"Discussion Paper on the Amendments to the Dog Act"
http://www.maca.gov.nt.ca/Dog_Act_Discussion_Paper.pdf
Items of interest from around the Circumpolar region.
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Saturday, 30 May 2009
North needs internal free-trade agreement, says prominent economist
North needs internal free-trade agreement, says prominent economist
The Canadian Press
In the Thelon area of the central Barrens, for example, management boards
on the Nunavut side are open to uranium development where across the line
in the ...
<http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iHOg8ISHpoW_iHsLqECD8tZL9jQQ>
[except]
The Canadian Press
In the Thelon area of the central Barrens, for example, management boards
on the Nunavut side are open to uranium development where across the line
in the ...
<http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iHOg8ISHpoW_iHsLqECD8tZL9jQQ>
[except]
North needs internal free-trade agreement, says prominent economist
The Canadian North needs its own free-trade agreement, says the editor of a new book on Arctic policy released this weekend.
Prominent economist Tom Courchene argues the myriad of boards, agencies and self-government councils created by treaty settlements have to learn to work together and sacrifice some of their individual power for the good of the region if northern development is to reach its potential.
"There's so many players in there now that have constitutionalized rights," said Courchene, co-editor of the book "Northern Exposure," being released in the Nunavut capital of Iqaluit.
"It's very hard to develop an overarching framework that will guarantee free movement because there's a set of multiple vetoes there."
Over the last couple decades, Ottawa has divvied up the North among different aboriginal groups with a whole series of land deals. Some include self-government, some don't. All include a welter of management boards with considerable power over land use, water and wildlife, some of which work at cross-purposes to each other.
In the Thelon area of the central Barrens, for example, management boards on the Nunavut side are open to uranium development where across the line in the N.W.T., they don't even allow exploration.
The Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline proposal has also been delayed in the regulatory process, due in part to legal tangles over how different aboriginal groups should be represented at public hearings.
"Right now, we're close to balkanizing," said Courchene.
GG seal-snacking inspires dreams for Inuit food industry
GG visit inspires dreams for Inuit food industry
Last Updated: 30th May 2009, 2:39pm
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/canada/2009/05/30/9625961.html
[excerpt]
IQALUIT, Nunavut — You've seen it being eaten on your television screen. Now, people of the Arctic have visions of their food on your plate.
Inuit leaders want to capitalize on the promotional bonanza offered by images broadcast around the world of Canada's vice-regal munching on a raw slice of seal heart.
They have reason for optimism: One Montreal restaurateur says his seal orders have doubled thanks to the media frenzy, and now account for two-thirds of his total appetizer sales.
The premier of Nunavut hopes more southerners follow the lead of Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean and add to their diet what the locals call "country food" — not just seal, but Arctic char, caribou, and muskox.
In a region desperate for economic activity — the employment rate in Nunavut is just 58 per cent — there are dreams of southern palates, and wallets, opening to the spoils of their land.
There's one big obstacle in getting the food down south: there are no roads to these Arctic communities, and shipment by boat or plane is painfully expensive.
"We have all these wonderful, highly nutritious foods," Premier Eva Aariak said in an interview.
"It's straight from the land. No preservatives. If only we had the infrastructure."
The Governor General can attest to the tastiness of country food.
During their stay, Jean and her entourage were treated to succulent muskox ribs topped in a demi-glaze sauce, and canapes of Arctic char, which resembles salmon or trout in colour, texture and taste.
But none of those meals captured international headlines like the video of Jean slicing and sampling a seal.
Jean said the blubbery mammal had a texture like sushi — but with a meatier flavour. The premier agrees it tastes like meat, only with a subtle fishy flavour derived from the animal's steady diet of marine life.
Although fatty flipper pies are a favourite of Newfoundlanders, seal is a rare find on Canadian menus.
One restaurateur who offers seal in unusual appetizers can't believe his good fortune.
Customers have been gobbling up the $13-$15 seal tartare with capers; rare seal tataki; and seal smoked meat from the appetizer menu at Montreal's Au Cinquieme Peche.
Chef and co-owner Benoit Lenglet has been selling the dishes for two years and he's never seen anything like this.
"It's the most expensive item on our appetizer menu," Lenglet said.
"But there's been so much publicity on this that seal now represents two-thirds of our appetizer sales. . . They have doubled."
Such evidence of her culinary influence was greeted with a vice-regal chuckle.
"That's marvellous," said Jean.
And that's music to the ears of Nunavut's premier.
Mr. Roland & Ms. Russell - At long last, a real Canadian sex scandal
At long last, a real Canadian sex scandal
Globe and Mail - Canada
Mr. Roland, who now lives with Ms. Russell in Yellowknife, has no plans to
vacate his position. The last time a sitting Canadian premier was forced
from ...
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/at-long-last-a-real-canadian-sex-scandal/article1161256/>
"... There have been a few salacious doozies, most notably the relationships that suspected Soviet spy Gerda Munsinger had with several Tory federal ministers from John Diefenbaker's cabinet in the 1950s. But rarely have they tarnished the highest political offices across the country.
However, for the first time since the Great Depression, a sitting Canadian premier is fighting for his political life after details of a sex scandal surfaced recently...."
Julie Couillard? 2007
Judy Tyabji? 1993
"...Mr. Roland, an Inuvialuit who became premier in October, 2007, began his affair with Ms. Russell last year. Both were married with children...."
Globe and Mail - Canada
Mr. Roland, who now lives with Ms. Russell in Yellowknife, has no plans to
vacate his position. The last time a sitting Canadian premier was forced
from ...
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/at-long-last-a-real-canadian-sex-scandal/article1161256/>
"... There have been a few salacious doozies, most notably the relationships that suspected Soviet spy Gerda Munsinger had with several Tory federal ministers from John Diefenbaker's cabinet in the 1950s. But rarely have they tarnished the highest political offices across the country.
However, for the first time since the Great Depression, a sitting Canadian premier is fighting for his political life after details of a sex scandal surfaced recently...."
Julie Couillard? 2007
Judy Tyabji? 1993
"...Mr. Roland, an Inuvialuit who became premier in October, 2007, began his affair with Ms. Russell last year. Both were married with children...."
Friday, 29 May 2009
Anti-sealing NGO s misuse of iconic whitecoat exposed
MEDIA RELEASE
http://www.fur.ca/index-e/index.asp
Anti-sealing NGO s misuse of iconic whitecoat exposed
Ottawa, ON May 29, 2009. Canadian media this week exposed what the
Canadian government and sealers have long known: that animal rights
activists use misleading images to generate support for their cause.
Canwest News Service exposed this deception when it reported that
Europe's leading animal welfare organization has removed the image of
a fluffy whitecoat baby seal from its website this week. The action
came after the use of the whitecoat photographs was raised during an
interview with a Canadian journalist asking about Governor General
Michaëlle Jean's decision to help gut a seal and eat part of its
heart. The photograph was replaced by a photo of an older seal at the
suggestion of one of Eurogroup for Animals' 43 member groups, the
International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The misuse of whitecoat images in anti-seal hunt fundraising
campaigns has continued even though whitecoats have not been hunted in
Canada since 1982 and the hunt has been prohibited since 1987, says
Fur Institute of Canada spokesman Rob Cahill. I have discussed the
use of whitecoat images and the use of the term 'baby' (which
insinuates a reliance on one's parents) on IFAW websites and
brochures, but to no avail , he said. Our concern is that the public
is likely to make inaccurate judgments based on the use of these
pictures.
According to Cahill, IFAW continues to use images of the whitecoat in
both its web and direct mail fundraising campaigns. Just ahead of the
traditional sealing season, as it does every year, the organization
sent fundraising packages to Canadian households that prominently
featured whitecoat photographs in its appeal to save baby seals . And
he points out that IFAW is not alone. The American backed Humane
Society International - Canada sent Canadians their Save the seals
fundraising package in February which again prominently featured
photographs of fluffy whitecoats rather than the more accurate mature
animals. Meantime, he added, anti-sealing protest groups including
US-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals use white seal
stuffed toys at many of their lobbying and protest events.
While these groups argue that using these emotive and iconic images is
justified because hunted harp seals begin their lives as whitecoats,
the Fur Institute of Canada believes it is important for the public to
know when they are being misled.
For more information, or to arrange an interview, contact:
David Barry, Sealing Committee Coordinator, Fur Institute of Canada
Landline: (709) 722-8548 Mobile: (709) 351-1448
The Fur Institute of Canada is a national non-profit organization
established by the Canadian Wildlife Ministers in 1983 to pursue the
work of the Federal-Provincial Committee for Humane Trapping. Our
overall mission is to promote the sustainable and wise use of Canada s
fur resources.
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Governor General to Present Honours in Nunavut
Governor General to Present Honours in Nunavut
SYS-CON Media (press release) - Montvale,NJ,USA
The Governor General's Academic Medal will be presented to Ms. Lucy Idlout,
who graduated in 2008 from the Nunavut Arctic College's hairstylist
program. ...
<http://ca.sys-con.com/node/978275>
SYS-CON Media (press release) - Montvale,NJ,USA
The Governor General's Academic Medal will be presented to Ms. Lucy Idlout,
who graduated in 2008 from the Nunavut Arctic College's hairstylist
program. ...
<http://ca.sys-con.com/node/978275>
http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=5750
Clyde River, Nunavut
Thursday, May 28
2 p.m.
Lunch at RCMP Duplex
During a luncheon with RCMP members, Her Excellency will award the RCMP Long Service Medal to Constable Allan Jagoe in honour of his 30 years of service.
RCMP Duplex, Clyde River
PHOTO OP
Iqaluit, Nunavut
Saturday, May 30
10:15 a.m.
Presentation of vice-regal awards and decorations
In the presence of the lieutenant-governors and commissioners of Canada, the Governor General will honour three individuals who have contributed tremendously towards their respective communities.
Caring Canadian Award
The Governor General will award the Caring Canadian Award to Ms. Beth McKenty, who has dedicated her life to helping young people cope with hardship through artistic expression. The Governor General's Caring Canadian Award was created to recognize the fine example set by special volunteers whose compassion and charitableness are such a part of the Canadian character. This award honours Canadians for unpaid voluntary activities, most often done behind the scenes, at the community level.
Medal of Bravery
The Governor General will award the Medal of Bravery to Jeffrey Hopkins who attempted to rescue his wife after their snowmobile broke through the ice on the Coppermine River, in Kugluktuk, Nunavut. Decorations for Bravery recognize people who risked their lives to try to save or protect another. The Decorations were created by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1972. They consist of the Cross of Valour, the Star of Courage and the Medal of Bravery.
