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The Metis Association of Alberta is in a crisis situation says ousted member Ron LaRocque who claims the association is not only struggling with a $80,000 debt but must deal with allegations of election mismanagement.

The debt occurred, says LaRocque after an honorarium of $15,000 was given to former president Sam Sinclair and severance pay totalling $40,000 was paid to two ex-employees who were dismissed shortly after the election. LaRocque claims a further $25,000 was overspent on the annual assembly.

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The displays up on the walls of the Stanley Mission high school may be new, but the items contained in them are far from that.

The displays provide a glimpse into what life might have been like in the Stanley Mission Old Village, with artifacts, photographs and Elders' stories depicting construction techniques that were used in the village, as well as information about food sources, recreation, and school life.

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Children in Saskatchewan schools in Grade 7 up to Grade 12 are learning about an important part of their history. The Office of the Treaty Commissioner (OTC) and their partners have developed curriculum, material and resources to study treaties and the treaty relationship.

These units feature the treaty-making process and the events leading up to it, as well as the impact of treaties on the people of Canada.

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Fort Qu'Appelle is finally getting its new hospital, said the chairman of the Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital Corporation.

Construction tenders for the $12 million facility are to be tendered in a matter of weeks, said Ron Crowe.

The decision to go to tender was made after a Nov. 14 meeting of the project management team, in which all involved agreed on programs and services to be delivered by the new facility, as well as the building's design, he said.

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The computerized bells and whistles of the slot machines, the rat-tat-tat sound of playing cards being shuffled, the never-ending thump of dozens of bingo daubers hitting the table at relatively the same time over and over again, the thunder of hooves and paws at the horse or dog track, and the metallic rattle of change and loot falling- these are the sounds that surround gaming establishments around the world. Yet, far too often, the sounds of pain and suffering that accompany the lives of those who play but cannot walk away go almost unheard and nearly unnoticed.

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When her mother was in a car accident, Eagleview Comprehensive student Joanna Moosewah became all too aware of the fragility of life.

That's why she joined the Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) campaign at the Onion Lake high school. And in the past year, she has become one of the cause's more vocal supporters at Eagleview.

"That's what got me motivated to get involved in SADD," the Grade 11 student said. "The accident had a big impact on me and just the thought of losing my mother."

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It's become one of the harbingers of the coming Yuletide season-along with the appearance of Christmas decorations, receiving of Christmas cards and singing of carols, comes the beginning of the campaigns reminding us all not to drink and drive this festive season.

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Each year for the past three years, The Regina Metis Women (RMW) have been helping to make Christmas a lot more special for local Metis children from financially challenged families, and they're hoping to do the same again this year. But they can't do it alone.

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Anyone familiar with Dickens' A Christmas Carol will immediately recognize the inspiration behind Ms. Purdy Parsimonias, the latest production from the always impressive Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company (SNTC). The play, which is now on tour across Saskatchewan following a successful three week run at the company's Saskatoon home, takes the themes and basic plot of Dickens' classic tale, and gives them a decidedly modern, Aboriginal twist. The results are, in a word, hilarious.

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Angelique: Buffalo Hunt

By Cora Taylor

Penguin Books

85 pages (sc)

$7.99

Ten-year-old Angelique Dumas lives with her family near Batoche in northern Saskatchewan. When we meet her in the spring of 1865 she has joined the family in the twice-yearly buffalo hunt. This year she will be playing an active part.