Members of the media are invited to attend an announcement by Justice Murray Sinclair, TRC Chair, Commissioner Chief Wilton Littlechild and Commissioner Marie Wilson at 10:30am PT.

Date: Friday, February 24, 2012
Time: 10:30 – 11:30am PT
Location: Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue
580 West Hastings Street
(enter via Seymour Street courtyard entrance)
Vancouver, British Columbia

This event will be webcast live and can be viewed at www.trc.ca

Copies of the TRC publications will be made available on site during the announcement, and further, posted online at www.trc.ca immediately following.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established as a result of the 2007 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. Its mandate is to inform all Canadians about what happened in residential schools, and guide and inspire a process of reconciliation and renewed relationships based on mutual understanding and respect.

Good day. We’re putting a couple of comic books together next week and could use your help with the resource covers:

Maternal child health resources
We are going to be releasing our maternal child health book soon. If you could email any healthy mom / healthy baby online resources to sean@thehealthyaboriginal.net, that would be terrific. We prefer young mom friendly sites, provincial or federal over regional sites, please. Sorry for the short notice but we need them by February 28th. If you’re curious about the storyline you can check out the focus group short at www.youtube.com/user/HealthyAboriginal.

Diabetes prevention resources
We are going to be reprinting our diabetes prevention comic book, An Invited Threat, in early March. But we need to update our resource listings on the rear cover first. If you could please email me youth friendly sites by February 24th we would be most appreciative – sean@thehealthyaboriginal.net. Again, youth friendly and provincial or federal over regional, please.

Also, feel free to order by sending an email to sean@thehealthyaboriginal.net – we’ll just need your mailing address, order and the number of copies you want. Feel free to check out the diabetes preview, our other books and pricing at www.thehealthyaboriginal.net. Please ignore the sold out note on An Invited Threat, as we haven’t updated the website yet.

We appreciate your help on the youth resources,

Sean Muir

Executive Director
3240 Comox Road
Courtenay, BC   V9N 3P8

Phone 250-941-8881

A BC incorporated non-profit Society

The significance of the circle to indigenous cultures across North America could not be more prevalent than in the paintings of one of Northwestern Ontario’s most important artists, Roy Thomas (1949– 2004). Vision Circle, the title of a major retrospective of the work of Thomas taking place at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery this summer is an appropriate summation of how this Ojibwa artist interacted with, and viewed the world.

The major retrospective at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Vision Circle, brings together over 60 of Roy Thomas’ paintings from public and private collections in Canada in order to show the depth of his artistic achievement. The works range from his earliest drawings to very large and impressive public commissions. Following the exhibition in Thunder Bay (June 8 – September 9, 2012) Vision Circle will travel to other Canadian galleries over the next two years.

The impact of Roy Thomas as an artist, a mentor, and a father is strong and clear. The circle of his influence continues to widen. Be sure to see his exhibition Vision Circle at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.

For other upcoming exhibitions visit the Thunder Bay Art Gallery website.

Come see our talented youth! Call to get involved as a leader or a student!

To register visit http://www.skillsnunavut.ca

For more information contact Amanda Kilabuk at email: Amandak@skillscanada.com

Over the three days, we will talk about the issues our generation is facing and where we can go from here, focusing on the best of what has been, creating the best of what will be. This is not your usual sit-in-your-seat-and-listen kind of conference. Be prepared to participate in small groups and creative activities. It’s going to be fun!

First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and non-Aboriginal young people are all welcome. Bring your friends, and get ready to make new ones!

For more information visit www.roq.gatheringnations.ca

“Our government’s top priority is job creation and economic growth. In a constantly evolving labour market, it’s important that Canadians get the skills and training they need to succeed,” said Ms. McLeod. “This is why we work with organizations, such as the First Nations Agricultural Association, to ensure Aboriginal people are able to take full advantage of economic opportunities.”

