After the October resignation of Justice Harry LaForme as chair of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), closed door meetings have been held to decide how the commission should proceed.
The meetings, held on Nov. 7 and Nov. 20, were facilitated by Justice Frank Iacobucci, who was instrumental in the development of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. This agreement mapped out compensation for the victims, and has as a very unique component to the TRC, which will be put on the record of the abuses that occurred in the schools.

After the October resignation of Justice Harry LaForme as chair of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), closed door meetings have been held to decide how the commission should proceed.
The meetings, held on Nov. 7 and Nov. 20, were facilitated by Justice Frank Iacobucci, who was instrumental in the development of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. This agreement mapped out compensation for the victims, and has as a very unique component to the TRC, which will be put on the record of the abuses that occurred in the schools.

After the October resignation of Justice Harry LaForme as chair of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), closed door meetings have been held to decide how the commission should proceed.
The meetings, held on Nov. 7 and Nov. 20, were facilitated by Justice Frank Iacobucci, who was instrumental in the development of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. This agreement mapped out compensation for the victims, and has as a very unique component to the TRC, which will be put on the record of the abuses that occurred in the schools.

A report released in November by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is "probably extremely misleading to the uninformed," contends Westbank First Nation Chief Robert Louie.

THE CHIEFS OF ONTARIO
honoured Sam George at a gala and benefit concert held Nov. 19 during their Special Chiefs Assembly in Toronto. Sam George was lauded for his work in seeking justice for his brother Dudley George and the community of Kettle and Stony Point. Dudley was shot by a police officer while involved in a land protest at Ipperwash Park in 1995.

GLOBE AND MAIL COLUMNIST
Margaret Wente has pushed the envelope with her commentary on Aboriginal peoples before, but nothing like when she came charging to the defence of McGill University Chancellor Richard Pound for his remark that Canada was a land of savages 400 years ago; a comment that resulted in Canada-wide condemnation.

An open letter for Remembrance Day:
On a day when Canadians from all walks of life paused and reflected on the supreme sacrifices of so many men and women who fought and died for our freedom, the First Nations Leadership Council (British Columbia) joined with them in recognizing and saluting the contribution of veterans, and specifically First Nations veterans, to serving their country and fellow citizens.

We have to take issue with a column published by The StarPheonix on Nov. 7 written by Doug Cuthand, who, in his backhanded way, was attempting to congratulate President-elect Barack Obama on his historic win on Nov. 4 in the United States.
The column begins "It is said that when something is useless and worn out, it's given to the coloured folks."

Outside the community centre in an artsy tourist town near Calgary, a white horse stands easily, indifferent to the burden laid across her back: a magnificent spotted loon skin spread upon a tanned animal hide.

This October, more than 800 children and youth in grades 3 to 12 in Northern Ontario learned how to make their own film with a visit from Special Delivery, a year-round project of the Toronto International Film Festival Group.
This project, which began in 2002, usually reaches out to youth in under-served regions of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This was the first year that the program went to an area outside of the GTA.