Ontario government press release at  http://ogov.newswire.ca/ontario/GPOE/2006/11/06/c8550.html?lmatch=&lang=_e.html

Government Provides Greater Access To Career Opportunities And Training - Employment Ontario Is Ontario's Employment And Training Network - visit www.ontario.ca/employmentontario

    TORONTO, Nov. 6 /CNW/ - The McGuinty government today launched Employment Ontario, its new, integrated gateway to training and employment services in Ontario, announced Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.

    "Our government knows that people and employers are looking for opportunities in our expanding economy," Bentley said. "Employers looking for skilled workers and people looking for training and jobs don't always know where to start or how to use the services we have. Employment Ontario provides a single point of access to coordinated training services that help people achieve their goals."

    Employment Ontario provides seamless, coordinated training, apprenticeship and labour market services, bringing together about 470 service providers in almost 900 locations funded by the Ontario government. Employment Ontario services will help over 500,000 Ontarians this year, including 76,750 employers. Today, the McGuinty government is launching:

• A new program name - Employment Ontario, Ontario's employment and training network - to better reflect the integrated nature of the system and what it will deliver
• An easy-to-use new website - www.ontario.ca/employmentontario with updated training and employment system information and access to an improved database of programs and services in communities across the province
• A toll-free hotline - 1-800-387-5656 - with expanded call centre capabilities for related services
• New multilingual web access to program information in 21 languages in addition to English and French

    Currently, the government of Ontario will spend approximately $340 million through its Employment Ontario service delivery partners, representing an increase of $42.4 million over the past two years since 2004-05.

    "Our goal is to provide user friendly access to employment training," Bentley said. "Employment Ontario focuses on meeting local needs so that employers can find the skilled workers they need and people can pursue the training and learning they need to fully participate in our economy."

    The McGuinty government is working to provide opportunities for Ontarians. Other initiatives include:

• Investing $6.2 billion more in postsecondary education and training by 2009-10 - the most significant multi-year investment in Ontario's higher education system in 40 years
• Staying on track to meet our goal of 26,000 new registered apprentices per year by 2007-08
• Investing approximately $100 million annually in Employment Ontario's apprenticeship related activities
• Investing $127 million this year in Employment Ontario's job services to link employers with both youth and adults, including three new centres with a special focus on helping newcomers
• Investing $63 million this year on Employment Ontario's literacy and academic upgrading programming

    "If the federal government lives up to its commitment to fund the Labour Market Partnership Agreement, Ontario can provide services through Employment Ontario equivalent to those available to other Canadians. This would mean an additional $185 million this year, growing to $314 million in 2009-10, to strengthen employment and training opportunities for Ontarians," Bentley said.

    "Employment Ontario makes it easier for businesses to find skilled workers, helps workers obtain academic upgrading and skills training, and gives more options to the unemployed who are looking, simply, for a better future," Bentley added. "Ontario can only meet its potential as a province when all Ontarians are able to reach their full potential."

See the following also on the press release web site ...

• Backgrounder for EMPLOYMENT ONTARIO - Ontario's Employment And Training Network
• Benefits of Employment Ontario
• Programs and services provided by Employment Ontario
• Backgrounder for ONTARIANS SUPPORT EMPLOYMENT ONTARIO

From http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061106.wreserve06/BNStory/National/home

Remote Ojibwa reserve lies in desperate limbo

KAREN HOWLETT - From Monday's Globe and Mail - Nov 6, 2006

PIKANGIKUM, ONT. — Every morning, Dean Owen parks his truck outside the graffiti-covered cinder-block water-treatment plant in Pikangikum and fills a 26-litre blue plastic jug with drinking water. Like most of the 2,300 residents of this remote Ojibwa community in Northwestern Ontario, Mr. Owen, his wife and four children live in a tiny, wood-frame house with no bathtub, no toilet and no furnace. The windows on his house are covered in café curtains. The door to his outhouse is held shut with a large tree log propped up against it.

