The investment in broadband telecommunication infrastructure continues to be supported as part of the Aboriginal blueprint laid out at the First Ministers' Meeting this past week in Kelowna. From the information distributed at the First Ministers' Meeting, it appears that Industry Canada's BRAND program will lead the infrastructure development work with the First Nations School program continuing to support the First Nation schools across the country to access and utilize these services. Telehealth is also included as part of the final document as a means of supporting the access to improved health services in Aboriginal communities. See below for links and actual statements from the documents distributed at the First Ministers' Meeting.
From the Government of Canada, Nov 25 Press Release ... GOVERNMENT OF CANADA INVESTS IN IMMEDIATE ACTION TO IMPROVE LIVES OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLES IN CANADA
The Government of Canada will also bring broadband access to an additional 250 communities within 10 years.
From the backgrounder on Aboriginal Education
An Industry Canada SchoolNet initiative, First Nations SchoolNet connects all First Nations schools under federal jurisdiction to the Internet. By improving the connectivity and technical capacities of First Nations schools, the program aims to bridge the digital divide in First Nations schools located in remote and rural communities.
These investments will build on the $700 million, already committed at the September 13, 2004 Special Meeting of
In addressing these priorities, a holistic and distinctions–based approach will be adopted.
First Ministers and National Aboriginal Leaders support Ministers of Health and Aboriginal Affairs Ministers continuing to work collaboratively with Aboriginal Peoples including First Nations, Inuit and Métis regardless of where they live to turn their commitments into concrete action at the regional level and national level.
First Ministers and National Aboriginal Leaders. These initiatives and plans could notably focus on such areas as:From Turtle Island News at http://turtleisland.org ... a great article about the top Aboriginal music in Canada ...
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 9:38 pm Post subject: Honouring Excellence in Aboriginal Music
Tanya Tagaq was the big winner last night at the 7th annual Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. In fact, she had been nominated for five awards.
Tagaq’s CD, "Sinaa" received three awards. Best Female Artist - Best Album Design and Best Produceed and Engineered CD.
LISTEN HERE . . .
http://www.tanyatagaq.com/en/mp3/
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Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards
Announces Winners of 27 Awards
Honouring Excellence in Aboriginal Music
Toronto, November 25, 2005... The 7th annual Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards gala this evening was a star-studded celebrity event where 27 awards were presented to honour the work and achievements of outstanding Aboriginal musicians and industry members in Canada.
The big winner of the evening was Tagaq’s CD “Sinaa” with three awards. Two awards each went to Winnipeg’s Little Hawk, Ryan D’Aoust, also from Manitoba, and Cape Breton’s Forever.
Manitoba artists shone in the spotlight, with a total of eight awards going to six Manitoba artists, including Little Hawk, Ryan D’Aoust, Burnt, Kimberly Dawn, Lisa Meeches & Kyle Irving, and Hank Horton. Following Manitoba, four awards went home with Alberta artists, four awards were presented to winners from Canada’s north (NWT and Nunavut), Saskatchewan artists earned three awards, and three awards were presented to winners from Ontario.
Tagaq‘s CD “Sinaa” received three awards: Best Female Artist for Tanya ‘Tagaq’ Gillis, Best Producer/Engineer for producer Juan Hernandez and engineer Jose "Triki" Trincado, and Best Album Design for Oscar Poza & Montse. Members of this outstanding team are from Nunavut.
Best Album of the Year and Best Folk Album honours went to Little Hawk for his CD “1492-1975.” Little Hawk, a.k.a. Troy Westwood, is from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Cape Breton, Nova Scotia’s Forever also took home two awards: Best Rock Album and Best Music Video for the recording “Something to Dream Of” and the video of the same name.
Ryan D’aoust, a 16-year-old left-handed fiddler from Norway House, Manitoba received the Best Fiddle Album Award for his CD “Southside of the Strings,” and the Galaxie Rising Stars Award, granted by Galaxie, CBC’s Continuous Music Network, to a promising newcomer in Aboriginal Music.
