Media.Knet.Ca

from http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2006/29/c0076.html

Province And First Nations Create New Partnership With Signing Of An Agreement-In-Principle On Gaming Revenue - Increased Revenue To Enable Key Investments In First Nation Communities

    QUEEN'S PARK, ON, March 29 /CNW/ - Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty today signed an agreement-in-principle with the Ontario First Nations Limited Partnership (OFNLP) that sets out a new partnership for sharing the economic benefits of gaming with First Nations.

    "Our government is committed to building opportunity and this agreement-in-principle is an important step forward in meeting the needs of First Nations communities," said Premier McGuinty. "It provides the foundation for a stronger partnership with First Nations as we work together to invest in their communities in a number of areas such as the education, skills and health of First Nations peoples."

    "This agreement is designed to provide over 130 Ontario First Nations with greater financial stability," said David Caplan, Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal and Minister Responsible for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLGC). "This is a historic day and we want to acknowledge the invaluable leadership of the negotiators."

    In February 2005, the McGuinty Liberal government appointed former Premier David Peterson to lead discussions with First Nations on a new agreement for distributing gaming revenue to Ontario First Nations.

    Under a pre-existing contract that runs until 2011, Ontario First Nations receive provincial gaming revenue from a single gaming site - Casino Rama. The terms set out in today's agreement-in-principle would add to this arrangement by providing First Nations with 1.6 per cent of gross revenue from all provincial gaming, starting in 2011. Ontario First Nations would also receive approximately $155 million over the next six years.

    "This First Nations Gaming and Revenue Sharing Agreement-in-Principle represents a new relationship between First Nations within Ontario and the Province. It is an opportunity for our partners to build upon existing successes as well as address their community growth and development. We look forward to finalizing the agreements required to move forward," said Harvey Yesno, President of the OFNLP.

    "Today's announcement demonstrates Ontario's commitment to developing a true partnership with First Nations peoples," said David Ramsay, Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs. "We are taking a big step forward on the New Approach to Aboriginal Affairs by working with First Nations to increase economic opportunities."

    The agreement-in-principle was signed by Premier McGuinty on behalf of the Ontario government and by the OLGC and the OFNLP. It provides that the parties will seek to negotiate binding legal agreements to give effect to the terms of the agreement-in-principle by December 31, 2006.

    Premier McGuinty thanked David Peterson for leading this effort on behalf of the Province. He also thanked the OFNLP negotiating team - Gord Peters, Joe Miskokomon, Linda Commandant, Don Morrison, Mike Mitchell, Ernest Sutherland and George Kakeway - for their vision and commitment.

    "This agreement will make a lasting difference in the lives of First Nations people throughout the province," said Premier McGuinty. "The increased revenue will allow First Nations to make key investments to build a brighter future for their communities and a stronger Ontario for all."

From http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20060328/casino_deal_060328/20060328?hub=TorontoHome

Ont. to renew casino revenue deal with natives - Canadian Press

TORONTO — An agreement that distributes net revenues from Casino Rama to Ontario's aboriginal communities is being extended through a new deal that could also give natives a bigger slice of the total provincial gaming pie.

Sources say the province will sign an agreement Wednesday that extends a five-year deal reached in 2001, which would have expired this summer.

The new deal could also allow aboriginal communities to share in revenues from other casinos around the province. Former premier David Peterson was appointed as Ontario's representative last year in talks to give First Nations a share of all provincial gaming sites.

Currently, Ontario's aboriginal communities share provincial gaming revenue only from Casino Rama.

The previous deal ensured net revenues from Casino Rama, located on aboriginal land, are distributed to 134 First Nations communities around Ontario.

The casino - located near Orillia, north of Toronto - has collected roughly $1 billion in net revenues since it opened in 1996.

The Ontario government's previous deal on the casino's revenues, signed in 2001, was meant to provide aboriginals with a stable source of funding for community, economic and cultural development, health and education.

It has been the subject of litigation in recent years, with the Mnjikaning First Nation saying it should retain 35 per cent of net revenues since the casino is on the band's land. That money has been held in escrow for years, pending results of the litigation.

The government calls Casino Rama central Ontario's most popular tourist attraction, hosting 12,000 patrons daily.

It is also one of the largest employers of First Nations people in Canada, with 2,300 slot machines and 120 table games.

To celebrate World Water Day on 22 March, UNESCO's online magazine, the Courier has published a collection of articles on this precious resource, that is increasingly threatened by population growth, pollution and poor management.

