NISHNAWBE-ASKI LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

The Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation is a unique legal services organization governed by a First Nation Board of Directors with its administrative office in Thunder Bay.  The Corporation provides legal, paralegal, public legal education, law reform, restorative justice and victim/witness services to the members of First Nations of Nishnawbe-Aski Nation (NAN).  This innovative legal service places substantial responsibility for the administration of justice and the provision of all legal services to the members of NAN.

The Victim Witness Advocate program is mandated to improve the quality of services to crime victims and witnesses of crime.  The NALSC is presently recruiting a Victim Witness Advocate to provide these services to NAN First Nations.

VICTIM/WITNESS ADVOCATE

Working under the direction of the Executive Director, the Victim Witness Advocate assists victims and witnesses of all ages in dealing with consequences of victimization and helps them through the criminal justice process.  S/he acts as support, ensures immediate needs are addressed such as safety, referring to appropriate resources, assists victims and witnesses with the court process and/or to participate in a restorative justice process and liaises with appropriate agencies and service organizations.

Qualifications:

• Successful completion of secondary school and/or equivalent experience in a related field
• Experience with the Euro-Canadian legal system and knowledge of Aboriginal justice systems
• Experience in program management, planning and budgeting
• Ability to work in a cross-cultural environment
• Computer skills in word processing using MS Word
• Good communication skills both oral and written
• Must be willing and able to travel extensively
• Ability to speak Cree, Oji-cree or Ojibway

Location:  Thunder Bay, Ontario

Salary:  To be determined based upon experience

Closing Date:  Tuesday, September 23, 2003 at 5:00 p.m.

Please send resume including three (3) references to:
Executive Director
Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation
86 Cumberland Street South
Thunder Bay, ON P7B 2V3

Tel: 807-622-1413 Fax: 807-622-3024 Toll Free: 1-800-465-5581

For more information and a copy of the complete job description, please call Jennifer McKenzie at 1-800-465-5581 ext. 7079.  

Please Note:  Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

Wawatay News has posted a news story on the tragic plane crash at Nibinamik on our web site at www.wawatay.on.ca.

Also posted are related messages from National Chief Phil Fontaine expressing his condolences and the Matawa tribal council's Nibinamik Support Fund efforts.

We plan to update the coverage as new information is received. Everyone is invited to send their messages to the families and friends affected by this tradegy.

KeewaytinookOkimakanak (Northern Chiefs Council)

Requires a HEALTH DIRECTOR in the Balmertown Office

Keewaytinook Okimakanak requires a Health Director to provide leadership and administrative direction in the management and development of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Health Services.  

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Managing the existing health programs and services as mandated by the board;
• Developing and maintaining working relationships with Keewaytinook Okimakanak member First Nations and government agencies;
• Representing Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations as directed by the board on different health related boards and committees;
• Working with other First Nations and other health care agencies and service providers to ensure adequate community based health care services are developed and supported;
• Developing and overseeing regional health projects and initiatives, such as Telehealth;
• Conducting community consultations for the development of programs as required;
• Attending and presenting at Keewaytinook Okimakanak and Regional Chiefs’ meeting, assemblies and other forums as requested;
• Coordinating and supporting KO health staff and community health care management and staff in the development and operation of community-based health care programs and services;
• Performing other professional duties as assigned by the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Health Advisory Committee, Chiefs of Keewaytinook Okimakanak and/or the Executive Director.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Working knowledge of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations and related health issues
• Must possess valid Ontario Driver’s license and be insurable
• Available to travel
• Ability to speak Oji-Cree an asset
• 5 years experience in management or a Post Secondary education degree in Health Sciences or Business Administration  

SALARY:                    Commensurate with experience and education

CLOSING DATE:      September 26, 2003 - 12:00 p.m.

Please send resume along with a covering letter and three employment references to:

Hiring Committee - Health Director Position
Keewaytinook Okimakanak
P.O. Box 340,127 Mine Road
Balmertown, Ontario P0V 1C0

Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Special Church services in Sioux Lookout September 26, 27, 28, 2003 at the Legion Hall.

Featured singers are the Philadelphia Gospel Band from

Pequis, Manitoba (Curtis Choken), David Harper (Wpg),

Hank Williams (Shoal Lk), Lynda Beardy (Sioux Lkt).

The preacher will be Lott Thunder (Wpg) and Justin Free

(St. Catherines). Services start @ 7:00 nitely, everyone welcome.

Information call: 737-4630 and 737-4166

• candidates must possess a graduate degree in education or related discipline or equivalent combination of education and related experience;
• this position will require an experienced individual who has a comprehensive work experience and background in First Nation education and training services or delivery of such;
• this position will require excellent verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills;
• ability to manage a limited program budget
• ability and willingness to travel a must
• ability to speak a First Nation language an asset
• candidate must be an independent worker, capable of working under limited supervision and able to work as a team member.

