Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press

There were hugs, tears and calls for change Thursday as Indigenous leaders gathered on the James Smith Cree Nation — a Saskatchewan community struck by a deadly mass stabbing.

Darryl Burns, whose sister was killed in the attacks Sunday, hugged Skye Sanderson, the wife of Damien Sanderson, a suspect found dead the day after the killings.

"Our family is here to forgive," Burns said. 

Forgiveness has been important to Indigenous people long before colonization, Burns added.

A woman killed in a stabbing rampage in Saskatchewan over the Labour Day weekend was remembered Wednesday as a caring matriarch and a hero who died while trying to protect her children.

Bonnie Burns, 48, is among the 10 people killed in a series of stabbings on the James Smith Cree Nation northeast of Saskatoon and the nearby village of Weldon. Police say one of the suspects was also been found dead. 

At an emotional news conference, her brother Mark Arcand's voice wavered as he said the family feels broken and hurt. 

A fugitive wanted in a deadly stabbing rampage in Saskatchewan has a nearly two-decade-long criminal record and a propensity for violence when intoxicated, a parole board document says.

The Parole Board of Canada document from February says Myles Sanderson told the board that regular use of drugs and hard alcohol would make him "lose (his) mind" and get angry.

“Your criminal history is very concerning, including the use of violence and weapons-related to your index offences, and your history of domestic violence,” said the document obtained by The Canadian Press.

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested and a Canada-wide warrant issued for another teen in the death of an Indigenous woman that police say was connected to a spree of assaults in Winnipeg earlier this week. 

The two teenagers are to be charged with second-degree murder for the death of 36-year-old Danielle Dawn Ballantyne. 

Ballantyne was found dead in an apartment in the Point Douglas area Monday morning.

Eviction warnings have been given to two longtime encampments on the Manitoba legislature grounds.

A handful of police were present Wednesday as the notices were given to demonstrators on the north and east sides of the legislative building.

A statement from Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen's office said rallies and protests are acceptable on the grounds.

But, the statement said, encampments are not permitted for the safety of staff, visitors, tourists and other protesters. 

Campers say a convicted Canadian sex offender identified himself as security at a South Dakota campground, where he was staying with two children at the centre of a Saskatchewan Amber Alert with their mother.

Benjamin Martin Moore, 50, was located late Tuesday at a campground that takes part in the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in the state. Glencoe Camp Resort posted on social media that its security team assisted in locating and apprehending Moore. 

The campground did not respond to a request for comment. 

Two children at the centre of a Saskatchewan Amber Alert were found at a campground in the United States along with their mother and a man wanted by police, Mounties said Wednesday.

Benjamin Martin Moore, 50, was apprehended near Sturgis, S.D. He is behind bars in Pennington County and jail records show he is being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Service.

His common-law spouse is also in police custody.

A seven-year-old girl and eight-year-old boy were located with Moore and RCMP said they are safe. 

New statistics show that police-reported extortion cases in Canada rose by nearly 300 per cent in the last decade, as the crime swelled online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These concerning increases are being facilitated by social media platforms and other electronic services providers," said Lianna McDonald, the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, in a news release.  

"It should be a wake-up call."

Susan Enge will be thinking of her mother’s time in a residential school during the long journey south from the Northwest Territories to see Pope Francis in Alberta. 

Her thoughts will linger on that legacy and the complexities of being Indigenous and Catholic during the eight-hour drive from her home in Fort Smith to Yellowknife, where she is to join a flight to Edmonton on Sunday. 

“Being a strong Catholic, I think it’s important to forgive people for their wrongdoings,” she says. 

A First Nations woman says she is disappointed a 92-year-old priest accused of assaulting her when she was a student at a former residential school did not attend his first court appearance.

"What a coward," said Victoria McIntosh, 63, outside a legion hall where court was held in Powerview-Pine Falls, north of Winnipeg, on Wednesday. 

"I don't care how old you are. You could have made it here if you wanted to."

Arthur Masse faces one count of indecent assault from when the woman was 10 and attended the Fort Alexander Residential School in Manitoba.