Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Supporting the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan


Early in 2012, Aarluk Consulting Inc., in association with ESSA Technologies, provided assistance to the Secretariat of the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan in the implementation of their general monitoring responsibilities for Nunavut. This assistance involved the preparation of two reports:
  1. A Summary of Knowledge Report on Valued Ecosystemic and Socio-economic Components and Valued Uses of Land and Water in Nunavut; and
  2. Socio-economic Monitoring Operational Frameworks 
 
The establishment of the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan (NGMP) is required under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement in order to monitor both the current and cumulative long-term environmental and socio-economic impacts of major development projects in Nunavut. The NGMP provides for the participation of Inuit, along with a wide range of government and non-governmental partner organizations, in evaluating and monitoring the environmental impacts of development. The Summary of Knowledge Report prepared by Aarluk and ESSA provided consolidated baseline information on 42 Valued Ecosystemic Components (for example, caribou, seals, marine water quality, etc), 11 Valued Socio-economic Components (for example health and well-being, Inuit language, employment, etc), and Existing and Future Valued Uses of Land and Water. This detailed baseline information supports decision-making by federal and territorial regulators, the Nunavut Planning Commission, Nunavut Impact Review Board, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Regional Inuit Organizations, the private sector and the public.

The development of Operational Frameworks for Socio-economic Monitoring is an important step towards the coordination and integration of socio-economic data collection done for specific projects, with more general socio-economic data (collected by various agencies, including Statistics Canada, Nunavut Bureau of Statistics, GN Departments, AANDC and other Federal Departments, NTI and regional Inuit organizations, among others). The frameworks ensure the compatibility (and therefore the usefulness) of socio-economic information that is collected for specific development projects, with the critical socio-economic elements monitored at the regional and territorial levels under the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan.

Members of the Aarluk project team included Fred Weihs, Joan Freeman, Glen Packman, Alastair Franke, Heidi Klein, Galin Kora, Christian Cloutier, Geoff Rigby, and Terry Rudden, while members of the project team from ESSA Technologies included Lorne Greig, Samantha Boardley and Diana Abraham.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

That Obscure Object of Fred's Desire

As everyone who has ever worked with him will attest, our man Fred Weihs does nothing by halves.

We're not saying he's obsessive. But when Fred started cycling, his warmup route was Almonte/Ottawa (104 km) in mid July. When Fred started Karate, he insisted on doing three sessions per week (and permanently disabled his knee). When Fred started canoeing, his "little one hour jaunt" down the Mississippi lasted all day and involved a portage that would have put BOTH Lewis and Clarke into rehab.

We are delighted to report that Fred's latest not-obsession involves risk to neither life nor limb. A classically trained pianist in his youth, Fred has been casting longing eyes for the last two years on harpsichords, those delightful plucked keyboard instruments most widely used in Renaissance and Baroque music. With typical Weihs-ian dedication, he researched the market, sought the advice of Ottawa's leading harpsichordists, interviewed several potential teachers, and last week traveled to Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where he spent six glorious hours in musical communion with some of the finest harpsichords in North America.

The beautiful instrument pictured above is a fine example of the object of Fred's affection. Fred is now agonizing over whether or not to buy. To us, it's a no-brainer: we'd love to see Fred cultivate an interest that does not involve the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive stress injury, heatstroke, cardiac arrest, exhaustion, or confronting Chuck Norris. Fred, however, remains ambivalent. We've decided to bring the issue to you, Constant Readers, whose counsel never errs.

Should Fred Buy The Harpsichord?

Monday, May 28, 2012

Consultants + Marketing = Golf

Jennifer David, Ron Ryan and Kory Goulais spent a hard day of marketing on Friday when they attended the Assembly of First Nations and Aboriginal Healing Foundation annual golf tournament.  The tournament raises money for the First Nations Rights Fund and the Legacy of Hope Foundation which works with residential school survivors.

Our intrepid golfers enjoyed a beautiful day and managed to avoid the bad weather (there were tornado warnings all afternoon) until the torrential downpour during the dinner portion of the event held at the Canadian Golf & Country Club.

Kory Goulais and his new golf cart.
At the end of the event, a limited number of golfers were randomly chosen to receive gifts.  Here's Kory with one of the best ones available; a golf cart, which Kory says will come in handy since his wife doesn't like to carry her clubs (though we did ask him why he wasn't carrying them for her, chivalrous gentleman that he is!)

All in all, a good way to spend a Friday afternoon.  Oh yes, and our team shot a +2, which is not too bad, but not as good as last year (and way off the pace considering the top team got -12).