RCMP Long Service Medal
She will also present the RCMP Long Service Medal to Chief Superintendent Martin Cheliak, Commanding Officer, V Division in Nunavut, for his 30 years of service.
Frobisher Inn Hotel, Iqaluit
OPEN TO MEDIA
NWT communities call on Alberta to halt oil-sands projects
NWT communities call on Alberta to halt oil-sands projects
Globe and Mail - Canada
"There is widespread concern in the Northwest Territories that the governments of Alberta and Canada have not managed the Alberta oil sands in a sustainable ...
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/nwt-communities-call-on-alberta-to-halt-oil-sands-projects/article1154313/>
Fearing water pollution, NWT towns call for oil sands slowdown
Globe and Mail - Canada
She said Alberta hopes to sit down with the Northwest Territories and work out a trans-boundary water agreement this fall. Ms. Van Marck said companies have ...
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/fearing-water-pollution-nwt-towns-call-for-oil-sands-slowdown/article1154313/>
NWT passes anti-oilsands resolution
Fort McMurray Today - Fort McMurray,Alberta,Canada
With northern Alberta water quality concerns spilling into the Northwest Territories, its communities' association is calling for a moratorium on oilsands ...
<http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1584640>
N.W.T. communities call on Alberta to halt oilsands | Canada ...
All 33 cities, towns and hamlets in the Northwest Territories have approved a motion calling on Alberta to stop any new projects until the two jurisdictions can work out a water agreement. Most of the communities in the N.W.T. are on ...
<http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/canada/2009/05/26/9577346.html>
Globe and Mail - Canada
"There is widespread concern in the Northwest Territories that the governments of Alberta and Canada have not managed the Alberta oil sands in a sustainable ...
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/nwt-communities-call-on-alberta-to-halt-oil-sands-projects/article1154313/>
Fearing water pollution, NWT towns call for oil sands slowdown
Globe and Mail - Canada
She said Alberta hopes to sit down with the Northwest Territories and work out a trans-boundary water agreement this fall. Ms. Van Marck said companies have ...
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/fearing-water-pollution-nwt-towns-call-for-oil-sands-slowdown/article1154313/>
NWT passes anti-oilsands resolution
Fort McMurray Today - Fort McMurray,Alberta,Canada
With northern Alberta water quality concerns spilling into the Northwest Territories, its communities' association is calling for a moratorium on oilsands ...
<http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1584640>
N.W.T. communities call on Alberta to halt oilsands | Canada ...
All 33 cities, towns and hamlets in the Northwest Territories have approved a motion calling on Alberta to stop any new projects until the two jurisdictions can work out a water agreement. Most of the communities in the N.W.T. are on ...
<http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/canada/2009/05/26/9577346.html>
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Governor-General Michaëlle Jean's hearty meal 'proper etiquette'
Jean's hearty meal 'proper etiquette'
Matthew Coutts, National Post Published: Tuesday, May 26, 20http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1632873
[excerpt]
The thought of Canada's regal representative wrist-deep in the carcass of a freshly slaughtered seal, skinning a layer of blubber and slicing off a piece of heart to consume may evoke the same charges of savagery as the contentious seal hunt itself, but Governor-General Michaëlle Jean was actually following dining etiquette to the letter.
"She went there to show solidarity, and if that is part of the custom, then it is part of the whole thing. You either do it 100% or you don't do it," said professional etiquette consultant Diane Craig. "It was the proper etiquette."
[...]
Ms. Craig, president of Corporate Class Inc., a Toronto image consulting firm, says politics aside, Ms. Jean was absolutely correct to join her hosts in the centuries-old tradition.
"She was a guest ... and you are supposed to eat what the host offers up. In a situation like this, because of the symbolism, it was the right etiquette to do that," she said. "I'm sure she didn't have two plates of it."
Your request is being processed...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/26/canadian-governor-general_n_207844.html
CityNews.ca - Toronto's News: Governor General Guts & Eats Seal ...
"It's hard to say how much will be lost because of this - because it's
early," said Paul Kaludjak, head of the agency implementing Nunavut's land
claims agreement. "We'll find out in a matter of years." Two young men had
walked into the ...
<http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_34852.aspx>
[excerpt]
First she gutted it. Then she had the bleeding heart pulled out of its furry, flabby carcass. Finally, she swallowed a slice of the mammal's oozing organ.
And when it was all over Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean wiped the blood of a freshly slaughtered seal off her crimson-spattered fingertips.
The Governor General made a graphic gesture of solidarity with the country's beleaguered seal hunters on the first day of a week-long Arctic visit Monday.
Hundreds of Inuit at a community festival gathered around as Jean knelt above a pair of carcasses and used a traditional ulu blade to slice the meat off the skin.
After repeated, vigorous slashes through the flesh the Queen's representative turned to the woman beside her and asked enthusiastically: "Could I try the heart?"
Within seconds Jean was holding a dripping chunk of seal-ticker, which she tucked into her mouth, swallowed whole, and turned to her daughter to say it tasted good.
Jean grabbed a tissue to wipe her blood-soaked fingers, and explained her gesture. She expressed dismay that anyone would characterize the Inuit's eons-old, traditional hunting practices as inhumane.
Jean gestured to the hundreds of people in a packed arena and noted that they would all be fed by the meat laid out on a tarp on the floor.
"It was absolutely delicious," Jean said. "These are ancient practices that are part of a way of life.
"If you can't understand that, you're completely missing the reality of life here."
Monday, 25 May 2009
Gov. Gen. eats slaughtered seal's raw heart to show support for seal hunt
Gov. Gen. eats slaughtered seal's raw heart to show support for seal hunt
 Governor General Michaelle Jean eats the heart of a seal during a community feast in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut on Monday May 25, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick |
Alex Panetta, THE CANADIAN PRESS
http://www.journalpioneer.com/index.cfm?pid=1632&cpcat=national&stry=251983820RANKIN INLET, Nunavut - On the first day of her trip to the Arctic Michaelle Jean gutted a freshly slaughtered seal, pulled out its raw heart, and ate it.
Hundreds of Inuit at a community festival gathered around as the Governor General made a gesture of solidarity with the country's beleagured seal hunters.
Jean knelt above a pair of carcasses and used a traditional blade to slice the meat off the skin.
After repeated, vigorous cuts through the flesh the Queen's representative turned to the woman beside her and asked enthusiastically: "Could I try the heart?"
Afterward Jean grabbed a tissue to wipe clean her blood-soaked fingers, and explained her gesture of solidarity with the region's Inuit hunters.
She expressed her dismay that anyone would call their eons-old, traditional hunting practices inhumane.
She gestured to the hundreds of people in a packed arena and noted that they would all be fed by the meat laid out on a tarp on the floor.
The European Union has voted to impose a ban on seal products and it will come into effect once adopted by national parliaments.
Locals here warn it will be one more shock to a region that already suffers from chronic economic woes and a staggering array of social problems.
Jean called the practice an ancient cultural ritual that, she said, is practised humanely.
The locals explained that they don't use the hooked hakapiks that have faced such bitter criticism from environmentalists.
They said they use guns or harpoons, and can't understand why their industry is considered less humane than cattle farming.
Two young men had walked into the crowded room to drop the furry seal carcasses on the floor while the Governor General was chatting with local leaders.
The scene was reminiscent - if far bloodier - than the first day of Jean's last trip to the Arctic.
On that occasion she was tossed metres into the air on a blanket in a demonstration of traditional hunting practices.
It was an unconventional end to a day that began with a far more conventional message: the value of an education.
After landing on a frosty airstrip, Jean delivered a speech at a high-school gymnasium, where she asked students to speak about their aspirations.
"The reason I'm here is I really want people down south to know what life is like here," Jean said. "Development in the North cannot happen without you. It has to be about you."
Jean is making an unusually forceful pitch for the federal government to help build a university in the North so that more Inuit share in economic growth in the region.
Ottawa has said it's not looking to build a university in the Arctic soon. The Conservatives say they've increased funding for colleges in the area and donated to an international project to improve school programs in different Arctic countries.
But Jean says the region needs more. She points to the University of Tromso, which serves Norway's Sami aboriginals, as an inspiration for Canada.
Tromso's medicine, law and geology faculties are the kind of programs, she says, that could inspire more Canadian Inuit to pursue an education. The high school graduation rate in Nunavut is the lowest in Canada, at a mere 25 per cent.
With so few university students in the North, Jean suggests opening up the school to students throughout Canada and breaking it up into smaller satellite campuses throughout the Arctic.
Jean is spending a week in the region, mostly in Nunavut to celebrate the territory's 10th anniversary. As she approaches the final year of her five-year mandate, Jean says she's not sure whether she'll make it back before her term expires.
She expressed uncertainty when asked whether it would be her last trip there as Governor General.
"It could be," Jean said in an interview. "I hope not. Of course, as time goes by I start thinking about that."
Nunavut seeks ideas for $300000 in victims-services funding
Nunavut seeks ideas for $300000 in victims-services funding
CBC.ca - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Nunavut justice officials are looking for proposals on how to spend $300000
in funding earmarked to provide support for victims of crime. ...
<http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2009/05/25/nunavut-victim-funding.html>
CBC.ca - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Nunavut justice officials are looking for proposals on how to spend $300000
in funding earmarked to provide support for victims of crime. ...
<http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2009/05/25/nunavut-victim-funding.html>
Nunavut justice officials are looking for proposals on how to spend
$300,000 in funding earmarked to provide support for victims of crime.
The Justice Department is inviting proposals from individuals and groups
on the funding, which comes from the fines paid when people are convicted
of crimes.
The money is not meant to be paid directly to individual victims, but is
instead aimed toward supporting victims in general.
"When a victim does have something very negative happen in their lives, it
has a ripple effect in their families and their schools and their
communities," Al Hartley, the government's director of community justice,
told CBC News.
"So this is a way for the community to try to repair some of that and help
people move on to more productive lives, more healthier lives and
healthier communities."
In the territory's capital, Iqaluit, Coun. Jim Little said the city's
public safety committee, which he chairs, would like to find a way to help
victims of domestic abuse who don't call police or press charges.
"We want to raise awareness in the community that crime is unacceptable
within the general population," Little said.
"When I walk by somebody in the front entrance of Northmart that's
obviously been battered, and I just sort of avert their eyes and walk
away, what kind of a message am I giving that person?"
Nunavummiut have until June 5 to submit their ideas. Hartley said the
department can provide assistance to those putting together proposals.
