Media.Knet.Ca

After searching the web to research the water crisis at Kashechewan ...came across a website set up to discuss the Kashechewan water crisis ...

Patrick Periard has set up a website called http://www.kashechewanreserve.com. He would like feedback from the First Nations on this subject, and is encouraging comments and ideas ... Please check this site out and lend your voice ... help make a difference. ... Pauline Littledeer

Click here for a list of the current news items concerning the Kashechewan water crisis.

Thunder Bay Aborginal Arts & Heritage Group will be hosting a Arts & Heritage Gathering, Thursday, November 17 and 18, 2005, at the Metis Nation of Ontario Community Centre ( 226 South May Street).

Artist Workshop and Art Market will be 9am to 4pm on both days and the Coffee House 7pm to 11pm on the evening of November 17. The Coffee House will be featuring The Ira Johnson and Friends Band.

Everyone is welcomed. Artists are encouraged to come out and participate in the workshop, Coffee House and Art Market.

For more information contact Jeanette Posine (Registration) at (807) 475-8146.

This is an open invitation to Aboriginal soccer players interested in playing for Team Ontario.  Team Ontario will be sending two teams to Denver, Colarado for the upcoming North American Indigenous Games. 

The age categories for the different teams include:

• Bantham 13-14 years
• Midget   15-16 years
• Juvenile  17-18 years
• Junior  19-21 years
• Senior  22 and older

The tryouts for the Team Ontario will be held in Thunder Bay at the soccer sportsplex on Saturday, November 26, 2005.  Preference will be given to Bantham and Midget girls but the divisions with the most interest, other than the two divsions mentioned could also be selected.

All those interested are welcome to attend the tryouts. For further information you can contact Michael Bottle at (807)928-2490 or 928-2299.

Equay-wuk (Women's Group) is sponsoring:

"Nishnawbe Women in Leadership 2005"

Workshop

December 6-8, 2005 in Sioux Lookout, ON

• Women-are you thinking of running in an election?
• Want to learn about campaigning?
• If you are interested in learning about running in a Band Council or First Nation election, this is the workshop for you.

The main goal of this project is to promote women's participation in First Nation elections.

Equay-wuk (Women's Group) will be hosting a "Nishnawbe Women in Leadership" workshop for women in remote aboriginal communities in northwestern Ontario.  The workshop will be carried out using the resource, "Nishnawbe Women in Leadership - A Handbook for Aboriginal Women Running in First Nation Elections."

Potential delegates will fulfill the following criteria:

• be willing to learn
• be active in the community
• want to work towards the betterment of their community
• be vocal
• be serious about running in a First Nation election
• be interested in northern women's issues
• be willing to share learned information with women in their communities
• after successful completion of the workshop, we would like the delegates to organize a meeting of women in their community to share the information obtained from the workshop.  Other workshop topics will include:  family violence, health, training.

Women who want to attend this workshop are asked to write a Letter of Interest which tells us...

• who you are & what you do
• why you want to be on Council
• why you want to be a leader
• your future plans & what you plan on doing for your community

Deadline for submission of letters is:  Tuesday, November 22, 2005 @ 4:00pm.  Letters should be approximately 200 words or no more than 2 pages.  All letters will remain confidential.

Due to limited resources, Equay-wuk is only able to cover the cost of one delegate per community - those served by Equay-wuk.  Equay-wuk will cover delegates' workshop expenses such as travel, accommodations, meals, etc.

Successful delegates will be selected and notified by the Workshop Planning Committee.  Women not selected are still welcome to attend, but at their own expense.  Expenses include travel, accommodations, meals, and incidentals.

For more information on this workshop, visit:  http://www.equaywuk.ca/posteroc.htm

Contact:
Darlene Angeconeb
Phone:  807-737-2214
Fax:      807-737-2699
Toll Free:  1-800-261-8294
email:  equaywuk@nwconx.net
Website:  www.equaywuk.ca

Financial assistance was provided by the Women's Program, Status of Women Canada.

Langreen hands over keys to Chief Archie Meekis, for the new KiHS Classroom facility in Deer Lake.  Deer Lake KiHS has been teaching classes in the building since March 2005. The KiHS classroom and Community e-Centre were constructed as part of Keewaytinook Okimakanak's Kuhkenah Network of Smart First Nations demonstration project which was successfully completed in March 2005. For more information about the KO Smart Communities demonstration project visit http://smart.knet.ca

Langreen hands over keys to Chief Isaac Linklater, for the new KiHS Classroom in North Spirit Lake.  North Spirit Lake KiHS has been teaching classes in the building since November 2004. This building was constructed as part of Industry Canada's Aboriginal Smart Communities demonstration program which ended in March 2005.