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Introducing our Mining Workshop Project Team

As our faithful readers will already know, Stonecircle is currently working with the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development on Mines to deliver mining workshops to First Nation communities in north eastern and north western Ontario.

The workshops are being provided to those First Nations near sites where mining companies have expressed interest or where there are potential mineral deposits of interest. First Nations have expressed a need for more awareness of mining in order to take advantage of any potential mining opportunities in their territory.

32 communities have been contacted by MNDM, and once we have been invited into the community, Stonecircle will follow up and prepare the logistics. 

We'd now like to introduce our team for this project.  These are the familiar faces of Stonecircle and Consilium staff, as well as some new faces.  We have engaged a number of First Nation facilitators who are located in north eastern and north western Ontario.
Top row from left to right: Co-project managers Jennifer David and Greg Smith, Lead facilitators Alex Ker and Fred Weihs, Facilitator Ron Ryan, and Kory Goulais;
Bottom row from left to right: facilitators Daniel Wemigwans, Kenora; Cindy Crowe, Thunder Bay; and, Chris McKay, Mattagami First Nation.
Communities can request a workshop during July or August or early September.  Once we hit the road, we'll provide updates on how the project is moving along.  Stay tuned...

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Some Personal Experiences with the Evolution of Northern Communications



Greg Smith, Senior Consultant
From the desk of Greg Smith, Senior Consultant:

One fascinating aspect of northern development has been the evolution and adaption of new communications technologies. Because the north is so dependent on communications, northerners, including Aboriginal communities, have often been early adopters and innovators in the use of new technologies. Through my personal experience, including a number of consulting projects I have been involved in, I have seen some dramatic changes.

My own connection to the north goes back to 1949, when I moved to the Yukon as an infant with my parents – my father was in the air force at the time, and we spent four years in Whitehorse. Later, in the 1950’s, while we lived in Ontario, he managed a couple of DEW Line stations in the Northwest Territories. He would be gone for most of the year, returning for a six week break each summer. Most of the time we were out of touch, but occasionally we would get a surprise call from a ham radio operator who had managed to set up a “phone patch” linking us to our father, using the “over and out” method of conversation. But that was rare, and the north seemed like another, far distant world, which it really was in those days.

By the time I moved to Inuvik in the early 1980’s to work with the Inuvialuit, telephone, radio and television service was widely available, but still relatively limited compared to the current spectrum of services. The creation of the Northern Native Broadcast Access Program (NNBAP) in 1983, along with the development of satellite services, opened up opportunities for northern Aboriginal groups to create and distribute their own radio and television programming. This eventually led to the creation of Television Northern Canada (TVNC) which distributed programming across the north, and later the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) which is a national service.

I was heavily involved in the early days of northern native broadcasting, as Executive Director of the Inuvialuit Communications Society, and then as lead consultant for the initial planning and funding of TVNC, as well as work for a number of other Aboriginal broadcast organizations. I still vividly remember first being introduced to satellites at a 1983 meeting of Aboriginal organizations hosted by the Department of the Secretary of State in Ottawa. It was fascinating to follow the arrows on their charts leading upwards to space from a source on the ground, and then leading back to earth from the satellite, which floated in geosynchronous orbit high above. It seemed like a magical opening to endless possibilities.
Simonie and Lucien Ukalinuk
In the early 1980’s communication was mostly by telephone, regular mail, and courier. Around 1985 the Inuvialuit Development Corporation got a “Dex” machine (i.e. fax) and we could watch documents being transmitted instantaneously over phone lines. People were starting to use computers then – one consultant, Kendall Lougheed, turned up from Ottawa with his version of a portable computer – three large cases which contained a desktop and printer. He was charged for excess weight by the airline. Eventually our organization (ICS) installed an IBM desktop in “the computer room” (no smoking allowed), where staff members could book a time to use it.

