Various service organizations, including Prince Albert Parkland Health Region, Prince Albert Police Service, Gabriel Dumont Institute, Prince Albert Métis Women’s Association, met at the Prince Albert Indian Métis Friendship Centre in early March to identify barriers preventing urban Aboriginal people from fully participating in the local economy. The Aboriginal population in Prince Albert has grown from 18 per cent in 2006 to nearly 25 per cent in 2011, and continues to grow.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic students will soon help build affordable housing in Prince Albert through a partnership with Habitat for Humanity. The two organizations signed a memorandum of agreement in February that will see carpentry students work on one house a year for Habitat for Humanity. Under the five-year plan, the students will frame houses and install windows, exterior doors, siding, soffits and shingles.

A new partnership formed between Whitecap Development Corp. and PTW Energy Services Ltd. of Nisku, AB, will be managed by Tarpon Energy Services Ltd. The Whitecap Development Corp. is the business arm of Whitecap Dakota First Nation. This partnership will pursue electrical, instrumentation, construction and fabrication opportunities in the oil and gas and mining sectors within Saskatchewan. This is the second formal Aboriginal partnership for Tarpon. The Whitecap Development Corp.

The contract has been announced for the turn-key design, supply and install of two solar power generation systems in Saskatchewan’s far north at Father Megret Elementary School in Hatchet Lake Denesuline First Nation and Father Gamache Memorial School in Fond du Lac Denesuline First Nation. These two projects are designed to offset power consumption for each of the schools.

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Education has evenly distributed $2.4 million to support 16 invitational shared services initiative partnerships in 2014-15. ISSI partnerships provide students at on-reserve schools with the same supports available in provincial schools, such as speech language pathologists, math consultants and graduation coaches. The ministry asked Aboriginal education organizations to identify what types of shared services were needed and worked together to develop partnerships with 11 school divisions.

Three Saskatoon Tribal Councils will receive $537,990 in funding over two years for justice-related programs. Through its urban programs, the STC receives referrals for extrajudicial measures and sanctions for youth, assists victims of crime, and helps at-risk youth, their families, and the community to understand their rights, the justice system and family rebuilding processes. The funding will also aid youth in understanding and maintaining conditions imposed on them while in supervised mediation agreements.

In the early hours of March 4, Amber Lightning Raine, 20, joined the ever-growing number of young Aboriginal people who have committed suicide.

Her death was not the result of a horrific childhood, nor was she facing insurmountable life challenges or suffering a lack of family and social support.

In 1967, Canada’s centennial year and the year Winnipeg first hosted the Pan American Games, 10 young First Nations men were chosen to run 800 kilometers over an ancient message route with the Games torch.

The young men, nine of whom were students at residential school, started their run in St. Paul, Minnesota and arrived six days later in Winnipeg. When they tried to enter the stadium, they were denied entry and instead, the Games torch was passed to a non-Aboriginal runner to complete the final lap around the stadium.

Don Patterson will once again spend a good chunk of his summer pedalling across Canada to promote Aboriginal youth fitness.

The 61-year-old Mississauga commercial realtor cycled across the country, from British Columbia to Newfoundland, in 2012, spreading his message that every child should be able to participate in sports.

Following that ride, Patterson established a non-profit company that created Spirit Runner, a free app for Aboriginal youth that tracks their physical activity.

Métis youth Mélanie-Rose Frappier has received the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award. The awards are presented annually to individuals, groups and communities that have made outstanding contributions to conserving Ontario’s heritage. Frappier is involved in a range of youth, community and cultural activities that led …cole secondaire du SacrÈ Cúur to nominate her for the Heritage Award in the Youth Achievement category.