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From Heritage Canada press release (for more information about applying to become a Cultural Capital of Canada visit http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/ccc/index_e.cfm)

Wendake Designated a 2007 Cultural Capital of Canada

OTTAWA, December 18, 2006 - On behalf of the Honourable Beverley J. Oda, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women, the Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages, today announced that the Huron-Wendat Nation of Wendake, Quebec, has been designated a 2007 Cultural Capital of Canada, in the less than 50,000 population category. Comox Valley, British Columbia; Edmonton, Alberta; Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec, and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan have also been named Cultural Capitals for 2007.

"Canada's New Government is dedicated to enriching the lives of Canadians by supporting projects that increase their access to the arts and culture," said Minister Oda. "The Cultural Capitals of Canada Program celebrates the unique character of Canadian municipalities and recognizes the important role they play in highlighting the richness and diversity of our culture."

"I'm proud that this community has been recognized for its commitment to nurturing arts and culture as a part of life here in Wendake," said Minister Verner.

Located 10 kilometres north of the city of Québec, Wendake has a strong sense of place, and this is reflected in its cultural programming. Carrefour des Nations, a festival of contemporary Aboriginal arts and culture, will showcase the First Nations artists and their unique culture. There will also be theatrical productions, exhibitions, literary readings, musical performances, and a traditional pow-wow, which will include exchanges with First Nations from around the world. These initiatives will leave a lasting legacy as a testimony to Wendake's commitment to the arts and culture.

The Cultural Capitals of Canada awards recognize the achievements of communities that demonstrate an ongoing commitment to the arts and culture. Funding is awarded for special projects that celebrate arts and culture and create a cultural legacy for the community. The Huron-Wendat Nation of Wendake could receive a contribution of up to $500,000.

An independent advisory committee, composed of the mayors of the 2006 Cultural Capitals of Canada and experts in the arts and culture fields, unanimously recommended the communities to be designated to Minister Oda.

Canadian municipalities and First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities can apply to this program. The Department is currently evaluating applications for the 2008 and 2009 awards. The application deadline for the 2010 Cultural Capitals of Canada awards is October 15, 2007.

A list of all applicant communities, a summary of the projects of the designated communities, and the maximum possible funding they can receive can be found on the Department of Canadian Heritage website at www.canadianheritage.gc.ca under Media Room.

Fact Sheet 1 - 2007 Cultural Capitals of Canada

Edmonton, Alberta - Category: Population over 125 000
Maximum contribution: $2 million

"Building Connections" emerges from Edmonton's recognition of the contribution made by culture to quality of life. In keeping with this vision, 2007 will set the scene for a series of projects, which includes a year-long poetry festival. "Nightworks," a series of performances and light displays, will highlight the city's urban landscape. "Edmonton Explorations" will feature visual and media arts productions and exhibits by local artists. The year 2007 will truly be dedicated to "building connections" as Edmonton showcases its cultural vitality and the diversity of its population and strengthens ties between citizens and artists.

Comox Valley, British Columbia - Category: Population between 50 000 and 125 000
Maximum contribution: $750,000

"Land of Plenty" brings together five communities in the Comox Valley, whose name comes from the First Nation word k'omoks, which means "a celebration of creative abundance." From the creation of an original musical theatre production immortalizing local legends to the preservation of Aboriginal cultural traditions and public art installations and performances, "Land of Plenty" celebrates the cultural history and vitality of all five communities and involves residents and visitors in exploring and celebrating the links between these communities' landscape, heritage industries, and creative sector.

Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan - Category: Population under 50 000
Maximum contribution: $500,000

Moose Jaw's commitment to the arts and culture shines through in its "Year of the Creative Person." Celebrations include an art project and workshops to introduce the public to works and techniques of an Aboriginal painter and a sidewalk artist, a summer play exploring Moose Jaw's colourful reputation as the "Chicago of the Prairies," drama camps for children, and song-writing workshops. Moose Jaw's strong sense of community spirit will be highlighted throughout the year as a 2007 Cultural Capital of Canada.

Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec - Category: Population under 50 000
Maximum contribution: $500,000

"Célébrer le passé, construire l'avenir" features cultural heritage and its place in contemporary times. Among the many projects planned are a contemporary symphonic work based on The Lord of the Rings, screenings of documentaries about the region in store windows, and a publication of quotes by local residents. This community has demonstrated a strong commitment to celebrating the past while focusing on the future. Pride in its achievements is a theme reflected throughout its proposal and a concept embraced by the entire community.

Wendake, Quebec - Category: Population under 50 000
Maximum contribution: $500,000

Located 10 kilometres north of the city of Québec, Wendake has a strong sense of place, which is reflected in its programming. Its artists and unique culture will be at the forefront, with "Carrefour des Nations," a festival of contemporary Aboriginal arts and culture. There will also be theatrical productions, exhibitions, literary readings, musical performances, and a traditional pow wow, which will include exchanges with First Nations from around the world. These initiatives will leave a lasting legacy as a testimony to Wendake's commitment to the arts and culture.

From The Aboriginal Human Resource Development Council of Canada (AHRDCC) conference web site at http://www.ahrdcc.com/HRconference/index.php 

Unlocking Aboriginal Potential in the Workforce - National Aboriginal Recruitment, Retention & Advancement Conference

Conference Dates:

April 3, 2007 - Pre-conference Workshops
April 4 & 5, 2007 - Conference

Location: Fairmont Château Laurier, Ottawa

About the Conference
Unlocking Aboriginal Potential in the Workforce is the council's first national Aboriginal recruitment, retention and advancement conference. The conference will bring 250 human resource and Aboriginal diversity professionals from the employer, Aboriginal education and career development communities together for two-days of learning and networking in the eloquence of Ottawa's premier hotel, the Fairmont Château Laurier. The conference answers the call from Canada's employers and Aboriginal communities for an opportunity to advance new solutions toward Aboriginal workforce development and employment inclusion strategies in Canada.

Who Should Attend: Employers, Aboriginal employment practitioners, human resource & diversity managers, educators, and the career development community.

Call for Presenters
Deadline for submissions: January 26, 2007
Read the complete submission guidelines for workshop topic suggestions and details on submitting a prosposal.

Call for Presenters Guidelines - Deadline: Friday, January 26, 2007

The Aboriginal Human Resource Development Council of Canada (AHRDCC) invites submissions for conference workshops that highlight promising strategies/case studies/research and workforce partnership strategies that may generate creative new workforce solutions about:

• human capital leadership initiatives
• the implementation of Aboriginal workforce inclusion strategies
• innovative concepts for recruitment, retention or advancement strategies
• new methods to reach and engage the Aboriginal labour market.

Workshops should be concise, dynamic and interactive presentations that provide participants with resource tools and concepts that can be put to practical use in the workplace. Presenters are asked to focus on the lesson that needs to be delivered.

Workshops will be approximately 1.5 hours in length and as interactive as possible. Space is available for up to 50 delegates to attend each workshop. Some workshops may be offered more than once.

To show our gratitude to presenters we will provide each presenter with one complimentary conference registration. Presenters will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs.

Suggested Workshop Topics

• building a workplace strategy upon the business case for Aboriginal inclusion
• how to recruit the best Aboriginal talent
• Aboriginal people with disabilities
• overcoming barriers to employment
• addressing social issues through employment
• labour market trends and Aboriginal people
• engaging and retaining an Aboriginal workforce
• emerging human resource issues and trends in corporate Canada
• communication and protocols for effective collaboration
• marketing Aboriginal talent to employers
• effective networking and business relationship building tips
• employment law, legal issues, legislation, policies
• partnership solutions among industry, education and Aboriginal Human Resource Development Agreement holders (AHRDAs)
• organizational development and employee investment for success
• strategies for lifelong learning and Aboriginal employee advancement
• overcoming the cultural divide in partnerships,
• workplaces and training
• matching training to industry demands
• growing trades opportunities
• preparing the Aboriginal candidate for apprenticeship
• retention of Aboriginal learners in secondary and post-secondary contexts
• results and lessons learned from pilot projects in Aboriginal workforce development

Submitting a Proposal
Workshop presenters are encouraged to focus on one or two quality submissions rather than proposing a large number of presentations. The conference committee will consider a submission based on its appeal to a wide range of conference delegates and its relevance to the conference theme. You will be notified by email by Friday, February 9, 2007 if your presentation is selected.