Gov. Gen. pushes government to build university for Inuit
Gov. Gen. pushes government to build university for Inuit
By Macleans.ca | May 24th, 2009 | 6:17 pm
http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2009/05/24/gov-gen-pushes-government-to-build-university-for-inuit/
http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2009/05/24/gov-gen-pushes-government-to-build-university-for-inuit/
In unprecedented move, GG calls for change in government policy.
Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean is making a rare break from ceremonial circumspection to publicly urge the government to build a university for Canada's Inuit.
In a vice-regal plunge into policy advocacy, Jean proposes a university in the Arctic so Inuit youth can get a degree close to home and benefit from economic activity expected in their region.
Canada's claims to sovereignty over the North will be, she says, nothing but an "empty shell" unless the area's inhabitants participate in northern development.
The Governor General has begun promoting the idea with government officials, and sources say they expect her to raise it with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Jean was inspired by an experiment in Norway and plans to use what could be her final year in office - and her time after leaving Rideau Hall - to champion the idea that Canada can do it too.
Jean says an Arctic university could help produce the engineers that mining companies will need, and inspire young Inuit who might otherwise abandon dreams of a career in other fields such as medicine or law.
She says industry could also be conscripted in the effort - and suggests that mining firms, for instance, could be required to devote a slice of their resource revenues to building a new school.
None of this is government policy, but the Queen's representative offered a series of arguments for an Arctic university in an interview with The Canadian Press.
"So all of Canada is now looking to the North and saying, 'It's important to defend our sovereignty in the North, it's important to deal with changes from climate change, the Northwest Passage will soon be a maritime highway, it's important to explore the abundant natural resources - gas, uranium, diamonds, gold,' " Jean said at Rideau Hall.
"That's all very good - but at the same time we absolutely cannot forget that this sovereignty is an empty shell, the development of the North will be an empty shell, if it happens without the participation of northern people . . . .
"We need to build viable, healthy, durable communities there."
The Governor General leaves Monday for a one-week trip to Nunavut, where the range of social problems includes the lowest high-school graduation rate in Canada: a mere 25 per cent get a diploma.
Such a minuscule pool of potential students would certainly be one argument against the idea of spending money to build a university campus in the North.
But Jean has a couple of suggestions for overcoming that demographic challenge.
One is to consider building satellite campuses, instead of one big facility in one place, and to have different faculties in different communities. Another solution is opening up the university to students from Canada's south, so that they can discover the Arctic and Inuit culture.
The government has no such intention for now.
The Conservatives say they've committed $156 million over six years for northern research and training.
That's on top of $500,000 spent this year on the University of the Arctic, an international network of schools that share resources. Canadian members include Nunavut Arctic College, which offers a variety of programs, including nursing, jewelry-making and computer technology.
"There are no plans to build a bricks-and-mortar university in the near future," said Patricia Valladao, a departmental spokeswoman at Indian and Norhern Affairs Canada.
"(Canada's) three territorial colleges are currently working to strengthen their ability to deliver University of the Arctic programming, which would allow a greater number of northerners to access post-secondary education than really a traditional brick university in the North could do."
The Governor General begs to differ.
Jean says she was struck by what she saw at the University of Tromso, the world's northernmost university which sits on the 69th parallel and serves Norway's Sami indigenous people.
The school offers an impressive roster of programs, has 9,000 students, employs 2,400 staff, and has become a key hub of economic development in its region since being founded in 1968.
Building such an institution could be far trickier in Canada for various reasons - starting with the country's vast geography and its thin population density.
This university would serve three northern territories with a population of barely 100,000 people, sprinkled over a land mass comparable in size to Europe.
That's why Jean likes the idea of satellite campuses and opening up the institution to the rest of Canada's 33 million people.
She says Inuit youth need to see a higher education as attainable, and she fears too many are discouraged by things like a 4,000-kilometre move from frosty Tuktoyaktuk to bustling Toronto.
So Jean will continue peddling the idea - and pointing to the 69th parallel of Norway as an example for Canadians.
"Imagine that, a university in the Norwegian Arctic that has all the faculties: medicine, law, geology, there was even a music department, and this played a determining role in the development of Norway's North," Jean said.
"The idea met with some resistance at first. But now it's recognized as one of Norway's greatest successes - and it changed the face of development there.
"That inspired me a lot. And if it's possible in Norway why wouldn't it be possible in Canada?"
- The Canadian Press
Sunday, 24 May 2009
Canada Day Poster Challenge 2009 Finalist for Northwest Territories
- 5 to 8 years: Stacey Evigaktoak, 8 years old,
- Moose Kerr Elementary School, Aklavik
- 9 to 11 years: Eloise St.Louise, 11 years old,
- Weledeh Catholic School, Yellowknife
- 12 to 14 years: Kim Ring, 13 years old,
- Diamond Jeness Secondary School, Hay River
- 15 to 18 years: Carly Gon, 17 years old,
- Chief Jimmy Bruneau Regional High School, Behchoko
Minister Leona Aglukkaq Announces Canada Day Poster Challenge 2009 Finalist for Northwest Territories
http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do?m=/index&nid=453209
BEHCHOKO, Northwest Territories, May 22, 2009 - On behalf of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health and Member of Parliament (Nunavut), today announced the names of the winners in four age groups and the territorial finalist in the 2009 Canada Day Poster Challenge.
The Northwest Territories finalist, Carly Gon, age 17, attends Chief Jimmy Bruneau Regional High School in Behchoko. She interpreted this year's theme, "With Glowing Hearts," with style and originality. In her poster, Carly blends together symbols of the 2010 Winter Games with Canadian symbols and landmarks such as an inuksuk, Parliament Hill, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Canadian flag.
"I am proud to see how creative and inspiring our young Canadians are. All of the participants were able to show us how they see Canada--from the splendour of its landscapes to the wealth of its history and cultural diversity," said Minister Moore. "With the 2010 Winter Games less than a year away, the Poster Challenge has allowed thousands of young people from every part of the country to take part in the excitement and to once again demonstrate that these are truly Canada's Games. Congratulations to everyone who took on the Poster Challenge."
"Using their creativity and imagination, young people from the Northwest Territories demonstrated their artistic talents and expressed how they see Canada," said Minister Aglukkaq. "I would like to congratulate the winners and all those who took part in this year's Challenge."
In the Northwest Territories, more than 130 young people between the ages of 5 and 18 rose to the Challenge this year. The territorial finalist was chosen from among the four winners in the following age groups:
- 5 to 8 years: Stacey Evigaktoak, 8 years old, Moose Kerr Elementary School, Aklavik
- 9 to 11 years: Eloise St.Louise, 11 years old, Weledeh Catholic School, Yellowknife
- 12 to 14 years: Kim Ring, 13 years old, Diamond Jeness Secondary School, Hay River
- 15 to 18 years: Carly Gon, 17 years old, Chief Jimmy Bruneau Regional High School, Behchoko
Carly will be among the 13 provincial and territorial finalists who will go to Ottawa in June to participate in the Canada Day celebrations. As a finalist, she also has a chance to win this year's special grand prize: an all expenses paid trip to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
The grand prize winner is chosen from among the 13 provincial and territorial finalists. The winner's work will become the official poster for Celebrate Canada and will be distributed nationwide.
Created in 1987, the Poster Challenge program encourages young Canadians to learn more about Canada, which makes them even more proud of our country and strengthens their feeling of belonging.
For more information on the 2009 Canada Day Poster Challenge, visit www.posterchallenge.pch.gc.ca.
Information:
Deirdra McCracken
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
and Official Languages
819-997-7788
deirdra.mccracken@pch.gc.ca
Media Relations
Canadian Heritage
819-994-9101
1-866-569-6155
Northern Books by Valerie Alia
These books were found for sale on http://www.abebooks.com/
Un/Covering the North: News, Media, and Aboriginal People
Valerie Alia
Book Price: US$ 16.09
Bibliographic Details
ISBN: 0774807075
Publisher: University of British Columbia Press
Un/Covering the North
News, Media, and Aboriginal People
Valerie Alia
[UBC PRESS • BOOKS IN NATIVE STUDIES}
Un/Covering the North provides a comprehensive survey of communications in the circumpolar region, focusing on the Canadian Arctic and sub-Arctic but also looking at the circumpolar North (Alaska, Siberia, Greenland, and
the Nordic/Saami nations). Radio, television, magazines, newspapers, and web sites are all covered. In the process, Valerie Alia engages such underexplored topics as the history of northern media, the ethics of journalism about the North, comparative perceptions of the North in northern and southern newspapers, and the representation of Aboriginal people in film, television, radio, and print. Though many communications developments in the Canadian North are modest and ad hoc, others have a global reach. As technologies and access improve, Aboriginal people are increasingly taking control of their own representation and consolidating their presence in northern media.
Valerie Alia teaches in the Departments of Media & Cultural Studies and Journalism at the University of Sunderland in the UK.
<http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=1237344250&searchurl=an%3DValerie%2BAlia%26sortby%3D4%26x%3D53%26y%3D17>
- - - - - -
Names And Nunavut: Culture And Identity in the Inuit Homeland
Valerie Alia
Bibliographic Details
ISBN: 1845451651
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Publication Date: 2006
Binding: Hardcover
Book Price: US$ 50.49
<http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=931421477&searchurl=an%3DValerie%2BAlia%26sortby%3D4%26x%3D53%26y%3D17>
- - - - - -
Names, Numbers, and Northern Policy: Inuit, Project Surname, and The Politics of Identity
Valerie Alia
Description: 118 pages including glossary, chronology, bibliography; b&w illustrations, 2 maps. Book/binding is glossy paperback with cover illustrations; clean, firm, tight and square; minimal wear at edges and corners. Text, illustrations, maps clean and unmarked on white pages. A history of "government sponsored interference" with the Inuit identity. Bookseller Inventory # 008062
Bibliographic Details
ISBN: 1895686318
Publisher: Fernwood Pubishing, Halifax, Canada
Publication Date: 1994
Book Price: US$ 155.00
<http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=1127121014&searchurl=an%3DValerie%2BAlia%26sortby%3D4%26x%3D53%26y%3D17>
Un/Covering the North: News, Media, and Aboriginal People
Valerie Alia
Book Price: US$ 16.09
Bibliographic Details
ISBN: 0774807075
Publisher: University of British Columbia Press
Un/Covering the North
News, Media, and Aboriginal People
Valerie Alia
[UBC PRESS • BOOKS IN NATIVE STUDIES}
Un/Covering the North provides a comprehensive survey of communications in the circumpolar region, focusing on the Canadian Arctic and sub-Arctic but also looking at the circumpolar North (Alaska, Siberia, Greenland, and
the Nordic/Saami nations). Radio, television, magazines, newspapers, and web sites are all covered. In the process, Valerie Alia engages such underexplored topics as the history of northern media, the ethics of journalism about the North, comparative perceptions of the North in northern and southern newspapers, and the representation of Aboriginal people in film, television, radio, and print. Though many communications developments in the Canadian North are modest and ad hoc, others have a global reach. As technologies and access improve, Aboriginal people are increasingly taking control of their own representation and consolidating their presence in northern media.
