Media.Knet.Ca

Employment Opportunity

Keewaytinook Okimakanak/Northern Chiefs Council is looking for a full time

Education Program Coordinator

The Education Program Coordinator position will focus on working with education programs, First Nations health organizations, Health Canada and community health providers to identify priorities with regards to providing education and support to community health workers in First Nations communities.  Education, support and training will be integrated into the framework of organizations which provide education, training and support to health care providers working in First Nations communities.

Working with the KO Telehealth Team, the Education Program Coordinator identifies a strategy for providing continuing education, support and professional development for the health service providers in the Sioux Lookout Zone of the First Nation and Inuit Health Branch.  The Education Program Coordinator will document this strategy for application to other First Nations health regions, as per Contribution Agreement with Health Canada.

The ideal Candidate will possess:

Registered Nurse professional designation or Health Planning Background
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Ability to work as a team member as well as independently
Computer skills
Knowledge of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak and other Sioux Lookout Zone communities
Ability to prepare and submit reports
Able to speak Oji-Cree an asset

Salary will be dependant on qualifications and work experience.

Deadline for Applications: Friday August 17/06

Please forward: resume, cover letter and three references to:

Telehealth Hiring Committee
Keewaytinook Okimakanak
Box 340
Balmertown, ON
P0V 1C0

Rocks, golf balls fly as Caledonia residents, aboriginal protesters clash - Canadian Press
 
CALEDONIA, Ont. (CP) - The ongoing peace process between residents of Caledonia, Ont. and Six Nations protesters turned violent early Monday.

"We had two sides lined up and they were escalating to the point where things were starting to be thrown at each other," said Dennis Harwood, spokesman for the Ontario Provincial Police.

Harwood said about 40 residents gathered in opposition to the aboriginal protesters shortly after midnight.

That number quickly grew to 100 residents, and that's when the projectiles started to fly.

Pebbles, rocks, and golf balls were thrown from both sides, hitting a resident, an occupier and an officer.

No one was hurt, but vehicles and property were damaged.

Police were able to calm the situation and ensure peace throughout the remainder of the night.

Six Nations protesters have occupied the site since February, saying the land was illegally taken from them 200 years ago.

The land, which used to be slated for a housing development, has since been purchased by the province.

Although barricades cutting off access to the town have come down, residents say they're living in fear because of the ongoing occupation.

Harwood said Monday's altercation was sparked by minor incidents that occurred Sunday, beginning when Six Nations children cut the middle out of a Canada flag.

"They were taunting at the Caledonia residents, then the Caledonia residents put up some signs," said Harwood.

Harwood doesn't know what the signs said, but he said they were offensive to the aboriginals, who tore them down.

The two sides have clashed before, notably in late April when about 500 non-aboriginal residents of Caledonia marched on the occupation site following a community rally.

Harwood said this type of behaviour will hopefully not hinder the peace process.

"Certainly, we're hoping that they'll let the negotiators negotiate."

Copyright © 2006 Canadian Press

From the Toronto Star, Saturday, Aug 5, 2006 - http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1154728213619&call_pageid=970599119419

Ontario's last, great wilderness - Development coming to the Far North ... 17 million hectares, just 25,000 people
Aug. 5, 2006 - PETER GORRIE - ENVIRONMENT WRITER

MUSKRAT DAM, Ont. When coffee first arrived here many years ago, no one knew how long to boil it.

"Seven minutes," a native elder advised with suitable gravity.

So, seven it was, and seven it remains, even though the wise man had pulled the magic number out of thin air.

Chief Vernon Morris laughs at the story as he lifts a blackened, battered pot off the fire and pours himself a cup of toxic-looking liquid.

It's about a landscape and a way of life: Both are about to change forever as the provincial government pushes development into the Far North, Ontario's last frontier.

But Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay vows things will be different than in the south: "We've got a brand-new fresh slate up there ... We've learned from all our past mistakes, and our history."

Others see worrying evidence that it's business as usual, and that the environment and native people will pay a steep price.

Morris was at a traditional camp, about an hour by motor boat up the Severn River from Muskrat Dam, a quiet, well-run First Nation with 300 residents.

Members of his extended family were ending a relaxed week in the bush. They'd bagged a moose, beaver and geese, taught their kids some Oji-Cree ways, prepared the site for the big hunt this fall, told tales and jokes, and downed a lot of rugged caffeine.

