Media.Knet.Ca

National Chief Phil Fontaine presented a list of First Nation priorities to the Federal government at the May 31 Cabinet Retreat. This gathering was the follow up to the roundtable discussions hosted over the past winter. At the meeting, Chief Fontaine highlighted the need for "enabling broadband connections and access in all communities". Click here to read the entire AFN press release.

At the June 14 - 16, Chiefs of Ontario gathering in Eagle Lake First Nation, the new Regional Chief Angus Toulouse spoke about the need for broadband connections for all the First Nations across Ontario. On the last day of this gathering National Chief Phil Fontaine shared the AFN priorities with the Chiefs in Assembly and once again emphasized the need to deliver broadband connections in all First Nations across the country.

Now the challenge will be to ensure First Nations receive the support required to meet the MINIMUM broadband requirement of two-way symmetrical bandwidth of T1 (1.5M) capacity that will support interactive two-way video conferencing that is necessary for telehealth applications. This definition of broadband was established by the National Broadband Task Force in 2001. Unfortunately various internet-only service providers are advertising their connectivity solutions as broadband when in fact these connections will not deliver two way symmetrical bandwidth. 

As a result of our June 21 roundtable (click here to Knews story about this meeting), The Star is launching a public on-line discussion of aboriginal education. I'll be writing a story about it in the next few days, but you all get a sneak peak. It's up and running, and I'd encourage anyone who is interested to post a comment. There is a section for thoughts on the broader issue, and another for requests for specific items and services - and offers of the same, under "help wanted/help offered." Here's the link. http://thestar.blogs.com/nativeforum 

We also have launched a native education page with articles dealing with the issue. http://www.thestar.com/native. This link also provides a link to the Fort Severn story shared with the group on June 21 by grade 8 student Florence Thomas (click here to read her story).

If you have copies of remarks you made that day, feel free to post them on the forum, or, if they're really long, email them to me and we can post them on the web page. Feel free to suggest a link for the native education page. 

We're also talking with Ryerson University about the best way to privately continue the discussion that began at our roundtable. We'll keep you posted on that in the days to come.

Louise Brown
Education Reporter
Toronto Star

Dan Pellerin, K-Net's Network Manager and Jeannie Carpenter, K-Net's Operations Manager met with officials from the United Nations via video conference on June 9. They shared a presentation about how KO is using ICTs in the support of health services in remote First Nations during an afternoon forum  that was being held at the United Nations. The title of session hosted by "Promoting An Enabling Environment: Music, Technology, Culture and Healthcare".

From the United Nations Webcast portal (at http://www.un.org/webcast/2005.html)

International Council for Caring Communities (ICCC) in collaboration with the United Nations ICT-Task Force, Programme on Ageing, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA); the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Medical Center, Global Music Healing Institute ; NGOs and the private sector.
[Webcast: Archived Video - Part 1: 2 hours 17 minutes]
[Webcast: Archived Video - Part 2: 1 hour 56 minutes]
[Link to Programme]

The session was organized by Professor Dianne Davis, Founding President of the International Council for Caring Communities (ICCC). This unique interrelated event is part of a series organized by the International Council for Caring Communities (ICCC) in collaboration with the United Nations ICT-Task Force, Programme on Ageing, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA); the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Medical Center, Global Music Healing Institute; NGOs and the private sector. The Conference will address applications related to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in terms of creating partnerships and improving health of citizens worldwide.
 
Music and its effects on the individual have been recognized and practiced for centuries. But what is new is that now, for the first time, we can now prove through technology what happens plus enhance lives more rapidly using ICT as an enabling tool.

Conference addresses: 

• ICT as an enabling tool for rural and urban delivery of health care services
• Emerging technologies in music and medicine
• Power of music in creating a dialogue among children 
• New understanding of the impact of musical rhythms and its utilization as a  “Medical Tool”

International Council For Caring Communities (ICCC)
24 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019, USA
Tel: 212 688-4321  fax: 212  759-5893  
E-mail: icccworld@earthlink.net   
www.international-iccc.org

Brian Beaton, K-Net Coordinator for Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet visited three First Nation schools in the Union of Ontario Indians territory on June 6 and 7. The schools in Nipissing, Dokis and Wasauksing First Nations were visited on this trip. A short meeting with the Union's Education Director also provided some important insights into the efforts of this region to address the educational needs of the students. Click here to view the pictures from these visits.