Canada's colonial legacy has left many aboriginal communities living in abject poverty. But even by these dismal standards, Pikangikum stands out. It doesn't have enough houses for a population that has doubled in the past 20 years. Some of the dilapidated houses with plywood covering their broken windows are individually home to as many as 18 people. The one-storey clapboard school, built in 1986 for 250 students, has 780 students from junior kindergarten to Grade 12.

Makeshift classrooms have been set up in portable trailers as well as in the library and a storage room.

The geographic isolation of many native communities makes it easy for them to fall through the cracks. Pikangikum, 250 kilometres north of Kenora, is accessible only by air or water, except in winter when ice roads are built. But the reserve has its own unique problems that have made matters worse.

The community's elders trace the state of limbo throughout the reserve to 2001, when the federal government stripped the band council of several management powers because it said local leaders were not able to manage the reserve's mounting social problems. Since then, it is as though somebody simply forgot about the place.

Pete Sarsfield, the head of the Northwestern Health Unit in Kenora who blew the whistle on Pikangikum's water crisis, said the reserve ranks right up there with Davis Inlet, the native community in Newfoundland and Labrador whose epidemic of drug abuse and teen suicide was revealed to the world in the early 1990s.

"I've been around the block," he said. "I've been to about 200 First Nations communities. This is one of the worst I've seen."

Dr. Sarsfield said health-care workers have found a higher incidence of gastrointestinal, skin and urinary tract infections on the reserve, compared with other aboriginal communities. In July, several young children suffering from kidney problems in Pikangikum had to be taken far from home for emergency medical care. Brian Peters, the school's janitor, said his seven-year-old son spent two weeks in a hospital in Winnipeg.

Native leaders say Pikangikum is one of three reserves in Ontario with a drinking-water crisis. Attawapiskat, a Cree community on the James Bay coast, recently declared a state of emergency. In Marten Falls, about 700 kilometres northwest of Sudbury, sewage waste has leaked into a river where the community gets its drinking water.

The crises reveal that little has been done to improve the quality of drinking water on reserves since a year ago when more than half the residents of Kashechewan were airlifted out. All four communities are part of the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation. Of the 49 reserves across the North it represents, 19 are under boil-water advisories.

In Pikangikum, the community's elders say the appalling, overcrowded living conditions make it a warehouse for social problems. This year alone, there have been 23 suicides on the 49 Nishnawbe reserves, including six in Pikangikum.

As his truck approaches a curve in the gravel road leading to the Northern Store, Mr. Owen slows and points to the large tree beside Pikangikum Lake where Tracy Quill ended her life. Tracy, a shy, quiet girl who liked to make beaded artwork, attached a rope to a tree branch and hanged herself on a warm day last July. She was 12 years old.

Tragically, Tracy is not alone. Three teenage boys killed themselves within days of each other in January. And in September, two women met a similar fate, including a 33-year-old teaching assistant on the reserve's only school.

Their deaths have left the tight-knit community, where most residents speak the traditional Ojibway language, deeply shaken.
"It just saddens me," said Mr. Owen, a 35-year-old former chief of Pikangikum. "It breaks my heart."

In 2001, it was Pikangikum's dubious status as Canada's suicide capital that led Ottawa to appoint an outside company to manage its financial affairs. The reserve fought the move in court and won. A federal court ruled in 2002 that the government's dealings with the reserve were "patently unreasonable."

But Pikangikum remained under outside management for another three years. And all the infrastructure projects under way at that time came to an abrupt halt, remaining in limbo to this day.

The water plant where Mr. Owen fetches his drinking water was built in 1995, but only 20 of the 387 houses on the reserve are connected to it, leaving the rest without water and sewage services. The large blue pipes that were supposed to connect homes to the water-treatment plant sit discarded in fields around the reserve, stacked in bundles. Many residents get their drinking water from Pikangikum Lake.

The transformer purchased by the reserve to connect the community to the electricity power grid in Red Lake sits idle. The hydro poles that were supposed to form a transmission line to Red Lake, 100 kilometres south, lie rotting on the ground. Pikangikum relies on four diesel generators for its electricity. But this is not adequate and there are frequent blackouts. Firewood is used for heating.

