto Star | February 1, 2024

The federal government announced The Future of Sport in Canada Commission after athletes testified before the Heritage and Status of Women committees in recent months about abuse in Canadian sport.

blair-gable-star.webp
Photo by Blair Gable for The Toronto Star

After years of trouble, can the AFN's new chief avoid another 'explosion,' and unite First Nations?

Published in The Toronto Star | January 28, 2024

Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has inherited an organization that has been buffeted by internal strife.

sean-kilpatrick-cindy.webp
Photo by Sean Kilpatrick for The Canadian Press

Ottawa is supposed to process First Nations families' child services requests within days. Sometimes it makes them wait a year

Published in The Toronto Star | January 4, 2024

First Nations families are waiting for as long as a year to have their applications for child and family services assessed by the federal government — even though Ottawa has been ordered to process them within 12 to 48 hours.

richard drew-ap.jpg
Photo by Richard Drew for Associated Press

She confronted Justin Trudeau when she was 12. Now Autumn Peltier has a new message

Published in The Toronto Star | December 26, 2023

Autumn Peltier was just 12 when she took on the prime minister. Today she hopes to build a better future for Indigenous peoples and wants world leaders to listen. 

moonias-chris-young.webp
Photo by Chris Young for The Toronto Star

Justin Trudeau vowed to end boil water advisories in Indigenous communities. But a new plan to address that is under fire

Published in The Toronto Star | December 23, 2023

The federal government says new legislation will help end water troubles in many Indigenous communities. Some First Nations leaders aren't so sure. 

woodhouse-torstar.webp
Photo courtesy of Toronto Star

Manitoba regional chief Cindy Woodhouse elected Assembly of First Nations' national chief

Published in The Toronto Star | December 7, 2023

Woodhouse, who was a front-runner throughout the campaign after announcing her candidacy in October, ran on a platform of rebuilding the national advocacy organization to make it a supportive place for all First Nations.

alicemcleod.jpg
Photo courtesy of Alice McLeod, Nipissing First Nation for The Toronto Star

‘We’ve been accused of being Métis deniers’: Trudeau government’s proposed law pits First Nations against Ontario Métis

Published in The Toronto Star | November 15, 2023

A new bill recognizing Métis rights in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan is being met with outrage from First Nations and Métis groups.

LAC.jpg
Photo courtesy of Library and Archives Canada

Supreme Court of Canada hears case on broken treaty promises with up to $126-billion award on the line

Published in The Toronto Star | November 9, 2023

A landmark case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada this week could leave the federal and provincial governments on the hook for a $126-billion award to First Nations in northern Ontario for failing to honour treaties for 150 years.

GINO DONATO.png
Photo by Gino Donato for The Globe and Mail

Northern Ontario doctors face ‘hidden crisis’ of emotional distress amid staffing shortages

Published in The Globe and Mail | September 15, 2023

In Northern Ontario, the burden of the doctors’ shortage is felt much more acutely than in other parts of the province. Rural doctors are responsible for both primary care in their family practices and emergency care in the hospitals.

CHRISTOPHER KATSAROV.png
Photo by Christopher Katsarov for The Globe and Mail

When every minute counts

Published in The Globe and Mail | September 13, 2023

On any given day at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, trauma nurse Thao Sindall cares for some of Ontario’s sickest and most injured patients. The Globe and Mail followed her for a 12-hour shift

NATHB.png
Photo by NATHB

Children with complex medical conditions are aging out of the system designed to support them

Published in The Globe and Mail | September 8, 2023

Health care systems for adults with complex medical conditions, particularly for those that arise at birth, are not as co-ordinated as those for pediatric patients. 

