From: Don <dbain@...>
X-Yahoo-Profile: lheidli



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2002

The Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council reaffirms its vehement opposition to
fishfarms within their territories.  The MTTC is located on northern Vancouver
Island and adjacent mainland including the Broughton Archipelago which currently
has 26 fishfarms situated within in.  Despite the fact that 25 of the 26
fishfarms are sited in ecological sensitive areas and that the First Nations of
this area do not want them to remain here, industry again wins out.

“Until the provincial government can prove to us that there is no environmental
damage to our territories, we will remain opposed to fishfarms.”  States Chief
William Cramner Chariman of the MTTC.  “We are the steward of our territories
which belong to our children and their children.  These waters and the
environment within it are far more important than the profit line of major
industry and are certainly far more important than the promised political
contribution for future elections.   These waters, land and environment are for
the enjoyment of the children of today and those yet to be born.  It is not our
right to devastate this pristine area in the same manner as has Scotland and the
east coast of Canada.”

Minister van Dongen claimed to have had his ministry review scientific studies
despite the fact that every request for a scientific study has been ignored by
the Minister.  “The provincial government cannot show us any scientific studies
showing that fishfarms are safe for our territories because none have been
carried out.”  Chief Cranmer points out, “Minister van Dongen claims to have had
his ministry review scientific studies despite the fact that every request to
have an independent scientific study carried out has been ignored by his
ministry.”

“The provincial government can rest assured that the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk
Tribal council will not permit the siting of one more fishfarm within our
territories.”  Chief Cranmer contended.  “The Musgamagw people remain committed
to ensuring the total removal of all fishfarms from our territories.”

      - 30 -

contact:
   Chief William Cranmer
Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council Chairman
Alert  Bay, B.C.
Tel: 250-974-8460
   250-974-5516



---------------------------
UBCIC's Protecting Knowledge Conference site: http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/protect.htm
List information: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/protecting_knowledge





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First Nations oppose new Ottawa legislation

Sonya Varma reports for Canada Now
http://nb.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=sv)_chief013102

PHOTO: http://nb.cbc.ca/gfx/Nb/topstory/tschiefs.jpg
CHIEFS GATHER

Moncton, N.B. - The Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nation Chiefs is wrapping
up a two-day meeting in Moncton. The hottest topic topic on the agenda was
Ottawa's proposed Governance Act, an updated version of the old Indian Act. Many
chiefs are opposed to the new version.

The congress represents Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy people. 30,000
natives in the five Atlantic provinces. They say the proposed Governance Act is
being rammed down their throats by Ottawa.

"If you're going to deal with something that directly affects First Nations
People here in Canada, I think the proper route to take is inclusion," says
Chief Leonard Tomah of the Woodstock First Nation.

Last year, Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault proposed the Governance Act. It
will change sections of the old Indian Act. Nault says he wants native input.
But the Congress says not only have aboriginals been left out of the
consultation process, but also, if adopted, Chief Second Peter Barlow says the
Governance Act will jeopardize existing treaty rights.

"What Minister Nault is trying to do is change the Governance Act so the
imposition of those changes will make aboriginal treaty rights a mute point.
They'll be non-existent if he has his way. We're very much fighting to make sure
those rights remain first and foremost. He talks about treaty processes. We're
not interested in new treaty processes."

It seems there's only one point the congress and Ottawa agree on, The Indian Act
needs to be revamped.

"The Indian Act is quite antiquated. However, we're not calling for the
abolishment of the Indian Act. And any tinkering that goes on within the Indian
Act has got to be with the Aboriginal leadership and Aboriginal peoples of
Canada." says Barlow.

The congress says since Ottawa isn't interested in asking natives what they
think, it will have its own consultation process. It will bring those
suggestions to Minister Nault.

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Drive to upgrade native libraries Most facilities in `deplorable' state, survey
found
Nicholas Keung
STAFF REPORTER
http://torontostar.com/


Buffy Sainte-Marie's life is like the collection of a large library.

There is the children's corner where the Canadian-born Academy Award winner just
"plays" like a kid, indulging her boundless creativity.

There is the curmudgeon department where the social activist lashes out at
money-driven society.

And, of course, there is the education section where the former schoolteacher is
pushing to bridge the gap between aboriginal people and their "mainstream"
counterparts. She is passionate in her quest to expand public access to
information and knowledge of North American native communities.

Sainte-Marie's life might have taken many interesting turns, but one thing that
has not changed through the years has been her passion for the library — she
still visits one several times a week.

"What the library did for me is help to develop in me a sense of diversity in
terms of subject matters and I found out then I had a lot of passion for a lot
of passions," said the Cree woman, who was adopted by an American couple as an
infant and grew up in New England.

"Still, to this date, when I go to a library or a bookstore, I spend so much
time there and could get lost for hours in many different sections," said
Sainte-Marie, one of the speakers at this week's Ontario Library Association
Super Conference in Toronto.

The conference aims to provide a vision and leadership for the future of the
library system — an indispensable structure of a civilized society, said Michael
Ridley, president of the the 4,000-member association.

One of the association's goals is to help improve the resources allocated to
First Nations libraries following a study conducted last year that found most of
them were in deplorable shape.

"We discovered there were lots of challenges. They have all the infrastructure,
but not the content," said Ridley, who is also the chief librarian at the
University of Guelph. "They didn't have resources or the level of government
funding. They don't have any materials, books or electronic (journals)."

The association will launch a campaign later this year to petition the
provincial government to increase libraries on reserves and stock them with
books and other materials.

It has also established a scholarship fund for indigenous peoples to pursue
education in information studies at the University of Toronto.

Sainte-Marie, whose song "Up Where We Belong" earned an Academy Award in 1982,
was also in town to promote her Cradleboard Teaching Project, an interactive,
multimedia educational program on indigenous cultures and issues. It provides
educators with lesson plans, videos, tapes, CD-ROMs and Internet resources for
Indian and non-Indian children in Grades 3 to 12.

Sainte-Marie said the seed of the initiative was sown in the early 1980s when
she was asked by her son's Grade 5 teacher to help present a better Indian
studies unit for the school. Today, 11 states use the materials in their
curriculum.

"Before I was a singer, I was a teacher because I wanted to help kids be their
best," she told the conference yesterday.

"(The project) comes out of Indian country but reaches far beyond, into the
mainstream classroom and into the future of education."

Information about the Cradleboard Teaching Project is available at
http://www.cradleboard.org.
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Coon Come ready to lead escalating fight over Indian Act changes

SUE BAILEY
Canadian Press
http://ottawacitizen.com/

Thursday, January 31, 2002 OTTAWA (CP) - His frank views on alcohol abuse
outraged many chiefs last year, and his aggressive push for native rights hasn't
won him friends in government.

But Matthew Coon Come, halfway through a three-year term leading the Assembly of
First Nations, says he's not about to soften his scrappy approach.

Instead, the national chief who brings to Parliament Hill the concerns of 633
First Nations leaders, promises to lead a fight that's about to escalate.

"We're going to clash," when Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault introduces
legislation to update the outmoded Indian Act, Coon Come said in an interview
Thursday.

The act hasn't changed much since its enactment in 1876 gave Ottawa far-reaching
powers over most native people.

Nault aims to improve band administration, elections and fiscal accountability
with changes to be tabled in Parliament by April, he says.

The legislation would also legally incorporate bands - a plan many chiefs fear
would allow the government to shirk its historical legal duty to First Nations.

"Tinkering" with the Indian Act only distracts from native priorities cited in a
government poll last fall, Coon Come said. People living on reserves said they
care most about their children, health programs, education and other social
issues.

Nault has said he'll press on with his Indian Act plans despite widespread
dissent and dismal turnouts at consultation meetings.

Most First Nations are passionately against the changes and will do "whatever it
takes" to fight them, Coon Come said.

"They have every right to state their views, oppose the minister and try to kill
the bill.

"The government's still dictating. They still think they know what's best for
us."

Coon Come, a devout Christian and married father of five, has never shrunk from
conflict.

He first shot to international prominence leading the Grand Council of the Cree
in northern Quebec.

He helped engineer a media campaign that in 1994 shelved the
multi-billion-dollar James Bay hydroelectric project that would have flooded his
peoples' homeland.

In July 2000, promising a rights-based agenda, he replaced the more conciliatory
Phil Fontaine as national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Eighteen months later, the assembly's funding from Indian Affairs has been cut
to $11 million from more than $19 million last year, and relations with
government have cooled.

Nault was outraged last August when Coon Come told an international racism
conference in South Africa about Canada's "racist and colonial syndrome of
dispossession and discrimination."

But the national chief drew the strongest fire from other chiefs when he told a
native health conference last February: "our people smoke too much and drink too
much."

"I don't regret it, but I got a lot of heat for it," Coon Come said Thursday.

His harshest critics said he had unfairly resurrected a defunct, drunken-Indian
stereotype.

Others hailed his courage in urging native leaders to set a good example.

"I've been clean and sober myself for 15 years, and I couldn't agree with him
more on that statement," said Stewart Phillip, head of the Union of B.C. Indian
Chiefs, which represents 70 leaders.

Most leaders have kicked their addictions in the last 20 years, but alcoholism
is still "a huge issue that we need to deal with," Phillip said Thursday.

Coon Come has made waves just doing what he promised, he said.

"Matthew continues to express his support for our rights, and I commend him for
that."

