Media.Knet.Ca

Pikangikum First Nation is celebrating the opening of their new Computer Learning Centre this week. Along with their new e-Centre, Pikangikum is also working with Matawa First Nations Management and Blair Electronics to build their own local cable network connecting all the homes, offices and organizations to the internet.

From the FedNor Press Releases at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/infednor-fednor.nsf/en/fn02604e.html

Canada’s New Government Congratulates Pikangikum First Nation On Forestry And Computer Initiatives

KENORA, Ontario, August 4, 2006 — The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health and Minister for FedNor, today offered his congratulations on behalf of the Government of Canada to Pikangikum First Nation for the successful completion of a Land Use Strategy and the establishment of a computer learning centre. FedNor provided $735,000 in support of these two initiatives.

“Canada’s new government recognizes that these forestry and computer initiatives will serve as a fundamental building block, helping Pikangikum First Nation to grow and prosper,” said Minister Clement. “Furthermore, by connecting the community to the information highway, they will be able to take advantage of online educational and training opportunities.”

The community-based Land Use Strategy, part of the Whitefeather Forest Initiative, identifies forestry and resource development opportunities that respect cultural values. The second project, the community computer-learning centre, provides public Internet access and technical support, as well as high school and post-secondary education, and community training opportunities.

“FedNor support has been instrumental in the development of both our natural and human resources,” said Dean Owen, Chief, Pikangikum First Nation. “This will help us continue our efforts to obtain a Sustainable Forestry License, improve the skills of our residents, and ultimately, their employment prospects.”

By supporting Pikangikum First Nation through its programs and services, FedNor is opening doors and building futures for a prosperous Northern Ontario.

To find out more about FedNor, visit us at: http://fednor.ic.gc.ca

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For more information, please contact:

Erik Waddell
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Tony Clement
613-957-0200

Kim Fewchuk
Communications Officer
FedNor
705-941-2105 or 1-877-333-6673

Now is the chance to get your community included as an "Intelligent Community". This process highlights the importance of being connected in today's world. Check out the nomination process at www.intelligentcommunity.org

For more information, read the following two stories that highlight events that are celebrating these Intelligent Communities.

ICF to Honor Smart 21, Name Top Seven Intelligent Communities at PTC '07

The Intelligent Community Forum will name the Smart 21 Communities of the Year on November 10, based on applications received from hundreds of communities around the world. The application process opens on August 14, 2006, with nomination criteria and forms available on the ICF Web site. In January, ICF will name seven these 21 as its Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year at PTC '07 in January. The Smart 21 and Top Seven are communities that serve as role models for the development of competitive local economies and healthy societies in today's global "broadband economy."

On January 15, ICF will honor the Smart 21 during an elegant, invitation-only reception at PTC '07 in Honolulu in January. Attendees from the top ranks of telecommunications, information technology and government will enjoy an evening of fine dining and beverages and an introduction to the Smart 21. Then, on January 16, ICF will announce its Top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2007.

PTC '07: Beyond Telecom, will explore the critical technology, business and policy issues created by the accelerated and continued convergence of communication and entertainment services on IP. Click here to for program information and to register for PTC '07.

ICF Executive Director to Keynote at eCommunity Summit, August 22-25

ICF Executive Director Robert Bell will present the keynote speech on "Intelligent Communities: Leveraging IT investment for Economic Growth," at the Innovation Groups' eCommunity Summit in Las Vegas on August 22.

The second annual eCommunity Summit "Preparing Communities For The Next Wave Of Technologically Advanced Citizens & Businesses," caters to a spectrum of local government technology issues such as broadband economy developments, creating regional municipal consortiums, and future tense applications.

In today's connected world, broadband connectivity makes irrelevant the traditional economic strengths - and weaknesses - of location, population and natural resources. In his keynote address, Robert Bell will outline the principles for collaboration and provide examples of communities that have leveraged IT and economic investments in order to multiply the impact of both. Copies of the presentation are available by contacting Robert Bell at rbell@intelligentcommunity.org.

Click here for more information on the Innovation Groups' eCommunity Summit.  

Intelligent Community Forum
55 Broad Street, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10004 USA
www.intelligentcommunity.org

There is a short window of opportunity (until September 15) to provide YOUR opinion about the grants and contributions being made by the federal government. See the links below for more information ...

