Media.Knet.Ca

SLARC (http://www.slarc.ca) press release ...

Sioux Lookout Anti-Racism Committee hosts Race Relations Week 2007 (March 16 to 25) with many events planned

Sioux Lookout - March 3, 2007 - Race Relations Week 2007: Our community. Our Family. Our Future is filling up with exciting opportunities for celebrating the diversity of Sioux Lookout.

The invitation is out to nominate someone you know who has contributed to positive race relations in Sioux Lookout for the People Making Changes - Mary Carpenter Award. You can pick up a nomination form from the Sunset Suites, the Anti-Racism Committee office, or by calling Laurel Wood (737-2174). Click here to get a PDF copy of the nomination form.

The first event of the week is for youth – a dance at the Recreation Centre, Friday, March 16.

Saturday the 17th, Cedar Bay will be the centre of activities all day. A festival at the stables and lakeside will have activities for all members of the family – pond hockey, sleigh rides, games and refreshments. See the poster below or CLICK HERE for a PDF copy of the POSTER.

CLICK HERE for a copy of the POND HOCKEY Registration and Rules

Saturday evening, while the Northern Bands Hockey Tournament continues in the arena, there will be square dancing in the recreation centre gym. This event, sponsored by Kwayaciiwin Education Resource Centre, is open to all. See the poster below or CLICK HERE for a copy of the poster

Student art, reflecting the theme of Our community. Our Family. Our Future., will be on display all week at local schools, Nishnawbe Gamik Friendship Centre, Best Western and Johnny’s.

Everyday Light, a collection of family photos selected by contemporary First Nations Artists will open Sunday 18th at 56 Front Street and be on display all week. The Thunder Bay Art Gallery has generously loaned this art show to our community. Local residents are invited to submit work to a companion Art Display of family heirlooms and other art at St. Andrews United Church.

Watch for details of the week’s events – films by Cree filmmaker Shirley Cheechoo (see poster below or CLICK HERE for a copy of the POSTER)and local filmmaker, Nadia McLaren, workshops, presentations, drumming at the Nishnawbe Gamik Friendship Centre, lacrosse for youth at the Recreation Centre and the Out of the Cold fishing derby at Airport Lake will fill out the week. The ever-popular Multicultural Pot Luck Feast, with the presentation of the People Making Changes – Mary Carpenter Award, will wrap things up at the Legion Sunday, March 25th.

Outdoors enthusiasts, artists, film buffs, horsey folks, gourmets and hockey fans – children, youth, adults and elders – there’s something for everyone in Race Relations Week 2007. Come celebrate with your family and community.

AFN Health Directorate is requesting that all First Nations provide them with an update about local health needs and priorities BEFORE MARCH 15!

Communiqué to First Nations Communities - Sustainability of First Nations Health Resources - Information Request

March 2007

TO: All First Nations Chiefs of Canada
RE: Sustainability of First Nations Health Resources - Information Request

National Chief Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and federal Minister of Health Tony Clement signed a joint work plan on December 7, 2006, at the AFN Special Chiefs Assembly. This joint work plan is not about a new process, but rather is intended to achieve deliverables within a six-month timeframe that targets five key priorities:

1. Cross-Jurisdictional Agreements;
2. Sustainability;
3. Management and Accountability;
4. Performance Measurement; and,
5. Legislative Base for Public Health.

The joint work plan has received support from the AFN Chiefs Committee on Health with the caveat that it must build on the existing work – work completed by First Nations regions, Tribal Councils, Treaty areas and communities during the development of the national and regional contributions to the First Nations Framework in the Blueprint on Aboriginal Health endorsed by First Ministers and First Nations leaders in 2005. As well, the joint work plan is not intended to replace or delay negotiations undertaken by specific First Nations in funding, policies or programming pertaining to their health care delivery systems and their health care needs.

The AFN’s involvement in the joint work plan will be conducted under the oversight of the AFN Chiefs Committee on Health and the AFN Executive, guided by recommendations from the National First Nations Health Technicians Network. Through this process, First Nations regions have the opportunity to participate in, and review, the work plan’s activities and outcomes. For more information, and to review the entire document, please visit the AFN website at www.afn.ca and, under policy areas, click on Health and Social.

