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Audience members recommended KO seek funding from Heritage Canada to increase the amount of First Nations cultural content on the 'Net...

From the AFN press release (November 17, 2004)

National Chief Fontaine stated in an AFN press release,  “Fair and reasonable compensation is due for the survivors but we must also deal with the emotional, physical, psychological and cultural trauma that stem from these schools. Our communities are still dealing with this attempt at forced assimilation.  It was nothing less than an assault on our children, our communities and our culture. Children were apprehended from their home and families, beaten if they spoke their language and forbidden to practice their traditional spirituality. The after-shocks are still being felt today and we cannot move forward until we have healed ourselves as individuals and as a country.”

“The current ADR process is an adversarial system that is not working and is in fact re-victimizing many survivors,” said National Chief Fontaine.  “It is failing Canadians by wasting taxpayers dollars.  It is failing First Nations and all Canadians by denying timely and just compensation.  Most importantly, it failing all of us because it is not leading to the healing and reconciliation that is required at a national level so that we can finally put behind us, in an honourable way, the legacy of this disgraceful and sad chapter in our history.”

The AFN’s report addresses all of these issues and recommends a two-pronged approach to improve the current ADR process. The first part involves fair and reasonable compensation, including a lump sum payment that would be awarded to all survivors (or their descendants), along with an additional amount for each year spent in the school.  Survivors can also be compensated for severe emotional abuse as well as physical and sexual abuse.  The report also calls for on-going activities and resources for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation given its emphasis on culturally-based approaches to healing.

The second part of the report puts forward the concept of creating a national mechanism for truth-sharing, healing and reconciliation.  The truth-sharing process would be designed by survivors and stakeholders, and would be accessible to those who attended the schools, their families and any other parties willing to share their experiences and recommendations.

Click here for the entire AFN press release.

Click here to see the AFN report (PDF document - 54 pages) - "Assembly of First Nations Report on Canada’s Dispute Resolution Plan to Compensate for Abuses in Indian Residential Schools"

Click here to see the CBC article "AFN calls for immediate $10,000 payment to residential school survivors"

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled today that "governments have a legal duty to consult with First Nations to some extent about the development of disputed land". The ruling was based upon a case against the Haida Nation and the BC government. The ruling was suppose to clarify how governments and resource "development" corporations are to deal with First Nations before making land use decisions.

The two cases before Canada's high court were moved forward by the provinces and the federal government against two First Nations in British Columbia. Their case was originally ruled in favour of the First Nations by the BC Court of Appeal. That court ruled that governments and companies must consult and accommodate First Nations before making land-use decisions – even if aboriginal title is still not proven.

Click here for more information on this story.

Click here for the complete text of the Supreme Court's Haida decision.

Click here for the complete Supreme Court Tlingit ruling.

Click here for the story from CBC North.

As a final deliverable under Industry Canada's Smart Communities demonstration project, Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations constructed new buildings to accommodate the KiHS classrooms (in five of the KO First Nations) and the e-Centres (in three of the communities). The buildings are now nearing completion and are slowly being set up for their intended purposes. FedNor was the principal funding partner in the purchase, construction and furnishing of these facilities in each of these communities.

On November 16, Jerry Pokrupa from Keewaytinook Okimakanak's Public Works team joined Langreen, the construction and project contractor, on a tour of the facilities and the work completed to date. Click here to see the pictures of these new facilities in Deer Lake (still under construction), Keewaywin, North Spirit Lake and Poplar Hill.

The 2nd Annual  Niigantige 2004 Ontario Aboriginal Youth Achievement Awards and Career Fair will be held on Tuesday 30th November 2004 at Fort William First Nation Community Hall to recognize the successes of First Nation and Metis youth from across the province in a variety of categories. 

‘Niigaantige’ which means ‘looking to the future’, will be the theme of the banquet and awards will be presented to youth role models who have demonstrated excellence in the principles of athletics, community leadership, business, arts, health education, personal achievement, and traditional employment. A variety of guest speakers, organizations and businesses are participating in the event to provide hands on learning and research opportunities.