 

KiHS Begins Term 1B on Monday, Nov.14, 2005
On Monday, November 14, KiHS will begin it’s second term for the 2005-06 school year. KiHS is an Ontario Ministry of Education approved high school which allows students to stay in their community, attend regularly scheduled classes and earn credits towards an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). KiHS offers courses in grade 9 and 10 plus four grade 11 and 12 course for a total of 27 online courses. If you would like to learn more about KiHS or enroll in a course, please contact your local KiHS teacher or the KiHS Guidance Counselor, Lynda Kakepetum at 1-800-387-3740, Ext. 51313.
Grade 9	Grade 10	Grade 11
CGC1P – Geography of Canada GLS10 – Learning Strategies SNC1L – Applied Science	ASM20 – Media Arts GLC20C – Cooperative Education	PPZ30 – Health for Life

from CBC News Mon, 31 Oct 2005

More than two-fifths of all Canadian households subscribed to broadband internet service in 2004 while the number with slower, dial-up connections fell, the CRTC said Monday.

In its annual telecom market survey, Canada's broadcast regulator said 5.4 million Canadians paid for high-speed broadband internet service. That represents 43 per cent of all households – up 7 percentage points from the 2003 survey. 
 
Two million Canadians had dial-up access. That's down 20 per cent from the previous year.

Taking both dial-up and broadband together, 59 per cent of all Canadian households are now hooked up to the web.

Internet revenues increased 12.9 per cent to $4.2 billion in 2004. The CRTC says that makes the internet "one of the fastest growing segments of the Canadian telecommunications services industry."

The CRTC said 89 per cent of households have access to broadband services. But there is still a wide gap between urban and rural access. Almost all urban Canadians (98 per cent) can access broadband, while only 68 per cent of those in rural Canada can choose high-speed if they want.

Wireless service is the other "engine of growth and innovation" the CRTC identified in the Canadian telecom industry.

Wireless revenues increased almost 18 per cent to $9.5 billion in 2004, the regulator said. Wireless now accounts for 29 per cent of the industry's revenues.

The average wireless subscriber spent $52 a month last year, up from $49 monthly in 2003.

Long distance revenues fell 6 per cent to $5.8 billion even though the number of billable long distance minutes rose by 6 per cent.

"The decline or minimal growth in revenues from local, ... long distance, and data and private line services, collectively, is evidence, not necessarily of declining demand for telecommunications services, but rather, an indication of the deployment of more efficient and effective technologies or platforms to deliver the services," the CRTC said.

From FedNor press releases

Minister Mitchell Announces Youth Retention Strategy for Northern Ontario

NORTH BAY, Ontario, October 28, 2005 — The Honourable Andy Mitchell, Minister of State (FedNor), and Anthony Rota, Member of Parliament for Nipissing–Timiskaming, today announced a comprehensive $8M FedNor Youth Retention Strategy aimed at helping Northern Ontario youth gain valuable skills and work experience. The Strategy consists of three components: strengthening the highly-successful Youth Internship Program, funding for strategic post-secondary education initiatives, and helping build community capacity.

“The Government of Canada, through FedNor, is providing the tools that communities need to help keep their youth living and working in Northern Ontario,” said Minister Mitchell. “This three-pronged strategy will build on the success of past initiatives and provide a framework for future generations.”

“The FedNor Youth Retention Strategy will not only strengthen our economy, it will provide our young people with the necessary skills and experience to help them secure permanent employment in Northern Ontario,” added Mr. Rota.

The first component of the Youth Retention Strategy involves a $3.8M investment to further strengthen the proven FedNor Youth Internship Program. This funding will create at least 150 new and exciting employment opportunities for Northern Ontario youth over the next two years.

The FedNor Youth Internship Program is designed to provide invaluable hands-on work experience, allowing the intern to gain the necessary experience and skills to secure permanent employment in Northern Ontario.

Since its inception in 1997, FedNor has provided funding to help 875 young Northerners, in both the public and private sectors, make the successful transition from the campus to the workplace. Approximately 400 different organizations have benefited from FedNor’s Youth Internship Program.

“Every external evaluation of the Youth Internship Program has recorded impressive results,” said Minister Mitchell. “More than 80% of youth interns were employed in Northern Ontario after their internship ended. The organizations benefit from the skills the interns offer and the funding available while the interns benefit from their work experience and networking opportunities. Clearly, the program is having a positive impact in the North.”