As part of the First Nations SchoolNet program, Keewaytinook Okimakanak is the Ontario Regional Management Organization (RMO) supporting First Nation schools across Ontario in the use of ICTs. In completing this work, visits to different regions and schools is assisting the RMO team to determine needs and priorities with the First Nation schools across Ontario. Each school across the province is completing surveys highlighting their existing resources and developments along with their ICT requirements and priorities for the 2005-2006 school year.

On Friday, June 3 George Ferreira, Carl Seibel and Brian Beaton travelled to Ottawa to meet with representatives from different federal government departments and First Nation organizations to showcase the new video production, "Turning the Corner - Effective use of broadband in Canada's North". Representatives from the Assembly of First Nations, the Aboriginal Peoples Congress along with officials from Industry Canada (FedNor, Aboriginal Business Canada, First Nations SchoolNet, Computers for Schools, National Satellite Initiative, BRAND, etc), Heritage Canada, Human Resources Skills Development, Health Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs, Privy Council and Treasury Board gathered in Ottawa. Connected to the session via video conference were Regional Management Organization offices in La Ronge Saskatchewan, Sydney Nova Scotia and Thunder Bay and Balmertown in Ontario. Over forty people participated in the two sessions that were offered throughout the morning. FedNor's Minister of State Joe Comuzzi dropped by to meet everyone and endorse the work that Keewaytinook Okimakanak and his team are doing in northwestern Ontario.

Everyone view the video and discussed the use of broadband to affect the necessary changes required in programs and policy that are affecting and influencing the present situations and issues affecting remote and rural communities across Canada.

All the video material produced by Keewaytinook Okimakanak is available on-line for everyone's access. We can send over additional DVD copies of the various material that is posted on-line (much better quality) if we have your mailing address. The following list of on-line material might be of interest to everyone ...

1. DVD - video production “Turning the Corner – Using Broadband Effectively in Canada’s North”. The content of the DVD is available on-line at (May 2005) …http://streaming.knet.ca/turning_the_corner_high.wmv
2. Turning the Corner with First Nations Telehealth position paper - May, 2005 http://knet.ca/documents/KOTelehealth-Position-Paper-May2005.pdf
3. E-Community Concept paper (April 2005) - http://knet.ca/documents/EComm-concept-final.pdf
4. Community Aggregation Model (April 2005) - http://knet.ca/documents/community-aggregation.pdf
5. Report of Keewaytinook Okimakanak C-Band Public Benefit Initiative (March 2005) - http://research.knet.ca/images/upload/05-03-29-Summative-Overview-C-Band-Public-Benefit-KNet1[1].pdf
6. KIHS information video http://streaming.knet.ca/KiHS/KiHS_300k.wmv
7. Keewaytinook Okimakanak Telehealth (KOTH) information video http://streaming.knet.ca/telehealth/TH-Evaluation_300k.wmv
8. DVD video entitled "The K-Net Story ... Weaving the Networked Economy in Kuhkenah First Nation Communities" … (Dec 2004)
   • Introduction 13:04 - http://streaming.knet.ca/fednor/intro_300k.wmv
   • Economic Development 2:36 - http://streaming.knet.ca/fednor/economic_300k.wmv
   • Partnerships 9:51 - http://streaming.knet.ca/fednor/partnerships_300k.wmv
   • Building the Network 2:36 - http://streaming.knet.ca/fednor/network_300k.wmv
   • Education 5:58 - http://streaming.knet.ca/fednor/education_300k.wmv
   • Health 3:29 - http://streaming.knet.ca/fednor/health_300k.wmv
   • Visions for the Future - http://streaming.knet.ca/fednor/future_visions_300k.wmv
9. The Case Studies produced for the Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (ICA) entitled “Harnessing ICTs: A Canadian First Nations’ Experience” (December 2003) – http://smart.knet.ca/kuhkenah_flash.html (contains videos for each case study listed below)– contains the PDF files along with video footage for five case studies including:
   * Executive Summary – http://smart.knet.ca/flash/eng/pdf/summary.pdf
   * Introduction to K-Net – http://smart.knet.ca/flash/eng/pdf/introduction.pdf
   * K-Net Network Development - http://smart.knet.ca/flash/eng/pdf/network.pdf
   * K-Net Case Study on Economic Development - http://smart.knet.ca/flash/eng/pdf/economic.pdf
   * K-Net Case Study on Health - http://smart.knet.ca/flash/eng/pdf/health.pdf
   * K-Net Case Study on Education - http://smart.knet.ca/flash/eng/pdf/education.pdf
10. If you go to the K-Net news archives at http://knews.knet.ca and do a SEARCH (on the left hand column) for the word video ... you will get a list of the various video products that have been produced for distribution.