Our Featured Celebration

 

Apparently (and we have this on the best authority) July 26 is National Day of the Funky Chicken.

Imagine that. National Day of the Funky Chicken, again. Well, well.

Not much to add to that, really.

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 PEOPLE

And this year's winner of the Terrilyn Chiasson Award For Getting To Be A New Person in the Newsletter TWICE: come on down, Ian Kenney, a man definitely more funky than chicken. Profiled in the May edition as a new associate, Ian, an indefatigable publicity hound with an appetite for newsletter appearances, has conspired to get himself hired as a full time Consilium consultant.

Ian is a former Research Associate for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, and a former Research Associate for the Centre for Policy and Program Assessment where, for government clients, he assisted with a review and evaluation of the Canada Student Loans program, and an analysis of restructuring of the Training Programs Branch of the Public Service Commission. More recently, Ian has contributed to evaluations of the Volunteer Sector Initiative (the Sector Involvement in Departmental Policy Development component) for the Department of Canadian Heritage, and of the Canadian Agricultural and Rural Communities Initiative (CARCI) for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

NEW PROJECTS

 

Aarlumiut Terry Forth, Terry Rudden and Fred Weihs will be working with the Nunavut Planning Commission to review their corporate policies and procedures and identify any areas that require revision. Established under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, the NPC is responsible for land use planning and various aspects of environmental reporting and management in the territory.

ONGOING PROJECTS

Aarluk wrapped up a series of training programs and courses organized by the Municipal Training Organization and Arctic College. Ron Ryan, definitely funky and never chicken, delivered the final program in Cambridge Bay in June, before heading East for some downtime with family. Aarluk has also been hired to deliver the courses for a second year, starting this September.

Ron Ryan, Greg Smith, Blair Stevenson, Robert Higgins, Ian Kenney, Dave Boult and Ryan Lotan are continuing research on the evaluation of the Cree Aboriginal Human Resources Development Agreement (AHRDA) for the Cree Regional Authority. Intrepid Consiliumati David Boult and Ian Kenney braved forest fires and airplane snacks in their efforts to conduct community visits to Mistissini, Chisasibi and Whapmagootsui, and interviewed a number of the staff, clients and employers who were involved in the agreement. David won the much-coveted "Best View From Your Hotel Window On a Business Trip" Award for his accommodation at the "George Dubbya" suite at the beautiful Mistissini Lodge. A draft report will be presented in July.

 

As reported in the June issue Aarluk Consulting began work in May with the Government of Nunavut helping to develop a Land Use Planning Policy Framework. On June 24 th the Aarluk team ( Terry Forth, Paul Crowley, Neida Gonzales, and Lois Leslie with assistance from James Forth) held a workshop with key senior GN officials to discuss the proposed framework together with a series of tentative policy positions. The final report will be submitted in late July.

 

HAPPY ENDINGS

Working with a team from the Government of Nunavut's Department of Economic Development and Transportation, Terry Rudden helped complete an Inuit Employment Strategy to assist the Department in achieving their long-term goal of 85% Inuit employment.

Ron Ryan, Blair Stevenson, Greg Smith, James Arreak, David Boult and Ryan Lotan have completed research for the evaluation of the Nunavut Teacher Education Program (NTEP) for Arctic College, and presented their final report in June.

Greg Smith has completed a review of Inuktitut and other language enhancement, revitalisation, protection and promotion for Avataq Cultural Institute. With input from Professor Louis-Jacques Dorais of Laval University, who is a language researcher and professor, and Blair Stevenson, who has studied Sami language protection and education, the report will provide background information and potential models for Nunavik. As part of the research, Maori and Hawaiian language revitalization efforts were examined, as well as a number of other Canadian and international examples. The report was delivered in June.

 

This month' honoured birthday celebrant: Patti Black, on July 12 (only 14 days before National Funky Chicken Day).

 

GOSSIP

Aarluk Associate Clive Tesar was in Iqaluit on June 21st, working on a communications strategy for a Government of Nunavut client. And of course, if you're in Iqaluit on National Aboriginal Day, what could possibly do to celebrate that would be more funky and less chicken than commune with nature in a kayak? (photo - and kayak - courtesy of Jack Hicks).

 

And our FINAL nod to the Day of the Funky Chicken:

Galen Smith (son of Greg and Marianne) has just finished his commercial pilot program at Sault College, where aviation students have a fine old tradition of carting a rubber chicken with them on cross-country training flights. The well-travelled piece of poultry has been photographed from Windsor to Thunder Bay, and is rumoured to have collected eggsactly enough Aeroplan points for a free trip around the world, so who's squawking?

TEN YEARS AGO

 

In July 1995, representatives of four organizations representing the Indigenous peoples of Belize met Prime Minister Esquivel of Belize, and presented plans developed by Terry Rudden of Consilium and Kevin Knight of Unaaq for a national training centre. The Belize Indigenous Training Institute (BITI) was designed over the next and established in Punta Gorda, where it continues its excellent work a decade later.

Terry Rudden completed an analysis of Articles 23 and 24 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement for NTI and the Nunavut Implementation Training Committee, analyzing federal and territorial governments' obligations under the Claim in detail.

 

             Separated at Birth

 

 

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