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Group rescues dogs from cull in northern Quebec

Buddy (L), a Black Lab breed mix, and Rosco, a Duck Tolling Retriever mix, sit with a handler at the North Shore Animal League America (NSALA) in Port Washington, New York, July 27, 2010. She is one of seven out of 36 dogs that were rescued from a "dog shoot" in Northern Quebec that was scheduled to control the dog population.


An animal welfare group says it helped rescue three dozen animals from a summer “dog shoot” in northern Quebec, as it tries to help the Inuit find a new way of dealing with unwanted dogs.

“It was an organized roundup of unwanted dogs,” said Jan Hannah, the Canadian project manager for International Fund for Animal Welfare. The dogs are being transported to shelters in Ontario and New York state, where they could find new homes within weeks.

So-called dog shoots, dog kill days or dog cleanup days are common in Canada’s remote northern communities, where veterinarians are scarce and canines reproduce at will. Typically, the dogs are picked up, thrown in a truck and driven to a dump, where they are shot in the head with a hunting rifle.

Pierre Russel, treasurer of Kuujjuarapik, confirmed that nuisance dogs in his tiny Inuit community in northern Quebec are regularly taken to the dump and shot.

“We have to do that occasionally, yes,” he said. “They are dogs that are endangering the people. When they start to be scary, when people are afraid to walk in the street, we have to do that.”

“It’s a choice we have to make. It’s not easy,” he added.

He said it was not fair to single out Kuujjuarapik for conducting a dog cull.

“We have no vet, no SPCA. We’re very isolated,” he said. “It’s happening all over Nunavik (northern Quebec). We’re not the only one.”

The International Fund for Animal Welfare uncovered the practice while providing veterinary services in eight towns in northern Quebec, all of which had culls, over the past eight years.

In the past, IFAW has not been able to stop the dog shoots.

“I don’t see my role as going into the communities and telling them what to do,” Hannah said. “I prefer to assist and empower.”

This year, however, the group found out about the cull in advance.

“Once we heard about the dog shoot, we got together with community members who wanted to find a humane solution,” Hannah said, applauding the townsfolk for their initiative.

“It’s fantastic that they wanted to try something different.”


She refused to name the towns that have culls because, she said, the problem is not isolated to those towns, and because stray dogs don’t fare much better further south, where shelters are jammed with unwanted pups.

“They do it because they have to. They don’t do it because it’s a hee-haw,” she said.

The problem, Russel said, is that nobody in his village of 1,100 is qualified to spay or neuter dogs, so the stray population gets out of control and the animals begin roaming around in packs, scaring kids on their way to school.

This year, however, for the first time, Kuujjuarapik has scraped together money for a veterinarian to come operate on female dogs.

“The better solution would be if there were some responsible dog owners, but that’s not the case,” Russel said.

A century-old sword used by Métis leader found in Saskatchewan

Métis family 1899 in rural Alberta

BATOCHE, SASK. A missing sword believed to have belonged to the famous Métis leader Louis Riel has been found.

The sword disappeared Wednesday during the Back to Batoche festival in Saskatchewan.

It had been on display at a table hosted by a Métis delegation from British Columbia.

Robert Doucette of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan said the sword was recovered on Sunday by a security company working at the festival. He said the artifact was turned in by a man from the nearby One Arrow First Nation.

"You know when a cultural item like that goes missing, it's irreplaceable. And when it comes home, it comes home to the relief and the gratitude of all people of that nation," Doucette said.

A $500 reward for the return of the sword had been offered, but Doucette says it hasn't been decided yet if it will be paid out.

Festival spokeswoman Gaylene Poulin said that a couple of kids had been found playing with the sword at the Batoche rodeo grounds.

"Two kids were sword fighting with it. They had no idea what they were fighting with," Poulin said. "We don't know who took it but we're glad it was found."

Doucette said he felt a huge relief when he was told that the sword had been returned.