Leon Jourdain, grand chief of the Treaty Number Three First Nations in
northwestern Ontario, says the assembly needs a leader who can tread the middle
ground between Fontaine and Coon Come.

Governments can too easily co-opt a soft leader or slam the door on a strident
one, he said.

"You're a good little Indian or a bad little Indian - and that's the political
reality for aboriginal leaders."

Jourdain would like to see First Nations reorganize across Canada, according to
their 50 nations or cultural groups.

"We have to bring our nations to life, through our people. It's not about (the
government) giving things to us."

© Copyright 2002 The Canadian Press
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IQALUIT KIDS BITTEN BY RABID DOG AND TREATED
About a half-dozen Iqaluit kids are undergoing treatment for the
prevention of rabies.The 12- and 13-year-olds were participating in a hockey
tournament in Cambridge Bay last Saturday morning when a blood-splattered
dog attacked them.
FULL STORY
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Nova Scotia's dark history ignored

By Dan Paul
mailto:dpaul@...

DURING the fall of 2000, I acquired and read a copy of a very well-written
history book entitled An Unsettled Conquest, The British Campaign Against the
Peoples of Acadia, by Geoffrey Plank (2000, PENN). It's a well-researched
account of the struggles between two European empires for supremacy in
Northeastern North America and the concurrent struggle of the Mi'kmaq for
survival. The reason I've waited so long to comment is that I wanted to see if
the book's message would be received with some enthusiasm by the media in this
area. Seeing as it has been largely ignored, I'll now give it some well-deserved
coverage.

The most striking thing about the book is that Plank took off rose-coloured
glasses when writing it and recited the actual colonial performance of the
British, warts and all. Such a gesture by an Anglo author is very unusual; most
of them pen reams of material about England's colonial performance without
mentioning the fact that the English were engaged in some very grisly
activities, while trying to exterminate indigenous populations in the Americas.
It must be added that the effort was very successful; many nations became
extinct and the rest were reduced to abject poverty.

During the time I wrote both versions of We Were Not the Savages, 1993 and 2000,
I read reams of material about the colonial era and the only condemnatory
statement about the atrocities committed by the English that I recall was the
following gem by historian John Stewart McLennan: "The punishments of the
Indians for wrongdoing by the English were, as all punishments of that epoch,
harsh and, in addition, they were humiliating and irritated the Indians. The
scalp bounties of the colonies included rewards for the killing of women and
children. . . . This leads to] the strange conditions, in which we find a benign
and devout clergyman praying that the young men who have joined the Mohawks in a
scalping expedition against the French and Indians may go in fear of the Lord,
and regard the bringing in of French scalps as a good omen."

It's notable that he didn't mention that the clergyman also regarded the
bringing in of Amerindian scalps, including those of women and children, as a
good omen. Perhaps it was the demonizing stereotype created by English
propaganda, that has been instilled so effectively for centuries into the white
conscience, that prevented him from doing so; but at least he mentioned it.

The following quote from a Booknews review nicely describes An Unsettled
Conquest: "In the early 18th century, settlers in the former French colony of
Acadia resisted the occupation of their territory by the British, who renamed it
Nova Scotia. They allied with the Mi'kmaq natives in the area, with whom they
had long enjoyed intimate relations. Plank (history, U. of Cincinnati) tells the
story of the conflict that resulted in British authorities scattering the
Acadians through other British North American possessions and decimating the
remaining native population." (Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, Ore.;
booknews.com)

Canada, Great Britain and the U.S.A. have never made a blanket apology to the
descendants of native Americans for the atrocities committed against their
ancestors by English colonial governments, but they hypocritically demand that
other countries apologize for their past sins. All three were at the forefront
in condemning the Japanese for sugarcoating their country's barbaric performance
during the Second World War, loudly adding their voices to the demand that Japan
rewrite its history to set matters straight; which is understandable when one
considers its well-documented mistreatment of the Chinese, Koreans, prisoners of
war, etc.

However, the refusal by the three countries to finally lay bare in minute detail
the atrocities committed by their ancestors in North America is just as
reprehensible. Native people across North America are still being negatively
affected by false demonizing propaganda from the past. When the day arrives that
these countries rewrite their histories to include the horrors committed against
nearly helpless people by their ancestors, then they will have the right to
demand full disclosure by others; until then, it would be advisable to walk
lightly. To ask others to do what you refuse to do is illogical.

Japan apologized for its past in 1995. The following is quoted from the Aug. 28,
1995, issue of Time: "Finally, a real apology. After years of official hedging,
a prime minister acknowledges the country's guilt in WWII. . . . On the morning
of the 50th anniversary of Japan's surrender, Murayama . . . told an assembly of
journalists . . . that 'during a certain period of time in the not too distant
past,' Japan followed a 'mistaken national policy' of 'colonialism and
aggression' that caused 'tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many
countries.' He expressed his 'heartfelt apology' and promised to eradicate
'self-righteous nationalism'."

If Japan could muster the courage to apologize for its horrific acts, then is it
not reasonable to expect Canada to do the same? Native people were slaughtered
because of colonial scalp bounties on their heads, dispossessed of sovereign
territories without compensation and the means to live comfortably. Acadians
were packed into ships like so many animals, had their properties appropriated
by the Crown without compensation, and were shipped to far-flung British
colonies. Then there was the Chinese exclusion act, etc.

The passage of time does not erase the injustices caused by actions such as the
aforementioned, especially so when one race of people still enjoys the benefits
gained at the expense of another. Plank's An Unsettled Conquest can help people
with a conscience understand why it's time for Canada to apologize to the
Mi'kmaq and the Acadians. I recommend Conquest wholeheartedly and hope that some
day, it will be mandatory reading in Nova Scotia schools.

Daniel N. Paul is a human rights activist, historian and author. He can be
contacted at 28 Elmsdale Cres., Halifax, N.S. B3R 2G5. E-mail:
daniel.paul@...

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JURY RULES ON CAMP INMATE'S DEATH
The director of corrections for Nunavut says the
recommendations arising from the Bruce Aasivaariyuk coroner's inquest
come as no surprise.

FULL STORY
http://north.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ja30inquest

the work of JJBear follows:

from the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs
http://www.apcfnc.ca/

Welcome to Today's Top Headlines page. The purpose of this page is to highlight
the Aboriginal Interest stories being carried in the daily online newspapers and
news networks.

Stories that are from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation are links only and
will take you to their web-site. Any and all copyrights are that of the news
source and are not modified, edited or re-written on this website.

This section is for information sharing purposes only and is intended for
Aboriginal people to keep up to date with the latest news in the Media.

JJ Bear - Communications Officer

CBC

First Nations oppose new Ottawa legislation

Moncton, N.B. -

The Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nation Chiefs is wrapping up a two-day
meeting in Moncton. The hottest topic topic on the agenda was Ottawa's proposed
Governance Act, an updated version of the old Indian Act. Many chiefs are
opposed to the new version.

FULL STORY

http://nb.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=sv)_chief013102

F'ton woman hoping to save Maliseet language

Saint John, N.B. -

A woman from Fredericton is working in Maine trying to save the Maliseet
language. The job depends on help from a few tribal elders who still speak the
language.

FULL STORY

http://nb.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=maliseet020131


Toronto Star

Drive to upgrade native libraries

Buffy Sainte-Marie's life is like the collection of a large library. There is
the children's corner where the Canadian-born Academy Award winner just "plays"
like a kid, indulging her boundless creativity. There is the curmudgeon
department where the social activist lashes out at money-driven society.

FULL STORY

Upgrade Native Libraries....



Miramichi Leader

Rock-throwing case before court Feb. 5 MIRAMICHI - Cases from the native fishing
dispute are continuing to make their way through the courts.

.FULL STORY

Rock throwing case....

Third party management DINA’s response to fish crisis: Bartibogue BURNT CHURCH -
Brian Bartibogue says there is more to the story of how third party management
is affecting the Burnt Church First Nation.

FULL STORY

Third party....

Burnt Church speaks out

BURNT CHURCH - The following letter outlining numerous firings at Burnt Church
First Nation was sent to the Miramichi Leader office yesterday.

FULL STORY

Burnt Church....

APC extends sympathy to Belliveau family

MIRAMICHI - The Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nation Chiefs extends its
sympathy to family, friends and to the Maritime Fishermen’s Union for the loss
of Mike Belliveau this last weekend.

FULL STORY

Sympathies extended....

Ottawa Citizen

Coon Come ready to lead escalating fight over Indian Act changes

OTTAWA (CP) - His frank views on alcohol abuse outraged many chiefs last year,
and his aggressive push for native rights hasn't won him friends in government.

FULL STORY

Coon Come ready to lead....

Prince Edward Island Guardian

Working together in the Abegweit Band

Editor: In response to the Southam editorial 'A better deal for our native
people', (The Guardian, Jan. 24, 2002), I felt it was appropriate to add a
positive update on the progress of Abegweit First Nation.

FULL STORY

Working together....

Halifax Chronicle Herald

N.S. Mi'kmaq to receive sales tax exemption on reserve gas

Filling up at reserve gas stations is about to become cheaper for Nova Scotia
Mi'kmaq.

FULL STORY

Cheaper Gas....