Please provide the following:

• a description of your workshop (approximately 100 words)
• a brief description of what participants will learn and target audience
• how your workshop addresses the conference theme
• why your proposal should be selected
• a brief biography/curriculum vitae or up-to-date resume including your experience as a speaker/presenter

Please forward the above information by email to the conference organizers before
4:00 p.m. PST, Friday January 26, 2007.

For more information, contact:

Unlocking Aboriginal Potential in the Workforce
c/o First Nations Training & Consulting Services
PO Box 5000
Saanichton, BC  V8M 2C5
p - 250.652.7097
f - 250.652.7039
e - fntcs@telus.net
w - www.firstpeoplescanada.com

Press Release ...

NAHO Nomination Call for 2007 Aboriginal Youth Role Models

- GET YOUR NOMINATIONS IN! -

We are pleased to announce a "Nomination Call for 2007" for Canada's top Aboriginal youth role models.

What:

Lead Your Way! the National Aboriginal Role Model Program provides an opportunity for Aboriginal youth to be recognized for their achievements, leadership and innovation. Role models may be First Nations, Inuit or Métis youth between the ages of 13 and 30 years old.

Who:

Aboriginal youth (between the ages of 13 and 30 years old) can nominate their role model by filling out the nomination form. The nomination form has various attributes that fit your role model.

When:

Nominations will close on Monday, April 2, 2007.

How:

You can nominate an Aboriginal youth for Lead Your Way! by completing a nomination form. Please download one of the following nomination forms:

1. Nomination Form (MS Word Document)
2. Nomination Form (PDF)

Please mail your nomination form to:

National Aboriginal Role Model Program
National Aboriginal Health Organization
220 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 1200
Ottawa, ON K1P 5Z9

Or fax to: (613) 233-1853

Checklist - Make sure that:

• The role model and nominator must be Aboriginal (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) youths between the ages of 13 and 30 years old.
• The nomination form is fully completed along with signatures (nominator and references).

You have the option of submitting the following:

• A short biography of your role model, 1-2 pages.
• Letters of support from references.
• Copies of other supporting documents.
• Photo of your role model.

For more information please contact:

Karin Kettler
National Aboriginal Role Model Program
National Aboriginal Health Organization
220 Laurier Ave. West, Suite 1200
Ottawa, ON, K1P 5Z9

Toll-free: 1-877-602-4445
Tel: (613) 237-9462 ext. 548
Fax: (613) 233-1853

E-mail: kkettler@naho.ca / leadyourway@naho.ca

Click here to read the following Globe and Mail story online

Revealing new layers of dark history
BILL CURRY - From Tuesday's Globe and Mail - Posted ON 02/01/07

OTTAWA — The painful, personal stories of Canada's residential schools will soon include the perspective of the alleged abusers, as teachers' private journals and thousands of other documents held by churches are gathered and released for the first time.

The massive exercise is part of a five-year project to document one of the darkest chapters in Canadian history.

Called a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the $60-million project is a key, but mostly overlooked, aspect of Ottawa's residential-schools agreement. The $1.9-billion settlement was officially approved by the courts last month.

The project bears the same name as the six-year commission led by former Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa, where people of all races shared searing personal stories of violence and racism during the country's apartheid past.

The purpose of Canada's exercise is to give former students a formal opportunity to tell their stories and to create a final report that will be Canada's official historical record of the period.

But while the report will focus on the broad perspective, many natives will also want to access the papers and photos to learn about their own experiences and family history, said Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, himself a victim of residential-school abuse.

Seeing the meticulous church records will be an important new part of the story, he said.

“We will learn what transpired on a daily basis — because the officials kept daily journals — and come to understand how they viewed these schools, the children that they were responsible for,” Mr. Fontaine said. “This is an important missing piece at the moment. Because all we've heard is the stories of the survivors, and this is just now coming out. But we haven't heard from the churches.”

Amid widespread claims by former students of physical and sexual abuse, the process presents the possibility that victims could look up the diaries of their abusers.

A statement of principles in the terms of reference states that the commission must “do no harm” and that all involvement must be voluntary, but the process is sure to be difficult for many who take part.