Indian Affairs officials said privately that progress at Pikangikum has been hindered because the reserve has a history of frequent changes in leadership. They said it takes time for a new chief to become familiar with the issues. Mr. Owen, for example, resigned as chief in April after only 14 months.

Native leaders asked Dr. Sarsfield at the health unit to conduct the study of its water and sewage systems. Mr. Owen said this was the community's cry for help.

"Our community is in a major crisis," he said. But instead of getting any help from government officials, all they do is point fingers at each other, he said. "As long as they're doing that, we're suffering."

In the wake of Dr. Sarsfield's report, which was tabled in the Ontario legislature by New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton, the department has agreed to provide $2.1-million in short-term funding. The money will be used to install water storage tanks at many houses or use trucks to deliver water.

"Obviously these are issues that can't be resolved in nine months," said Bill Rodgers, a spokesman for Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice. "My main concern is the more immediate problem."

Mr. Hampton said the Ontario government also has a duty to act because it is responsible for drinking water in the province. But talks between Ottawa and Ontario aimed at resolving the drinking-water problems on reserves have all but stalled after federal-provincial relations hit a new low last week. Mr. Prentice refused to meet with his Ontario counterpart, David Ramsay, citing Premier Dalton McGuinty's "political grandstanding."

Amid the finger-pointing between Ottawa and Ontario, the community's elders worry that the short-term funding will be just a Band-Aid solution and that not much will change. In the meantime, members of the community, renowned for their resiliency, make the best of a bad situation. At the school, shop teacher Pete Charbonneau's students make things the community needs desperately. The Grade 11 boys are building wooden outhouses. The Grade 11 girls are making wooden sleighs to transport water and other supplies.

Mr. Charbonneau, who came to Pikangikum from Sudbury three years ago, sees the problems afflicting the community's youth first-hand. One of his students, a 16-year-old girl, is in a hospital after she tried to kill herself.

"None of them dream," he said.

It is the community's elders who represent the thin line between hope and despair. Their dream is to one day have the community control its vast timber wealth.

For the past decade, the elders have worked to establish a plan to manage the traditional land of the Ojibwa and set the pace and direction of development. Those efforts culminated in July when the native-owned Whitefeather Forest Management Corp. signed a land-use deal with Ontario that will one day see the reserve reap the financial rewards of harvesting the wood on its land. The plan is undergoing an environmental assessment.

Employees of Whitefeather, which operates out of an office in Pikangikum's only hotel, have made maps, meticulously identifying more than 11,000 summer and winter trails on the 1.3-million hectare pristine wilderness site. They have also done an inventory of every tree, a process that took three summers to complete.

"Our community has solely depended on government handouts," said Paddy Peters, a former chief who runs Whitefeather. "This will create prosperity and success for our people."

The upcoming UN resolution adopting the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is creating problems for the federal government who first voted against it at the committee level. In the House of Commons on Friday, the INAC rep once again side stepped a direct question concerning the adoption of the declaration (see the exchange after the AFN press release). Review the declaration from the link at the end of this KNEWS story.

Press Release from ...

• ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS
• NATIVE WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
• KAIROS
• RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY
• LIGUE DES DROITS ET LIBERTES

UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Conservative government increasingly isolated in its unprincipled opposition to vital human rights instrument

     OTTAWA, Nov. 2 /CNW Telbec/ - With the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples set to receive final consideration and historic adoption by the UN General Assembly, Aboriginal peoples and human rights organizations in Canada are welcoming a show of support by the three parties representing the majority of Canadian parliamentarians.

     On Tuesday, the House Committee on Aboriginal Affairs adopted a resolution calling on the government to support the immediate adoption of the Declaration. The seven committee members representing the Liberals, Bloc Québécois and NDP supported the resolution, while the three Conservative members opposed.

     This week, the Declaration is being debated at a Committee of the UN General Assembly. If supported by the Third Committee, the Declaration, which has already been adopted by the UN Human Rights Council, will pass to the plenary of the General Assembly for adoption by December of this year.

