Media.Knet.Ca

The Keewaytinook Okimakanak Research Institute (KORI) in Thunder Bay is seeking a qualified post-secondary student for a summer employment opportunity.

KORI has received funding from HRSDC to hire a Community Researcher. Preference will be given to candidates with a health science background; however, any post secondary student who is intending to return to full-time studies is welcomed to apply. Knowledge of Oji-Cree is an asset. Please contact brian.walmark@knet.ca or visit www.research.knet.ca for more information. The deadline for applications is June 7, 2006.

Eleven First Nation communities from Treaty 9 and Robinson Superior 1850 have joined forces to voice their disappointment at the Province’s failure to ensure consultation and accommodate the needs of regional First Nations.

THUNDER BAY, ON – Eleven First Nation communities from Treaty 9 and Robinson Superior 1850 have joined forces to voice their disappointment at the Province’s failure to ensure consultation and accommodate the needs of regional First Nations over the potential sale of Neenah Paper (current license holders to the Kenogami Forest) to Buchanan Forest Products.  To date, area First Nations have been excluded from all negotiations despite the fact that the Kenogami Forest Unit lies within jurisdiction of their communities and treaty lands.

“All we are asking is to be included as part of the negotiation process to discuss opportunities for our First Nations in the Kenogami Forest sale agreement. Our communities have pre-existing agreements with Neenah Paper which play a vital role in sustaining our local economies. It is not unwarranted that we would expect to be consulted on how a potential sale will impact or change those agreements. The current labour disputes also cause hardships and shortfalls in our First Nation economies and yet, it is clear that the demands of the Union are being given precedent over our needs and rights as First Nations.” said First Nation spokesperson Chief Veronica Waboose of Long Lake #58 First Nation.

The eleven impacted First Nations are urging the Ministry of Natural Resources to step forward and ensure that the jurisdiction of First Nations in this area is respected and that meaningful engagement with First Nations is made a conditional component of any future Sustainable Forest License.

“The lands of the Kenogami Forest have been used by our Aboriginal people for generations and are recognized in both the 1850 Robinson Superior Treaty and Treaty 9.” continues Chief Waboose. “These Aboriginal rights are not being respected today within the Kenogami Forest and we urge Minister Ramsey to recognize his government’s fiduciary responsibility, step forward and ensure that the concerns of all potentially impacted parties are heard on this issue.”

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NOTES TO THE EDITOR:

Kenogami Forest Facts Sheet

• Largest Sustainable Forest Licenses (SFL) in Ontario
• Several First Nations in or surrounding this SFL:
• Aroland First Nation
• Constance Lake First Nation
• Ginoogaming First Nation
• Lake Nipigon Ojibway
• Long Lake # 58 First Nation
• Ojiways of Lake Nipigon
• Pays Plat First Nation
• Pic Mobert First Nation
• Pic River First Nation
• Rocky Bay First Nation
• Sale of Neenah Paper will affect Aboriginal communities in the following ways:
• No consultation with First Nations about the impacts on their agreements with the license holder or changes to them
• No recognition of Section 20 of the License which talks about negotiations between the Minister, Neenah and First Nations on Aboriginal opportunities
• No recognition of Term and Condition 34 which in part guides forest management practices that talk(s) about sharing of economic benefits with First Nations
• No recognition of impacts on First Nations as the SLF holder is unionized and is governed by the collective bargaining agreement.
• No recognition of proposal for Shareholder Forests Licenses, which the Minister has supported and for which First Nations hope this will work to their advantage.
• No recognition of new certification code to be implemented by Ontario forest management plans with Forest Stewardship Council of Canada that include clause about Aboriginal communities
• No recognition of Forest Sector Prosperity Fund or the Forest Loan Guarantee Program which must include Aboriginal involvement.
• No recognition of infringements on any Aboriginal and Treaty Rights – i.e.: trapping.
• Formerly Kimberly-Clark, and now owned by Neenah Paper of Alpharetta Georgia, Neenah is responsible to the Ministry to fulfill certain terms and conditions.  These include:
• Meeting various wood supply commitment’s to area mills and over-lapping license holders
• Development of forest management plans and reports based on Ontario’s Forest Planning Manual and government guidelines, policies and procedures
• Commit funding to forestry renewal trust
• Herbicide and spraying issues
• Siliviculture standards and implementation
• Various reviews and auditing procedures
• Aboriginal Opportunities (Section 20)

Extract of Term & Condition 34 - Negotiations with Aboriginal Peoples

34. During the term of this approval, MNR District Managers shall conduct negotiations at the local level with Aboriginal peoples whose communities are situated in a management unit, in order to identify and implement ways of achieving a more equal participation by Aboriginal peoples in the benefits provided through forest management planning. These negotiations will include but are not limited to the following matters:

(a)    providing job opportunities and income associated with forest and mill operations in the vicinity of Aboriginal communities;
(b)   supplying wood to wood processing facilities such as sawmills in Aboriginal communities;
(c)    facilitation of Aboriginal third-party license negotiations with existing licensees where opportunities exist;
(d)   providing forest resource licenses to Aboriginal people where unallocated Crown timber exists close to reserves;
(e)    development of programs to provide jobs, training, and income for Aboriginal people in forest management operations through joint projects with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada; and
(f)     other forest resources that may be affected by forest management or which can be addressed in the forest management planning process.