Valerie Alia teaches in the Departments of Media & Cultural Studies and Journalism at the University of Sunderland in the UK.
<http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=1237344250&searchurl=an%3DValerie%2BAlia%26sortby%3D4%26x%3D53%26y%3D17>
- - - - - -
Names And Nunavut: Culture And Identity in the Inuit Homeland
Valerie Alia
Bibliographic Details
ISBN: 1845451651
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Publication Date: 2006
Binding: Hardcover
Book Price: US$ 50.49
<http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=931421477&searchurl=an%3DValerie%2BAlia%26sortby%3D4%26x%3D53%26y%3D17>
- - - - - -
Names, Numbers, and Northern Policy: Inuit, Project Surname, and The Politics of Identity
Valerie Alia
Description: 118 pages including glossary, chronology, bibliography; b&w illustrations, 2 maps. Book/binding is glossy paperback with cover illustrations; clean, firm, tight and square; minimal wear at edges and corners. Text, illustrations, maps clean and unmarked on white pages. A history of "government sponsored interference" with the Inuit identity. Bookseller Inventory # 008062
Bibliographic Details
ISBN: 1895686318
Publisher: Fernwood Pubishing, Halifax, Canada
Publication Date: 1994
Book Price: US$ 155.00
<http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=1127121014&searchurl=an%3DValerie%2BAlia%26sortby%3D4%26x%3D53%26y%3D17>
National Geographic in the Field: Young Explorers Grants
National Geographic in the Field: Young Explorers Grants
<http://www.nationalgeographic.com/field/grants-programs/young-explorers.html>
Enhancing our efforts to foster the next generation of researchers,
explorers, and conservationists, National Geographic now provides seed
grants to individuals between the ages of 18 and 25 in the fields we have
a rich history of supporting. Young Explorers grants provide the
opportunity for many recipients to pursue their first experiences in the
field.
Young Explorers Grants (YEG) offer opportunities to individuals between
the ages of 18 and 25 to pursue research, conservation, and
exploration-related projects consistent with National Geographic's
existing grant programs, including: the Committee for Research and
Exploration (CRE), the Expeditions Council (EC), and the Conservation
Trust (CT).
Eligibility
The Young Explorers Grants Program supports a variety of projects—and an
age-range of applicants—that are generally not covered by other sources of
funding.
Applicants are not required to have advanced degrees. However, a record of
prior experience in the fields of research, conservation, or exploration
should be submitted as it pertains to the proposed project.
Funding is not restricted to United States citizens—foreign nationals are
invited to apply. Researchers planning work in countries abroad should
make great effort to include at least one local collaborator as part of
their team.
Where Should I Apply?
The Committee for Research and Exploration funds hypothesis-based
scientific research. Consult the CRE website for more information on the
fields of research funded.
The Conservation Trust funds innovative and applied approaches to
conservation with potential for global application. Consult the CT website
for more information on the types of projects funded.
The Expeditions Council funds exploration and adventure around the world.
Consult the EC website for more information on the types of programs
funded.
Grant Limits
Young Explorers Grants vary in amount depending on significance of the
project, though most range between US $2,000 and $5,000. National
Geographic Society funds often serve as complementary support—thus the
program encourages applicants to seek additional, concurrent funding from
other sources.
Grant Restrictions
National Geographic Society grants may not be used for indirect costs,
overhead, and other expenses not directly related to the project. Fringe
benefits are also excluded, as are salaries.
Funds may not be used for travel to scientific/professional meetings or
conferences, tuition, vacations, study abroad programs, volunteer
activities, legal actions, land acquisition, endowments, construction of
permanent field stations, or publication of research results.
Grant recipients are expected to provide the National Geographic Society
with rights of first refusal for popular publication and other media
coverage of their findings.
Obtaining an Application Form
Applying for a Young Explorers Grant is a two-step process.
First, you must submit a pre-application form online. If your
pre-application is approved, you will be sent an email with a link and a
password giving you access to our full application online.
Before you submit a pre-application, there are a few things you should
take into consideration:
* The pre-application form can be completed in multiple sessions. You
will be allowed to save your work and complete it at another time.
* You will be asked to upload an electronic copy of your curriculum
vitae (CV) while completing the form. Instructions will be provided.
* Please make sure that your browser is configured to receive cookies.
* This system works best on Internet Explorer 5.5 and Netscape 6.0 or
higher.
* If you have any questions about the online pre-application form,
consult our Frequently Asked Questions.
* If you don't find the answer to your question, Please email the
question to the fund you are applying to: cre@ngs.org,
conservationtrust@ngs.org, or council@ngs.org. Please remember to
include Young Explorers Grant in the subject line.
*
The Young Explorers Grants Program accepts pre-applications
throughout the year. Please submit your pre-application at least
eight months prior to your field dates, at least six months for the
Expeditions Council. If your application is approved—a decision
which takes about eight weeks—the relevant grant program will send
you an email with a link to the full application online. The names
of three academic or professional references and a curriculum vitae
are to be included with the full application.
Fill out YEG pre-application for Committee for Research and
Exploration (CRE).
https://www.grantrequest.com/sid_69/?SA=SNA&FID=35021
Access your saved CRE pre-application form.
https://www.grantrequest.com/SID_69/
Fill out YEG pre-application for Expeditions Council (EC).
https://www.grantrequest.com/sid_69/?SA=SNA&FID=35025
Access your saved EC pre-application form.
https://www.grantrequest.com/SID_69/
Fill out YEG pre-application for Conservation Trust (CT).
https://www.grantrequest.com/SID_69/?SA=SNA&FID=35024
Access your saved CT pre-application form.
https://www.grantrequest.com/SID_69/
Looking for stories about flying in the NWT - historical and present day.
Jude Weir [Jude@telus.net] has requested distribution of the
following announcement:
>Hi there,
>
> My name is Jude Weir and I'm a Northern Canada rookie. And by that
>I mean I'm shamefully ignorant about it - which is a problem since
>I'm looking for stories about flying in the NWT - historical and
>present day.
>
> We're building an online "story map" as a resource and archive of
>personal flying stories. As this is a non-profit project we
>are searching out stories ourselves. So I'm really grateful for your
>website and I will get to reading everything on it to get the
>historical aspects but, in the meantime. I'm wondering if you might
>be able to point me in the direction of people who might have a
>story about flying more recently.
>
> It doesn't need to be grand, or even very long. We're looking to
>capture the "flavour" of the experience as much as sensational
>stories (but we'll take those too!). It can be anyone's story --
>pilot, crew, passenger...as long as it involves flying.
>
> I'd really appreciate any advice you could give me. I don't suppose
>there's a newsletter we could put a notice in or anything like that?
> In any case, thank you for your time,
> Jude
>
>JudeWeir@Friend-At-Hand.ca
>Friend At Hand Productions
>(604) 882-3773
>(604) 671-3836
following announcement:
>Hi there,
>
> My name is Jude Weir and I'm a Northern Canada rookie. And by that
>I mean I'm shamefully ignorant about it - which is a problem since
>I'm looking for stories about flying in the NWT - historical and
>present day.
>
> We're building an online "story map" as a resource and archive of
>personal flying stories. As this is a non-profit project we
>are searching out stories ourselves. So I'm really grateful for your
>website and I will get to reading everything on it to get the
>historical aspects but, in the meantime. I'm wondering if you might
>be able to point me in the direction of people who might have a
>story about flying more recently.
>
> It doesn't need to be grand, or even very long. We're looking to
>capture the "flavour" of the experience as much as sensational
>stories (but we'll take those too!). It can be anyone's story --
>pilot, crew, passenger...as long as it involves flying.
>
> I'd really appreciate any advice you could give me. I don't suppose
>there's a newsletter we could put a notice in or anything like that?
> In any case, thank you for your time,
> Jude
>
>JudeWeir@Friend-At-Hand.ca
>Friend At Hand Productions
>(604) 882-3773
>(604) 671-3836
Friday, 22 May 2009
Ottawa announces $222M for housing projects in North - Nunavut gets a $117-million boost
Ottawa announces $222M for housing projects in North
CBC.ca - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
The federal funding announced Friday includes $109 million for Nunavut, $59
million for the Northwest Territories and $54 million for the Yukon. ...
<http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2009/05/22/north-housing.html>
Affordable housing in Nunavut gets a $117-million boost
Canada NewsWire (press release) - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
IQALUIT, NU, May 22 /CNW Telbec/ - The Government of Canada and Nunavut are
partnering on a joint investment to build new and renovate existing
affordable ...
<http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2009/22/c6725.html>
CBC.ca - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
million for the Northwest Territories and $54 million for the Yukon. ...
<http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2009/05/22/north-housing.html>
Affordable housing in Nunavut gets a $117-million boost
Canada NewsWire (press release) - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
IQALUIT, NU, May 22 /CNW Telbec/ - The Government of Canada and Nunavut are
partnering on a joint investment to build new and renovate existing
affordable ...
<http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2009/22/c6725.html>
Project Nunavut - Qanuilingaliqpita: a comprehensive review of the Government of Nunavut's strengths and weaknesses. How are we doing?
Project Nunavut - Qanuilingaliqpita: How are we doing? - MAP ...
MAP Communications is part of a team conducting the research and public consultation needed for a comprehensive review of the Government of Nunavut's strengths and weaknesses. The project will include podcasts, facebook, twitter, and community consultations. MAP is excited about seeing even more overnight sunshine this summer. Stay tuned for more updates. ...
<http://mapcommunications.posterous.com/project-nunavut>
Meagan Perry http://posterous.com/people/1aTp32M4 runs MAP Communications Consulting, a company specializing in podcast production and writing. She also works as the executive producer of the rabble podcast network, which can be found at http://www.rabble.ca/rpn. (photo credit: Ian Stewart)
http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/2075/map-2.jpg
MAP Communications is part of a team conducting the research and public consultation needed for a comprehensive review of the Government of Nunavut's strengths and weaknesses. The project will include podcasts, facebook, twitter, and community consultations. MAP is excited about seeing even more overnight sunshine this summer. Stay tuned for more updates. ...
