Category: 2012 04 20 2012

Deconstructing the contradictions

The contradictions are what make us interesting. The person who sends a yearly cheque to PETA, the purist animal-rights group, but who still loves to dig into a thick, juicy steak. The business owner who supports higher taxes and encourages their employees to form a union. The skinny antiwar pacifist ... read more ››

Justin Trudeau beats Senator Patrick Brazeau in boxing event

With the referee ending the match in the third round, Liberal MP Justin Trudeau was the triumphant winner over Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau in a white-collar charity boxing match. Trading in their parliamentary best for respective Liberal red and Conservative blue boxing attire, the two had only sparred previously over Twitter ... read more ››

New bans on bait-fish announced

Serge Simard, the Minister for Natural Resources and Wildlife and Minister responsible for the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and Côte Nord regions, announced that as of April 1 the use of live bait-fish will be prohibited throughout Quebec. And, beginning in April 2017, the use of live or dead bait-fish will also be banned. The ... read more ››

Mistissini nurse honoured by Quebec Order of Nurses

Ghislaine Télémaque, a Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay nurse in Mistissini, is one of eight in the province to be awarded with the prestigious 2012 Florence Prize by the Quebec Order of Nurses. Télémaque was awarded the prize under the “Rayonnement international” category for the outstanding ... read more ››

Inter-Tribal Youth Centre stays open

The Regroupement des centres autochtones du Québec (RCAAQ) insists that it will continue to support the Inter-Tribal Youth Centre of Montreal, even though they have revoked the membership of the Native Friendship Centre of Montreal (NFCM). The Inter-Tribal Youth Centre is the only centre of its kind in Montreal that aids ... read more ››

We need our northern trains

  If you are a railway enthusiast then you got some sad news recently when the Ontario government announced that it would sell off most of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC). That means that our northern Ontario lifeline to the south by train, the Northlander will be cancelled. This cancellation of ... read more ››

Seeking solutions

On Wednesday, April 11, Liberal Concordia hosted a panel of experts to discuss Aboriginal issues, such as education and closing of Projets Autochtones du Québec’s (PAQ) homeless shelter. On the panel were Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett for St. Paul’s, Kahnawake Grand Chief Michael Delisle, Donat Savoie, the former Executive Director of ... read more ››

Fewer cuts

This year’s federal budget released March 29 is primarily focused on cutting spending and increasing growth in Canada. Although many programs have received a reduction in their budgets, Aboriginal Affairs and First Nations Development only had a 2.7% cut. A large portion of the funding to key areas of First Nation ... read more ››

Bonding together

Sharing stories and participating in communal events has been and will always be the best way to transmit a culture from one generation to the next. However, it’s not that common that this cultural transmission happens outside families and the community. But every now and then there comes a chance to ... read more ››

Financing Shannen’s Dream

Shannen Koostachin, the late Cree youth leader from Attawapiskat, once had a dream that every child in Canada would attend a “safe and comfy” school, a luxury many First Nations children across Canada do not experience. Today, Parliament even agrees that this should be a reality. But, the big question ... read more ››

Busy reading

Two years after starting the Success For All (SFA) program, teachers at the Voyageur Memorial School in Mistissini have seen their students’ reading skill improve by leaps and bounds. In September 2009, Voyageur Memorial started the SFA, a heavily researched literacy program formulated at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. They sent ... read more ››

On the streets to stay

Among the many sights and sounds of spring in Val-d’Or, the annual reemergence of homeless encampments for the city’s growing itinerant population has become one of them. But, this should come as no surprise because if an individual finds himself down and out in Val-d’Or and a suffering from a substance-abuse ... read more ››

New company on the horizon

Demonstrating its limitless potential, the Cree Regional Economic Enterprise Company (CREECO) has done it again by forging yet another strategic partnership agreement in order to form a new company; this time it’s with mining and energy services company Dumas Contracting Ltd. “We signed a partnership with them to look at the ... read more ››

Outfoxing the competition

The Mecheshoo Agreement between the nation of Mistissini and Stornoway Diamond Corporation was signed on March 27, laying the groundwork for the company’s Renard Diamond Project. It will be the first of its kind in Quebec. Though no hard numbers were released, Mistissini’s chief assured everyone assembled that those most ... read more ››

The death of National Aboriginal Health

People believed in 2000 that it was time that Aboriginal people here in Canada started to look at and study health issues relating to them. Thus the National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) was born. Today that belief has fallen by the roadside and they’ll be closing shop on June 30. ... read more ››