Mr. Fontaine conceded that the process will be painful at times, but he said it will ultimately help natives move on and allow all Canadians to understand the impact residential schools had on native society.

“We have to be prepared to expose the ugly truth of the residential-schools experience because that's part of the healing and reconciliation that has to occur. We know that it's been traumatic for survivors . . . this is not easy because we're dealing with painful experiences. But it's all very important. This is not about causing further harm to individuals. It's really about making things better and fixing things and making sure people understand this experience in a way that will enable us to turn the page.”

Three commissioners will be named to hear from former students and teachers and comb through the historical records currently archived by churches and governments.

The records include thousands of photographs, student profiles, reports by visiting church officials and teachers' personal journals.

Residential schools were originally an extension of the missionary work of European religious settlers who sought to convert aboriginals to Christianity. The federal government became involved in joint ventures with the churches in 1874 and took over the schools completely in 1969. The last residential school closed in 1996.

While specific lawsuits dealing with sexual and physical abuse continue, the $1.9-billion settlement recognizes that all students suffered through loss of culture and language and by being forcibly removed from their homes to live at the schools.

Although the commission will have access to any records it wishes, meetings are under way to determine the level of access extended to individual survivors.

Public release of the records will be subject to the federal access-to-information and privacy laws, meaning that individuals named in the documents will likely have to be consulted. Library and Archives Canada will be closely involved in the effort, but the undertaking is clearly daunting for those in charge of the records.

Nancy Hurn, the national archivist for the Anglican Church, manages the church's records with the help of one part-time assistant.

The church is willing to share whatever is needed, she said, but she is concerned about meeting the volume of requests that are likely to flood her desk. The commission's terms of reference says a report on “historic findings and recommendations” must be produced within the first two years.

“I think that is the one thing in the agreement that gives me concern. One is the timing and the other is how the [access and privacy] legislation is going to be applied,” she said. “We're doing everything we can to make them available.”

An August survey report from Leger Marketing completed for and funded by INAC reveals a high level of ignorance and prejudice among non-native residents of urban centres towards First Nation residents. The two stories below discuss the implementations of this survey with the Macleans' story making Aboriginal issues an election issue for 2007.

Click here to read the following CanWest News story online

Majority of non-aboriginals oppose new urban reserves: poll by Jack Aubry, CanWest News Service and published January 02, 2007

OTTAWA - The majority of Canadians who live near First Nations communities oppose creating new reserves in urban centres such as the one recently recommended for a troubled northern Ontario reserve, saying it would have a negative impact on the surrounding region, a newly released national poll reveals.

The survey of Canadians in eight cities across the country located near aboriginal communities found 51 per cent opposed to the prospect of the federal government creating new reserves in urban centres while 42 per cent were favourable to the idea. Among those opposed, 27 per cent said they are strongly against it while 24 per cent say they are somewhat opposed.

Meanwhile, only eight per cent are strongly in favour of relocating the reserves near urban centres while 34 per cent somewhat favour the idea.

The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development is making the poll public after an adviser to the federal government recommended that the troubled Kashechewan reserve in Northern Ontario be relocated near Timmins, 450 kilometres south of its current location on the shores of James Bay.

Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice has said it will be up to the community and not the federal government whether they accept the move.

Part of a report prepared by Alan Pope, a former Ontario provincial politician, was a poll of the reserve, which showed a significant majority of residents believed it was in their best interests to move their community closer to an urban centre.

Kashechewan residents have been evacuated three times in the past two years: Twice due to flooding and once last fall due to water contamination.

Pope's report found a bleak existence at Kashechewan with inadequate housing, water supply, school and health system.

Leger Marketing conducted the poll among respondents from Sydney, N.S., Fredericton, N.B., Quebec City, Sarnia, Ont., Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary and Kamloops, B.C.

The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development hired the polling firm to conduct a study among non-aboriginal people living near reserves across Canada to better understand their attitudes towards First Nations and their position on creating new reserves.

The poll cost the federal government $67,410.

The poll also found that 46 per cent of the non-aboriginal respondents think the creation of an urban reserve would have a negative impact on the surrounding region, while 41 per cent believe the impact would be positive.

