Page 17

A study to assess the migration and spawning patterns of the bull trout, as well as sizes and population of the fish in the upper and lower Duncan River system and Kootenay Lake, is half complete.

The Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, along with the BC Environment and B.C. Hydro, began their joint study in the summer of 1995. One of the study's objectives is to discover if the operation of B.C. Hydro's Duncan Dam is having any negative effects on the bull trout.

Page 16

The House of Commons standing committee on environment and sustainable development completed its mandated five-year review of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) in June, 1995. In December, 1995, Environment Canada responded with a proposal for a revised CEPA, and is inviting public comment on the document.

The government points to five items in the 82-page document titled CEPA Review: The Government Response, that it says are "likely to be of interest to Aboriginal peoples."

Page 16

The House of Commons standing committee on environment and sustainable development completed its mandated five-year review of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) in June, 1995. In December, 1995, Environment Canada responded with a proposal for a revised CEPA, and is inviting public comment on the document.

The government points to five items in the 82-page document titled CEPA Review: The Government Response, that it says are "likely to be of interest to Aboriginal peoples."

Page 11

Review

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Up Where We Belong;

EMI 1996.

The latest from the first lady of First Nations music, Buffy Sainte-Marie, is much more than a best-of album (which would be her sixth of the kind) and marks more than 30 years of recording.

The 15-track project titled Up Where We Belong contains carefully selected material from albums dating back to 1964 with her first Vanguard release, It's My Way to her latest album Coincidence and Likely Stories, released in 1992.

Page 11

Review

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Up Where We Belong;

EMI 1996.

The latest from the first lady of First Nations music, Buffy Sainte-Marie, is much more than a best-of album (which would be her sixth of the kind) and marks more than 30 years of recording.

The 15-track project titled Up Where We Belong contains carefully selected material from albums dating back to 1964 with her first Vanguard release, It's My Way to her latest album Coincidence and Likely Stories, released in 1992.

Page 10

Despite cutbacks to the tune of $120,000 last year, and another $20,000 this year, Canada's only Aboriginal film and art festival is on stream and "actually ahead of schedule", reported its executive director, Sharon Shirt.

Budgets are definitely a determining factor in this year's Dreamspeaker event. "We learned to do some serious negotiating," Shirt said.

She's been impressed with the response from performers and film makers who have accommodated the festival organizers.

Page 10

Despite cutbacks to the tune of $120,000 last year, and another $20,000 this year, Canada's only Aboriginal film and art festival is on stream and "actually ahead of schedule", reported its executive director, Sharon Shirt.

Budgets are definitely a determining factor in this year's Dreamspeaker event. "We learned to do some serious negotiating," Shirt said.

She's been impressed with the response from performers and film makers who have accommodated the festival organizers.

Page 9

It wasn't too long ago when Lee Maracle, the well known Native writer turned actress, and I were having a lively conversation at a downtown watering hole. The subject at hand: the exciting growth and expansion of Native literature. Something we both have a familiarity with.

In recent years, there have been many inroads and directions explored by Native writers. We have produced biographies, comic adventures, dramatic novels, searing political attacks and a plethora of theatrical plays all to be enjoyed.

Page 8

Fifteen victims of physical and sexual abuse that occurred at the Port Alberni Residential School between 1949 and 1970 have filed a suit for damages in the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.

A Jan. 31 press release from the plaintiffs' lawyers, Hutchins Soroka Grant & Paterson, states that the suit is one of the largest ever brought before Canadian courts on behalf of Aboriginal people who have been mistreated in residential schools.

Page 8

Fifteen victims of physical and sexual abuse that occurred at the Port Alberni Residential School between 1949 and 1970 have filed a suit for damages in the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.

A Jan. 31 press release from the plaintiffs' lawyers, Hutchins Soroka Grant & Paterson, states that the suit is one of the largest ever brought before Canadian courts on behalf of Aboriginal people who have been mistreated in residential schools.