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New NAAF Dates! New NAAF Times!

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Painting a Brighter Future through our Education Program

(Toronto, ON) - The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation is proud to announce the new Annual deadlines of May 1st for Fine Arts and Cultural Projects and June 1st for Health Careers and Post-Secondary Education.

"We are always looking at new ways to offer innovative programming and new initiatives that can best help propel our Aboriginal youth into whatever career field they have chosen." stated NAAF CEO, Roberta Jamieson. "After careful deliberation, the new deadlines of May 1st and June 1st were selected to meet the needs of the students and potential recipients or our scholarship programs."

The Scholarship programs that the Foundation offers:

The Fine Arts Scholarship Program - Fine arts and performing arts studies including visual, performing, media, graphic, and literary arts. Through this program, funding is also provided for the Cultural Projects; this enables Aboriginal organizations, groups, or accredited individual programs to access funds to promote Aboriginal arts, cultures, and languages, particularly those aimed at youth.  The objective of the Cultural Projects Program is to assist in providing a hands-on arts or cultural experience to community members, especially youth, and to promote the retention of Aboriginal languages. NAAF supports programs that encourage an appreciation of art, culture and language as a source of personal enrichment.

New Deadline is May 1st

The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF) offers financial assistance to Aboriginal students through our Education Program's bursaries and scholarships. Providing upwards of $2.8 million, annually. NAAF prides itself by investing in the future of First Nation, Métis and Inuit youth, to excel in their educational and career goals. The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF) provides Aboriginal Youth with additional opportunities in the following areas:

Post-secondary Education Bursary Awards Program – study in business, science, law, engineering, technical studies, computer science, education, social work and social sciences. New Deadline June 1st

Aboriginal Health Careers Bursary and Scholarship Program – studies in medicine, nursing, dentistry, physiotherapy, pharmacy, lab research, lab technology, dietetics, nutrition, health, administration, public health policy and other health fields.

New Deadline June 1st

Scholarship and bursary applications can be accessed on the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation website at www.naaf.ca under the Education Programs link.

For more information regarding The Education Program contact:
Education Analyst: Rachel Hill 1 -800- 329-9780 ext:  or rhill@naaf.ca

The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF) is a nationally registered non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds to deliver programs that provide the tools necessary for Aboriginal youth to realize their potential. NAAF is a financially accountable organization that has been providing invaluable support to Aboriginal Peoples across Canada for over 22 years. The Foundation has grown rapidly over the years due to the demands and needs of Aboriginal youth

Private Sector

CIBC, Air Canada, Alliance Pipelines, APTN, BP Canada Energy Company, Casino Rama, Diavik Diamond Mines, Enbridge, Encana, First Air, Fort McKay, Global Television, IBM, Nexen Inc., Shell Canada Ltd., Suncor Energy Foundation, Syncrude

Public Sector

Government of Canada

Canadian Heritage, Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Health Canada, Human Resources and Social Development Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Industry Canada/Aboriginal Business Canada, Canadian Forces, Government of the Northwest Territories, Province of Alberta, City of Edmonton

For further information, please contact:

Billie Jo Tabobondung,
NAAF Communications Coordinator
416-987-0248.

Here is a story that should make everyone take notice about the strategies of the Conservative government in relaxing foreign ownership rules for telecom firms. This is particularly disturbing given the second story that shows that Canada still has a lot of work to do to support adequate and appropriate broadband infrastructure across the country.

From CBC news online ...

BCE shares surge on report of takeover
March 29, 2007 - CBC News

Shares of communications conglomerate BCE Inc., the parent firm of Bell Canada, opened with a gain of 11 per cent on the TSX Thursday after reports that U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is weighing a bid to take the company private.

The stock of BCE opened at $33.50, up $3.37 from the previous close.

Based on Wednesday's closing price of $30.13 a share, BCE's total market capitalization is about $24.33 billion. Factoring in a takeover premium of 15 to 20 per cent, a takeover bid from KKR could be worth as much as $30 billion.

The Globe and Mail reported Thursday that KKR has had at least two meetings with top officials at BCE, including CEO Michael Sabia.

Neither BCE nor KKR has offered comment on the takeover speculation.

A bid from New York-based KKR would face numerous regulatory hurdles, including the foreign ownership rules that prevent non-Canadians from owning more than 46 per cent of the voting stake of a telecom firm.

The Globe and Mail reported that KKR is looking for Canadian partners, such as the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which is already BCE's largest shareholder, with a five per cent stake.

If the KKR offer does proceed, it could be the biggest acquisition in Canadian corporate history and one of the biggest leveraged buyouts in the world. Leveraged buyouts rely heavily on debt to finance share purchases.