Nova Scotia's dark history ignored

DURING the fall of 2000, I acquired and read a copy of a very well-written
history book entitled An Unsettled Conquest, The British Campaign Against the
Peoples of Acadia, by Geoffrey Plank (2000, PENN). It's a well-researched
account of the struggles between two European empires for supremacy in
Northeastern North America and the concurrent struggle of the Mi'kmaq for
survival.

FULL STORY

NS Dark History....

<maqtewekpaqtism@...>

Mikmaq News
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mikmaqnews/

CBC New Brunswick
http://nb.cbc.ca/


First Nations Oppose New Ottawa Legislation

Moncton, N.B. - The Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nation Chiefs is
wrapping up a two-day meeting in Moncton. The hottest topic topic on the
agenda was Ottawa's proposed Governance Act, an updated version of the
old Indian Act. Many chiefs are opposed to the new version.

The congress represents Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy people.
30,000 natives in the five Atlantic provinces. They say the proposed
Governance Act is being rammed down their throats by Ottawa.

"If you're going to deal with something that directly affects First
Nations People here in Canada, I think the proper route to take is
inclusion," says Chief Leonard Tomah of the Woodstock First Nation.

Last year, Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault proposed the Governance
Act. It will change sections of the old Indian Act. Nault says he wants
native input. But the Congress says not only have aboriginals been left
out of the consultation process, but also, if adopted, Chief Second
Peter Barlow says the Governance Act will jeopardize existing treaty
rights.

"What Minister Nault is trying to do is change the Governance Act so the
imposition of those changes will make aboriginal treaty rights a mute
point. They'll be non-existent if he has his way. We're very much
fighting to make sure those rights remain first and foremost. He talks
about treaty processes. We're not interested in new treaty processes."

It seems there's only one point the congress and Ottawa agree on, The
Indian Act needs to be revamped.

"The Indian Act is quite antiquated. However, we're not calling for the
abolishment of the Indian Act. And any tinkering that goes on within the
Indian Act has got to be with the Aboriginal leadership and Aboriginal
peoples of Canada." says Barlow.

The congress says since Ottawa isn't interested in asking natives what
they think, it will have its own consultation



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Miramichi Leader
http://www.miramichileader.com/


Rock-Throwing Case Before Court Feb. 5

MIRAMICHI - Cases from the native fishing dispute are continuing to make
their way through the courts.

John David Dedam will go before a judge and jury for trial on the charge
of aggravated assault. It is set to begin on Feb. 5. Four days have been
set aside for the trial.

The 32-year-old resident of the Burnt Church First Nation was charged
with aggravated assault after a Department of Fisheries and Oceans
officer was struck in the face with a rock. The assault occurred on Aug.
22, 2000 during an early morning trap seizure.

The officer in question suffered a broken jaw and injuries to his nose
and cheek. Reconstructive surgery to repair the shattered bones in his
face had to be completed in Montreal.

Dedam was formally charged by the RCMP Major Crime Unit in mid 2001. He
pled not guilty to the charge.

.Brian Terrence Doward pled guilty the criminal charge of assaulting a
peace officer in Miramichi Court on Dec. 11, 2001. Caught on a warrant
of arrest, Doward received an 18 month suspended sentence with the
condition he not be on the Burnt Church First Nation during the
suspension. The charge of obstruction of a fisheries officer was
dropped. John Dana Ward was found not guilty of assaulting a fisheries
officer by spitting on him. Judge William Carroll acquitted the Burnt
Church First Nation resident after hearing all the evidence presented on
Dec. 11, 2001.


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Miramichi Leader
http://www.miramichileader.com/


Third Party Management DINA's Response to Fish Crisis: Bartibogue

by Gail Savoy

BURNT CHURCH - Brian Bartibogue says there is more to the story of how
third party management is affecting the Burnt Church First Nation.

The former band councillor said he wanted to respond to the article in
the Jan. 22 Miramichi Leader which indicated there was a power struggle
over who should control the band's finances.

As a concerned community citizen and proponent of the Esgenoopotiij
First Nation fishing plan, says he blames the Department of Northern and
Indian Affairs (DINA) and other federal agencies for imposing third
party management on the reserve.

"Placing us (Burnt Church First Nation) under third party management was
a direct response to the fishing crisis," he said.
Bartibogue says the former band council was well on their way to
recovering from the debt the reserve was under.

"We were facing a debt of $7.4 million. That was refinanced and
negotiated down to $4.2 million," he said, adding the finances of the
band were well managed with all the bills getting paid, no checks
bouncing, and no one having their hydro disconnected as had happened in
the past under other band council managements.

Bartibogue points out this was all being done while the community was
dealing with a high-stress situation with the federal government over
the fishing crisis.

But he says questions about how money was being spent on the community's
fishing efforts is what he believes led DINA to place the community
under third party management.

DINA took the step after it was discovered the band was more than $1
million in debt in January 2001. Deloitte and Touche has been overseeing
the bands funds since March 2001.

Managers charging band $45,000/month
Bartibogue is angry that the accounting firm is charging the band
$45,000 every month to do this yet no one ever sees or hears tell of
them.

"They leave the three administrative staff here to face all the
complaints and pleas for help," he said. "They don't see the crying,
hungry children or their angry parents."

Bartibogue says this added monthly cost could mean a new house for a
band member who has been on the waiting list for years.

"Our elders are suffering. This is money that could be used to help
them."

Bartibogue says third party management has caused serious internal
division and turmoil in the community.

"They are trying to paint a picture that we have no leadership and
political divisions," he said.

While he does admit there was a split between the former band council,
the work everyone was doing to develop a economically viable fishery was
bringing them and the community together, he said.

Bartibogue says he believes the federal government felt threatened by
this and imposed the third party management to upset the good work the
community had accomplished.


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Burnt Church Speaks Out

BURNT CHURCH - The following letter outlining numerous firings at Burnt
Church First Nation was sent to the Miramichi Leader office yesterday.

It was not signed. However, Leader staff called some of those named in
the letter to confirm the information's accuracy. Three of them, John
(Jack) Ginnish, Geoff Narvey, and Karen Somerville were reached. All
agree the letter is factually sound.

Messages for Chief Wilbur Dedam asking him to respond to deteriorating
conditions at his reserve were not returned.

This is the letter in its entirety.
"Inside our homes on Burnt Church Reserve: Today as we live in fear,
there are many questions and concerns in people's minds, but afraid to
speak for fear of backlash. Some have lost their jobs, and others have
been denied of special needs assistance, and many have been harassed one
way or another.

"Again, people are afraid to identify themselves or speak their minds or
to speak for fairness in their jobs and in the community. We are
reminded each day of the reality, who is in charge, and that it was the
choice made by the majority of community members.

"True, but did that majority of people choose because they believed that
they were supporting to protect our community rights and to bring unity
and fairness for all. And if so, are the majority of our members who
supported these words also believed in the wrongs that are being done in
their names. It is a fact that some of our members have been treated
unfairly and have been wronged! Why?

Karen Somerville fired
"Karen Somerville was fired in August with no justification. Karen was
fair and worked very hard for all of us equally. She helped so many of
us, but she was never given the chance, just like so many others in our
community. What was wrong with that?

Doug Larry fired
"Doug Larry, fired in August with no justification. Doug too believed in
fairness and equality for our community. He put a lot of pride in doing
his job fairly. So good that no one could manipulate him. He stuck to
the rules of fairness. He also provided information on the forestry and
royalties amount to the public. Doug attended the public meeting to
report on everything. What was wrong with that?

Jack Ginnish fired
"Jack Ginnish, fired in September. He was one of the most productive
workers in the Alcohol and Drug Program. He is also a qualified
counsellor who is sober and drug free, and a good role model and father.

"Jack produced monthly newsletters in educating the public in the
awareness on prevention and an alcohol and drug free life. He is
committed to each culture and language to the youth in his work and way
of life. He spoke against unfair treatment of people in the community.
Jack continues to fight for justice, even now without income because he
was fired. What did he do wrong?

Burton Martin fired, reinstated
"Burton Martin, fired over again. He is still working, not because the
decision to fire Burton has changed. Burton continues to work hard, even
when he knows that any moment he may receive word that he's fired
because that someone is having a bad day again.

"Remember! Burton was the one who opened the doors of information to the
community and showed us a life without fear. Thank you forever, Burton.
What was wrong with that?

Geoff Narvey fired
"Geoff Narvey was fired last week. Geoff is dedicated to his work and
was not afraid of hard work. He brought in the Home Care program for the
elders in our community. He worked very hard alone to get that program
for our elders and brought more jobs for women. So many speakers before
talk of how we should help the elders and the women.

"Geoff also believes in the rule to be fair, and wanted to protect the
program from manipulation and mismanagement. What was wrong with that?

Band employees asked to leave
"Miigam'agan, Tiger and Georgina Joe were asked to leave the band office
with no justification. Why are the members of community forced to work
out of our community? This is only hurting people. Are they next in line
to be fired? What are they doing wrong?

"Our prayers go to all of our members who have been wronged. There are
more that were wronged in the past. We pray for you to be protected. God
is watching, and so is the community.


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APC Extends Sympathy to Belliveau Family

MIRAMICHI - The Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nation Chiefs extends
its sympathy to family, friends and to the Maritime Fishermen's Union
for the loss of Mike Belliveau this last weekend.

"Mr. Belliveau has been a key to peace on the waters since the Marshall
Decision in 1999 and we want to acknowledge his efforts to work with the
Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy fishermen on a sustainable fishery
in the Atlantic," said APC Co-Chair Chief Lawrence Paul.

