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The Chiefs of Ontario office, in partnership with the Union of  Ontario Indians is hosting "A gathering for First Nations youth in Ontario"

For more information or to register contact Nathan Wright at 1-877-517-6527 or by email at nathan@coo.org

Purpose: The purpose of the Symposium is to bring together a collection of youth and enhance their ability to return to their community to influence positive change. The theme of Social Development has been selected as a result of the rising social challenges that each individual First Nation faces.

Place: Valhalla Inn - Thunder Bay, Ontario

Time: March 18, 2005 to Sunday, March 20, 2005

Accommodations: Chiefs of Ontario will be covering the cost of accommodations for each registered delegate. Once registered, the Chiefs of Ontario will arrange your accommodations at the Valhalla Inn.

Meals: The Chiefs of Ontario will be providing meals for each registered delegate. Meals provided will include Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner on Saturday, as well as Breakfast and Lunch on Sunday. Meals will be available at the Valhalla Inn.

Travel: The Chiefs of Ontario will reimburse a portion of the travel for each delegate. Travel reimbursement forms will be available upon registration. Unfortunately, due to funding constraints, Chiefs of Ontario cannot commit to reimbursing full travel costs at this time.

Age: Delegates must be between the ages of 18-29.

BE SURE AND VISIT THE CHIEFS OF ONTARIO WEBSITE for more information.

The 5th annual Northern First Nations Hockey Tournament is well on its way to being another success for everyone involved ... the hockey players, the organizers, the fans and the host community of Sioux Lookout. Tournament coordinator, Margaret Kenequanash promises another exciting week of hockey at the Sioux Lookout arena. The tournament's web site at http://firstnationshockey.ca has the schedule and the list of teams in each pool (see below).

On March 2 and 3, 2005, the chiefs from the First Nations of Deer Lake, Fort Severn, Keewaywin, McDowell Lake, North Spirit Lake and Poplar Hill met with Keewaytinook Okimakanak staff to discuss programs and services being delivered by their organization. The chiefs form the Board of Directors for Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO). KO is a tribal council receiving annual funding support from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada for several of the core second level services delivered by the KO team.

Special guests at the meeting on the first day included Arun Dighe, Associate Regional Director and Joe Young, Financial Manager from INAC's regional office in Thunder Bay.

Click here to check out the pictures from the meeting.

Tabatha Jourdain, the SchoolNet Youth Employment Project Coordinator travelled to Big Grassy First Nation along with two of the youth workers this past Thursday, Feb 24. Danica Medicine from Rainy River First Nation and Karmyn Kelly from Onegaming First Nation were also able to participate in this event. Click here to check out the pictures from this event.

Check out http://firstnationschools.ca for more news story about all the work being completed under Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet program.

NEWS FLASH — $5,000 cash prize to the winner of the new
RBC Financial Group award supporting small business skills development.
Visit http://www.conferenceboard.ca/education/awards/ for program updates.

Tara Toulouse, Jamie Ray, and KORI’s Brian Walmark will be flying to Vancouver to deliver a presentation on the Youth Employment initiative that is being funded by Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet program through the KO Regional Management Organization. This CRACIN workshop on "civic participation" is part of the larger Summit 2005 gathering that is happening at the same time.  Click here to check out the workshop pictures that Jamie is posting from Vancouver.

Tara, a youth worker in her home community of Sagamok FN, is sharing her thoughts about what it is like to be involved in the Youth Initiative Training (YIT) program as well as a youth worker in her community. Jamie Ray, a trainer with YIT and the on-line CISCO ITE1 program, will be discussing what it is like to be involved in a peer-to-peer, on-line learning environment such as YIT.  Brian Walmark will also be attending and will provide the CRACIN participants with an overview of how YIT fits into the larger context of Industry Canada’s First Nations SchoolNet in Ontario and K-Net Services specifically. Adam Fiser, a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto and a member of CRACIN, will be exploring topics of academic research associated with YIT.

The third CRACIN workshop is being held Friday Feb. 25 and Saturday Feb. 26 in Vancouver, BC.

For those of you who cannot join us in Vancouver, the CRACIN workshop is being webcast using the K-Net Breeze webcasting platform. Breeze supports remote participants to watch presentations in real time and features an interactive text chat function.

The agenda for the CRACIN workshop is available the CRACIN website at http://www.fis.utoronto.ca/research/iprp/cracin/events/index.htm#w3

Please note that the times noted on the agenda are Pacific, so adjust your watches accordingly. The first session on Friday begins at 10:30 am Vancouver time. The sessions are also being recorded and make them available as archives for those unable to join us in real time.

Details on using Breeze are below.
Macromedia Breeze:

The CRACIN Breeze Meeting room is accessible at http://breeze.knet.ca/r42234647/
for those who already have a Breeze username (your e-mail address) and password.