Sustainability of Health Funding

The main priority at this stage of the joint work plan is the lead taken by AFN in completing an analysis into the sustainability of health funding. This work will provide options for allocating resources based on the workload in a community. This contrasts with more abstract funding formulae approaches that federal departments use based on per capita figures, or based on modified formulae that consider some other cost drivers, such as geographic location.

Workload can mean, for example, the number of clients who are seen every day in the health clinic, the number of home care visits during the week, and/or the number of pregnant women or births in the community. Measuring workload accurately is a way to make sure that enough resources are provided each year to meet the health service needs of the community.

We Need Your Input

Currently, there is very little national information on what communities have really determined to be their funding needs. Community funding proposals submitted to Health Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) are not compiled either regionally or nationally in the negotiating of contribution or transfer agreements. For this reason, the AFN is asking for your assistance in sharing information on how you have assessed what health resources are needed in your community. We have attached a survey questionnaire for communities to complete. This information will help us to create a more accurate picture of need, and the preferred methods of communities for measuring this need, including workload, salaries and infrastructure. Timelines for completing the sustainability analysis is March 31, 2007, so any information you can share by March 15, 2007, is much appreciated.

Please be assured that we will NOT identify your community in any of our reports and this information will not be shared outside of the AFN Health Secretariat and its contractor, FAV COM.

If you have any questions or concerns about the survey, please contact Gina Doxtator, Assistant Director of Health, 1-866-869-6789, extension 413, or gdoxtator@afn.ca..

Please visit here to access survey.

Vancouver 2010 press release ...
 
Meet Aqpik, Marek and Chelsie: Vancouver 2010 Showcases Aboriginal Athletes Through Poster Series and Invites Aboriginal Youth to "Find Your Passion in Sport"
 
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - March 5, 2007) - Aboriginal youth across Canada are being invited to find inspiration in Aboriginal athlete role models with Vancouver 2010's "Find Your Passion in Sport" poster series. The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) unveiled the series today as part of its commitment to increase awareness of, and participation in, Olympic and Paralympic winter sport by Canada's Aboriginal people.

"At Vancouver 2010, we have set a goal of unprecedented Aboriginal participation," said VANOC Chief Executive Officer John Furlong. "These three athletes have dreamed bigger, reached higher and celebrated what's possible when you try. We are very proud of their accomplishments and are excited to have them on our team, encouraging Aboriginal participation in sport across the country."

The athletes featured in the series reflect all three Aboriginal groups from across Canada, First Nations, Inuit and Metis. The three inspirational athletes were chosen from a final shortlist of a dozen candidates:

• Chelsie Mitchell (Snowboard) - a First Nations youth from British Columbia
• Aqpik Peter (Speed Skating) - an Inuit youth from Nunavut
• Mareck Beaudoin (Biathlon) - a Metis youth from Quebec

Posters Available On-Line: A version of each poster can be accessed directly via vancouver2010.com at (for the purposes of the media only):

• http://www.vancouver2010.com/resources/PDFs/Poster_Mareck.pdf
• http://www.vancouver2010.com/resources/PDFs/Poster_Aqpik.pdf
• http://www.vancouver2010.com/resources/PDFs/Poster_Chelsie.pdf

Each of the three posters in the series features a compelling image of the athlete in the natural landscape where he or she lives and trains. The posters are trilingual, and include text in English, French and the Aboriginal language of each athlete's respective ancestry. In conjunction with the unveiling of the poster series, the Aboriginal Participation section of the vancouver2010.com website is being re-launched with new content. The "Find Your Passion in Sport" poster series images can be downloaded free as wallpaper from vancouver2010.com.

More than 20,000 posters will be distributed to Aboriginal communities and organizations, Aboriginal youth organizations, Friendship Centres and Aboriginal schools across Canada. The campaign is designed to inspire Aboriginal youth to explore their dreams and become more actively engaged in winter sport at all levels.

"To be featured in this poster campaign is an honour and something I would never have imagined possible," said Team Quebec biathlete Mareck Beaudoin. "Now that I see the final result of this project, I am reminded that sport is not only important for me as an individual athlete, but that sport and sport role models are important for all Aboriginal people in Canada."

"The Olympic and Paralympic Games are not only about athletic excellence but also about community engagement and building a sport legacy to benefit everyone", said the Honourable Helena Guergis, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Sport. "The young athletes featured on these posters are a symbol of the role that Aboriginal Peoples are playing to help reach these goals of the 2010 Winter Games and we are confident that they will make their communities and Canada proud."