"Mr. Belliveau had been working with the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and
Passamaquoddy Fishermen to ensure an Aboriginal presence in the Atlantic
Fishery and it is hoped that whomever fills his shoes will continue on
with his vision," said APC Co-Chair Chief Second Peter Barlow.

The Atlantic Chiefs feel Belliveau's efforts to develop linkages between
Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Fishermen will not be forgotten and that
those efforts will be recognized by the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and
Passamaquoddy leaders for years to come.

"We have always believed that the way to have better relationships
regarding the fishery was to work with all parties involved and Mr.
Belliveau shared our beliefs, this we will not forget, and we will
continue to work together on a sustainable fishery for all Atlantic
Fishermen that includes the Aboriginal Fishery," said Paul.


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Working Together in the Abegweit Band

Editor:
In response to the Southam editorial 'A better deal for our native
people', (The Guardian, Jan. 24, 2002), I felt it was appropriate to add
a positive update on the progress of Abegweit First Nation.

In my opinion, there have been significant changes over the past couple
of years. For example, more housing for the growing population,
education opportunities readily available and, most of all, more jobs.

They (board members) have become more confident and are not afraid to
speak up and voice their opinions and concerns. All of which makes for a
better community and prosperous future.

The Abegweit Band members are actively taking advantage of these
opportunities to better themselves and their families. Thumbs up to all.

I believe the general public should be aware of the positive changes and
congratulate and encourage their progress.

Now that the funds are available, members of the Abegweit Band are able
to work together to guide one another down the path to success. This is
all for the best interest and growth of our native children in the near
future.

Kim Knockwood, Charlottetown


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N.S. Mi'kmaq to Receive Sales Tax Exemption on Reserve Gas

By Janna MacGregor

Filling up at reserve gas stations is about to become cheaper for Nova
Scotia Mi'kmaq.

Beginning later this year, aboriginals will be able to swipe their
driver's licences at the pumps for exemption from the provincial sales
tax on fuel.

The move will save the province's 12,000 status Indians about 13.5 cents
per litre on gasoline and 15.4 cents per litre on diesel.

It is the provincial government's response to a Supreme Court of Canada
ruling a few years ago that confirmed natives filling up at reserve gas
stations did not have to pay the provincial sales tax component of the
HST.

Kevin Finch, communications adviser for Service Nova Scotia, said the
program will begin this year, but no firm date has been set.

Preliminary figures indicate the collective savings for the Mi'kmaq
could total between $500,000 and $750,000 annually.

In addition, the province will be issuing rebate cheques to cover the
provincial sales tax collected since 1997, when the HST was introduced.

Indian Brook Chief Reg Maloney said native peoples have been paying the
illegal tax for too long and he is glad to hear a rebate will be
forthcoming.

Mr. Finch was unsure of the amount of the rebate, but said it will be
determined by how much fuel was sold on different reserves.

The government has not decided if the rebate cheques will be made out to
band councils or individual Mi'kmaq.

Native chiefs contacted Thursday said the amount will total millions of
dollars.

John Paul, executive director of the Atlantic Policy Congress of First
Nations Chiefs, said Nova Scotia chiefs have been pushing the rebate
idea but he had not received conclusive word on the matter this week.

"It's been talked about quite a bit," he said. "But no one has said
anything for sure. I certainly hope it goes through. It would be great
for us."

Gas vendors will be required to pay for the installation of equipment to
calculate a point-of-sale exemption, said Mr. Finch.

"It's up to the retailer, and they can choose to opt out," he said. "But
the expectation is that (the investment) will pay for itself. (A
computerized monitor) would certainly be less expensive than manual
calculation."

John Soosaar, acting director of the Nova Scotia Office of Aboriginal
Affairs, said the discount could be offered by as many as 10 reserve gas
stations across Nova Scotia.

"Discussions between natives and the Nova Scotia government are still
ongoing, so there are a lot of details that have to be worked out," he
said. "There are no definite figures or dates yet, but the target is
later this year.

"At the moment, we're still assessing the kind of equipment that each of
those retailers would need to have in place."

Under the federal Indian Act, natives are exempt from paying all
provincial sales tax.



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-------- Original Message --------
      Subject: "Salmon Aquaculture" Press Releases from UBCIC, Musgamagw
               Tsawataineuk Tribal Council and Kwakiutl Territorial
               Fisheries Commission
         Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2002 14:28:40 -0800
         From: Joint Policy Council <jpc1@...>
Organization: Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs

Please find the following UBCIC press release New Provincial Standards
for “Sustainable Aquaculture” Ignores Aboriginal Rights.  Also attached
are press releases from the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council and
the Kwakiutl Territorial Fisheries Commission.  Contact information for
all three organizations are contained in their respective release.

================================================

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 1, 2002

New Provincial Standards for “Sustainable Aquaculture” Ignores
Aboriginal Rights

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, February 1, 2002)  “Fish farms have
the real potential to displace and destroy the current wild salmon runs
through their astronomically large numbers”, says Chief Stewart Phillip
of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs.  “One Atlantic salmon
can lay up to 4,000 eggs and escaped Atlantic salmon have been caught as
far away as 100 to 250 miles from the nearest commercial fish farms.”

The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs supports the positions of
the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council and the Kwakiutl Territorial
Fisheries Commission and call on John van Dongen, Minister of
Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, to commission a scientific study based
here in British Columbia to ensure the safety of the vital wild salmon
stocks.  “Last year’s debacle in Clayquot Sound should serve as notice
of what could occur all up and down the coast.  People should remember
that hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon have either escaped or
have died due to disease.  The provincial government has instituted a
‘business first’ approach at the cost of wild salmon stocks,
contaminated marine habitat and Aboriginal Rights.”

The establishment and the operation of Atlantic fish farms infringes
upon Aboriginal Title and Rights through their impact on indigenous
salmon stocks, contamination of habitat and the destruction of First
Nation communities’ ability to harvest other marine resources.

The 1997 Delgamuuk’w decision clearly supports Aboriginal Title and
Aboriginal Rights to lands and resources.  “Fish farms pose a real
threat to the harvesting of wild salmon and other marine resources”,
Chief Phillip said “Governments have a legal and a moral duty to consult
‘in good faith’ when our aboriginal title and rights may be impacted.
The provincial government, in its headlong obsession to shore up its
revenue-starved budget, is attempting to open the province to business
at the expense of our Aboriginal Title and Rights.”

“Lifting the moratorium on fishfarms before a rigorous scientific study
can be carried out is both dangerous and reckless.  We will be offering
support to both the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council and the
Kwakiutl Territorial Fisheries Commission in their efforts to protect
their territories."  Chief Phillip concluded  "What is the value of
having a constitutionally enshrined Aboriginal Right to fish if we
cannot exercise the right due to the fact that wild salmon stocks have
been purposely and systematically wiped out by the fish farm industry?”

- 30 –

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chief Stewart Phillip  Cell: (250) 490-5314
President, Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs


================================================

Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council
Media Release
January 31st, 2002

The Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council reaffirms its vehement
opposition to fishfarms within their territories.  The MTTC is located
on northern Vancouver Island and adjacent mainland including the
Broughton Archipelago which currently has 26 fishfarms situated within
in.  Despite the fact that 25 of the 26 fishfarms are sited in
ecological sensitive areas and that the First Nations of this area do
not want them to remain here, industry again wins out.

“Until the provincial government can prove to us that there is no
environmental damage to our territories, we will remain opposed to
fishfarms.”  States Chief William Cramner Chariman of the MTTC.  “We are
the steward of our territories which belong to our children and their
children.  These waters and the environment within it are far more
important than the profit line of major industry and are certainly far
more important than the promised political contribution for future
elections.   These waters, land and environment are for the enjoyment of
the children of today and those yet to be born.  It is not our right to
devastate this pristine area in the same manner as has Scotland and the
east coast of Canada.”

Minister van Dongen claimed to have had his ministry review scientific
studies despite the fact that every request for a scientific study has
been ignored by the Minister. “The provincial government cannot show us
any scientific studies showing that fishfarms are safe for our
territories because none have been carried out.”  Chief Cranmer points
out, “Minister van Dongen claims to have had his ministry review
scientific studies despite the fact that every request to have an
independent scientific study carried out has been ignored by his
ministry.”

“The provincial government can rest assured that the Musgamagw
Tsawataineuk Tribal council will not permit the siting of one more
fishfarm within our territories.”  Chief Cranmer contended.  “The
Musgamagw people remain committed to ensuring the total removal of all
fishfarms from our territories.”

     - 30 -

contact:
Chief William Cranmer
Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council Chairman
Alert  Bay, B.C.
Tel: 250-974-8460
  250-974-5516

================================================

Kwakiutl Territorial Fisheries Commission
Media Release
February 1st, 2002

The lifting of the fish farm moratorium is a callous breach of trust by
the Provincial and Federal Governments who now openly show a disdain for
the environment in the interest of corporate greed and too few jobs.

The Kwakiutl Territorial Fisheries Commission (KTFC) and Musgamagw
Tsawataineuk Tribal Council (MTTC) condemn and reject this shamefull
government, abrogation of duty to preserve our coastal environment and
wild stocks.

The aboriginal people also reject the further notion by government and
industry that they can simply continue to encroach on our aboriginal
rights and title at will without consequence.

