Media.Knet.Ca

From the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal, Friday, October 21, 2005

High court decision denounced by chief

Regina (CP) - Aboriginals say the Supreme Court's refusal to review the sentence of a Saskatchewan man who sexually assaulted a 12 year old native girl is another example of a racist justice system.

"The justice system has never given Indian people a fair shot at anything." said Robert Whitehead, chief of the Yellow Quill First Nation, the girl's home reserve.

"If anybody from my community did that to a 12 year old girl it would be an automatic jail sentence - and it wouldn't be a lenient one, either."

Dean Edmondson escaped prison time when he was sentenced to two years of house arrest in 2003.

The girl's uncle, who can't be named to protect her identity, said the teen has turned to alcohol since the 2001 attack and has attempted suicide.

In an interview with the Canadian Press, he called the decision by the Supreme Court "awfully disappointing."

"The gilr's life is ruined, there is just no two ways about it," the uncle said.

From CBC News - Last Updated Oct 20 2005 12:42 PM CDT

High court declines to hear sex assault case 

Canada's highest court will not look into a high-profile Saskatchewan sexual assault case.

Dean Edmondson was convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old Cree girl in 2001.

During his trial, court heard Edmondson and two other men picked up the young girl.

Everyone was drinking, and eventually the men tried to have sex with the 12-year-old.

Edmondson was convicted and was given two years for his crime, to be served at home. He spent no time in jail.

The trials captured the public's attention across Canada, raising issues of racism and women's rights.

Saskatchewan's appeal court suggested that Edmondson should have gone to jail, but that it had no power to change the sentence.

That's why Saskatchewan's attorney general wanted the Supreme Court of Canada to look at the case.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal application. As is the normal court practice, no reasons were given.

Meanwhile, although the application to appeal was dismissed, the case is not over.

Two other men, Jeffrey Kindrat and Jeffrey Brown, face a trial next June.

Originally they were acquitted, but a new trial was ordered by the courts.

A Community in Crisis: National Chief Calls for Urgent Action on Unsafe Drinking Water in Kashechewan First Nation

AFN Press Release - OTTAWA, Oct. 19, 2005

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine today called for immediate action by the federal government on the water crisis in Kashechewan, a remote First Nation community in northern Ontario. There has been no action by the federal government even though the community has been under a boil water advisory since 2003.

The situation is so bad that community members are calling for an immediate evacuation.

"Kashechewan is in an emergency situation," said National Chief Fontaine. "I have already spoken with Kashechewan Chief Leo Friday and, based on that discussion, I am today contacting the federal Ministers of Indian Affairs and Health to set-up an immediate meeting so we can take action on this deplorable situation. The first step is to deal with the crisis in Kashechewan. Then we must map-out a comprehensive plan to address this issue on a national basis because this situation occurs in far too many First Nations communities in Canada."

Currently, over 100 First Nation communities must boil their drinking water. Health Canada indicates that more than half of those communities are located in rural and remote locations in Ontario. Indian and Northern Affairs identified that over one quarter of the water treatment systems in First Nations communities remain at high risk to contamination. A report by the Office of the Auditor General issued less than one month ago (September 29) concluded that the federal government's unregulated and poorly coordinated approach to First Nations water treatment poses a very real and dangerous threat to First Nations citizens.

"The situation nationally has been known for many years," stated the National Chief. "I have personally seen the effects of inadequate treatment on communities from coast to coast. I saw a similar situation when I visited Gilford Island in British Columbia".

The situation is echoed across the country and it's a ticking time bomb. Any community under a boil water advisory could at any time find themselves in a situation like the one in Kashechewan. It is absolutely appalling and completely unacceptable that the federal government allows these conditions to fester and plague a community, while boasting of a federal surplus."

The National Chief noted that a First Ministers Meeting on Aboriginal Issues is to be convened in late November, and that a comprehensive plan is required that deals with immediate priorities as well as long-term goals to address productivity and self-government.

