April 28, 2021
Trustees with the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board in Peterborough say they’re concerned over reports that the Ontario government may make remote learning a permanent part of the school curriculum across the province.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7815889/kawartha-pine-ridge-school-board-remote-learning-plan/
Leader of northern Ontario’s largest school board retiring
April 27, 2021
After more than 30 years with the Rainbow District School Board, the director of education is retiring this summer.
Norm Blaseg announced his retirement during the most recent school board meeting on April 20 after working 35 years in the public education sector.
Weaving Indigenous and western knowledge
April 27, 2021
How Indigenous researchers and communities are working in partnership with universities and non-Indigenous researchers to shape the future of environmental sciences.
Supporters fight to keep midwifery program in northern Ontario
April 26, 2021
Losing the country’s only bilingual midwifery program — which was cut by Laurentian University as it deals with its dire financial situation — is nothing short of tragic, supporters say as they urgently try to find the highly sought-after program a new home.
Parents receive COVID-19 child benefit Monday: Education Minister
April 25, 2021
Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s minister of education, said parents across Ontario will begin receiving their Ontario COVID-19 Child Benefit starting Monday.
https://www.thewhig.com/news/parents-receive-covid-19-child-benefit-monday-education-minister
‘He’s reached a breaking point’: Ontario parents frustrated over special needs remote learning
April 22, 2021
Ontario students have had a roller coaster of a school year pivoting between remote learning and in-person classes during the pandemic.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7778721/ontario-parents-frustrated-special-needs-remote-learning-covid/
Stories from Anemki Wajiw: Ice Fishing
April 21, 2021
The pandemic has many people rethinking the value of their connection to community and their own history. For Jolene Banning of Fort William First Nation, in northern Ontario, those connections go back generations. And they include not just people but land, water and animals.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/jolene-banning-anemki-wajiw-1.5995321
New book documents life and struggle at Winnipeg residential high school
April 21, 2021
A new book aims to preserve history and shed light on the life children faced at an urban residential school in Winnipeg. Survivors of the Assiniboia Indian Residential School recently came together to write and publish “Did you see us? Reunion, Remembrance and Reclamation at an Urban Indian Residential School,” which details the cultural struggle children faced at the school on a day-to-day basis, as they were forced to assimilate.
Laurentian University and the University of Sudbury have signed an interim agreement that will see Laurentian teach six Indigenous studies courses during the spring term
April 17, 2021
Moving forward, the university stated that it is committed to ensuring that the students registered in USudbury’s Indigenous studies program will have access to courses rooted in Indigenous perspectives currently offered by Laurentian. Earlier this month, Laurentian announced the termination of its federation agreement with USudbury, Huntington University, and Thorneloe University. At that time, instructor Tasha Beeds (Plains Cree and Métis) expressed concern to The Star about Laurentian’s inability to mirror what USudbury has offered: a School of Indigenous Studies that is built for and by Indigenous people, with programming that has grown out of the community.
CBC has published an article on the First Nations Archeology Monitoring Training Program
April 16, 2021
A unique program offered by the Oneida Nation of the Thames. The five-day course is focused on preserving Indigenous history and covers archeological monitoring regulations and protocols, identification of artifacts, and field methods. “It’s really important that our communities are involved in getting out there to those locations because for a long time, archeological development hasn’t acknowledged or respected Indigenous culture and artifacts, and has put it at a lower value than other artifacts in the region, such as European artifacts,” said Brandon Doxtator, environment and consultation coordinator with the Oneida Nation of the Thames. “It’s important that our community members review these archeological assessments and hold those proponents to account.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/first-nations-archeology-monitoring-training-program-1.5989035
The Government of Canada has announced that it will be investing $150M in better ventilation for public buildings in Indigenous communities such as schools and hospitals
April 14, 2021
The funding will be used for projects that will decrease the risk of aerosol transmission of COVID-19 by assessing, monitoring, and improving ventilation and indoor air quality. Communities will be able to access upgrades or conversions of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, as well as community-based solutions. “The health and wellbeing of First Nations peoples is my department’s highest priority,” said Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services. “This new investment will aid First Nations communities and partners in the fight against COVID-19 by funding critical ventilation upgrades to infrastructure most susceptible to COVID-19 spread.”