Water: A Grindstone of Governance
There is no water shortage, at least not on paper. The Second United Nations World Water Development Report shows that water resources are unequally distributed, and above all, badly managed. Presented in Mexico City in March 2006, ‘Water, a Shared Responsibility’, takes an inventory of the planet’s water resources.  More

Click here to Subscribe to the Courier and receive the newsletter and updates

Water, A Shared Responsibility - The main theme of the 4^th World Water Forum (4th WWF) was Local Actions for a Global Challenge. Water related problems have their greatest impacts at the local level. As a result, local actions are key for generating concrete results that, when amalgamated across sectors and regions, will move us closer to meeting the water-related targets set by the Millennium Development Goals.

Valencia: Water Wisdom - In Valencia's vast “huerta”, the heartland of Spain’s orchards, water is an historically strategic element. For centuries a special court has met on every Thursday to settle disputes relating to this key resource. More

from http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2006/24/c5838.html

Platinex Encouraged by Government Action on Big Trout Lake Exploration Delay

TORONTO, March 24 /CNW/ - Platinex Inc. (TSX-V: PTX) reports on recent progress relating to its delayed exploration program at the Big Trout Lake property in Northern Ontario.

On Monday March 6th, Rick Bartolucci, Minister of Northern Development and Mines, announced "Ontario's Mineral Development Strategy", which includes the Government's commitment to "...ensuring that mineral sector activities occur in a manner consistent with Ontario's consultation obligations related to Aboriginal and Treaty rights."

Platinex President James Trusler is encouraged that the Ontario Government is taking its consultation duties seriously, but notes that "Platinex has made clear to the Minister and senior MNDM officials that the absence of government consultation with the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug community (KI) over many years has frustrated the Company's extensive consultation efforts and ability to explore on its claims at Big Trout Lake. This is a situation that requires urgent action on the part of Government at the most senior levels to resolve KI's concerns." Minister Bartolucci has indicated that he is treating this matter as a priority.

In conjunction with its on-going communications with the Ontario Government, Platinex continues to seek a response from KI regarding its offer to set up a meeting to discuss exploration related matters. Platinex remains committed to playing its part in the consultation process. During the recent Prospectors and Developers Association annual Convention in Toronto, Platinex representatives made a presentation to the PDA directors regarding the obligation to consult with First Nations people through the exploration process. Part of the program featured the involvement of First Nations people from various parts of Canada who are involved in exploration and/or mining and bringing substantial benefit to their individual communities.

In addition to seeking a timely resolution to enable Platinex's safe access to its Big Trout Lake property, the Company is continuing to evaluate data obtained with the acquisition of the adjacent property to define the extent of the existing chromite deposits and to estimate the potential of the platinum group element mineralization. A release of this data is expected shortly.

"It has always been the intention of Platinex management to acquire additional PGE properties with exceptional potential to improve the Company's chances of discovering a very large PGE deposit. In addition management wishes to provide more stability to the Company by opportunistic acquisition of more advanced mineral properties," Trusler stated. Such events are expected shortly and will be announced on conclusion of staking or negotiations.

About Platinex Inc.

Platinex is a Canadian exploration company based near Toronto. Platinex focuses on carefully selected Platinum Group Element targets in settings with potential for the discovery of multi-million-ounce deposits, analogous to the JM reef (Stillwater Complex, Montana) and the Merensky and UG2 reefs (Bushveld Complex, RSA), each of which contain resources of PGEs in the tens or hundreds of millions of ounces. The Company is currently exploring on its Big Trout Lake Property in Northern Ontario, approximately 580 km (350 miles) north of Thunder Bay. Shares of Platinex became listed for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange on November 4, 2005, under the symbol PTX. Platinex has 14,271,173 common shares issued and outstanding.

from http://afn.ca/article.asp?id=2291

Special Chiefs Assembly
March 27-29, 2006
Hilton Lac Lemay
3 Boul. du Casino
Gatineau, Quebec

AFN CEO Richard Jock Welcome Message Video
We are pleased to announce that the Special Chiefs Assembly will be broadcast LIVE on our website! View the Special Chiefs Assembly on March 27-29, 2006 Live with Real Player	Get Real Player
Agenda
Registration Information
Message from the AFN National Chief on the Special Chiefs Assembly
Call for Resolutions

Be sure to read the comments about this article by Karihwakeron (Tim Thompson), Education Advisor, Chiefs of Ontario Officer, at the bottom. 

from http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1143240611083&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

Residential schools cast long shadow ... Where suicide lives ... A plague of teen deaths is stalking northern Ontario reserves ... Native leaders see fathers as the key to stopping the dying

LOUISE BROWN - EDUCATION REPORTER - Mar. 24, 2006

THUNDER BAY—There is a corner of Ontario where some 6-year-olds play a homemade game called Suicide.

