Media.Knet.Ca

The two day First Nations IT capacity building "think tank" workshop (Sept 29 - 30) was hosted by the First Nations Technology Council in Vancouver, BC. Brian Beaton, K-Net Coordinator participated via video conference from KO's Sioux Lookout office. Susan O'Donnell from the National Research Council also joined the session via video conference from New Brunswick. Bridging and archive services were made available to the gathering by K-Net within Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet program.

From a message written by John Webb for workshop participants ...

The provincial BC government has a plan to connect all 203 First Nations in BC to broadband networks over the next couple of years. They realize that just making broadband available is only part of the job. An accompanying capacity building program is now being planned to ensure that the communities have the resources in place to begin to use information and communications technology effectively.

The participants in the workshop reviewed the government's draft plan for capacity building and provided suggestions and directions for the team at the First Nations Education Steering Committee (http://fnesc.bc.ca) for the implementation strategy.

The draft plan that secured the provincial funding included ...

• Each community taking part in the project will be provided with a Tele-centre consisting of a suite of PCs. (2 to 5 depending on size of community), a scanner and printer. 
• The band will be asked to provide a building or room for the computers accessible by band members and provide heat, light and washrooms. 
• A band member will be brought to Vancouver or other provincial centre for, an intense train-the-trainer program.
• They would then return to their community to become trainer/operator of the tele-centre and in the case of a community where the government is establishing the broadband, a wireless network. 
• Continuing education and support for both this individual and community members would be supplied using online applications and tools such as Apple iSight video conferencing technology. 
• The government would pay the community member an annual honorarium to staff the centre on a part time basis for two years. 

Discussions at the workshop included presentations from participants and the use of the open space workshop process to explore topics including:

• the feasibility of this government plan,
• what the initial training should consist of,
• what the next level of training should be,
• what tools we need to continue to support the Tele-centre and the training needs of the community, and
• generally any other wisdom that the participants could impart to this project.

Many of us have been talking about the issue of First Nations ICTs for a number of years.  I do not expect to be given a second chance at this and I appreciate greatly the support and council you folks will bring to this project.

John Webb
Executive Director, Communities and External Initiatives
Office of the CIO
Province of British Columbia
tel: (250) 952-0671  fax: (250) 387-1940

First Nations Connectivity Research Project

The Province of BC is committed to bridging the digital divide for First Nations communities to provide access to e-Health, e-Learning, and e-Business opportunities. To accomplish this goal, the 2006 provincial budget included a commitment of $15 million over two years to work with federal partners to provide broadband, last-mile connections, computers and training for First Nations in BC. Providing broadband infrastructure is a high priority for First Nations organizations and several provincial and federal ministries. The School of Communication, at Simon Fraser University, has extensive technology research expertise and is ideally suited to design and conduct an evaluation of the impact of providing First Nations with high speed connectivity. This multi-year project will assist in providing a third-party evaluation of the First Nations Connectivity Project, baseline information on the impact of connectivity to first nations, and identify gaps and issues with connectivity. Please visit our research wiki for more information and to participate in the project.

Donna Williams, KO Telehealth Program Manager and Penny Carpenter, K-Net Business Manager joined other health service providers from across the region in a two day workshop (Sept 27-28) in Sioux Lookout. The workshop was hosted by the Northwestern Ontario Health unit (http://www.nwhu.on.ca/). 

Discussions centred around the delivery of public health services in First Nation communities across the region.

Representatives from the tribal councils, the Assembly of First Nations (Sagatay Williams), Northern Ontario School of Medicine (Orpah McKenzie), Ontario Telehealth Network,(Stewart Stein), Health Canada and the NWHU spent the two days exploring strategies to ensure equitable access to services in the remote First Nations across the region.