<http://mapcommunications.posterous.com/project-nunavut>
Meagan Perry http://posterous.com/people/1aTp32M4 runs MAP Communications Consulting, a company specializing in podcast production and writing. She also works as the executive producer of the rabble podcast network, which can be found at http://www.rabble.ca/rpn. (photo credit: Ian Stewart)
http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/2075/map-2.jpg
Nunavut makes unsold seal pelts available for sale
Nunavut makes unsold seal pelts available for sale
CBC.ca - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Dismal sales of seal skins this past year have prompted the Nunavut government to make thousands of unsold pelts available to people within the territory. ...
<http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2009/05/22/nunavut-seal-skins.html>
CBC.ca - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
<http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2009/05/22/nunavut-seal-skins.html>
Dismal sales of seal skins this past year have prompted the Nunavut government to make thousands of unsold pelts available to people within the territory.
Many of the 10,000 seal pelts from Nunavut did not sell earlier this year at the Fur Harvesters Auction house in North Bay, Ont., as buyers backed off when the European Union moved to ban the import of seal products.
Now, the Nunavut government wants to ensure most of those pelts go to good use, so it is allowing Nunavummiut to order them directly from the North Bay auction house.
"Instead of the seal skins rotting away or not put to use, then at least let's do something," Simon Awa, Nunavut's deputy environment minister, said Thursday.
"Repatriate some of the seal skins back to Nunavut so that they can be used by local people."
Individuals and organizations such as Nunavut Arctic College are eligible to order the pelts, which are dressed ringed seal skins. The pelts come in an assortment of colours, in large or medium sizes.
There is a limit of 10 pelts per order, and the government will cover the cost of shipping. Retailers are not eligible to make orders.
"This program that we have come up with is basically for individuals that doesn't have access to sealskins to make ... hunting outfits, or some other seal skin products," Awa said.
"Whether it's art or not ... these sealskins should become available for Nunavummiut."
Community conservation officers will have more information about the pelt buying program, Awa added.
About 10,000 seal skins from Nunavut were shipped to the Fur Harvesters Auction House for sale in the past year, but the sale of those pelts drastically dropped as buyers around the world became aware of the EU's pending seal product ban.
"In the last two years that the ban's been building up towards this implementation of the ban, the market's been getting tougher and tougher," said James Gibb, public relations director with the auction house.
Awa said the Nunavut government will decide next year whether to allow the seal skin purchasing program to continue, depending on how well it is received.
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
IsumaTV: Countdown to Copenhagen
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: IsumaTV Press Release : Countdown to Copenhagen
From: nanauq@isuma.tv
Date: Wed, May 20, 2009 23:46
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: IsumaTV Press Release : Countdown to Copenhagen
From: nanauq@isuma.tv
Date: Wed, May 20, 2009 23:46
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
For immediate release
Montréal, May 20th 2009 – Zacharias Kunuk and IsumaTV
announce the launch of Countdown to Copenhagen May 29, 2009 with a
two-hour Live Webcast featuring , Inuit climate activist and 2007
Nobel Peace Prize nominee, speaking on Inuit, Human Rights and
Climate Change live from Iqaluit, Nunavut to a worldwide audience.
The program leads off at 7:45 pm EST with the World Premiere of
Tungijuq, Isuma's new 6-minute video starring Inuit jazz and
throat-singing sensation, Tanya Tagaq.
At 8 pm Siila Watt-Cloutier delivers the 9th annual
LaFontaine-Baldwin Lecture, sponsored by the Institute of Canadian
Citizenship and the Dominion Institute, introduced by John Ralston
Saul, The Right Honorable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada,
Isuma's Zacharias Kunuk and The Honourable Ann Meekitjuk Hanson,
Commissioner of Nunavut.
Igloolik Isuma Productions is creator of the award-winning Fast
Runner Trilogy including Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, The Journals of
Knud Rasmussen and Before Tomorrow. IsumaTV is Isuma's free
interactive website of Inuit and Aboriginal multimedia content with
over 1000 films in 28 Indigenous languages.
Countdown to Copenhagen is Isuma's six-month internet campaign to
promote the importance of Inuit knowledge and human rights in the
global discussion of Climate Change. Monthly webcasts on IsumaTV from
May to November will culminate in Live From the Floe Edge,ten days of
daily internet streaming hosted by Zacharias Kunuk live from his
arctic wilderness hunting camp during the UN Climate Change
Conference in Copenhagen, December 7-17.
IsumaTV pioneers a low-cost model for internet distribution of
Indigenous media for community organizing on issues of global
importance. Throughout 2009 Countdown to Copenhagen Live Webcasts
will be downloaded to a growing network of digital screening rooms
from Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal to as far as Tromso, Norway and
Alice Springs, Australia. IsumaTV has the goal by December 2009 of a
network of 1000 local-to-global screening groups around the world
watching Live From the Floe Edge through digital
download-to-projection.
May 29th also kicks off NITV on IsumaTV to install local servers in
remote Inuit and Aboriginal communities allowing IsumaTV to be viewed
at high-speed even with poor internet service. NITV on IsumaTV
installs its first local server this month in the Umimmak School in
the tiny Nunavut community of Grise Fiord, pop. 141, delivering 1000
films at high-speed to Canada's northernmost community at 76 degrees
N latitude.
IsumaTV was created in January 2008 by Igloolik Isuma Productions in
association with Nunavut Independent TV Network (NITV), imagineNATIVE
Film+Media Arts Festival, Vtape, Native Communications Society of the
NWT and other non-profit agencies. In its first fifteen months
IsumaTV had 7.5 million hits from over 40 countries. IsumaTV thanks
Telefilm Canada New Media Fund, Canadian Heritage Canadian Culture
Online, Canada Council, Nunavut Film Development Corporation,
Government of Nunavut Department of Culture, Language, Elders and
Youth and Atuqtuarvik Corporation.
The LaFontaine Baldwin Lecture, founded by John Ralston Saul in 2000,
is one of the most prominent lecture series on issues concerning the
public good in Canada. For the first time in its history, the
LaFontaine Baldwin Lecture will be held in Canada's North. Many
conversations take place in Canada about the North, regarding its
environment, sovereignty, and natural resources. Usually these
conversations are held in the South and often without any input from
Northerners.
Siila Watt-Cloutier, one of Canada's leading public figures, has long
been a national and international voice for Northerners and the North.
Siila Watt-Cloutier is an Officer of the Order of Canada, the first
recipient of Canada's Northern Medal and was nominated for the 2007
Nobel Peace Prize. Between 1995 and 1998 she was elected President of
the Inuit Circumpolar Council. Between 2002 and 2006 she served as the
elected International Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council. Siila
Watt-Cloutier has worked on a range of social and environmental
issues affecting the Inuit, and has most recently focused on
persistent organic pollutants and global climate change.
Tanya Tagaq Gillis (BFA) is an Inuit throat singer from Cambridge Bay
(Ikaluktuutiak), Nunavut, Canada, on the south coast of Victoria
Island. A popular performer at Canadian folk festivals, she is best
known for collaborations with Björk, including concert tours and the
2004 album Medúlla, and with the Kronos Quartet. In 2005, her CD
Sinaa (Inuktitut for "edge") won three Canadian Aboriginal Music
Awards including Best Female Artist. Sinaa was nominated for the 2006
Juno Awards as Best Aboriginal Recording. Tagaq's most recent album is
Auk/Blood.
Zacharias Kunuk is president and co-founder of Igloolik Isuma
Productions, created in 1987 as Canada's first Inuit-language
independent production company. Kunuk's first feature film,
Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, won the Camera d'or at the 2001 Cannes
Film Festival and was distributed around the world. Kunuk is an
Officer of the Order of Canada and was the Toronto Globe and Mail's
2002 Man of the Year in the Arts.
http://www.isuma.tv
+ http://www.isuma.ca
http://www.icc-icc.ca/en/symposium/index.php
http://www.myspace.com/tagaq
and http://www.tanyatagaq.com
Source : Zacharias Kunuk : (867) 934-8809 : zkunuk@isuma.ca
Information : Norman Cohn :
(514) 576-0707 :
cohn@isuma.ca
Governor General visits Nunavut and Nunavik
http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=5742
Governor General visits Nunavut and Nunavik
May 20, 2009
OTTAWA—Their Excellencies the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, and Mr. Jean-Daniel Lafond, accompanied by their daughter Marie-Éden, will travel to Canada's North. The visit, which will take place primarily in Nunavut and end in Nunavik, in Quebec's Arctic region, will run from May 25 to June 1, 2009.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the creation of the government of Nunavut as the issue of sovereignty in the Arctic is becoming increasingly important. Finding a balance between the equitable development of resources and the preservation of the environment is the main focus. It is important that northern populations, particularly youth, who make up the vast majority, are able to be involved in developing their communities and contributing to national prosperity. It is in this spirit of sharing and solidarity that Their Excellencies will be meeting with women, men and youth in these regions, which make up 20 percent of Canada's land mass. They believe it is essential to strengthen the ties between Canada's northern and southern regions and to be enriched by a better understanding of the life, culture and realities of the Inuit people.
Their Excellencies will visit eight communities in three of Nunavut's regions: Rankin Inlet, Kugluktuk, Cambridge Bay, Resolute, Pond Inlet, Clyde River, Pangnirtung and Iqaluit. Their visit will wrap up in Kuujjuaq, Nunavik. During their stay, they will be meeting with territorial government and municipal representatives. In addition, they will hold several discussion forums with Inuit youth and elders to highlight their accomplishments and to discuss the challenges they face on a daily basis.
-30-
A detailed itinerary of the visit will be published shortly.
Media information:
Marie-Ève Létourneau
Rideau Hall Press Office
613-998-0287
meletourneau@gg.ca
Marthe Blouin
Official Spokesperson to the Governor General of Canada
613-993-0397
mblouin@gg.ca
www.gg.ca
www.citizenvoices.gg.ca
Friday, 15 May 2009
Judy Wilson of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories; Minister of Health Recognizes Dedication to Health Care in 2009 ...
Minister of Health Recognizes Dedication to Health Care in 2009 ...
This years winners, Judy Wilson of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories; Liza Sam of Nak'azdli (Fort St. James), British Columbia; and Susan Stoneson of Chilliwack, British Columbia are all top-quality nurses with tremendous ...
<http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/nr-cp/_2009/2009_71-eng.php>
Health Canada RSS
<http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/>
Judy Wilson
Judy is the nurse in-charge at the Rosie Ovayuk Health Centre in Tuktoyaktuk -- a busy, four-nurse health centre in a community of 1,000 people. Judy works in acute care (assessment, diagnosis and treatment) and delivers public health-care programs, including well man, well women, prenatal, and postpartum. She also finds time to mentor new nurses in-charge for their positions in remote health centres. Judy received her Masters of Public Health from the University of Melbourne and has presented at a number of international conferences. Her nursing career has taken her from working with indigenous communities in Australia and New Zealand, to the Inuvialuit and G'wichen First nations in the North West Territories. Judy is a very dedicated nurse and a credit to the nursing profession.