The Best Female Traditional/Cultural Roots Album award went to Asani for “Rattle & Drum.” Asani is a contemporary a cappella Aboriginal women’s trio hailing from Alberta.
Diga a Tlicho (Dogrib) musician from Fort Rae, NWT, was named Best Male Artist. His CD is called “Earth is Crying”.
The honours for Best Group or Duo went to Burnt, the eleven-member ensemble based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Burnt’s CD “Hometown” blends blues, jazz, rock, funk and traditional First Nations sounds.
Jason Burnstick & the Rhythm received the Best Instrumental Album Award for “Burn.” Burnstick lives in Vancouver, B.C., where he blends the sounds and rhythms of Latin music and his Cree roots.
Alberta’s Carl Quinn was named Best Songwriter for the title song on his CD “Ni Ototem,” whose goal is to promote, preserve and share the Cree language.
Kimberly Dawn’s song “Spirit of Our People” won the Best Song/Single honours. Dawn is from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Lisa Meeches & Kyle Irving took the Best Television Program Award home to Winnipeg, for the program “First Nation Invasion”. This is the first year that the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards celebrate the producers with the Best Television Program Award.
Northern Quebec’s Beatrice Deer received the Best Inuit Cultural Album Award for “Just Bea”. This the first year of the Best Inuit Cultural Album Award.
The Best Blues Album went to The WolfPack for their CD, “Family Thang.”
The WolfPack is a family of siblings, aged 23-30, from Six Nations, Ontario.
Blackstone, from the Sweetgrass First Nation in Saskatchewan, was honoured with Best Pow Wow Album - Contemporary Award for “Back in the Day.”
The Best Rap or Hip Hop Album Award was handed to Eekwol for her CD “Apprentice to the Mystery.” Eekwol is from the Muskoday First Nation in Saskatchewan.
“Honky Tonk Heartache Blues” earned Hank Horton the Best Country Album Award. Abie Parenteau a.k.a. “Hank Horton” is from Duck Bay, Manitoba.
Painted Horse received the Best Pow Wow Album - Traditional Award for “Blackfoot Songs”. The Painted Horse singers hail from the Cree, Blood, Blackfoot, Peigan and Tsuii Tina Nations in Saskatchewan.
The Best Hand Drum Album Award was presented to Northern Cree from Saddle Lake, Alberta, for the CD “Sweethearts Shuffle.”
Joanne Shenandoah was awarded with the Best International Album Award for her recording, “Skywoman.” Shenanandoah is a Wolf Clan member of the Iroquois Confederacy – Oneida Nation, and calls Oneida, NY, USA home.
Willie Dunn was honoured with the Lifetime Contribution to Aboriginal Music Award, presented to an individual who dedicates a large part of their life and career to promoting and developing Aboriginal music. Willie Dunn is singer, songwriter, musician, playwright, artist, director, award-winning filmmaker, and First Nations ambassador, who lives in Ottawa, Ontario.
Allan Beaver was awarded the Keeper of Traditions in Aboriginal Music Award, presented to an individual dedicated to teaching Aboriginal culture through music. Allan Beaver is an accomplished athlete, public speaker, well-known for his heartwarming gospel music and an excellent role model. He is a member of the Bigstone Cree Nation, and lives in Alberta.
The Music Industry Award, presented to an individual, Aboriginal of non-Aboriginal who is making or has made a significant positive impact on Canadian Aboriginal music, will be presented to music journalist and author Brian Wright-McLeod. The launch of Brian Wright-McLeod’s book, Encyclopedia Of Native Music (The University of Arizona Press/University of British Columbia Press) and its' musical companion The Soundtrack Of A People, took place at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. Brian is Dakota/Anishnabe and lives in Toronto, Ontario.
The Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards acknowledge and honour the keepers, teachers, promoters, creators and performers of Aboriginal music. The Awards promote the diversity in, and celebrate the excellence of, Aboriginal music; they recognize the unique vision of Aboriginal musicians, and they encourage this rich cultural voice.
The Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards gala event took place Friday, November 25, in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre’s John Bassett Theatre, in downtown Toronto. The Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards are a highlight of the Canadian Aboriginal Festival Week, North America’s largest multi-disciplinary Aboriginal arts event, taking place November 21-27, 2005.
The 2006 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards will see some exciting changes. Amos Key Jr., who has been involved in the Awards since its inception, will join Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards Co-Founder Catherine Cornelius as Co-Executive Producer. Also next year, the 8th annual Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards gala event will take place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on November 3, 2006.
The public can visit www.canab.com for complete details.
Keewatin Tribal Council is working with the remote First Nations across Northern Manitoba to get broadband connections put in place to serve their communities. Funding from Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet program and the KTC Regional Management Organization serving First Nation schools across Manitoba was levered with support from Health Canada and INAC to support the construction of satellite earthstations and local wireless networks in ten remote First Nations. Dan Pellerin, K-Net's Network Manager, is now travelling to each of these communities to bring the two 2.4M satellite earthstations in each of these ten First Nations up on the Telesat Public Benefit transponder that is now being shared by the satellite served communities across Northern Ontario and Northern Quebec.
On Thursday of this week, Dan was in Poplar River First Nation where he successfully got that community's connections operating. Tonight he was able to bring Pukatawagan First Nation online. He reported in an e-mail that he is now working on their local wireless network to get the band office, school and health centre online.
http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/feature.asp?pageId=15
On November 24-25, 2005, Prime Minister Paul Martin is in Kelowna (British Columbia) for a First Ministers' Meeting with Premiers, Territorial Leaders and Leaders of the Assembly of First Nations, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Métis National Council, the Native Women's Association of Canada and the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.
News Release announcing the meeting
Address by Prime Minister Paul Martin at the First Ministers Meeting
Backgrounders (pdf files)
Photo Slide Show
Results:
News release:
http://www.pm.gc.ca/grfx/docs/info02_e.pdf
In 2004-05, the Government of Canada spent about $1.1 billion on First Nations elementary/secondary education for approximately 120,000 students. These costs include:
Kelowna, B.C. — The federal government committed more than a billion dollars to native health issues Friday despite disagreement over who will provide the services and to which aboriginal groups.
The cash is part of a 10-year plan negotiated with the 13 provinces and territories and five national aboriginal organizations that pledges about $5.1-billion over the next five years to alleviate native poverty.
"I believe we have made an unprecedented step forward," said Prime Minister Paul Martin at a news conference that closed the two-day summit with premiers and native leaders.
"Aboriginal Canadians have no desire for more rhetoric. They have needs and those needs demand attention. It's as simple as that."
The final communiqué promises to:
— Close the educational gap so that by 2016, the high school graduation rate for aboriginal students is the same as other Canadians.
— Change housing policy to improve everything from access to emergency shelters to the ability of natives to own their own homes, while also providing better maintenance to existing housing stock.
— Spend $400-million to provide better water and regulate water quality on reserves.
— Reduce infant mortality rates, youth suicide, childhood obesity and diabetes by 20 per cent in the next five years and 50 per cent in 10 years.
— Double the number of health professionals by 2016.
— Improve training and skills development as part of a wider promise to give Aboriginal Peoples more economic opportunities.
— Establish a First Nations Multilateral Forum to continue regular discussions between Ottawa, the provinces and native groups on aboriginal issues.
But health service provision proved the sticking point, with the blueprint that was agreed to described in the final communiqué as "a work in progress."
While there was broad agreement on how to tackle the housing and education shortfalls, the provision of health services to reserve natives, Inuit scattered across the north, Métis and off-reserve First Nations in Canada's cities is proving a jurisdictional quagmire.
Officials held talks at this lake-side resort in the Okanagan Valley until early Friday morning without achieving a consensus.
Only British Columbia — which signed a separate, stand-alone deal with Ottawa and three provincial native groups here Friday — was confident enough to put in writing where the federal dollars will flow.