Health Canada press release

Health Canada announces $8.1 million for NurseOne Portal: Cutting edge tool another step to improving health care

OTTAWA, Sept. 28 /CNW Telbec/ - The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health, today announced federal funding of $8.1 million over six years to launch and maintain the NurseOne web Portal, a tool of particular importance for the recruitment and retention of nurses in First Nations and Inuit communities. Minister Clement made this announcement following a meeting with the Board of Directors of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), in Ottawa.

NurseOne (www.nurseone.ca) is a bilingual Portal that has been in development by the CNA since 2002 and contains a wealth of health information for the Canadian public and for all nurses across Canada. This Portal allows nurses to obtain timely, easily accessible information on all aspects of health care - from public health alerts, to consultations with experts and health specialists, to best practices. In short, it gives nurses many new tools to better treat their patients and improve their professional skills.

"NurseOne will certainly empower nurses everywhere in Canada, but particularly those working in rural, isolated and First Nations and Inuit communities. This Portal will provide nurses with quick access to reliable resources, enable them to improve quality of care and will assist in reducing wait-times," Minister Clement stated. "This investment will serve as an important contributor to the advancement of the professional practice and development of Canada's front line health providers - our nurses," he added.

"NurseOne is a significant tool which will provide access to quality, up-to-date health information to support the 250,000 plus nurses working in urban, rural and remote parts of the country to deliver effective, evidence-based care," says Marlene Smadu, President of the Canadian Nurses Association. "This investment supports nurses in caring for their patients, families and communities, managing their careers and connecting with colleagues and experts with the click of a mouse. In addition, NurseOne supports employers in recruiting and retaining nurses."

Health Canada had previously contributed $3.98 million to the Canadian Nurses Association to develop this Portal which was introduced at the Canadian Nurses Association Biennial Convention in Saskatoon on June 19, 2006.

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/For further information: Media Enquiries: Carole Saindon, Health Canada, (613) 957-1588; Erik Waddell, Office of the Honourable Tony Clement, Federal Minister of Health, (613) 957-0200; Tina Grznar, Communications Specialist, Canadian Nurses Association, (613) 240-7830, Public Enquiries: (613) 957-2991, 1-866-225-0709; Health Canada news releases are available on the Internet at www.healthcanada.gc.ca/media/

The announced $1 billion in program cuts will hurt the least served across Canada as the Conservative finds new ways to fund their war machine. Announced cuts to FedNor, the Community Access Program and other community and regional programs will negatively affect all communities in northern Ontario and elsewhere across Canada. First Nation programs are being targeted as well (see Tobacco Strategy program cut news story below).

The Federal Government has announced that it is cutting uncommitted funds for the social economy, along with a long list of cuts to grants and contribution programs for community non profit organizations. 

The full announcement and links follow ...

Today the President of the Treasury Board announced a series of measures <http://www.fin.gc.ca/news06/06-047e.html>  to achieve expenditure savings and focus resources on government priorities. 
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/media/nr-cp/2006/0925_e.asp

Amongst those targeted:
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, Industry (FedNor), Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council & Western Economic Diversification - Elimination of Non-Committed Funds for Social Economy Programs $39.276M

Also listed is:  Elimination of Support to Canadian Volunteerism Initiative $9.744M, cut in Social Development Partnership program $13.8M, cut in youth employment programs $55.4M, cut in workplace skills programs $17.6M, cut in adult learning/literacy $17.7M.

From http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=e59139cb-7247-4bb2-9af7-e9dad5773733&k=47951&p=1

Aboriginal group slams Tory government as discriminatory after spending cuts

Alexander Panetta, Canadian Press - Published: Wednesday, September 27, 2006

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada's largest aboriginal group is claiming discrimination after the new Conservative government cut funding for a First Nations health program.

The government announced Monday it will kill the First Nations and Inuit Tobacco Control Strategy at a savings of $10.8 million to taxpayers over two years.

The Assembly of First Nations denounced the move and pointed out that other smoking awareness programs aimed at non-aboriginals were left untouched by Monday's cuts.

"We see this as discriminatory treatment," assembly chief Phil Fontaine said in an interview Tuesday with The Canadian Press.