We will not stand by anymore to watch any further encroachment on our
territories without holding intruders politically and economically
responsible for their want on destruction of our habitat and food chain.

The KTFC is putting out a call to all who oppose the threat and menace
presented by fish farms to a meeting to be called soon.

For more information please contact the Hereditary Chief Charlie
Williams, the President of the Kwakiutl Territorial Fisheries Commission
at 250-974-2274 or on his cell phone at 250-974-8020

Kwakiutl Territorial Fisheries Commission, P.O. Box 120, Alert Bay, B.C.
V0N 1A0
tel# 250-974-2274  Fax# 250-974-2223 http://www.ktfc.net


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Aboriginal man officials tried to deport arrested Feds took Saskatchewan man to
border, but U.S. officials refused him
Feb. 1, 2002. 03:52 PM

REGINA (CP) - An aboriginal man who immigration officials are trying to deport
because he cannot prove he was born in Canada was arrested today.

Charlie Smoke, 39, was taken into custody briefly by Regina police on an
outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court.

He was released on Friday and will appear in court on Feb. 14.

Smoke was charged last year under the Employment Insurance Act with fraudulent
use of a social insurance number.

He ran into trouble after immigration officials discovered he was working as an
associate teacher at a Regina high school without proper authorization.

While working at the high school Smoke met Prince Charles and taught him how to
play traditional native games during a royal visit last April.

Smoke was ordered to leave Canada in September but refused to comply with that
order.

Canadian officials tried to deport Smoke to the United States earlier this year
but were refused after U.S. officials were not satisfied he should be allowed
in.

Immigration had sought to hold him in custody while they searched for further
evidence to support their decision to deport him to the U.S., however he was
ordered released on $1,000 bail and a promise to appear when asked.

Smoke says he was born on the Canadian side of the Akwesasne reserve that
straddles the Canada-U.S. border near Cornwall, Ont.

He says he was never issued a birth certificate and was never registered as a
status Indian, but that he considers himself to be neither a Canadian nor a U.S.
citizen.

Instead, Smoke refers to himself as a pre-Canadian aboriginal person and claims
he has the right to live on either side of the border.

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Appeal court upholds freeze on northwest B.C. mine project Decision orders
government to address Indian concerns

Jeff Lee Vancouver Sun
Friday, February 01, 2002

The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court decision that quashed approval
of a controversial mine in northwestern B.C. opposed by natives,
environmentalists and the state of Alaska.

In a split decision issued Thursday, the court said the provincial ministers
responsible for sustainable resources and energy and mines must address the
concerns of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation before they can consider
re-issuing a project permit to Redfern Resources to reopen the Tulsequah Chief
mine.

The decision is being hailed as a victory by the tiny 500-member Taku River
Tlingit nation, which has argued for years that its concerns over process and
treaty negotiations were being ignored by the province in its haste to develop
the north.

"We are just starting to understand this decision, but it is good news. We feel
secure. We feel we were right," said John Ward, a spokesman for the nation. "It
means that if this project is to go through, [the province] has to seriously
consider our concerns. Is this good news? Yes, because we won."

While generally upholding the lower court decision, Justices Anne Rowles and
Carol Huddart did not accept its finding that the province should do another
environmental review to address aboriginal concerns about sustainability and the
long-term impact on traditional lands that are part of treaty negotiations.

But Ward said the Tlingits aren't concerned about this because the over-all
ruling spells out that the province must develop a process for dealing with the
aboriginal group's concerns, and that "the day-to-day bureaucratic operations
that go on just won't cut it."

Reopening the mine -- formerly owned by Cominco and located at the confluence of
the Taku and Tulsequah rivers adjacent to the Alaska Panhandle -- would require
a 160-kilometre access road from Atlin through what opponents say is one of the
largest unroaded watersheds in North America.

Redfern, which is owned by Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Redcorp Ventures Ltd.,
proposes to extract gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc from the Tulsequah Chief
site previously operated by Cominco almost 50 years ago.

Cominco used barges to move the ore to market, but Redcorp wants the road for
easier access and because it says the river is too silted for navigation.

Terry Chandler, president of Redcorp, said Thursday he is still digesting the
impact of the ruling.

"We don't know exactly what this will mean, but the most obvious impact is that
it will not

return the project's approval permit to us," he said. "We are still unsure about
what this means, but it does seem to leave the door open to the province issuing
the permit once all concerns are addressed."

He said even if the province were to approve the project in principle, the mine
-- which is currently mothballed -- would not necessarily open because metal
prices are so low at present.

Daphne Stancil, project assessment director for the province's environmental
assessment office, said the government is studying the decision. She noted her
office was in the process of including a large amount of environmental data it
had collected, including water samples, animal migration patterns and the like,
into the assessment ordered by the lower court, which the Appeal Court has now
cancelled.

"The environmental assessment office is awaiting advice from the attorney
general on what the full implications of this ruling will be," she said.

Neil Townsend, a spokesman for the Transboundary Watershed Alliance, said the
Taku is only one of several delicate northern rivers that cross into Alaska, and
the court decision would seem to clarify -- and make more stringent -- the rules
the province must abide by when approving such developments as mines.

"The environmental value of this area is enormous," he said. "We're still
reading the ruling, but it certainly seems good news for those who have concerns
about transboundary environmental issues."

The mine has been strongly opposed by environmentalists and First Nations groups
who say it would upset the delicate balance of nature in northwest B.C.

Last year an Alaska state official said the provincial government was putting
the Taku River -- which crosses into the Panhandle 15 kilometres downriver from
the mine -- at great risk by considering Redfern's proposal.

Alaska and the U.S. government have sought the intervention of the International
Joint Commission to review the proposed mine reopening and assist in development
of a watershed plan, but B.C. and Canada have so far rejected the idea.

The watershed contains some of the richest wildlife habitat in North America and
teems with grizzly and black bear, moose, caribou, mountain goat, abundant
salmon runs and many species of migratory and predatory birds.

Provincial regulators approved development of the Redfern property after a
review that began in late 1997 and concluded in January 1998.

The Outdoor Recreation Council has rated the Taku second among B.C.'s most
endangered rivers because of the mine proposal.

jlee@...

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Supreme Court split on police powers

Luiza Chwialkowska
National Post
http://nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20020202/1320180.html&qs=ab\
original

At the end of each year, Luiza Chwialkowska, the National Post's justice
reporter, conducts an exhaustive analysis of the year's Supreme Court decisions.
She looks for voting blocks, ideological trends and anomalies in the judges'
historical voting patterns.

This analysis is not undertaken by any other Canadian newspaper -- what emerges
here is an exclusive portrait of a court in motion. Here are her findings for
decisions delivered in 2001.

- - -

OTTAWA - In the two years that Beverley McLachlin has served as Chief Justice,
the Supreme Court of Canada has emerged generally united on several fronts:
labour unions are good for the country; the constitution protects groups as well
as individuals; and Cabinet ministers will be scrutinized for their decisions as
well as for the laws they enact.

But in their rulings last year, one wing of dissenters proved sharply at odds
with their colleagues over the powers granted to police and prosecutors.

On one hand, the court appeared to defer to Parliament in the year 2001, rarely
striking down laws enacted by elected legislators. On the other hand, it held
government ministers to strict constitutional standards for their decisions and
even held one accountable for a broken promise.

The judges found a creative way of upholding the law against possession of child
pornography during a constitutional challenge by John Robin Sharpe. The Chief
Justice effectively rewrote part of the law, making an exception for works of
the imagination. Some observers called the decision deferential to Parliament,
while others considered it activism on the part of the court.

The court reinforced Parliament's stand on mandatory minimum sentences for
murder when it supported Robert Latimer's mandatory sentence in the death of his
severely disabled daughter.

The court also declined to exempt Mohawk Indians from Canada's Customs laws and,
by the thinnest of margins, upheld a Quebec law that requires all construction
workers to join a union, despite arguments over freedom of association.

A striking exception to the trend was an 8-1 decision that heralded a majority
view on the importance of organized labour. Rather than striking down a law, the
court took the unusual step of ordering Ontario to draft laws enabling
agricultural workers to unionize.

The court was vigorous in reining in the discretionary powers of government
ministers.

Except in exceptional circumstances, the Minister of Justice was prohibited from
extraditing accused criminals to the United States without assurances that the
death penalty would not be used against them. The court's strident language in
Burns and Rafay all but ensures that any attempt to reinstate the death penalty
would be struck down as unconstitutional.

The impact of Burns and Rafay was felt this month in a decision that prevents
the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from deporting suspected terrorists
to face possible torture -- again with an exception for undefined exceptional
circumstances.

The court also curbed the power of ministers to extradite suspects if there are
indications the accused will not receive a fair trial, as in the case of four
Canadian men who were threatened by a U.S. prosecutor with harsh treatment for
not giving themselves up voluntarily to American authorities.

In another show of power over ministerial decisions, the court forced a Quebec
health minister to make good on a permit promised to a Montreal hospital,
signalling an intention to compel politicians to stick to their word.

The court continued its pattern of unanimity in most cases, often signing the
most controversial decisions collectively as "The Court."

But in criminal law, there was a clear division on the bench. Three of the nine
Supreme Court judges -- Madam Justice Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, Mr. Justice Charles
Gonthier and Mr. Justice Michel Bastarache -- repeatedly dissented as a group,
placing more emphasis than their colleagues did on due process rights of
criminal defendants.