With Martin's minority government set to fall Monday, the $5.1-billion commitment is not guaranteed.
Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said the high-profile summit cannot be ignored no matter which party wins the federal election.
"The country is watching us here," said Mr. Fontaine. "The commitments that are made are significant and it's going to be very, very difficult for any government to retreat from those commitments here."
But Mr. Fontaine also acknowledged some provinces remain skittish about elements of the program, particularly health provisions which both provincial premiers and native leaders fear could lead to Ottawa down-loading its historic responsibilities.
"It's important that in the next few months we resolve the issue of who's responsible for what matters," said Mr. Fontaine. "We believe we can achieve that."
The provinces manage health care services but the federal government is responsible for the health and welfare of Canada's native population — more than half of which lives off-reserve.
George Smitherman, Ontario's minister of health, said the health dollars will have to be negotiated on a province-by-province basis.
"No one should underestimate how challenging that negotiation is going to be," he said.
But Mr. Martin did manage to dodge at least one potential public relations disaster here by keeping all the participants at the table.
Beverly Jacobs, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada, had been planning to walk away from the summit table on Friday morning to protest the lack of attention to violence against women in aboriginal negotiations.
But she said a promise from Mr. Martin had changed her mind.
"We had requested that there be a specific aboriginal women's summit, and the prime minister did agree to that (Thursday)," said Ms. Jacobs.
"So we'll be putting the pressure on to make sure that happens."
Ms. Jacobs said the association's ultimate goal is a national inquiry into the missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada.
She also left the meeting wondering what will be achieved on health care.
"I didn't see the final health blueprint document," said Ms. Jacobs.
"They keep saying it's a work in progress. How can we agree to a communiqué that there's really no final conclusions to anything. It's just sort of up in the air. That's my worry."
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http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news.asp?id=659
Address by Prime Minister Paul Martin at the First Ministers Meeting - November 24, 2005, Kelowna, British Columbia
Let me begin by thanking the elders, Chief Robert Louie and the Westbank First Nation for welcoming us to Kelowna.
I would also like to thank the other elders who are present, including Elder Elmer Courchene of Sagkeeng First Nation. Two years ago, Elder Courchene offered me and the federal cabinet a blessing when we took the oath of office. I’m glad to see him again.
I would like to thank the leadership of The Assembly of First Nations, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Métis National Council; the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and the Native Women’s Association of Canada for their commitment to working with each other and with us, as partners.
I want to acknowledge Minister Andy Scott, under whose leadership we’ve come so far. I want to thank Premier Ralph Klein, chair of the Council of the Federation, and each of the Premiers for demonstrating a willingness to look at how we’ve been doing things in the past and to help change them for the better.
In particular I would like to thank our host Premier Gordon Campbell who has worked tirelessly with all of us to ensure that we could come together as we do today, in a spirit of partnership and co-operation.
A year and a half ago, retracing steps from my youth, I travelled across Canada north of the 60th parallel, visiting communities in each of the three territories. Each stop was distinct – from Pond Inlet, to Tuktoyaktuk, to Watson Lake – every community was unique. But what became familiar to me was the welcome– the smiling faces of children in each community.
As we walked the streets of many of these communities a parade of children would join us, and in their eyes you could see the curiosity and the hopefulness that only the young bring to each day – indeed, as far as I could tell, they wanted to ask me everything and show me everything in existence.
Needless to say these were deeply encouraging encounters. But when I would sit down with their elders, they would describe a different world from the one I had seen. They would describe the life of a typical young adult in their community and the challenges that the children I had met would encounter as they grew older.
They would describe the high incidence of violence and abuse in the home; of disease and addiction, teen pregnancy and suicide. They would describe the difficulty of keeping their children in school, or how hard it was to send their children away for the rest of their education.