SALARY: Negotiable

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Wednesday, October 1, 2003

Send letter of application, resume and three (3) recent letters of reference to:

Sara Neuert, A/Executive Director
Chiefs of Ontario
Administrative Office:
188 Mohawk Street
Brantford, Ontario
N3S 2X2
Phone: (519) 750-1016
Fax: (519) 750-1316

For a copy of the Education Policy Analyst/Coordinator job description, please call Dianne Simon at (519) 750-1016.

On Friday, September 5, Charles Ailey travelled to Sioux Lookout to meet with K-Net staff. Charles is developing a regional strategy to support the successful implementation and operation of the telehealth and teleradiology initiatives being undertaken by the NORTH Network. The meetings with K-Net staff involved discussions around the technical requirements and support services needed to make these initiatives work in the remote First Nations across the region.

During his visit to the K-Net office, Charles was able to discuss some of the challenges affecting Fort Severn with Mel Orecklin, the Band's Co-manager.

Douglas Crust is a Program Officer with the Community Access Program from Industry Canada’s Toronto regional office. On Monday, September 8, he flew to Thunder Bay and met with Carl and other people in the Thunder Bay FedNor office. Then he drove to Sioux Lookout to meet with K-Net staff and learn about some of the work being done in this region.

After a tour of the satellite earth station site and the fibre network hub at the local library, Doug visited the local community CAP site located in the library which was a beehive of activity with nearly all the terminals being used by community members. Check out the pictures of this portion of the visit.

At supper, Robert Thomas from Fort Severn joined us and shared information about the development and operation of the CAP sites in his community. Discussions also focussed on local needs and issues that can influence the present and future successful operation of these resources in remote communities.

Doug’s journey continues with a drive over to Red Lake to visit the McDowell Lake public access sites located at the KO office in Balmertown and the Band Office in Red Lake. Then on Wednesday, Doug will be flying into North Spirit Lake to visit the CAP sites and to meet the people in that community.

The three far northern Cree First Nations of Fort Severn, Shamattawa and Weenusk signed a joint declaration rejecting the boundaries outlined by the Group of 10 in its MOU. Fort Severn, Shamattawa and Weenusk are located in the far north of Ontario and Manitoba, along the coast of Hudson Bay.

Leaders, elders and youth from the three communities gathered this week in Fort Severn to review the Group of 10's M.O.U. and to formulate their strategy for dealing with what they saw as encroachment on their ancestral and traditional lands.

For more details about this meeting and photos log on to http://www.fortsevernfirstnation.com

Fax (807) 537 2568

The community of Kitchenuhmaykoosib has five baseball teams and first four local teams to register will be accepted & for visiting teams between two to four teams to register will be accepted

To outside baseball teams, to confirm your team call me on

Monday at 537 9949 I'll be home all day

but for Tuesday and Wednesday call me in the evening or leave your name and phone number on my answering machine or Fax a message to 537 2568

To the community of K.I, If no visiting teams confirm by wednesday, We will still have a tournamnet but the prizes will changed and the entry fee will be lowered to $500.00

K.I Baseball Teams:

West Bay

Full Impact

Storm

Lakers

The New Nasty Boys

Ricardo Ramirez and the team from Telecommons Development Group have been working with Keewaytinook Okimakanak for the past four years in the development and facilitation of the program evaluation tools we are using to assess our work in the KO First Nations. Ricardo recently developed and published a paper for the Journal of Development Communication about this work for an academic audience and communication practitioners internationally. This journal is published by the the Asian Institute for Development Communication (AIDCOM) in Malaysia.

The paper is called "Bridging disciplines: The natural resource management kaleidoscope for understanding ICTs" and is available on-line by clicking on the title.

Abstract

The potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as tools to enhance the development of rural and remote regions remains largely undetermined. The component technologies are designed as commercial tools for industrialized settings and the fact that they have potential for rural and remote community development worldwide is an add-on. The role and impact of the new technology is so vast that a multidisciplinary approach is needed to appreciate it. There are a growing number of tools and diagrams in the literature to capture the multiple dimensions of ICTs, and they all seem to fall short of capturing their very essence. In other words there is a need for a new epistemology to guide this process. This paper provides elements for that epistemology from the field of natural resource management (NRM). The fields of natural resource management and information and communication technology for rural development share several features: they involve multiple dimensions and technical disciplines, multiple stakeholders are involved, a seemingly endless number of variables and indicators need attention, and there is increasing unpredictability and complexity. Four pillars are proposed towards a new epistemology to understand ICTs as tools for rural and remote community development: acknowledging diversity in paradigms; embracing pluralism; embracing a systems approach; and emphasizing learning and participation. The paper describes ongoing action research with attention to stakeholder engagement in planning, tracking impact, and creating local capacities.