They were, by southern Ontario standards, in the middle of nowhere.

The wide, muddy Severn and the tiny community are in a huge, little-known part of the province that, although connected to the outside world by planes, television and the Internet, remains pretty much as it was 500 years ago — or 5,000.

A mere 25,000 people, in 45 scattered settlements, inhabit these 17 million hectares stretching across the top of Ontario. Shy woodland caribou outnumber humans.

Here, fire, insects or old age — not loggers — fell trees. Travel is by small aircraft or boat; beyond the communities, the only roads are constructed on ice each winter.

Forest like this stretches across Canada's midsection. Biologists call it the boreal. It's the heart of our wilderness myth, though few experience it.

In the midst of it, it seems — like Muskrat Dam's seven-minute coffee — strong, and immune to change.

But that's an illusion. Ontario's northern forest is, in fact, a fragile remnant.

It's also part of a global pattern. Three-quarters of Earth's original forests have been chopped down. Canada's boreal is one of just three with large areas still intact. The others are a similar landscape in Russia and Brazil's Amazon rainforest. All are dwindling.

A couple of centuries ago, Ontario was nothing but trees. First, the southern forest of thick maple, oak and pine was cleared. Then, loggers moved up past the French River, which flows between Lake Nipissing and Georgian Bay, and into the boreal. Now, only the most remote 40 per cent remains in close to its original state.

The limit of development is known as the cutline, which meanders along roughly the 51st parallel of latitude.

To the south are highways, big-box stores, power lines, cottage developments, mines and loggers. The province has turned over almost all of the forest to companies that produce lumber and paper. Most is sold in the United States. The land is dominated by massive clear-cuts and a spider's web of rutted access roads that quickly become permanent public thoroughfares.

Environmentalists consider it an ecological disaster that threatens countless bird, animal, fish and plant species, and contributes to climate change.

Until now, the province has prohibited commercial logging north of the cutline. Economic realities kept much else from happening.

--------------------------------------------------------

Canada's boreal holds much of Earth's fresh water, and is the nesting place for one-third of North America's songbirds, notes Vancouver-based Forest Ethics. Its soils and trees are one of the planet's largest carbon storehouses; they play a major role in regulating climate change.

A study for the Calgary-based Pembina Institute and the Canadian Boreal Initiative — an Ottawa group comprised of green organizations, forest companies and First Nations — concluded the forest region is more valuable in its natural state than if it's exploited by industry.

The study measured the net value of industry across the boreal — logging, mining, oil and gas, etc. — versus the value that the forest brings in its natural state — carbon storage, medicine, food, water and air purification. According to the study, the boreal won handily, $93.2 billion to $37.8 billion.

Some First Nations say forest companies have trampled their traditional lands and rights. People in Grassy Narrows, an hour's drive north of Kenora, still suffer the impacts of mercury poisoning from a pulp and paper mill in the 1970s. For four years, they've battled nearby cutting by two giants — Abitibi Consolidated Inc. and Weyerhaeuser Company. That's why some recently blocked the TransCanada highway.

A recent report by the Boreal Initiative says overfishing brought on by road access, as well as habitat destruction from sedimentation and dams, is causing fish stocks to collapse in boreal lakes and streams.

A shelf-load of books and studies concludes current forestry practices — based on clear-cutting with heavy industrial machines, followed by reforestation — are unsustainable even though licences granted by the province require loggers to return cut areas to something like their original state.

Replanting doesn't work, says Jay Malcolm, a forestry expert at the University of Toronto. Even when spruce and Jack pine are sown, fast-growing aspen and poplar quickly overtake them. And, he says, forests are likely to be recut years before they reach old growth, the only stage that supports many species of birds and animals.

Instead of natural, complex forests, they become tree farms.

--------------------------------------------------------

Last April, Chief Morris and others from Muskrat Dam were at a different camp, near a river called the Windigo, whose clear water forms a distinct grey pattern where it merges with the murky-brown Severn.

They were on their annual goose hunt, an important source of food and crucial connection with their history.

This year, for the first time, hardly any geese came. Helicopters frightened off most of the tasty birds. The chopper crews, contracted by the international conglomerate De Beers, were seeking evidence of diamonds.

Company officials asked for a meeting to discuss the disruption, then dictated who could attend, Morris says. He told them to forget it.