VANOC is the first Organizing Committee to integrate Indigenous Peoples as official partners in the planning and hosting of a Games. Aboriginal people were asked to participate in a meaningful way to formally acknowledge the partnership with VANOC, which has set a goal of achieving, with its partners, unprecedented Aboriginal participation in the planning and hosting of the 2010 Winter Games.

Background on the Campaign

In 2005, VANOC and the Aboriginal Sport Circle (ASC), Canada's national voice for Aboriginal sport, signed a Statement of Cooperation. This Statement declares the intention to work together to take advantage of the opportunity the 2010 Winter Games provide to inspire and encourage more Aboriginal people to participate in sport across the country. In cooperation with the Aboriginal Sport Circle, the selection of the athletes to be featured in the posters was a process that took much of summer 2006. Over 60 nomination submissions were received from across Canada.

The Aboriginal athlete poster design highlights the athletes as role models in a style comparable to famous iconic athletes who are showcased as strong, confident and intense in their disciplines. The photography style, lighting and profile of the athlete is given a similar treatment to that found in top sport magazines featuring star athletes. The background highlights the association between each athlete's training ground and the important connection to nature which continues to develop, challenge, motivate and inspire.

VANOC is proud to be working with the Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations - known as the Four Host First Nations - on whose traditional lands the Games will take place - as well as other First Nations, Inuit and Me'tis groups throughout Canada in the planning and hosting of the Games.

VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010.

CONTACT INFORMATION for Vancouver 2010
Mary Fraser, Media Contact, (778) 328-3667

Health Council of Canada press release ...

Health Council of Canada Releases Inaugural Health Outcomes Report on March 5th in London, Ontario

TORONTO, March 4 - The Health Council of Canada will release a report on health outcomes on March 5 entitled Why Health Care Renewal Matters: Lessons from Diabetes. The report will be released in London, Ontario and the event will be webcast live at www.healthcouncilcanada.ca.

The report examines the way chronic health conditions - specifically diabetes - are diagnosed, managed and treated in this country and explores changes in lifestyle and care that can have profound, practical and positive effects on the health and quality of life of Canadians with chronic health conditions. One in three Canadian adults has a chronic health condition and one in 20 has diabetes.

Through a synthesis of data and research evidence from Canada and abroad, the report sheds light on why renewal matters in very human terms.

The report, the first in a series on health outcomes, will be released at the London InterCommunity Health Centre. Dr. Ian Bowmer, Vice Chair of the Health Council of Canada and Dr. Stanley Vollant, Councillor, Health Council of Canada will present the report. Michelle Hurtubise, Executive Director of the London InterCommunity Health Centre and one of the centre's clients will also be on hand to comment.

WHAT: Health Council of Canada releases inaugural health outcomes report, Why Healthcare Renewal Matters: Lessons from Diabetes

WHO: Dr. Ian Bowmer, Vice Chair, Health Council of Canada
Dr. Stanley Vollant, Councillor, Health Council of Canada
Michelle Hurtubise, Executive Director, London InterCommunity Health Centre

WHERE: London InterCommunity Health Centre
659 Dundas Street East
London ON

The report release will also be simultaneously webcast on the Council's site, www.healthcouncilcanada.ca. For media to participate, dial 1-800 732 0232 or 416 644 3420 at least 10 minutes prior to 10:00 a.m. ET.

WHEN: Monday, March 5, 2007 (all times EST)
10:00 am Speakers highlight key findings of report
10:45 am Floor opens for questions
11:00 am Opportunity for one-on-one media interviews

On the day of the release, copies of the report will be made available at the event and can also be downloaded at www.healthcouncilcanada.ca at 10 a.m.

The Health Council of Canada, created by the 2003 First Ministers' Accord on Health Care Renewal following the recommendations of the Romanow and Kirby reports, is mandated to monitor and report on the progress of health care renewal in Canada. The 26 Councillors were appointed by the participating provinces, territories, and the Government of Canada and have expertise and broad experience in community care, Aboriginal health, nursing, health education and administration, finance, medicine and pharmacy.

For further information: on the Health Council of Canada, contact: Paul Cantin, Media Relations, W: (416) 480-7085, C: (416) 526-1593, pcantin@healthcouncilcanada.ca;. Nazia Khan, Media Relations, W: (416) 360-6183 ext. 229, Nazia@tsa.ca

National Post article ...

