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From http://www.timminspress.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=214225&catname=Local News&classif=

Cochrane holds global conference

Michael Peeling - Monday, October 02, 2006

A place that's home to a boreal forest will play host to a conference on the subject.

The first annual Boreal Conference began Sunday night at Cochrane's new Tim Horton Event Centre, with opening ceremonies to welcome 250 delegates from around the world and talk about the boreal forests of North America.

The three-day conference, hosted by Lake Abitibi Model Forest and the Canadian Institute of Forestry focuses on the science behind the forest as experts on the subject speak about their "real-life experiences in planning, operations and policy-making from across the North American boreal forest," according to the event's agenda. "There are a lot of dynamics in our forests; factors affecting our forests such as climate change, globalization in the marketplace and competitiveness" said Wayne Young, general manager of Lake Abitibi Model Forest.

"We see a lot of dynamic change in the boreal forest. We thought it was a great opportunity to hold a conference here in the actual boreal forest to discuss the issues around the boreal forest."

Young said conferences like this are usually held in Toronto and Montreal. The most recent he attended was the 10th annual National Forest Congress in Gatineau, Que.

Two years ago, Young sat down with an advisory panel of about nine people to develop topic ideas and discuss possible venues.

The panel grew into an organizing committee of 12, which includes Peggy Smith of the faculty of forestry at Lakehead University, Rob Galloway, regional director of the Ministry of Natural Resources in South Porcupine, and George Bruemmer, formerly of Tembec, executive director of Natural Resources Canada's Canadian Forest Service-sponsored Fibre Centre.

As one of the hosts of the event, the Canadian Institute of Forestry decided to hold its annual general meeting at Cedar Meadows to coincide with the first Boreal Conference.

Young said the conference will focus on four main themes, the first being climate change, which will be the first topic of discussion this morning with talks by experts including professor David Pearson of Laurentian University and associate professor Debra Davidson of University of Alberta.

"We see climate change as one of the biggest challenges facing the boreal forest," Young said. "Not only the forests themselves, but the communities associated with the forest."

The second set of sessions, held this afternoon, will explore globalization and community sustainability in the boreal forest with the guidance of the likes of Professor Luc Bouthillier of Laval University and Chief Tammy Cook-Searson of Lac La Ronge Indian Band in Saskatchewan.

"With a changing marketplace, we're seeing mill closures ... so how do we deal with globalization in the marketplace and the (affected) communities like Smooth Rock Falls," Young said.

Tuesday's themes will be natural disturbance-based management - meaning how should forestry experts deal with factors such as fire, wind, diseases and insects that affect the boreal forest - and balancing protection and use, which looks at whether or not we are protecting enough of the forest and if we have enough forest to produce enough commercial fibre for the mills.

"I think we're unique in this conference in that we've scheduled 45 minutes for group discussions from the floor," Young said.

"What we're hoping to do is generate some dialogue within the forest community from across Canada, not only about what the issues are, but to find out what we can do about them."

The 250 delegates attending the conference include foresters, forest managers, forest researchers from all 10 provinces, industrial forest managers from Abitibi-Consolidated and Tembec, First Nations leaders, community leaders such as Cochrane mayor Lawrence Martin and 50 forestry students from University of Toronto and Lakehead University.

"We've got a good youth contingency coming to the conference ... young people that will ultimately make the decisions in the future," Young said. "Hopefully they'll have an opportunity to learn and put that to good use in the future."

On Wednesday all of the delegates will be treated to a ride on the Polar Bear Express train from Cochrane to Moose Factory so that they "can experience a traditional First Nation community and (eat) a meal of moose and goose.

"We'll have speakers who can talk about what the delegates see out the windows of the train as it travels through a good chunk of the boreal forest."

Details about the Boreal Conference 2006 can be found at www.borealconference2006.ca

From http://www.timminspress.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=215666&catname=Local%20News&classif=

Foster-care concerns a poignant reminder of residential schools; Speaker draws the parallel at child-abuse prevention event - Scott Paradis - Tuesday, October 03, 2006

The strain residential schools put on Aboriginal communities in the past is echoed today in foster care services, a representative for an Aboriginal child and family group said Monday. Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada, was the keynote speaker at the Timmins Native Friendship Centre Monday, for this year's purple ribbon campaign.

The ribbon campaign marks the 14th annual Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and Awareness Month, held each year in October.

"In 1949, at the height of the government's use of residential schools, there were 9,000 children taken from their homes," Blackstock said.

"Our best estimate is there are now between 23,000 and 28,000 children away from their homes and in foster care."

Of that number, about 9,000 Aboriginal children in foster care are from First Nation communities, she said.

