CBC News – November 17, 2017
“Students have been out of the classroom for too long and we want to pass this legislation as quickly as possible,” said Richardson. If unanimous consent is denied, Richardson said Ontario’s Legislature will adjourn for the day and will meet again at 1 p.m. Saturday. That would mean proceeding through the normal stages of readings and debate before a final vote is taken, likely later in the weekend.
Students Earn University Degree While Remaining in Northern First Nation
CBC News – November 16, 2017
“Having this opportunity I was able to stay in my community, keep my job, work during the week. I had the support system right here.” “It’s not that easy for some people just to get up and leave,” says Nakogee referring to individuals who must uproot their lives to attend post-secondary schools elsewhere. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/moose-factory-graduates-university-1.4402535
New Indigenous Bursary at U of T Law Faculty
CBC News – November 16, 2017
A million-dollar gift to the U of T faculty of law will support Indigenous students. The announcement comes on Louis Riel Day, a day of commemoration for Metis people in Canada.
Law Students get In-Depth Look at Residential Schools Litigation
University of Calgary – November 16, 2017
The residential schools were funded by the Canadian government as part of a concerted effort towards assimilating the Indigenous Peoples into Canadian culture. Throughout the latter part of the 19th and 20th century, the operation of these boarding schools had a devastating impact on Indigenous Peoples across Canada by systematically depriving Indigenous children of their cultures, languages, and connections to their home communities, often also exposing them to neglect and abuse.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall Supports Embattled Education Minister
Global News – November 16, 2017
“The comments that she made, what she really meant was maybe we need to look at different avenues or different approaches of teaching treaty, because her stance was teaching treaty in the classroom has to continue.”There have been calls for Eyre to resign or be removed from office. NDP education critic Carla Beck said Eyre has “betrayed the trust of teachers, students and parents.” “The minister’s misunderstanding of treaty education and her misleading comments about curriculum are dangerous and fly in the face of reconciliation,” Beck said as she called for Eyre to resign from cabinet.
New Age Limits to be Set for Alberta Kindergarten Students
CBC News – November 15, 2017
Other amendments to the School Act include establishing standards for Education Service Agreements (ESAs), which could help First Nations students gain access to provincial education regardless of where they live in Alberta.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-kindergarten-age-limits-1.4404381
Aboriginal Education Month
The Whig – November 15, 2017
The Indigenous history that most Canadians learned in school focused mainly on the negative. It recorded how these people stood in the way of ‘progress.’ We learned all about the significance of the building of the Canadian Pacific Railroad to the expansion of Canada from sea to sea. We learned little about the plight of the Métis, who were forced off land that they had long inhabited. In the Red River and North West Rebellions, the Aboriginal people were ‘the bad guys.’ We learned about the many ‘broken’ treaties that were considered by the ‘powers that be’ at the time ‘fair’ for the aboriginal peoples, but in reality ‘fair’ for whom? Canadians are finally opening their eyes to the abuse of the students in many government residential schools. Need more be said?
http://www.thewhig.com/2017/11/15/aboriginal-education-month
Timmins Sekks Stand-Alone University
Net News Ledger – November
“Opening a new university, in Timmins or any other northern community, has to be tied to the educational needs and employment opportunities of the future. Within this environment, it is clear that the City of Timmins, Northern College, and Algoma University have a unique opportunity to develop a post-secondary collaboration that would be of substantial importance to Timmins and Northeastern Ontario,” states author Ken Coates in the report. http://www.netnewsledger.com/2017/11/15/timmins-seeks-stand-alone-university/
Why Indigenous Languages Should be Taught Alongside French and English
Chatelaine – November 15, 2017
It is vital that we remember that these languages exist nowhere else in the world. When they die here, they die forever. Stripping Indigenous peoples of our languages was a deliberate policy of the residential school system, and despite a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that acknowledges this, there is yet to be any concrete action to reverse this damage.
http://www.chatelaine.com/opinion/indigenous-languages-census-canada/amp/
These are my Words
CBC News – November 15, 2017
“I had nightmares,” Slipperjack explained, “I had shelved so many memories and I just never opened that cupboard all these years.” Slipperjack is the winner of the 2017 Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People from the Writer’s Trust of Canada for her body of work. She’s the author of seven novels for young people. Her latest book tells the story of a 12-year old girl’s experience at a residential school in 1966.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/award-winner-residential-school-1.4401808
Rainbow Schools Celebrate First Nations Culture with Rock Your Mocs Day
Manitoulin Expositor – November 14, 2017
“We encourage everyone to wear their moccasins with pride to celebrate the culture and traditions of Indigenous Peoples. Rock Your Mocs Day is another opportunity to acknowledge their contributions and build understanding.” In its sixth year, Rock Your Mocs Day is a global movement held annually during the month of November.
http://www.manitoulin.ca/2017/11/14/rainbow-schools-celebrate-first-nations-culture-rock-mocs-day/
Meet the Grade 10 Student Already Making the World a Better Place
Metro News – November 14, 2017
Like many, though not all school systems, Arscott’s Toronto school has somewhat taken up the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, including land acknowledgements at the beginning of the school day. But sitting in history class last week, she heard something that infuriated her. “The teacher said John A. Macdonald started (residential schools), which I had never known before,” said the Grade 10 student, who is Ojibwe. Just up the street from Arscott’s school sits Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute, one of 13 public schools named after Canada’s first prime minister. For her, reconciliation now includes changing the name of schools that bear his name. So she set up a petition on Change.org to ask her school board in Toronto to consider decolonizing, including removing the name and generally moving away from the colonialist structures that underpin the education system.
Serving the Community
CBC News – November 14, 2017
Denise Lambert wasn’t motivated or supported in continuing her education past high school. Growing up a member of Paul First Nation, she struggled with addiction and other issues. “There were challenges. There were things about, you know, is this life worth living, or the multiple ways I could escape here,” Lambert said. It wasn’t until she met an older woman — her adoptive grandmother, or her nohkô — who helped her find strength in her life.