I share this only to illustrate what we all know to be true not only in the remote communities of the north, but on too many reserves and in too many cities –
that there is an unacceptable gap between the hopeful promise of youth and the experience of Aboriginal adulthood. A gap made even more unacceptable by the fact that aboriginal youth represent the largest segment of Canadian youth and the fastest growing. We face a moral imperative: In a country as wealthy as ours, a country that is the envy of the world, good health care and good education should be taken for granted; they are the tools leading to equality of opportunities – the foundation on which our society is built.
We are here today because the descendents of the people who first occupied this land must have an equal opportunity to work for and to enjoy the benefits of our collective prosperity. Today, the majority do not – because of gaps in education and skills, in health care and housing and because of limited opportunities for employment. Put simply, these gaps – between Aboriginal Canadians and other Canadians, and between Aboriginal men and women – are not acceptable in the 21st century. They never were acceptable. The gaps must be closed.
Over the next two days we will outline a clear plan to achieve our goal. To do that, all of us will have to work together. Our plan will have to recognize that conditions in the far north are different from those on reserve, that conditions on reserve are different from those in our cities. Our plan will have to recognize the very different issues facing First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation – and that the needs of Aboriginal women must not be forgotten.
The challenges we face require goals that are concrete, and achieving them requires that we measure our progress along the way. Coming into this meeting we have established a consensus with Aboriginal leadership that we should set a series of 10-year goals. But I would also suggest that we set interim targets as well, for five years from now, to ensure that we remain focussed and accountable. The challenges are urgent, and we can’t afford to let this opportunity slip away.
We must think in the long term but we must act now. Let me be clear about one other thing: If our methods aren’t producing results, we’ll have to change them.
What we seek to do will cost money. But money without an effective partnership, without innovative solutions, without clear targets and full accountability and transparency – will do nothing. We will not pursue that course.
All of us around this table must assume our share of the responsibility for the challenge we face. Quite simply we must, and will, do better. So let us agree today that we will break from the past and take a new approach, one that produces the results we seek with the accountability Canadians expect
Our first challenge is to close the gap in education. Giving young people the chance to realize their potential will be the foundation for everything else we do.
It means building schools, and upgrading the education of teachers. It means ensuring students graduate, but it also means that education doesn’t end at grade 12. It means opening up young eyes to post-secondary education in all its facets. It means skills training for better jobs. In all these cases it means helping to provide the tools to get there.
For the first time in Canada’s history, we are committing to developing a network of First Nations school systems, administered under First Nations jurisdiction, in co-operation with the provinces, which deliver education to Canadians. In public schools, in urban centers as well as the north, we will help ensure that First Nations, Inuit and Métis culture -- as the case may be -- is a vital presence in the curriculum, and we will work with the Provinces and Territories to develop Centers of Excellence for Inuit and Métis learning.
We’ll encourage young Aboriginal women and men to go to college and university with First Nation, Inuit and Métis bursaries. And we will work with our partners in the public and the private sectors to develop the apprenticeship programs needed to help Aboriginal Canadians compete for high-paying jobs.
Our goal is to close the high-school graduation gap completely within 10 years -- and to close the post-secondary gap by half, for both young men and women. In five years we will close both gaps by 20%. That means 22,000 more students will graduate from high school, and close to 15,000 more students will graduate from colleges or universities, or become trained as apprentices – with an additional 3,500 people taking part in literacy and other essential skills programs.
The second challenge is in health care. The gaps that persist between Aboriginal health and the health of most Canadians are unconscionable.
The incidence of infant mortality is almost 20% higher for First Nations than in the rest of Canada. Suicide can be anywhere from three to 11 times more common – particularly among Inuit – and teen pregnancies are nine times the national average.
It is evident these heart-breaking facts speak not just to health care. They speak to the psychic and emotional turmoil in communities that we must find ways, urgently, to address.
We started this effort just over a year ago, when Aboriginal leaders participated in the First Ministers Meeting on Health Care. There we recognized the need for a new health framework and we began work on an unprecedented document: the Aboriginal Health Blueprint, a comprehensive plan for the delivery of reliable health care in every Province and Territory – on reserve and off.