From the Blue Panel web site at http://brp-gde.ca/en/

"We urge you to take part in our consultation process. Since the Panel was officially announced on June 6, 2006 we have been busy gathering information and getting feedback from both within government and the public at large on issues touching on how to develop a better grants and contributions relationship for better results all round. As we have been asked to provide our recommendations by December 2006, we have a short window of opportunity to reach out to you.

Our goal as a Panel is to make recommendations on the future of grants and contributions and transfer payments in Canada. The goal of our "workbook" is to enable you to take part in developing options and recommendations for the future through identifying challenges, possible solutions and best practices.

Consultation Process  (The Online workbook will be available from August 2 to September 15)

Step 1 - Review the Consultation Paper (PDF document)


Step 2 - REGISTER, to take part in the Consultation Process


Step 3 - To have your opinion heard, complete your WORKBOOK


Step 4 - Optional - Upload a Submission

Just as Sachigo Lake FN reported on the appearance of Environment Canada and MNR-supported activities in their traditional area, at the same time these activities were also happening in Kasabonika territory!

Rocks, golf balls fly as Caledonia residents, aboriginal protesters clash - Canadian Press
 
CALEDONIA, Ont. (CP) - The ongoing peace process between residents of Caledonia, Ont. and Six Nations protesters turned violent early Monday.

"We had two sides lined up and they were escalating to the point where things were starting to be thrown at each other," said Dennis Harwood, spokesman for the Ontario Provincial Police.

Harwood said about 40 residents gathered in opposition to the aboriginal protesters shortly after midnight.

That number quickly grew to 100 residents, and that's when the projectiles started to fly.

Pebbles, rocks, and golf balls were thrown from both sides, hitting a resident, an occupier and an officer.

No one was hurt, but vehicles and property were damaged.

Police were able to calm the situation and ensure peace throughout the remainder of the night.

Six Nations protesters have occupied the site since February, saying the land was illegally taken from them 200 years ago.

The land, which used to be slated for a housing development, has since been purchased by the province.

Although barricades cutting off access to the town have come down, residents say they're living in fear because of the ongoing occupation.

Harwood said Monday's altercation was sparked by minor incidents that occurred Sunday, beginning when Six Nations children cut the middle out of a Canada flag.

"They were taunting at the Caledonia residents, then the Caledonia residents put up some signs," said Harwood.

Harwood doesn't know what the signs said, but he said they were offensive to the aboriginals, who tore them down.

The two sides have clashed before, notably in late April when about 500 non-aboriginal residents of Caledonia marched on the occupation site following a community rally.

Harwood said this type of behaviour will hopefully not hinder the peace process.

"Certainly, we're hoping that they'll let the negotiators negotiate."

Copyright © 2006 Canadian Press

From the Toronto Star, Saturday, Aug 5, 2006 - http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1154728213619&call_pageid=970599119419

Ontario's last, great wilderness - Development coming to the Far North ... 17 million hectares, just 25,000 people
Aug. 5, 2006 - PETER GORRIE - ENVIRONMENT WRITER

MUSKRAT DAM, Ont. When coffee first arrived here many years ago, no one knew how long to boil it.

"Seven minutes," a native elder advised with suitable gravity.

So, seven it was, and seven it remains, even though the wise man had pulled the magic number out of thin air.

Chief Vernon Morris laughs at the story as he lifts a blackened, battered pot off the fire and pours himself a cup of toxic-looking liquid.

It's about a landscape and a way of life: Both are about to change forever as the provincial government pushes development into the Far North, Ontario's last frontier.

But Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay vows things will be different than in the south: "We've got a brand-new fresh slate up there ... We've learned from all our past mistakes, and our history."

Others see worrying evidence that it's business as usual, and that the environment and native people will pay a steep price.

Morris was at a traditional camp, about an hour by motor boat up the Severn River from Muskrat Dam, a quiet, well-run First Nation with 300 residents.

Members of his extended family were ending a relaxed week in the bush. They'd bagged a moose, beaver and geese, taught their kids some Oji-Cree ways, prepared the site for the big hunt this fall, told tales and jokes, and downed a lot of rugged caffeine.

They were, by southern Ontario standards, in the middle of nowhere.

The wide, muddy Severn and the tiny community are in a huge, little-known part of the province that, although connected to the outside world by planes, television and the Internet, remains pretty much as it was 500 years ago — or 5,000.