     The Declaration, which provides minimum standards for the dignity, survival and well-being of the world's Indigenous peoples, has been under discussion within the United Nations for more than two decades.

     In recent years, Canada had played a key role role in the negotiation of the Declaration and has collaborated with Indigenous peoples to draft a number of the provisions that have been critical in building support among other states.

     However, since the election of the Conservative government, Canada has joined with the United States, Australia and New Zealand in denouncing provisions that Canada had previously supported.

     In June 2006, the Commons Aboriginal Affairs Committee adopted a resolution calling on the government to support the Declaration at the first meeting of the new UN Human Rights Council. Canadian representatives to the Council instead led the opposition to the Declaration but were able to convince only one other Council member, Russia, to join Canada in voting against the Declaration.

     The Conservative government has slowly disclosed a long list of articles that it wants rewritten. However, its arguments to date do not stand up to scrutiny. Nor has it been able to convincingly explain why Canada has reversed its previous position in support of the Declaration.

     Indigenous peoples and human rights organizations say that the government should uphold Canada's international reputation, respect the will of Parliament and support the Declaration. However, the Conservative government has rigidly refused to consult Indigenous peoples on this crucial human rights issue and has already announced that Canada will continue to vote against the Declaration.

     The Declaration is urgently needed as a major step towards addressing the widespread human rights violations affecting Indigenous peoples globally.

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/For further information: Media Contacts: Beth Berton-Hunter, Amnesty International Media Officer, (416) 363-9933 ext 32; Bryan Hendry, Assembly of First Nations, A/Director of Communications, (613) 241-6789 ext 229; Adiat Junaid, Communications Coordinator, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, (416) 463-5312 ext 223; Jennifer Preston, Canadian Friends Service Committee, (416) 920-5213; Linda Kayseas, Native Women's Association of Canada Media Coordinator, (613) 722-3033, ext. 231; Louis Moubarak, Rights & Democracy, (514) 283-6073, ext. 261; Also endorsed by Inuit Circumpolar Conference Canada and Ligue des droits et libertés./

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From http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Pub=hansard&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=39&Ses=1#SOB-1754520

Ms. Jean Crowder (Nanaimo—Cowichan, NDP): 

    Mr. Speaker, the world is paying attention to how poorly the government is treating first nations. This week, Iran, notorious for its human rights abuses, called Canada to task for its treatment of aboriginal peoples.

    It is shameful that the government has decided to abandon 20 years of work and vote against the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples.

    Will the government commit to supporting the declaration and resolving the situation in Caledonia so that Canada can hold its head up at the United Nations instead of lowering it with shame?

Mr. Rod Bruinooge (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, CPC): 

   Mr. Speaker, our government will take absolutely no lectures from the government of Iran on the rights of aboriginals in our country.

    We are moving forward for aboriginal Canadians and for families that have not seen matrimonial real property. We are moving forward with a plan that will bring forward human rights where they have not been before.

    We are very proud of the action being taken by the minister.

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For background information and the content of the declaration download a copy from  http://www.tebtebba.org/tebtebba_files/hrc/hrc1/HRCResol.pdf

For the Press Release describing the Tabling of the 2006-2007 Reports on Plans and Priorities and Backgrounder on the Estimates Process, visit http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/media/nr-cp/2006/0926_e.asp

From http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/rpp/0607/inac-ainc/inac-ainc_e.asp

RPP 2006-2007
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Canadian Polar Commission and Indian Specific Claims Commission

The Cowichan Tribes (http://cowichantribes.com) will receive up to $3.5 million from the federal government towards the 2008 North American Indigenous Games to be held August 2 - 10, 2008 (see http://cowichantribes.com/contribution/Partnership%20Projects%20And%20Initiatives/2008%20North%20American%20Indigenous%20Games).

For more information, see ...