Charest calls on Harper to honour Kelowna aboriginal accord

Elizabeth Thompson, CanWest News Service; Montreal Gazette - Sunday, March 04, 2007

PIKOGAN, Que. - Quebec Premier Jean Charest called Saturday on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to honour the Kelowna accord, saying the money the federal government had pledged would make a big difference in the lives of Quebec's First Nations.

"I thought the Kelowna meeting was significant and that we should pursue what was done in Kelowna," Charest told reporters. "I would like them to honour it."

Saturday's comment marks one of the few times Charest has openly criticized a decision taken by Harper, a man who has become a political ally for his government over the past year.

The Kelowna Accord was hammered out between aboriginal leaders and Canada's first ministers in November 2005 in the dying days of Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin's government. The deal called for $5 billion to be spent over five years to improve education, housing, skills training, economic development and health care for Canada's aboriginals.

However, Harper's government has refused to recognize the agreement, dismissing it as little more than a press release. Harper says the Liberal government announced something it had never provided for financially, however, the Liberals maintain that the money promised had been earmarked for Canada's first nations before they were defeated.

Charest, who participated in the meeting that led to the accord, said Ottawa should work to accomplish what the agreement set out to do - even if it decides to do it differently.

"I would like to see them pursue Kelowna... If they choose not to do it exactly the same way, (then) to do essentially what we all committed to doing in Kelowna."

One area where the Kelowna agreement would be changing the lives of Quebec's aboriginals, if it were being implemented, is in housing, Charest said.

Charest's comments came shortly before he visited the Algonquin Indian reserve of Pikogan near Alma, Que., home to the Abitibiwinni First Nation.

Band Councillor Bruno Kistabish agrees the Conservatives should honour the agreement, saying there are a lot of areas in which the federal government could be doing a lot more to help his reserve.

Pikogan, like many first nations communities, has been going through a baby boom - 50 per cent of the community's population is under the age of 18. In some cases, two families have to share a house. The northern community has around 140 homes but desperately needs 75-80 more to house its rapidly growing population.

"We build six houses and there is no more space. The situation is getting urgent."

The community also needs more money for education and for health care, said Kistabish.

"A lot of people have diabetes. It is a scourge in native communities."

Ghislain Picard, Chief of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, said he boycotted the Kelowna talks because what was proposed was not enough to meet the needs of Canada's first nations.

Refusing to honour what little there was is even worse, he said.

The handful of announcements made by Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice when he attended last fall's socio-economic summit pale in comparison to what was called for in the Kelowna deal, he said.

AFN update ...

A Communiqué from National Chief Phil Fontaine - A Call to Action on First Nations Poverty

March 2007

The Assembly of First Nations issues regular updates on the National Chief’s activities and work underway at the national office. More information can be found on the AFN’s website at www.afn.ca.

The second phase of our campaign -- Make Poverty History: The First Nations Plan for Creating Opportunity – was launched Friday, February, 23, on Parliament Hill. A Call to Action Against First Nations Poverty was attended by Members of Parliament, Senators, and representatives from national and international humanitarian organizations. Buzz Hargrove, President of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) was our special guest speaker and announced the support of the entire Canadian labour movement for the campaign.

We gathered in solidarity to show Canadians, and the global community, that we will no longer tolerate the abject levels of poverty facing too many of our First Nations people. The AFN also launched a new report, The $9 Billion Myth Exposed: Why First Nations Poverty Endures. It can be found on our main website at www.afn.ca.

Regional Chief Angus Toulouse, AFN Executive Portfolio holder for Eliminating Poverty, told the gathering that First Nations have been subject to decades of Canadian government policies aimed at creating dependence, instead of supporting empowerment. Poverty endures because First Nations are not treated fairly in Canada’s fiscal framework.

Canadians have been told that $9.1 billion is spent every year on First Nations. In fact, a maximum of $5.4 billion is spent on First Nations – that is, only 60% of the amount reported by Minister Prentice. His department spends up to $600 million or 11% on overhead alone. Even more revealing is that the total budget of Indian and Northern Affairs represents only 0.004% of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product.

Human Rights Complaint on Child Welfare

That same day, February 23rd, the AFN and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society (FNCFCS) filed a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission in regard to discriminatory treatment against First Nations child welfare agencies. I was joined by Cindy Blackstock, FNCFCS executive director, and FSIN Vice Chief Guy Lonechild, since the human rights complaint originated from the Ocean Man First Nation in Saskatchewan.