Together with the Chief Justice, they opposed a decision to adopt a stricter
"standard of causation" needed to prove murder.

Again with the Chief Justice, they dissented from a ruling that restricted the
power of police to make strip searches before an arrest.

The three would have upheld Canada's child pornography law in its entirety,
without any exceptions for works of the imagination. They would not have allowed
a Quebec man to sue a Crown attorney for malicious prosecution. They also
opposed a majority decision to allow new owners of a country-and-western bar to
hire nude dancers.

They were in the majority in a split decision that did not allow the exclusion
of evidence at preliminary hearings for violations of the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms.

David Paccioco, a criminal law professor at the University of Ottawa, says there
was no overall pattern in the unanimous 2001 criminal decisions for or against
defendants. But in the split decisions, the dissenting troika was less concerned
with broader due process concerns than with convictions in specific cases.

"I do think there is a fundamental difference in terms of tolerance for due
process arguments," Prof. Paccioco said of the dissenting judges.

"Ideologically, some judges may be disinclined to accept due process arguments
and others may be more inclined to look at things from a broader perspective
about society's long-term interests," he said.

Judge L'Heureux-Dubé, known for her concerns for victims of crime, authored many
of the dissents.

"She is less inclined to be persuaded by [a defendant's] Charter arguments than
some of the other judges are," Prof. Paccioco said. "I think it's because she
has a sense that the substance and the outcome of that particular case is
tremendously important, whereas others may take a longer-range perspective on
how the law should develop."

On the other end of the spectrum was Madam Justice Louise Arbour, a relative
newcomer to the court, with broad criminal law experience as a war crimes
prosecutor, an academic and a jurist. In her first year, Judge Arbour frequently
dissented in favour of due process rights. But by 2001, she had moved noticeably
into the majority, rarely dissenting and writing several of the criminal law
decisions that so divided the court, such as restricting police powers to
conduct strip searches and setting a high threshold for causation in murder
cases.

Errol Mendes, a constitutional law professor at the University of Ottawa,
speculates that Judge Arbour "is exerting her criminal law expertise, which she
has perhaps more of than any other judge on the court. She is basically
convincing the non-criminally conservative judges to go with her."

Judge Bastarache also made a mark on the court in 2001. He authored the landmark
Dunmore decision that requires Ontario to allow agricultural workers to
unionize. His reasons emphasized the important role of unions in democracy --
and were based on a strong conviction that the Charter protects collective
rights.

"Trade unions develop needs and priorities that are distinct from those of their
members individually and cannot function if the law protects exclusively the
lawful activities of individuals," he wrote.

The decision has far-reaching implications, says Patrick Macklem, a
constitutional law professor at the University of Toronto.

"It certainly makes it clear that the court sees unions as possessing
constitutional significance, that they are important actors promoting values
that are associated with the constitution, and interests underlying certain
rights."

"More broadly," he added, "there is a signalling that Charter rights are more
than your classical liberal understanding of individual rights and freedoms.
There is a collective dimension to at least some of them. That is certainly a
provocative and significant understanding of constitutional rights -- certainly
one that United States jurisprudence, for example, would not accept."

An advocate for minority language rights before ascending to the court, Judge
Bastarache compares collective rights of workers to collective language rights.

Critics, such as Prof. Mendes, reject such reasoning on the grounds that
membership in a language community is more closely related to individual
identity than is membership in a trade union.

The decision was also exceptional because the court took the rare step of
ordering the Ontario government to enact legislation to allow the workers to
join a union. Usually, the Charter is used to curb government action, but eight
judges demanded positive action on the part of the government.

Such positive obligations on the part of government are at issue in a
controversial case presently awaiting judgment by the court. Louise Gosselin, a
Quebec welfare recipient, argues the Charter contains a positive right to a
guaranteed income from the state in its reference to "security of the person."
She wants the court to force the government to pay a minimum income to all
citizens.

The Dunmore decision could help advance that argument, Prof. Macklem says: "I
wouldn't be surprised if Dunmore was relied upon by at least some judges in
Gosselin."

Despite the strong 8-1 majority in Dunmore, labour law divided the court in
other ways. Quebec's attempt to require all construction workers to join unions
splintered the court in many directions and revealed a variety of views over the
extent of freedom of association.

Judge L'Heureux-Dubé was alone in finding the Charter guarantee of freedom of
association did not include the "right not to associate."

In contrast, the Chief Justice and Judge Bastarache, Mr. Justice Jack Major and
Mr. Justice Ian Binnie said no one should be forced to join a union.

Mr. Justice Louis Lebel, Judge Arbour and Judge Gonthier acknowledged a right
not to associate, but found it did not extend to union membership where there is
no ideological coercion.

Mr. Justice Frank Iacobucci swung the decision in Quebec's favour with his view
that the right was infringed upon, but the infringement was justified in light
of Quebec's history of violent labour relations.

Another development with potentially far-reaching consequences was a concurrence
by Judge Binnie, the author of the controversial Marshall decision, in a case
that denied Mohawk Indians an exemption from paying customs duties at the
Canada-U.S. border that they argued bisects their traditional territory.

Judge Binnie's comments signalled that he would entertain a version of
aboriginal self-government within Canada that does not supersede Canadian
sovereignty internationally, Prof. Macklem says.

The court also seemed to send a warning to the federal government, as it worked
its anti- terrorism legislation through Parliament, in a decision that allowed
newspapers to publish details of undercover police investigations.

While politicians debated how much secrecy was justifiable in the fight against
terrorism, Judge Iacobucci warned against a "police state," using strong
language to signal that the court will not tolerate secrecy merely for the
convenience of police.

Also in 2001, the Chief Justice reasserted her influence as one of the most
prolific judges on the court. After a first year that was heavy on travel and
low on decision-writing, in 2001 she wrote rulings in a broad range of areas
from criminal law to administrative and business law.

In addition to co-authoring the court's negligence law cases in 2001, Judge
Major showed a marked tendency to break with the majority in several cases
involving individual rights -- but not at the risk of law-and-order. He
dissented in both labour law cases, among others.

"Essentially what you are seeing is the court basically recognizing where its
expertise lies -- in issues of due process and issues of fundamental equality,
but other than that refusing to get involved in legislative policy-making," said
Prof. Mendes.



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We've been duped: fish farm advisers
Environmentalists and native members quit over Victoria's pro-industry decision

Scott Simpson and Gerard Young Vancouver Sun

Saturday, February 02, 2002
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/story.asp?id={F5FDF325-80DC-4CF8-B689-F396FA1483\
A1}

Environmentalists and the aboriginal representative have quit the province's
salmon farm advisory group over the government's decision to allow expansion of
the industry.

Laurie MacBride, Georgia Strait Alliance executive director, charged Friday that
the government duped members of the salmon aquaculture implementation advisory
committee.

"I'm tired of playing charades," she said. "I guess we have been used. We've
been misled and we've been ignored."

MacBride said the government kept advisory committee members in the dark about
what it was going to do even though it had made a decision at least three weeks
ago.

She charged that the main consideration in the decision was to favour the
multinational corporations that operate 83 per cent of the salmon farming on the
coast.

Of those, three are Norwegian, one Dutch and the other the Canadian giant
Weston, she said. The other 17 per cent of the industry is run by smaller local
companies, which have put issues such as the environment at the top of their
priorities, MacBride said.

David Lane, T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation executive director, echoed
that sentiment, saying all key decisions were done behind the backs of committee
members.

"The province is acting for big business and the handful of multinationals that
control salmon farming, while sidestepping any input from those concerned about
significant environmental impacts," he said in a written statement.

Arnie Narcisse, B.C. aboriginal fisheries commission chairman, expressed outrage
as well, saying he has asked his representative to withdraw from the advisory
committee.

B.C.'s decision to lift its moratorium on salmon farm expansion was also
attacked by the Alaskan government Friday, which said the decision raises a
"serious threat" that Atlantic salmon will invade its streams. Alaska urged B.C.
to reconsider its decision.

B.C. Fisheries Minister John van Dongen isn't putting an upper limit on the
number of new salmon farms that could be established in B.C., and singled out
Prince Rupert -- near the Canada-U.S. marine border -- as a favoured place for
expansion.

"We've already seen the presence of Atlantic salmon in Alaska waters in
increasing numbers, from accidental escapes in British Columbia," said Bob King,
press secretary to Alaskan Governor Tony Knowles.

"Any expansion which would bring a non-native species into such close proximity
is of great concern.

"Obviously the disease risks are there, the invasion aspects, the spawning
population concerns, the crowding of the spawning grounds, the competition [with
native salmon] issues."

There are no salmon farms in Alaska, where an outright ban on them has been in
place since 1989.

Concern was less vigorous in Washington state, where an official in Governor
Gary Locke's office expressed cautious support for the province's decision.

Washington state allows salmon farms, including 11 in Puget Sound.

B.C. Salmon Farmers Association executive director Anne McMullin accused Knowles
of using an environmental argument to mask an economic agenda, noting that some
Alaskan federal politicians have recently voiced support for salmon farming.

"I don't think you can make the argument that if they found one Atlantic salmon
in the last few years, that it is in any way a comparison to the millions and
millions of fish that they slaughter ever year," McMullin said.