More revealing was the response to the possible benefits for the nearby cities where the reserves would be moved. Forty-four per cent said they believe creating aboriginal reserves will have "limited''benefits on their region while 35 per cent responded it would generate absolutely no benefits. Only 14 per cent said they believe such a move would create any "real'' benefits.

Other noted perceptions:

• 71 per cent believe aboriginals rely too much on governments;
• 61 per cent believe natives are taking measures to become more autonomous towards governments;
• 64 per cent think it is unfair to permit smoking in casinos located on reserves;
• 53 per cent judge that it's fair to allow aboriginal people to build casinos on reserves but unfair that they are allowed to sell products on reserves at cheaper prices;
• 48 per cent do not believe natives are victims of discrimination while 46 per cent believe they are.

The survey's final report, delivered in August to the department, noted one important point: ''Regional differences are the most important factor affecting the variation in responses on these issue areas across Canada.

'Indeed, we have observed that, in general, residents of Sydney and Fredericton have a better perception of aboriginal people, while respondents from Winnipeg and Saskatoon have a poorer perception of the First Nations situation.'

While the report denied that Quebecers had a negative perception of aboriginal people, it was found to be the region with the least amount of sympathy for their plight. ''When it comes to feelings of equity, they are more likely than Canadians in other regions to perceive that aboriginal people benefit from unfair advantages,''it said.

And when it comes to the impact of the creation of new reserves, Quebec and Sarnia residents were the most skeptical ones, with more than 80 per cent of those surveyed saying there would be limited or no benefit to their regional economies.

The report is based on 3,208 telephone interviews between June 26 and July 15 with non-aboriginal respondents aged 18 or older in eight cities from coast to coast. The margin of error for the national results is plus or minus 2.4 per cent, and plus or minus 4.9 per cent for each region, 19 times out of 20.

+++++++++

Click here to read the following Macleans' story

Not going quietly - Resistance to the proposed move of the infamous Kashechewan reserve could put native issues in the national spotlight
Philippe Gohier, Macleans.ca - January 3, 2007

Their water was filthy. Their community was susceptible to flooding. Their housing was beyond decrepit. And so, for a brief period in the fall of 2005, the sickly, rash-ridden residents Kashechewan found a place in the public consciousness.

Soon, the northern Ontario reserve may return there. And in what might just be an election year, it threatens to bring other native issues with it.

A year after Kashechewan's woes came to light, Alan Pope, a former Ontario cabinet minister hired as a special adviser to the Minister of Indian Affairs, issued a report recommending the community be moved some 450 kilometres south to the outskirts of Timmins. Pope's report considered the alternatives, including leaving it where it is. But in the face of a crumbling infrastructure and a staggering 87% unemployment rate, the last best hope was apparently to shut the whole thing down and start anew.

"The benefits of such a relocation are clear," Pope said. "This will offer the greatest advantage of improved economic and individual opportunities."

But the relocation of native reserves to urban areas raises at least two delicate questions that have become the subject of debate. First, do the residents actually want to leave? And second, do their new neighbours want them?

When the federal government recently commissioned a poll on the latter question, it produced fairly disconcerting results.

The survey, conducted among non-aboriginals in eight Canadian cities located near native communities, found that 51% of respondents were opposed to the creation of urban reserves; only 42% were in favour.

What's more, Kashechewan's deputy chief, Philip Goodwin, told The Globe and Mail that many Kashechewan residents are reluctant to move closer to Timmins and prefer the option of simply moving to higher ground.

"Lately I've been hearing a lot of people [talk] about moving up the river," Goodwin said, contradicting Pope's analysis of local sentiment. "There's not too many people who are interested in going down south, but the answers will be at the end of February."

Those answers will come from the community-wide, door-to-door canvassing the council plans to undertake later this month - which, according to Goodwin, will dictate its formal response to Pope’s relocation proposal.

Should the council reject the proposal, Kashechewan would join two other high-profile native issues that remain unresolved. And combined, they could mark the rare occasion on which a federal government is put on the hot seat for its aboriginal policy.

First, there is the previous government's Kelowna Accord - the implementation of which was made one of the Liberals' top priorities at their recent leadership convention.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said his government is committed to the "principles and objectives" of the Accord, which calls for $5.1-billion in targeted funding to reduce the gap in quality of life between aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities. But its absence from the Conservatives’ budget last February has left him open to criticism from its supporters.

