Our Featured Celebration

We’re not sure what visionary decided that December 5th should be designated International Bathtub Fun Day, or how YOU plan to celebrate – but we at CCG know EXACTLY what to do. We’re gonna set out a plate of seriously creepy hand soaps shaped like – well, hands (above, left): we’re gonna slip into our $26,000.00 Tetsuya Nakamura custom bathtub (above, centre); and we’re gonna power up our remote-controlled, waterproof Rubber Duckie (above, right). Yippee!

DEDICATION

We discovered some months ago that among this newsletter’s greatest fans are the Mothers of Consilium (not to be confused with Frank Zappa’s old band. But we digress). We introduced you this summer to Barbara Grosset, mother of Chris. Last week we had the pleasure of meeting yet another Consilium Mom and Fan: so this month we dedicate the newsletter to Marilyn Jansen, mother of our own General Manager Chuck. Why does she enjoy the newsletter? Well, apart from its sparkling but acerbic wit and Proustian prose, she says: "After all these years, I finally understand what it is my son does for a living." (Pictured left to right, back row: Marilyn, Lerena-Mae, and Grace; Front row: Lucie, Mike, and Chuck.)

NEW BEGINNINGS

 

Armed with brochures, a trade show display and banner, Stonecircle’s Jennifer David and Patty Saulis began the Great 2008 Marketing Odyssey at the Chiefs of Ontario meeting, held in Toronto in late November. Over the next year, they will be travelling and promoting Stonecircle to Aboriginal communities and organizations across Ontario. That’s Patty Saulis at the booth.

The Government of Nunavut Department of Environment’s Nunavut Parks and Special Places Division has begun development of a framework for the planning and management of cultural resources in territorial parks. The Department will work with Aarluk to undertake a case study of proposed park locations near Kugaaruk with the goal of developing a Park Resource Inventory Framework for the broader Nunavut Parks and Special Places Program. Chris Grosset and Marla Limousin will prepare the framework, and Terry Rudden will support them in developing a training manual for Nunavut Park’s staff and community based researchers to use in future cultural resource inventories.

Q: Your Inuit dinner guest puts down her fork, smiles, and says: “Mamaitumarialuk!” Do you:
a: Smile back and thank her?
b: Hand her the Tabasco sauce?
c: Quickly send out for pizza?
If you don’t know the correct answer is “C”, we have JUST the book launch for you. Jennifer David has been working with publisher Pat Ningewance to organize the Ottawa launch of Martha Toka Peet's new book, Pocket Inuktitut. It’ll provide you with all the words and phrases you’ll ever need to impress your Inuit friends and colleagues. Readers of this newsletter are invited to attend this prestigious event, at the Collected Works Bookstore, 1242 Wellington St. W (near Holland) on Friday, December 12, 4 to 6 pm. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served. Please RSVP Jennifer David 613-237-3315 or jdavid@stone-circle.ca.

Aarluk’s Terry Forth facilitated the very first meeting of the Kivalliq Socio-Economic Monitoring Committee (SEMC) held in Rankin Inlet November 25th and 26th. The Kivalliq SEMC is being established to monitor major Mining Projects either underway or planned for the Region. Participants included the Kivalliq Inuit Association, mining companies, all seven Kivalliq Municipalities and the Government of Nunavut.

ONGOING PROJECTS

The Land Claims Agreements Coalition are taking a break from putting the finishing touches on their highly-anticipated Federal Land Claims Agreements Implementation Policy to hold their annual Leadership Reception Thursday December 11 in Ottawa. Leaders from most of Canada’s Inuit and First Nation modern treaty groups will attend this invitation-only event. Contact Patti Black for more information at black@consilium.ca.

Jennifer David continues interviewing cultural experts for an audio guide to the First Peoples Hall of the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Current interviewees include Bernadette Dean and Alanna Tootoosis (daughter of Gordon Tootoosis).

Planning for 2030 NORTH: A National Planning Conference is well underway, with the confirmation of Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Mary Simon and Tony Penikett as conference keynote and co-chairs. Hosted by Canadian Arctic Resources Committee (CARC), Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) and the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, 2030 NORTH will bring together 350 high-profile academics, policy makers, northern leaders and community members to develop an arctic “road map” to lead Canada forward to 2030. Check out the 2030 NORTH website at www.2030north.carc.org for a list of confirmed presenters. Early registration is recommended! Contact Patti Black, conference coordinator, for more information at black@consilium.ca.

