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Established in 1983 to serve the needs of northern Alberta, Windspeaker became a national newspaper on its 10th anniversary in 1993.
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Zoe Hopkins, actor, producer, writer and director, was at the Sundance Film Festival in January where her short film A Prayer for a Good Day was screened. She is now wrapping up work on a documentary her home community Bella Bella asked her to produce about the residential school system and its effect on the Heiltsuk people.
Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value…
Page 23
"My belief as a filmmaker is that you have to be able to share and pull from inside your own experiences so that you will be able to tell the film with the passion that it needs," said Shirley Cheechoo.
Cheechoo directed In Shadow, a short film that was featured at the Native Forum during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah Jan. 15 to 25.
The Sundance…
Page 22
The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) celebrated a milestone in February. It was their 20th anniversary of developing business partnerships.
"What we do really is build bridges between the Aboriginal community and the corporate sector. We develop tools and resources that can be used to engage that market place and broker relationships, whether it's between…
Page 21
One of the newest organizations to join the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program is World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada, which is using the program to help them practice what they preach.
The organization, founded in 1967, works to conserve biological diversity, promote sustainable use of renewable resources and reduce pollution and wasteful consumption.
As…
Page 20
The efforts of Canada Post Corporation, Manitoba Lotteries Corporation and Compass Group Canada to develop a good working relationship with the Aboriginal community have earned the companies a bronze standing in the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program.
Canada Post Corporation is a federal Crown corporation and that fact made for some difficulties in completing…
Page 19
On Feb. 17, BMO Financial Group became the first financial institution to achieve gold standing in the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program.
But considering that developing positive relationships with the Aboriginal community has been a priority at BMO for more than a decade, the results aren't all that surprising.
The bank's commitment to developing…
Page 18
There were a few new faces in the crowd on Feb. 17 as the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business (CCAB) recognized the commitment of companies registered in the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program.
The recognition came as part of the Circle for 2015 annual gala dinner, held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto. Circle for 2015 is another CCAB program, designed…
Page 15
The Fraser Institute's release of its first Report Card on Aboriginal Education in British Columbia paints a dismal picture of the level of academic achievement of First Nations students.
The report, released Feb. 5, concludes that in British Columbia in the past four years "Aboriginal students failed more than 40 per cent of the province-wide reading tests they wrote."…
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Ontario's assistant Information and Privacy Commissioner has ordered an Ontario Provincial Police superintendent and every OPP official who had anything to do with the production and storage of videotapes and photographs taken during the 1995 occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park to appear before him in person to be questioned.
Tom Mitchinson issued the order after…
Page 12
Remember that March 1 deadline for signing a government consent form or doing without non-insured health care?
Forget about it. The deadline is history. The government has changed its mind.
The government has scrapped the universal, national consent form after facing an aggressive lobby against it by First Nations and Inuit leaders and much suspicion from people…
Page 11
Two American academics have provided information in support of compensation for language and culture loss in a residential school court case in Canada.
Professor Joel Spring, a Choctaw man, teaches at the New School University and is also a visiting professor at Queen's College at the City University of New York. Dr. George Spindler studied three American Indian cultures…
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A court ruling that might have sped up settlement of residential school compensation claims has instead been appealed to the highest court in the land.
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler and Denis Coderre, the minister responsible for the Office of Indian Residential School Resolution Canada (IRSRC), made the call on Feb. 9-the federal Crown will appeal the Blackwater case to…
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Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Phil Fontaine did not act like a man on the run from the press.
Windspeaker met up with him at a ceremony Feb. 6 celebrating the relocation of the Alberta AFN office to Tsuu T'ina First Nation territory.
Just two days before, there had been allegations made in a national newspaper that the Liberal government had…
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It was originally supposed to last four days. Then it was down to two. Then James O'Reilly, lawyer for the Samson Cree Nation, found a way to get it all done in one day.
And now former prime minister Jean Chretien is on the record in Victor Buffalo versus the Crown.
The former prime minister, looking fit, tanned and rested, arrived in the Federal Court of Canada in…
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Chief Irvin McIvor said goodbye to his third-party manager on Feb. 1. The rookie Sandy Bay First Nation chief was elected in September after leading a fight to depose the previous council. He inherited a $9 million debt, but came into office with a plan to wrestle that debt to the ground.
"When we won the election, we already had a plan in place. We got rid of the band…