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Co-operation needed to save B.C. fisheries

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British Columbia's commercial fishing industry is in a state of anxiety, uncertainty and strain, reveals a report from the province's Fish Processing Strategic Task Force.

Unless co-operative problem-solving replaces self-interest and completion for short-term advantage, the B.C. commercial fishery could be faced with "stock extinction, business failure and internal strife," concludes the report.

Jesuits compensate abuse victims

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Four years after stories of sexual and physical abuse by a trusted Jesuit priest rocked this community, 15 victims have signed a compensation package with the Jesuit Fathers of Canada.

The packages includes $500,000 over three years to be spent on counselling services, $25,000 compensation per claimant and up to $4,000 each for educational or vocational upgrading.

Suffering ...in the name of the Father

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(first reading)

Wife battering is a wide-spread problem in Canada. Women are the victims of physical, sexual, financial and emotional abuse which is inflicted on them by the men who are important in their lives.

This is not a new phenomenon; women have been abused by men over the centuries. The Christian church has played a major role, both by its theology and its practice, in contributing to the attitudes that have led to wife battering.

Recovery means feeling safe for abuse victim

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Shannon is on the road to recovery. She's recovering from being victimized in two separate abusive relationships.

For her, it has meant learning to believe she and her children are safe.

Feeling safe has taken more than two years, and although she says she still doesn't trust people enough to let them into her home, she has recovered enough to take the next step in her healing process.

Because he could

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He beat her, he told her because she was looking at another man. And that he loved her so much, it made him fearful and crazy to think he might lose her. He told her that t wouldn't happen again. But it did. Since the real reason he beat her was because...he could.

He beat her, he said because she was a poor housekeeper. And this reflected badly on him. And if she would just change her slovenly ways, he wouldn't have to beat her. But the real reason he beat her was because...he could.

Ending violence begins at home

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Children growing up in violent home situations suffer the effects for the rest of their lives - and so does society, said an American speaker at a recent Alberta conference on violence.

The abuse felt as a child permeates the fabric of society today as family violence spills out into the community, said Deborah Mathews, child and adolescent co-ordinator with Worchester county Mental Health in Salisbury, Maryland.

History month disappointing for Nova Scotia researcher

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It's hard to condense 10,000 years of Mi'kmaq history into a 45-minute speech. Just ask Don Julien, executive director of the Confederacy of Mainland Micmacs.

"You miss an awful lot of stuff," he sighed. "You have to summarize the key points."

For the past year, Julien has been re-educating the Nova Scotia public on Mi'kmaq history. He's been giving speeches to organizations such as school, rotary clubs, church groups, the police, Girls Guides and even visiting Mi'kmaq reserves.

Land purchase first step in honoring treaties

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The Witchekan Lake First Nation has cleared the final hurdle in a long process that will see land added to the reserve.

An Oct. 5 federal order-in-council made the purchase of two quarter sections, 128 hectares, of agricultural land possible in the first transfer of rural lands to a reserve under the province's Treaty Land Entitlement Agreement. The agreement - unique to Saskatchewan - enables bands to purchase land toward the fulfillment of treaty agreements signed between 1874 and 1906.