He said he wrapped it in a traditional Métis sash, took to the stage and invited Métis Nation of British Columbia president Bruce Dumont to join him.

"We hugged each other and all the Metis, First Nations and non-aboriginal people who were there cheered," Doucette said. "It's just another icing on the cake to a great, great eight days out here at Batoche."

The festival is an annual celebration of Métis culture held near the site of the 1885 showdown between the Canadian army and Métis and aboriginal fighters, who were led by Riel.

The Métis were defeated and Riel was found guilty of high treason and hanged in Regina.

He is considered the greatest leader of the Métis as well as the founding father of Manitoba. The province has a holiday named for him.

Dumont explained that the priceless sword is the property of the former Métis Nation of British Columbia's regional director, Henry Hall. It has been authenticated, Dumont said, and has Riel's initials on it.

He said he didn't know what was happening when Doucette called him to the stage and unwrapped the sash.

"People were coming up and saying, 'Can I touch it and can I look at it?' At that time I didn't even want to let go of it," Dumont said.

"We very much appreciate it being returned in good condition with no damage."

The Canadian Press

9-week-old needs long-term home

9-week-old needs long-term home

Tragic fire claims 3 in Nunatsiavut Region

A fire in Nain on Saturday evening was too intense for firefighters to enter the house immediately


A small town in northern Labrador is reeling after its second fatal incident this month, with three people killed in a weekend house fire.

A Nain man, 50, and two small children — ages two and four — were killed when a fast-moving fire devoured a house in the close-knit Inuit community.

The tragedy came close on the heels of a July 9 drowning that claimed the life of a nine-year-old boy.

"It's quite tragic. Everybody's affected by this," said RCMP Const. Steve Conohan. He said volunteer firefighters felt helpless because the heat in Saturday's house fire was so intense they could not immediately enter it.

A woman escaped from the fire and called for help around 7:45 p.m.

"Nain being a small coastal community, any time fire happens in a small community like that, the entire community is impacted. To have the loss of three people from the same family is especially tragic, especially since there are two young persons involved."

The fire leapt to a nearby house and destroyed it also. No one was in the second house at the time.

Emergency crews spent Sunday putting out hotspots in the rubble. RCMP forensics investigators were en route to Nain to examine the scene.

Conohan said the volunteer firefighters were deeply affected by Saturday night's fire.

"As a volunteer firefighter, you come to a fire scene, your first inclination is to try and help whoever may be trapped," he said.

"It must definitely affect you if you can't get in there."



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2010/07/26/nain-fire-deaths-tragedy-726.html#ixzz0unKq3SLg

New York state Plans to Eliminate 170,000 Canada Geese

By ISOLDE RAFTERY/ NY TIMES

Thinner Flocks
The 2009 plan that state and local authorities have been following to reduce the number of Canada geese living in New York State by two-thirds.

View the Plan »

It’s a doomsday plan for New York’s geese.

A nine-page report put together by a variety of national, state and city agencies shows that officials hope to reduce the number of Canada geese in New York to 85,000 from 250,000.

That means that roughly 170,000 geese — two-thirds of the population — will be killed.

The nearly 400 geese gassed to death this month after being rounded up in Prospect Park in Brooklyn — as well as an unknown number of other geese killed in New York City in recent weeks — were but a small part of the ambitious overall goal outlined in the document, which was obtained by City Room.

“The state of New York has close to 250,000 resident Canada geese, which is more than three times the state’s population goal of 85,000,” the report states. It is unknown how many have been killed so far.

The plan, according to a high-level official at the United States Department of Agriculture, was a result of five months of meetings between February and June 2009, after the crash of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River. Canada geese hit both of the jet’s engines, causing the splashdown.

Those attending the meetings that yielded the plan included officials from the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, the National Park Service and key staff members from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s office, the official said.

He said that politicians peppered officials from the Department of Agriculture with questions about the science and asked how many goose strikes had occurred and the danger they posed. They learned that there have been 78 Canada goose strikes over 10 years in New York, and that those strikes caused more than $2.2 million in aircraft damage.