Aboriginal health is a national priority, but care must be local. It begins with health care professionals. We will aim to double the number of Aboriginal health professionals in ten years – from 150 physicians and 1,200 nurses today – and we will focus on core measures of health that we can monitor and improve upon in each community.
Based on available data, we have set goals with the co-operation of the Aboriginal leadership to reduce the gaps in key areas such as infant mortality, youth suicide, childhood obesity and diabetes – by 20% in five years, and 50% in 10. We acknowledge that more work is required to collect further data in these areas and have agreed to work with all of our partners to do this. That being said, this can only be a start. No-one will be satisfied until these gaps are closed completely.
These steps will take funding, and I fully recognize that the money we committed to Aboriginal health care last year has not flowed nearly quickly enough. In the future, it will.
The third challenge is to ensure the fundamentals of good housing and clean water.
Housing is about more than having a roof over your head – it’s about dignity; pride of place; a stake in the community and an investment in the future.
Over the years we have built and renovated tens of thousands of homes, and yet many thousands of Aboriginal people continue to suffer without adequate housing. We have to recognize at least two components of the current challenge – that in many communities housing is not available to those who need it most; and at the same time these communities often don’t have the capacity to build the units themselves.
We can reduce the housing gap significantly with a comprehensive effort: we will develop housing authorities and institutes, and expand the skills of First Nations, Inuit and Métis to manage their land, infrastructure and financing. We will encourage a culture of home ownership in Aboriginal communities and build a labour force to keep the construction jobs in the community.
I believe we can realistically close the housing gap on reserve by 40% within five years and by 80% in 10. Off reserve, we will seek to partner with the Provinces and Territories to reduce the gap by half in five years by providing access to housing for some 17,000 households. In the far north, we will close the housing gap by 35% within five years with more than 1,200 new units – and we’re committed to getting started immediately, in time for the coming construction season. Overall, it’s estimated our housing effort will generate more than 150,000 person years of employment – equivalent to some 15,000 jobs over the next 10 years.
We will take the same approach to clean drinking water. Bringing services and infrastructure to rural and remote communities is challenging, but it cannot become a barrier. We will act to regulate water quality on reserves. We will continue to build new facilities. And we’ll enhance the training of Aboriginal people to operate them.
Education, health, housing and water – these are the fundamentals. By promoting economic opportunity we will help communities truly flourish – with well-paying, reliable jobs and economies that work.
We recognize the obstacles facing rural and remote communities. To help overcome them, we will invest not only in education, but in skills training so that communities can serve their own needs – while opening doors outside of them.
We are committed to connecting our rural and remote communities to the world, and we will bring broadband Internet access to 250 more communities in the next five years. This is an initiative with far-reaching benefits – for the Internet is an unparalleled tool for long-distance learning and access to health care online.
Taking these steps will help us prepare for the next decade’s untold potential for economic expansion in Canada. The number of major projects listed or under development in the North is staggering, from diamond mines to oil and gas to the infrastructure needed to support them. The number of high-paying jobs and employment opportunities will be impressive, and Aboriginal Canadians must be a significant beneficiary. This can only be done if their training begins right away.
Even more to the point to enhance economic opportunity, Aboriginal Canadians need the power to chart their own future. We’ve already taken steps down this road with recent legislation that provides First Nations with the tools to raise capital for public works, to manage their own lands and resources, and to benefit from the jobs that come with all of this.
Considering all of these measures, I’m confident that in five years we can narrow the gap in median employment income by half.
What we have learned is that if we hope to achieve real change we can no longer work in isolation. All of the goals I have laid out, and the additional ones to be discussed over the next two days—all of these initiatives require a new partnership among us and a new relationship with First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation – one based on mutual respect, responsibility and accountability.
We recognize the Treaty and Aboriginal Rights protected in our Constitution. This is the foundation for our relationship. With the goals we’re laying out we’re building on that foundation. Today we reaffirm our commitment to renewing our approach to implementing self-government and treaties, and to the resolution of Aboriginal rights to land and resources.