During our press conference, I declared that it is a national disgrace for the Canadian government to be aware of more than 27,000 First Nations children in state care without taking the action needed to address prevention and capacity of existing First Nations agencies. Rational appeals to successive federal governments have been ignored. After years of research that confirm the growing numbers of our children in care, as well as the potential solutions to this crisis, we had no choice but to appeal to the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

The federal government is fully aware that I would rather negotiate than litigate. But we have the right to determine what is best for the future of our children. Our children must have an equal opportunity to grow-up with their families, in their communities, and in their culture. No First Nation child should have to forgo this opportunity as a result of poverty or an inability to access basic services.

2007 Federal Budget

The 2007 federal budget will be tabled in the House of Commons on Monday, March 19th. The AFN presented its Pre-Budget Submission to the Finance Committee back on September 19th. Entitled “Securing Our Future”, we highlighted the need for sustainable funding solutions and structural change in order to eliminate poverty. I publicly stated in September that the growing number of First Nations children being placed in child welfare systems is the single most deplorable example of the increasing gap in poverty: “We face the prospect of losing yet another generation of children as they are taken away from their families, who are too poor to take care of them ... This is a tragedy that is shocking and shameful for all Canadians.”

Our pre-budget submission is posted on the AFN website, along with my recent speeches to the International Congress on Ethics; the AFN Water and Housing Forum; and the Economic Club of Toronto, where I highlighted the growing success of the AFN’s Corporate Challenge.

My next communiqué will include reaction to the 2007 Budget.

Meegwetch!

Assembly of First Nations, 473 Albert Street, Suite 810, Ottawa, Ontario K1R 5B4 Tel: (613) 241-6789 Toll-free: 1-866-869-6789 Fax: (613) 241-5808 www.afn.ca

Cancer Care Ontario is excited to inform you that the Aboriginal Tobacco Strategy will be hosting an Aboriginal Youth Summit on March 29-31st, 2007.

DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATIONS is MARCH 9.

Click here to view the conference poster.

We are able to sponsor 80 youth (ages 14 to 20) in travel, accommodation and meals to participate in the summit. Youth who are interested in receiving a sponsorship will need to apply by March 9, 2007. If you are interested in applying for sponsorship or if you are interested in attending but do not require a sponsorship please visit www.tobaccowise.com.

Click here for the registration form 

All the information about the Youth Summit they can access from our website at www.tobacco.wise

Contact information:

Lois White
Aboriginal Cancer Care Unit
Cancer Care Ontario
505 University Ave., Toronto ON   M5G 1X3
Phone 416-971-9800 ext. 3595
Fax:  416-971-6888
Lois.White@cancercare.on.ca or
Patricia.Elliott@cancercare.on.ca
http://www.tobaccowise.com

Two researchers from the University of Manitoba were in Sioux Lookout this week meeting with different Aboriginal organizations and making arrangements for the upcoming roundtable workshop on "Connectivity in Aboriginal Communities - Increasing Aboriginal Social Capital".

Any community with video conferencing is invited to attend the Sioux Lookout roundtable. Click here to see the invitation poster

INCREASING ABORIGINAL SOCIAL CAPITAL

We would like to invite you to participate in a roundtable discussion about the impacts of connectivity and social capital in Aboriginal communities in Canada.  Our goal is to produce a document that reflects the potential of connectivity and information communication technology in relation to social capital in Aboriginal communities in Canada.  We will be holding roundtable meetings in various communities across Canada for interested parties to share their experiences.

Study objectives:

1. Review the theory of social capital from as it applies from to Aboriginal people in Canada;
2. Analyze current debates on social capital as it applies to building capacity in Aboriginal communities and institutions, and to how it relates to improvement in social, economic and health outcomes;
3. Assess the potential and opportunities afforded by information and communication technology, and the issues and concerns that this presents for Aboriginal, federal and provincial governments;
4. Research the roles that this technology can and does play in the formation of social capital in Aboriginal communities.

Study benefits:

1. Provide the opportunity for participants to network with other individuals involved in ICT and connectivity in Aboriginal communities, both online and in person;
2. Share the results by providing all participants with the final report;
3. Support the understanding of social capital and increase awareness of the impact of social capital and information and communication technology in Aboriginal communities;
4. Identify potential applications that contribute to Aboriginal social capital, through both direct and indirect means.