A mere 25,000 people, in 45 scattered settlements, inhabit these 17 million hectares stretching across the top of Ontario. Shy woodland caribou outnumber humans.

Here, fire, insects or old age — not loggers — fell trees. Travel is by small aircraft or boat; beyond the communities, the only roads are constructed on ice each winter.

Forest like this stretches across Canada's midsection. Biologists call it the boreal. It's the heart of our wilderness myth, though few experience it.

In the midst of it, it seems — like Muskrat Dam's seven-minute coffee — strong, and immune to change.

But that's an illusion. Ontario's northern forest is, in fact, a fragile remnant.

It's also part of a global pattern. Three-quarters of Earth's original forests have been chopped down. Canada's boreal is one of just three with large areas still intact. The others are a similar landscape in Russia and Brazil's Amazon rainforest. All are dwindling.

A couple of centuries ago, Ontario was nothing but trees. First, the southern forest of thick maple, oak and pine was cleared. Then, loggers moved up past the French River, which flows between Lake Nipissing and Georgian Bay, and into the boreal. Now, only the most remote 40 per cent remains in close to its original state.

The limit of development is known as the cutline, which meanders along roughly the 51st parallel of latitude.

To the south are highways, big-box stores, power lines, cottage developments, mines and loggers. The province has turned over almost all of the forest to companies that produce lumber and paper. Most is sold in the United States. The land is dominated by massive clear-cuts and a spider's web of rutted access roads that quickly become permanent public thoroughfares.

Environmentalists consider it an ecological disaster that threatens countless bird, animal, fish and plant species, and contributes to climate change.

Until now, the province has prohibited commercial logging north of the cutline. Economic realities kept much else from happening.

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Canada's boreal holds much of Earth's fresh water, and is the nesting place for one-third of North America's songbirds, notes Vancouver-based Forest Ethics. Its soils and trees are one of the planet's largest carbon storehouses; they play a major role in regulating climate change.

A study for the Calgary-based Pembina Institute and the Canadian Boreal Initiative — an Ottawa group comprised of green organizations, forest companies and First Nations — concluded the forest region is more valuable in its natural state than if it's exploited by industry.

The study measured the net value of industry across the boreal — logging, mining, oil and gas, etc. — versus the value that the forest brings in its natural state — carbon storage, medicine, food, water and air purification. According to the study, the boreal won handily, $93.2 billion to $37.8 billion.

Some First Nations say forest companies have trampled their traditional lands and rights. People in Grassy Narrows, an hour's drive north of Kenora, still suffer the impacts of mercury poisoning from a pulp and paper mill in the 1970s. For four years, they've battled nearby cutting by two giants — Abitibi Consolidated Inc. and Weyerhaeuser Company. That's why some recently blocked the TransCanada highway.

A recent report by the Boreal Initiative says overfishing brought on by road access, as well as habitat destruction from sedimentation and dams, is causing fish stocks to collapse in boreal lakes and streams.

A shelf-load of books and studies concludes current forestry practices — based on clear-cutting with heavy industrial machines, followed by reforestation — are unsustainable even though licences granted by the province require loggers to return cut areas to something like their original state.

Replanting doesn't work, says Jay Malcolm, a forestry expert at the University of Toronto. Even when spruce and Jack pine are sown, fast-growing aspen and poplar quickly overtake them. And, he says, forests are likely to be recut years before they reach old growth, the only stage that supports many species of birds and animals.

Instead of natural, complex forests, they become tree farms.

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Last April, Chief Morris and others from Muskrat Dam were at a different camp, near a river called the Windigo, whose clear water forms a distinct grey pattern where it merges with the murky-brown Severn.

They were on their annual goose hunt, an important source of food and crucial connection with their history.

This year, for the first time, hardly any geese came. Helicopters frightened off most of the tasty birds. The chopper crews, contracted by the international conglomerate De Beers, were seeking evidence of diamonds.

Company officials asked for a meeting to discuss the disruption, then dictated who could attend, Morris says. He told them to forget it.

"I get the sense that for them it's a minor issue. They don't want to work with First Nations ... They just go ahead."

Muskrat Dam has a history of fending off projects. During the 1960s and again in the early '90s, it was mining companies looking for gold and nickel. In between came a proposal to construct up to eight hydroelectric dams on the Severn, a scheme that would have flooded much of the community's traditional territory.