KKR, Teachers' and BCE already have a business history. In 2002, KKR and Teachers' teamed up to buy BCE's Bell Canada directories business for $3 billion. The Yellow Pages directory business was spun off in 2004 as a publicly traded income trust.

Over the years, KKR also invested in other Canadian companies, including Shoppers Drug Mart in 2000 and Masonite International in 2005.

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CBC news online ...

Canada tumbles in global tech study
March 28, 2007 - CBC News

Some European countries and Singapore outrank Canada and the United States in their ability to best exploit information and communication technology, according to a new survey.

The World Economic Forum's "networked readiness index" measures the range of factors that affect a country's ability to harness information technologies for economic competitiveness and development. Canada slipped from sixth place in 2004-2005 to 11th place in the 2005-2006 study, which was released Wednesday.

The United States, which topped the previous rankings, slipped to seventh, according to the World Economic Forum. It had the same score as the Netherlands, but the forum ranked Holland one spot ahead of the U.S.

Networked Readiness Score by country

 Denmark  5.71
 Sweden  5.66
 Singapore  5.60
 Finland  5.59
 Switzerland  5.58
 Netherlands  5.54
 U.S.  5.54
 Iceland  5.50
 U.K.  5.45
 Norway  5.42
 Canada  5.35

The initial release of material from the report did not provide details of the reasons for Canada's tumble in the rankings. For the U.S., it cited the low rate of mobile telephone usage, a lack of government leadership in information technology and the low quality of math and science education.

But Thierry Geiger, one of the forum's economists responsible for the 361-page report, said the U.S. market environment remains the best in the world in terms of how easy it is to set up a business, get loans and have access to market capital.

Nordic countries — traditionally strong in all surveys conducted by the Geneva-based forum — dominated the top of the rankings. Denmark edged Sweden for the top spot, while Finland was fourth.

Singapore was the top Asian nation in third.

The report covered 122 countries, with Chad, Burundi, Angola, Ethiopia and Bangladesh at the bottom.

Toronto Sun article ...

Troubled reserve may be on the move
JORGE BARRERA, NATIONAL BUREAU - Thu, March 29, 2007

The Kashechewan tragedy could be closer to a palatable ending after Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice indicated a willingness yesterday to consider a request from the Cree First Nation to relocate 30 km from their flood-beleaguered community.

The First Nation of about 1,700 is once again bracing for breakup on the Albany River and possible spring floods.

Kashechewan burst into the national psyche through grim images of scabbed skin and sickly brown water in 2005. The community, which sits on a flood plain, has been evacuated three times since 2004.

Prentice initially balked at the request which had a $500-million price tag that is now being questioned because Indian Affairs has yet to survey the site.

Now the minister says he is open to the request but is awaiting a departmental analysis before committing. Prentice is expected to present his position to Kashechewan Chief Jonathon Solomon tomorrow by phone.

"I indicated to them that I would get a briefing from the department and get back to them," said Prentice.

Solomon said he was on the site two days ago with an engineering firm hired by the department to prepare a cost analysis.

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CBC.ca news ...

Kashechewan leaders renew call for government action
Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - CBC News

With the prospect of spring flooding weeks away, leaders of the Kashechewan First Nation have renewed their call for government help for the troubled northern Ontario community.

"My people today are very edgy because of the spring flood that's just around the corner," Chief Johnathon Solomon said during a news conference Wednesday in Ottawa.

Earlier this month, Solomon said Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice had balked at a report saying the community preferred to be relocated 30 kilometres upstream within their traditional lands. The move could cost as much as $500 million.

The band report contradicts an earlier federal report recommending community members be moved to the city of Timmins, about 480 kilometres to the south.

Kashechewan lies on the flood plain of the Albany River, and many of its buildings are susceptible to flooding.

Solomon said Prentice has committed to officially respond to the community report.

"I'm just waiting for that commitment, and I have every confidence the minister will get back to me," he said.

Solomon said the phones in the band council office have been "ringing off the hook" with people asking if they are going to be moved out before the expected flooding.

He called on the Conservative government to honour a 2005 deal, reached with the previous Liberal government, to build a new community within their traditional hunting grounds in 10 years.

Last November, a report prepared for Indian Affairs by former Ontario cabinet minister Alan Pope recommended moving the reserve to the outskirts of Timmins, giving community members access to hospitals, schools and employment.

Prentice had repeatedly said the people could choose whether to relocate, but following the release of the survey, a spokesperson for Indian Affairs told CBC News the cost projections had forced the ministry to take a second look.

Ottawa first moved the community, against its will, to the low-lying land in 1957.

Flooding and tainted water have prompted three evacuations since 2004.

The evacuations came as the community grappled with squalid housing, domestic violence, addiction and a number of reported suicide attempts.

Prentice himself has called conditions on the reserve "deplorable."