JOYSCM.JPG
Photo by Joy SpearChief-Morris

Alberta conservation program looks to change how ranchers deal with grizzly bear conflicts

Published in The Globe and Mail | August 18, 2023

As the number of grizzly bears increases, they are being found farther east from the mountains, encroaching onto ranchland, causing potential conflict with humans and livestock.

the-globe-and-mail-logo.jpeg

Doctor shortage leaves Northern Ontario emergency rooms on the brink of shutting down

Published in The Globe and Mail | August 9, 2023

Emergency rooms across Northern Ontario’s rural hospitals are in “dire” need for more physicians and funding as doctors struggle to keep emergency rooms open through the summer trauma season.

jesse-winter-globe.png
Photo by Jesse Winter, The Globe and Mail

Almost 900 wildfires burning across Canada as provinces and territories set record temperatures

Published in The Globe and Mail | July 17, 2023

Nearly 900 wildfires continued to burn across Canada on Monday, as military assistance arrived in British Columbia and plumes of smoke triggered air quality warnings in more than a dozen U.S. states.

kataquapit-fires.png
Photo by Elizabeth Kataquapit

Indigenous communities face harsher effects from wildfire smoke

Published in The Globe and Mail | July 15, 2023

For Indigenous communities, it is the smoke, not flames, that accounts for the majority of wildfire-related evacuations. 

narwhal-ryan-peruniak.jpg
Photo by Ryan Peruniak, The Narwhal

Bears aren’t as deadly as you’ve been taught.

Published in The Narwhal | July 13, 2023

In Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, Parks Canada is hiring Indigenous employees to change the way people think about bears.

SpearChief-Morris_SmallTown_MichelleTheodore_1200.jpeg
Illustration by Michelle Theodore, The Walrus

Being Black in a Small Town

Published in The Walrus | April 21, 2023

Schitt’s Creek and Gilmore Girls would have us believe there’s room for only one Black person in every small town. When will pop culture catch up to reality?

chickweed-arts-globe.png
Photo by Chickweed Arts, The Globe and Mail

Reclaiming Inuit ingredients sets this body-care company apart – while connecting it to community

Published in The Globe and Mail | March 20, 2023

At the heart of their business, the Clarkes see Uasau as a product serving the North, returning traditional Inuit cultural practices and the healing properties of the bowhead whale to their community in a contemporary way.

wftw-cbc-burnett.png
Photo by Jeffery Burnett, CBC Docs

30 years after an historic fight against clear cutting, Indigenous communities are still fighting for forests

Published in CBC Docs | March 17, 2023

Two directors tell the story of the people trying to protect some of our last old-growth forests

adrienne-row-smith.jpeg
Photo by Adrienne Row-Smith, The Narwhal

Ottawa’s Greenbelt is federally owned but not federally protected

Published in The Narwhal | February 1, 2023

The horseshoe of wetlands, forests and farms between Ottawa’s downtown and suburbs isn’t immediately at risk from Ontario’s new development policies. But it’s still threatened, which is why some think it should be made a national park.

Ontario-Bill23-Chiefs-Niganobe-Morozuk0118-1400x934.jpg
Photo by Kamara Morozuk, The Narwhal

Chiefs of Ontario want development-friendly More Homes Built Faster Act repealed

Published in The Narwhal | December 9, 2022

First Nations chiefs say Housing Minister Steve Clark requested meeting on omnibus housing bill, then disappeared: a ‘blatant disregard of our nation-to-nation relationship’

jesse-winter-globe.webp
Photo by Jesse Winter, The Globe and Mail

Olympic race walker Evan Dunfee hopes to take lessons of success on the track into local politics

Published in The Globe and Mail | September 10, 2022

Evan Dunfee began race walking when he was about 10 years old because he wanted to be the best at something. Twenty years later, he crossed the finish line at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, with a record-breaking gold medal.

jeff-mcintosh-cp.webp
Photo by Jeff Mcintosh, The Canadian Press

The housing crisis in Canmore, Alta., is driving out doctors, families and development

Published in The Globe and Mail | September 10, 2022

Housing has long been an issue in Canmore, a former mining town of about 16,000 about an hour’s drive east of Calgary. A combination of a seasonal workforce, vacation properties and several failed attempts at building new housing have pushed up prices and squeezed supply.

crystal-mercredi-globe-2.webp
Photo by Crystal Mercredi, The Globe and Mail

Elders want historic church in Alberta’s Fort Chipewyan rebuilt, chief says

Published in The Globe and Mail | August 26, 2022

The chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation says the fire that destroyed one of Alberta’s oldest churches this week is a significant loss and that elders in the community want it rebuilt.