Fontaine said he's starting to detect a pattern.

First, the Tories turned their backs on a $5 billion deal for aboriginal housing, education and health care that the previous Liberal government signed with the provinces and native groups.

Then they joined Russia as the only two countries in the world to oppose the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Now this.

"We ask ourselves if this government really cares about First Nations," Fontaine said.

"Is it concerned about the single most important social-justice issue in this country?"

The government says it is scrapping the awareness campaign because it failed to reduce smoking rates among aboriginal people. And it says it will work with aboriginals to produce a more effective strategy.

"It is eliminating funding of the First Nations and Inuit tobacco control strategy . . . because the program has been ineffective in achieving its goal of lowering the smoking rates among First Nations and Inuit," said Health Canada spokeswoman Carole Saindon.

But Health Canada's own statistics fail to support the government claim.

Its most recent numbers date back to 2003 and they indicate a three percentage point drop in aboriginal smoking rates from 1999.

Smoking rates among aboriginal people were at a staggering 62 per cent in 1999, the tobacco program was created in 2002, and the rates were at 59 per cent the following year.

Late Tuesday, the government offered a new rationale for cutting the program when told their figures failed to support their initial explanation.

The program was being cut, government officials said, because aboriginal smoking rates continue to be roughly three times the Canadian average.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was unapologetic.

"That's a program that didn't work," he said.

"It just didn't work effectively in reducing the incidence of the use of tobacco. So then what do you do if you're in your own household or in your own business or in the government?

"You look and say, 'Hey, we better find a better way of doing this, a better way of spending the money so that we accomplish the goal of reducing smoking.' "

Fontaine said the smoking announcement added insult to injury.

Just a few months ago, he noted, the government said it couldn't afford the $5 billion Kelowna accord.

"Then to learn (Monday) they're going to apply $13 billion to the debt is just mind-boggling to us," he said.

© The Canadian Press 2006

Dr. Alice Eriks-Brophy from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto spent this past week in Sioux Lookout learning about Keewaytinook Okimakanak's K-Net Services and meeting with potential partners in a research initiative she is leading. The project involves examining the use of video conferencing as a means for delivering speech and language assessments with First Nation schools.

Join at http://meeting.knet.ca / Research / Speech-language Pathology

Remote Delivery of Speech-Language Pathology Assessments for Aboriginal Children in Northern Ontario using Videoconferencing

This project will examine the feasibility of conducting speech and language assessments of Aboriginal children referred for possible communication disorders living in remote areas using videoconferencing technology.  The project will validate a protocol to examine the potential of obtaining an unbiased assessment of speech and language using videoconferencing and will examine the role of technology in enhancing the effectiveness of community-based speech and language intervention.  The project is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services and has received substantial technical, equipment and resource support from K-Net.  The project represents a collaboration among professionals, local community personnel, researchers and telehealth and Internet connectivity providers in the Sioux Lookout Region of northern Ontario and other southern regions of the province.  The project will also include a capacity building component whereby the participating Aboriginal community members will receive training in the nature and assessment of communication disorders in children and the appropriate procedures to be used in the assessment of children using videoconferencing.  It is hoped that this project can lead to the implementation of innovative telerehabilitation-based speech-language pathology services in Aboriginal communities.

Speech-language pathology (SLP) services are limited by a system-wide shortage of trained professionals, while the demand for such services is high.  Individuals residing in remote or isolated northern communities, including Aboriginal communities in particular, may experience serious obstacles in obtaining access to appropriate assessment and intervention services.  Speech and language skills are crucial components for academic, vocational and social skills. Deficits in speech and language propagate through a child’s life with increasingly negative consequences for learning, employment, social and personality adaptation. Early identification and intervention services for children with identified speech and language difficulties has been shown to result in long-term improvement in communication development and educational achievement for these children.  Any means of reducing wait times for assessment and service provision had great potential benefits for these children and their families.  These benefits should be extended to all children residing in Ontario, including those living in northern Aboriginal communities where access to service if often delayed or even non-existent. 