• Cowichan wins bid to host 2008 North American Indigenous Games 
• Backgrounder - 2008 North American Indigenous Games

From http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/newsroom/index_e.cfm?fuseaction=displayDocument&DocIDCd=CMC060962

Federal Government Supports 2008 North American Indigenous Games

DUNCAN, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Nov. 3, 2006) - The Honourable Michael D. Chong, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, and Minister for Sport, today announced Canada's support for the Cowichan 2008 North American Indigenous Games. Minister Chong made the announcement during a celebration at the Quw'utsun' Cultural Centre in Duncan, hosted by the 2008 Games Society.

"The North American Indigenous Games will help develop Aboriginal athletes within the Canadian sport system and play a positive role in encouraging the participation of Aboriginal peoples in sport all across the country," said Minister Chong.

Under the funding framework for the 2008 North American Indigenous Games, the Government of Canada will contribute as much as 35 percent of the total cost for the Games, up to a maximum of $3.5 million.

Hosting this international sport event will bring direct and significant sport, economic, cultural, and social benefits to the Cowichan Valley, the province of British Columbia, and Canada as a whole.

"Canada has been a longtime supporter of the North American Indigenous Games movement," said Calvin Swustus, chair of the Cowichan 2008 North American Indigenous Games Society's board of directors. "The funding framework and federal commitment of $3.5 million reflects a strong spirit of cooperation between the Games Society and the Government of Canada and provides the foundation for success in 2008."

The 2008 North American Indigenous Games will be held from August 2 to 10, 2008. They will involve 5000 junior athletes (aged 13-19) competing in 16 sports, 2000 cultural performers, and more than 3000 volunteers. The Games will include opening and closing ceremonies with over 20 000 participants and spectators expected to attend.

The Government of Canada is the single largest investor in Canada's sport system. A total of $140 million is provided annually for initiatives to support our high-performance athletes and to promote sport participation among Canadians.

This news release is available on the Internet at www.canadianheritage.gc.ca under Media Room.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Office of the President of the Queen's Privy Council
for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
and Minister for Sport
Gary Toft, Director of Communications
613-943-1833

or

Canadian Heritage
Donald Boulanger
A/Chief, Media Relations
819-994-9101

See complete list of award winners at the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards web site at  http://aboriginalpeopleschoice.com/cim/3200C13_2T1T3T861.dhtm

From http://winnipegsun.com/Entertainment/Music/2006/11/04/2230908-sun.html

Locals nab Aboriginal People's Choice Music awards - Nov 4, 2006

The people have spoken.

The first Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards were handed out during the last two nights and a number of local musicians came up winners.

Winners at the ceremonies -- part of the first Manito Ahbee Manitoba Aboriginal Festival -- were determined by online voters between Sept. 1 and Oct. 13.

The First Night ceremony, held Thursday and hosted by Cheryl McKenzie and Madeliene Allakariallak of APTN, honoured nominees in nine categories, including Manitoba residents Dezmond Mentuck and D.J. St. Germain (best producer /engineer for C-Weed), Tracy Bone (best album cover design), Billy Joe Green (best blues CD), J.J. Lavallee & the Freebird Band (best fiddle CD and best instrumental CD), and Sierra Noble (best aboriginal music by non-aboriginal artist).

During last night's ceremony, hosted by Lorne Cardinal of Corner Gas and singer-songwriter Katherine St. Germain, local winners included Hank Horton (best songwriter and best country CD), and Eagle and Hawk (best group or duo and best rock CD). 

The show also featured performances by Bone, Shane Yellowbird, Eagle and Hawk, Andrea Menard, and Digging Roots, among others.

Manito Ahbee continues for the next two days with an International Competition Pow Wow and Indigenous Marketplace & Tradeshow at MTS Centre, a number of live showcases at various downtown venues, and the premiere of a new documentary on legendary songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie at MTS Centre tomorrow.