"I get the sense that for them it's a minor issue. They don't want to work with First Nations ... They just go ahead."

Muskrat Dam has a history of fending off projects. During the 1960s and again in the early '90s, it was mining companies looking for gold and nickel. In between came a proposal to construct up to eight hydroelectric dams on the Severn, a scheme that would have flooded much of the community's traditional territory.

"We're not so lucky these days," Morris says. "The companies are getting bolder."

De Beers is already building a mine east of Muskrat Dam, over near James Bay. That open-pit project, called the Victor mine, will impact an area four times the size of Toronto.

Last winter, Aurora-based Platinex Inc. began exploring for platinum despite objections from the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation, about 70 kilometres from Muskrat Dam. When people from KI protested, the company halted preliminary work, then sued the community for $10 billion.

(Earlier this week, an Ontario Superior court judge rejected Platinex's request for an injunction to end the native protest. Instead, the judge granted the reserve's application for an injunction stopping work at the site for five months while the company and the provincial government hold talks with KI.)

Despite that controversy, Superior Diamond Inc. of Vancouver later staked a claim on the traditional lands of KI's chief.

Last month, Ramsay's ministry endorsed the first plan for logging north of the cutline, in two forest blocks near the Manitoba border. There's also talk of hydroelectric projects and corridors for power lines.

--------------------------------------------------------

In the 2003 provincial election campaign, then-opposition leader Dalton McGuinty promised, "meaningful, broad-scale land-use planning" before he'd allow major development in the northern boreal.

Since winning power, however, McGuinty and his ministers have become advocates for expansion into the region.

Ramsay rejects a moratorium, but insists the north won't look like the south. "We're aware of the fragility of that part of the world."

No new towns will be built, he says. Outside workers will be housed in temporary camps. First Nations will lead the planning because "it's their territory. They're the occupants."

Pikanjikum — a community near the Manitoba border that's plagued by suicides and desperate for jobs for its young people — devised the first Far-North logging project, Ramsay notes.

In contrast with land south of the cutline, where entire forests are turned into paper or basic lumber at giant mills, Pikanjikum will cut fewer trees and convert them into coated posts and beams for Japanese house construction. Slow-growing northern wood is extremely tough, so the product will meet Japan's earthquake standards, the minister says.

"It's a lot better than the old culture of cut and saw." And, he suggests, it's the model for the Far North — "smaller production but value added."

Most important, he says, any commercial logging, or mines, roads and other projects, must be approved by First Nations. He has invited aboriginal leaders to a "Northern Table" to discuss land use planning.

But industry people — mining companies in particular — fear the government will deal with northern disputes as it handled the showdown in Caledonia. That's the Ontario town where natives blocked a road to protest a housing development on land they claim.

Queen's Park bought the land and negotiated, "implicitly accepting the occupiers' contention that Canadian courts have no jurisdiction over aboriginal lands or citizens," the industry newspaper Northern Miner complained this month.

It was "the worst example possible in dealing with aboriginal land claims," the paper said.

On the other side, environmentalists are equally unhappy.

"There's no vision of what the forest should look like in the future," says Anna Baggio, director of conservation land-use planning at the Toronto-based Wildlands League. "There's a void in leadership and policy," and a "development first" approach that will inevitably fuel more conflict.

Unless First Nations assert their rights, "it will open the floodgates," says Joan Kuyek, national co-ordinator of MiningWatch Canada, an environmental group that monitors the industry.

Rights are being asserted. Muskrat Dam, KI and seven other First Nations have declared a moratorium on development. KI also wants the courts to overturn the Ontario Mining Act, which gives prospectors virtually free access to most private land.

"We expect Ontario and industry to consult with us before development happens," says Stan Beardy, grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which covers the Far North. "Right now, that's not happening."

However, Beardy says, Ramsay has promised to work out a new process for consultation while the Mining Act is reviewed.

Northern Ontario School of Medicine Presents…

General Application Information Sessions

for Potential Aboriginal Applicants

The Office of Admissions & Student Affairs is pleased to present general application information sessions for potential Aboriginal applicants. 

Thunder Bay:

Wednesday, August 23, 2006
3:00 p.m.
Medical School Building
Room 1011
Lakehead University

Sudbury:

Tuesday, August 29, 2006
3:00 p.m.
Medical School Building
Room 107
Laurentian University

Topics covered will include general information about the school, support services available to Aboriginal students, admission requirements, application procedures, the admission cycle, and information and requirements specific to the Aboriginal Admissions Stream.