This years winners, Judy Wilson of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories; Liza Sam of Nak'azdli (Fort St. James), British Columbia; and Susan Stoneson of Chilliwack, British Columbia are all top-quality nurses with tremendous ...
<http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/nr-cp/_2009/2009_71-eng.php>
Health Canada RSS
<http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/>
Judy Wilson
Judy is the nurse in-charge at the Rosie Ovayuk Health Centre in Tuktoyaktuk -- a busy, four-nurse health centre in a community of 1,000 people. Judy works in acute care (assessment, diagnosis and treatment) and delivers public health-care programs, including well man, well women, prenatal, and postpartum. She also finds time to mentor new nurses in-charge for their positions in remote health centres. Judy received her Masters of Public Health from the University of Melbourne and has presented at a number of international conferences. Her nursing career has taken her from working with indigenous communities in Australia and New Zealand, to the Inuvialuit and G'wichen First nations in the North West Territories. Judy is a very dedicated nurse and a credit to the nursing profession.
Yellowknife Tweets LIVE - All the people using twitter from Yellowknife
Yellowknife Tweets LIVE All the people using twitter from Yellowknife
http://www.scribblelive.com/Event/Yellowknife_Tweets
Urban Design Yellowknife - Our sketching team gathers to capture streets and people.
Urban Design Yellowknife
<http://sketchyellowknife.blogspot.com/>
Our sketching team gathers to capture streets and people. We seek to absorb, experience, communicate and comprehend elements of identity and urbanity that make Yellowknife. We are structured yet informal. You can sign a trip or sign on someone else's trip at
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=sketchyellowknife%40gmail.com&ctz=UTC
Our sketching team gathers to capture streets and people. We seek to absorb, experience, communicate and comprehend elements of identity and urbanity that make Yellowknife. We are structured yet informal. You can sign a trip or sign on someone else's trip at
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=sketchyellowknife%40gmail.com&ctz=UTC
Online Broadcast on IsumaTV: Siila Watt-Cloutier, LaFountaine-Baldwin Lecture
From: Naoko Kumagai [nkumagai@icc-icc.ca]
About the Speaker:
Siila Watt-Cloutier is an Officer of the Order of Canada, the first recipient of Canada's Northern Medal and was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. She was elected President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (1995 – 1998), and served as the elected International Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (2002 – 2006). Watt-Cloutier has worked on a range of social and environmental issues affecting Inuit, and has most recently focused on persistent organic pollutants and global climate change.
Established by John Ralston Saul in 2000, the LaFontaine-Baldwin lecture presented by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship and the Dominion Institute, is one of the most prominent lecture series on issues concerning the public good in Canada. The Institute for Canadian Citizenship was founded in 2005 as a national, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting citizenship.
For more details on the LaFontaine-Baldwin lecture, please visit the Institute for Canadian Citizenship website: www.icc-icc.ca.
L'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne et l'Institut du Dominion annoncent que la Conférence LaFontaine-Baldwin sera prononcée le 29 mai prochain par Siila Watt-Cloutier, l'activiste inuite canadienne bien connue et candidate sélectionnée au Prix Nobel de la Paix. Cette conférence sera diffusée en direct et en ligne d'Iqaluit, au Nunavut, sur IsumaTV, ainsi que les discussions en tables rondes qui auront lieu le 30 mai.
Le vendredi 29 mai à 20 heures, heure normale de l'est, Siila Watt-Cloutier présentera sa vision unique sur le réchauffement de la planète, sur les droits de la personne, sur les questions de leadership et de la souveraineté arctique. Inspirées par la conférence, des tables rondes de discussions avec la participation de membres de la communauté sont prévues pour le 30 mai, de 15 heures à 17 heures, heure normale de l'est. Les deux événements auront lieu à l'école secondaire Inukshuk, à Iqaluit. La Conférence LaFontaine-Baldwin sera diffusée en direct par IsumaTV au http://www.isuma.tv . La Conférence et les tables rondes sont accessibles gratuitement et ouvertes au grand public.
'Nous sommes très heureux du partenariat avec l'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne dans le cadre de la Conférence LaFontaine-Baldwin', a déclaré Zacharias Kunuk, le Président et cofondateur des Productions Igloolik Isuma. 'Siila Watt-Cloutier est une personnalité de premier plan dans la communauté inuite et il est important que le Canada entende cette discussion sur le Grand Nord.'
'Il est stimulant de pouvoir travailler avec IsumaTV à cet important événement' a affirmé Curtis Barlow, le Directeur général de l'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne. 'Nous espérons que la diffusion en ligne rendra la conférence accessible à travers le pays et nous souhaitons que le message de Siila Watt-Cloutier soit entendu partout.'
Parmi les invités spéciaux lors de la conférence et des tables rondes, on compte la coprésidente et fondatrice de l'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne, Adrienne Clarkson, le coprésident de l'Institut et fondateur des Conférences LaFontaine-Baldwin, John Ralston Saul, le cinéaste Zacharias Kunik et l'actrice Martha Burns.
IsumaTV a été lancée en janvier 2008 par les Productions Igloolik Isuma, les producteurs indépendants auxquels on doit entre autres la trilogie composée des films récipiendaires de nombreux prix: Atarnajuat la légende de l'homme rapide, Le journal de Knud Rasmussen et Le jour avant le lendemain; ces oeuvres ont été produites en coopération avec le Nunavut Independent TV Network (NITV), le Festival du film et des arts médiatiques imagineNATIVE, Vtape, la Native Communications Society des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, et d'autres organismes sans but lucratif. C'est avec cette conférence de Siila Watt-Cloutier le 29 mai, qu'IsumaTV lance sa nouvelle version 2.0 à la diffusion en réseau améliorée ainsi que plus de mille films en vint-huit langues indigènes.
Au sujet de la conférencière:
Siila Watt-Cloutier est officier de l'Ordre du Canada, la première récipiendaire de la Médaille du Gouverneur général pour la nordicité et elle a été sélectionnée au Prix Nobel de la Paix en 2007. Elle a été élue Présidente du Conseil circumpolaire inuit (1995-1998) et Présidente internationale du Conseil (2002-2006). Elle a oeuvré dans divers domaines sociaux et environnementaux qui affectent les Inuits et elle s'est plus récemment consacrée au problème des polluants organiques persistants et aux changements climatiques globaux.
Fondées en 2000 par John Ralston Saul, les Conférences LaFontaine-Baldwin présentées par l'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne et l'Institut du Dominion comptent parmi les principaux forums pour discuter du bien public au Canada. L'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne a été fondé en 2005 en tant qu'organisation nationale sans but lucratif destinée à promouvoir la citoyenneté.
Pour obtenir davantage d'information sur les Conférences LaFontaine-Baldwin, veuillez consulter le site internet de l'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne: www.icc-icc.ca
Pour de plus amples renseignements:
Naoko Kumagai
Directrice des communications
Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne
416-593-6998, poste 225
nkumagai@icc-icc.ca
-- Via / Thanks to:
Northern Research Network
research.north@gmail.com
http://northernresearchnetwork.electrified.ca
ONLINE BROADCAST ON ISUMA TV:
LAFONTAINE-BALDWIN LECTURE FEATURING SIILA WATT-CLOUTIER
29 MAY 2009
The Institute for Canadian Citizenship and the Dominion Institute's LaFontaine-Baldwin lecture featuring Canadian Inuit activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Siila Watt-Cloutier will be broadcast live online on IsumaTV on May 29, along with a roundtable discussion on May 30 from Iqaluit, Nunavut.
On Friday May 29 at 8pm EST, Siila Watt-Cloutier will present a unique perspective on global warming, human rights, issues of leadership and Arctic sovereignty. A roundtable discussion based on the lecture and involving the local community is scheduled for Saturday May 30 from 3pm to 5pm EST. Both events take place at Inukshuk High School in Iqaluit. The LaFontaine-Baldwin lecture will be streamed live on IsumaTV at http://www.isuma.tv. The lecture and roundtable discussion are free and open to the public.
"We are very pleased to be in partnership with the Institute for Canadian Citizenship with the LaFontaine Baldwin lecture," said Zacharias Kunuk, President and Co-Founder of Igloolik Isuma Productions. "Siila Watt-Cloutier is a major figure in the Inuit community and this is an important discussion for Canada to hear about the North."
"It's exciting to be working with Isuma TV on this important event," said Institute for Canadian Citizenship CEO Curtis Barlow. "We hope the web broadcast will make the lecture accessible to Canadians across the country and we hope this will enable Siila Watt-Cloutier's message to be widely received."
Special guests of the lecture and roundtable discussion include Institute for Canadian Citizenship founder and co-chair Adrienne Clarkson, Institute co-chair and founder of LaFontaine-Baldwin lecture series John Ralston Saul, filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk and actor Martha Burns.
IsumaTV was launched in January 2008 by Igloolik Isuma Productions, independent producers of The Fast Runner Trilogy of award-winning Inuit-language films: Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, and Before Tomorrow; in association with Nunavut Independent TV Network (NITV), imagineNATIVE Film+Media Arts Festival, Vtape, Native Communications Society of the NWT and other non-profit agencies. With Siila's lecture on May 29th, IsumaTV launches its new 2.0 version with improved networking and over 1000 films in 28 Indigenous languages.
The Institute for Canadian Citizenship and the Dominion Institute's LaFontaine-Baldwin lecture featuring Canadian Inuit activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Siila Watt-Cloutier will be broadcast live online on IsumaTV on May 29, along with a roundtable discussion on May 30 from Iqaluit, Nunavut.
On Friday May 29 at 8pm EST, Siila Watt-Cloutier will present a unique perspective on global warming, human rights, issues of leadership and Arctic sovereignty. A roundtable discussion based on the lecture and involving the local community is scheduled for Saturday May 30 from 3pm to 5pm EST. Both events take place at Inukshuk High School in Iqaluit. The LaFontaine-Baldwin lecture will be streamed live on IsumaTV at http://www.isuma.tv. The lecture and roundtable discussion are free and open to the public.
"We are very pleased to be in partnership with the Institute for Canadian Citizenship with the LaFontaine Baldwin lecture," said Zacharias Kunuk, President and Co-Founder of Igloolik Isuma Productions. "Siila Watt-Cloutier is a major figure in the Inuit community and this is an important discussion for Canada to hear about the North."