Ron Ryan and Patty Saulis continue Stonecircle’s support to the Aboriginal Human Resource Council (AHRC). Patty is currently conducting a survey of Sector Council’s Aboriginal initiatives, in preparation for a meeting in January.

Greg Smith recently delivered a presentation to the National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) on the progress of the Process and Impact Evaluation of NAHO. Data collection for Stonecircle’s NAHO evaluation will be completed in the next couple of weeks. Greg is Project Manager, and team members include Jennifer David, Patty Saulis and David Boult.

Aarluk continues its evaluation of the Gas Tax and Public Transit Fund (GTF) in Nunavut. The draft report, which assesses the outcomes and effectiveness of the GTF program and the extent to which projects meet local needs and contribute to environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure in Nunavut communities, has been finalized and will be presented to the Nunavut Community Infrastructure Advisory Committee in December. Team members include Project Manager Alex Ker, Chuck Gilhuly, Geoff Rigby and Christian Cloutier.

HAPPY ENDINGS

Resident food critic David “Hound Dog” Boult was recently in Cambridge Bay teaching recreation leaders. Highlights of the trip included a great muskox steak dinner (exactly as pictured left below) and a close encounter with some resident former wolves (pictured right below: Hound Dog 2, Wolves 0). David may have been spending a bit too much time on the road: when David's wife Brenda was asked if she was looking forward to having David home, she furrowed her brow and asked: "Who?"

Aarluk’s Terry Forth and Rick McKenzie from Envirovest completed a series of Implementation Plans for the Nunavut Energy Strategy. The plan was the result of consultations and work completed with a steering committee composed of key Nunavut Government Departments and Agencies and led by Meaghan Bennett from the Nunavut Energy Secretariat.

GOSSIP

 

 

 

Stonecircle’s Official Launch Party is on Wednesday December 10 from 4 to 7 pm. The party also happens to coincide with the Consilium Consulting Group’s not-quite-annual Christmas Open House. If you’re in Ottawa, you’re welcome to join us!

 

 

December Birthday honours go to the Hound Dog, aka David Boult, and Patty “Chuckles” Saulis. Their wisdom increases on the 17th and 30th respectively.

 

 

From the Sports Desk: After a modest 2-2-1 record in their new division, Clootch and the Ice Bears are moving up yet another division. The Ice Bears are 7-2-1 on the season. Pictured left: Clootch in Ice Bears uniform (not exactly as shown.)

 

 

In what was universally recognized as the Consilium Social Committee’s finest hour, we gathered en costume for two hours of really bad Hallowe’en music (courtesy of DJ Braddy Brad), astonishing décor, a ridiculously lavish buffet, a thirty-minute illustrated history of Horror in Film, a virtuoso display of pumpkin carving by Geoff Rigby (who’s from Iqaluit, where they don’t even HAVE pumpkins), and, of course, the costumes. Pictured right, the three finalists: Chris Grosset, Jennifer David, and Greg Smith.

Last month, as you recall, we celebrated National Men Make Supper Day. Within five minutes, we received two nearly identical emails from loyal readers (one in Montreal, one here in Ottawa – you KNOW who you are!), asking: “Who are these National Men, and can you send one over to make supper for me?”

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO

I Was a Teenage Son of “The Consilium Saga Continues”, II: December 1993. The newly formed team of Fred Weihs, Greg Smith and Ron Ryan, beavering away in their tiny rented office on Slater Street, make all kinds of interesting discoveries about what happens when a Mac SE, a Mac Plus, a PC running DOS 5.0 and two PCs running Windows 3.1 (“look, Fred, it’s just like a Mac, only worse!”) try to collaborate. They survive, and realize any team that can survive and transcend that horrific labyrinth of incompatible formats MUST be divinely ordained to work together forever.

 

 

That same month, Greg Smith and partner Stephen Brathwaite became the proud owners of the Victoria Woollen Mill (pictured left), a six-story heritage stone building on downtown Almonte’s largest waterfall. After being fully renovated for commercial occupancy, the building is now being converted to commercial and residential condominiums. For a great deal, contact Greg!

CHECK BACK EVERY MONTH FOR MORE CONSILIUM, STONECIRCLE AND AARLUK NEWS,

TOOLS, AND GOSSIP.