The full list of winners:

• GROUP / DUO: Eagle & Hawk
• NEW ARTIST: Shane Yellowbird
• SINGLE: Shane Yellowbird, Beautiful Concept
• MUSIC VIDEO: Shane Yellowbird, Beautiful Concept
• ROCK CD: Eagle & Hawk, Life is
• RAP OR HIP-HOP CD: Reddnation, Now or Never
• COUNTRY CD: Hank Horton, Honky Tonk Heartache Blues
• FOLK / ACOUSTIC CD: Keith Secola, Native Americana
• BLUES CD: Billy Joe Green, Muskrat Blues and Rock & Roll
• FIDDLE CD: J.J. Lavallee & Freebird, Jimmy's Breakdown
• INSTRUMENTAL CD: J.J. Lavallee & Freebird, Jimmy's Breakdown
• TRADITIONAL POW WOW CD: Red Bull, Enter the Circle
• CONTEMPORARY POW WOW CD: Grey Buffalo, Just Trying To Get There
• SONGWRITER: Hank Horton
• PRODUCER / ENGINEER: Dezmond Mentuck and D.J. St. Germain, C-Weed
• ALBUM COVER DESIGN: Tracy Bone, No Lies
• ABORIGINAL MUSIC BY NON-ABORIGINAL ARTIST: Sierra Noble, Orange

Union of Ontario Indians Press Release

Anishinabek Endorse New Status Card - Updating earlier version: Anishinabek developing own identity cards

NIPISSING FIRST NATION, ONTARIO--(Nov. 2, 2006) - Anishinabek leaders have endorsed the development of a new security-compatible Certificate of Indian Status card for use by citizens of their 42 member First Nations.

Grand Council Chief John Beaucage confirmed that Chiefs attending this week's Special Assembly in Garden River First Nation endorsed the development of a new, more secure Certificate of Indian Status to replace existing federal status cards and provincial Certificates of Tax Exemption used for purchases of gasoline and tobacco.

"This new status card would also allow our citizens to go back and forth across the border without a passport," said Beaucage, referring to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative - an anti-terrorist requirement that all travellers to the U.S. - including Canadians - have a valid passport by Jan. 1, 2008.

"We're negotiating with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) to be the delivery agent for this new multi-purpose status card," said Beaucage. The new cards will require final approval by the Government of Canada, which the Grand Council Chief hopes to secure in time for a spring, 2007 implementation.

The new status card will incorporate high-technology security features, such as a holographic photo, designed to put an end to the practice of forging Status Cards.

"People without any rights are using forged cards to purchase eye glasses and prescription drugs," said Beaucage. "They are stealing from our communities by doing that. We want to put these forgers out of business."

The Grand Council Chief also stressed the new card's implications for cross-border travel by Anishinabek Nation citizens.

"It will ratify our treaty rights," he said, "especially the 1794 Jay Treaty which provides for unrestricted travel for First Nations people between Canada and the United States."

The Chiefs-in-Assembly also endorsed the Anishinabek Nation proposal for a mobile unit to travel to Anishinabek Nation communities to distribute the new cards. He added that the Anishinabek Nation would be willing to share any new technologies with other treaty organizations across Ontario.

The Anishinabek Nation incorporated the Union of Ontario Indians as its secretariat in 1949. The UOI is a political advocate for 42 member First Nations across Ontario. The UOI is the oldest political organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of Three Fires, which existed long before European contact.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Bob Goulais, Executive Assistant to the Grand Council Chief
Primary Phone: 705-497-9127 ext. 2245
Secondary Phone: 705-498-5250
E-mail: goubob@anishinabek.ca

From http://www.tbsource.com/localnews/index.asp?cid=88587

Cromarty entrepreneur program

Tb News Source - 11/2/2006

A former prime minister helped launch a major new initiative Thursday to guide aboriginal students into the business community.

Paul Martin was in Thunder Bay to usher in the new program which among other things, aims to combat the high levels of aboriginal student drop-out rates. If the student business initiative is successful here it could also serve as a blueprint for a Canada-wide effort.

As the former prime minister looked on Thursday afternoon, the 15 students taking part in the entrepreneur pilot program he sponsors, were introduced at Denis Franklin Cromarty High School. Its the first of what Paul Martin hopes will be many business successes from the aboriginal community.