She said the only way to maintain a viable fish-processing industry is to have
it operate year-round, which is only possible with a steady supply of farmed
fish.

Meanwhile, recent documents issued by the U.S. department of commerce suggest
that the U.S. is preparing to expand its salmon-farm industry -- despite
environmental concerns.

The commerce department is promoting aquaculture as a growth industry that could
become a $5-billion US giant by 2025.

At present salmon-farming in the U.S. accounts for just 11 per cent of the total
value of the aquaculture industry -- there are 45 salmon farms in the U.S.

However, the commerce department cites the same uncertainties voiced by
environmentalists -- including risk of disease, habitat degradation, loss of
genetic diversity and introduction of non-indigenous species (such as Atlantic
salmon) -- as needing more research.

It also says more research is needed on the accumulation of marine toxins in
cultured organisms, effects of pollution on aquaculture operations, effects of
major discharges from aquaculture operations on fisheries and other biotic
resources, effects of nutrient enrichment (from unconsumed fish food), and
physical alterations (such as dredging or construction).

However, it says that in many cases, research to date has suggested that the
environmental risks are minimal.

B.C. Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection Joyce Murray said the B.C.
government has several volumes of information on the potential risks associated
with the industry.

She noted that research into the industry's environmental impacts will continue,
but says B.C.'s decision to impose new performance standards on salmon farms --
in lieu of the current system of issuing permits -- will minimize the risks.

With files from the Victoria Times Colonist

© Copyright2002 Vancouver Sun
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Students need new path

By Kelly Leydier - The Chronicle-Journal
January 31, 2002
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/story.shtml?id=7169

An education system designed for First Nations children is the key to breaking
the cycle of poverty they’re in, says National Chief Matthew Coon Come.

Off-the-chart school dropout rates, dismal employment levels and large numbers
of young native people on welfare speak to the current crisis in native
education, the leader of the Assembly of First Nations said yesterday.

The answer is to overhaul school curriculum to incorporate cultural education
and design the school year to accommodate the traditional lifestyle, such as
including breaks for hunting season.

Coon Come was addressing more than 250 delegates to The Future of Education in
Nishnawbe Aski Nation: Issues and Strategies for the New Millennium Conference.

“We’re talking about changing the whole curriculum and turning it upside down,”
Coon Come said at the Travelodge Airlane in Thunder Bay.

Trouble for First Nations children often starts as soon as they begin school.
For many in Northern communities, their first language isn’t English, yet that’s
how the curriculum is written, Coon Come said. In Quebec, where he was part of
drastic education changes, native children speak Cree in school until the end of
Grade 3, he said.

Teaching parents about the importance of schooling is elemental to First Nations
people taking control of their education system, said Goyce Kakegamic, Nishnawbe
Aski Nation’s deputy grand chief. He’s responsible for education.

“They really don’t see the point of education,” he said. “We can’t live the way
our ancestors used to live due to the depletion of resources.”

It’s going to take 20 years for First Nations education “to catch up” with the
status quo, Kakegamic said.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation represents about 50 communities. Most have their own
elementary schools. While some of the larger reserves have high schools, the
reality for many students is they must leave their homes and travel to urban
centres to continue their education.

This brings with it added challenges that must be addressed, including culture
shock and students arriving academically behind their new peers, Kakegamic said.

In Thunder Bay, Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School helps deal with some of
these issues, but the all-native school isn’t for everyone, he said.

The federal government has a “legal obligation” to provide adequate resources
for education, Coon Come said.

“We have the inherent right to determine our future,” he said. “We view this as
fulfilling our responsibility to future generations.”

The millions the federal government committed to improving the lives of
aboriginal children in the December budget was a “down-payment,” Coon Come said.
The government must fund educational changes, he said.

An investment now will be cheaper in the long run when considering the high
costs of social assistance, moving people through the judicial system and
suicides, Coon Come said.
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Okanagan band stands firm on road fee

Friday, February 01, 2002
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/news/story.asp?id={F0403E22-A883-4DE9-A3FB-E1AEF\
2709715}

PHOTO:
http://media.canada.com/canwest/20020130/8395AC0E-8832-452E-BDE5-3C7D8C292EF5.jp\
g

VERNON -- The Okanagan Indian Band is standing by a decision to charge a fee on
commercial vehicles using Westside Road between Vernon and Kelowna.

The band says the government never properly compensated the band for using
reserve land for the road.

Band Chief Dan Wilson says some people are upset with the fee, but hundreds of
other non-natives have already applied for their permits.

He says fees have been in place for 10 years for logging trucks and forests
ministry vehicles that regularly use the road.

They won't have to pay an additional fee, nor will police or emergency vehicles.

Wilson says he hopes the fee will encourage the Ministry of Transportation to
negotiate a long-term road use agreement with the band.

The federal and provincial governments have said the band cannot charge a fee
for using a public road.

© Copyright2002 The Canadian Press
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from Charlie "Wolf" Smoke

Since my arrest this morning constitutes Double Jeopardy & improper use of
authority on part of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the government is now
changing the story... to suit them! And, the media is running the government's
stance.

Now they're claiming that I was arrested on a Failure To Appear. They claim
(and, Human Resources Development Canada is lying to protect Immigration) that a
bench warrant was issued for me in mid October (the 18th in one report, the 23rd
in another). If that were true, why wasn't I given a summons this past fall? Why
didn't attorney, Tim Brown notify me of the court date in September? Why wasn't
I served last month when I was in jail? Why were the city police surprised when
I said that I had been in court several times on this charge already? I asked
the arresting officer if I had missed a court date & was being arrested on a
Failure To Appear, he said that it was not a Failure To Appear warrant. He was
also radioed while he was in my house, & told that Immigration also had another
warrant for me; he said that they would release me right away on the Using A
False SIN charge, but that he didn't know what this new warrant from Immigration
was about. When we got to the city cells, the arresting officer discovered that
Immigration just wanted to know when my court date was going to be. Furthermore,
if this really was a simple bench warrant, why didn't the warrant follow regular
channels, & originate from the Provincial Court House? Instead, Immigration
contacted the RCMP, then the RCMP contacted the city police. That is not the
order that bench warrants follow.

If Regina City Police go along with Immigration & HRDC, I suppose I'll be forced
to withdraw my praise of the police's behavior.

From: "Ilnu net-news" <curybuck@...>

Mashteuiatsh, 4 février 2002

Kuei,
Ilnu net news publie une mise à jour complète sur la négociation territoriale:
chronologie, cartes, revue de presse,... retrouvez toute l'information
disponible en ligne sur la négociation avec les Innus.

À lire également cette semaine dans le journal de Mashteuiatsh: de nouvelles
pistes de recherche pour guérir le diabète.
Ilnu net news:
<http://www.destination.ca/~curybuck>http://www.destination.ca/~curybuck
Réseau IlnuNetNews:
<http://cf.groups.yahoo.com/group/IlnuNetNews>http://cf.groups.yahoo.com/group/I\
lnuNetNews

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
-------------------------------------
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à <mailto:curybuck@...>curybuck@...  avec la mention
retrait dans la ligne objet.
Votre nom sera retiré de la liste d'envoi dans les plus brefs délais.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Cree communities vote for deal with government
http://ottawa.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=crees020201

   Montreal - The tally's not yet complete but all signs are indicating that the
Quebec Crees have voted in favour of a $3.4-billion deal with the provincial
government, despite a negative vote from one community.

The nine Cree communities have been holding referendums this week, and officials
say the results in seven of them are showing an 80 per cent rate of approval.

The unofficial results of the vote indicate that Chisasibi has refused the deal.

In October, the Cree Nation and Quebec signed what leaders on both sides called
a historic agreement-in-principle.

At the time, the government was facing more than $3 billion in environmental
lawsuits because Hydro-Quebec wanted to build a dam on the Rupert River. If the
agreement is ratified, the lawsuits will be dropped, and the dam will be built.

The deal will also give the Crees $23 million this year, $46 million next year,
and $70 million a year for the next 48 years.

Lindy Moar, manager of Iqualuk Medawascam school in Nemaska, says the results
make him sad because the governement has not respected the first James Bay
agreement signed 26 years ago.

"Quebec hasn't paid into that section in 26 years," Moar said. "We came down to
this agreement-in-principle where we had to sacrifice another river for Hydro
Quebec."

Chiefs from the nine communities were scheduled to meet with Grand Chief Ted
Moses Friday in Montreal to go over the results. But officials say they had to
postpone the meeting because some bands are still debating the issues and have
yet to cast their ballots.

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James Bay Crees back deal worth $3.4 billion
http://montreal.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=creedeal020204

Nemaska, Que. - Nearly 70 per cent of the James Bay Crees voting on a
$3.4-billion deal with the Quebec government have endorsed it.

Grand Chief Ted Moses calls the vote's outcome a historic moment, and says the
agreement vindicates the Cree campaign to have their rights respected.

During the last week of January, the pact was put to a referendum in nine Cree
communities.

Brian Craik, a Cree Grand Council spokesman, says the secret ballot gave an
approval rate that ranged from a low of 50 per cent to a high of 83 per cent.

The deal includes cash payouts for the Crees of $24 million in 2002, $46 million
next year, then $70 million a year for 48 years.