MNR shall report on the progress of these ongoing negotiations district by district in the Provincial Annual Report on Forest Management that will be submitted to the Legislature.

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen to Discuss Identity and Violence - Live Webcast May 24th

The Development Gateway Foundation is pleased to announce a special event and unique opportunity!

At 3:00pm on May 24th the World Bank's InfoShop, in collaboration with B-SPAN, will webcast a discussion by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen about his recent publication, "Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny".

Challenging the reductionist view that people of the world can be partitioned into civilizational categories that reinforce our differences, Sen draws on history, economics, science, literature and offers a vision of a world that can be made to move toward peace as firmly as it has spiraled in recent years toward violence and war. Dr. Sen's other books include "On Ethics and Economics", "Development as Freedom", and "The Argumentative Indian".
 
LIVE WEBCAST
 
The webcast will take place Wednesday May 24th from 3:00pm-4:30pm EST (Eastern Standard Time). At that time, you will be able to access the live webcast at http://webcast-ext.worldbank.org/streaming/live.ram. You will need RealPlayer installed on your computer to view this video. For complete information on how to download and install a free version of RealPlayer, please go to http://www.real.com/. 
 
EMAIL YOUR QUESTIONS FOR AMARTYA SEN
 
As members of the Development Gateway, you are invited to email your questions for Amartya Sen to dgContent@dgfoundation.org during his live presentation. The event moderator will select a sample of these questions to present to Amartya Sen during the live broadcast Q&A session. Please include your name, organization and country affiliation in your correspondence (these may be mentioned by the moderator if your question is selected).
 
MEMBER FORUM
 
Culture helps form identity and worldview. We are shaped by our cultures, and perceived differences can be perceived as threatening. What can be done to transcend these tensions and bring about a greater sense of shared identity and a common, life affirming destiny?  Please log in and share your replies on the Culture and Development dgCommunity at http://topics.developmentgateway.org/culture/discussion/showDiscussion.do~id=1522?intcmp=504
 
PRAISE FOR "IDENTITY & VIOLENCE"
 
"I am deeply impressed by power of Identity And Violence. Amartya Sen, one of the world's great thinkers, tells us how to go about building a more peaceful world.  I hope the book will be read by all." - Ted Turner
 
"The world's poor and dispossessed could have no more articulate or insightful a champion among economists than Amartya Sen. The United Nations, in its own development work, has benefited immensely from the wisdom and good sense of Professor Sen's views." - Kofi A. Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations
 
EVENT LOCATION
 
For those of you in or near Washington DC, the event will take place in the World Bank H Building - Eugene R. Black Auditorium, G Street Entrance (1914 G Street NW). All non-bank attendees must send an RSVP email to infoshopevents@worldbank.org in order to attend in person.
 
BIOS OF THE PRESENTERS
 
Amartya Sen, Professor, Harvard University. Amartya Sen has written several books including On Ethics and Economics, Development as Freedom, and The Argumentative Indian. Mr. Sen won the 1998 Nobel Prize in economics.  A professor at Harvard, Mr. Sen lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Cambridge, England.
 
Professor Sen will be Introduced by Ian Goldin, Vice President, External and UN Affairs, World Bank. Ian Goldin has been Vice President at the World Bank since May 2003. Previously, he was the Director of Development Policy. Prior to joining the Bank in February 2001, Dr. Goldin was the Chief Executive of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), Principal Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, and Head of the Trade Program at the OECD Development Center in Paris.
 
ABOUT THE INFOSHOP
 
The InfoShop is the public information center and development bookstore of the World Bank.  It functions as the only publicly accessible space at headquarters, providing internal and external audiences access to over 6000 titles published by the World Bank, other international organizations, and other publishers on development issues.  It is a space where information and documents on World Bank development operations, economic data, and strategies, can be read easily and comfortably at workstations designed for public use.  In addition, the InfoShop hosts book launches, exhibits, seminars, receptions, and other community outreach events, and also carries videos, posters, CD-ROMs, and gift items. For more information, visit:
http://www.worldbank.org/infoshop
 
ABOUT B-SPAN
 
B-SPAN (http://info.worldbank.org/etools/BSPAN/index.asp) is an Internet-based broadcasting service that presents World Bank seminars, workshops, and conferences on a variety of sustainable development and poverty reduction issues.  B-SPAN streams events on the Internet, archives them on the  B-SPAN web site, offers them in their original unedited format, and provides indexing for quick access to specific speakers. B-SPAN's webcasts are free and available to anyone with access to the Internet. Users need only to download a free version of RealPlayer, a software that allows the playing of archived videos on a personal computer. For complete information on how to download and install RealPlayer, please go to http://www.real.com/. 
 
We look forward to your participation!
 
Best wishes,
 
Mike Pereira
Director, Global Online Communities
Development Gateway Foundation
1889 F Street NW
Washington DC 20006