Our Featured Celebration

 

Forget the Kentucky Derby. For over 30 years Louisville, Kentucky has also been home to the annual Running of the Rodents during the second week in April. Brainchild of the former math and science chair at Spalding University, Sister Julia Clare Fontaine, the Louisville Rodent Race has become a gala event, pitting eight of the world's fastest domesticated rodents against each other for the prize - a garland of Froot Loops.

According to Spalding University the fastest time ever recorded in rat racing history was in 1987, when the rodent speedster Deep Throat won the race in 1.8 seconds.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT CONSILIUM, AARLUK and ARDOS... In this corner of our site we'll be posting notes on new people, new projects, and new online materials you may find interesting. Enjoy, and come back often.

NEW APPOINTMENT

Aarluk President Helen Klengenberg has just been appointed to the Board of Directors of Northwestel. Born and raised in Nunavut, Helen holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Western Ontario, and has her certification in Municipal Administration from McMaster University. She completed her Masters Degree in Business Administration through St. Mary's University. Helen has twenty years of experience in management. She has worked for territorial and municipal governments, served in several senior management positions within NTI, and recently completed a two-year term as a member of the National Aboriginal Languages And Cultures Task Force. Congratulations, Helen! Now, I wonder if you wouldn't mind explaining this item on my phone bill….

NEW PROJECTS      

Chris Grosset and Jane Chapman continued their work with Parks Canada on the development of a Guide to Management Planning. This Guide serves a number of purposes. It explains Parks Canada's approach to implementing its mandate for protecting heritage resources, facilitating opportunities for visitor experience, and providing public education for each heritage place. The Guide sets out the legal and policy foundation, and describes both the process of management planning and the requirements of specific planning documents. Once complete, the Guide will be used by all Parks Canada staff and stakeholders to achieve the mandate of the Agency in national parks, national historic sites, and national marine protection areas.

                      

 

Attentive readers will know that, over the last few months, Ian Kenney has been working with the National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO), and representatives from some of its partner organizations, to develop a privacy policy that will apply to the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Health Human Resource Inventory. The data collected through the AHHRI will provide baseline information for planning policies and programs to increase the recruitment, retention and training of Aboriginal people in health careers. Ian travelled to Iqaluit in early march to facilitate a workshop with a number of people working on the project, then developed a draft privacy policy based on the discussions. A similar workshop is being considered for Métis community in the months ahead to finalize the document. In addition to protecting the privacy of individuals in the development of the inventory, this privacy policy will aim to also apply principles of Aboriginal stewardship of collective information that have been developed by NAHO and its partners.

Aarluk has begun working with the Hamlets of Hall Beach and Clyde River on the update of each of the communities' five-year economic development plans. Terry Forth, James Arreak, Chris Grosset and Christian Cloutier will be working with the Community Economic Development Committee's in each community to identify the opportunities for development for the benefit of residents. The research and community consultation phases for both projects began in March and will continue through the spring.

 

 

And MORE planning – Fred Weihs will working on a business plan for Chantrey Inlet Lodge in Gjoa Haven, with an all-star team of Ryan Lotan, Marla Limousin and Chris Grosset.             

                        

ONGOING PROJECTS

Jennifer David and Ian Kenney are, as we speak, putting the finishing touches on four reports for the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) of Health Canada. This project is looking at some of the lessons learned after a few years of operation of the Aboriginal Children's Circle of Early Learning (ACCEL), with a view to identifying how it can be revitalized in the years ahead. Jennifer and associate Andrea Johnston spoke to several individuals who have been involved with ACCEL since its inception, while Ian spoke with representatives from other pan-Canadian, pan-Aboriginal institutions, as well as from regional and local structures active in the early childhood education area, to identify ways to enhance the network's effectiveness.

 

The Nunavut Implementation Training Committee (NITC) held a second meeting with a group of stakeholders in Winnipeg, facilitated by Terry Rudden and CEO Lorne Kusugak. The goal of the consultation is to strengthen training within organizations involved in implementing the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. The recommendations drawn from this series of meetings will be reviewed by NITC as part of its planning process.