"I have issued a 'Ten Year Challenge' to the First Ministers to work with us to close the gap in the quality of life between First Nations and other Canadians," said the National Chief. "One of the first steps is addressing these critical and urgent priorities to ensure we have healthy citizens and healthy communities. Band-aid solutions will not lead to sustainable communities. We need a stable foundation to build on so we can invest in education, spark economic opportunities and create our own capable governing institutions. This is crucial to the future of First Nations and the future of the country."

The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing First Nations citizens in Canada.

-30-

/For further information: Don Kelly, AFN Communications Director, (613) 241-6789 ext. 320 or cell (613) 292-2787; Ian McLeod, AFN Bilingual Communications Officer, (613) 241-6789 ext. 336 or cell (613) 859-4335; Nancy Pine, Communications Advisor, Office of the National Chief, (613) 241-6789 ext. 243 or cell (613) 298-6382

From the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal

Indian Affairs Minister visits reserve battling waterborne hazards
By The Canadian Press
Oct 20, 2005, 01:04
 
OTTAWA — Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott headed for a remote First Nation plagued for years by dirty water as the Opposition demanded answers for a third straight day.

“The minister believes that in order to really understand the situation on the ground, he’s got to see it first-hand,” said spokesman Dan Brien.

Staff scrambled Wednesday to book travel to the fly-in community about 450 kilometres north of Timmins, on James Bay. About 1,900 residents of Kashechewan First Nation have been under a Health Canada boil-water order for more than two years.

Reported illnesses blamed on polluted water include scabies, chronic diarrhea, headaches and fevers. Related deaths are more difficult to prove.

The situation descended into crisis last week when federal officials warned of high E. coli levels in tap water. The bacteria can be deadly for young children, the elderly and those already sick.

Seven people died and more than 2,000 became sick in 2000 after drinking water with high E. coli counts in Walkerton, Ont.

Kashechewan’s water treatment plant, funded 10 years ago by Indian Affairs, was designed by out-of-town consultants. It was placed downstream from an existing sewage lagoon. That means contaminants flow past the intake pipe that feeds raw water into the complex system to be treated for drinking.

Band leaders say they have never received proper training or enough funding to run the plant, which needs 24-hour maintenance. Indian Affairs spent $500,000 last year for upgrades but didn’t move the intake pipe.

New Democrat MP Charlie Angus, who represents Kashechewan, says the reserve is “the unfortunate poster boy of federal indifference on First Nations.”

He has visited the tiny Cree community — the name means “flowing water” or “swift current” — several times since he was elected last year.

Angus also planned to be on the reserve Thursday with media in tow after Scott tours the water plant. It will be the minister’s first visit.

Angus says Scott should be prepared for the kind of oppressive squalor that calls to mind “a prisoner of war camp.”

The Cree community was forcibly relocated in 1957 to the notorious flood zone. Rows of overcrowded houses are surrounded by a faulty dyke system made of dirt. It has repeatedly failed, most recently last spring when 40 homes had to be evacuated because of flooding, Angus said.

“These people are kept in a box, out of sight and out of mind for the rest of Canadians. It’s a box that keeps the federal costs down because they just do the bare minimum, continually. “It’s always putting cheap Band-Aids on a septic wound.”
Indian Affairs has spent more than $250,000 since last April flying bottled water into Kashechewan. An emergency evacuation advisory was called off late Tuesday by Deputy Chief Rebecca Friday when Ottawa refused to foot the bill, she said.

© Copyright by Chronicle Journal.com

Conditions on reserve 'atrocious,' doctor says Sewer water flowing from taps leads to illness and social unrest
Source: GAM - Globe & Mail
Oct 24, 2005 4:19

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

Page: A5
Section: National News
Edition: Metro
Byline: JAMES RUSK

A doctor who visited the sick on a Northern Ontario reserve last week said the remote community struggling with E. coli problems should be relocated.

"Nothing here is worth saving," Dr. Murray Trussler said in an interview from the Kashechewan reserve, where 1,700 people live on the shore of James Bay, 400 kilometres north of Timmins.

"The homes aren't worth saving. The nursing station is way outdated. We need a hospital here, not a nursing station. It needs to be run to provincial standards, not federal standards, which are totally substandard. And we need to have a proper water- treatment facility . . . and the school needs to be replaced." 