The application of technology to the assessment of children in remote, isolated, and/or Aboriginal communities has great potential in removing barriers to appropriate services for these children.  Ontario has developed a strong telehealth network that has been used extensively in providing medical assessment and treatment to individuals living in remote areas. Providing pediatric rehabilitation services to children and youth in First Nations and Aboriginal communities is very different from providing these services in other rural communities and requires careful research and training of all involved.  Videoconferencing has not commonly been used in Canada for performing assessments of children referred for potential speech and language difficulties, and for Aboriginal children in particular.

The incidence of children and youth with speech and language difficulties in Aboriginal communities is reportedly very high, while the waiting list for initial assessment and treatment is lengthy and may exceed 12 months in areas where SLP services are not available. In Northern Ontario, SLP services have become more difficult to obtain recently since Federal funding for transportation for SLP services was discontinued.  In addition, the recruitment of medical and rehabilitation professionals for isolated First Nations is an ongoing challenge.  The need for alternative delivery of SLP services has therefore become more urgent than ever.

The College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO) has developed a position statement on the use of telepractice approaches in providing services to clients with speech, language, or hearing difficulties.  The use of teleconferencing meets the College’s requirement for face-to-face assessments through interactive, real-time visual and auditory access to the individual being served.  Nevertheless, the potential for such technology to introduce bias in the assessment process, particularly when the child being assessed and the professional doing the assessment represent different cultural backgrounds, is high.  Sources of bias in the SLP assessment process may stem from the referral source, the examiner, the procedures and materials used in the assessment, and the interpretation of performance, all of which have a potentially significant impact on placement decisions and the perceived need for services.  To date, no standard test protocol to assess Aboriginal children referred for potential speech and language difficulties has been developed, nor has the capability of teleconferencing to provide an unbiased, valid assessment of Aboriginal children presenting with a variety of communication and behavioural characteristics been sufficiently explored.

In this project, the feasibility of conducting remote speech and language assessments of children of various ages and from various Aboriginal communities through statistically evaluating the results of face-to-face versus remote assessment results.  Speech and language assessments will be carried out through videoconferencing technology with children who have been referred for assessment due to concerns regarding their speech and language development.  The children will be located in communities served by the KO Telehealth North Network.  The researcher will be present at the near site to interact with the child, and will assist in the administration and scoring of the assessment.  The remote site SLP will be located in various southern locations where compatible videoconferencing technology is available.  This SLP will direct and administer the assessment in real time as it progresses using videoconferencing and will record and score the responses of the child.  The results of the assessment from both sites will be compared and the degree of correspondence between the obtained scores will be evaluated.  The project will include measures of client satisfaction obtained from parents and teachers of the children who participate in the assessment and intervention phase of the study. Unbiased assessments would strive for inter-rater agreement levels of 95% or higher across all sections of the assessment with the exception of articulation measures, where 85% agreement will be acceptable. Data from the pilot project will be used to further develop a proposal aimed at the development of a major implementation study of SLP services in First Nation Community schools.

An opportunity for everyone to contribute their ideas about sustainable development in First Nations ... ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT to share your ideas (deadline of September 30)!!

Visit http://topics.developmentgateway.org/environment/discussion/default/showDiscussion.do~id=1441

Virtual Consultation Forum with Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples in the framework of the First Inter-American Meeting of Ministers and High-Level Authorities on Sustainable Development 

Welcome to the Virtual Consultation Forum with Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples organized by the Department of Sustainable Development (DSD) of the Organization of American States (OAS) in cooperation with the Summit of the Americas Department and Development Gateway Foundation

May 17th – September 30th, 2006
 
Forum’s Moderators: Specialists from the Department of Sustainable Development of the Organization of American States on the three themes selected for the Meeting.