 

The Formative Evaluation of the AHRDAs (Aboriginal Human Resource Development Agreements) is entering the home stretch, with a total of 30 major report sections and field work summaries ("evidence matrices") having been provided by end of March. These will feed into fourteen case study reports – writing these up will be the next major task in this large and ongoing project managed by Greg Smith and a cast of thousands.

An Aarluk team headed by Terry Forth and including James Arreak, James Forth, Ron Ryan, Johnny Ningeonan, Chris Cloutier and Terry Rudden, submitted draft findings and recommendations to the Nunavut Economic Forum, setting out a series of recommendations designed to help organizations to deliver services and programs in a way that makes the best use of their limited financial and resource capacities.

                       

Ron Ryan and Ian Kenney are continuing their work with the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Council of Canada (AHRDCC) towards the planning of the next forums in the Workforce Connex series: New Brunswick to be be held in Saint John on May 9th and Québec to be held in Val D'or on May 30 and 31. This forum promises to be one of the largest of these gatherings. It plans to bring together representatives from the AHRDAs and other organizations involved in Aboriginal employment and human resource development with employers, unions and government, to identify solutions and establish new connections. Visit http://www.workforceconnex.com/upcoming/.htm for more details. Ian is doing similar planning work for a forum to be held in Manitoba in the fall of 2007.                

HAPPY ENDINGS

Ron Ryan delivered the last course of the Municipal Training Organization (MTO) and Nunavut Arctic College (NAC) - Small Business Management for this current year. These courses lead to a CEDO Certificate for a number of EDOs across Nunavut. This delivery featured presentations from two guestspeakers - Denis Simard, NNI Secretariat and Glenn Cousins, Nunavut EconomicForum. Pictured Right: Diane Taqtu, Sarah Maniapik, Ruben Maktak, Philip Manik Sr, Teresa Thompson, Anita Ootoowak, Erin Gordey, Leslie Qammaniq, Ron Ryan and Martha Gibbons.

 

Jennifer David helped to organize and facilitate a meeting of the Sector Councils of Canada at the Canadian Museum of Civilization on March 8. The meeting was attended by nearly 50 participants, including more than a dozen sector councils, half a dozen Aboriginal Human Resources Development Agreement Holders, and representatives from various levels of government. The group discussed strategies for recruiting, retaining and developing an Aboriginal workforce. After the presentations and breakout sessions were over, participants were treated to a personal tour of the First Peoples Hall from Aboriginal curator John Moses, a highlight of the day.

 

 

 

 

Our new neighbours, the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, have just published their spring edition of Northern Perspectives, their highly respected journal of northern studies. This edition explores issues impacting on Canada's northern caribou herds. Click on the cover page for the full online edition.

 

 

 

Greg Smith is on his way back from an "evaluation gathering" at the University of Northern British Columbia held earlier this week. The meeting brought together evaluation specialists working with Aboriginal programs and projects from across Canada. The discussion centred on "The Intersection of Traditional Knowledge and Western Scientific Paradigms in Evaluation." Participants included provincial and federal government representatives, academics, and First Nation evaluation specialists. Greg has managed numerous evaluations of programs and services for Aboriginal peoples as well as studies on Aboriginal language protection and preservation programs and institutions in Canada, New Zealand and Hawaii.

 

 

It would probably be faster to list the Consilium folks who DON'T have birthdays in April than the ones who do. So in honour of the month that yielded such a cornucopia of Consiliumites, let's declare a birthday contest. (Yes, May, this one's for you.) We'll give you the date and the Consiliumite….your challenge is to match them with the celebrity who shares their birthday.

The Birthdayers:

The first perspicacious reader who successfully identifies the birthday mates and links them with the appropriate Consiliumite wins the usual Fabulous Heritage Authentic Limited Edition Official Consilium Pen, with a special custom-designed rust-proof enviro-friendly memo pad AND its own fully recyclable non-toxic cardboard box.

On your mark…get set…Google!