Last spring, Canada's western and territorial leaders unanimously endorsed the deal. And this past October, former prime minister Paul Martin - who negotiated the Accord - presented a private member’s bill aimed at forcing the Conservatives to implement it. The vote passed handily - garnering the support of the Liberals, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP, but not the Conservatives.

Then there are last year's clashes over disputed land in Caledonia, Ontario, which invoked memories of Oka and Ipperwash. With 1,000 land claims still outstanding, the possibility looms large that another of them could devolve as Caledonia has.

"Any one of them could trigger the same reaction," Ontario regional chief Angus Toulouse has said. "That's the unfortunate thing - we're going to see much more of that. There is a sense nationally and regionally that there is this frustration."

Native policies have rarely emerged as major election issues, and an expected campaign this year is more likely to focus on the environment, Afghanistan, and – at least inside Quebec - the fiscal imbalance. But the lingering confusion over Kashechewan, along with pressure to implement the Kelowna Accord and the simmering anger over the land claim in Caledonia, could finally push such issues into the political mainstream.

5TH ANNUAL LITTLE BANDS YOUTH HOCKEY TOURNAMENT 2007

February 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 2007

Sioux Lookout Arena

Novice , Atoms , Peewee , Bantam & Midget Divisions

4 team per Divisions

Entry fees $950.00

For further information call : Stephen Fiddler (807)737-7071 ...or check out little bands home page ...

From the Lieutenant Governor's press release

Lieutenant Governor Issues Province-wide Appeal for Books for Aboriginal Children

TORONTO, Jan. 2 - The Hon. James K. Bartleman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, is appealing to Ontarians to once again bring the magic of books to Aboriginal children by donating new or gently used books during the month of January. Books can be dropped off at any OPP Detachment across Ontario or at the 17 Toronto Police Services Stations across the Greater Toronto Area.

The Lieutenant Governor believes in the transformative power of books. "Too many native children in remote fly-in communities do not know how to read. Too many lack self esteem. Too many lack hope. Too many believe that no one cares about them. Too many take their lives in despair. And too many do not have ready access to libraries that we take for granted elsewhere in the province." said Mr. Bartleman.

"And without books, the children will never learn to read, will never develop the self-esteem that comes from obtaining an education and will never escape the despair that fuels the suicide epidemic among children and youth that has been raging out of sight and out of mind in the north of our province."

Three years ago the people of the province responded magnificently when the Lieutenant Governor launched an appeal to establish libraries in the remote communities. This time his focus is on obtaining new or gently used children's and teenage books to top up these libraries. Any surplus books will be provided to native communities elsewhere in Canada.

"I am proud that the OPP is once again opening its detachments as book collection sites and that the Canadian Forces, through the Land Force Central Area, the army in Ontario, have again offered their assistance and will help to deliver books. The addition of Toronto Police Services to this second book drive will ensure that residents of Canada's largest city will have ease of access as to where they can drop off books."

Since 2004 Mr. Bartleman has introduced four initiatives to promote aboriginal literacy:

• The Lieutenant Governor's Book Program;
• School Twinning Program;
• Summer Literacy Camps; and,
• Club Amick, a reading club for children in fly-in First Nation communities.

Click here to read the following Globe and Mail story online

Kashechewan natives balk at leaving home
BILL CURRY - Posted on 01/01/07

OTTAWA -- The residents of Kashechewan are generally cool to the idea of leaving their remote James Bay community to live 450 kilometres south in Timmins, Ont., says deputy chief Philip Goodwin.

But it will be at least another two months before Ottawa gets a formal response from the community, he said, because the door-to-door canvassing of the 1,550 residents will not start until later this month.

At the request of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, former Progressive Conservative Ontario cabinet minister Alan Pope issued recommendations Nov. 9 on how to address the community's problems.

Residents are frequently evacuated because of poor drinking water or flooding. There is virtually no employment other than at the band council and the homes are overcrowded and decrepit.

Mr. Pope's call for the community to abandon its traditional lands in favour of urban life triggered a nationwide debate on the sustainability of the hundreds of other remote reserves in Canada.