Forum’s Facilitators: Denise Senmartin (Development Gateway) and Oscar Ceville (Department of Sustainable Development, OAS).

This Virtual Forum for Consultation with Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples has been created to facilitate the discussion on three priority areas that will be examined during the First Inter-American Meeting of Ministers and High-Level Authorities on Sustainable Development: (1) Integrated Water Resources Management; (2) Risk Management of Natural Hazards; and (3) Environment Management through Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry, and Tourism.
 
The objectives of the forum are:

1. Mobilize civil society and indigenous peoples support for the preparation of the Santa Cruz Declaration.
2. Build consensus positions and recommendations among representatives of civil society and indigenous peoples and obtain recommendation and follow-up activities on the three themes to be analyzed during the meeting.
3. Benefit from the best practices efforts, including advocacy, of civil society and indigenous peoples work on the three themes to be analyzed during the meeting.

Key Forum Questions:

1. What are the needs on sustainable development that require an immediate response from competent organisms?
2. What do you think should be the priority on sustainable development during the discussion of ministers and why?
3. What are the benefits of using adequate practices for sustainable development?

Reference Documents:

• Invitation to Virtual Consultation Forum
• Consultation Process: how will your comments reach Ministers and High-Level Authorities on Sustainable Development
• Annotated Provisional Agenda
• Announcement
• Background Document: Summary of Preparatory Workshops and Key Guiding Questions for Discussion
• Background Document for the Preparatory Workshop on Integrated Water Resources Management
• Background Document for the Preparatory Workshop on Managing Risks of Natural Hazards
• Background Document for the Preparatory Workshop on Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism
• Final Report of the Workshop on Integrated Water Resources Management
• Final Report of the Workshop on Managing Risks of Natural Hazards
• Final Report of the Workshop on Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism
• Summary of postings (updated weekly)

To access the documents http://www.oas.org/dsd/MinisterialMeeting/VirtualForumCSandIP.htm
Visit http://www.oas.org/dsd/MinisterialMeeting/ReunionInterAm_eng_v1.htm for more information about the Ministerial

Elections for Chief and Council of Lac Seul First Nation were held on September 26.

The new chief is Clifford Bull, elected with 334 of the 565 votes cast.

The new council includes:

Frenchman's Head

Rod Wesley (84 votes)
Dorothy Trout (78 votes)
Merv Ningewance (69 votes)

Kejick Bay

Hilda Ross (81 votes)
Stan Littledeer (73 votes)
Karen Ningewance (69 votes)

Whitefish Bay

Jack Angeconeb (pending)

From Toronto Star at http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158961811221&call_pageid=968256289824&col=968342212737

$125M needed to speed e-health

• Electronic record keeping could be in place next year, agency says
• Would build on success of Child Health Network's computerized files

Sep. 23, 2006 - TYLER HAMILTON, STAFF REPORTER

Most Ontarians could have a basic electronic health record by the end of next year if the province expanded a system that already exists for young patients, according to the agency overseeing electronic health infrastructure.

The price tag for getting the ball rolling: $125 million.

Electronic health records have been touted for years as a way to reduce costs in the health-care sector and improve patient care, and their creation was a key recommendation in the Romanow report on the future of Medicare four years ago.

The Smart Systems for Health Agency, charged with electronically linking 150,000 health-care providers across Ontario, has proposed that the Ministry of Health fast-track the move toward a province-wide e-health record by building on the success of the electronic Child Health Network, which already gives 36 hospitals and health centres across the province shared access to a secure database containing medical records of patients under 19 years old.

More than 5,300 pediatric physicians and health-care workers are now using the provincially funded network, which was spearheaded by the Hospital for Sick Children and has been in operation since 1999.

"It's a neat application," Smart Systems chairman Michael Lauber said in an interview with the Toronto Star. "It gives the doctors a lot of good information to work with."

Records include everything from personal information and doctor's notes to X-ray and laboratory results. Authorized doctors are able to see the records and add to them over a patient's lifetime. As the system evolves, it's expected that patients would be able to securely view their own e-health records online.

