We’re starting tonight’s newsletter with a lawsuit.

An Alberta First Nation is suing the federal government to increase its annual treaty annuity payments.

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam says the $5 his members receive every year is an amount that’s stuck in 1899, when Treaty 8 was signed.

The payments date back to the signing of treaties across the country more than a century ago and were meant to provide assistance to First Nations members.

Adam says Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation’s ancestors signed Treaty 8 with the expectation the benefits would continue for generations and not lose value over time.

First Nations across Canada have launched similar lawsuits in recent years, and in 2023 Ottawa and the Ontario government reached a $10-billion settlement with 21 First Nations in that province.

Read more from the Canadian Press. 

Forest fires in northwestern Ontario have devastated several communities, forcing widespread evacuations and destroying homes and buildings in one First Nation as harrowing wildfire videos and images emerge on social media.

The fires have prompted evacuation orders for several communities, including Armstrong, Lac La Croix First Nation, Collins First Nation, Whitesand First Nation, Gull Bay First Nation and Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation.

Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige said a fast-moving wildfire has advanced toward Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, also known as Collins First Nation. The fire has caused extensive damage and destruction to homes and buildings, Debassige said in a statement.

She said community members were forced to flee without the support of emergency services but all have been accounted for based on the information available as of Wednesday morning.

CP has more. 

Also, the federal government will not accept any new applications this year from people who want to sponsor their parents and grandparents to come to Canada as permanent residents under a program meant to promote family reunification.

The Immigration Department said the change is part of an effort to responsibly manage the system and reduce wait times.

In a statement posted online Wednesday, the department said interest in the program continues to exceed the number of available spaces.

There are 60,500 applications in progress already and wait times for processing sit at around 33 months, or up to 66 months in Quebec.

The program was launched in 2020, when more than 200,000 permanent residents and citizens expressed interest in sponsoring a parent or grandparent to come to Canada.

Each year, thousands of people who expressed interest are selected to formally apply.

CP’s got this one too. 

In Other Headlines

Internationally

Elsewhere, Keir Starmer defended his record as prime minister in an often emotional final outing at prime minister’s questions, which largely avoided political jibes in favour of tributes and questions, many about the World Cup.

Answering the very last question, his voice breaking at times, Starmer paid tribute to those he had worked with over his two years in office, which will end on Monday when he hands over to Andy Burnham.

“This will be my last answer from this dispatch box,” he began. “Every prime minister knows when they take up the torch that the day will come when they have to pass it on. That day has come for me. This is the end of my political journey.”

After a session watched by his wife and children, as well as members of the public whose lives intersected with policy areas, such as Jaguar Land Rover workers and parents who campaigned for a social media ban for children, he ended: “Can I wish you good health and happiness to all those in the gallery whose lives have been changed or improved by this Labour government, and all across the country who struggle to be seen or heard.

“You’re the reason I came into politics. To my wife and children, I love you. Goodbye.”

The Guardian has more. 

Iran threatened to block all oil exporting routes in the region on Wednesday in response to the U.S. maritime blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.

A statement by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said the U.S. “must expect other oil and gas export routes that serve the interests of the United States and its allies to be closed as well.”

“The region’s oil and gas exports will either be available to everyone or to no one,” said the statement carried by Iranian state media.

Though it did not make a direct reference to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, in the past Iran has threatened to close off the narrow passage at the entrance of the Red Sea, which links up to the Suez Canal as well as to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, providing passage to commercial vessels between Europe, Asia and Africa.

Read more from NPR. 

In Other International Headlines

The Kicker

In other news, someone is now a proud owner of a rare Tyrannosaurus rex fossil.

Sotheby’s in New York sold a 67-million-year-old fossil, nicknamed Gus, for $50.1 million to a mystery bidder, making it the most expensive dinosaur up for auction.

Gus, a 38-foot-long T. rex, was discovered on a cattle ranch in South Dakota and comprised of 183 fossil bones.

More from Global News.