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The provincial government will be consulting people in the north about whether a law that exempts northern employees from earning overtime pay for extra hours worked needs to be changed.

The Northern Exemption law, enacted in 1955, exempts employees working north of Township 62 from the hours of work and overtime provisions of the Labour Standards Act. The communities of La Ronge, Creighton and Uranium City and a 10-kilometre area around each community are not covered by the examption.

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The teenager charged in a triple murder that took place on Montreal Lake Cree Nation on March 2, 2005 has pleaded guilty.

The identity of the 18-year-old, who was 17 when the crime was committed, is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The accused had orginally been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder in connection with the killings but pleaded guilty to three charges of second degree murder on May 23.

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Quinton Lloyd Bitternose is facing life in prison after being found guilty for the murder of Wayne Friday.

The 12-person jury in the case found Bitternose guilty on May 16. The first-degree murder charge brings with it an automatic sentence of life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 25 years.

Friday was abducted from a home in Regina on Nov. 20, 2004. His naked body was found on Muscowpeetung First Nation later that day. He had been beaten and shot twice.

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Residential school survivors are one step closer to receiving their share of a $1.9 billion compensation package now that the federal cabinet has put its stamp of approval on plans for the pay out.

That approval finalizes the agreement-in-principle announced in November 2005 but the plan must be approved in nine provincial courts and a five-month opt-out period must pass before the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement will come into effect.

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Despite having commissioned a report on "the pros and cons of membership" in the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) on April 27, the board of directors of the First Nations University of Canada (FNUC) decided they will not go it alone.

The decision was revealed during the spring legislative assembly of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) in Prince Albert on May 30. The AUCC had imposed a June 14 deadline on FNUC to provide proof that reforms recommended by a task force last year would be implemented.

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The trouble-plagued Metis Nation-Saskatchewan (MNS) has suffered another blow with the announcement that the federal government won't be renewing its contract with Metis Employment and Training of Saskatchewan Inc. (METSI), the MNS organization responsible for providing education and training opportunities to Metis people.

Since 1999, METSI had been operating as an Aboriginal Human Resource Development Agreement (AHRDA) holder under the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy, designed to improve access to jobs for Aboriginal people.

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Kandis Langton began a new chapter in her life on May 16 with a posting with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Vallyview after completing a grueling six months of training in Regina.

"It was a lot of hard work and I was happy to finish, and I'm even happier to start my career," she said.

Her friends and family in Edmonton honored the 22-year-old graduate of the training depot on May 10 with a graduation and going-away party. Langton was looking forward to beginning her new five-year post.

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Northern Lakes College hosted its annual traditional powwow on May 6. The morning events consisted of hand games taught by Romeo Waskahat of Frog Lake, and dance workshops were taught by Tina Isadore of Driftpile.

About 500 visitors attended throughout the day to hear the sound of the drum group River Cree. The dancers came from Salt Prairie, Grouard, East Prairie, Wabasca, Enoch, Driftpile, Sawridge, Big Horn, Horse Lake, Whitefish, Slave Lake, Duncan, Berwyn, Smith, Sturgeon Lake and Grimshaw.

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The History in the Hills event, which will take place at Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park June 14 to 17, is about coming together, said an enthusiastic Amy Connachie, the cultural co-ordinator for Miywasin Society of Aboriginal Services in Medicine Hat.

The park, which straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, is a significant spot, said Connachie, because it was a gathering place for First Nations and later the Metis tribes in the early 1800s.

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The journey of an Aboriginal youth group trying to raise awareness on the issue of youth suicide is finally coming to an end.

The Aboriginal Youth Suicide Prevention Walk's fourth and final annual cross-Canada trek, which started in Sydney, N. S., March 14, will end in Victoria, B.C., June 21, will complete a campaign that has touched many political leaders and communities, and helped the healing of those involved.