Through the Government of Canada’s Skills and Partnership Fund, the First Nations Agricultural Association is receiving more than $856,000 for its Career in Agriculture and Agri-Foods Industry Program.

Through the Career in Agriculture and Agri-Foods Industry Program, the First Nations Agricultural Association will help Aboriginal people get the necessary skills and training they need to get jobs in the agriculture and agri-foods industry. The participants will be enrolled in eight skill-building and work-experience projects in areas of British Columbia where there is a high demand for qualified people in the agriculture and agri-food industries.

The Fund is part of the Government’s approach to help First Nations, Métis and Inuit get training and work experience to secure sustainable, meaningful employment. It is intended to encourage innovation in Aboriginal training-to-employment products and service delivery.

For more information visit www.hrsdc.gc.ca or the NationTalk website.

The 2012 games are an international celebration of Northern sport, culture and friendship. APTN’s news team will be on hand to provide special coverage of the opening ceremonies, sporting and cultural events, athlete interviews, and medal standings.

APTN is broadcasting on location from the Canada Games Centre. Viewers can tune in to APTN National News each day for coverage of the games beginning March 5. APTN will also air live updates from the games throughout each day of the games.

APTN is launching a special webpage at www.aptn.ca/awg2012 to provide special features and in-depth interviews with athletes, coaches and performers. On Twitter, follow @APTNNews and the hashtag #AWG2012 for related updates and breaking news.

Sports and culture are integral to the Arctic Winter Games. There is a cultural festival featuring Inuit, Tutchone, Dene, and other artists. Sports include Dene games, wrestling, alpine skiing, biathlon, badminton, cross-country skiing, dog mushing, curling, figure skating, hockey, gymnastics, soccer, snowboarding, snowshoeing, speed skating, table tennis, and more. The Arctic Winter Games began in 1970.

The 2012 games will host competitors from around the world, including Alaska; Greenland; northern Alberta; Northwest Territories; Nunavik (Quebec); Nunavut; Sápmi (Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia), Yamal (Russia); and Yukon.

Expected to gather more than 500 delegates from across Canada, the AFN National Justice Forum will bring together national and regional Indigenous organizations and frontline justice workers, key stakeholders and representatives from the federal and provincial governments.

For a full agenda please visit: http://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/justice/justice-agenda.pdf

Manitoba is welcoming leading mental-health researchers, government representatives and other stakeholders dedicated to the many issues related to mental health and mental illness as part of a national summit, Premier Greg Selinger announced today.

“Manitoba is pleased to host this important summit where we will hear the most recent scientific research on promoting mental health and preventing mental illness,” he said. “Some of the most compelling research tells us there may be ways to prevent and reduce the incidence of mental illness, which has the potential to improve the quality of life for many individuals and families, and affect the way that we all tackle this important issue.”

The summit takes place in Winnipeg today and tomorrow.

Mental-health problems and illnesses affect people of all ages, from all walks of life and touch the life of every Manitoban in one way or another; one in four Manitobans experiences at least one mental illness diagnosis over a five-year period, said Selinger.

Most mental illness begins in childhood or adolescence. Healthy Child Manitoba provides a strategy that involves many government departments along with community partners in promoting good mental health from childhood to adolescence. More information about Manitoba’s strategic five-year plan, focused on the mental health and well?being of Manitobans, is available at www.gov.mb.ca/health/mh/docs/challenge.pdf

To read more visit the NationTalk website.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador hosts the conference each year to address the issues faced by Aboriginal women throughout the province. This year, the two-day event is being held from February 14 and 15 at the Hotel North II and will engage participants in discussions on maintaining Newfoundland and Labrador’s rich Aboriginal culture for future generations.

A report will be developed drawing on the concerns, suggestions and recommendations raised by participants during the conference. Once the report is complete, it will be posted to the Women’s Policy Office website at www.gov.nl.ca/exec/wpo

To read more about the conference visit the NationTalk website.