For more information, please watch www.normed.ca .

How to Register
Pre-registration is required.  For more information and/or to pre-register, please contact:

The Office of Admissions & Student Affairs
Phone: (807)766-7317  or 1-888-377-7757 (in Northern Ontario only)
Fax:     (807)766-7368
E-mail: nomsadmit@normed.ca

NAN Press Release

NAN Chiefs re-elect Stan Beardy as Grand Chief

     SACHIGO LAKE FIRST NATION, ON, Aug. 3 - Chiefs and proxies from Nishnawbe Aski Nation's (NAN) 49 First Nation communities re-elected Stan Beardy as Grand Chief this afternoon during the 25th Annual Keewaywin Chiefs Conference in Sachigo Lake First Nation.

     "I look forward to serving the people of Nishnawbe Aski as we move forward to effectively address the fundamental challenges of First Nations across Ontario," said NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy who has now entered his third term representing communities throughout James Bay Treaty 9 territory.

"I'd like to recognize and thank my family and all supporters and look forward to working together with NAN leadership to improve the quality of life of our people."

     Beardy was elected along with three Deputy Grand Chiefs who will each be responsible for specific portfolios at NAN, such as education, health, justice, and governance.

     Incumbent Alvin Fiddler, Roseanne Archibald, and Terry Waboose were elected as Deputy Grand Chiefs.

     The Keewaywin Conference will continue to Friday, August 4 in Sachigo Lake First Nation.

     The new NAN Executive Council will meet again next week at the 2006 James Bay Treaty 9 Centennial Commemoration in Ginnoogaming (Longlac) First Nation August 9th and 10th.

-30-

/For further information: please visit www.nan.on.ca or contact: Jenna Young, Director of Communications, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Sachigo Lake NAN office: (807) 595-2526; Larry Amos, Head Electoral Officer, (204) 956-7413/

Aboriginal representatives from across northern Ontario wrapped up the Mii Kwen Daan - Continuing the Dialogue with NOSM representatives with a series of recommendation. Video archives of the sessions are available by joining the http://meeting.knet.ca online environment. Please join the ongoing discussion forums to add your contributions to this "Continuing the Dialogue".

NOSM Press Release ...

Aboriginal Workshop Recommends Further Development of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine

Fort William First Nation, August 3, 2006 --  95 Aboriginal, community and health care leaders from all across Northern Ontario spent the past three days engaged in discussions at a workshop hosted by the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM).  The Mii Kwen Daan - Continuing the Dialogue " workshop, held at Fort William First Nation, provided a forum for participants to discuss opportunities to further engage Aboriginal communities into the ongoing development of the School of Medicine.

Some of the recommendations arising out of the discussions centered around:

• Communications: Evaluate the mechanisms used to communicate with Aboriginal communities to maximize their impact and effectiveness.
    
• Community Engagement: Provide further opportunities for students and community staff to interact and learn from each other to prepare them for community and cultural learning experiences.
    
• Admissions: Advocate for greater financial support for Aboriginal medical students and applicants.
    
• Curriculum: Development: create additional opportunities to increase and sustain cultural awareness.
    
• Research: Establish an Ethics Review sub-committee of the Aboriginal Reference Group.   

Rosie Mosquito, Nishnawbe Aski Nation and Chair of the NOSM Aboriginal Reference Group commended the School of Medicine for its progressive approach to Aboriginal issues.  "The School's efforts to engage the Aboriginal communities of Northern Ontario into its curriculum and administration are truly progressive.  With a 'think-outside-the-box' approach, NOSM leadership has pushed the parameters for a successful medical education program."

NOSM Founding Dean Dr. Roger Strasser was extremely pleased with the workshop's outcomes.  "The Northern Ontario School of Medicine has a mandate to be socially accountable reflecting the cultural diversity of Northern Ontario.  Workshops like this, help to ensure that the School of Medicine is succeeding in its efforts to engage Aboriginal communities into the School's programs.  We look forward to working with the Aboriginal Reference Group to review the recommendations arising out of this workshop." 
 