The students will be taking part starting January in a new business-based curriculum at the school learning how to be successful entrepreneurs. Through the program they will make partnerships with the business community laying the groundwork for their future.

Martin says he chose the Northwest to test his new personally-funded program because of the high aboriginal population.

If this new initiative proves itself, there are plans to expand it across the country, building on the Thunder Bay model. Martin hopes that in the long run they are able to lower the high drop out rates plaguing the aboriginal population with this program and in turn improve the overall quality of life for many of the country's First Nation's people.

So the task falls on the shoulders of these 15 students to do all they can to be a success and be the role models the former Prime Minister hopes and believes they can be.

Assembly of First Nations press releases ...

AFN Chiefs Committee on Languages shocked at funding cuts announced by Minister of Canadian Heritage

     OTTAWA, Nov. 2 /CNW Telbec/ - The Assembly of First Nations' Chiefs Committee on Languages (CCOL), comprised of First Nations leaders from across Canada, learned today that there will be significant changes to Aboriginal Languages funding.

     In today's Conservative government's written response to a Question on the Order Paper by Member of Parliament Charlie Angus, Minister of Heritage and Status of Women Bev Oda states that monies once set aside in 2002 for Aboriginal languages in the amount of $172.5 million will not be disbursed as originally planned and, in fact, is being removed from the fiscal framework.

     While $12.5 million has been disbursed to date, the remaining $160 million remains outstanding. Minister Oda affirms that $5 million of new permanent funding will be allocated to "Aboriginal languages while they are considered in the wider context of the new government's approach to meeting the needs of Aboriginal peoples."

     Minister Oda informed CCOL Chair Chief Bill Cranmer of her unilateral decision that the languages funding is expected to be renewed for the next ten years at $5 million per year for a total of $50 million. This represents a significant reduction from the original $172.5 million originally set aside.

     This unilateral decision flies in the face of Federal Government-First Nations Political Accord. This decision demonstrates the lack of good faith on behalf of Canadian Heritage as the Chiefs Committee has been in negotiations with Canadian Heritage officials on the rollout of the remaining $160 million.

     The Chiefs Committee want guarantees that the $160 M is in fact still on the table and that the Department of Canadian Heritage is willing to work with the Chiefs Committee to ensure that the funds are used to revitalize, preserve and maintain of First Nations Languages.

     Chief Bill Cranmer indicated his grave concern for languages today. "We need to act on this immediately. First Nations languages are dying everyday with the passing of our elders and speakers. For government to delay the funding once again is not only shameful and disrespectful but it also hurts First Nations to the core of our existence."

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

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/For further information: Bryan Hendry, A/Director of Communications, (613) 241-6789, ext. 229, Cell.: (613) 293-6106, bhendry@afn.ca/

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First Nations seek clarification on status of $160 million in Aboriginal language funding

     OTTAWA, Nov. 2 /CNW Telbec/ - Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine calls upon Heritage Minister Bev Oda to assure First Nations that $160 million in Aboriginal language funding will still be available for First Nations languages. In a conversation with the Minister, the National Chief was led to believe the funding is no longer on the table. Conflicting messages from officials at Canadian Heritage have created even more uncertainty.

     "Preserving our languages, our way of life, is a sacred trust that must never be broken," said AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine. "We consider the loss of any language funding as a direct attack on First Nations. Language is the very foundation of our cultures and traditions, and it is the key to our identity as First Nations peoples."

     "Based on the 2002 allocation of $172.5 million, many First Nations communities have been preparing proposals and work plans so they can enhance their activities around preserving and teaching their languages and culture," noted the National Chief. "We are, therefore, very surprised by the Minister's comments."

     "First Nations languages are indigenous to this country and they must be preserved to ensure that they can flourish for current and future generations," commented the National Chief. "Many of our people suffer from the intergenerational effects of the federal government's decades-long policies concerning residential schools. Studies by BC Professors Michael Chandler and Chris Lalonde have shown that where our languages and cultures are thriving, so are the communities. People are happier and healthier -- there are few or no suicides.

