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Saskatchewan Health has changed the way it keeps track of the use of prescription drugs in the province, expanding the scope of the monitoring system to include all prescriptions filled in the province regardless of who is footing the bill.

That means prescriptions not covered under the province's drug plan, or those paid for by the federal government-including those filled for First Nation patients and veterans-will now be monitored.

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One of the unique programs that will be featured at this year's Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) national conference to be held in Victoria from Feb. 24 to Feb. 26 is a camping program called Whitecrow Village, headquartered in Burns Lake.

Founded by Kee Warner, Whitecrow Village brings together families coping with FASD to share stories with professionals who attend the camp to learn more about how to deal with the disorder.

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The 2005 FASD National Conference, to be held in Victoria from Feb. 24 to Feb. 26, will focus on equality of access to health care, education, social services and justice for those people afflicted with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, caused in the fetus by exposure to alcohol before birth.

Since 1996, the bi-annual conference, sponsored by Interprofessional Continuing Education of the University of British Columbia, has zeroed in on the issues most impacting the individuals dealing with FASD, more than 300,000 Canada-wide.

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Legal council for Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council says Alberta's draft consultation policy on land management and resource development was developed in a high-handed and arrogant manner and is entirely unconstitutional.

Jeff Rath says the draft policy doesn't meet the standards set out in the recent Supreme Court of Canada Haida and Taku decisions.

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It was 305 years ago on Jan. 26, 1700 that the West Coast of Vancouver Island was rocked by an earthquake. As night descended on the Nuu-chah-nulth communities, deep within the ocean a few miles offshore, the entire Cascadia fault exploded with such force that boats were sunk and sailors were killed by a tsunami thousands of miles across the Pacific ocean in Japan.

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Expect to see a very different National Aboriginal Achievement Awards show than what you've grown accustom to in the past.

Roman Bittman, the new executive producer of the gala show, to be held this year in Saskatoon on March 31, says the elaborate sets of years gone by are out, but that's not to say the audience can't expect something "quite spectacular."

Bittman is in close collaboration with the current set designer of the Cirque de Soliel for this year's show and the thunderbird and dreamcatcher legends feature large.

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The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation has announced the recipients of this year's National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, and only one has a connection with British Columbia.

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With an interim injunction, the British Colombia Supreme Court ordered Marine Harvest Canada to remove its Atlantic salmon smolts from its fish farm on Homalco territory in the Bute Inlet.

Justice Ian Pitfield made his ruling Dec. 24, using the recent Supreme Court of Canada Haida decision, stating that there is precedent for Homalco to argue the community was not properly consulted about the project.

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Can you tickle people's funny bones? FunnyFest, the second largest comedy festival in Canada, is looking for Aboriginal stand-up comics.

The Calgary-based festival, which runs from April 28 to May 14, is holding a talent search every Saturday from Feb. 5 to March 26 at the Sheraton Suites Eau Claire. The festival, in its fifth year, draws comedians from around the world to perform at its nine venues and 70 shows.

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The latest figures from the Regional Longitudinal Health Survey show that smoking rates among First Nations people in Canada are dropping, but we'll have to wait until the end of 2005 for researchers to tell us why.

Statistics from the 2002-03 survey put the rate of smoking among First Nations people age 20 and over at 57.6 per cent, down 4.4 per cent from survey figures for 1997 and 1991 when the rate was at 62 per cent.