Our Featured Celebration

The 7th of July is international Macaroni Day. Of uncertain origin, the name “macaroni” is customarily given to small pasta tubes cut into short pieces, distinguished by the absence of egg in the flour. (Did you know about the no-egg thing? We didn’t know that.) Macaroni in Canada has, of course, become synonymous with Kraft Dinner, of which Canadians are the world’s largest (har-har) consumers. First introduced in 1937, KD, the Student’s Friend, has over the years been produced in an astonishing range of delightful variants, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Amazing Spiderman, Super Mario Bros., Shrek, Rugrats, The Flintstones, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly OddParents, The Incredible Hulk, and of course, Scooby-Doo.

NEW FACES

 

 

Stonecircle is delighted welcome our new researcher, Alisa Lombard, to the fold.  Alisa is Métis from Nova Scotia, and brings with her many skills and talents, including a law degree, and fluency in French and Spanish.  She will be assisting all three companies on various projects, and will also help with Stonecircle's major marketing campaign, which will ramp up in September.

NEW CAREER

 

 

 

 

 

Ever seeking out new horizons, Stonecircle President Valerie Assinewe takes on the role of poster girl for Aboriginal Careers in the Sciences in the most recent edition of Biotalent.

NEW PROJECTS

INAC’s Adaptation Blueprint Strategy: Consilium has been hired by INAC’s Natural Resources and Environment Branch to complete a scan of all human-related adaptation research and planning projects in the north. Led by Patti Black, the project will provide a starting point for establishing INAC’s new Climate Change Adaptation Program.

         

Ron Ryan, David Boult and Terry Rudden will be working with the Torngat Regional Housing Association (TRHA) (Board and Staff) in Happy Valley Goose Bay to help them to develop a consolidated policy and procedures manual. This will be a welcome opportunity to reconnect with many old friends and associates who have moved from the Labrador Inuit Association to the new Nunatsiavut Government  This project is jointly funded by the TRHA and the Government, and is scheduled to be completed by early fall.

The Nunavut Community Infrastructure Advisory Committee (NCIAC) was formed in April of 2005 to assume responsibility for determining the long term infrastructure plans and requirements for communities. The NCIAC is comprised of Nunavut Association of Municipalities and Government of Nunavut officials. A major part of the funding supporting community infrastructure is provided by the Government of Canada through the Gas Tax Fund and the Public Transit Fund.

 

An Aarluk team headed by project manager Alex Ker and including Chuck Gilhuly, Denis Simard and Christian Cloutier, will be working with Catherine Foo, Executive Director of the NCIAC, to carry out a joint evaluation with Infrastructure Canada. The program evaluation will review progress on achievement of objectives, use of funding, effectiveness of the funding approach, and effectiveness of the communication protocols. The evaluation is to be completed by November for inclusion in a national report in 2009.

                                           

Aarluk Consulting is assisting the Pairijait Tigumivik (Iqaluit Elders) Society to prepare a bid to operate a new 90 bed Boarding Home Facility and Services in Iqaluit. The Society, which currently operates a 40-bed facility in Iqaluit, is negotiating with potential builders and will be submitting its bid to the Government of Nunavut in August. Greg Smith is coordinating preparation of the proposal, with the assistance of Terry Rudden, Terry Forth and Don Sandercock, as well as Pairijait Tigumivik representatives Jim Taylor and Paul Murphy.

          

ONGOING PROJECTS

Questionnaires for the 2008 Inuit Firm Registry Survey have been mailed out to 233 registered Inuit firms in Nunavut. The survey, being conducted by Aarluk Consulting for Atuqtuarvik Corporation, is intended to update the profile of the firms, including sector activity, financing requirements and support needs. Greg Smith is Project Manager, working with Chris Cloutier and Abraham Tagalik. The report on the survey results is due in September.

                  
2030 NORTH: a National Planning Conference. Hosted by CARC, ITK and CMSS (the University of Alberta’s Centre for Military and Strategic Studies), planning for this highly-anticipated event is well underway. A website is now available for conference information and registration. Log on to http://www.2030north.carc.org/ to check it out, or contact Conference Coordinator Patti Black, black@consilium.ca for more information.

Greg Smith, with Jennifer David and new team member Alisa Lombard, is continuing work on the Process and Impact Evaluation of the National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO). Research tools are being developed and data collection by the Stonecircle team will start in September.