"We're not so lucky these days," Morris says. "The companies are getting bolder."

De Beers is already building a mine east of Muskrat Dam, over near James Bay. That open-pit project, called the Victor mine, will impact an area four times the size of Toronto.

Last winter, Aurora-based Platinex Inc. began exploring for platinum despite objections from the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation, about 70 kilometres from Muskrat Dam. When people from KI protested, the company halted preliminary work, then sued the community for $10 billion.

(Earlier this week, an Ontario Superior court judge rejected Platinex's request for an injunction to end the native protest. Instead, the judge granted the reserve's application for an injunction stopping work at the site for five months while the company and the provincial government hold talks with KI.)

Despite that controversy, Superior Diamond Inc. of Vancouver later staked a claim on the traditional lands of KI's chief.

Last month, Ramsay's ministry endorsed the first plan for logging north of the cutline, in two forest blocks near the Manitoba border. There's also talk of hydroelectric projects and corridors for power lines.

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In the 2003 provincial election campaign, then-opposition leader Dalton McGuinty promised, "meaningful, broad-scale land-use planning" before he'd allow major development in the northern boreal.

Since winning power, however, McGuinty and his ministers have become advocates for expansion into the region.

Ramsay rejects a moratorium, but insists the north won't look like the south. "We're aware of the fragility of that part of the world."

No new towns will be built, he says. Outside workers will be housed in temporary camps. First Nations will lead the planning because "it's their territory. They're the occupants."

Pikanjikum — a community near the Manitoba border that's plagued by suicides and desperate for jobs for its young people — devised the first Far-North logging project, Ramsay notes.

In contrast with land south of the cutline, where entire forests are turned into paper or basic lumber at giant mills, Pikanjikum will cut fewer trees and convert them into coated posts and beams for Japanese house construction. Slow-growing northern wood is extremely tough, so the product will meet Japan's earthquake standards, the minister says.

"It's a lot better than the old culture of cut and saw." And, he suggests, it's the model for the Far North — "smaller production but value added."

Most important, he says, any commercial logging, or mines, roads and other projects, must be approved by First Nations. He has invited aboriginal leaders to a "Northern Table" to discuss land use planning.

But industry people — mining companies in particular — fear the government will deal with northern disputes as it handled the showdown in Caledonia. That's the Ontario town where natives blocked a road to protest a housing development on land they claim.

Queen's Park bought the land and negotiated, "implicitly accepting the occupiers' contention that Canadian courts have no jurisdiction over aboriginal lands or citizens," the industry newspaper Northern Miner complained this month.

It was "the worst example possible in dealing with aboriginal land claims," the paper said.

On the other side, environmentalists are equally unhappy.

"There's no vision of what the forest should look like in the future," says Anna Baggio, director of conservation land-use planning at the Toronto-based Wildlands League. "There's a void in leadership and policy," and a "development first" approach that will inevitably fuel more conflict.

Unless First Nations assert their rights, "it will open the floodgates," says Joan Kuyek, national co-ordinator of MiningWatch Canada, an environmental group that monitors the industry.

Rights are being asserted. Muskrat Dam, KI and seven other First Nations have declared a moratorium on development. KI also wants the courts to overturn the Ontario Mining Act, which gives prospectors virtually free access to most private land.

"We expect Ontario and industry to consult with us before development happens," says Stan Beardy, grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which covers the Far North. "Right now, that's not happening."

However, Beardy says, Ramsay has promised to work out a new process for consultation while the Mining Act is reviewed.

Aboriginal representatives from across northern Ontario wrapped up the Mii Kwen Daan - Continuing the Dialogue with NOSM representatives with a series of recommendation. Video archives of the sessions are available by joining the http://meeting.knet.ca online environment. Please join the ongoing discussion forums to add your contributions to this "Continuing the Dialogue".

NOSM Press Release ...

Aboriginal Workshop Recommends Further Development of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine

Fort William First Nation, August 3, 2006 --  95 Aboriginal, community and health care leaders from all across Northern Ontario spent the past three days engaged in discussions at a workshop hosted by the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM).  The Mii Kwen Daan - Continuing the Dialogue " workshop, held at Fort William First Nation, provided a forum for participants to discuss opportunities to further engage Aboriginal communities into the ongoing development of the School of Medicine.

Some of the recommendations arising out of the discussions centered around:

• Communications: Evaluate the mechanisms used to communicate with Aboriginal communities to maximize their impact and effectiveness.
    