The second component of FedNor’s Youth Retention Strategy, consists of $3.2M for education and skills training. Through strategic investment in partnerships with Northern Ontario colleges and universities, the Strategy will help increase the North’s capacity to provide highly skilled and highly trained graduates to Northern Ontario’s business and industrial communities.

Initiatives under this component will help meet the needs of the mining and forestry industries, as well as industrial and bio-medical research organizations, by producing qualified graduates with strong roots in the North.

The third component of FedNor’s Youth Retention Strategy – community capacity building – will concentrate on engaging and working with First Nations, community economic development organizations and not-for-profit groups to plan and implement initiatives directed at increasing the knowledge and awareness among youth regarding employment opportunities, skills training and socio-economic development. FedNor will invest $1M in eligible activities, including leadership initiatives designed to encourage the participation of youth in community planning and regional issues, as well as regional business fairs.

Through its many youth initiatives, FedNor has supported some 844 youth-related projects across Northern Ontario over the past six years. The FedNor Youth Retention Strategy will be implemented immediately to build on this high level of success and ensure that Northern youth have a future in Northern communities.

FedNor’s Youth Retention Strategy complements the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy, which includes Service Canada’s Skills Link, Summer Career Placement programs and Youth Service Canada, aimed at putting out-of-school and unemployed young people back to work.

By working with organizations involved in economic development and by creating meaningful work experiences for youth, FedNor is opening doors and building futures in Northern Ontario.

Funding for this initiative was provided for in the February 2005 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework.

To find out more about FedNor, visit us at http://fednor.ic.gc.ca

- 30 -

For more information, please contact:

Graeme Wilkes
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Andy Mitchell
Minister of State (FedNor)
(613) 947-5850

Peter Williams
Communications Officer
FedNor
(705) 670-6244 or 1 877 333-6673

Created: 2005-10-28

Changing Course: Improving Aboriginal Access to Post-Secondary Education in Canada - a paper describing what the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation is doing to address this issue. Click here for the full paper (PDF - 8 pages)

The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation is a private, independent organization created by an act of Parliament in 1998. The Foundation works to improve access to post-secondary education for Canadians from all backgrounds; it encourages a high level of achievement and engagement in Canadian society; and it brings people and organizations together to understand barriers and improve access to post-secondary education in Canada. Each year, the Foundation distributes $340 million in bursaries and scholarships to students across Canada.

The Research Program
The Millennium Research Program furthers the work of the Foundation by undertaking research and pilot projects aimed at understanding and reducing barriers to post-secondary education. It ensures that policymaking and public discussion about opportunities in higher education in Canada can be informed by the best available evidence.

Some findings from this paper ...

First Nations people do not feel welcome on university and college campuses. Only 20% agreed that jobs in First Nations communities do not require post-secondary education.

Among First Nations youth not planning to go on to college or university, financial barriers are most frequently cited as holding them back: 59% say they have to work to support their family while 40% say they do not have enough money.

When asked about why they are not planning on attending post-secondary education, only 27% say it is because they do not want to leave their communities; 25% because their grades are not good enough; 20% because they do not think they need post-secondary education; and 18% because they simply do not like school.

When those youth who are planning to go to post-secondary education are asked if anything might change their plans, 48% say it would be a lack of money, 43% say they may need to work to support their family and 42% say it would be because their grades are not good enough.

Three pilot projects that the foundation is sponsoring to develop strategies to address these issues include:

• “Making Education Work,” a comprehensive program of academic preparation and student and family support for students at selected Aboriginal high schools in Manitoba, to help ensure that these students are ready to make the step to post-secondary education should they choose to;
• The Millennium Aboriginal Access Bursary for first-year Aboriginal students in Saskatchewan, to help lower the costs of their first step into post-secondary education; and,
• “Le,nonet,” a program offering financial, academic and cultural support to Aboriginal students at the University of Victoria in British Columbia to ensure that those who do get to university have the best chance of succeeding.

A second paper ... Embracing Differences: Post-Secondary Education among Aboriginal Students, Students with Children and Students with Disabilities, prepared By: David Holmes in Ottawa for the The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation is also available on-line (Click here to see this 93 page PDF document). 

This report presents an overview of the state of Canadian post-secondary education for Aboriginal Peoples, people with disabilities and students with children. The report analyzes results from two 2002 surveys — the Canadian Undergraduate Student Survey and the Canadian College Student Survey — and places these data in social and historical context.