"My turn to put the rope around my neck — this time, you yell Suicide!"

One child nearly strangled.

It's the same part of the province where teenaged boys on a rampage threatened to kill themselves if anyone tried to stop them, so no one did.

Ask Celina Oskineegish, 16, how many friends and family she has lost to suicide while growing up in Summer Beaver, a community near James Bay, and she holds up 10 fingers.

"It's actually 12, but I don't have that many fingers," she says softly.

"It's very hard for the people left behind. I lost my close friend when we were 13; he drowned after sniffing (gas)," says the Grade 11 student.

"When someone talks about committing suicide, you just stick with them and tell their parents, but that doesn't always work."

This is the land where suicide lives, high in the woods of northern Ontario.

But increasingly, native leaders see parents, especially fathers, as key to stopping the dying.

They say generations of native Canadians raised without parents at distant, harsh, sometimes sexually abusive residential schools have become distant, harsh, sometimes sexually abusive parents themselves — and they must heal their own wounds if they are to raise children who feel life is worth living.

In its dying days in office, the federal Liberal government pledged millions to help communities rebuild these family bonds — $125 million earmarked specifically for healing the emotional wounds of residential school survivors in a tentative compensation package hammered out with native groups, and $1.3 billion targeted for aboriginal health, including suicide prevention, in the Kelowna Accord signed last November with aboriginal leaders.

Oskineegish's community and others like it hope these pledges will deliver more grassroots parenting and social programs to curb the deadly despair.

Some 30,000 people live in dozens of scattered Indian reserves between Hudson Bay and Manitoba. Some of these communities work hard to carve out a place in the global economy — focusing on education, instilling pride in the past and hope for the future.

Yet nearly once every two weeks, someone north of 50 takes their life: usually a teenager, usually a male, usually by hanging.

Last year, 24 people died by their own hand across the region known as the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) north of Thunder Bay, which covers two-thirds of the map of Ontario.

Over the past 20 years, 327 people in the NAN region have committed suicide. Five teenaged boys have hanged themselves since New Year's Day.

An intergovernmental committee was formed on aboriginal youth suicide in 2000. There have been inquests, awareness campaigns, teen self-esteem programs — Girl Power for girls, Wolf Spirit for boys — but as Canada's native population grows faster than any other in the country, native suicide rates remain alarmingly high.

And most fingers point to residential schools.

For more than a century, the Canadian government removed more than 100,000 native children from their families and placed them in church-run boarding schools where they were forbidden to speak their language or honour their culture. Often beaten and sexually abused, many suffered life-long shame and withdrawal, turning the same abuse on their own children.

"Suicide is a symptom of things that have gone seriously wrong in our community — dysfunctional families, poor parenting, sexual abuse, residential schools and poverty — and as native parents and fathers, we must take responsibility and confront the monsters in our closet," says NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy.

"About 90 per cent of my people have been affected by residential schools, where nobody told you they loved you and you weren't allowed to express your feelings — so when you grow up, you don't know about normal family bonds," said Beardy, one of the few who avoided residential school.

"Even basic things the dominant culture takes for granted — like a family meal, family time — hasn't really taken hold in our culture because we never did that at residential school. We behave the way we were treated.

"So just the fact we're talking about these issues of healing and parenting now is progress itself. This has all been kept so quiet for too long."

It may sound familiar.

It's the same link between fatherless teens and violence being drawn by black leaders from Toronto to Philadelphia. It's the same call for men to become active mentors that we hear from black leaders like Boston minister Eugene Rivers on a recent visit to Toronto.

Former principal Goyce Kakegamic calls strong families and fathers "the first line of defence in the battle against suicide." As NAN deputy chief responsible for education, Kakegamic organized the recent faith-based Embrace Life forum on suicide prevention and called on native men — many of whom drift between multiple partners and have numerous children with whom they have little contact — to return to their family role.

He echoed Rivers in his challenge to men to step up to the plate.

"The love and caring of a parent, family and friends are more powerful in healing a broken spirit than money and programs can ever be," he said to an all-ages audience from across Ontario's north. "I challenge each of you, and especially men, to think about what you can do to ensure your children learn values to live by."