The plan was written with the approval of everyone at that table, the official said, including this paragraph:

“The captured geese are placed alive in commercial turkey crates. The geese would be brought to a secure location and euthanized with methods approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Euthanized geese would be buried.”

Inuit remains in Chicago museum for over 80 years return to Labrador

More than 80 years after they were taken by a young curator from Chicago’s Field Museum, the bones of 22 Inuit are going back to a remote Labrador community



Les Perreaux

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Published on Tuesday, Jul. 20, 2010 8:35PM EDT

Last updated on Tuesday, Jul. 20, 2010 9:16PM EDT



The bones of 22 Inuit lay for 83 years in storage at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, a prestigious institution that held the proceeds of a long-buried crime on the coast of Labrador.

For all those decades, the Inuit had no idea an ambitious archaeologist from the south had robbed their graves. But on the archeological grapevine and in the researcher’s writings, the heist was not forgotten. Now, those Inuit bones are going home.

The mystery began to unravel in 2008, when a researcher working for the Smithsonian Institution sent a note to Labrador’s Torngâsok Cultural Centre with some gossip he had heard around the campfire: The Field Museum may have the remains of some of your people.

A small team from Labrador launched a two-year quest that will end soon with the return of the bones.

“The story is quite unbelievable. In a way, it could turn into a happy story, even though what was done was immoral, disrespectful and disgraceful. Now we want to do what is right,” said Johannes Lampe, Minister of Culture in the Nunatsiavut Inuit government of northern Labrador.

The remains, including a handful of complete skeletons, came from the Inuit community of Zoar, which was founded in the mid-1800s by missionaries of the Moravian church, a German Protestant denomination. By 1894 the community had been abandoned, with little more than a graveyard to mark its existence.

“It’s really a beautiful area, but it wasn’t the perfect spot for settlement,” said Jamie Brake, an archeologist with Labrador’s Torngâsok Cultural Centre, based in nearby Nain. “There wasn’t much fresh water, it wasn’t a good spot for hunting, the caribou rarely passed by. It was also a very bad area for flies.”

In 1927, William Duncan Strong, a young curator from the Field Museum, arrived on the coast of Labrador. Mr. Brake and Helen Robbins, the repatriation director at the Field, reviewed Dr. Strong’s personal journal and expedition reports to reconstruct what happened next.

Dr. Strong quickly got into trouble with the Inuit when he went to Zoar and dug up marked graves. After hearing complaints, the local magistrate, a man named Simms who ruled from a ship offshore, ordered Dr. Strong to return the graves to their original state.

Dr. Strong filled the graves, which were marked and documented by the Moravian missionaries. He then skulked back to Chicago with the bones of 22 Inuit.

The Inuit, who assumed the remains had been placed back in the graves, forgot about their American visitor. The administrators of the Field Museum, for their part, believed the bones had been obtained in good faith – until recently, at least.

Dr. Strong, who died in 1962, went on to a long career of considerable repute. Grave-robbing was common in the 19th century, but by Dr. Strong’s time the removal of remains without permission was considered unethical. His actions mystify those who followed him.

Ms. Robbins described Dr. Strong’s writings as ambiguous: While he felt taking the remains was distasteful, he didn’t seem to feel remorse.

“He was a very junior curator, just out of graduate school, it was his first big job. He was told the museum wanted physical anthropological specimens, he felt he needed to do that,” Ms. Robbins said. “I think he was a complicated man. I hate to throw stones at him. He was young and new to his profession.”

While U.S. law requires the return of native remains in the United States, institutions like the Field Museum and the Smithsonian have led the way, voluntarily returning hundreds of sets of remains to Canada, mainly on the West Coast.

Mr. Brake and others from the cultural centre worked for months to confirm the identities of the Labrador remains, and to track down living descendants. The Old German documentation left by the Moravian missionaries and tangled family trees have made the work extremely difficult.