By the early 1990’s computers were more common, but it was still not unusual to walk into an organization’s office and see one sitting in a corner that no one knew how to operate – the person who did know had moved on. Awareness of the Internet was emerging as was the use of e-mail. In 1994 I helped to organize, and presented at, a Cree Communications Symposium in Montreal, which linked that site by videoconference to several northern Cree communities, as well as to Ottawa. One of the invited presenters described the Internet and how it would soon be possible to access all kinds of information from almost anywhere, which sounded pretty futuristic at the time. Also, for the first time, using the equipment we had installed with sponsors Adcom, Telesat and Telebec, Crees in remote communities could see their friends and colleagues in other locations face to face on boardroom screens. One youth leader, James Shecapio, who was in Nemaska, joked on screen with Grand Chief Mathew Coon-Come, in Ottawa, that he had been trying to get a meeting with him for weeks. Soon after, the Cree School Board installed videoconferencing in all nine communities, to use for distance learning.
Susan and Kevin Arnatsiaq
In 1998 we did a study with Harold Tarbell, for the federal government, of how Aboriginal entrepreneurs were using the Internet. By that time, the “World Wide Web”, also referred to as “the Information Super Highway” was a major subject of discussion, including how Aboriginal people would access and use it. Connectivity in the north continued to be a major barrier (and still is in some communities today). The federal government had a program to help install computers in small, rural communities (the Community Access Program – CAP) which rolled out over a number of years, and many individuals and organizations were also purchasing and using computers. One figure from our study report, based on Statistics Canada data from 1997, indicated that while 36% of Canadian households had a computer at the time, only 13% were connected to the Internet. However both these rates were increasing rapidly. Our surveys and focus groups with Aboriginal entrepreneurs showed that, of those who responded, 76.5% used the Internet for business, 70.6% had an e-mail address, 46.1% had a website, and over two thirds used e-mail at least once a week, and accessed the Internet at least once a week.

However, there continued to be significant barriers to use of the Internet, videoconferencing, and other communication technologies throughout the north – in particular a lack of communications infrastructure and access to bandwidth, as well as the high cost of many services. At the same time, distance and travel costs continued to be major barriers for northerners wanting to stay in touch for personal, business or other reasons. Health and education were among the important drivers for improvements to communications infrastructure – it was always hard to explain to an outsider why a simple training program - for example for two people per community in Nunavut - could cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, when the same program could be run in a southern city for the cost of a few subway tokens and a borrowed room at a college.

We were also involved in several projects from 1997 to 2002 to demonstrate the use of videoconferencing for a variety of purposes of interest to the north. The first project, for the Canadian Museum of Nature, linked school children from the Museum’s exhibit at the Montreal IUCN conference with children in Iqaluit (Nunavut). It also involved a scientist involved in polar bear research talking to Inuit elders about traditional knowledge. Other videoconferencing projects in partnership with the Museum and the community of Igloolik established links between the two sites to demonstrate a variety of potential applications. These included family reunions – most memorably the opportunity for a small child from Igloolik who was in Ottawa for medical treatment to see his mother face to face on screen for the first time in several months. Others included meetings, training sessions, and cultural exchanges including one between an Australian Aborigine, Francis Firebrace, who told stories and danced with residents of Igloolik – all at a distance. Videoconferencing also linked the Museum’s Arctic Odyssey exhibit in Ottawa with the north.
Videoconferencing between Ottawa and Igloolik
But while these projects were very interesting, and demonstrated the potential for videoconferencing technology to bridge distances and to be a tool for education and exchange, the price was still prohibitive. The signal travelled to and from Igloolik to Northwestel’s offices in Yellowknife by satellite, and from there was bridged to Ottawa via six land (telephone) lines. This cost in the area of a couple of thousand dollars an hour, on top of all the other project costs for equipment, staff, training, and project organization, management and support.

In the past decade, there has been a concerted effort to upgrade bandwidth in the north. Computers are much more commonly used, as are other devices such as mobile phones, and Internet access has improved, though is still not as accessible and reliable as in the south. Skype, email, VPN’s and other advances have dramatically lowered the costs of communication and distance delivery of training and health services has evolved. However travel is still a major factor in doing business in the north. One of the principal roles of consultants before the Internet was to act as a kind of information broker who helped to find and share information with northern communities and organizations. This could include researching government or other funding programs, statistical or other data, identifying service providers, or potential business partners and other opportunities. Now, northerners have direct access to the world, at relatively low cost, from where they live. The nature of consulting work is more focused on the direct provision of specialized services such as planning, evaluation, training, research and organizational and economic development. It will be fascinating to continue to follow the impact of evolving communication technologies and services on the north and on those who work with northern communities.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Building Capacity, One Course at a Time

David Boult, Senior Consultant
From the desk of David Boult, Road Warrior:

The Municipal Training Organization (MTO) plays a critical role in developing the capacity of hamlet staff in Nunavut. Partnering with Nunavut Arctic College, MTO delivers the Municipal Government Program, a multi-faceted program that enables hamlet staff to increase their ability to provide better programs and services to the residents of Nunavut.

David Boult has been an instructor for these programs since its inception in 2004. Most recently, David delivered a course on Risk Management for recreation coordinators in the Qikiqtani region. Participants learned how to identify and mitigate risks associated with their facilities. Highlights of the course included visiting a number of Iqaluit’s recreation facilities including the Arctic Winter Games facility, the municipal pool and the old arena. Participants also conducted assessments of several municipal playgrounds around the city.