To participate please contact:

Heather Henley
Research Coordinator
Faculty of Human Ecology
University of Manitoba
204 474 7142
henley2@cc.umanitoba.ca

Please RSVP for catering purposes.

Another way to participate in this research and share your story about "Connectivity in Aboriginal Communities - Increasing Aboriginal Social Capital" is to go online and join the discussion forum to learn about this important topic. Visit http://meeting.knet.ca/moodle/course/view.php?id=86 for more information and http://meeting.knet.ca/moodle/mod/forum/view.php?id=2347 to join the discussions set up for this research project.

NAN press release ....

NAN Member Receives Business Award

THUNDER BAY, ON, Feb. 28 - Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler together with Minister for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Harinder Takhar, POA Educational Foundation Chairman Aditya Jha, and Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund (NADF) president Harvey Yesno, awarded contest winner Darcy Kejick with $15,000 toward a business plan during an awards event today at Queen's Park.

Darcy Kejick from North Spirit Lake First Nation (one of NAN's 49 Ontario First Nation communities) received the award for a business plan submitted following his participation in Project Beyshick 2006 - an annual one week youth job-shadowing program focused on entrepreneurship among First Nation youth.

The inaugural award recognizes the participant who prepares the most feasible professional business or career plan.

"A quite intensive schedule was prepared for me to spend my time within the various areas of the bank, job-shadowing and meeting important people who work in each area," said Kejick who job-shadowed HSBC Senior Vice President Geoff Hoy August 2006. "The program is a real eye-opener if you're interested in venturing into the world of business or even if you're curious about it."

Kejick's business plan for "North Spirit Foods" - a grocery store in his First Nation community located northwest of Sioux Lookout - was one of 10 submitted by Project Beyshick 2006 participants.

"The grocery store will provide North Spirit Lake First Nation with all grocery needs, including the much needed diet of dairy and fresh produce," said Kejick. "The store will also meet the needs of those individuals with special dietary needs, diabetes for example."

Kejick expects building materials to arrive in North Spirit Lake mid March via winter road and building will begin this Spring.

Project Beyshick was developed by POA Educational Foundation and Nishnawbe Aski Nation in 2005. NAN youth are partnered with Toronto business executives in their area of interest - job-shadowing for one week learning through mentorship and being part of the staff.

Some of the businesses involved in the past two years include FedEx, TV Ontario, Globe and Mail, HSBC, Trillium Hospital, Canada Trust, ICICI Bank, Bell Canada, GlobalMaxx Technologies, and AMJ Campbell Van Lines.

"Project Beyshick has been an important step in promoting business skills among the NAN youth who've taken part, but it doesn't end there. The youth who've taken part in the job-shadowing program in the past two years are the best examples of the program and its benefits," said NAN Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler. "The recognition of Darcy's business plan and the option for other candidates to pursue other support to develop their business plans, are perfect examples of how this experience can open up realistic opportunities for success at the community level."

"Project Beyshick serves as a platform for success in that it helps to enhance leaders with the training and financial backing to succeed," said POA Chairman Aditya Jha. "This inaugural award brings us closer to our vision of a social venture fund for First Nation people."

Nishnawbe Aski Nation is an Aboriginal political organization representing 49 First Nation communities within James Bay Treaty 9 and Ontario First Nations part of Treaty 5 - an area spanning two-thirds of Ontario with a total approximate population of 45,000 members on and off reserve.

POA Educational Foundation is a charitable foundation aiming to provide support for educational and entrepreneurial initiatives that target regions with specific challenges and pressing needs.

For further information: Jenna Young, Director of Communications, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, (807) 625-4952, (807) 628-3953 (cellular); Lee Arbon, Hyperactive Communications, (905) 278-5500 ext. 225

+++++++++++

From the Toronto Star ...

Native entrepreneur tries food for thought - Winning business plan pits produce against rampant diabetes

Mar 08, 2007 - Prithi Yelaja - Staff Reporter

Fresh fruits and vegetables are scarce commodities in the remote northern community Darcy Kejick calls home.

The lack of healthy food choices, along with a lack of exercise, help explain why diabetes is rampant in North Spirit Lake, a tiny Nishnawbe Aski Nation community about 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.