Says Meladina Hardy: “This is an important event that seeks to build self esteem in our youth. The purpose is to recognize the achievements of those who have overcome major obstacles to reach their personal goals and to provide them with access to opportunities that might motivate them to continue to pursue their personal ambitions.  We would like to encourage local people, businesses and organizations to either sponsor our event or to purchase tickets to the dinner in support of these hard working young people. All proceeds from the event will go towards student bursaries”

The event is being organized by volunteers from Matawa First Nations Management, Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Centre, Anishinabek Educational Institute, Yes Employment services.

For further information please call: Georgette O’Nabigon, Matawa First Nations Management: (807) 346 8009

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Media Contact:

Stephanie Ash
Firedog Public Relations & Marketing: 807 767 4443 or email: stephanie@firedogpr.com

Pikangikum 2nd Annual Memorial Hockey Tournament will be held December 15, 16, 17, & 18 2004

*Open Ice Body Contact*

Entry Fee $1200.00 - $200 will go towards ice time and includes player passes.

6 Local Teams. Open to 6 outside teams with a deposit of $300 (non refundable) accomodations will be provided.

Championship Prize $6000.00

Contact Van Keeper (h) 773 - 5172 (w) 773 1039                        

             Lyle Keeper  773 - 1074 (w)773 5557

             Ken Strang  773 - 5346 (w) 773 5097

             Randy Moose 773 1093

DFC Thunderhawks will be playing tonight against the Westgate Tigers at 7:00 pm at St. Pats High School.

Monday, November 15, 2004.

A new research network – RICTA - has now been created thanks in part to Keewaytinook Okimakanak. The network name is Research on ICT (information and communication technologies) with Aboriginal Communities. Brian Walmark, the KO Research Coordinator, is working with Susan O’Donnell, a Research Officer with the National Research Council - Institute for Information Technology and an Adjunct Professor at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, and others to establish RICTA. Together they prepared and were successful in accessing a SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) grant for $30,000 under the Strategic Research Clusters Design Grant to assist in establishing the RICTA network.

Everyone is invited to visit the new RICTA web site at http://ricta.ca

The first RICTA members include 24 social scientists from Canadian universities, three international researchers, nine community and government representatives, and one private sector representative.

For more KO research developments, visit the KO Research Institute web site at http://research.knet.ca

Consumer and Business Services Minister Jim Watson launched the new www.serviceontario.ca web site last week. The new site offers Ontarians (at least those with access to broadband) "one-stop access" to government services and information.

From the  IT World Canada article describing this announcement ...

Ontarians, said Watson, "can change their address on their driver's licence, register a business name, and plan an Ontario holiday all in one place."

Watson and Minister of Culture Madeleine Meilleur, who demonstrated ServiceOntario at the Toronto Reference Library, described the new portal as "the new face of government service delivery."

Simplicity, convergence and ease of use are the hallmarks of the new Web site.

By centralizing everything in one location, ServiceOntario eliminates the need to visit 200 Web sites, 70 call centres and over 1,500 counters to access information from three levels of government.

All it will take is a click – perhaps a few clicks – of the mouse to access relevant information and services.

And it gets even better.

"For those who don't have Internet access at home, public libraries offer free access. This reinforces their role as important neighbourhood hubs, helping to build strong and healthy communities," said Meilleur.

Here’s what individuals and business can currently access on ServiceOntario:

• Links to three new Ontario government Web sites: the Children's Information Portal, the Workplace Gateway, and the Women's Information Gateway;
• The ability to change or update the address on one’s health card, driver's licence and outdoors card;
• A treasure trove of information and resources for Ontarians during important life events, such as retirement or having a baby;
• Business tutorials on topics like How to Run a Construction Business, How to Start and Run a Tourism Business;
• Capabilities for registering or changing a business name online;
• More than 400 government forms classified under easy to understand topics and categories

ServiceOntario can be accessed at http://www.serviceontario.ca/