The Cree also get more control over their community and economy, more power over
logging and more Hydro-Quebec jobs.
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Inuit film poised for more honours as 22nd annual Genie Awards approach

JOHN MCKAY Canadian Press
Monday, February 04, 2002
http://www.canada.com/calgary/story.asp?id={4D675BA4-44D0-4057-B4BE-F0C5463D5D9A\
}

PHOTO:http://media.canada.com/cp/20020204/3eb99135-131e-4524-a21c-63339cb42c53.j\
pg
A non-anglophone film, Atanarjuat, Inuktitut for Swift Runner, tops the
nominations list, as the first Inuit feature film shot in Inuktitut. (CP)

TORONTO (CP) - Fresh off a slew of other cinematic honours, Atanarjuat, or The
Fast Runner, the country's first Inuit-made feature film, heads into this week's
Genie Awards with seven nominations, including one for best picture.

The Genies, honouring the finest in home-grown cinema, will be handed out at a
black-tie gala Thursday night, broadcast live in prime time by CBC-TV.

Running at an epic 160 minutes, Atanarjuat was shot on digital video and in the
Inuktitut language by director Zacharias Kunuk. Set against the sometimes bleak,
sometimes magnificent northern tundra, it has everything: sex, jealousy,
betrayal and murder in its story of a shaman who divides a nomadic 16th century
Inuit community.

Norman Cohn, Atanarjuat's Montreal-based producer, was delighted by the seven
nominations, but was "a little disappointed they didn't nominate any of our
actors."

Cohn said normally when a film snags best director and best film nominations,
the performers tend to get recognition, too.

"If you accept the fact that our actors are acting, then their performances are
quite superior. If you don't believe they're acting, that's something else."

He said he wasn't at all surprised that Atanarjuat is Canada's entry for the
upcoming Academy Award nominations for best foreign film and feels it has a shot
at making the cut.

"We just feel like the film's getting the recognition that it deserves."

Atanarjuat was honoured at Cannes and last fall's Toronto film festival. Kunuk
has also won this year's Claude Jutra Award, given to a filmmaker's first-time
feature effort.

Tied in nominations with Atanarjuat is Lyndon Chubbick's The War Bride, the
story of Lily, a plucky English girl who falls for a Canadian soldier during the
Second World War. When he is shipped off to the battlefront from his British
staging area, she is sent to Canada to wait out the war. But there, she finds
her new home is a desolate prairie farm that comes complete with an icy
reception from her new mother-in-law.

Producer William Talmage says The War Bride was a labour of love that took five
years to bring to the screen. He adds that the ordeal in a way matched that of
the real war brides it depicted.

"It was a journey that was difficult, looked bleak and was often against the
odds," Talmage says, adding that ultimately it was the passion of the filmmakers
and their belief in the project which made it a reality.

Other top-nominated films - and best-picture contenders - include Eisenstein
(Renny Bartlett's profile of the brilliant early Russian filmmaker), Treed
Murray (an ad executive is literally chased up a tree by some muggers in a park)
and Andre Turpin's Un crabe dans la tete or Soft Shell Man (a young photographer
pays the price for his many affairs during a stopover in Montreal).

Although it nabbed a respectable six nominations, observers were surprised that
Last Wedding, Bruce Sweeney's jaded look at the deteriorating marriages of three
young Vancouver couples, failed to make the best-picture list.

Best actor nominees include Zachary Bennett (Desire), Brendan Fletcher (The Law
of Enclosures), Peter Outerbridge (Marine Life) and Chris Owens (The Uncles).
Best actress contenders include Jillian Fargey (Protection), Anna Friel (The War
Bride), Elise Guilbault (La femme qui boit) and Sarah Polley (The Law of
Enclosures).

Meanwhile, The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, which oversees the
awards, has already announced that longtime film critic Gerald Pratley will be
getting a special Genie in recognition of his lifelong support for Canadian
cinema.

Also, Nuit de Noces, first-time Quebec filmmaker Emile Gaudreault's comedy, is
this year's Golden Reel Award winner. Regardless of artistic merit, the trophy
is given to the Canadian film that racks up the biggest box-office revenues.
Nuit de Noces grossed more than $2 million.

Once again Brian Linehan will serve as emcee. This year's Genie presenters will
include Marie-Josee Cruze (Maelstrom), Paul Gross (Men With Brooms), Don
McKellar (Last Night), Jessica Pare (Stardom) and Gordon Pinsent (The Shipping
News).

David Usher, lead singer of Moist, is scheduled to perform.

Multiple nominated films at the 22nd annual Genie Awards, to be held in Toronto
on Thursday:

Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner): 7

The War Bride: 7

Last Wedding: 6

Eisenstein: 5

La femme qui boit: 5

Treed Murray: 5

Un crabe dans la tete: 4

The Claim: 3

Deeply: 3

Ginger Snaps: 3

L'ange de goudron: 3

The Law of Enclosures: 3

Lost and Delirious: 3

Une jeune fille a la fenetre: 3

For a complete list of nominees: www.genieawards.ca

© Copyright 2002 The Canadian Press
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B.C. lifts ban on fish farms
http://www.djc.com/news/bu/11130089.html

VICTORIA, British Columbia (AP) -- The government of British Columbia has lifted
a six-year moratorium on new fish farms.

The province will begin accepting applications for new operations at the end of
April, Fisheries Minister John van Dongen said.

A scientific review done by the Environmental Assessment Office concluded that
the environmental risks of salmon farming under existing rules were low.

Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles urged British Columbia to reconsider its decision.

The governor said last year there were 29,000 accidental releases of Atlantic
salmon from British Columbia fish farms. So far this year, there have been
between 8,000 and 10,000.

The salmon-farming industry has come under fire from environmental groups and
Indian tribes who argue it pollutes coastal waters with fish waste and
encourages an increase in parasites that prey on wild stocks.

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'Baby' minister Linda Reid promises help for children during crucial first six
years

Kim Pemberton Vancouver Sun
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/news/story.asp?id={CE844349-7D94-44D2-852F-0329C\
F5ED1C7}
Monday, February 04, 2002

Very young aboriginal children will be getting more support after B.C.'s
minister of state responsible for early childhood development announced Friday
she intends to commit more dollars to aboriginal early childhood development.

"These little guys need programs developed for them in a much more culturally
defined way," said Linda Reid, who announced her three priorities for spending
new federal dollars for early childhood development at the First Years
Conference, which ends today in Vancouver.

In addition to programs geared for the birth-to-age-six population in the
aboriginal communities, Reid also plans to focus on providing more financial
support to two existing programs -- the Infant Development program and the
Building Blocks program.

The Infant Development program helps developmentally delayed children from birth
to age three. Consultants work directly with families to teach them skills to
enable their children to achieve their potential.

The Building Blocks project is currently in 27 communities and typically
involves a health care nurse or infant development worker visiting new mothers
and their infants at home. Reid said she hopes both programs can be expanded to
other communities in B.C.

Reid has promised to spend $8 million next year in 25 aboriginal communities as
part of her aboriginal early childhood development plan.

She noted that in many cases aboriginal families have the "heart and diligence
to do a good job" of raising their children, but they may need help to learn
parenting because they were raised in residential schools.

Reid, who says she has been nicknamed the "baby" minister, said the $8 million
will come from new federal dollars in early childhood education.

The federal government made a $2.2-billion investment in early childhood
development with a five-year program that started in 2000.

In the first year, B.C. received $39 million and will receive another $51
million for the coming year. In year three, B.C. will get an additional $60
million, and $66 million in each of years four and five.

"I have the finest job in the world," Reid said.

"All of this work is to help the zero-to-six-year population. It's
well-documented that the experience you have from zero to six will influence
your life course."

Reid said she also plans to take $25 million over the five years and create the
B.C. Early Childhood Development Legacy Fund. She said the interest from this
fund will be used to support independent community initiatives that would help
children from birth to age six.

For instance, she said, a community could apply for funding to create a toy
lending library or another health or educational initiative.

The money is being invested with the Vancouver Foundation so it is independent
of government, Reid said. She said she did this to honour former child and youth
advocate Joyce Preston, who recommended government create a separate fund to
benefit children.

© Copyright 2002 Vancouver Sun
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Lennox Island program nominated for international tourism award
By The Summerside Journal Pioneer
http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=0244B47E-5771-4AF6-A2A8-291C0108A\
0B1

LENNOX ISLAND - The Lennox Island Aboriginal Ecotourism Program is the first
tourism operation from Atlantic Canada to be nominated for the prestigious
International Responsible Tourism Award.

Even being nominated for the award is expected to help boost Lennox Island's
reputation as a tourism destination.

The nomination recognizes the community's focus on eco-tourism. The program is
based on the community's 10-year Aboriginal Ecotourism Plan, which was
commissioned in 1999. The goals of the program are to protect and strengthen the
ecology and culture of Lennox Island and to contribute to the community's
economic growth.

Having started with the opening of the Lennox Island Mi'kmaq Cultural Centre,
the program offers a wide range of interpretive programming and is attracting an
increasing number of visitors.

The next stage of the program, explains Jesse Francis, manager of the ecotourism
program, calls for the construction of a walking trail to circle Lennox Island
and a multi-purpose trailhead centre.

The Responsible Tourism Award will be presented during the 15th annual
Educational Travel Conference in Los Angeles, Calif., Feb. 22-24. The
announcement on the winner of the award, however, is expected to be made soon.

© Copyright 2001 The Summerside Journal Pioneer
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