GOSSIP

 

Chris Grosset and Aarluk Consulting have been recognized in the 2007 Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Awards of Excellence Program. The program celebrates the work undertaken by professionals in landscape architecture from across Canada. The Regional Honour award was given for the Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park (Iqaluit, Nunavut) Interpretive Signage and Trail design that Chris completed for the Government of Nunavut Parks Division in 2006. (Right: Chris onsite at Sylvia Grinnell Park, with one of the award-winning panels).

 

We pride ourselves (in a modest way, of course) on our tasteful décor at Consilium…cool mounted film posters, Inuit Artwork, original Huckerbys from Sylvia's Kitchen Vegetables period, the odd framed Tesar cartoon…pretty sophisticated stuff. But Jennifer David trumped us all and raised the stakes by decorating her office with an original painting by rising Métis artist Christi Belcourt. Christi actually interviewed Jennifer before beginning her work, and the lovely result represents various aspects of her life and family. Visitors are welcome between the hours of ten and noon on alternate Wednesdays; and folks who want to enjoy more of Christi's work can visit her website at http://www.christibelcourt.com/

The last edition of NEWS/North profiled the highly successful program designed and offered by Nunavut's Municipal Training Organization. It's an excellent model of what can be done through sectoral training when the right people find the right resources, and it was of particular interest to us for a couple of reasons. One, because Aarluk was closely involved with the design and delivery of several of the MTO programs; and two, because Chuck Gilhuly, former Executive Director of MTO will be joining the Consilium Consulting group next month as our new General Manager.

 

 

Patti Black and husband Scott travelled - sans enfants - to San Diego for a fantastic 10-day cycling holiday. Chosen for its perfect climate, San Diego delivered sunshine and 18 degrees every day, bike paths everywhere and considerate cyclist-yielding motorists. When they weren't riding up and down the beautiful California coast, the Blacks took in an Annie Leibovitz exhibit, the USS Midway (a mothballed aircraft carrier), and dozens of plates of sushi.

 

 

 

 

Spotted recently on a beach in Puerto Vallarta is Aarluk partner and Consilium Group booster, Terry Forth, pictured here proudly displaying the Internationally acclaimed Consilium logo, whilst he works on a marketing plan (actually it’s a crossword puzzle - Ed.)

 

TEN YEARS AGO THIS MONTH....

Terry Rudden was on his first ever trip to Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut, to facilitate a strategic planning session for Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

The same year Greg and Fred Weihs travelled to Kazakhstan to evaluate a trainingproject for local bank and telco officials they were involved in on behalf of Newbridge Networks, and stopped in the Ukraine on their return to meet with embassy officials and national organisations of entrepreneurs to discuss potential projects in that country. No projects ever came of that visit, but while in Kazahkstan, they did meet a young documentary film-maker, whom Greg encouraged to visit North America and chronicle his experience. Wonder what ever happened to him…

Ten years ago this month Terry Forth and his wife Mehrun were getting settled into life in Iqaluit following a move from Rankin Inlet where Terry had served for two years as the NTI senior Business Policy Advisor.  NTI and Nunasi Corporation asked Terry to relocate to the future capital in order to oversee the implementation of the Infrastructure Partnership Agreement between the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs and the President of NTI.  That agreement resulted in the Nunavut Construction Corporation developing, constructing and renting headquarter office space and accommodation for the new Government of Nunavut – two years hence and valued at well over $120 million.

 

                                                  Dog with ADHD Available

                              

Medium sized, white and brown husky mix. Probably mixed with a rabbit or a kangaroo, or the Spirit of Harry Houdini. Great with kids, especially hyperactive ones. Tricks include sit, rollover, jump, chew, howl, eat metal, bust out of cages, dig under walls, punch through concrete foundations, annoy the neighbours, kill the lawn. And that's just on Mondays! Great at children's parties. Unresponsive in both official languages.

Generally troublesome and unkeepable.

Available to a good home. $200 or best offer, but I can't really afford to pay you much more than that to take him off my hands right now. But maybe I can do odd jobs or something for you? Facilitate a workshop or two? Whip up a business plan?

Call Ian at 613-237-3613. Fast.

 

  

   CHECK BACK EVERY MONTH FOR MORE CONSILIUM NEWS, TOOLS, AND GOSSIP.