Media.Knet.Ca

Human rights fellowship winner studies disputes over ancestral lands

(Ottawa, August 31, 2005) ― The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) announced today that University of British Columbia history professor Arthur Ray has been awarded the 2005 Bora Laskin Fellowship to examine what he calls Canada’s biggest unresolved human rights issue—Aboriginal land claims.

Granted annually by SSHRC, the Bora Laskin National Fellowship in Human Rights was established in 1985 to honour the late chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. The prestigious 12-month, $55,000 fellowship is awarded to a leading Canadian researcher in the field of human rights.

“Land claims are based, more and more, on historical research,” explains Ray, who has served as an expert witness in several landmark Canadian court cases on Aboriginal rights. “And how the courts treat this evidence is creating an uneven type of justice.”

For example, Aboriginal communities located close to major fur trading routes may have a wealth of historical evidence to draw from when arguing their claims—documents like personal diaries or business records that mention their community and way of life. Yet, says Ray, more isolated groups do not. These groups must often fund new research to prove their claims, or lose the right to live on and use the natural resources of their ancestral lands.

The result, says Ray, is that land claims are becoming so expensive only the wealthiest communities can afford to participate.

“Expert testimony is taking up more time in the courtroom,” says Ray. “For example, the Sampson Cree case still being decided in Alberta has already taken 365 trial days and has included a huge cast of historians, anthropologists and other experts.”

Such cases also make unrealistic demands on trial judges, who must develop a PhD level of knowledge on the subject almost overnight, and sort through many different points of view to make decisions about new historical facts.

Because these decisions often have historical as well as legal implications, Ray will use this fellowship to compare different approaches to land claim settlements in Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia over the past 50 years. He hopes his research will pave the way for more balanced—and less expensive—solutions to disputes over Aboriginal rights in Canada and around the world.

“These decisions have real consequences: for the rights of Aboriginal people, for governments who sometimes pay millions of dollars in compensation, and for our understanding of Canadian history,” says SSHRC president Marc Renaud. “The work of Professor Ray will help us learn how we can reduce the potential costs of land claim disputes, both in terms of money and human dignity.”

For additional information on this release and other SSHRC research projects, please contact:

Doré Dunne
Media relations officer
Telephone: (613) 992-7302
E-mail: dore.dunne@sshrc.ca

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Aboriginal Research Program Funding from SSHRC ...

• Application deadline: September 15, 2005
• Value and Duration:
  • Development Grants: up to $25,000 for up to 2 years.
  • Research Grants: up to $100,000 annually with a maximum of $250,000 over 3 years.

This program has two overall objectives. The first is to facilitate research on a range of policy-related issues that are of concern to Canada's Aboriginal peoples, including urban issues, economic development, the environment, education, research ethics, intellectual and cultural property, and languages and cultures.

The program’s second broad objective is to build up the capacity of the humanities and social science community to operate within, and to benefit from, the approach to Aboriginal research outlined above.

http://www.sshrc.ca/web/apply/program_descriptions/aboriginal_e.asp

From Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement newsletter (Sept 1) ...

Is Goodness Contagious? - That's the question the most recent issue of Greater Good magazine poses. Downloadable articles include a psychologist's view of why goodness thrills us, a discussion on the importance of mentors, and profiles of "good" initiatives including a profile of Roots of Empathy. Check it out here. [Source: Green Blanket (Roots of Empathy)]

Finding Their Voice: Civic Engagement Among Aboriginal and New Canadians - Why is it important to have a greater understanding of how Aboriginal Canadians and New Canadians engage in civic life and what their values are? Given current demographic trends, these groups are and will continue to be increasingly important players in the way Canada is growing and changing. Encouraging the next generation of Canadians to take on leadership roles in this country is a challenge for decision-makers who eventually must "pass the torch". However, the special experiences and values of Aboriginal and New Canadians mean that different methods of engagement must be found. Download the paper here. [Source: The CRIC Papers]

Think-tanks changing their minds - A generation of influential Canadian policy-makers are moving on. They're not politicians or bureaucrats, but the heads of think-tanks, the deep thinkers sought out for fresh ideas by government leaders. It is part of a widespread rollover that is leaving Canada's think-tank sector at a crossroads. Even some of the current crop say the field may be strong but it could use something more -- a bit more edge, a little worldliness, or a touch more relevance -- to fill a market of ideas undersupplied by a sterile political debate. Read the article here. [Source: Canadian Social Research Newsletter/The Globe and Mail]

Asset Building

Helping the Poor Save: The learn$ave Project - The learn$ave project is a research and demonstration project that provides matching grants to individuals who save for education and training. This second report on the initiative was written after enrolment in the project had been completed, and presents a detailed description of the learn$ave design and evaluation strategy. Access the report here. For more on learn$ave, click here. [Source: SRDC Announcement]

Education

Are There National Patterns of Teaching? - Why do teachers today teach as they do, and why has teaching evolved in the way that it has evolved? A new study presents two possible explanations for the general patterns that have developed in school teaching. One explanation is that there are universal elements in most schools today that shape teaching practice (e.g. the physical environment, the social dynamics of classrooms, and the content to be learned). A second explanation is that countries have shaped teaching by evolving classroom methods that are aligned with their national cultural beliefs, expectations, and values. Read the full study here. [Source: HandsNet WebClipper]

