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Ontario Power Generation and Lac Seul First Nation Sign Settlement Agreement

TORONTO, Nov. 16 - The Lac Seul First Nation (LSFN) and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) are pleased to announce the signing of an agreement that resolves past impacts in the Lac Seul First Nation traditional territory and establishes the foundation for a positive relationship between the Lac Seul First Nation and Ontario Power Generation. The agreement also provides the opportunity for a commercial relationship with Lac Seul First Nation that will benefit both parties.

OPG's President and CEO, Jim Hankinson stated: "This agreement redresses issues of the past and provides the opportunity for establishing a new commercial relationship with the Lac Seul First Nation."

LSFN Elder Shamandy Kejick, speaking in Anishinaabemowin, opened the signing ceremony with a prayer and spoke about the hardships felt by the people of Lac Seul in the years since the first flooding. Councilor Mervin Ningewance followed the Elder with a drum song and traditional blessings for the signing ceremony. Chief Clifford Bull said: "This agreement recognizes the impacts of the past and looks forward to a more positive future. Our people support the work that is being done by OPG to add additional generation at the Lac Seul site. In the future we want to build a commercial relationship with OPG in which our people can benefit from projects on our traditional lands." Chief Bull also spoke on the First Nation now being able to begin to address the impacts to the reserve and its people. Several other Band Councilors, Youth Council Chief Dinah Maud, and former Chief David Gordon were also in attendance at the signing ceremony.

OPG's Executive Vice President, Hydro, John Murphy said: "This agreement is a model to facilitate the construction of new clean, renewable hydro power through a partnership between OPG and the Lac Seul First Nation." A new hydroelectric plant is currently being constructed at the Ear Falls site that will add over 12 MW of renewable supply to Northern Ontario.

This settlement addresses the impacts of the Root River diversion project and the generating stations at Ear Falls and Manitou Falls. The First Nation represents over 2,710 Band members, with approximately 850 living in one of the reserve's three communities.

Ontario Power Generation is an Ontario-based electricity generation company whose principal business is the generation and sale of electricity in Ontario. OPG's focus is on the efficient production and sale of electricity from our generation assets, while operating in a safe, open and environmentally responsible manner.

For further information: Ontario Power Generation, Media Relations, 1-877-592-4008 or (416) 592-4008; Lac Seul First Nation, (807) 582-3503, P.O. Box 100, Hudson, Ontario P0V 1X0

From http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061116.INDIGENOUS16/TPStory/?query=aboriginal

Ottawa's rejection of native-rights declaration 'sad' - BILL CURRY - POSTED ON 16/11/06

OTTAWA -- Canada's reputation as a human-rights leader will be smeared when it votes against a declaration on indigenous rights, warns the chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz said it is "very sad" that Canadian officials have gone from active supporters to strong opponents of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which could be put to a final vote as early as next week in New York.

"Canada has a substantial number of indigenous peoples, and having the reputation of being a champion of human rights, will definitely be smeared by this act that they are going to take," she said in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

Ms. Tauli-Corpuz, a career advocate of indigenous rights in the Philippines, was elected as chair of the 16-member United Nations advisory group.

Canadian native leaders and all three federal opposition parties are accusing the Conservative government of harming Canada's reputation by reversing its position on the declaration, which has been discussed for more than 20 years and will finally come to a vote by the full United Nations as early as next week. It is one of the first two declarations to come out of the new Human Rights Council, which was established in May after strong support from Canada.

The declaration calls for the recognition that indigenous peoples be free from discrimination and provides an extensive list of rights that governments should extend.

But a Canadian official who has been involved in the international talks since 1984 said Ottawa's position has been consistent from the Liberal to Conservative governments.

Canada made a host of specific objections at a December, 2005, meeting when the Liberals were still in office, and when the final text did not address those concerns, the government of today decided to oppose the declaration.

"I can tell you definitely that the wording of [the section dealing with land rights] did not reflect the suggestions we put forward," said Fred Caron, an assistant deputy minister with Indian Affairs.

Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice, who was not available for an interview, has said one of his main concerns is the line referred to by Mr. Caron, which states, "Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories, and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise acquired." In a detailed explanation posted on the Indian Affairs website, department officials argue that such wording is so broad that it could lead courts to interpret it as a native right to reopen land claims that have already been negotiated and settled.