The program has evolved over the past year with a number of core courses being offered online. Aarluk Consulting Inc. has been instrumental in moving these courses to the online format and supporting their delivery. By all accounts, this transition has been successful. While there are plans to move more courses to online delivery, David, for one, will miss the face-to-face instruction that has played such an important role in enabling hamlets across Nunavut to improve their capacity and provide better services and programs to their residents.
Alex Arnatsiaq, Recreation Leader from Igloolik, making a run for it on one of Iqaluit’s Zambonis. 
A special shout out to the staff at Iqaluit’s Recreation Department. Their assistance and hospitality were much appreciated and the city should be proud to have such great employees. Thanks Jennifer and Tyrone.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Skills Canada Annual National Competition Underway!

From the desk of Michelle Turpin:
Credit: Skills / Compétences Canada Facebook page.
The annual Skills Canada National Competition is underway in Edmonton, AB with hundreds of competitors from across the country competing for their provincial and territorial teams in over 40 different skilled trade and technology contest areas. This annual Competition allows young people to showcase their talents; from bricklaying to baking, mechatronics to mobile robotics, these secondary and post-secondary students are truly at the top of their game!

Training starts early in a school year as these young people prepare for 2 days of intense competition against their peers from across the country. At this particular competition, winners have a win a spot on Team Canada who will travel to Germany in July 2013 to compete at the international WorldSkills Leipzig 2013 Competition.

One of the events is the National Youth Forum. Young people who have competed in a previous Skills Canada event gather together for some leadership training and for a working forum; the young people are the recipients of all of the great events and activities put on by Skills Canada organizations across the world, they are in the best position to give feedback about their Skills experiences. For the second year in a row, Consilium's Michelle Turpin has organized the National Youth Forum for Skills Canada. Celebrating the contributions of the young people who have been involved in Skills Canada is an important step in the whole big picture of the skills movement! 

Amazing opportunities, amazing events, amazing young people filled with passion and talent. To view pictures of the competition, please visit http://skillscompetencescanada.com/en/ to see what it is all about. Good luck to all!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Happy Birthday Jennifer David!

Jennifer David, Manager and Senior Consultant
Many happy returns to Jennifer on May 9th. Our very own author extraordinaire, Manager of Stonecircle Consulting and lone birthday celebrant for the month of May… yep you heard right, just one birthday this month. We all wish you many more!

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

Modern Treaty Organizations Oppose Federal Government Formula Financing Proposal

Patti Black, Senior Consultant
From the desk of Patti Black:

Members of the Land Claims Agreements Coalition met in Ottawa May 2-3 to discuss their response to a Fiscal Harmonization Policy, proposed by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC). The Coalition membership includes all modern treaty signatories in Canada, whose agreements affect nearly half of Canada’s land, waters and resources. Consilium’s Patti Black has worked closely with the Coalition to coordinate its activities and communications, since its inception in 2003. Read on for the Coalition’s May 3 Press Release, speaking out strongly against AANDC’s Fiscal Harmonization Policy initiative.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Modern Treaty Organizations Oppose Federal Government Formula Financing Proposal

(Ottawa ON, May 3, 2012) Members of the Land Claims Agreements Coalition today rejected a proposal from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) to replace negotiated self-government fiscal financing arrangements with a formula financing approach.

To date, few concrete details have been provided on how the proposed Fiscal Harmonization Policy will adhere to the Constitutionally-protected requirements contained in existing modern treaties. What is clear, however, is that the policy’s design and purpose are narrowly focused on addressing administrative challenges expressed by the Government of Canada, not on the capacity requirements of Aboriginal signatories.

“Strong governance institutions are integral to the long-term stability and vitality of Aboriginal communities,” said Mitchell Stevens, co-chair of the Coalition. “Funding arrangements must be grounded in our treaties; the real costs of governing, and the social, economic and cultural needs of Aboriginal peoples. They are not to be based on what is merely convenient for federal government administration.”

All parties agree that the fiscal renewal process for modern treaty organizations is not working. Multiple-year delays, lack of negotiating mandates by federal negotiators and chronic underfunding for Aboriginal governments are just a few of the objections that modern treaty signatories have to the current process. But these problems can be fixed by the Government of Canada taking its existing obligations seriously.

Modern treaties - also known as comprehensive land claims agreements- are Constitutionally-protected agreements between Aboriginal signatories, the Federal government, and in some cases territorial and provincial governments. Modern treaties address close to half of Canada’s lands, waters and resources, and when fully implemented benefit all Canadians.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Patti Black, Coordinator
Land Claims Agreements Coalition
Email: black@consilium.ca
Tel: 613-237-3613

Monday, May 07, 2012

Happy 5th Anniversary Chuck!

