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Archive - 2003

April 21st

Planning for Telehealth Services in Sioux Lookout Zone First Nations

April 21, 2003 - 2:05pm | by Anonymous

Members of the Sioux Lookout Health Zone Telehealth Sustainability Working Group met by teleconference on April 17 to discuss the strategy for developing telehealth services in each of the First Nations across the region. The next steps in the preparation of a business case for Health Canada's Primary Care Health Transition Fund were presented with everyone taking on different tasks so the proposal can be completed and submitted by May 22 deadline.

Present at this meeting were John Rowlandson (chair), Lynda Roberts, Dr. Ed Brown, Carl Seibel, Orpah Mckenzie, James Kakepetum, Dr. Claudette Chase, Paul Capon, Alvin Fidder, Brian Beaton, Janet Gordon and Donna Williams. Regrets came from James Adams, Rosalie Davis, Frank Schmidt, Nancy Sagmeister, Susan Sue Chan and Jim Morris.

Agenda Items included:

1. Business Arising from December meeting
2. Sustainability Update

3. Key PHCTF Issues

  • Key PHCTF Questions (attached)
  • Draft budget for review (attached)

4. Other Items
5. Next Meeting: Thursday 15 May, 2003 - 0900 to 10:30 (CENTRAL)

Next Steps includes:

  • providing an update to all partner First Nations and organizations across the region;
  • obtaining letters of support and/or band council resolutions from each First Nation and organization;
  • securing additional funding partners for this development (NOHFC, FedNor, HRDC, SLAAMB, etc);
  • producing and submitting the business case to Health Canada by May 22.

Everyone is invited to submit their comments and letters of support for this initiative below. On-line documentation about this initiative can be found at:

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April 16th

Happy Retirement Wishes for Christina Keesic from Wawatay

April 16, 2003 - 8:42pm | by Anonymous

Happy Retirement to Christina Keesic

A big meegwetch for twenty-four years of WAWATAY TRANSLATION, for your

  • Dedication
  • Kindness
  • Professionalism
  • Baking
  • Teaching
  • Perseverance
  • Coffee-making
  • Hard Work
  • Leadership
  • Reliability
  • Ojibway Language Perseverance

From all of us at the  Wawatay Native Communications Society

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April 15th

KO Presentations to Nexus Tech 2003 gathering in Vancouver

April 15, 2003 - 9:22pm | by Anonymous

The Kuh-ke-nah Network of Smart First Nations presentation to the audience attending the Native Investment and Trade Association conference in Vancouver is now on-line in a PDF format (639K). As well, John Rowlandson, KO former Telehealth Project Manager presentation about KO's telehealth services is also available (1.2M PDF)

The technicians in Vancouver were able to get their equipment working with the hotel's IP connection and the video conference from KO's Sioux Lookout office was able to take place a day late. The slides could not be seen on the receiving end because the software being used would not accept that data. The video portion seems to have worked so most of the information was presented orally.

Thanks to the conference organizers and the folks at AlterNet Systems Inc for making this connection possible for us to share our story about connecting remote First Nations to broadband.

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April 14th

Video Conferencing during Conferences and other Special Events - Lessons Learned

April 15, 2003 - 4:25am | by Anonymous

Broadband connectivity provides a "highway" that carries IP video conferencing, IP telephony and IP data traffic within a managed environment. These IP services work great when everyone understands the limitations and conditions being placed on that highway. Some call these the "rules of the road" – in this case, the ‘digital highway’.

On Monday, April 14, I was suppose to do a presentation to an audience attending the

Native Investment and Trade Association’s Nexus Tech 2003 conference, entitled "Aboriginal High Technology & Telecommunications" in Vancouver (the conference event brochure is available online). The plan was to deliver the presentation entitled, "Supporting First Nation Residents to Invest in their Communities" by video-conference from our office in Sioux Lookout. My presentation addressed the need to keep available dollars in the local economy as long as possible through local capacity building using ICTs instead of paying outside agencies for items such as consulting, travel, etc. I hoped to share the success stories surrounding the Kuh-ke-nah Network of Smart First Nations that we are developing using these ICTs and broadband connectivity.

During the early planning stages for this conference event, K-Net staff recommended that ISDN lines be installed at the conference site and a video conferencing unit be borrowed to facilitate the video conference session. This is the usual way to ensure we have a dedicated connection for the presentation and a way to provide some Quality of Service for the video session. The conference organizers placed the responsibility for the connections in the hands of a firm that wanted to use an IP connection for the video session.

The connection tests were done from another site the week before the event. Everything worked as well as can be expected when one uses the public internet for the connection. Unfortunately the day of the event it was discovered that the folks providing the high speed connection to the conference site had a firewall that would not support the receipt of audio and video traffic over their internet service. So another planned video-conference connection did not take place, even though this session and connection had been advertised. Before the event, a few people wrote and phoned me about this presentation so I was anxious to see everything work the way it should have.

Does this failed attempt to demonstrate the importance of video conferencing mean that we should not be using these communication tools for these types of events? Does this type of experience set back the efforts of people to develop broadband opportunities in First Nations? I hope not!

