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Saddle Lake's Akina Shirt has a big gig coming up. She's singing "O Canada" in Cree in front of the entire country.

The 12-year-old honours student says she's excited "but a little nervous" to deliver her powerful rendition of the anthem on Hockey Night in Canada on Feb. 3. Her song will kick off the game between the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks.

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Representatives of the Northwest Nations Education Council (NNEC) and the Saskatchewan Teachers's Federation (STF) signed a memorandum of understanding on Nov. 15 that paves the way for negotiations to extend STF membership to teachers employed in NNEC schools.

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When Joseph Jean Fauchon and Sheldon Mauvieux began their studies in the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP) at the Gabriel Dumont Institute (GDI), producing an award-winning children's book probably wasn't on their list of goals. But, on Nov. 25. when this year's winning books were announced during the Saskatchewan Book Awards gala in Regina, The Metis Alphabet Book, which Fauchon wrote and Mauvieux illustrated, took top spot in the First Peoples Publishing category.

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For the past 19 years, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has been running an annual campaign urging people not to drink and drive during the holiday season. This year's Project Red Ribbon campaign was launched on Nov. 1 and will run through until the New Year, encouraging people across the country to display MADD red ribbons as a sign of their personal commitment to drive sober this holiday season and to help deliver the organization's sober driving message.

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Half of all Aboriginal children in Saskatchewan are living in poverty.

That startling figure comes from the 2006 Report Card on Child Poverty in Saskatchewan, prepared by the social policy research unit of the faculty of social work at the University of Regina.

According to the Saskatchewan report card, the overall number of children in the province living in poverty is higher than the national average. National statistics show approximately one in six Canadian children live in poverty. In Saskatchewan, the rate is one in five.

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In 1989, members of Parliament from both sides of the floor joined together and unanimously resolved to work to eliminate child poverty in Canada by the year 2000.

We are now six years past that deadline and the number of children living in poverty in the country is still more than a million.

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It may be a small theatre company right now but Maureen Belanger, general manager of Upisasik Productions Inc. has big plans for the fledgling theatre company. The only Metis-specific theatre company in Saskatchewan, Upisasik incorporated Aug. 1 of this year.

"If somebody asked me what I needed for this company to get to where I want to be, I would say that we definitely need theatre space. Then I could be more focused and we could quite possibly have four big productions in a year," said Belanger, who is also an aspiring actress.

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A training program that had its beginnings in Saskatchewan will now be expanding to provide Aboriginal women from across the country an opportunity to help improve their lives.

The National Aboriginal Women for Tomorrow (AWFT) program was officially launched on Nov. 27. The program consists of a series of workshops designed to empower Aboriginal women by providing them with the skills and knowledge they need to participate more fully in their community and in the Canadian economy.

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Saskatchewan artist John Henry Fine Day has passed away at the young age of 32. Diagnosed with leukemia five years ago, Fine Day built a significant amount of work during his illness, even undertaking the strenuous effort of preparing for exhibition at several shows.

A member of Sweetgrass First Nation, Fine Day was born on August 6, 1974 in Regina. From an early age he showed an interest in all things artistic, whether it was play dough, LEGO, skateboarding or music.

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Judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond will leave the Saskatchewan provincial court bench in February to act as British Columbia's new child and youth representative, overseeing the province's child protection system.