"It's exciting to be working with Isuma TV on this important event," said Institute for Canadian Citizenship CEO Curtis Barlow. "We hope the web broadcast will make the lecture accessible to Canadians across the country and we hope this will enable Siila Watt-Cloutier's message to be widely received."
Special guests of the lecture and roundtable discussion include Institute for Canadian Citizenship founder and co-chair Adrienne Clarkson, Institute co-chair and founder of LaFontaine-Baldwin lecture series John Ralston Saul, filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk and actor Martha Burns.
IsumaTV was launched in January 2008 by Igloolik Isuma Productions, independent producers of The Fast Runner Trilogy of award-winning Inuit-language films: Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, and Before Tomorrow; in association with Nunavut Independent TV Network (NITV), imagineNATIVE Film+Media Arts Festival, Vtape, Native Communications Society of the NWT and other non-profit agencies. With Siila's lecture on May 29th, IsumaTV launches its new 2.0 version with improved networking and over 1000 films in 28 Indigenous languages.
About the Speaker:
Siila Watt-Cloutier is an Officer of the Order of Canada, the first recipient of Canada's Northern Medal and was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. She was elected President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (1995 – 1998), and served as the elected International Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (2002 – 2006). Watt-Cloutier has worked on a range of social and environmental issues affecting Inuit, and has most recently focused on persistent organic pollutants and global climate change.
Established by John Ralston Saul in 2000, the LaFontaine-Baldwin lecture presented by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship and the Dominion Institute, is one of the most prominent lecture series on issues concerning the public good in Canada. The Institute for Canadian Citizenship was founded in 2005 as a national, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting citizenship.
For more details on the LaFontaine-Baldwin lecture, please visit the Institute for Canadian Citizenship website: www.icc-icc.ca.
For more information:
Naoko Kumagai
Communications Manager
Naoko Kumagai
Communications Manager
_____
La Conférence LaFontaine-Baldwin prononcée par Siila Watt-Cloutier sera diffusée en ligne sur Isuma TV le 29 mai 2009
L'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne et l'Institut du Dominion annoncent que la Conférence LaFontaine-Baldwin sera prononcée le 29 mai prochain par Siila Watt-Cloutier, l'activiste inuite canadienne bien connue et candidate sélectionnée au Prix Nobel de la Paix. Cette conférence sera diffusée en direct et en ligne d'Iqaluit, au Nunavut, sur IsumaTV, ainsi que les discussions en tables rondes qui auront lieu le 30 mai.
Le vendredi 29 mai à 20 heures, heure normale de l'est, Siila Watt-Cloutier présentera sa vision unique sur le réchauffement de la planète, sur les droits de la personne, sur les questions de leadership et de la souveraineté arctique. Inspirées par la conférence, des tables rondes de discussions avec la participation de membres de la communauté sont prévues pour le 30 mai, de 15 heures à 17 heures, heure normale de l'est. Les deux événements auront lieu à l'école secondaire Inukshuk, à Iqaluit. La Conférence LaFontaine-Baldwin sera diffusée en direct par IsumaTV au http://www.isuma.tv . La Conférence et les tables rondes sont accessibles gratuitement et ouvertes au grand public.
'Nous sommes très heureux du partenariat avec l'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne dans le cadre de la Conférence LaFontaine-Baldwin', a déclaré Zacharias Kunuk, le Président et cofondateur des Productions Igloolik Isuma. 'Siila Watt-Cloutier est une personnalité de premier plan dans la communauté inuite et il est important que le Canada entende cette discussion sur le Grand Nord.'
'Il est stimulant de pouvoir travailler avec IsumaTV à cet important événement' a affirmé Curtis Barlow, le Directeur général de l'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne. 'Nous espérons que la diffusion en ligne rendra la conférence accessible à travers le pays et nous souhaitons que le message de Siila Watt-Cloutier soit entendu partout.'
Parmi les invités spéciaux lors de la conférence et des tables rondes, on compte la coprésidente et fondatrice de l'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne, Adrienne Clarkson, le coprésident de l'Institut et fondateur des Conférences LaFontaine-Baldwin, John Ralston Saul, le cinéaste Zacharias Kunik et l'actrice Martha Burns.
IsumaTV a été lancée en janvier 2008 par les Productions Igloolik Isuma, les producteurs indépendants auxquels on doit entre autres la trilogie composée des films récipiendaires de nombreux prix: Atarnajuat la légende de l'homme rapide, Le journal de Knud Rasmussen et Le jour avant le lendemain; ces oeuvres ont été produites en coopération avec le Nunavut Independent TV Network (NITV), le Festival du film et des arts médiatiques imagineNATIVE, Vtape, la Native Communications Society des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, et d'autres organismes sans but lucratif. C'est avec cette conférence de Siila Watt-Cloutier le 29 mai, qu'IsumaTV lance sa nouvelle version 2.0 à la diffusion en réseau améliorée ainsi que plus de mille films en vint-huit langues indigènes.
Au sujet de la conférencière:
Siila Watt-Cloutier est officier de l'Ordre du Canada, la première récipiendaire de la Médaille du Gouverneur général pour la nordicité et elle a été sélectionnée au Prix Nobel de la Paix en 2007. Elle a été élue Présidente du Conseil circumpolaire inuit (1995-1998) et Présidente internationale du Conseil (2002-2006). Elle a oeuvré dans divers domaines sociaux et environnementaux qui affectent les Inuits et elle s'est plus récemment consacrée au problème des polluants organiques persistants et aux changements climatiques globaux.
Fondées en 2000 par John Ralston Saul, les Conférences LaFontaine-Baldwin présentées par l'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne et l'Institut du Dominion comptent parmi les principaux forums pour discuter du bien public au Canada. L'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne a été fondé en 2005 en tant qu'organisation nationale sans but lucratif destinée à promouvoir la citoyenneté.
Pour obtenir davantage d'information sur les Conférences LaFontaine-Baldwin, veuillez consulter le site internet de l'Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne: www.icc-icc.ca
Pour de plus amples renseignements:
Naoko Kumagai
Directrice des communications
Institut pour la Citoyenneté canadienne
416-593-6998, poste 225
nkumagai@icc-icc.ca
-- Via / Thanks to:
Northern Research Network
research.north@gmail.com
http://northernresearchnetwork.electrified.ca
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Inuit families spend years looking for graves of loved ones who died from TB
Inuit families spend years looking for graves of loved ones who died from TB
8 hours ago
<http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5j0tYmQvKzvhbTRAUZ1NT3GvF2ecw>
There it was, after half a lifetime of searching and wondering, an
anonymous plot in a weedy Winnipeg graveyard. No cross marking it. No name
on the small plaque half-covered by grass. Just a number — 45.
Raymond Ningeocheak looked at his brother and wept.
The siblings had finally found their mother's grave - nearly 30 years
after she left her Arctic home for a southern hospital, sick with the
tuberculosis that eventually killed her.
"It was a very powerful moment," he recalled through a translator. "The
feeling of remembering the love of a mother was instant.
"We remembered her love and how she raised us and we were more at peace."
Ningeocheak is one of the lucky ones.
Decades after tuberculosis put thousands of Inuit in hospitals from
Edmonton to Quebec City, many families are still wondering what happened
to their loved ones who died while away from home.
Their plight is chronicled in the movie "The Necessities of Life"currently
playing in theatres across the country.
No one knows how many Inuit lie in unmarked, untended and unvisited
graves, although the total is probably in the hundreds. No one even knows
where all the graves are.
Last fall, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. http://www.tunngavik.com/ , the
organization that manages the Nunavut land claim, approached the federal
government with a request to finally help locate those lost remains.
The work has just begun.
"The research is still very much at a preliminary stage," said Christopher
Duschenes of the Inuit Relations Secretariat in the federal Department of
Indian and Northern Affairs.
"It's a very difficult and sad part of our history."
Tuberculosis probably first came to the North with the 19th-century
whalers, said University of British Columbia sociology professor Frank
Tester. But conditions after the Second World War touched off an epidemic.
In those days, Inuit were moving off the land into communities, driven by
factors such as the collapse of the fur trade. They packed into shacks
cobbled together from Cold War radar station construction scraps or spent
the entire winter in one igloo. Contemporary accounts compared the
conditions to those in African slums.
"Water dripping through roofs, dirt floors, no sanitation - the streets in
the spring became floating sewers," said Tester.
The federal government eventually responded with housing that wasn't much
better. The so-called 512s - named for their square footage - were poorly
insulated, one-room boxes with no bathroom or kitchen. They housed entire
extended families.
It was a playground for disease and TB took hold.
Doctors visiting the North on a patrol ship found the illness rampant.
Treatment back then required extended hospitalization.
Records show that between 1953 and 1961 a total of 5,240 Inuit, from
toddlers to elders, were sent south, sometimes plucked right out of
hunting camps on the land. The entire Eastern Arctic Inuit population at
the time was only about 11,500, Tester says.
For a while, Canada's largest Inuit community was a sanatorium in Hamilton.
The disease hit Inuit particularly hard. The mortality rate for
southerners in 1953 was 9.9 per 100,000 patients. For Inuit, it was 298.1.
In 1952 alone, 108 Inuit died far from home, in an alien world surrounded
by strangers who spoke an incomprehensible tongue.
Treatment could last for years at a time when the North had no telephones
and mail took months.
Still, families tried to stay in touch.
"I think of you a lot," wrote one man to his wife in a letter obtained and
translated by Tester.
"Last year, just before you went away, I nearly went out of my mind, but
now I'm able to cope better. I get lonely for you very much."
Those who died were buried in the city to which they had been taken.
Families were rarely told where and sometimes not even informed of the
death.
That void has haunted nearly every Inuit family ever since.
"Until you see the body or until you perform a funeral or see the grave,
you're constantly wondering and asking the question whether or not they
have really passed on," said Ningeocheak, now a vice-president for Nunavut
Tunngavik, which is working with Ottawa on the graves project.
Some, like Ningeocheak, have traced their loved ones themselves. But many
more have not, and in 2005 a group approached the land claim organization
for help.
"Some families have specifically requested to ship up the remains of their
loved ones," said Joe Kunuk, who's working on the project. "Some families
have said they'd prefer for the remains to remain where they are and look
at getting a monument of some sort to indicate where the graves are."
One such monument has already been set up in Hamilton. But there remains
the mammoth task of flipping through archives and records, some from
institutions that don't even exist anymore.
"It's a slow process," said Kunuk. "We're just trying to pinpoint the
exact locations so we can get the correct numbers, so that families can
decide what to do.
"Some families, it's been so long they've basically just given up."
The work is difficult but important, said Duschenes.