Chuck Gilhuly, Chief Executive Officer
Those 5 years went by fast! Chuck Gilhuly joined Consilium in May, 2007 as our Manager and is now the Chief Executive Officer of the Consilium Consulting Group. Chuck came on board eager and keen (you still are, right Chuck?)… in his own words five years ago “I think we’ll be doing some great things”. And, there’s no doubt we have and will continue to do so! Thanks Chuck for all that you do and being at the helm of the good ship Consilium.

Friday, May 04, 2012

Supporting Co-Management Committees in Clyde River and Arviat

An Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement (IIBA) for National Wildlife Areas and Migratory Bird Sanctuaries in Nunavut was ratified in 2008, and an important feature of the agreement was the establishment of Area Co-Management Committees in eight communities that are near to each of the conservation areas in the territory. The Co-Management Committees are responsible for the planning and day-to-day management of a specific conservation area.

An important task of each committee is the development of a management plan. The management plan is to be informed by an understanding of the wildlife and cultural resources, and will be used as the framework for which management decisions are made by the committee, Environment Canada staff, and any other stakeholder group with an interest in the conservation area.

The purpose of a management plan is to maintain the ecological integrity of a conservation area, planning for activities that are allowed in the area while identifying other activities that are restricted and require the authority of a permit. The IIBA ensures that management plans in Nunavut must respect the rights of Inuit specified under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.

Aarluk has been supporting two Co-Management Committees, helping to set the foundation for the preparation management plans. In Clyde River, the Ninginganiq National Wildlife Area protects the habitat of bowhead whales in their summer feeding grounds at Isabella Bay. Working with the Ittaq Research and Heritage Society, Aarluk’s Chris Grosset and Christian Cloutier gathered background documents concerning the area, such as research papers, consolidating the relevant information into a management plan template. Chris Grosset also provided a two-day training workshop in Clyde River on management planning for the Ninginganiq Committee.
Nivvialik Co-Management Committee (left to right): Chris Grosset (Aarluk), Donna Mulders (ACMC), Judy Issakiark (Kivalliq Inuit Association) Simona Baker (translator), Peter Alareak (ACMC), Thomas Ubluriak(ACMC), Shayne Ubluriak (ACMC - seated), David Aglukark Sr. (ACMC), Philip Kigusiutnak (ACMC)
Aarluk is also completing the background document consolidation for the Nivvialik Co-Management Committee of Arviat, who are responsible for the Kuugaayuk (McConnell River) Migratory Bird Sanctuary, an important nesting and feeding ground for Lesser Snow Geese. Chris Grosset led a two-day training workshop with the members of the Nivvialik committee in Arviat.

Both workshops resulted in a greater understanding among committee members of their roles in management planning, as well as work plans for each committee to prepare their respective management plans.

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Wikwemikong Strategic Planning

Ron Ryan and Kory Goulais recently hit the road and clocked over 1,300 kilometres to facilitate a strategic planning session. Where were they headed? Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve for a strategic planning session with Enaadmaagehjik, the Wikwemikong Development Commission (WDC).

As everyone should know, the best way to break up a long drive is having a round of golf. This took place at the Deep River Golf Club, just off highway 17. Those who know the area will be familiar with the 7th hole, as it runs right along the highway. Strategically speaking, not the best place for a hole.

After arriving in Wikwemikong Kory and Ron stayed at the only local bed and breakfast aptly named "En-Dye Inn" (Indian) bed and breakfast on a part of the reserve called Gordies Beach. Gordie treated them to a room, his kitchen table for work, and of course breakfast in the morning but for a detailed description of the unusual accommodations, you'll have to ask Ron and Kory.

The next day Ron and Kory met with Mary Lynn Odjig, director of WDC to discuss timing and plan for the session. Following a short lunch it was time to meet with the Board of Directors to get a flavour of the direction they see Enaadmaagehjik heading.

Next came a meeting with the entire WDC staff and board. Prior to leaving for the session Ron asked Kory how many people would show up on a Friday night and be engaged. Kory answered with a smug "not many." To their surprise, there were 26 people in the room and all focused on the task at hand!

The next session was held on Saturday, again with full attendance. Over the course of the two days the board and staff were able to come up with goals, objectives, strategies, and updated their vision and mission statement. Much was covered throughout the sessions all while keeping a light and fun atmosphere.

On the way home, Ron and Kory stopped at the Oaks of Cobden Golf Club to unwind after another large chunk of driving. All in all a very good four days. Kory and Ron are now working on the final report and session notes.