Other concerns are that a duty to consult and obtain "free and prior consent" on issues that have an impact on indigenous peoples are so unclear that they could impede Parliament's ability to legislate in areas of native policy by granting a veto to undefined native groups. Wording dealing with "self-determination" could also be interpreted to allow native communities the right to full statehood, officials argue.

Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, is in New York this week lobbying other countries to ensure the declaration will pass. He insists Canada did change its position.

"We witnessed the 180-degree shift and we were extremely disappointed with the government's change of position on this," he said.

Craig Benjamin, of Amnesty International, says the document is not legally binding on governments and that the sections that worry Canada are tempered by other sections of the declaration.

"When governments like Canada or the U.S. or New Zealand or Australia make claims that you can take any particular article and predict dire consequences for law and order or for the operation of the state, it just doesn't work that way. None of the provisions will ever have that kind of weight," he said.

NOTE: Click here for more background information about the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

From http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/editorialsletters/story.html?id=d9a3caae-1b0e-4054-a7be-11fbc4112e6a

Counterpoint: Native assimilation is not the answer - Waubageshig (Harvey McCue) - National Post - Nov 16, 2006

In a recent editorial, this newspaper praised former Ontario cabinet minister Alan Pope for his proposal to relocate the Cree residents of the troubled Kashechewan First Nation from their reserve near James Bay to the outskirts of Timmins, Ont.

But Mr. Pope and his media admirers are merely reiterating what many Canadians have argued for generations is the salvation for First Nations: "Get off the reserve and get a life!" In fact, this sentiment began in earnest with Duncan Campbell Scott who, as the deputy minister for Indian Affairs in the 1800s, officially commented numerous times that the only good Indian was an extinct one, or words to that effect.

If the residents of Kashechewan agree to it, the relocation proposed by Mr. Pope will result in their assimilation. The same would be true of any other isolated First Nations communities that accept this route.

Elsewhere, other First Nations, such as the Cree on the Quebec side of James Bay, are actively pursuing economic and social progress, and rejecting the conventional wisdom that says success for First Nations lies in assimilation. The principal difference between the communities on the two sides of the bay is that the Quebec Cree have acquired authority over their lives.

That authority has enabled the Quebec Cree to fashion a growing regional economy, a quality of life that combines ancient Cree traditions with Western modernization and a cultural confidence that is the bane of Quebec separatists. They have found a successful course that does not involve assimilation. Life is not perfect for the Quebec Cree, but they do have the tools to work at resolving their problems.

The Ontario Cree, by contrast, have been virtually ignored. The communities there have been left to subsist on federal government handouts rather than developing policies for their own benefit. That subsistence has led to what some might call a culture of dependence.

The condition stems from the views of an army of officials, who have been unwilling to see northern Indian communities as self-reliant. And so Ottawa continues to provide a minimal level of services, which ensures that a wholesale social collapse will be avoided but ignores any meaningful consideration of how these communities might become successful. Consequently, the residents lack the tools, i.e., the infrastructure, the institutions, the fiscal resources and, more importantly, the self-determination to do much more than make do with handouts.

Indeed, the federal government doesn't really know what "self-government" means for First Nations. If the Quebec Cree had relied on Ottawa to achieve their local and regional governments, their nation would now be in tatters. Moreover, the process to achieve Indian self-government -- as Ottawa defines it -- is mired in bureaucracy with little guarantee for success.

Relocating northern residents is the easy way out, the quick fix. The slow strangulation by the umbilical cord of government handouts is not a viable option either. Instead, we should support Kashechewan and similarly situated First Nations in creating a northern economy, and ensuring that they have the power necessary to take control of their land and resources.

For two centuries, officials and politicians have been trying to figure out how to get rid of Indians. As their strategic roles as key players in the early economy of the fur trade and as military allies waned, the preferred strategy came to be moving them as far as possible from developing areas onto remote, isolated patches of land. Duncan Campbell Scott predicted that residential schools would possibly be the final step in the process. Failing that, the Indian Act was used as an instrument of the state to get rid of Indians through the loss of Indian status.

Mr. Pope's suggested urban relocation of an entire community is just another step in that desperate process. Assimilation is simply not a justifiable or worthy goal for this country to pursue.