If you have not used Breeze before, then you need a username and password. Please self-register by going to this url:

http://breeze.knet.ca/r42234647/?access-key=eheu8ndt8mphwifn

System Requirements:
Windows (98se, ME, XP, NT 4.0, 2000)
Internet Explorer 4.0, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0 
Netscape Navigator 4, 6.2, 7.1 
AOL 8 
Compuserve 7 (2000 & XP only) 
Mozilla 1.2 
Opera 7 

Macintosh (9.2, OS X 10.1 or later)
Safari 1.1, 1.2 
Netscape 6.2, 7.1 
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.2 
CompuServe 7 (OS 10.1 or later) 
Mozilla 1.2

Additional Requirements 
Macromedia Flash Player 6.0.65 or higher for embedded video and Breeze Live

To hear the meeting, you'll need either headphones or speakers on your computer.

More FAQs on Breeze:
http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_18815

From the February 24 issue of the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal - http://chroniclejournal.com/story.shtml?id=25938

FedNor budget skyrockets

By Carl Clutchey - The Chronicle-Journal
February 24, 2005

The federal agency that helps Northern Ontario feel less like Ontario’s poor cousin got a huge boost in Wednesday’s budget.

Liberal MP Joe Comuzzi, the minister who oversees FedNor, could barely contain himself as the agency’s annual allotment officially skyrocketed.

“We’re talking about a base budget of $20 million going up to $52 million,” Comuzzi (Thunder Bay-Superior North) enthused minutes after listening to Finance Minister Ralph Goodale present the budget speech.

FedNor is divided into two parts. The main Northern Ontario Development Program is the beneficiary of the enhanced $52-million budget.

The other part of FedNor is a collection of 61 Community Futures Development Corporations across Ontario.

That program received an increase of $14.2 million over five years. Prior to the budget, each CFDC had received $250,000 to cover operating costs and replenish loan funds.

CFDCs provide business loans up to $125,000 in rural parts of the province. Twenty-four of the 61 are in Northern Ontario.

High on FedNor’s agenda, Comuzzi said, is to spend about $10 million of its expanded base budget on new telecommunications infrastructure.

That will bring high-speed Internet capability to the approximately 30 per cent of Northwestern Ontario communities still without what’s now considered an essential service.

The money, to be spent over two years, will pay for high-speed equipment and modern telecommunication lines at First Nations and other remote communities that lack the customer base to convince Internet providers to make those investments on their own.

Comuzzi said the high-speed capability will be a boon to doctors and other medical professionals in remote areas who currently can’t access services such as digital images.

Meanwhile, Comuzzi and fellow Northwest Liberal MP Ken Boshcoff (Thunder Bay-Rainy River) noted the $300 million earmarked for the development of an east-west power grid to allow cheap, Manitoba-based electricity to flow into Ontario.

Comuzzi said that project will be significant for Northwestern Ontario wood mills and mines currently facing some of the highest electricity costs in North America.

Boshcoff, a former Thunder Bay mayor, said he was pleased to see Goodale retain the GST exemption for Canadian municipalities, which saves his home city about $1.5 million annually.

Boshcoff also noted the $85 million the budget allotted for the disabled.

Parts of the budget are to be put to a vote in the House of Commons over the next few weeks.

Comuzzi said he isn’t worried that the Liberals, currently heading a minority government, will lose their hold on power in a non-confidence vote linked to the budget.

Don Burnstick visit to Red Lake on March 10 & 11, 2005,  is going to be a busy one.  Here is some information that may be of some interest to you...check it out if you want.

On Thursday, March 10, 2005 - The Evolution of a Teenager for Teens, Educators and Caregivers workshop will be held for pre-registered youth at no charge.  This workshop is from 9:30 to 2:30 pm at the Red Lake Indian Friendship Centre. 

On Friday, March 11, 2005 the second event is an "I am Alcohol Play" and lunch with Don Burnstick at the Royal Canadian Legion from 11:30 am -2:00 pm.  This play is a vivid portrayal of a man's painful journey as he battles his loneliness and fear with alcohol.  This powerful and strong message that everyone needs to see.  This workshop is open and free to the public.  however, we will be selling Soup and Sandwiches at the play to assist with off setting the costs involved of bringing Don Burnstick into our community.  Donations are also welcome.

Friday, March 11, 2005 will also have the evening of laughter with Comedian Don Burnstick at the Royal Canadian Legion.  Tickets for sale at $15.00 each.  Doors open at 5:30 - local entertainment at 6:00 - Main Event at 7:00 pm

For more information call Shelley Mc Kenzieat the Red Lake Indian Friendship Centre at 727-2847 extension 39.