HAPPY ENDINGS

 

 

Ian Kenney, whose multiple oddly-dressed bands have graced these newsletter pages more than once, has been scooped up by the Borg. All the best, Ian…if Jean Luc Picard survived it, you can too.

 

 

At a meeting facilitated by Ron Ryan, the Kitikmeot Regional Chamber of Commerce (KRCC) held its first AGM, selected its first board of directors, and appointed a slate of officers. These were Derrick Power, President: Dennis Lyall, Vice President: Wayne Solomon, Secretary/Treasurer: Nick Amautinaur, Kitikmeot East Director: and Wilf Wilcox, Kitikmeot West Director. The AGM established a vision, mission, goals and objectives. Aarluk is proud of the role we played over the last year in elped the KRCC to establish itself in a series of planning meetings and events, and wishes the organization all possible success in the future.

 

 

The Nunavut Implementation Panel’s Annual Report for 2004-06, edited by Patti Black, has been released! While the project was delayed several times, it is now complete and chock full of interesting reading (including the entire text of Thomas Berger’s Conciliator’s Final Report “The Nunavut Project”). Copies are available through any of the NIP parties (INAC, the Government of Nunavut, or NTI).

GOSSIP

 

 

Aarluk launched its revised logo and company identiy at the 2008 Nunavut Trade Show in Iqaluit, May 6-8.  Chuck Gilhuly, Chris Grosset, and volunteer Mehrun Forth, ran the Aarluk booth and gave away some great swag to the throngs of Nunavummiut eager to get a first look at our new logo.

 

 

 

 

Our ersatz world traveler (Motto: “To The Ends Of The Earth, As Long As You Can Drive There!) Jen Bradshaw just returned from a whirlwind (3 days, 4 nights, 2 days driving) getaway to Wells, Maine where she and her husband Al, ever the rebels, did NOT bask in the sun or eat seafood. They did, however, take in the first annual, highly exclusive “Full-Moon-Over-Atlantic-Palooza”.  Attendance this year was estimated at two. Film at eleven.

 

 

The Clootch has recently relocated to Centretown, and now occupies into a cozy little nicknamed Bag End for its size (not exactly as pictured) . His new proximity has meant we occasionally see him before noon. His supervisors are delighted. The neighbourhood, on the other hand…

 

And now…a good news story about a long time friend and associate of Chuck Gilhuly, Consilium’s General Manager. Aseena Allurut just completed her Certificate in Nunavut Public Services Studies, after several intense years of study, parenting, and a full time and demanding job at the Nunavut Municipal Training Organization. Chuck was honoured to attend the convocation for at Carleton University. Professor Katherine Graham, the Dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs for Carleton, brought Aseena up on the stage, in front of hundreds of parents and well wishers, to a great round of applause from everyone present. Think she was nervous? Congratulations to Aseena on behalf of all us here at Aarluk!

BIRTHDAYS

 

This month Patti Black celebrates her birthday (July 12) with ANOTHER birthday – not her own, though. Aurora and Ben will soon be enjoying a new brother/sister/consultant-in-training.

We have no indication at this point that our only other July BirthPerson, Chuck Gilhuly, has anything THAT dramatic planned for his own celebration on July 24.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO

In July 1983, the newly incorporated Nunavut Implementation Training Committee moved quickly on its first responsibility under the Land Claim Agreement – to conduct a comprehensive analysis of what employment and training needs the Agreement would create. NITC’s Request for Proposals was noticed by two veteran Arctic Consultants. Fred Weihs had supported the Claims negotiations for years, and had helped design Nunavut’s unique framework for management of the capital; Greg Smith had recently returned from Inuvik, where he helped design and establish the Inuvialuit Communications Society.

Fred and Greg knew each other, and had talked about finding a project to work on together. In July they first got together to discuss the possibility of pulling together a team, and maybe even a company, to undertake the NITC project.

That was fifteen years and several hundred projects ago. We’ll tell you more of the story as our fifteenth birthday year unfolds. But first, a Consilium Trivia Challenge for y’all.

You probably know that the Consilium Corporate Group includes Stonecircle Consulting and Aarluk Consulting Inc. Between the three companies, we’ve done a lot of work over the years for a lot of clients.

In the following list, there’s one, and only one, organization that we’ve never worked for. The first correct guess will win…gosh, something REALLY cool. Really! We promise!

Ready? Which of the following have we NEVER worked for?

 

 

    

 

                                                                                                                                                          

        

 

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