“We looked closely at two individuals and ended up with 150 pages with names and dates relating to potential descendants. We quickly hit our limit on how much time and money we could dedicate,” Mr. Brake said.

The Field Museum has agreed to pay for repatriating the remains, but many details remain to be worked out with Nunatsiavut.

One detail has been decided. Mr. Brake said the remains will be buried in Zoar, where they were unearthed 83 years ago

"Trans Fats in food" What you need to know about the silent killer

What you need to know before eating junk food








What are trans fats?

..Trans fats are chemically altered vegetable oils. They are produced artificially in a process called hydrogenation which turns liquid oil into solid fat.

Trans fats can be found in thousands of processed foods from sweets and biscuits to ready meals. They are used because they are cheap, add bulk to products, have a neutral flavour and give products a long shelf life. They have no nutritional value.

Are trans fats bad for you?
Trans fats have been linked to high cholesterol, which can lead to health conditions such as heart attacks and strokes.

A study suggests that trans fats can also increase the risk of fertility problems. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, USA, say that consuming just 4g of trans fats every day can lead to infertility in women.

Avoiding trans fats
In Canada just like in the US, food producers are required to label this information. The trans fat content of products to be included on food labelling on every product sold to the public.

Trans fats can be formed during a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenated fats must be declared on the label so if a product contains hydrogenated fats, it may contain trans fats. Look out for the words partially hydrogenated on food labels these products may also contain trans fats.

If you want to avoid trans fats you should:

•Avoid food like chips, cookies, chocolate bars that contain trans fats (labeled)
•avoid products that list hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated or shortenings on the label,
•include lots of fruit and vegetables in your diet,
•use fat-free or low-fat dairy products,
•avoid fast food, high and full fat margarine and baked goods such as doughnuts, pastries and biscuits,
•use lean cuts of meat and poultry and cook them without skin, without adding trans fats,
•use liquid vegetable oil for frying, and
•ask about trans fat content when eating at a restaurant or café.

Violent thunderstorms and tornado hit Montreal

Couple struck by lightning while taking shelter under a tree

Two people are in hospital and residents in southern Quebec are cleaning up following a night of violent thunderstorms and a tornado.

A Montreal couple was struck by lightning Saturday night while taking shelter under a tree during a heavy downpour around 7:45 p.m.

Emergency services confirmed the man went into cardiac arrest and remains in hospital in serious condition.

The woman is also in hospital suffering from severe burns.

Neighbourhood residents came to the aid of the victims before being transported to two different hospitals.

Meanwhile, residents of Saint Lazare, a town just west of Montreal, were hit by a weak tornado that turned over patio furniture and damaged roofs.

A spokeswoman from Environment Canada confirmed Sunday three homes had been hit with a F-0 scale twister.

Brigitte Bourque says it was a mild tornado with winds reaching 120 km/hr.

Villeray district shows its neighbourly side

Villeray district shows its neighbourly side

Villeray residents back Inuit

Montreal community NEWS

(Montreal Gazette)

Villeray residents back Inuit

First Nations’ well-being gap getting worse (Toronto)

Toronto Sun
By MINDELLE JACOBS, QMI Agency

There is no more agonizing example of the mistaken belief that heaps of money alone will mend broken lives than the ongoing socio-economic catastrophe engulfing Canada’s aboriginals.

In a report quietly released recently, the federal government acknowledged that “there has been little or no progress” in overall community well- being among First Nation and Inuit communities since 2001.

While there was a significant reduction in the well-being gap among First Nation and Inuit communities relative to other Canadian communities between 1981 and 1996, progress between 2001 and 2006 stalled, according to the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada paper.

Not surprisingly, the lowest community well-being scores, which measure education, labour force participation, income and housing, are on reserves on the Prairies, where most aboriginals live.

Among the bottom 100 Canadian communities, 96 were First Nations. Only one aboriginal community ranked in the top 100 Canadian communities — the Tsawwassen First Nation near Vancouver.