• Community Engagement: Provide further opportunities for students and community staff to interact and learn from each other to prepare them for community and cultural learning experiences.
    
• Admissions: Advocate for greater financial support for Aboriginal medical students and applicants.
    
• Curriculum: Development: create additional opportunities to increase and sustain cultural awareness.
    
• Research: Establish an Ethics Review sub-committee of the Aboriginal Reference Group.   

Rosie Mosquito, Nishnawbe Aski Nation and Chair of the NOSM Aboriginal Reference Group commended the School of Medicine for its progressive approach to Aboriginal issues.  "The School's efforts to engage the Aboriginal communities of Northern Ontario into its curriculum and administration are truly progressive.  With a 'think-outside-the-box' approach, NOSM leadership has pushed the parameters for a successful medical education program."

NOSM Founding Dean Dr. Roger Strasser was extremely pleased with the workshop's outcomes.  "The Northern Ontario School of Medicine has a mandate to be socially accountable reflecting the cultural diversity of Northern Ontario.  Workshops like this, help to ensure that the School of Medicine is succeeding in its efforts to engage Aboriginal communities into the School's programs.  We look forward to working with the Aboriginal Reference Group to review the recommendations arising out of this workshop." 
 
The Mii Kwen Daan - Continuing the Dialogue workshop was a follow-up to the 2003 Follow Your Dreams workshop held in Wauzhushk Onigum First Nation.  During this initial workshop, Aboriginal participants provided specific recommendations for creating an "Aboriginal friendly" medical school.  A Mii Kwen Daan - Continuing the Dialogue workshop report will be published in the coming months and posted to www.normed.ca. 

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is a pioneering faculty of medicine. The School is a joint initiative of Lakehead and Laurentian Universities with main campuses in Thunder Bay and Sudbury, and multiple teaching and research sites across Northern Ontario. By educating skilled physicians and undertaking health research suited to community needs, the School will become a cornerstone of community health care in Northern Ontario.

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For further information, please contact:
Tracie Smith   Marlene Moore
807-766-7314 or 807-624-7862 705-662-7243
tracie.smith@normed.ca  marlene.moore@normed.ca

Communications Unit
Northern Ontario School of Medicine

West Campus
Lakehead University
955 Oliver Rd.
Thunder Bay ON  P7B 5E1
Tel: 807-766-7300
Fax: 807-766-7370

East Campus
Laurentian University
935 Ramsey Lake Rd.
Sudbury ON  P3E 2C6
Tel: 705-675-4883
Fax: 705-675-4858
E-mail: NormedNews@NorMed.ca

Received this interesting e-mail and checked out the Native Nations Institute's NNI Research Report ... good stuff ...

"sharing research and information on indigenous governance, development, and policy"

Dear Friend,

We are pleased to announce that the fifth issue of the Native Nations Institute's NNI Research Report is now on the NNI website and can be reached through the following link:

http://nni.arizona.edu/researchreport/NNIRR_05/summer_2006.html

NNI Research Report is a free, electronic information service of the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy at the University of Arizona.  It is published 3-4 times a year.  Subscribers to NNI Research Report are notified by email when each new issue appears on NNI's website.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE NOTIFIED WHENEVER A NEW ISSUE OF COMES OUT, please reply to this email indicating that you would like to be added to the subscription list (subscriptions are free).  If we do not hear from you, and to avoid cluttering up your mailbox with unwanted messages, we will not send you any further notifications.

Like previous issues(archived on the NNI website), the current issue reviews new research by NNI staff and affiliates, summarizes published work by other scholars relevant to indigenous self-determination and nation building, notes ongoing research projects, and provides links to other organizations working on related issues.

We also invite you to notify us of publications, papers, and projects that might be of interest to other practitioners working in this field.

The Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy (NNI) was founded in 2001 by the Morris K. Udall Foundation and the University of Arizona.  Housed at the university's Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, NNI serves as a self-determination, self-governance, and development resource for indigenous nations.  For more information, visit the NNI website at:

http://www.nni.arizona.edu

Sincerely,

Stephen Cornell, Director
Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy

Miriam Jorgensen, Associate Director for Research Native Nations Institute

**********************************************************************
NNI Research Report
NATIVE NATIONS INSTITUTE FOR LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND POLICY Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy The University of Arizona
803 East First Street
Tucson, Arizona 85719
Tel 520 626-0664  Fax 520 626-3664
www.nni.arizona.edu

From the SPONSORSHIP letter being circulated with the poster - DOWNLOAD a PDF copy of the poster at http://knet.ca/documents/Benefit-concert-finalposter.pdf

Dear friends & relatives:

We are calling on all First Nations, Anishinaabeg-Aboriginal organizations, community groups, corporations and businesses for contributions to "purchase" tickets for this benefit concert at $10 each. All proceeds will support the launch of Oshki'Ayaa'aag Bimaadiziiwin (Good Life for Young People) Foundation. (see page 3)

The concert will be held at Assabaska Ojibway Heritage Park on Friday, August 11, 2006 beginning at 7:30 PM. www.assabaskapark.com

The concert will feature Keith Secola, www.secola.com winner of three 2006 Native American Music Awards including, Artist of the Year, along with the award winning band, Eagle & Hawk of Winnipeg, MB. www.eagleandhawk.com. The opening act will be Big Grassy’s own Percy Tuesday and his band, the P.T. Cruisers. All are generously waiving their usual fees for this inaugural benefit concert. 

“The thunderous sound of a Pow Wow Drum, power chords and finger pick'in, echoes of Native American Flute, the music of Keith Secola and Wild Band of Indians. AlterNative, progressive innovative edge utilizing traditional Native percussions, world beat and tribal dance.”

"The human race, is the face of all people, different tongues, one heart."--KEITH SECOLA 

Your contributions will allow every one to attend the event free of charge, as well as covering musicians travel expenses. All other proceeds go to Oshki'Ayaa'g Bimaadiziiwin Foundation.

Patron Categories (Agencies, Communities, Business, & Corporate):

• 200+: Spectacular! $2000+
• 100+: Awesome! $1000+
• 51-99: Way Cool! $510-$990
• 26-50: Cool! $260-$500

Sponsor Categories (Individuals, Groups)

• 10-25: $100-$250
• 5-9: $50-90
• 1-4: $10-40

We also need volunteers and donations for

• 1 large generator w/ enough capacity to power concert sound and lights.
• 2 small portable generators for concert vendors (merchandise & cd's)
• Sound Production & Lights
• 1 x-large tarp for stage covering w/lumber
• 1 small gazebo/tent for sound & light technicians
• Security
• Parking attendants
• (6) Portable washrooms w/1 handicapped access
• (2) Portable handwashing stations
• Printing & Production of Concert & Promotional Materials

For more information, to donate or get involved, please contact one of us.

Click here to download a copy of the poster (PDF document).

Miigwech,

Al Hunter, Coordinator (807) 482-1687
Mary Alice Smith (807) 548-1470
Laura Calmwind (807) 467-8778 ext. 228
Eleanor Skead (807) 548-4354

Ohshi’Ayaa’aag Bimaadiziiwin Foundation
Good Life for Young People
c/o P.O. Box 515
Emo, Ontario
P0W-1E0

The judge's decision is in ... David Peerla, Nishnawbe Aski Nation Mining Coordinator kindly provided KI with some of the key phrases / paraphrases from the KI Injunction decision. These include:

• Platinex was the author of own misfortune
• Crown stood on the sidelines
• The injunction compels the Crown to act honourably
• The provincial Crown has not heard or comprehended 16 years of judicial messages on aboriginal and treaty rights
• The Crown abdicated its responsibility and delegated its duty to consult to Platinex
• Consultation must begin before any activity begins
• The Crown must commit to reconciliation over litigation
• Platinex ignored or was wilfully blind to the concerns and positions of the KI community
• Platinex's actions were disrespectful and interpreted as an insult by KI
• Platinex decided to gamble that KI would not try to stop them
• No means No
• Platinex did not disclose it had no consent to investors

As well the judge included powerful statements concerning KI's responsibilities ...

• KI had a duty under its own laws to protect the land
• KI had 6 stage community approval process and the community process was not complete

From: David Peerla, Nishnawbe Aski Nation Mining Coordinator, 807.625.4915, 807.627.3097

Check out Ontario's press release about the decision ... sounds like business as usual ... http://ogov.newswire.ca/ontario/GPOE/2006/07/29/c2186.html?lmatch=&lang=_e.html

Some background articles from http://www.miningwatch.ca/