Dr. Trussler, chief of staff at Weeneebayko General Hospital in Moose Factory, the base hospital for 12,000 people on the James Bay coast, is part of a delegation from the reserve flying to Toronto to meet with Premier Dalton McGuinty tomorrow to plead for help. 

Last week, the plight of the reserve became an issue in Parliament, but all Ottawa has done so far is to send bottled water and officials to the reserve. 

Leo Friday, the reserve's chief, said that the 26,000 litres of bottled water provided by Ottawa are not enough for the school to reopen and for people who are ill to be bathed properly. 

The chief worries that the reserve's young people may resort to violence if its problems are not resolved soon. 

"I don't know what is going to happen next week if nothing is functioning. They [the youth] are talking about burning 10 houses every month," Chief Friday said. 

E. coli has been found in the reserve's water supply and the local school was closed as a result. "I think people are getting upset, especially the youth," Chief Friday said. "They were talking last year when the treatment plant wasn't working, they were going to blow it up." Although threats have been made in the past, nobody has followed through. 

Dr. Trussler, who described living conditions on the reserve as atrocious, said "we've got drainage ditches in the community draining into the water supply." He said the ditches drain into a creek and all the refuse that collects floats downstream and is then sucked into the water-treatment plant. 

The problems at the plant, whose intake is located 135 metres downstream from the release point of the community's raw sewage, are also influenced by the tides in James Bay. 

"What's happening is that all the E. coli is sort of slopping down toward the water-treatment plant, then we have an incoming tide and it goes back up river again, and then we get E. coli coming in and more spilling back." 

In the current episode, "because the water treatment plant wasn't working properly for at least a week, we had people with basically sewer water coming out of their taps," Dr. Trussler said. 

Dr. Trussler said that because of the problems of E. coli, the level of chlorine in the water, which is routinely extremely high, had to be jacked up to "shock levels." 

This has aggravated skin diseases, which are endemic at Kashechewan. "[High chlorine] just irritates and dries the skin further, so there is more itching and scratching, which just spreads things like scabies and impetigo." 

He said that he had examined children who, for more than a year, have had impetigo, a bacterial skin disease that can cause the formation of pustules and a thick yellow crust on skin, commonly on the face. 

He also said that he had seen cases of gastroenteritis, probably due to E. coli, but this cannot be confirmed until testing is completed. 

"We ran across a lady who reportedly had hepatitis A. This is a virus. We don't normally screen for that. When we do a water sample, we look at E. coli and coliform counts, but we don't look for viruses," Dr. Trussler said. 

He said that when he asked about protecting people from hepatitis A, Ontario offered to provide 100,000 doses of a vaccine against it, but the federal government turned it down, saying there was no hepatitis A problem in Northern Canada. 

"This is absolute rubbish. There's 100 native communities in Canada currently under a boil-water advisory. Any time you are under a boil-water advisory, there's probability you are going to run into hepatitis A sooner or later," Dr. Trussler said.

Stories about the crisis in Kashechewan reaching the world ...

Last night on the National on CBC, Governor General Jean confronted the issue of suicide in Winnipeg in front of First Nation students, staff and parents at Children of the Earth high school.

From CBC.CA news on-line...

Governor General takes message to inner city youth
Last Updated Thu, 20 Oct 2005 21:59:51 EDT
CBC News

Students at Children of the Earth high school in Winnipeg's North End say they won't soon forget the visitor they welcomed on Thursday Governor General Michaëlle Jean.

The Queen's representative had an important message for the students in one of the country's poorest neighbourhoods. "Life is worth living. Your contribution is an important one," she told them.

The visit began with dancers, drummers and an honour song. But after being welcomed, Jean moved quickly from ceremony to serious business.

She's been paying attention to the news, she told the teens.

"I was very shocked to hear that a week ago, I think, a young girl, 11 years old, committed suicide. Kathleen, is that her name? This shouldn't happen. This should not happen. I think life is worth living. Your contribution is an important one."

It was not a boring visit from a boring dignitary.