"People are confused because of the recommendations that were made by Alan Pope," said Mr. Goodwin, who was reached by phone at the band office. "Lately I've been hearing a lot of people [talk] about moving up the river [known as] Site 5. There's not too many people who are interested in going down south, but the answers will be at the end of February."

The previous Liberal government promised to build a new community for the residents on higher ground, widely assumed to be at the location called Site 5, about 30 kilometres from the town.

That was the recommendation of Kashechewan's chief and council at the time; however, new leaders have since been elected.

However the Liberals never put forward a spending plan for parliamentary approval to build the new community, and the new government has questioned the cost of building an entirely new town in such a remote part of the country.

In his report, Mr. Pope put forward four possible options for moving the community, including Site 5, Fort Albany, Smooth Rock Falls and Timmins.

Mr. Pope wrote that in his door-to-door discussions with residents, a "significant minority" said they prefer Site 5, but most want to move farther away.

"A significant majority of community members believe that the best interests of themselves, of their children and families, and of the entire community are served by a relocation of the community to a new reserve removed from the Albany River and the traditional lands of the Kashechewan First Nation," he wrote.

Mr. Pope said that choice was conditional on having regular access to traditional lands and receiving "all economic benefits from, and control over economic, industrial and commercial use of their traditional lands and resources."

Those traditional lands are part of the 1905 Treaty 9, whereby natives allowed Europeans to use native lands for mining and other purposes in exchange for reserves and annual payments of $4 each.

The value of those lands, however, is rising dramatically. Diamonds have been found 90 kilometres from Attawapiskat, a neighbouring James Bay community.

Mr. Goodwin said he is aware of only a small number of Kashechewan residents who will receive jobs at the DeBeers Victor Diamond Project.

The community had its first meeting to discuss the report on Nov. 30 and Chief Jonathan Solomon reportedly urged residents not to let the issue divide them.

"Look beyond yourselves, look to the future and ask the question: 'What do I want for my children and grandchildren?' It is you who will make a difference."

WELCOME to 2007!!

The team at Keewaytinook Okimakanak would like extend BEST WISHES to everyone for his new year.

May the coming months bring good health, happiness and prosperity to one and all.

It is through everyone's efforts to work together, to help each other and to care about our neighbours that we each are able to contribute to a safe and growing environment.

Our children and future generations depend upon us!

We look forward to working with everyone once again in this new year.

Call for Proposals Virtual Aboriginal Health Learning Institute (VAHLI)

Issuing Office: Policy and Communications
Unit Address: 220 Laurier Avenue W. Suite 1200. Ottawa, ON K1P 5Z9
Attention: Manager, Mark Buell
Date: December 19, 2006

This is a select call to individuals, firms, or organizations to provide a comprehensive planning proposal for the preliminary research for the VAHLI based on 60 days of work.

Download full request document (PDF 126kb)

OBJECTIVES and BACKGROUND

The National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) proposes to undertake the development of an innovative and collaborative initiative that will address culture-related issues to enhance knowledge transfer relative to Aboriginal health and Telehealth strategies. Moreover, the development of the VAHLI will relate to E-Learning or Knowledge Management that will address learning needs for health professionals and provide a pilot skills enhancement workshop to demonstrate this potential. The development of cultural competencies in the delivery of health care services will be a primary focus of this initiative.

The overall planning objective for the E-Learning project is to develop a framework for a Virtual Aboriginal Health Learning Institute (VAHLI) which will be achieved through three priorities. First will be to obtain an understanding of the current Telehealth infrastructure in Aboriginal communities throughout Canada and to identify education needs that can be addressed by the VAHLI via the Telehealth modality. The second priority will demonstrate the potential uses of telehealth/video conferencing. Wherein NAHO and its three centres - the First Nations, Inuit and Métis - engage in knowledge transfer (KT) processes with the audience. The third priority will identify communities’ needs and aspirations for Telehealth. A direct output of this proposed project will be enhanced educational services to Aboriginal communities through Telehealth.

In order to do this work the incumbent will be provided with Schedule A Form of the Project Charter and the Preliminary Research Report which discusses a needs assessment and literature review of current telehealth sites.

www.naho.ca