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Dear Editor:

I have listened with dismay as Aboriginal prisoners described how, due to strict non-smoking policies, they are no longer permitted to smudge and pray in their cells. I am writing now to register my displeasure with such cultural insensitivity and the violation of religious freedom. As I see it, the justice policies are being used to strip away rights and freedoms of the most vulnerable, which include Aboriginal prisoners, who face the prospect of losing a basic right of Canadian citizenship (voting) as well.

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Dear Editor:

In honor of the United Nations' International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) has launched a new initiative, Stop Internet Hate, to fight hate on the Web.

The CJC Web site now carries a link for anyone wishing to report what they believe may be an Internet site with hateful content. This new initiative is an attempt to both educate and empower everyone who uses the Internet to recognize and report potential Web sites that may be promoting hatred.

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Dear Editor:

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Dear Editor:

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Dear Editor:

I am writing from Montieth Correctional Facility regarding the article titled "Take Pride In Your Successes." I haven't been the type to be able to communicate socially. I always got lost in my thoughts. Then I would feel sweaty and out of place. Your article helped me see that I have been something I'm not. Just always trying to fit in socially with a horrible crowd. I feel people don't look at these problems and realize that it's happening in their environment.

Thank you for the realization.

Louis Boily, 19

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Dear Editor:

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Editorial

As accountability questions arise again and plans for more rhetoric and political posturing are being prepared, let us try to keep things from getting silly this time around.

Knowing the world of Indian Affairs as well as we do, we believe this must all begin with someone saying the things that everybody knows but nobody talks about.

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Hotels are already sold out in Port Alberni and Elders from throughout British Columbia are rushing to reserve rooms in Parksville, Qualicum and Nanaimo for this summer's Elders' gathering in the Alberni Valley.

The Gateway to the West Coast will host more than 4,000 Native Elders this July 18 to 20, and the entire community is coming together to ensure the 30th annual event is "the best ever," according to Port Alberni Mayor Ken McRae.

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Coastal First Nations that own commercial halibut licenses were shocked to learn their Pacific Halibut Management Association (PHMA) recently agreed to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to the BC Fisheries Survival Coalition, a non-registered group whose main interest seems to be opposing Aboriginal Fishing rights and title.

PHMA is a provincial society that currently represents 85 per cent of the commercial halibut license holders, and was created to advance joint project agreements in the commercial fishery.

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If Aboriginal people are going to reverse negative trends-and the stereotypes that often come with them-they will need to be led by their youth, who make up more than half of their population.

That was the message heard in Kamloops last month where more than 800 Aboriginal youth attended Gathering Our Voices 2006, the annual provincial Aboriginal youth conference.