"There are things that a black woman understands profoundly when we talk about prejudices, when we talk about feeling left out, feeling abandoned. There are things in my experience that are probably very similar to yours," she told the students.

It was a speech Jean felt her audience needed to hear from her.

Winnipeg's North End is a troubled neighbourhood. In February, just two blocks away from where the Governor General was speaking, police gunned down a teenager wielding a weapon. The shots were clearly heard at the school and triggered a lockdown to keep the students safe.

Robert Brass Belanger, a Grade 12 student at Children of the Earth, says the area is filled with crack houses. One night there was a murder next door to his family's apartment.

"Any given week you can see ... someone coming around the corner all bloody," he said.

The students at Children of the Earth couldn't believe the Queen's representative chose them as her first school visit. But the students know Jean was a refugee from Haiti and grew up poor, just like them.

"It's a real honour to meet her," said Belanger, "she's had a similar life like us."

But Jean chose her school for a reason. She wanted to show she understood and cared. "I think the best that I can do is maybe acknowledge their efforts."

Jean says she will speak to Prime Minister Paul Martin about Canada's inner city troubles and may even suggest solutions. "This position is great for that. Some people say that it is useless, but it's not. It's not. You have your say."

The students say they won't forget the visit.

"You don't have to have a lot of money. You don't have to come from a rich family or you don't have to come from anything and you can become something big. She made us aware of that, too," said Grade 12 student Chassidy Stevenson.

It was the kind of visit that Jean says Canadians should expect more of as she travels across the country.

I'm very pleased to invite you to participate in a webcast event this Friday featuring RICTA member Ricardo Ramirez.

Ricardo will be speaking about: "Broadband in rural and remote communities: Options for impact assessment" at the National Research Council of Canada in Fredericton. His talk will be webcast live at 13h EDT / 14h ADT on Friday, October 21, 2005. Dr. Ramirez' abstract and biography can be viewed at:
http://iit-iti.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/colloq/0506/05-10-21_e.html

During and after the talk, remote viewers will be able to participate via webcast. If you would like to view or participate in this event, please check out the webcast site soon to make sure your computer is configured compatibly with our Sametime webcast software.

To check compatibility, go to: http://webconf-en.iit-iti.nrc-cnrc.ca/  and then "Attend a meeting" and "test meeting." Note that full functionality for this software is only available under Windows. For the smoothest  collaborative environment, we recommend the following: Windows XP/2000/2003, Internet Explorer 6, Java 1.5 (must have Java installed for the webcast software to work). We recommend you check out your compatibility at least one-half hour before the event itself. Sometimes the test meeting will not work on first try and you will have to quit the browser and restart the test. Once you've had a successful "test meeting" future meetings are usually very smooth. We expect that most interaction between remote participants and those in Fredericton will be through the chat mode on the webcast software. However it will be possible to have audio exchange. In this case, remote participants must use a headset with mic (mic without headset causes feedback).

Come back to the webcast site on Friday, Oct. 21 at 14h ADT for the event:
http://webconf-en.iit-iti.nrc-cnrc.ca/stconf.nsf/vwCalendar?Openview

The meeting password is: broadband

You can also invite your friends!

Education Day will be Friday, November 25th, 2005 during the Canadian Aboriginal Festival at the SkyDome in Toronto. Click here for more information about this event.

Canada is a richly diverse country. Embracing our diversity and learning about the cultures that make up our great country helps us to appreciate and understand others.

Education Day is designed to give students a positive Aboriginal Experience and to instill in them a desire to learn more about Canada's first peoples.

Many Teachers have returned year after year as they value how important this experience is for their students. The Ontario Teachers' Federation recognizes the educational value that this outing holds for students.

"Understanding different cultures and their values are an important part of antiracist education. The Education Day offers an invaluable experience for students as they learn in an informal and interactive environment."

The Ontario Teachers' Federation, the Elementary Teacher's Federation of Ontario, Indian and Northern Affairs, the Historica Foundation and the Bank of Montreal all support and sponsor Education Day as they see the project as an instrumental and invaluable experience for students.

