• Aarluk Consulting Inc. (formerly Consilium Nunavut Incorporated) is delighted to welcome our newest staff member. Joining our Iqaluit team is Lazarus Arreak, a seasoned trainer, facilitator and consultant....and one of the original signatories of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. Lazarus has worked for Inuit Tapirisat Canada (ITC), the Inuit Claims Commission, Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) as a Community Adult Educator and NTI as Director of Communications. He is a former President/CEO of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA), and has served on various boards and municipal councils. More recently Lazarus served as the Community Economic Development Officer in Pond Inlet and was an Inuktitut instructor at Nunavut Arctic College in Iqaluit.

Lazarus Arreak

Aarluk Headquarters in Iqaluit
 

ONGOING PROJECTS

• Ron Ryan is heading a project team to organize two national consultation meetings for the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Council. The meetings will bring Sector Councils and Aboriginal Human Resource Development Agreement Holders (AHRDAs) together to develop strategies that will enhance Aboriginal skills and learning. The first will be held November 19th-20th, 2003 in Ottawa, Ontario; the second is scheduled for January 2004 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
   

• Last chance to register for Redefining Relationships, the national Conference on Land Claims Implementation to be held in Ottawa November 11-13. Sponsored by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the NWT Aboriginal Summit, the Grand Council of the Crees, the Council of Yukon First Nations and the Nisga'a Lisims Government, over 300 delegates are already registered. With keynote speakers drawn from national and international Aboriginal leadership, theme-based working groups and a gala dinner and concert, the conference promises to be the Aboriginal event of the year. Check the conference website at www.consilium.ca/alcc for more information.

• Greg Smith, Fred Weihs and Norm Leckie (of Ekos Research) delivered a very successful workshop in Evaluation Methodology to Government of Nunavut and HRDC personnel working on the evaluation of the Canada-Nunavut Local Management Development Agreement (profiled in last month's newsletter). Designed by Terry Rudden, the workshop provided an overview of the program evaluation process. One of the most interesting elements of the workshop was the practical discussion of the special cultural and logistical considerations that arise when conducting major evaluations in Nunavut.

Greg Smith and Fred Weihs in Iqaluit

Evaluation Methodology Workshop
 

• David Boult and Greg Smith are continuing to work with the Chief and Council of the Waswanipi Cree First Nation as part of a long-term reorganization project.
   

• Ryan Lotan and Terry Rudden conducted a teleconference training session for fieldworkers from Nunavik (Northern Quebec) on survey interviewing. This was in preparation for the TNI audience survey now underway in the fourteen Inuit communities of Nunavik. The fieldworkers will be interviewing TNI audience members about their viewing and listening habits and preferences over the next month.
   

HAPPY ENDINGS
 

• This month Aarluk Consulting helped to facilitate a critical workshop in Iqaluit, clearing the way for passage of Bill 35, Nunavut's proposed new Wildlife Act. Last month the Bill was threatened when hunters and trappers told the legislature's sustainable development committee that they couldn't understand the new law well enough to decide if they support it. Working with Joanassie Akumalik and Lazarus Arreak, Terry Forth of Aarluk helped to design, facilitate and report on an intensive three days workshop in Iqaluit that brought together hunters, trappers and government officials. After in depth discussions and a line by line review of the proposed Act, hunters and trappers emerged ready to support the new legislation.
   

• The lead article in this fall's edition of "Meridian", the journal of the Canadian Polar Commission, is "The Northern Roots of a National Network" by Consilium partner Terry Rudden, available online at www.polarcom.gc.ca/english/pdf/meri_03_fall_en.pdf
   

GOSSIP

November is noteworthy for a number of events and anniversaries...National Bladder Health Week (Nov. 12), Men Make Dinner Day (November 1st), and of course, Vegan Awareness Month. Forgive our self-indulgence, however, if we take up a bit of space to celebrate a special anniversary for the folks who send you this newsletter.

It's our 10th birthday!

Ten years ago, in November 1993, Fred Weihs and Greg Smith, two independent consultants in Ottawa, spotted a notice in Nunatsiaq News. The Nunavut Implementation Training Committee (NITC) was looking for a team to complete a comprehensive study of the training needs created by the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. Fred and Greg had been looking for opportunities to work together, and this seemed like a good one. They organized a group of researchers and writers, including Ron Ryan, who had just left Sinaaq Corporation, and incorporated "Ontario 1065852 Inc."...the nascent Consilium. Four months later, Terry Rudden was plucked from the Federal Government to help with the final writing and editing. The Beatles had found their Ringo...and the rest was history.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we invite our readers to respond to the following Consilium Quiz. The first correct response received will receive an Authentic Consilium Golf Shirt: subsequent correct responses will receive an Official Consilium teeny-weeny pocket knife of not much practical use, but hey...it's free.

1. Before Consilium became Consilium, its corporate name was...(no, not the one listed above...nice try.)

2. Which of the following countries has Consilium NEVER worked in? Belize, Kazakhstan, the United States, or the Ukraine?

3. What does the Consilium logo represent?

4. There are actually four companies linked under the heading of "The Consilium Group". They are...?

5. Which of the following organizations has Consilium NEVER worked with? The Assembly of First Nations, Volkswagen, the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Boy Scouts of Canada, or Newbridge Networks?

Email or fax your responses to Leslie Sutherland at solutions@consilium.ca. Families and employees, don't even bother. Offer void where prohibited by law, wherever that might be.