"It's an issue that's gaining more prominence. It's certainly in the same
spirit as the apology for residential schools - the need for rethinking
the relationship with the Inuit."
Ningeocheak thinks back to his mother's anonymous grave. Hers wasn't the
only one with only a numbered plaque.
"A lot of those other graves in that area, there's a lot of vegetation and
a lot of growth. It's covering the graves.
"You can't even see them."
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Rankin Inlet
Raymond Ningeocheak Vice Present Finance 867 645-5405
rningeocheak@tunngavik.com
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Largest productivity declines were in British Columbia and in the Northwest Territories.
Largest productivity declines were in British Columbia and in the Northwest Territories.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/633543
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/633543
May 13, 2009 09:02 AM
OTTAWA–Labour productivity rose in four provinces and one territory in 2008, led by Saskatchewan with a gain of 1.8 per cent and Nunavut, up 9.5.
Statistics Canada reports the largest productivity declines were in British Columbia and in the Northwest Territories.
Nationally, productivity fell 0.5 per cent in 2008, after rising 0.5 per cent in 2007.
The volume of hours worked rose in every province.
However, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were the only provinces in which the growth in economic output outpaced growth in the volume of hours worked.
Nationally, productivity in the goods-producing sector declined 2.2 per cent, the first decline in four years, while it rose 0.4 per cent in the services sector.
The continued expansion of the job market for most of the year led to a 3.7 per cent increase in hourly compensation at the national level in 2008, slower than the four per cent gain in 2007.
Labour productivity rises in Nunavut, up 9.5 per cent.
Labour productivity rises in four provinces, down nationally in 2008
OTTAWA — Labour productivity rose in four provinces and one territory in 2008, led by Saskatchewan with a gain of 1.8 per cent and Nunavut, up 9.5.
Statistics Canada reports the largest productivity declines were in British Columbia and in the Northwest Territories. Nationally, productivity fell 0.5 per cent in 2008, after rising 0.5 per cent in 2007.
The volume of hours worked rose in every province.
However, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were the only provinces in which the growth in economic output outpaced growth in the volume of hours worked.
Nationally, productivity in the goods-producing sector declined 2.2 per cent, the first decline in four years, while it rose 0.4 per cent in the services sector.
The continued expansion of the job market for most of the year led to a 3.7 per cent increase in hourly compensation at the national level in 2008, slower than the four per cent gain in 2007.
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
London gets first festival of First Nations voices
London gets first festival of First Nations voices
Canadian theatre groups and filmmakers are front and centre at the first
festival of First Nations art ever to be organized in London.
Full Story:
http://links.cbc.ca/a/l.x?T=jncickgiddhfblpkonncoedgek&M=35
See
Origins - Festival of First Nations
http://www.originsfestival.bordercrossings.org.uk/
U.S. News & World Report : Native Hunters Want to Profit From Slaughtering Polar Bears? Tough Jose Kusugak
Native Hunters Want to Profit From Slaughtering Polar Bears? Tough
U.S. News & World Report - Washington,DC,USA
Guiding sport hunters was a once-lucrative business for Inuit hunting guides in Nunavut. Jose Kusugak, president of the Kivalliq Inuit
Association in ...
<http://www.usnews.com/blogs/erbe/2009/05/12/native-hunters-want-to-profit-from-slaughtering-polar-bears-tough.html>
U.S. News & World Report - Washington,DC,USA
Guiding sport hunters was a once-lucrative business for Inuit hunting guides in Nunavut. Jose Kusugak, president of the Kivalliq Inuit
Association in ...
<http://www.usnews.com/blogs/erbe/2009/05/12/native-hunters-want-to-profit-from-slaughtering-polar-bears-tough.html>
Native Hunters Want to Profit From Slaughtering Polar Bears? Tough
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
I disagree completely with the Obama administration's decision of last week to uphold a Bush-era regulation that limits protection of polar bears from the effects of global warming.
Still, the arctic icon is on the endangered species list and that in and of itself has one spectacular side-effect: It protects the bear from sport hunters. Guiding sport hunters was a once-lucrative business for Inuit hunting guides in Nunavut.
Jose Kusugak, president of the Kivalliq Inuit Association in central Nunavut, told Canadian Broadcasting, the U.S. should not use polar bears as a tool in the climate change debate, but instead address climate change as a whole issue. According to CBC News:
"They don't look at the consequences of what's happening with the people that are there, hunting these species," he said.
"So it does become very, very frustrating."
If Mr. Kusugak's definition of frustration is the fact his tribe cannot make money off the slaughter of bears, I have little sympathy for him.
Monday, 11 May 2009
Iqaluit mayor invites Colbert to visit North after Inuit rant
Iqaluit mayor invites Colbert to visit North after Inuit rant
A comical tirade by U.S. talk-show host Stephen Colbert about Canadian
Inuit has prompted the mayor of Iqaluit to offer the popular late-night
satirist a special invitation to the Arctic.
Full Story:
http://links.cbc.ca/a/l.x?T=jncickgidacbepmkmabinbdb&M=36
Modernizing Federal Laboratories in Nunavut
Creating Jobs and Benefitting Science - Government of Canada Invests in Modernizing Federal Laboratories in Nunavut
http://in.sys-con.com/node/957870
Environment Canada
Media Relations
819-934-8008
Natural Resources Canada
Media Relations
613-992-4447
TTY
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OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 05/11/09 -- The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for Nunavut, today announced more than $1.8 million in funding, over the next two years, to modernize the Polar Continental Shelf Program facility in Resolute and the Dr. Neil Trivett Global Atmosphere Watch Observatory in Alert.
In Budget 2009, Canada's Economic Action Plan, the federal government committed to an accelerated investment program to provide $250 million, over the next two years, to modernize federal laboratories. The funding, one of the many job-creating investments in the Economic Action Plan, will improve these facilities while providing economic stimulus in regions across the country.
"This program is addressing important maintenance issues at this facility and will quickly bring economic stimulus to this region," said Minister Aglukkaq. "This funding will provide jobs for workers ranging from replacing electrical cables and plumbing pumps to modernizing existing structures. With this funding, our scientists and researchers will have a more modern work environment, which will support research and development leading to better health and safety outcomes for Canadians."
The facilities being modernized in the region are:
- The Polar Continental Shelf Program (Natural Resources Canada) - $1,008,764
- Dr. Neill Trivett Global Atmosphere Watch Observatory (Environment Canada) - $836,000
"Our Government's Economic Action Plan is making important investments in communities across Canada," said the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources Canada. "Canada's science labs are engaged in world-class research that contributes to Canada's economic performance. Today's investment will create jobs immediately and will contribute to improved competitiveness in the natural resources sector in the years ahead."
"The project at Alert will help maintain and further the excellence of Environment Canada's world-class scientific activities," said the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment.
To learn more about Canada's Economic Action Plan visit www.actionplan.gc.ca .
IF THERE IS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN ANY PRINTED VERSION AND THE ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THIS NEWS RELEASE, THE ELECTRONIC VERSION WILL PREVAIL.
BACKGROUNDER
MODERNIZING FEDERAL LABORATORIES INTIATIVE
Project
Maintenance and modernization of the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW)
Observatory http://www.ec.gc.ca/scitech/default.asp?lang=En&n=52F708A1-1
http://ec.gc.ca/scitech/default.asp?lang=En&n=AC4418A5-0
Department
Environment Canada
Location
Alert, Nunavut
Name and function of Laboratory/ Facility
The Dr. Neil Trivett Global Atmosphere Watch Observatory was opened in 1986. Two people work for Environment Canada there. The observatory is Canada's most northerly Arctic research station, where Environment Canada monitors background concentrations of trace gases and aerosols to identify trends in the composition of the Earth's atmosphere. Located at the Department of National Defence's Canadian Forces Station Alert, the Observatory is an official World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Atmosphere Watch station.
Funding amount
Amount of funding received through the Modernizing Laboratories Initiative:
$836,000
Amount to be spent in 2009-10: $673,000
Amount to be spent in 2010-11: $163,000
Project description
Work will be done to replace the electrical system and fibre optic cable for data streams, and to upgrade a 10-metre measurements platform tower. This work will increase the Observatory's operating capacity.
MODERNIZING FEDERAL LABORATORIES INTIATIVE
Project: Arctic Research Facilities
Department: NRCAN-RNCAN
Location: Resolute, Nunavut
Name and function of Laboratory/Facility: Arctic Research Facilities
The Polar Continental Shelf Program (PCSP) is an organization within Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) that provides cost-effective logistics and support services to about 130 research projects annually throughout the Canadian Arctic. The only federal land/air logistic provider in the Arctic, the PCSP has a longstanding excellent reputation among the national and international scientific community. The implementation of UNCLOS and other recent initiatives identified under the Arctic Agenda relies heavily on thePCSP and thus has significantly increased the demand for logistics support and the use of PCSP facilities.
The PCSP lab in Resolute, Nunavut, supports science that enables the Government of Canada and all three territorial partners to meet their regulatory responsibilities in Canada's North. Scientists at the facility conduct research on infrastructure safety, land management, resource development and climate change impacts and adaptation. Researchers from NRCan and other departments and agencies - Fisheries and Oceans, National Defence, Environment Canada, the Canadian Space Agency - use the facility to gather data in order to deliver core regulatory activities.
The PCSP facilities serve as both a laboratory for research and as a staging area for research conducted across the Canadian Arctic. The research facilities can accommodate up to 41 clients simultaneously and provide work stations, sample storage facilities and shipping services.
Funding amount
--------------------------------------------
TOTAL
2009-10 and
2009-10 2010-11 2010-11
--------------------------------------------
$684,049 $324,715 $1,008,764
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Project description
This project addresses deferred maintenance as identified in the 2008 asset assessment (building condition report) and includes such items as replacing plumbing pumps and interior and exterior doors and upgrading storage tanks to ensure the integrity of the facilities and the safety of PCSP clients.
Deferred maintenance on the facility totals $1,008,764 over two years. Jobs created by the delivery of this program will be in the construction sector and in supporting services and industries. Direct jobs are created in the construction sector, from construction workers to experts in advanced building retrofits and energy efficiency, indirect jobs are created in industries serving the construction material supply chain, from resource extraction to manufacturing.
Prepared by: Geoff Munro, Chief Scientist and Associate Deputy Minister, Innovation and Energy Technology Sector, 613-947-1435 and Dr. Richard Tobin, Associate Deputy Minister, Corporate Management and Services Sector (613) 995-4252 with the Earth Sciences Sector.
Contacts:Environment Canada
Media Relations
819-934-8008
Natural Resources Canada
Media Relations
613-992-4447
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