December 12, 2016 - One hundred million Canadians by 2100. This is the bold goal set for us by the Century Initiative (a group of business leaders and Canadian intellectuals) and now endorsed by Prime Minister Trudeau’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth. But I want to highlight something missing from this glorious plan for 100 million Canadians.
November 11, 2016 - Athletics and sports play a formative role in the education of First Nations youth. The 2016 Nishnawbe Aski Nation Summer Sports Festival, held this past June, provided another living example.
November 25, 2016 - Alisha Hill’s initial apprehensions disappeared a year ago when she met her Kindergarten class. Like most teachers heading to Northern Ontario to teach for the first time in a First Nations community, she had read the tragic stories and was painfully aware of the troubles affecting reserve life.
November 29, 2016 - Tapping into the Internet has tremendous potential for bridging the vast distances in First Nations education – and opening up new horizons for students in remote, fly-in communities.
November 25, 2016 - Over the past twenty-five years, Wahsa Distance Education Centre (WDEC), has pushed at the limits of technology in the Northern education frontier. Since his arrival as Principal in 1995, Darrin Head has seen WDEC through a succession of dramatic technological changes in the delivery of its programs – from comparatively crude instructional radio to SMART board technology and social media.
November 21, 2016 - Do you shop online? Are you a Canadian? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then you are likely being shafted. Well, shafted might be too strong a word, but not by much.
November 14, 2016 - For the majority, internet usage is an integral part of the everyday. It has infiltrated its way into our daily lives, and serves as an indispensable medium in the workplace, for commerce, education, health services, and functions as global gathering place for an open and democratic exchange of ideas. Individuals in urban centres tend to have access to seamless online connectivity and can pay bills at any time, from the comfort of their own home – even obtain a degree. This opens up the interesting question of whether affordable, high speed internet services, should be a legal right, or at least, a basic service. This question is particularly pertinent for individuals in northern Ontario who live in remote or rural areas, who by virtue of geography, are far enough away from urban cores to be at a social and economic disadvantage.
October 31, 2016 - This past April, the northern community of Attawapiskat declared a state of emergency following 28 suicide attempts in March alone. However, these issues have been longstanding, as the reserve has had 100 attempts since last September.
October 24, 2016 - We know the lament. Northern Ontario is huge in size, small in population. Our urban centres are barely the size of large towns in other regions. A four-hour drive to get to a four-hour drive is the norm. Your cell phone might work right now, or it might not. Our economy is overly dependent on government. Private industry is largely focused in resource dependent sectors. Some of which are under significant competitive pressures as tastes and sensitivities change globally. We hear we are relatively old, sickly, poor and unattractive to newcomers. You get the idea.
October 17, 2016 - Indigenous communities can gain revenue and valuable experience tackling the problem of service provision by taxing residents and businesses on reserve land. First Nations in Canada have tax powers similar to those of municipalities. Under the 1989 Kamloops Amendment to the Indian Act, and the 2005 First Nations Financial Fiscal Management Act (FNFMA), indigenous communities can assert their tax jurisdiction on reserve land. The First Nations Tax Commission certifies property tax bylaws, ensuring that residents paying taxes to indigenous governments are treated fairly, and that they receive services (roads, fire, police protection, water, etc.) in exchange for what they pay.