But Aboriginal leadership also has responsibilities to their people and to their partners and that includes everyone gathered at this table. The targets we set today cannot be lost in a communiqué. They must be tracked and measured constantly – and urgently. Just as the Federal Government has set targets for what we will achieve with our investments, so too must everyone involved in this process be accountable – throughout program design and service delivery.
That means Federal, provincial and territorial governments, and First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities as well. We need a commitment to openness, transparency and good governance – and that’s why I’m pleased by the proposal from the Assembly of First Nations to create offices for a First Nations Auditor General and an Ombudsman.
Canadians expect the most from us, and we will be judged based on what we deliver. So indeed I want to congratulate all of you for your leadership and for your commitment to building the capacity of Aboriginal organizations and communities to strengthen governance and accountability. We can’t move forward without it.
Canadians expect us to find solutions. That is why, together with Aboriginal leaders, we’re setting benchmarks, why we’re committing to measure our progress and to report on results. I applaud the commitment of every Province and Territory to do the same.
Not far from here, in Kamloops, nearly 100 years ago, the Chiefs of the Shuswap, Okanagan and Couteau (or Thompson) Tribes delivered a letter to Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier. In that letter they described the trust and the spirit of mutual respect that had shaped their first encounters with the people of Europe. That letter was a call from the heads of three nations to another, for a relationship to be set aright; for First Nations to be recognized in a young Canada as partners in its future.
Over the course of our history we have heard this call from all First Nations; from the Inuit and the Métis Nation. Yet for too long we have been only negotiators, sitting across the table from one another.
Today we sit down on the same side of the table, as partners. We have taken our rightful places. Now we must begin the hard work together.
Thank you.
KO Tobacco Control Strategy Presents: Quit Smoking Challenge! Quit smoking for 10 days for your chance to win an Xbox 360. For the communities of Deer Lake, Fort Severn, Keewaywin, North Spirit Lake and Poplar Hill.
Please visit http://nahsema.knet.ca for more details
As the First Ministers' Meeting starts today, there is a wealth of background information concerning First Nations that is being posted on various web sites across the country. The Assembly of First Nations has gathered a lot of the information concerning the First Nations positions, papers and resolutions onto one web page at http://afn.ca/article.asp?id=1826 (see below)
First Nations Caucus 6:00 p.m. - Agenda
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Ramada Lodge Hotel – Redwood Meeting Room
2170 Harvey Avenue
Highway 97 North
V1Y 6G8
Kelowna, BC
Government PRESS RELEASE
Government of Canada Announces AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE Toward a Fair and Lasting Resolution of the Legacy of Indian Residential Schools
OTTAWA (November 23, 2005) – The Honourable Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister responsible for Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada, the Honourable Irwin Cotler, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and the Honourable Andy Scott, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development announced today that the parties involved have reached an Agreement in Principle toward a fair and lasting resolution of the legacy of Indian residential schools.
“The Government’s Representative, the Honourable Frank Iacobucci, has reached an Agreement in Principle with the Assembly of First Nations, legal representatives of former students of Indian residential schools and representatives of the Churches involved in running those schools. The parties to Mr. Iacobucci’s discussions are in agreement on the ways to recognize the common Indian residential school experience of former students” said Deputy Prime Minister McLellan.
“The Agreement in Principle proposes a common experience payment to be paid to all former students of Indian residential schools, an improved alternative dispute resolution process for claims of serious abuse, as well as measures to support healing, commemorative activities, and further investigation and education concerning past policies and their continuing impact on Aboriginal Canadians and their families” added the Deputy Prime Minister.
“I would like to thank the Honourable Frank Iacobucci for his extraordinary efforts over the past six months,” said Minister Cotler. “The historic agreement he has reached with former students’ counsel, the Assembly of First Nations, and Church representatives reflects a shared vision of a fair, just and lasting resolution of the Indian residential school legacy.”