- Waubageshig (Harvey McCue) consults on a variety of First Nations issues

Founder and Drummer of MYRAGE, Raymond Kakepetum of Sandy Lake First Nation, was suprised to learn his band had been Nominated for Best Rock Album for the 2006 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards.

The family and friends of Raymond Kakepetum from Sandy Lake, On. would like to congratulate his band called Myrage who have been nominated for Best Rock Album with their album titled “Images” for the 2006 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards.

Myrage was number 1 for 4 weeks on NCI 105.5 FM Aboriginal Top 30 list and remained on the list for several weeks during 2005 with their song titled "Walk a Fine Line".

The winners will be announced on Friday, November 24th, 2006, at the John Bassett Theatre in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario.  The music awards show is a part of the Canadian Aboriginal Festival.

Congrats and the best of luck.

It seems that more than the lawyers are now trying to contact residential school survivors to try and get their compensation payments before they are even available.

From http://www.portagedailygraphic.com/Top%20Stories/268750.html

Keeping compensation cheques out of scam artists’ hands - Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Man. Security Commission and RCMP create plan of attack - By Leighton Klassen - The Daily Graphic - Thursday November 16, 2006

Indian residential school survivors are being warned money-hungry scam artists are on the prowl for their federal compensation.

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Manitoba Secur-ities Commission and RCMP detachments across the province are teaming up to keep federal cash in the pockets of its recipients.

“Our concern is that this is public knowledge and there’s a lot of money (distributed to survivors) and that’s when investment scam artists have their ears up,” said Ainsley Cunningham, education officer for Manitoba Securities Commission.

Jennifer Wood, residential schools policy analyst for AMC, said survivors are vulnerable.

“It’s important that the elders are not taken advantage of,” Wood said yesterday. “They’re very vulnerable people and naive .… They don’t know much about fraudulent measures.”

The fear stems from the amount of money Ottawa is distributing as compensation for the suffering experienced at residential schools.

On May 10, the federal Conservative government approved a proposal on a settlement of $10,000 per student, plus an additional $3,000 for each year spent in school. Currently, survivors 65 years old and over as of May 30, 2005, are receiving $8,000 as a first payment, and the remaining $2,000 as a second.

That includes Marina James, 69, who attended Portage Residential School from 1942-51. She said she’s not worried about being scammed because she has close family who watches over her, but she does fear for other survivors.

“It’s terrible that some people don’t realize that there is people like that who try and sell you different things and see how much money you have,” she said from her home on Dakota Tipi First Nation.

She is also aware of how the elderly are often taken advantage of.

“I know this one guy who had a car and he asked a couple of kids to get him stuff from the store,” she explained, adding the man lived alone. “They took off with his money and car.”

The chief of Dakota Plains First Nation, a reserve about 30 kilometres southwest of Portage, is also a residential school survivor. Orville Smoke attended Portage Residential School in 1962. He said he’s well-educated about scams, but fears for the six elderly survivors living on the reserve.

“I’m going to be making an effort to make sure to look out for the elders,” he said yesterday.

Wood said AMC and the securities commission will collaboratively develop information packages that will be distributed to all First Nations.

The brochures, which will likely be ready by the end of the month, will include information on the characteristics of scam artists’ tactics such as the absence of documents or paperwork or an offering of low rates at a high return.

“It will be basic protection messages,” Cunningham said.
And time is of the essence. Wood expects the federal government will approve payments for all ages of residential school survivors, through the common experience payment, later this month. That means a lot of people will be receiving a lot of money.

“It’s for everyone and that’s why this is important,” she said. “There’s 80,000 survivors across Canada.”

++++++++++

From http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2006/11/15/school-scam.html?ref=rss

Residential schools' ex-students get help against scams - November 15, 2006

Winnipeg RCMP and the Manitoba Securities Commission are joining native leaders to help prevent former residential school students from getting scammed out of thousands of dollars in federal compensation.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said Tuesday it welcomes the expertise of both groups as students of residential schools wait to receive payments ranging from $25,000 to more than $250,000.

"Then we have a collective effort, and that's what we want," said Jennifer Wood, the assembly's residential school compensation co-ordinator.