Education day is dedicated to teaching students about Canada's Aboriginal peoples. Students will learn about many aspects of First Nations, the Inuit and Metis in an intimate hands-on experience. Students will visit at least six teaching stations on a rotating basis around the SkyDome. A total of 40 stations will be mounted to accommodate all students.

Numbers will be restricted in 2005 and will be based on a first come, first serve basis. All fees must be paid to ensure your class is registered for this important educational experience.

Click here to download the 2005 Education Day registration form

For more information please contact Catherine Cornelius at: (519) 751-0040

SANDY LAKE 1ST ANNUAL DEREK KAKEGAMIC MEMORIAL HOCKEY TOURNAMENT

NOVEMBER 16 TO 19, 2005

The K-Net Story is scheduled to be presented at the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO) National Conference being held this week in Sault Ste Marie. Click here for more information about the conference.

Click here for a PDF handout of the K-Net Story presentation

THE STOCKHOLM CHALLENGE AWARD 2006 invites excellent ICT projects from all over the world to compete for the prestigious Challenge trophies. The Challenge is searching for the best initiatives that accelerate the use of information technology for the social and economic benefit of citizens and communities. The objective is to help local entrepreneurs, who work to close the digital divide, by bringing in research communities, development organisations and strong corporate initiatives. Click here for more information.

THE AWARDS WILL BE HANDED OUT IN SIX CATEGORIES in the City Hall - on May 11, 2006. Special focus will be on projects in countries and regions with the greatest needs. There will also be an international Challenge conference in Stockholm on issues related to the role of ICTs in global development work.

THE AWARD IS OPEN FOR ENTRIES until December 31st 2005. The application form is easily accessible on the home page.

The Stockholm Challenge is headquartered at the IT University - a joint initiative by KTH  (The Royal Institute of Technology) and Stockholm University. It is managed by a consortium that also includes the City of Stockholm, Ericsson and Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

For more information, please contact:
Project Manager
Ulla Skidén
ulla.skiden@stockholmchallenge.se
Telephone: + 46 8 7904469
Cell: +46 70 678 72 82
http://www.stockholmchallenge.se  

Click here for the rules for participation in the Stockholm Challenge Award  2006

These are the basic rules for the participation in the Stockholm Challenge Award. All competing projects must:

1. Include ICT - Illustrate how ICT is used to create new or better traditional services and/or products, which are beneficial for human and social development.
2. Be implemented - All competing projects must be up and running. They should be implemented/piloted since no less than three months. The Stockholm Challenge Award does not accept drafted concepts and ideas only. The jury will only evaluate and compare projects that can show measurable outcomes and impact.
3. Be linked to and/or supported by an established private or public organisation.
4. Be verifiable, i.e. able to present credible references.
5. Be free from religious, political or other personal beliefs.

To be noted: Projects that have won one of the Challenge categories in previous years cannot enter the competition again.

All applications must be in English

Evaluation criteria  - Innovation, creativity and the convergence of ICT with many different disciplines are some of the qualities that are looked for in the competing projects. The jury, a group of international senior experts, base their evaluation on the following criteria, most of which all Challenge projects should meet:

• Innovation - Competing projects should illustrate new and innovative ways of using ICT to improve the living and economical conditions especially of those with great needs.
• Convergence - The addition of ICT as a tool to traditional development work can improve and widen the scope of the project impact. Projects should show successful convergences of different disciplines and sectors.
• Inclusion - It is favourable for the competing projects to show that they bring individuals, groups and local organisations into larger communities - national and global - such as medical, government, educational and cultural networks, as well business environments.
• Equal Opportunity - It is important that the initiatives counteract inequality related to the likes of gender, origin, age, physical and/or mental disabilities.
• Sustainability - An important factor is sustainability. Not only economic sustainability, i.e. how long the project will last and bring benefits to its users. Sustainability also includes the contribution of the project to a sustainable society and environment at large.

Opportunities  - To enter a project in the Stockholm Challenge Award is not only to participate in a prestigious international ICT competition - it is also a way to join networks of some of the best ICT entrepreneurs and pioneers in the world. Testimonials from many of the projects, which have competed in their respective categories over the years, say that it is the inspiration, the new ideas, contacts and partners that are the greatest rewards for a Challenger.

