Calgary Briefs - April

CPS IRS training video made available to all

The Calgary Police Service is making its award-winning Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement training video available for anyone who wishes to use it. “Although the video was developed for our members, after we rolled it out and showed it to the Police Commission we started getting inquiries,” said Michelle Dassinger, communications advisor, Public Affairs/Media Relations Unit of the CPS. The video was made in 2007 when the federal government formalized its compensation package for residential school survivors. Police Chief Rick Hanson wanted to ensure his officers were aware of the agreement and sensitive to IRS survivors. The video, almost nine minutes in length, includes the stories of a handful of survivors, an interview with Piikani Nation Chief Reg Crowshoe, and archival photos. Copyright issues with the CBC regarding archival footage is what delayed the posting of the video to the CPS website, said Dassinger. The video won a Gold 2007 Hermes Creative Award from the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals. The video can be accessed at www.calgarypolice.ca/news-video.html. “It’s important to us that the video be shared,” said Dassinger.

NAPI program introduces educational opportunities

The Native Ambassador Post-Secondary Initiative (NAPI) program, at the University of Calgary, hosted the 2010 NAPI Parent & Youth Conference on March 20. The forum provided valuable information on post-secondary education. Held on the U of C campus, presentations were made by Bow Valley College, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Mount Royal University, host University of Calgary, Calgary Board of Education and Calgary Catholic School District. NAPI is a project designed to provide information on post-secondary education and to provide positive role modeling to Aboriginal youth enrolled in junior and senior high and other youth programs. The primary goal of the program is to motivate Aboriginal students of all grades and ages to consider pursuing a post-secondary education. The NAPI program is sponsored by Canadian Heritage, Nexen, TransCanada and EnCana.

Chamber to host Aboriginal Awareness training

The Calgary Chamber of Commerce and Cross Cultural Consulting will host an Aboriginal Awareness training session on April 19. The training session is a key component of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce’s Aboriginal Workforce Initiative, a three-phase research and action plan designed to better connect the business community to Aboriginal opportunities, and improve Aboriginal economic and labour market outcomes. These one-day sessions are delivered monthly in partnership with Dr. Neil McDonald of Cross Cultural Consulting.

Public forum to attract diverse opinions

Mount Royal University is hosting a forum on New Directions in Aboriginal Policy, scheduled for May 5.  The forum is free and open to the public and is intended to stimulate public debate on Aboriginal policy. People with very different perspectives on Aboriginal economic development, governance and education have been invited because it is assumed that bringing together opposing viewpoints enables all people to move closer to the truth, said event organizers. Confirmed participants include Ron Bourgeault (University of Regina), Tom Flanagan (University of Calgary), Albert Howard (Independent Researcher, Calgary), Joseph Lane (Independent Researcher, Australia), Joseph Quesnel (Frontier Centre for Public Policy), and Frances Widdowson (Mount Royal University). Panel discussions include Aboriginal sovereignty, indigenous nationalism, and the rule of law; private property rights, the Indian Act, and economic development; and, Indigenous “ways of knowing,” critical thinking and education.

Compiled by Shari Narine