"We want to show it's a concern on every level because it is out to very fragile individuals, the elders."

"History in the past has shown that scam artists, they don't take very long figuring out who's getting money," said Cpl. Sue Downs of the RCMP's commercial crimes unit in Winnipeg.

"Hurricane Katrina, the flood of '97 here in Manitoba … it seems that scam artists target communities they know that are getting large sums of money."

Downs said she hopes to arrange antifraud workshops on reserves. As well, the assembly will include material from the RCMP and the commission in any information packages it sends out.

Operations already popping up: former student
Former student Ray Mason said he has already heard of one new company based in Edmonton that offers to lend money, with interest, to former students who are expecting large compensation payments.

Mason, chairman of Spirit Wind, a Manitoba-based organization of residential school survivors, said he expects such a company to charge large amounts of interest as students wait months for their cheques.

"That person could lose a good chunk of their compensation claim," Mason said.

As well, he fears the number of similar operators will only grow.

Wood said the large settlements many elderly former students will receive can make them prime targets for scam artists.

"You know, they're not street smart, they're not out here in Winnipeg [or] living in an urban centre. They're living in a community, and they have probably been for most of their lives. The elders are a very vulnerable targeted group of people," she said.

Earlier this fall, former students gave their input on the proposed $1.9-billion federal compensation package in hearings held across Canada, including one in Winnipeg.

If approved, the proposed package would compensate up to 80,000 former students for abuse suffered in the schools and for their loss of language and culture.

Under the proposed settlement package, which was approved by the Conservative government in May, any former student is offered a lump sum of $10,000, plus $3,000 for each year spent in the schools. Former students can seek more compensation if they can prove sexual or physical abuse.

Youth workers from 25 different First Nations across northern Ontario came together this week in Sioux Lookout to further develop their IT skills. Lead by Angus Miles (Fort Severn) and Jesse Fiddler (Sandy Lake) this week's training workshop provided everyone with the opportunity to meet each other and share their stories and experiences.

Click here to check out the pictures from this gathering.

Click here to visit the Youth Workers online training and sharing meeting space. (requires registration)

The IT Youth Worker employment project is coordinated by Keewaytinook Okimakanak's K-Net Services with funding support from Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet program and HRSDC. Marie Carson, Darlene Rae and Jeannie Carpenter are working together to support the Youth Workers and the training coordinators from across Ontario.

Participants in this week's training workshop include:

• Attawapiskat Nation - Jean Okimaw
• Bearskin Lake First Nation - Yvonne Kamenawatamin
• Constance Lake - Norman J Sutherland
• Deer Lake First Nation - Curtis Rae
• Fort Severn First Nation - Lyle Thomas
• Garden River First Nation - Lisabeth Boissoneau
• Iskatewizaagegan #39 Independent First Nation (Shoal Lake No 39) - Kelly Blackhorse
• Kasabonika Lake First Nation - Allison Anderson
• Keewaywin First Nation - Jason Kakegamic
• Kingfisher Lake First Nation - Terry Mamakwa
• Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation (Big Trout Lake) - Robinson Hudson
• Lac Seul First Nation - Adam Gordon
• M'Chigeeng First Nation (West Bay FN) - Richard Debassige
• New Slate Falls Nation - Desmond Roundhead
• North Caribou Lake Nation (Weagamow Lake) - Derek Kanate
• North Spirit Lake First Nation - Corey Rae
• Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation - Shawn Kelly
• Pikangikum First Nation  - Gavin Turtle
• Poplar Hill First Nation - Zachariah Suggashie
• Sachigo Lake First Nation - Angus Miles - Trainer
• Sachigo Lake First Nation - Maria Mckay
• Sandy Lake First Nation -  Curtis Drake
• Sandy Lake First Nation - Jesse Fiddler - Trainer
• Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation - Tim Gardner
• Webequie First Nation - Leah Wabasse

WORLD TELEVISION PREMIERE! on APTN

The Gift of Diabetes

Tuesday, November 21st - 10pm ET/PT
repeating Wednesday, November 22nd - 1am ET/PT and 2pm ET/PT

In 2001, complications from advanced diabetes left filmmaker Brion Whitford with only 50 percent kidney function and blood sugar levels that were spiraling out of control. The Gift of Diabetes follows Brion's struggle to regain his health by learning about The Medicine Wheel, a holistic tool grounded in an Aboriginal understanding of the interconnectedness of all dimensions of life: the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

"The film is a very powerful teaching tool and will go far in educating all in the struggle of living with diabetes."
National Aboriginal Diabetes Association

For more information on THE GIFT OF DIABETES visit - www.nfb.ca

To join the NFB Film Club visit - www.nfb.ca/nfbfilmclub

The recently published Coming Home: The Story of Child and Family Services is earning high praise from First Nations leaders and child welfare specialists.

