Our Featured Celebration: 

 

The Consilium Newsletter chief
Searched the calendar for May's motif;
Then he learned Twelfth of May
Was "World Limerick Day",
And heaved a huge sigh of relief.

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

It's probably time to introduce you to a guy who has been sneaking into our newsletter for the last couple of months without a formal introduction. Ian Kenney has worked for years in social and cultural policy, public sector management issues, and Northern and Aboriginal affairs as a consultant in community development and management, particularly to First Nation communities.

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.

All that, and a nice guy too. Welcome, Ian!

And welcome to Wenda Watteyne and her company, Living Sky Solutions, www.livingskysolutions.com who joins the ever-growing neighborhood on the third floor of St. Crispin's Towers, Consilium's home. Formerly Executive Director of the Métis National Council and policy advisor to the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Wenda now works as an independent consultant on a range of policy, planning and communications projects. She has been designated official provider of tabouleh to St. Crispin.

NEW PROJECTS

Patti Black will be working with the Nunavut Implementation Panel to complete a three-year report on Land Claims Implementation. The Panel is a body comprised of representatives of the Governments of Canada and Nunavut, and of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc, charged with overseeing implementation of the Land Claims Agreement.

More annual report news...Terry Rudden will be preparing a 2004-5 Annual Report for the Nunavut Implementation Training Committee.

ONGOING PROJECTS

An Aarluk team under the direction of Chris Grosset completed a preliminary sectoral training strategy to support the roll-out of broadband services across Nunavut continued this month, with more than thirty stakeholder interviews, and surveys of Adult Educators and Community Service Providers. The rollout of broadband services in Nunavut is an extraordinary success story: in just three years, thanks to the hard work and advocacy of the Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation, isolated communities have moved from long-distance dial-up connections to a quality of service comparable to that enjoyed in southern cities. The Training Strategy will help ensure that businesses, schools, organizations and the general public have the training they need to make the most of the extraordinary opportunity represented by broadband in Nunavut. (Above: Qikiqataaluk Community Service Providers, photo courtesy NBDC).

 

Ron Ryan delivered the community economic development and community development course for Nunavut Arctic College and the Municipal Training Organization of Nunavut as part of an extensive training program for municipal employees in 12 communities. This class in Iqaluit studied with Aarluk facilitator Ron Ryan.  Kakivak Association generously donated jackets to all participants. Pictured Left - Back Row: L to R: Mark Young, Susan Stoney, Sheena Qannaq. Third Row: Colin Saunders, Tuja Noah, Nellie Ekloo. Second Row: Billy Palluq, Morris Kuniliusie, Sarah Maniapik. First Row: Philip Manik, Qiatsuq Qiatsuq, Kyra Fisher, Tania Scott. Front Row: Ron Ryan (Instructor)

 

HAPPY ENDINGS

 

The results of the very first survey of companies listed on NTI’s Inuit Firm Registry was publicly released by Atuqtuarvik Corporation late last month. The report was prepared by Terry Forth, Patti Black and Ryan Lotan, and an impressive total of 38% of all active companies on the registry responded to the survey. The survey provides valuable data to the Atuqtuarvik Board and staff, as well as Nunavut Tunngavik Inc, about the plans that Inuit Firms in Nunavut are making with regard to business expansion and acquisitions. Seventy-two percent of the businesses surveyed indicated that they are 100 percent owned by Nunavut Inuit.

The extent of business activity was also interesting with almost half of the companies reporting annual sales in excess of $1 million and a third having between 10 and 25 employees indicating that Inuit firms are making a significant contribution to the growing Nunavut economy. Just over thirty percent of reporting companies have plans to expand their business activity which indicates strong confidence in the continued growth of the Nunavut business sector. In order to accomplish their objectives these respondents have indicated that they will require an estimated $164 million in business capital over the next three years.

 

The peripatetic Ian Kenney delivered a successful workshop in Board Basics to the Directors of the Attawapiskat Development in Timmins, Ont.

Ian Kenney, Ron Ryan, and Terry Rudden completed the consolidation of a series of casestudies illustrating best practices in system integration and horizontal management for Early Childhood Development for First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada, in collaboration with a team of community based researchers.

GOSSIP

Greg Smith combined business and pleasure during a recent trip to New Zealand and Hawaii where he met with Maoris and native Hawaiians to learn more about language and cultural preservation efforts on behalf of Avataq Cultural Institute. The information will contribute toward the development of a language policy document for Nunavik. This was the first trip back to New Zealand for Greg and his wife Marianne since leaving nearly 30 years ago after living and working in Auckland.

While in New Zealand they attended an open house at Maori Television, which was celebrating its first full year on air. They also attended Maori cultural events, spoke with individuals, and Greg flew to the capital, Wellington, for a briefing at the Maori Language Commission. Maori has been an official language in New Zealand (with English), for nearly 20 years. The government has a strategic plan for further development of the language, and the Maori Language Commission and Maori Television are cornerstones of efforts to promote and protect the Maori language. Pictured right is Manager Sharon Armstorng and Senior Policy Analyst Nicola Bright, Maori Language Commission, Wellington, NZ.

 

While in New Zealand Greg and Marianne also visited with old friends, and toured many of the sites they used to spend time at in the 1970's, including the Coromandel Peninsula with its fantastic beaches, and the world-famous Rotorua geo-thermal hot springs and boiling mud (and Maori village).  Pictured here is the Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand.

 

Part two of Greg's adventrues in the pacific next month. 

 

Terry Rudden and George Hargrave, buddies with a twenty year history of strange projects, began shooting their second Scuba DVD in Roatan, Honduras, last month. Highlights of the shoot included sharks (well, a shark, strictly speaking), spectacular underwater wall and coral formations, and being abandoned by their dive boat during a night dive off the coast. Exciting details soon to be available on DVD for the discerning vicarious video aquanaut.

And speaking of diving...Terry's plan to convert the world to scuba is having limited success, but he is pleased to report that within the Aarluk circle significant inroads are being made. Aarluk President Helen Klengenberg certified as a full-fledged open water diver during her recent vacation in Hawaii, and associate James Forth squeezed in a few days of diving during a working trip (helicopter piloting and photography) in Key Largo, Fla.

TEN YEARS AGO

 

On May 20 th 1995, Terry Forth took early retirement from the Government of Canada after 27 years service in Churchill, Inuvik, Yellowknife, Toronto, Saskatoon and Ottawa. He vowed to “take the rest of the year off”, but lasted about two weeks before signing on with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc, and working with Tagak Curley in Rankin Inlet to help set up NTI’s new Business Development Department, including the establishment of the Inuit Firm Registry (see Atuqtuarvik story above). The rest is history.

 

 

Ron Ryan and Terry Rudden completed policies, procedures and draft bylaws for the Transition Teams that would soon become the Nunavut Planning Commission and the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

Terry Rudden completed a comprehensive analysis of Inuit obligations under the Land Claims Agreement for Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., and developed a process for the designation and monitoring of Designated Inuit Organizations (DIOs).

 

   Separated at Birth?

 

 

 

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