Sweetgrass Briefs - June

Cut Rock Walk to raise funds for cancer
Darlene Cardinal, of Fort Chipewyan, is undertaking he second annual Cut Rock Walk in the hope of raising $20,000 for the Alberta Cancer Foundation, specifically for the Cross Cancer Hospital in Edmonton. The Cut Rock Walk is a continuous marathon from Cardinal’s residence to Cut Rock, approximately 8 km there and back. She will continue this route for 24 consecutive hours beginning at 7 p.m. on June 18 and finishing at 7 p.m. on June 19. Last year Cardinal walked 98 km, but a combined total of 1,100 km was walked by all volunteer participants who did the route in honour of lost family and friends. (This equals the distance of from Fort Chipewyan to Fort McMurray, back and forth twice.) Cardinal’s walk is endorsed by the Alberta Cancer Foundation.

New structure and operational mode for CEMA
The new structure and operational mode of the Cumulative Environmental Management Association was approved by its members at the annual general meeting in Fort McMurray in early May. The key change is the adoption of a sector-based management board. CEMA will now have four caucuses: Aboriginal, industry, government, and non-governmental organizations. Each caucus will have four members, guaranteeing equality in the decision making process. The new balanced board will ensure the Aboriginal and environmental nonprofit groups a fair and equal voting process. The new CEMA will ensure that the concerns of Métis and First Nations people living in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo are heard and addressed. As CEMA is an “interest based process” not a “rights based process,” the First Nation and Métis are involved in CEMA to share the interests of their communities. The improvements will be aided by the formation of an Aboriginal Coordination Committee. This committee will build on the work of the Aboriginal Round Table and the Traditional Environmental Knowledge Advisory Committee to facilitate Aboriginal involvement in all aspects of CEMA’s operation. A new mission statement was also approved: “CEMA is a multi-stakeholder society that is a key advisor to the provincial and federal governments committed to respectful, inclusive dialogue to make recommendations to manage the cumulative environmental effects of regional development on air, land, water and biodiversity.”
BCC to operate in select Alberta First Nations
The Breakfast Clubs of Canada has signed an agreement with the Assembly of First Nations to collaborate with band councils in developing school breakfast programs based on growing needs in the communities. By the end of the 2010 school year, full-service breakfast programs will be in place in 17 communities in five provinces — Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec — serving 4,500 kids. The long-term goal is to nearly triple the number of children reached in 2013 to 12,000 kids. On average, it costs $60,000 a year to operate a breakfast program in each First Nations community, in addition to an initial investment of between $15,000-$25,000 from BCC for kitchen appliances and supplies. BCC does not receive funding from government agencies. The Sprott Foundation granted BCC $100,000 for First Nations and Aboriginal school breakfast programs in Ontario and Alberta. A portion of BCC’s national fundraising is also directed towards Aboriginal programs.

Funding received to provide apprenticeship training
The Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council is delivering the First Nations Building a Community project under the regional component of the Aboriginal Skills and Training Strategic Investment Fund. The goal of this project is to provide unemployed First Nations participants with apprenticeship training and work experience hours, as well as Heavy Equipment Operator training. It will also help as many individuals as possible to successfully complete the next stage of their formal apprenticeships with training and work experience, and assist the community by addressing the shortage of qualified trades people in the area. “We are extremely pleased with the many benefits associated with this program, and I personally welcome such an initiative, seeing first-hand the results of the project,” said Grand Chief Jim Badger of the Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council. This project, funded through the federal government, will receive $1,675,252 and is one of over 80 short-term projects that will provide training opportunities and jobs for Aboriginal Canadians.

Funding for Onion Lake development
Onion Lake Cree Nation will begin the second phase $25.9 million investment on major community capital projects in partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada and the two other levels of government. Projects will create around 150 jobs. “The Onion Lake Cree Nation’s economic stimulus plan is a reality and growing. These Ö projects are a result of innovative partnerships with the three levels of government, construction, trades, businesses, and the Royal Bank of Canada,” said Chief Wallace Fox. Some of the larger projects include $7.5 million on-reserve housing unit construction;  $2.5 million home renovation; $5 million multi-year plan for community roads improvement construction; $5 million OLCN contribution share to a multi-million dollar low pressure water distribution system for all homes. Onion Lake Cree Nation straddles the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Grizzlies should be listed as a “threatened” species
The Endangered Species Conservation Committee, appointed by the government, has recommended the province list grizzly bears as a “threatened” species based on research that says there are fewer than 700 grizzlies left in Alberta. Committee members include representatives from First Nations, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the Alberta Forest Products Association, the Alberta Fish and Game Association, Alberta Beef Producers and conservation groups. While no one opposed the recommendation, two representatives abstained. In 2002 the committee made a similar call to protect the bears. Instead of complying, the government suspended the hunt and called for more research on the number of bears in Alberta. The species committee based its latest recommendation to the province on that new research.

Tsuu T’ina, Samson Cree Nations lose appeal
The Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal filed by the Tsuu T’ina Nation and Samson Cree Nation in which the two First Nations claimed the province hadn’t met its duty to consult. In a 34-page decision, Justice Cliff O’Brien stated the province had taken appropriate steps to consult with the First Nations. The Calgary Herald reported O’Brien  as saying the proceedings giving rise to the appeal were “not vehicles for determining the appellants’ water rights.” The two Aboriginal communities argued the province didn’t properly consult them on the development of a water management plan for the South Saskatchewan River Basin, which was approved in August 2006.

Compiled by Shari Narine