Andrew Szende, chief executive officer of the children's health network, said a system expansion would require some tweaking and more data storage to accommodate adult records. He emphasized that the network was secure, pointing to a seven-year track record of no privacy or security breaches.

"It's been looked at by the Smart Systems people, the government and the privacy commissioner and everybody is satisfied that it not only meets but exceeds the security needs and confidentially requirements," said Szende. "So far, we haven't heard anybody say that this was not a good idea."

Lauber said it makes more sense to build on what already works "rather than reinvent the wheel," and Smart Systems appears keen to move forward after being criticized for not acting quickly enough.

A Star investigation last November revealed that the little-known agency, established four years ago, has burned through more than $260 million since 2001 on e-health infrastructure projects that have been riddled with delays and so far have failed to demonstrate value — including a standardized e-health record — for taxpayers.

Following the report, Smart Systems' board of directors was overhauled and the agency is now the focus of a ministry-led operational review, which is expected to be complete within the next five to seven weeks.

Lauber, who was brought on to lead the restructuring of Smart Systems, said he's committed to making the agency more transparent. He said a privacy audit will soon take place and a national search has begun for a new chief executive officer after the recent resignation of current CEO Michael Connolly.

"There's still some housekeeping to do," said Lauber, former CEO of the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments. "This organization is transitioning from an infrastructure and build mode to client services and delivery."

He said Smart Systems has taken its e-health record plan to the government and is optimistic the ministry will accept the proposal before year's end.

Patient files today are largely collected in folders and stored in cabinets. Referrals and lab results are relayed mostly by fax machine, while lab images and hospital reports are most often received through mail and courier. Health-care experts say it's an inefficient system prone to error — sometimes with deadly consequences.

According to a draft of the proposal obtained by the Star, Smart System's first step would be to combine data from the province's existing laboratory and drug-profile databases with the child health network.

"The implementation of phase 1 of the (electronic health record) strategy will immediately provide a significant amount of data on a significant number of patients to a significant number of (health-care) providers," the document states.

Lauber said establishing an e-health record is top of mind for the provincial government and that he expects a major push over the next five years to get a province-wide system in place. "The issue is not technology. It's really a management issue."

Timing could be key. The next provincial election is just over a year away and the Liberal government is eager to show progress on a number of files, including health care.

But getting the job done will require another big injection of funds. Smart Systems, according to its draft proposal, said phase 1 of the plan requires a $125 million one-time investment in 2006-07 and an "annual increment of $40 million for ongoing deployment and operations."

Each health record would gradually contain more information over time. "The question is how much of it could be populated with information and how quickly," said Szende.

"With every field of data you add, you're going to attract more and more doctors, nurses and therapists," Szende added.

Press Release at http://news.gc.ca/cfmx/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=240999 - September 21, 2006 

Government of Canada invests in Aboriginal training for Northern Ontario diamond mine
 
FORT ALBANY, ONTARIO-The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, today confirmed federal funding of $7.87 million for the James Bay Employment and Training project under the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP) program. This ASEP project brings together Aboriginal communities, industry and other orders of government to offer skills development and employment opportunities in the DeBeers Victor Diamond mine operation located near Attawapiskat, a First Nations community in the James Bay lowland in Northern Ontario.

"Canada's new Government is proud to fund this project which will positively impact the future of hundreds of First Nations men and women, their families and their communities," said Minister Finley. "This training program will also help address the need for more skilled workers in the mining sector, which has always been a core part of the economy not only to the North but to Canada as a whole."

Under the project, the James Bay Employment and Training (JBET) project will provide a range of employment tools to assist Aboriginal people in achieving long term, sustainable employment in a region that has traditionally offered limited employment prospects. Employment tools include job information workshops, career counselling, training and work experience interventions, permanent job placements and advancement programs. It is expected that over 600 individuals will take part in training opportunities, with at least 190 Aboriginal people obtaining long-term employment at the Victor Mine operation.