That's why Kejick plans to use the $15,000 prize he collected as the winner of a business plan competition – sponsored by a South Asian entrepreneur in Toronto – to open a new grocery store in his hometown of about 300. His store would be stocked with fresh produce, dairy, bread and organic products, all to encourage fellow residents to eat healthier.

The number of people with diabetes in Ontario doubled between 1995 and 2005. Aboriginal people are among those at highest risk because of diet and lifestyle, according to a new Toronto study.

Kejick, 34, knows this first-hand.

"I'm a diabetic myself. You could say it's an epidemic on the reserve, so I'm just trying to do my part to curb the problem," says Kejick, whose parents are also both diabetic.

For 10 months of the year, fresh produce has to be flown in from Red Lake, near the Manitoba border. The lack of a store with adequate refrigeration and cooling facilities in North Spirit Lake means those supplies go fast.

Of the two existing stores, one is run out of someone's bedroom, the other is "more like a shed," says Kejick.

"Both tend to stock a lot of junk food and stuff you can store for a long time, like canned items or stuff you can throw in the microwave and heat up fast." Frozen french fries are a big seller.

Kejick picked up his award, sponsored by the POA Educational Foundation, at an elegant high-tea ceremony at Queen's Park this week.

"The only route for First Nations people to achieve prosperity is entrepreneurship," says Aditya Jha, 50, the Toronto businessman who started the foundation along with his two partners, who prefer to stay out of the limelight, as a way to uplift aboriginal people. (POA represents the initials of the partners' first names.)

"If I can do it, they can do it. In Canada, no community gets respect until they make money in a mainstream business," says the straight-talking Jha.

He should know. He immigrated to Canada from India via Singapore in 1994 and became a multi-millionaire when he and his partners sold their software company to Sun Microsystems in 2001, for a reported $100 million (U.S.)

Jha was alerted to the plight of Canada's aboriginal people when he heard Stan Beardy, grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, speak at a black tie dinner in 2005.

Since then, the foundation has created a $100,000 endowment fund at Trent University for aboriginal students.

He has also announced plans to raise $5 million to establish an "incubation centre" at Ryerson University to foster aboriginal entrepreneurship, and kick-started it with his own $500,000 donation.

Kejick was part of a mentoring program, Project Beyshick, now in its third year, which pairs a dozen or more native people with senior executives at large Toronto companies. Participants in that program were eligible to take part in the business plan competition.

For a week last summer, Kejick job-shadowed Geoff Hoy, a senior vice-president at HSBC Bank in Toronto.

Kejick's new store, next to the gas station he operates in North Spirit Lake, is slated to be open for business by September, with the help of a bank loan.

"He's already a successful guy, so he'll do well," says Jha. "The promised land is here for him to grab."

Equay-wuk (Women’s Group) is providing 40 area health and social service organizations with cross-cultural sensitivity training materials.  The mail-out will include:

1. “Menonakachihewaywin Natamakewin (Better Care Giving Project)” Training Facilitator’s Manual
    
2. “A Guide for Professional Caregivers:  Self-Advocation for First Nations Clients” and
    
3. a Workshop Support CD.

Equay-wuk (Women’s Group) has now completed the Menonakachihewaywin Project, a cross-cultural sensitivity training project to assist frontline “professional caregivers” who interact with aboriginal clients in a variety of settings.  The Menonakachihewaywin Project was funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) under the OTF Granting Priority of "Healthier Ontarians".

An earlier project conducted in 1998/99 by Equay-wuk (Women’s Group) produced “A Guide for Professional Caregivers – Self-Advocation for First Nations Clients”, which is a self-help manual that was distributed to local facilities.  The 2004 Menonakachihewaywin Project has revised the Manual and Guide through a combination of research, Elder interviews, caregiver working group meetings and a cross-cultural training workshop.

Equay-wuk (Women’s Group) is an aboriginal women’s organization serving women, youth and families who reside within Northwestern Ontario First Nation communities.  It is a non-profit, provincially incorporated (1989) organization with charitable status serving aboriginal people from 31 First Nation communities in Northwestern Ontario.  Equay-wuk (Women’s Group) is independent from any other women’s group in Ontario.  (Website: www.equaywuk.ca)

For more information about this, Contact:

Felicia Waboose,
Program Director
Equay-wuk (Women’s Group)
Tel: (807) 737-2214
Fax: (807) 737-2699
email: equaywuk@nwconx.net