I would suggest that there are lots of lessons learned from these types of experiences. The challenge is to ensure that everyone is getting the correct information whenever these types of situations occur. This is the third time that I have worked with different events where the "video conference" solution failed to provide the type of connection required for true two-way interactive video communication. Even with the ordering of ISDN lines, we have found problems with the local service in some locations. There is no fail-safe solution to avoid every problem BUT there are steps that should be taken to ensure a successful for everyone, especially the audience.

Some of the lessons, I take from these experiences include:

  • Testing the connections from the actual sites using the equipment involved in the planned event as far in advance as possible helps to identify and resolve any technical problems before the actual event;
  • Working with teams of people that include all those responsible for these connections ensures that everyone knows who to contact whenever there is a problem and provides a great learning opportunity for everyone;
  • Supporting only one connectivity "solution" limits the potential for showcasing a variety of options for both the audience and the providers of these services;
  • Sharing information and experiences with all the partners involved in the planning for these events supports everyone in their efforts to deliver a successful presentation for the audience (contact cell phone numbers are very helpful for those sitting in remote sites wondering what is happening);
  • Knowing that these ICTs are communication tools that can fail for any number of reasons is an important consideration so contingency plans can be put in place (ie. Audio conferencing with the powerpoint presentation being delivered on-site);
  • Planning for the real costs of these types of presentations and connections (people’s time and resources) is equally important as caring for those who are attending the event in person;
  • Recognizing the importance of "walking the talk" in the use of these ICT tools requires the recognition of the opportunity to invite additional presenters and participants from remote First Nations that are embracing the use of these tools, thus making it more worthwhile for everyone to ensure a successful event;
  • Understanding the ‘change management’ aspects of hosting events and sessions using these ICT tools ensures a growing opportunity for innovative exchanges and sharing of resources from anywhere.

I do hope everyone is able to gain from these experiences, even when they do not work completely as intended. I was able to meet some new people through this experience and learn about some products and resources that I never knew about before. Therefore I feel I learned some more things and that is important.
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April 10th

Native Teacher Education Program (NTEP) application deadline extended

April 10, 2003 - 7:55pm | by Anonymous

The application deadline for the next Native Teacher Education Program has been extended to Friday, April 18th.  Call Brian toll free at 1-877-636-0667, ext. 25 for further information.  Leave a message and he will call you back.

See K-News Article for NTEP qualifications.

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April 9th

Sandy Lake Storm takes the inaugeral KHL title

April 9, 2003 - 9:36pm | by Anonymous

Keewaytinook Hockey League finally finished their first year of action in a tournament style of play. The tournament was held in Sandy Lake on April 3 to 6, 2003.

Sandy Lake Storm of the Keewaytinook Hockey League (KHL) went undefeated in KHL's inaugeral season. Storm finished off the regular season with a record of 24-0, scoring 359 goals and only allowing 69 goals.

Sandy Lake Storm continued their domination over the other KHL teams that they faced in the play-offs and Championship game. The first team they faced was Kitchinoomaykoosib Icehawks (KI Icehawks) in a best out of three format. Sandy Lake went on to defeat KI Icehawks two straight games.

Storm then met the Kasabonika Jr. Kings in the Championship Bear Cup. Kasabonika had defeated Wunnimun Whiskeyjack in a hard fought play-off series that had to go to the deciding third game.

In the Championship game Sandy Lake Storm had a battling team to contend with. At the end of the first period the game was tied at 3 a piece and by the end of second period the score was 10-5. But the score did not indicate the closeness of the game. Storm held their composure and kept pounding the Kasabonika netminder with shot after shot. The eventual final score was 16 to 8 for Sandy Lake Storm.

Check out: www.sandylake.firstnation.ca for more info, pictures and trophy presentations.

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Celebration of Recognition for students participating in the ACSW Program

April 9, 2003 - 9:29pm | by Anonymous

Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute presented Certificates of Recognition to the students of the Aboriginal Community Services Worker Program on March 27, 2003.  The celebration took place at Confederation College in Thunder Bay.  Congradulations to all!  Check out the pictures at http://photos.knet.ca/albun20

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First Nation Education Issues and Opportunities

April 9, 2003 - 7:38am | by Anonymous

Wendy Johnson, Education Policy Analyst from the Chiefs of Ontario Office distributed a briefing note to First Nation education advisors concerning recent developments and opportunities to work together. The document includes updates on:

  • INAC's Engagement Strategy and COO's recommendations;
  • Gathering Strength initiatve; and
  • Federal Budget Announcement of $72 million for First Nation Education.
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New chief and council in Cat Lake First Nation

April 9, 2003 - 5:19am | by Anonymous

Community update for off reserve Cat Lake band numbers and for interested people:

New Chief: Wilfred Wesley  - 95 votes

  • Councillor: Allan Oombash - 143 votes
  • Councillor: Gordon Wesley - 129 Votes
  • Councillor: Vernon Wesley - 127 votes
  • Councillor: Elsie Gray  - 123 votes
  • Councillor: Russell Wesley - 115 votes
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April 8th

New KO Telehealth Information Brochure

April 8, 2003 - 5:27am | by Anonymous

Keewaytinook Okimakanak's Telehealth team produced a new information brochure for circulation. It is available on-line (650K PDF file).

For further information about KO's Telehealth Services, contact Donna Williams, Telehealth Coordinator or Gibbet Stevens, Telehealth Scheduler by e-mail or at 1-800-387-3740.

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