The 276-page book, published by Tikinagan Child and Family Services in mid-September can now be purchased from the book's recently launched website, www.ComingHomeTikinagan.com .

"Coming Home ... not only helps bring to light the challenges our Frist Nation poeple have endured in the past, and continue to endure," said Chief Donny Morris, KI. "It also illuminates the resilience of our people in continuing to strive for a better life in the face of such hardship."

“It is a chance for all of us to learn from Tikinagan’s experience and to celebrate the resilience and strength of First Nations families and communities,“ said Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada.

“It is rare that I read a child and family welfare book with information and insights that I’ve not encountered before. Coming Home is such a book,” said Gary Cameron, Professor and Lyle S. Hallman Chair in Child and Family Welfare, Faculty of Social Work, at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON.

“In telling the story of the devastating exposure of the people of Tikinagan to residential schools and to child protection services, Coming Home tells a story relevant to First Nation history across North America and abroad. It does so in an easily accessible manner with compassion and power,” said Cameron.

Kathy Poling and Phil Vinet are the new mayors for Sioux Lookout and Red Lake respectively as a result of the municipal elections held yesterday.

From http://www.ckdr.net/news/index.php

Municipal Election Unofficial Results
Posted by Mike Ebbeling on November 13, 2006

Atikokan

Mayor - Dennis Brown

• Council
  • William Bell
  • Mike Shusterman
  • Bud Dickson
  • Sherwin Durand
  • Charlie Viddal
  • Marj Lamkin

Dryden

Mayor - Anne Krassiliowski

• Council
  • Gwen Keefe
  • Brian Collins
  • Mike Wood
  • Dennis Wintle
  • Gary Case
  • Mel Fisher
• Public School Board - Ed Arnold

Ear Falls

Mayor - Ron Bergman

• Council
  • Kim Thain
  • Robert Doyle
  • Stan Leschuk
  • David Wilson

Ignace

Mayor - Lionel Cloutier

• Council
  • Kimberley Crossley
  • Dianne Loubier
  • Sherrill Musclow
  • John Taddeo

Machin

Mayor - Garry Parkes

• Council
  • Stannis Montgomery
  • Laurie Huffman
  • Linda Anderson
  • Paul Kelly
• Public School Board - Barbara Gauthier

Sioux Lookout

Mayor - Kathy Poling

• Council
  • Ward 1 - Donald Fenelon
  • Ward 2 - Susan Williams
  • At Large
    • Ben Hancharuk
    • Joyce Timpson
    • James Brohm
    • David Gordon
• Public School Board - Bob O'Donohue
• Northwest District School Board - Cathy Bowen

Red Lake

Mayor - Phil Vinet

• Council
  • Anne Billard
  • Ken Forsythe
  • Donna Malloy
  • Brian Larson
  • Paul Parsons
  • Debra Shushack

THIS POWERFUL PLACE airs Thursday, November 16th at 9.pm. on the CBC radio program Ideas. It's the story of a clash of world views over a piece of land that Aboriginal and corporate cultures consider valuable.... for different reasons.

Jody Porter, CBC Radio reporter in Thunder Bay and former Wawatay News editor, produced this special one hour documentary. In her own words she describes the show as follows ...

This Powerful Place is about a dispute over High Falls near Beardmore Ontario, back in the early 1990s.

First Nations people in the area (mostly Poplar Point Ojibway Nation) protested when they learned a hydro dam was going to be built at the falls.

But the development went ahead.

In the process, the remains of a 400 year old medicine man were unearthed. The project halted for a brief time so the archeology could be done. The white people thought if they just re-buried the bones somewhere else it would solve the 'problem' of the land being sacred to the Ojibway people.

It didn't.