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The relocation of the Davis Inlet Innu moved a step closer to realization April 27, when Innu leaders accepted a federal statement of political commitments and funding contributions totalling $4.3 million.

The 14-pooint statement was accepted by Mushuau Innu Council Chief Simeon Tshakapesh, Sheshatshiu Innu Council Chief Gregory Andrew and Innu Nation president Peter Penashue.

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A military panel ruled a peacekeeper from CFB Petawawa, a Canadian Native soldier accused of torturing and murdering a Somali teenager, is not fit to stand trial.

Psychiatrists testified Master Corporal Clayton Matchee suffered severe brain damage from a suicide attempt and would not understand the proceedings against him. Matchee, 28, was found hanging in his bunker after his March 1993 arrest in Somalia. The suicide attempt left him with spastic limbs, severe co-ordination problems, an inability to concentrate, limited short-term memory and slurred speech.

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The federal government is backing away from active participation in the environmental regime, said Susanne Hilton of the Great Whale Environmental Assessment Office. This leaves Quebec and the Grand Council of the Crees in a standoff situation over the future of the $13 billion hydroelectric Great Whale project in Northern Quebec.

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Missing documentation, unrecorded expenditures, unsupported transfers from program to program, payments made in excess of actual expense reports - the list of irregularities in the financial and accounting practices of the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan goes on and on.

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Metis Nation of Saskatchewan president Gerald Morin said his organization chose to deal with other issues and postponed acting on recommendations from contributors to get the MNS financial house in order.

The result, according to a Deloitte and Touche audit, is $700,000 in errors and mistakes in accounting over the last two-year period and a possible deficit of unknown proportion for 1994.

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Grand Chief Phil Fontaine expects he'll have a fight on his hands to see Native self-government replace Indian Affairs in Manitoba, and his first opponent may be Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Ovide Mercredi.

The dust had little time to settle in The Pas, where the Opaskwayak Cree Nation hosted the Manitoba chiefs in ground-breaking talks on self-government April 19-21. Mercredi told treaty representatives in Saskatchewan Natives must resist regional settlements on self-government.

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Like the mythical Phoenix, Winalta has survived the flames and risen from the ashes, back in business, and bigger and better than ever.

Winalta, a leading builder of manufactured homes in Western Canada, suffered a major setback in May 2001 when it's manufacturing facility on the Enoch reserve just west of Edmonton was destroyed by fire, shutting down the company's operations.

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Syncrude and Cameco are two companies with a lot in common. Both are resource-based businesses--Syncrude works in the petroleum sector, and Cameco in the mining sector. Both operate in northern communities-Syncrude based out of Fort McMurray in northern Alberta, and Cameco with mining operations across northern Saskatchewan. And both companies have had their Aboriginal relations efforts recognized-gold level achievement hallmarks from the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program, the first companies earn that level.

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Scotiabank has a long history of supporting the Aboriginal community, through sponsoring scholarships, events and programs, and supporting Aboriginal business initiatives. Now Scotiabank hopes to measure, and build on, their successes in developing good Aboriginal relations through membership in the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program.

"We are the only financial institution that has committed to PAR at this point, so it feels really nice to sort of be a leader in that," said Michele Baptiste, national manager of Aboriginal relations with Scotiabank.

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More and more Canadian businesses are welcoming an opportunity to have their commitment to respectful Aboriginal relations measured and recognized through their involvement in the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program.

The PAR program, now in its second year of operation, offers participating businesses a framework for setting objectives relating to Aboriginal relations, developing plans to meet those objectives, and measuring the results.