The Alberta government has released a framework designed to make post-secondary education more affordable for students, but the Alberta College and Technical Institute Student Executive Council (ACTISEC) said the18-month review of post-secondary education is mediocre effort that lacks detail. They say, however, it is a step in the right direction.

The youth-focused organization, Child and Youth Friendly Calgary, hosted its annual Youth for the Future Gathering on Oct. 24 to 26, an anti-racism event for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth.

Alberta's own Daniel McKennitt and Alexander Angnaluak, along with 10 other Aboriginal youth from across Canada, were presented with a National Aboriginal Role Model Award from Gov-Gen Michaelle Jean during a ceremony at Rideau Hall on Oct. 16 in Ottawa.

Each year the National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) recognizes the accomplishments of 12 Aboriginal young people, ages 13 to 30, from First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities.

In September 2005, the suicide of an 11-year-old girl galvanized the communities of Clearwater County to come together to find a way to change the lives of people feeling alone and hopeless. The girl was the ninth person in the area to take her own life in the space of six months.

During 2005, besides the nine completed suicides, there were 58 attempted suicides, the oldest being 87 and the youngest just nine years old. Suicide does not discriminate, the community had come to learn. It can affect people of all ages, economic brackets, cultures or genders.

The federal government is doing its share to ensure the 2008 North American Indigenous Games are a success.

Canada's Minister for Sport Michael Chong announced on Nov. 3 the government is pledging $3.5 million to the event.

This support represents slightly more than one-third of the anticipated $10 million that will be required to run the games that will be held in British Columbia's Cowichan Valley.

Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), says he is shocked at the news of cuts by the federal Conservative government to Aboriginal language preservation funding.

On Nov. 2, Bev Oda, the minister of Heritage and Status of Women, provided a written response to a question about language funding by Member of Parliament Charlie Angus. Oda stated that monies set aside in 2002 for Aboriginal languages in the amount of $172.5 million would not be disbursed as planned and is being removed from the fiscal framework.

Usually when my editor knocks on my door, she's there to assign stories, not to send me on a casting call for a movie, but that's exactly what she did on one recent Friday afternoon. I read the newspaper clipping that requested slim Aboriginals with long hair go to the Wingate Inn in Edmonton and apply to work as extras for the movie production of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Usually when my editor knocks on my door, she's there to assign stories, not to send me on a casting call for a movie, but that's exactly what she did on one recent Friday afternoon. I read the newspaper clipping that requested slim Aboriginals with long hair go to the Wingate Inn in Edmonton and apply to work as extras for the movie production of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

The Art Gallery of Alberta will present the work of Igloolik Isuma Productions Inc., Canada's first Inuit independent film company. ISUMA: to have an idea will run from Dec. 9 to Feb. 19, 2007.
Isuma was founded in 1990 by Zacharias Kunuk, Pauloosie Qulitalk, Norman Cohn and the late Paul Apak Angilirqu. The production company became internationally known through their breakout film Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner, a Cannes Film Festival award winner.

Will they or won't they? That is the question being asked by treaty First Nations people about the requirement that passports be necessary for people crossing from Canada into the United States.