Media.Knet.Ca

The western campus dean, Dr. Dan Hunt and his team flew into Sioux Lookout yesterday to meet with First Nation leaders and organizations to discuss strategies for establishing placements for first year medical students in First Nations across the region. The team consisted of Dr. Hunt and Orpah McKenzie (Director of Aboriginal Affairs) along with four other members of their team.

A meeting at Keewaytinook Okimakanak continued the discussions around finding a strategy to work together to support First Nations across Northern Ontario to develop the infrastructure required to ensure every community is able to host a successful placement for first year students. Issues relating to accommodations, broadband infrastructure to support a successful learning experience, local hosts and other logistical matters were discussed.

Wawatay Native Communications Society  and the staff would like to share their Christmas Greetings online with communties up north and around the world.

We are very greatful of this new technology, that's available to the First Nations.

To hear the greetings click Merry Christmas

ANISHINAABE PEACE & JUSTICE COALITION  KENORA
Suite 225, 418 Second St. S., Kenora, ON   … safety and dignity  for all members of our shared community

For further information call Mary Alice Smith at 807-548-1470.   Email: maryalic@kmts.ca

MEDIA RELEASE
December 11, 2004

Making The Max Kakegamic Case “The Talk Of The Town”

The Kenora Anishinaabe Peace & Justice Coalition is counting on Chief Curtis of the Kenora Police Service to do the right thing behind closed doors in dealing with misconduct charges against officers in the investigation of the death of Max Kakegamic.  In the meantime the Coalition will focus its efforts on opening doors to keep this case “the talk of the town”.

Justice Hambly’s ruling of a mistrial and stayed charges this past March seemed to slam the door shut on hopes of ever finding out what really happened in the October 4, 2000 slaying of the young  father on the streets of Kenora. 

Speaking at a memorial on October 4, 2004 marking the fourth anniversary of her son’s death, Margaret Kakegamic of North Spirit Lake highlighted the family’s distress: 

“Our son was murdered, and a prime suspect was set free because the police had been dishonest … We know that someone is responsible for his death, but no one is being tried for his murder.  We know that there is an investigation of the officers of the Kenora Police Services, but that will not result in new charges against anyone.  Maybe the officers will be disciplined, but that will not bring our son back.  … It makes us wonder what kind of a justice system we have.  What will be done to solve our son’s murder? 

These unanswered questions challenge the justice system and citizens of the region to answer another question. Who cares? Or is this for most people just one more case of ‘another dead Indian’?  

While the Kakegamics wait to see “what kind of a justice system we have”, the Coalition will launch a public awareness campaign in the new year to support the family’s call for an inquest and public inquiry.  The question of “WHO CARES?” will be at the forefront. 

The Coalition will also distribute ‘rights cards’ to youth and ‘street people’, offer training in advocacy and non-violent witnessing and look to other groups in the region such as the Sioux Lookout Anti-Racism Committee to help develop community based dispute resolution processes for investigating and resolving other incidents of disharmony. 

Making the search for peace and justice in the Kakegamic case “the talk of the town”, could mark a turning point for Kenora … still referred to at times as ‘the Mississippi of Canada’. 

As Max’s mother stressed,   “We would like to see some good come out of this tragedy”.

For more information and references to this tradegy click here to see the October 9 coverage of the memorial march

Highlights of new initiatives announced last Friday (click here to see the entire announcement):

Through the Northern Prosperity Plan, the Ontario Government is implementing a range of targeted initiatives to stimulate growth, create jobs and promote a better quality of life for Northern Ontario.

The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines is leading efforts to build prosperity in the North by investing $520 million this fiscal year in the North and in Ontario's mineral sector, an increase of nearly $100M over our budget last year.

Key Northern Prosperity Plan initiatives include:

• Refocusing the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) to support job creation and economic development while continuing vital investments in community infrastructure. Since October 2003, almost 1000 jobs have been created from NOHFC investments. (click here to see targeted programs under the new themes that include Growing Jobs - Enterprises North Job Creation Program, Youth - Northern Ontario Young Entrepreneur Program and Northern Ontario Youth Internships and Co-op Program, Community Development - Infrastructure and Community Development Program, Emerging Technologies and Telecommunications - Assistance Supporting Emerging Technology Projects in Northern Ontario, Energy Conservation Opportunities - The Small Business Energy Conservation Program)
• Supporting the northern film and television industry: $1.5 million to the City of Sudbury to support the local animation industry (Chilly Beach) and $1 million dollar loan to support the making of the Shania Twain movie. These are jobs that attract and retain youth in the North.
• The proposed Grow Bonds Pilot Program to help small and medium-sized businesses in the North develop and expand by increasing the amount of capital available to them.
• Launching the GO North investor program to market Northern Ontario internationally and attract new business to the region.
• A dialogue with northerners, including visits to the North by all cabinet Ministers. Announcing the creation of four Northern Development Councils to provide a direct link from northern communities to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines.
• A Northern Highways Program 2004-2005 allocation of over $256 million, an increase of $33 million over last year: the first two tenders have gone out for advanced contracts on the planned 20km, four-lane Highway 69 corridor south of Sudbury, another 10 km of four-laning on Highway 11 south of North Bay was recently opened, and a contract was recently awarded to construct a new two-lane alignment of Highway 11-17 (Shabaqua Highway) in Thunder Bay. Overall, through the Northern Highways Program 32 major rehabilitation contracts will be awarded across the North, involving the reconstruction/resurfacing of almost 360 km of pavement and rehabilitation or replacement of 14 bridges.
• Renewing the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission by protecting jobs, improving services, and helping it chart a course toward a viable future.
• Supporting the new Northern Ontario School of Medicine. More than 2200 applications have been received, leading to more doctors, better healthcare, and youth working in the North.
• Forging new partnerships with First Nations and Far North communities.
• Launching the Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster Council, which is working to foster a rising standard of living from Ontario's mineral industry and win more prosperity for communities.
• Investing $10.5 million to clean up former mining lands through Abandoned Mines Rehabilitation Program.
• Increasing Northern Ontario's emergency access by enabling Local Services Boards to arrange for 911 emergency access services.