Ryan Morrison, a 24-year-old native youth volunteer, has been on his own for nine years; he barely knows his father and rarely sees his mother. He lost three friends to suicide in five years, and came to the brink himself. "I think young people kill themselves because they can't find love. You keep looking for the spotlight, looking for attention. You keep looking, then you get on edge, then you start drinking and suddenly you're standing on a cliff over a lake and thinking about just jumping off."

For Morrison, the answer came through religion. For others, the government offers funds for counselling.

Winnipeg lawyer Ken Young is the Assembly of First Nations' special adviser on residential schools. He knows the impact the schools have on a man's ability to be a good father.

Young spent 10 years at residential school in Manitoba, where he says students were flogged if they tried to escape. He became so introverted, he says, he went through law school without asking a question and lost his first case because he wouldn't examine the witness.

"Our people have a tremendous problem with parenting; it's one of the legacies of residential schools, where we were never encouraged, never nurtured," he told the Embrace Life forum.

"I was not a good parent. I never hugged my daughter; I never told her I loved her — I didn't know that's what parents did. Only now, as a grandfather, am I able to hug my daughter and grandchild. The legacy of suicide we now face is largely a result of lack of nurturance in our communities."

Young admits Indian communities face severe economic issues, "poverty, the dependency syndrome created by three generations of welfare and the lack of recreational facilities taken for granted in urban centres. But for our communities to finally begin to heal, our leaders need to heal, and then they will make decisions in the best interests of their communities."

Suicide expert Al Evans, professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo, says the role of a father or male mentors is crucial during the mid-teens, especially for boys, to provide emotional support and moral guidance.

"Where there is family disruption and the father is not available, this can be one of the contributing causes of suicide — and often aboriginal fathers are struggling with despair and alcohol problems themselves," said Evans, who has just published a biography of native artist Benjamin Chee-Chee, who killed himself in 1977 at the age of 32.

Ricky Asta, 19, of Davis Inlet in Labrador has graduated from a solvent abuse treatment centre in Thunder Bay. He says many Innu teens commit suicide, and he thinks he knows why.

"They don't know who they are."

But there is hope, says Abe Kakepetum, an esteemed Ojibwa artist whose work has been featured on Toronto designer Linda Lundstrom's popular "La Parka" winter coats. Kakepetum is a residential school survivor who, like others of his generation, is only now, as a grandfather, beginning to overcome the emotional scars.

"I lost the ability to hug when I was away from my mother at school. When I became a parent I had no idea how to hug. I still have a problem with hugging, but I make an effort with my grandchildren," said Kakepetum, who ran workshops for fellow elders at the Embrace Life forum on suicide prevention.

"All my life, we've never really dealt with the residential school problem. A lot of the ones who were abused, or sexually abused, became abusers and we need to stop that cycle. That's what happened in my family, that's what most of us are going through."

He believes talking about the issues will help both men and women overcome the shame and repression they have lived with for so long and ultimately become nurturing members of their families and community.

"I may be over 60 now, but I still cry when I think of the things I went through, but thank God we're opening the door to discussing them now," he said. "This is how we can build bridges with our young people. We were strong people once and we're going to get that strength back."

+++++++

Comments about this article From: Karihwakeron okwari@indig-ii-net.com
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 2:18 PM
Subject: Chandler Report on cultural loss and suicide

Sekon:
 
The March 25 edition of the Toronto Star included an article on the issue of suicide in northern Ontario.   While there was reference to the multi-generational impact of residential schools, there was no discussion of the impact of the loss of cultural continuity.   
 
Michael Chandler, a professor from the University of British Columbia,  made a presentation to a national policy forum hosted by the Assembly of First Nations in April, 2005 on the issue of First Nations youth and suicide.     Mr. Chandler noted a strong correlation between cultural continuity and suicide prevention. 
 
In fact, in the presentation Mr. Chandler notes that First Nations communities with strong cultural continuity have lower suicide rates than Canadians.   Conversely, Mr. Chandler noted that where there has been a break in cultural continuity, there is the strong potential for greater incidence of suicide.       
 
In view of Mr. Chandler's research, it seems that any discussion of suicide prevention must include an examination of culture in all its aspects including rituals, relationships, life cycle responsibilities, and the impact of cultural change.   
 
Mr.  Chandler has also noted that First Nations communities which have a sense of empowerment in key aspects of self-government/self-determination, also demonstrate a reduced level of suicide.
 