gavin-john-globe.webp
Photo by Gavin John, The Globe and Mail

Indigenous designer transforms Hudson’s Bay blankets into coats

Published in The Globe and Mail | August 8, 2022

For Stephanie Crowchild, sewing is a healing practice, a process for revitalization and a way of reclaiming her identity as an Indigenous woman after a period of personal darkness.

jason-franson-cp.webp
Photo by Jason Franson, The Canadian Press

Indigenous survivors look to move past anger after papal visit

Published in The Globe and Mail | August 1, 2022

For some survivors, the meeting with the Pope was an opportunity to voice demands for further justice. For others, like Noella Robinson and Joan. St. Denis, the meeting was a chance to put aside anger and move forward with healing.

vatican-reuters.webp
Photo by Vatican Media, Reuters

Pope Francis renews his residential schools apology in Quebec

Published in The Globe and Mail | July 27, 2022

In a province where Catholicism once dominated many facets of life, Pope Francis renewed his apology to Indigenous people for the harms caused by many Catholic members in government-funded residential schools.

todd-korol-reuters.webp
Photo by Todd Korol, Reuters

Chief Littlechild’s headdress gift to Pope Francis carries heavy significance

Published in The Globe and Mail | July 26, 2022

The bestowing of a headdress can carry multiple meanings, knowledge keepers and elders say, and there was a purpose to placing it atop Pope Francis after he apologized on Monday for decades of abuses at Catholic-run residential schools.

patrick-t-fallon.webp
Photo by Patrick T. Fallon, AFP, Getty Images

Support workers to aid residential schools survivors during Pope Francis visit

Published in The Globe and Mail | July 25, 2022

300 cultural support workers will be on hand in Alberta to aid residential school survivors during the Pope’s historic apology

daniels.webp
Photo by The Daniels Corporation

This couple spent eight years searching for a condo in Toronto that fit their accessibility needs

Published in The Globe and Mail | July 22, 2022

Eager to move from an apartment with a shower kept together by duct tape, the Roses went on the hunt for an accessible home.

vatican-media-reuters.webp
Photo by Vatican Media, Reuters

Indigenous nations, organizers struggle to secure space for residential school survivors for papal visit

Published in The Globe and Mail | July 18, 2022

Indigenous groups say they are worried that many residential school survivors will not be able to attend Pope Francis’s appearances across Canada later this month, owing to ticket shortages and poor communication from the Catholic Church and the federal government.

doyle-stonge-globe.webp
Photo by Patrick Doyle, Canadian Press

Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge wants to break the culture of silence around abuse in sports

Published in The Globe and Mail | July 15, 2022

Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge wants to be a “change maker” in Canadian politics. She’s starting with the Canadian sport landscape, working to break the culture of silence surrounding abuse and to bring joy back to sports.

pascale-stonge-patrick-doyle-cp.webp
Photo by Patrick Doyle, Canadian Press

Hockey Canada’s culture must change in wake of ‘extremely horrific’ sexual-assault allegations, Sport Minister says

Published in The Globe and Mail | July 6, 2022

Hockey Canada’s handling of sexual-assault allegations involving eight Canadian Hockey League members, including players with the gold-medal-winning world junior team, reveals a culture problem within the organization that needs to change, federal Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge says.

cbc joy.jpeg

Everything but the fairy tale ending

Published in CBC Sports | July 29, 2021

I stand at the start line behind my blocks, trying to see through the pouring rain that is beating down on me...

globe fred.jpeg
Photo by Fred Lum, The Globe and Mail

Indigenous and Black communities have a shared past of injustice. They deserve a shared future of justice

Published in The Globe and Mail | May 29, 2021

Solidarity in the face of systemic racism and police violence is more than just symbolic; it’s the latest stage in a common struggle against colonialism. What will the next stages be?

Photo by Natalia Weichsel

Contact

Looking to get in contact with Joy for freelance work? Please email joy.scmorris@gmail.com.

 

bottom of page