Partners in this initiative include the Attawapiskat First Nation, Weenusk First Nation, Fort Albany First Nation, Kashechewan First Nation and Moose Cree First Nation along with DeBeers Canada, Northern College, and the Province of Ontario.

"James Bay Employment and Training welcomes the contribution made by the Government of Canada for this valuable project," said JBET's Executive Director, Philip Sutherland Jr. "This partnership will provide Aboriginal people in the James Bay region with the opportunity to gain the skills they need to find employment at the DeBeers Victor Project."

The James Bay Employment and Training project is one of nine projects currently underway receiving multi-year funding under the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP) program. ASEP is an $85 million private-sector program partnership designed to complement the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy (AHRDS) and fill a gap in training for large-scale economic development projects across Canada. ASEP is scheduled to sunset in March 2009.

For more information, see the attached backgrounder.

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For more information (Media Inquiries Only)
Colleen Cameron
Press Secretary for Minister Finley
819-994-2482

BACKGROUNDER

JAMES BAY EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING PROJECT UNDER THE ABORIGINAL SKILLS AND EMPLOYMENT PARTNERSHIP (ASEP) PROGRAM

The Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP) program is a five-year initiative launched in late 2003 with total funding of $85 million. Its overall objective is to create sustainable employment for Aboriginal people in major economic initiatives across Canada through collaborative partnerships, leading to lasting benefits for Aboriginal communities, families and individuals.

ASEP funding proposals are submitted by partnership consortia that include parties from the private sector, Aboriginal groups, and the province or territory where the large economic or resource-based project is located. Other key partners may include learning institutions, sector councils, labour, and other Government of Canada departments or agencies. Each partnership consortium must set out a comprehensive training-to-employment plan for Aboriginal people that links skills development to specific job opportunities.

A significant amount of funding for a project is expected from the partnership; the Government of Canada's normal contribution to a proposal will not exceed 75 percent. The private sector must also demonstrate, at minimum, 50 long-term sustainable jobs for Aboriginal people once Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) has completed its funding.

ASEP is administered nationally by HRSDC. It also complements the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy (AHRDS), a five-year initiative that began in 1999 and was renewed until 2009. ASEP also complements the Northern Strategy by providing training and human resource development that is responsive to the needs of community and regional labour market conditions and economies.

The James Bay Employment and Training project is one of nine projects to receive funding under the ASEP program since its launch in October 2003.

JAMES BAY EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING (JBET)

The De Beers Victor Diamond project is an open pit diamond mine located approximately 90 km west of Attawapiskat First Nation in the James Bay lowland. The project has an expected life span of 16 years, requiring 390 workers for the operations phase of the mine with approximately 50 percent of available positions to be filled by Aboriginal people.

Labour market analysis suggested that limited experience and education would hinder access to employment at the De Beers Victor diamond mine. In light of that analysis, the overall objective of the JBET project is to help Aboriginal people in the James Bay lowland region of northern Ontario to prepare for, obtain and advance in jobs at all levels at the De Beers Victor Diamond mine. The training is also intended to provide Aboriginal people of the region with transferable skills that will open doors in the James Bay region and elsewhere in Canada.

PARTNERSHIP

The stand-alone, not-for-profit partnership consortium consists of:

ABORIGINAL

• Attawapiskat First Nation
• Weenusk First Nation
• Fort Albany First Nation
• Kashechewan First Nation
• Moose Cree First Nation

INDUSTRY

• De Beers Canada

EDUCATON

• Northern College

GOVERNMENT

• Province of Ontario
• Government of Canada

FUNDING

The estimated total project cost is $11,901,932, of which:

• Human Resources and Social Development Canada - $7,870,958
• De Beers Canada - $1,730,974
• Mushkegowuk Employment Training Service - $1,000,000
• Province of Ontario - $1,300,000