The Stockholm Challenge represents excellent marketing through the exposure to media, and to private and public organizations that are involved in ICT work and implementations. It gives promotional opportunities for entrepreneurs, universities, cities, cities and regions. The Stockholm Challenge Final Events include a Best Practice Exhibition and a Conference. It is a meeting place for some the world's most successful IT entrepreneurs.

Winners and finalists of the Stockholm Challenge are global role models for cities, companies, organisations, schools and others who are involved in adapting and spreading the use of ICT.

KO Telehealth is pleased to make the Interim Report available to partners and stakeholders. Key messages from the Interim Report are summarized in the areas of Access, Acceptability, Integration, Quality and Financial Impact.

“Our lives have been completely changed by the services we now receive over the network. Having telehealth care and also having secondary education services available in our communities is making us stronger as a people.”

- Geordi Kakepetum, Executive Director

• Interim Report
• Appendix 1- Evaluation Framework
• Appendix 2- Evaluation Manual 
• Appendix 3- Economic Model
• Appendix 4- Figures and Tables
• Appendix 5- Focus Group Integration

Main Messages

The Keewaytinook Okimakanak Telehealth/NORTH Network Expansion Project began with 5 First Nations communities and has since expanded to 22 First Nations communities located in the Sioux Lookout Health Zone. Geographically isolated and culturally distinct communities such as these have lower access rates to health services and lower health status relative to the rest of Ontario. The Expansion Project used  telecommunications technology compared to travel to span geographic distance. This evaluation represented a comprehensive effort to measure short-term changes in access and sets the stage to measure the potential long-term health effects.

Access: KOTH usage varied from 66 to 224 telehealth sessions/month (average=122/month). First Nations communities averaged 12 sessions/month. Clinical consultations comprised 42% of the 2926 sessions, followed by training (19%), education (17%), meetings (13%) and demonstrations/tests/family visits (8%). The number of medical specialties, educational events and health programs offered via telehealth also increased. The stories and the statistics suggest that telehealth has "virtually" decreased the geographic distances that have, in the past, restricted access to health information and health services.

Acceptability: Over 90% of the 73 patients said that they found the telehealth session helpful, 96% would repeat the same appointment by telehealth and 89% would recommend telehealth to another person. These sentiments were echoed by many health providers. A frequent qualification was that flying patients or providers in and out of a community was still needed as a viable, workable option, should it be required by the situation.

Integration: Many stakeholders recognized the potential and need for telehealth to integrate the programs and the people involved in health education, prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and follow-up (e.g., diabetes). The benefits of improved continuity of care and greater family involvement were also emphasized.

Quality: Many physicians felt comfortable with using telehealth for most follow-up and also for initial consultations provided that face-to-face was available should it be required by the situation. Many stakeholders concluded independently that the role of locally recruited, fulltime Community Telehealth Coordinators (CTCs) was of paramount importance to telehealth success and had implications not only for quality of service, but for access, acceptability and integration. Stakeholders advocated for ongoing efforts to educate and retain qualified personnel.

Financial Impact: The Pilot Project provided proof of concept as the telehealth service was rolled-out to 22 First Nations communities and provided cost and utilization data that were used to model a fully operational and sustainable telehealth program. Different estimates and monetary values were assigned to telehealth sessions that averted travel versus those that were in addition to travel ("new" telehealth). Costs for the Sustainable Program were estimated at $2.81M/year. Estimated savings were $4.16M/year for averted travel and $6.09M/year if “new” telehealth was assigned a dollar value. Estimates were based on 1346 averted trips for 4810 telehealth sessions/year. The breakeven point occurred when there were 915 averted trips for 3271 telehealth sessions/year.

Conclusions: The preliminary findings of the evaluation suggest that the KOTH/NORTH Network Expansion Project has increased utilization. The Sustainable Program has the ability to become a financial success in the near future. Feedback from stakeholders in the communities and in support centres testified to emerging benefits and significant potential for the future.