Clearly the Toronto Star article was deficient on this important matter which affects all of our people.

March 24-26, NAN "Get Active" Youth Leadership Recreation Conference at Travelodge Airlane Hotel.  Contact Jonathan Neegan at NAN, 1-800-465-9952

from http://www.tbsource.com/Localnews/index.asp?cid=81543

NAN youth conference in city
Tb News Source - 3/24/2006
 
Youth members of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation are getting active kicking off a three day youth conference Friday in Thunder Bay.

Sixty NAN community members between the ages of 18 and 29 are participating in the event. The conference is designed to develop leadership skills that could be brought back to the NAN communities.

The focus is on health and fitness for First Nations youth and 'Get Active' got underway Friday morning at the Travelodge Airlane Hotel. The young people of the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation which covers two-thirds of Ontario, will be attending workshops on recreation, good nutrition, and physical fitness, and then taking what they learn back to their own communities.

The NAN-sponsored conference also features a couple of young keynote speakers from Alberta, and a banquet on Saturday night.

From http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/story.php?id=220327

Four area First Nations on quick fix list for water
Shoal Lake 40, Northwest Angle 37, Dalles and Wabigoon First Nations are all on Ottawa’s highest priority list for quick fixes when it comes to safe drinking water.

By Mike Aiken
Miner and News
Wednesday March 22, 2006

Shoal Lake 40, Northwest Angle 37, Dalles and Wabigoon First Nations are all on Ottawa’s highest priority list for quick fixes when it comes to safe drinking water.

“All parties with responsibilities in this area must take decisive action and achieve measurable results,” said Indian Affairs minister Jim Prentice,

Tuesday’s announcement has roots dating back to last November, when the Liberal government found itself immersed in scandal over the living conditions in Kashechewan First Nation, where half of the 1,900 residents had to be evacuated to southern communities due to ongoing concerns over contaminated drinking water. Almost six months later, the community is still listed under a precautionary drinking water advisory.

Last fall, a total of nine communities in Treaty 3 were listed on the boil water advisory list. Since then, Couchiching, Red Gut and Dalles have been removed, but Eagle Lake, Lac Seul, Wabigoon, Shoal Lake 40, and both bands at Northwest Angle are still on the list.

“I’m very surprised. It’s very good news,” said band councillor Rhonda Nash of Northwest Angle 37.

“Hopefully they’ll follow through on their promises,” she added, noting the band council is still dealing with preliminary studies and consultants.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada spokesman Tony Prudori said the project at Northwest Angle 37 was entering the design and construction phase.

At Wabigoon, engineers were assessing the existing system, and the next phase would be a feasibility study, while Dalles was scheduled to have its facility open by summer.

The government also hopes to establish clear responsibilities for the regulation and enforcement of water treatment in aboriginal communities, as well as ensuring the necessary resources are provided for those in need.

National Chief Phil Fontaine said Tuesday he was encouraged by the first steps taken by Ottawa in an effort to close the gap in living conditions between First Nations and non-aboriginal Canadians.

Fontaine hoped the joint efforts would result in better training programs for water treatment operators, who may not currently be certified, as well as better resources for community leaders, who want to retain employees through better wages and working conditions, once staff have been properly trained.

Fontaine and Prentice have also been discussing the implementation of important settlements reached with the previous government, such as the $2-billion residential school compensation package and the $5-billion Kelowna agreement, which included investments in health, education and housing.

Tuesday’s announcement comes two weeks before the House of Commons is set to resume.

Press Release: Greenpeace 

Satellite maps show forests critical at Earth Summit

Curitiba, Brazil, 22 March, 2006: Groundbreaking satellite maps reveal the world's forests are in critical condition, Greenpeace revealed today, at the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Brazil. They include maps of the last large intact areas of ancient forests around the world including the 'lost world' or garden of eden region of forest on the island of New Guinea, as well as the Amazon and Congo.

“The maps provide evidence that less that 10% of the earth's land area remains as large intact forest areas,” said Greenpeace Forests campaigner Grant Rosoman. “The maps show how heavy the human ‘footprint’ has been in Asia Pacific – only in Europe are there less remaining intact forest landscapes.”

“Never before have the Earth’s remaining large intact forests been mapped in such detail and with a consistent methodology,” said Rosoman. “We have used state of the art technology, such as high resolution satellite imagery, to create a new important tool for governments, environment groups and landowners to understand the extent of remaining ancient forests and work together to protect them.”