Blackstock has done the math and said in 2004, children "from the reserve spent collectively two million nights away from home."

There are four main reasons for children, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, being taken from their families and placed into foster care, she said.

They are: Physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. Non-Aboriginal children are usually taken from their homes because of the three abuses, However, Aboriginal children are commonly taken away because of neglect, she said.

"When people think neglect, they think the parents don't have the right parenting skills," she said.

However, Blackstock said, studies her group is involved with show that parenting skills have little to do with the so-called neglect problem.

"It has more to do with poverty and a lack of access to social programs," she said.

Blackstock said she could teach parenting skills to almost any parent - but without money, they likely couldn't benefit from them. "You can give them the recipe, but they can't make anything without the groceries," she said.

Blackstock said she doesn't live in a "utopian world," and understands that some children are better off away from home.

That fact doesn't excuse the excessive numbers of children being taken away from their families, she said.

The First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada developed a method for average Canadians to help improve Aboriginal child care, and Blackstock said it takes less than 15 minutes.

Details of the 15-minute program are available on the group's website, www.fncaringsociety.com

This year's purple ribbon campaign is the first time Child and Family Services Timmins and District has partnered with the Timmins Native Friendship Center.

Richard Lambert-Belanger, executive director of Child and Family Services Timmins and District, said he has high hopes for the partnership and hopes to see it continue in future campaigns.

Groups have just begun handing out the purple ribbons, and on one blitz alone auxiliary members of the OPP and Timmins Police Service handed out 3,000 of them.

"It wasn't a fundraiser," Lambert-Belanger said. "But people donated anyway and we raised more than $1,000."

As for the purple ribbon itself, he calls it "a symbolic beacon," and hopes people wear it throughout the entire month of October, not just the day they receive it.

From http://www.wetaskiwintimes.com/News/257887.html

United Nations to visit Hobbema - Nick Puhjera - Monday October 02, 2006

Times Staff  —  Delegates from around the world will converge on Hobbema, spotlighting the plight of aboriginal people.

The event marks the first time the United Nations is holding a meeting on First Nations territory and comes as good news to former Wetaskiwin MP Willie Littlechild, a member of the UN permanent forum on indigenous issues.

“Canada should be leading the way (in terms of treaties). We’re going to put our heads together,” he said.

The theme of the meeting is best practices -- practical strategies and practices for the implementation of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between states and indigenous peoples.

Originally scheduled for September, the meeting has been postponed until November.

Questions which will be asked include: What is the indigenous understanding of treaties and what would be the Cree understanding of treaties?

The high-security meeting will feature a delegation of 40 to 50 experts, with approximately 200 attendees in all.
In the public eye, treaties are seen as a problem, Littlechild agreed.

“Treaties are a partnership (which) sadly (have) been overlooked. Treaties are seen as a problem. We have existing modern treaties, pre-Confederation treaties.”

He noted the Canadian Constitution is the document which calls the Canadian people to respect treaties.

Littlechild agreed the recent water crisis at the Kashechewan Cree First Nations community in Northern Ontario is just one example of a so-called emergency issue.

Whether in Northern Ontario or Hobbema, the problems affecting First Nations are ultimately linked with treaties.

“I’m (at Hobbema) quite a lot. Whether it’s health, housing or education, every emerging issue which has (surfaced) as an emergency issue is treaty-related.”

The Canadian response is often “reactive instead of proactive. A lot of these issues can be prevented before they become an emergency.”

The use of the meeting will also be educational. Littlechild cited the admirable treaty education program in Saskatchewan as one Alberta could emulate.

“In Saskatchewan they have a very good treaty education component. Not just indigenous peoples, but all children (must learn it).

People must not be discouraged that progress regarding First Nations may come slowly. The convention on the rights of the child took 27 years to agree upon, he said.

“It is possible for people to come together. We can respect both individual and collective rights.”

Maskwacis Cree political analyst and UN working group co-ordinator Marlene Buffalo also commented on the significance of the meeting.

“For the Muskwacis Cree, it’s the culmination of their 30 years of work on treaties. It’s really an opportunity to have their concerns addressed,” she said.

But the history goes much farther than just three decades. “It’s a follow-up on the recommendations that were made on the treaty report by special rapporteur Miguel Alfonso Martinez. He was instrumental in preparing the final work in the treaty study.”

Buffalo said the seminar will be educational as well.

“I agree it’s an opportunity to become aware of the intricacies of the work that has transpired from the treaty study to now. Our work involving human rights has been 30 years but Treaty 6 was (signed) in the 19th century. The Indian people are not going away.”

There are more than 370 million indigenous people worldwide.