The Mii Kwen Daan - Continuing the Dialogue workshop was a follow-up to the 2003 Follow Your Dreams workshop held in Wauzhushk Onigum First Nation.  During this initial workshop, Aboriginal participants provided specific recommendations for creating an "Aboriginal friendly" medical school.  A Mii Kwen Daan - Continuing the Dialogue workshop report will be published in the coming months and posted to www.normed.ca. 

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is a pioneering faculty of medicine. The School is a joint initiative of Lakehead and Laurentian Universities with main campuses in Thunder Bay and Sudbury, and multiple teaching and research sites across Northern Ontario. By educating skilled physicians and undertaking health research suited to community needs, the School will become a cornerstone of community health care in Northern Ontario.

-30-
For further information, please contact:
Tracie Smith   Marlene Moore
807-766-7314 or 807-624-7862 705-662-7243
tracie.smith@normed.ca  marlene.moore@normed.ca

Communications Unit
Northern Ontario School of Medicine

West Campus
Lakehead University
955 Oliver Rd.
Thunder Bay ON  P7B 5E1
Tel: 807-766-7300
Fax: 807-766-7370

East Campus
Laurentian University
935 Ramsey Lake Rd.
Sudbury ON  P3E 2C6
Tel: 705-675-4883
Fax: 705-675-4858
E-mail: NormedNews@NorMed.ca

Nishnawbe Aski Nation is holding it's Keewaywin Conference August 1,2,3 in Sachigo Lake.  Many of the activities are being webcast live from Sachigo Lake First Nation.  Click here to go the the NAN Elections Website for the webcast. 

Received this interesting e-mail and checked out the Native Nations Institute's NNI Research Report ... good stuff ...

"sharing research and information on indigenous governance, development, and policy"

Dear Friend,

We are pleased to announce that the fifth issue of the Native Nations Institute's NNI Research Report is now on the NNI website and can be reached through the following link:

http://nni.arizona.edu/researchreport/NNIRR_05/summer_2006.html

NNI Research Report is a free, electronic information service of the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy at the University of Arizona.  It is published 3-4 times a year.  Subscribers to NNI Research Report are notified by email when each new issue appears on NNI's website.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE NOTIFIED WHENEVER A NEW ISSUE OF COMES OUT, please reply to this email indicating that you would like to be added to the subscription list (subscriptions are free).  If we do not hear from you, and to avoid cluttering up your mailbox with unwanted messages, we will not send you any further notifications.

Like previous issues(archived on the NNI website), the current issue reviews new research by NNI staff and affiliates, summarizes published work by other scholars relevant to indigenous self-determination and nation building, notes ongoing research projects, and provides links to other organizations working on related issues.

We also invite you to notify us of publications, papers, and projects that might be of interest to other practitioners working in this field.

The Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy (NNI) was founded in 2001 by the Morris K. Udall Foundation and the University of Arizona.  Housed at the university's Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, NNI serves as a self-determination, self-governance, and development resource for indigenous nations.  For more information, visit the NNI website at:

http://www.nni.arizona.edu

Sincerely,

Stephen Cornell, Director
Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy

Miriam Jorgensen, Associate Director for Research Native Nations Institute

**********************************************************************
NNI Research Report
NATIVE NATIONS INSTITUTE FOR LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND POLICY Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy The University of Arizona
803 East First Street
Tucson, Arizona 85719
Tel 520 626-0664  Fax 520 626-3664
www.nni.arizona.edu

Pilot Community Application Form

Aboriginal Role Model Program

Applications Due Friday August 25, 2006

 In partnership with the Aboriginal Sport Circle (ASC), the Esteem Team Association (ETA) has received funding from Sport Canada to develop an Aboriginal Role Model Program for Aboriginal communities across Canada with the goal of athletes and physically active Aboriginal Role Models inspiring young Aboriginals to take a leadership role in sport, recreation and physical activity within their own communities.