The Paradise Forests of Asia Pacific are being destroyed faster than any other forest on Earth. Much of the large intact forest landscapes have already been cut down - 72% for Indonesia and 60% for Papua New Guinea. They continue to be under enormous threat, for example 45% of intact forest landscapes in PNG are covered by logging concessions.

“In PNG, other Melanesian countries and Indonesia, these maps provide evidence to governments of the need to improve protection of ancient forests in a region with the fastest deforestation rate on earth,” said Grant Rosoman.

These ground breaking maps are being released at a time when both terrestrial and marine life is being destroyed at an unprecedented rate. The current rate of extinction of plant and animal species is approximately 1,000 times faster than it was in pre-human times and is predicted to be 10,000 times faster by the year 2050 (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005).

As well as being a unique reservior of biodiversity, the current intact paradise forests are home to thousands of indigenous peoples from hundreds of different cultures and languages. Immediate moratoria are urgently needed on new industrial developments in the last intact forests identified by these maps. The maps clearly show what is left of the world’s ancient forests and provide clear evidence to world governments, meeting in Brazil this week, on the need for urgent action to protect what is left before these forests are destroyed.

The launch of the maps coincides with Greenpeace campaigns to highlight the global biodiversity crisis. The Rainbow Warrior is in Manokwari, Papua, Indonesia, on a mission to protect the Paradise Forests from illegal and destructive logging. The flagship is near the Foja Mountain area recently declared a 'New Eden' rich in undiscovered plant and animal species.

Greenpeace has also set up a Global Forest Rescue Station in the Paradise Forests of Papua New Guinea, working with landowners and other environment groups to protect the forests from illegal logging by establishing ecoforestry as a viable alternative.

To view maps: www.greenpeace.org/forestmaps or www.intactforests.org

from http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2006/21/c4477.html

Government announces immediate action on First Nations drinking water

OTTAWA, March 21 /CNW Telbec/ - The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, with Phil Fontaine, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), today launched a plan of action to address drinking water concerns in First Nation communities.

"The government will ensure that First Nation leaders have access to the tools and resources they need to deliver clean water to their residents," said Minister Prentice. "All parties with responsibilities in this area must take decisive action and achieve measurable results."

This plan of action includes:

• The implementation of the Protocol for Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Communities. This protocol contains standards for design, construction, operation, maintenance, and monitoring of drinking water systems in First Nation communities and is intended for use by First Nations staff responsible for water systems.
• Mandatory training for all treatment-plant operators and a regime to ensure that all water systems have the oversight of certified operators. Various initiatives such as remote monitoring of water systems and the contracting of independent certified operators to provide necessary oversight will be put in place.
• Complete specific remedial plans for First Nation communities with serious water issues, starting with the twenty-one communities most at risk.
• A panel of experts to advise on the appropriate regulatory framework, including new legislation, developed with all partners. Final recommendations for a new framework are to be delivered by September 2006.
• A clear commitment to report on progress on a regular basis.

"Today's announcement is an encouraging first step in our larger efforts to close the gap in the quality of life between First Nations and non-Aboriginal Canadians," said AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine. "This approach shows we can work together to find solutions that take people out of risk while at the same time working on a national strategy to ensure everyone has access to safe drinking water."

"I fully support the measures announced today, as they will help address the problems that lead to drinking water advisories. Health Canada will support this plan by enhancing a monitoring system that serves as an early warning for potential risks to public health, and by providing additional support to identified communities most at risk," said Minister of Health, Tony Clement."

To find out more about today's announcement, the communities affected and the action plan, go to www.ainc-inac.gc.ca

For further information:

Minister's Office: Diane Laursen, Communications Assistant, Office of the Honourable Jim Prentice, (819) 997-0002; Media Relations Unit: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, (819) 953-1160;

Media Enquiries: Don Kelly, AFN Communications Director,  (613) 241-6789, ext. 320; This release is also available in electronic format at www.ainc-inac.gc.ca

An Internet Community Facility is now being constructed in Pikangikum.

This Internet facility will include:

• a conference room for meetings,
• a lab with 25 computers for anyone who wants to use the internet for surfing, online banking, edit their homepages, etc.
• 2 private meeting rooms will be available for students who are doing their Post-Secondary Education or attending the Internet High School for those who wish to complete their High School Education.

This facility will be serviced by a small restaurant. We're expecting the grand opening to be in early May.

A Big Thanks to FEDNOR/Carl Seibel for partnering with our community and providing some of the funding for this important local development!!!