Health

Creating Social & Health Equity - In this discussion paper the Edmonton Social Planning Council highlights a well-documented approach to the factors that influence our health. In a time when the Alberta government is looking for the best innovative ideas around health care, the Council suggests that a social determinants approach would lead to ground breaking health care reform. Read a fact sheet here or download the full paper here. [Source: Edmonton Social Planning Council]

Innovative Ideas

Dot-Coms Are So '90s; In Silicon Valley, Doing Good Is the New Thing - They say the soul of Silicon Valley is reflected in the billboards scattered along the 45-mile stretch of Highway 101 that cuts through the region. During the dot-com era, the messages were mostly from start-ups like Excite.com, Homestead.com and eGain.com. The goal was to sell you something, anything. Read this article here. [Source: Washingtonpost.com]

Leadership

Leadership in the voluntary sector - The McGill-McConnell Program, Master of Management for National Voluntary Sector Leaders recently announced the online publication of more than two dozen major papers written by program graduates. Entitled Voluntary Sector Perspectives from the McGill-McConnell Program, the papers offer contemporary perspectives on leadership challenges in the voluntary sector, often through the reality of each author's organization. They also address a range of theoretical and practical topics such as board-staff relations, youth participation in philanthropy and volunteerism, and the application of complexity science to organizational dynamics. To access the papers, click here. [Source: Charity Village]

Investing in Leadership - Grantmakers for Effective Organizations recently released Investing in Leadership, Volume 1: A Grantmaker's Framework for Understanding Nonprofit Leadership Development, by Betsy Hubbard. This first in a two-volume series provides a review of current literature on the role of leadership development in philanthropy and a framework of ways in which grantmakers support nonprofit leadership development. The second volume — available later this year — will specifically profile how different grantmakers are supporting leadership development to increase the capacity of their grantees. Download the first volume here. [Source: Irvine Quarterly, Vol. 5, Issue 1, Summer 2005]

Online Community

access@home - Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and its subsidiary the National Equity Fund (NEF) are partnering with One Economy to launch "access@home," a $1 billion initiative that will build more than 15,000 affordable homes with high-speed digital Internet connectivity and provide low-income families personal access to computers and technology services. The initiative expects to connect nearly 100,000 people to the vast advantage of the Internet. Learn more about this initiative here. [Source: HandsNet WebClipper]

Reducing Poverty in Newfoundland and Labrador - In the 2005 Speech from the Throne, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador committed to refine and implement a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy in collaboration with stakeholders both within and outside the government. This background report and workbook provides background information on poverty in the province, current initiatives being undertaken by the provincial government and ideas for future action. Download the report here. [Source: Canadian Social Research Newsletter]

Overcoming Concentrated Poverty and Isolation - During the 1990s, the Department of Housing and Urban Development launched three rigorous research demonstrations testing alternative strategies for helping low-income families escape the isolation and distress of high-poverty, central-city communities. All three demonstrations were carefully designed to include rigorous controls and systematic data collection so that their implementation and impacts could be systematically evaluated. And all three are now generating provocative results that offer new insights for ongoing program experimentation and policy development. The Urban Institute draws ten broad lessons--including lessons about the potential for success, about the realities families face, about implementing complex strategies, and about obstacles to success. Access the report here. [Source: HandsNet WebClipper]

Social & Economic Inclusion

Count Me In! - The Count Me In! Project from the Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse (OPC) engages others in raising and sustaining the work of health promotion, with emphasis on the strategies of inclusion and engagement. Over the next year OPC will design forums across Ontario to bring together people from a range of sectors to listen and learn--to strengthen our collective understanding of what it means to change health through meaningful inclusion, to plan for a strong, healthy future. The forums will provide the stepping stones to new collaborations, knowledge and actions that support inclusion as a way to improve the health of our communities. Learn more here. [Source: OHPE bulletin]

Volunteerism

Volunteering Helps Individual & Community Health - When you do good things for others, you do good things for your health. Research now shows you may also be doing good things for the health of your community. Read more here. [Source: Canadian Health Network]

Satisfaction and Engagement in Retirement - The Urban Institute analyzes patterns of engagement (defined as time spent in paid work, formal volunteering, informal volunteering, and caregiving activities) among retirees and how engagement relates to their retirement satisfaction. Engaged retirees are significantly more likely to be satisfied with retirement than their non-engaged counterparts, regardless of age, sex, race, marital status, education, mental and physical health, or income. However, retirees who only provide caregiving are significantly less likely to be satisfied. Access the report here. [Source: HandsNet WebClipper]

The TURNING THE CORNER - EFFECTIVE USE OF BROADBAND video is posted on the KO Telehealth web site at http://telehealth.knet.ca. Just click on the PLAY button on the video display window that appears to watch this video.

This video production was completed in March 2005 by the K-Net team, our funding partners (Industry Canada's FedNor, First Nations SchoolNet, and Broadband programs) and George Ferreira (producer - University of Guelph PhD graduate student). It has been shown in Ottawa to different federal government departments (click here to see the June showing KNEWS story about this showing and additional reference material about this work).