At this time, eight (8) pilot communities require selection for participation in the pilot phase of the project.  For the purposes of the pilot (September 2006 - December 2006), the ASC and ETA are requesting interested Aboriginal communities to apply for consideration as a pilot community by completing the Pilot Community Application Form according to the criteria, needs and descriptions as detailed below:

 General considerations:

 The ASC and ETA have established some objectives they will consider in selecting the eight pilot communities from the nominated communities list, as follows:

1.  Achieve broad geographical representation (north, central, eastern and western Canada).
2. Achieve balance of communities:  on reserve, off reserve, urban, rural, remote communities.
3. Achieve social representation: First Nations, Inuit, Innu, and Métis peoples.
4. Achieve balance in terms of the type of community in the pilot.  There will be some communities who are already model communities and others that may have more challenges.  We want to develop an understanding of how to work in all types of communities and are seeking a range of community experiences.
5. Is the community likely to be supportive of the initiative and/or do they have supportive adults in community, and/or strong leadership potential in youth in community?
6. Does the community already have involved youth or good potential for involving youth?  Including their availability to, ability to, and interest in becoming involved in community.
7. Budget considerations do play a role in the choice of community.  We have a limited budget that must cover all expenses to get the role model to and from the community three times as well as other administrative expenses involved in delivering the sessions and events in community.  Costs to access more remote communities may be a limiting factor in the pilot but we will do our best to balance the needs to meet the objectives of the pilot. 

 Please proceed to complete the application form on the next 2 pages. 

Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability.

1. What is the community name and where is it located?
    
2. Who is/are the leader(s)in the community with whom we would need to connect to confirm the community's participation in the pilot program?
     
3. Is this a First Nations, Inuit, Métis or other type of community?  Please describe.
     
4. How big is the community?  
    
   Total population?  
     
   Approximately how many people in the community are under the age of 25 years?
     
5. Is the community on reserve, off reserve, urban, rural, or remote (other, describe)?
     
6. Why do you think the community is a good candidate for this program?
     
7. What recreational, cultural and sport services and facilities are available to young people in the community?
     
8. What particular challenges, if any, do youth in the community face that make you feel they would benefit from a program of this nature?  Please describe.
     
9. Are there any community programs that actively support youth and youth leadership in the community?  If so, please describe them here.
     
10. Are there any young sport leaders in the community that you feel may be willing to help make the program a success in the community?  If so please list their names and why you think they would be helpful.
     
11. Are there any adult leaders in this community that you feel may be able to help with delivering the program in the community?  If so,  please list their names and why you think they would be helpful.
      
12. Please provide your own name and contact information in the space below so that we may contact you if we have any questions.  

We will review all applications and may call to gather more information if needed.  We will let you know the status of your application by September 25, 2006.  In the event that your community is not selected for the pilot phase of the program, your application will be kept for future consideration when the next phase of the program rolls out with an expanded number of communities after December 2006. 

Thank you again for expressing your interest in the Aboriginal Athlete & Youth Role Model Program.

Fax or e-mail your completed form by Friday August 25, 2006 to:
 
e-mail: shelly@esteemteam.com     fax: (613) 789-9204

For more information, click on the following word documents:

06-07-14-Pilot-Community-Application-Form.doc 

06-07-14-About-the-Role-Model-Program.doc

06-07-14-Call-for-Pilot-Communities.doc

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Rod Jacobs
To: Rod Jacobs
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 1:29 AM
Subject: FW: Aboriginal Role Model Program

Would young people in your community benefit from having an Aboriginal role model meet with them to discuss sport in your community, what is good about it, what could be better and how they can take action themselves to create a positive sense of self through their interaction with sport and physical activity in their own community?

If you think this is something your community would like to be a part of, we are looking for 8 pilot communities in which to conduct the preliminary program.  The attached documents will provide you with more information on the origins of the program and how it is expected to develop. 

If your community is interested in applying to be a pilot community then here's what you need to do by Friday August 25, 2006:

Complete the attached Community Application Form and send it to Shelly O'Brien, Executive Director Programs for the Esteem Team Association at:

E-mail:   shelly@esteemteam.com     FAX :  613-789-9204 

Rod Jacobs
Manager - High Performance Programs
Aboriginal Sport Circle
Akwesasne Mohawk Territory
R.R. #3
Cornwall Island, ON  K6H 5R7
(613) 938-1176, ext 23
(613) 938-9181 - fax

The Ontario Recreation Facilities Association is pleased to offer the 1st Annual North Western Ontario Training Program to be held at the Kenora Recreation Centre from September 11-14, 2006 in response to member training needs. You are encouraged to review the following course descriptions and submit your registration without delay.

Offering Training Courses in:

• Introduction to Aquatic Facility Operations Course
• Parks Equipment & Safety Operations Course
• Dealing with Difficult People and Violence in the Workplace Course
• Ice Maintenance & Equipment Operation Course

For more information click here to get the 5 page PDF document