     "We sincerely hope that this "re-allocation" of $160 million in funding will result in even more than the original amount in order to further strengthen and preserve our languages," commented the National Chief. "From the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, a decade ago, to last year's First Ministers Meeting in Kelowna, to Conservative party policy, recommendations and commitments were made to preserving and teaching First Nations language for future generations. The federal government should demonstrate the honour of the Crown and fulfill its obligations to help preserve and revitalize First Nations languages and cultures. It is important to Canada's identity."

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

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/For further information: Bryan Hendry, A/Director of Communications, (613) 241-6789, ext. 229, Cell (613) 293-6106, bhendry@afn.ca/

Mobile Jam Fest - www.mobilejamfest.com

Mobile Jam Fest (MJF) is the world's first international mobile film festival to celebrate the creative potential of today's youth. This movement towards the mobility of ideas signifies a revolution in both borderless communities and connectivity where creativity, thoughts, ideas, values, and expression can be shared. Youth (age 14-17, 18-24) will participate by producing, directing, acting and interacting in their own films.

2 min films win you Tuition! - 2-Minute Interactive Films

Youth will produce 2-minute films in many different categories. Audiences for the first time ever will be able to view, vote and interact with festival films on their mobile phones, online, and at the National Film Board Mediatheque theatre in Toronto, Canada. These films are sure to be irreverent, aware, raw and edgy. Each entrant has an opportunity to submit a film in each of the 12 categories. That's 12 opportunities to win the Grand Prize.

The Motivation

A total of $10,000 is available to be won towards tuition to any recognized university or college in the world. That's $5,000 in tuition for ages 14-17 and $5,000 in tuition for ages 18-24. Youth will also compete for prizes in individual categories TBD. Youth will upload their films to www.mobilejamfest.com and the audience will vote to decide which film is the best.

Education – MJF Online Film School

Presented by MTV MJF will be creating the first ever online film school where anyone will be able to access video tutorials from directing and guerrilla filmmaking, to learning the fundamentals of lighting, editing, sound, working with actors and much more. The MJF Online Film School will include appearances by some of today's top filmmakers. You can also share your own techniques with everyone by uploading them directly to the website.

The Music

ccandco is excited to announce their collaboration with ANR Lounge, Sound Dogs Toronto, and thousands of other music labels which will collect music from independent record labels from around the world for youth to use as the 'scores' for their films. Sound Dogs Toronto has also provided thousands of free sound effects for youth to use in their films. During the closing party, the most downloaded independent band will play live.

The Judging Process

The audience is the judge, that's you!

Why it's cool!

Here's why portable video is so cool: It changes us, but more importantly, we can change it. Don't like what you're watching on your mobile phone? Grab your digital camcorder and make your own show. Companies called 'aggregators' are gathering as much video as they can to get airtime on mobile phone networks. They are striking deals with independent producers, sharing in any revenue without taking away any rights. 'The same people who dismiss this 'democratization' of video [also] misunderstood the power of blogs and podcasts to blur the lines between spectator and creator.'

Festival Schedule

September 4, 2006 - 9 am: Festival begins accepting submissions begins.

November 30, 2006 - 12 am: Festival stops taking submissions and voting ends for Mobile Jam Fest 2006.

November 30, 2006 - 12 am: Top three films in each of the 12 categories are available to be voted upon. As well these film will be availble to be viewed and voted on over video enabled mobile phones.

December 1, 2006 - 12 am: Top three films in each category will be available to be streamed, downloaded, viewed and voted upon over your mobile phone. Canadian residents only. Available on Telus, Rogers and Bell platforms.

December 2006 - Mobile Jam Fest Awards and concert series. TBD

Tuition and Prizes

MJF will award one filmaker from each of the age categories (14-17, 18-24) $5,000 in Tuition to any recognized educational institution in the world!

Each category winner will receive an Xbox 360 Entertainment Console.

Winners can only win once.

December 2006 - MJF grand prize and category winners will be announced and screened during the MJF Awards and Concert Series.