Get off the pot, Ottawa, and demonstrate that your words are more than just a bunch of consonants and vowels strung together and carried into the world around us to fill the silence with noise. Every word uttered should be considered a precious gift, a reflection of what’s in a person’s heart, their thoughts and speak to their resolve. If you don’t mean it; don’t say it.

The international spotlight will be on Toronto this summer as the city hosts both the Pan American Games and Parapan American Games.
 Prior to these athletic competitions, however, various groups are joining forces to bring Toronto some recognition through the Pan Am Path Art Relay.
 These events, which include an Indigenous one called First Story Toronto, will help to celebrate the city’s diversity, nature, arts and active outdoor living.


Over 16 per cent of youth treated in emergency rooms across the province for self-harm are First Nations. But as “alarming” as that figure is, Dr. Amanda Newton, University of Alberta researcher and associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics, says the number for Aboriginal youth is higher yet.

“We might be underestimating the problem … just in what we know about self-harming in general amongst children who are First Nation, Métis or Inuit,” she said. “It really is pause for reflection to think about why we are seeing these visit rates.”

After six long, hard years of heading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Justice Murray Sinclair is tired. But he is also hopeful.

Sinclair expects the message repeated by the TRC – that reconciliation is a Canadian issue and not an Aboriginal issue – will be underscored by
the numbers and make-up of the crowd that marches in Ottawa on May 31 when the TRC kicks off its closing ceremonies.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report said Canada’s negotiation of treaties with First Nations were “marked by fraud and coercion.” The report said the federal government continues to stall on the implementation of treaties to this day.

The Alberta girls’ entry received a much needed financial assist just prior to this year’s National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.

Some members of the squad were struggling with their fundraising efforts for the tournament, which concluded May 2 in Halifax.

But on the same day team members were to fly to the Nova Scotia capital it was announced the club had secured $10,000 in funding from KAQUO, a company which commercializes the forestry assets of various Métis settlements.

Fort McMurray filmmaker Kelton Stepanowich is turning to crowdsourcing to raise funds for his passion project, a short film called Gods Acre, one that he plans to enter in international film festivals.

“We’d already raised a good amount of the budget so far, and then oil prices collapsed and people got tight with their budgets,” Stepanowich said. “And crowdsourcing is a great way to let people contribute and say what projects they’d like to see made.”

A non-profit, member-driven Aboriginal business association aimed at building and growing the Aboriginal business and professional community in Edmonton has emerged.

With the city boasting the second highest Aboriginal population in the country, there are over 37,000 Aboriginal people employed in the area. 

Aksis, Edmonton’s Aboriginal business and professional association, is the only one of its kind in central Alberta. Founded in 2013 and established in 2014, it is funded by the City of Edmonton and supported by professional and corporate memberships.