Shibogama Technical Services is pleased to announce we were the recipients of the Building Communities Award 2004 at the 14th Annual Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Business Awards Banquet held in Timmins, Ontario on December 1, 2004.

The Sioux Lookout Aboriginal Area Management Board hosted a gathering of First Nation representatives from across the Sioux Lookout District last week in Thunder Bay. Twenty-six First Nations met to learn how to operate the new Governance Database that will collect information about their membership across the Sioux Lookout region.

The First Nations served by SLAAMB will gather and update the database information from their own communities. The information will be submitted on-line into the main server SLAAMB office in Sioux Lookout. Information to be collected includes population statistics such as the number of children, youth, adults, and elders, specific age categories, aboriginal languages spoken, employment rates, and eligible voter data.

The Governance Database represents a new way for First Nations to collect information and generate reports for the wide-spanning region. Each community receives a database, operation manual and training DVD for use in their communities.

"The Chiefs of the Sioux Lookout Area have recognized the need for factual data collection for planning purposes in the North. The Governance Database will be a practical tool in the communities to maintain information about their membership, and at the same time allow us to generate our own statistics." says Bob Bruyere, SLAAMB Coordinator.

The database was created by Nationbase Software Solutions. To read the entire press release click here.

The team at Wawatay News is busy reporting daily news updates on-line from First Nation communities across Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Treaty 3 and Aboriginal urban centres. Readers are invited to visit and read about breaking news reports at http://wawatay.on.ca

The newspaper archives are also available for everyone to search and reference. Alvin Fiddler recently took the leadership role for producing, supporting and maintaining Wawatay's on-line presence with his new job as Wawatay's Web Site and Systems Manager.

Tuesday 23rd November 2004:  A house fire last weekend in Long Lake #58 First Nation has stripped a local family of six of their home and personal belongings.  The Chief and council of the community are appealing to the public for donations of goods and money to help support the family over the next few months.

The family, which has four children, ages 10, 9, 8 and 4, is currently residing with family members in the community and are in need of essential living items such as clothing, toys, and food. The family has been living on a limited income and all their Christmas shopping was also lost in the fire.

Says Chief Veronica Waboose of Long Lake #58 First Nation; “As a community, we are rallying to support this distressed family as much as we can. However, most of our families are struggling to live on a limited income themselves and so we would welcome any additional donations from the local community at large to help support this family, especially through the Christmas season.”

All donations should be sent to Matawa First Nations Management and specify that they are for Long Lake #58 Fire Donations.

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Media Contact:
Stephanie Ash
Matawa First Nations Management; Tel: 807 767 4443; Email: stephanie@firedogpr.com

From the AFN press release (November 17, 2004)

National Chief Fontaine stated in an AFN press release,  “Fair and reasonable compensation is due for the survivors but we must also deal with the emotional, physical, psychological and cultural trauma that stem from these schools. Our communities are still dealing with this attempt at forced assimilation.  It was nothing less than an assault on our children, our communities and our culture. Children were apprehended from their home and families, beaten if they spoke their language and forbidden to practice their traditional spirituality. The after-shocks are still being felt today and we cannot move forward until we have healed ourselves as individuals and as a country.”

“The current ADR process is an adversarial system that is not working and is in fact re-victimizing many survivors,” said National Chief Fontaine.  “It is failing Canadians by wasting taxpayers dollars.  It is failing First Nations and all Canadians by denying timely and just compensation.  Most importantly, it failing all of us because it is not leading to the healing and reconciliation that is required at a national level so that we can finally put behind us, in an honourable way, the legacy of this disgraceful and sad chapter in our history.”

The AFN’s report addresses all of these issues and recommends a two-pronged approach to improve the current ADR process. The first part involves fair and reasonable compensation, including a lump sum payment that would be awarded to all survivors (or their descendants), along with an additional amount for each year spent in the school.  Survivors can also be compensated for severe emotional abuse as well as physical and sexual abuse.  The report also calls for on-going activities and resources for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation given its emphasis on culturally-based approaches to healing.

The second part of the report puts forward the concept of creating a national mechanism for truth-sharing, healing and reconciliation.  The truth-sharing process would be designed by survivors and stakeholders, and would be accessible to those who attended the schools, their families and any other parties willing to share their experiences and recommendations.

Click here for the entire AFN press release.

Click here to see the AFN report (PDF document - 54 pages) - "Assembly of First Nations Report on Canada’s Dispute Resolution Plan to Compensate for Abuses in Indian Residential Schools"

Click here to see the CBC article "AFN calls for immediate $10,000 payment to residential school survivors"

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled today that "governments have a legal duty to consult with First Nations to some extent about the development of disputed land". The ruling was based upon a case against the Haida Nation and the BC government. The ruling was suppose to clarify how governments and resource "development" corporations are to deal with First Nations before making land use decisions.

The two cases before Canada's high court were moved forward by the provinces and the federal government against two First Nations in British Columbia. Their case was originally ruled in favour of the First Nations by the BC Court of Appeal. That court ruled that governments and companies must consult and accommodate First Nations before making land-use decisions – even if aboriginal title is still not proven.

Click here for more information on this story.

Click here for the complete text of the Supreme Court's Haida decision.

Click here for the complete Supreme Court Tlingit ruling.

Click here for the story from CBC North.