“This Agreement in Principle is a landmark agreement,” said Minister Scott, “and as we prepare for the First Minister’s Meeting on Aboriginal issues, today’s announcement reaffirms the Government’s commitment to strengthening relationships with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people across Canada.”
$1.9 Billion has been set aside for the direct benefit of former Indian residential school students. The Government also announced that eligible former Indian residential school students 65 years of age and older will soon be able to apply for an advance payment of $8000.
For more information on the Agreement in Principle, please refer to the attached background documents.
-30-
For further information, contact:
Alex Swann
Director of Communications
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Ph: 613-991-2863
Sarah Mangione
Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer
Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada
Ph: 613-947-5006
The Liberal government offered tens of thousands of survivors of abuse at native residential schools up to $30,000 each in a $1.9-billion compensation package announced Wednesday morning.
Another $195 million will be spent on a truth and reconciliation process, a commemoration program and other projects designed to promote healing in First Nations communities.
"We have made good on our shared resolve to deliver what I firmly believe will be a fair and lasting resolution of the Indian school legacy," Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan said at a news conference in Ottawa.
She was flanked by other federal cabinet ministers and abuse survivors, including Grand Chief Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations.
"It's a wonderful day," said Fontaine, speaking of the years of negotiations that led to the agreement in principle. "I know that every moment has been worthwhile. Justice has prevailed."
Fontaine said the package covers "decades in time, innumerable events and countless injuries to First Nations individuals and communities."
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler also hailed the package, calling the decision to house young Canadians in church-run native residential schools "the single most harmful, disgraceful and racist act in our history."
The agreement must still be approved by the courts because of the high number of outstanding lawsuits launched over residential school abuse, McLellan said.
She said she hopes the seven courts in different provinces that have been dealing with class-action suits will see that the deal "is fair and just and will bring an end to this complex set of litigation that we have seen for many years."
A federal official said the courts will be approached as early as May to approve the agreement, once it is put into formal language.
Tens of thousands of former students could benefit
As many as 86,000 native Canadians who attended church-run schools across the country may be eligible for payments under the plan.
For decades, they had been fighting to have the government recognize the abuses they suffered in the school system that Ottawa supported financially between the 1870s and 1970s.
Tens of thousands of First Nations young people were taken from their families for months at a time and deprived of their culture, and many were sexually or physically abused by school staff.
The average age of survivors is 60, Fontaine noted Wednesday.
The package includes:
The federal government's package did not include a national apology for the abuses. McLellan said that was not a part of the negotiations "for this process."
Karen Shaboyer, a former residential school student who works at an aboriginal cultural centre in Toronto, said the agreement is a good start. She hopes it will open the eyes of non-native people, at the very least.
"You see a lot of my people today who may be staggering on the street, and people just call them down, but really, that person is holding a lot of pain and they don't know how to deal with it," said Shaboyer.
Package called 'deathbed conversion'
NDP native affairs critic Pat Martin calls the package a deathbed conversion on the part of the Liberals.
He says the looming federal election likely prompted the announcement, which came a day before Prime Minister Paul Martin attends a first ministers' conference on native affairs in Kelowna, B.C.
"The government is doing the honourable thing, but it does have the stink of desperation to it," the New Democrat MP said.
In May, former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci was appointed to help Ottawa develop a plan to compensate victims and avoid the costly lawsuits facing the courts.
About 12,000 survivors of residential school abuse are now suing Ottawa.
Kevin Pashuk, IT Director at NOSM, spent two days at the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Sioux Lookout office discussing IT development strategies with members of the K-Net team. Tom Terry, NOSM's Aboriginal Community Placement Officer for the Sioux Lookout Zone joined the meeting on Tuesday afternoon and evening. The information sharing and planning sessions resulted in the K-Net team planning to submit a proposal to NOSM's IT unit to facilitate the development and maintenance of connectivity services in the Aborginal communities that are hosting the first year medical students in their first year of studies at NOSM.