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MEDIUM RARE

Have you ever seen that show called Monster Garage, where a group of mechanics take a perfectly good vehicle, like a Corvette, and turn it into something weird, like a monster "mud racer," or a freaky lawn-mower?

I have a sneaking suspicion the folks running the Assembly of First Nations are avid fans of the show.

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A benefit concert held at Toronto's historic Massey Hall on Oct. 10 was supposed to raise money for the George family of Stoney Point, Ont. to fight a wrongful death lawsuit against the Ontario Provincial Police and former Ontario premier Mike Harris. Instead, it turned into a fundraiser for a new Aboriginal education fund.

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Two successive Progressive Conservative governments lasted 2,949 days without calling a public judicial inquiry into the killing of First Nation activist Dudley George, despite allegations that prominent members of their party-former premier Mike Harris in particular-shared some of the blame in the events that led to Dudley's death.

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Author Larry Loyie has published only one book, but it's a winner. As Long as the Rivers Flow, which recently won the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction, tells the story of his last summer before leaving his home and the traditional Cree life to go to residential school.

Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?

Larry Loyie: I think sincerity...I like a friend that, most of my friends are elderly, who knows a lot about tradition. . . I go after people who are knowledgeable in traditions and different cultures.

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The minister who championed the First Nations governance act has admitted it probably won't pass in this incarnation of Parliament.

With his political future out of his control and in the hands of prime minister-in-waiting Paul Martin, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Robert Nault, seemed resigned to taking a wait-and-see approach to a variety of issues as he spoke during an interview with Windspeaker in his office on Oct. 21.

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As he awaits the time when Prime Minister Jean Chretien departs and he finally moves into the highest political office in the land, Paul Martin has been meeting with First Nation leaders and saying that their issues will be a priority for him.

National Chief Phil Fontaine confirmed that he met with the future prime minister at the Assembly of First Nations' Ottawa headquarters.

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Vice-chief Rick Simon made no secret of his region's support for the financial institutions legislation (Bill C-19) and the Getting Results Agenda put forward by National Chief Phil Fontaine at the Assembly of First Nations special chiefs' gathering in Squamish Nation, B.C. in October.

Page 9

A benefit concert held at Toronto's historic Massey Hall on Oct. 10 was supposed to raise money for the George family of Stoney Point, Ont. to fight a wrongful death lawsuit against the Ontario Provincial Police and former Ontario premier Mike Harris. Instead, it turned into a fundraiser for a new Aboriginal education fund.

Page 9

Two successive Progressive Conservative governments lasted 2,949 days without calling a public judicial inquiry into the killing of First Nation activist Dudley George, despite allegations that prominent members of their party-former premier Mike Harris in particular-shared some of the blame in the events that led to Dudley's death.