In short, despite the billions a year Canada spends on aboriginals, things appear to be getting worse. Between 1991 and 1996, only 18% of First Nations communities experienced a drop in their well-being scores. But by the 2001-06 period, the scores for 36% of those communities declined, compared to only 10% of Canadian communities as a whole.

Tragically, the well-being gap between First Nations and Canadians in general has widened. A host of problems, including dysfunctional native governance and dependence on federal funding, have contributed to the mess, argues John Graham, a senior associate at the Institute on Governance.

In a recent policy paper he wrote, he points out that First Nations governments are huge — perhaps the largest local governments in the world.

‘Curse of aid’

Per capita expenditures of First Nations are roughly 10 times those of the average municipality, Graham observes. And while First Nations have wider responsibilities than municipalities, they lack the checks and balances that governments in other parts of Canada face.

The executive functions are “fused” in chief and council and there is no official opposition to hold the government to account, notes Graham.

That lack of balance threatens accountability and creates “in” and “out” groups, often defined by family affiliation, “with few options for the ‘outs’ other than to blame and complain,” writes Graham.

Then there’s what Graham describes as the “curse of aid” — that large fiscal transfers to reserves have created dependency and fostered unaccountable governance.

Part of the solution is for the federal and provincial governments to develop more specific initiatives to help native communities in the worst straits, Graham said Monday in an interview.

“We’ve got communities here that may be worse off than the slums of Mumbai,” he says. “If this isn’t the top issue of our social policy agenda, what is?”

Aboriginals were historically mistreated but they have to move on, warns Graham. Seeing yourself as a victim is counterproductive, he says. “It’s so compelling in one sense because it’s so nice to be able to blame somebody else. But as a development strategy, it’s a disaster.”

L’hôpital chinois au cœur du conseil d’arrondissement

Publié le 12 Juillet 2010
Anne-Laure Favereaux

La salle était comble le mardi 6 juillet au conseil d’arrondissement de Villeray. Et pour cause, une quinzaine de citoyens étaient présents pour soutenir le projet du centre d’hébergement inuit dans l’ancien hôpital chinois. Selon les règles, seules trois personnes étaient autorisées à aborder le même sujet, ce qui n’a pas empêché d’autres résidents de soulever des problématiques, prétextes pour parler du projet.

Sujets : Agence , Comité , Association des Inuits de Montréal , Quartier Villeray
C’est la porte-parole du Comité réseau d’appui au projet qui a ouvert le débat. Geneviève Baudet a insisté sur les effets positifs du centre d’hébergement inuit sur la vie du quartier Villeray avant de demander au maire, Anie Samson, de lever immédiatement l’avis de motion qui bloque le développement du projet. L’édile a précisé qu’il ne s’agissait pas d’un avis de motion mais d’un moratoire sur le développement du site de l’hôpital. Une mesure que l’arrondissement a mise en place car il jugeait ne pas être assez informé par l’Agence de santé et de services sociaux « Il est prématuré de dire qu’on lève le moratoire. Nous attendons les résultats de l’étude d’impact (réalisée par l’Agence) avant d’aller de l’avant. La balle est dans le camp de l’Agence» s’est défendu la mairesse, avant d’ajouter que « ce projet n’est pas celui de l’arrondissement, c’est au promoteur de fournir de l’information. »

Les citoyens ont dit regretter le manque de coopération entre les deux institutions. D’après Anie Samson ce dossier est traité comme les autres et l’arrondissement a besoin d’informations avant de le traiter. Mme Samson a toutefois affirmé quelques minutes plus tard que c’est « la première fois qu’on se sert de ce modus parce que c’est la première fois qu’un promoteur ignore les évidences. »

Un pas en avant

Si l’édile n’a pas souhaité prendre position sur le projet, elle a tout de même fait preuve de transparence en déposant officiellement la lettre signée par l’ensemble des élus rappelant les exigences de l’arrondissement vis-à-vis de l’Agence de santé et de services sociaux. Anie Samson a aussi fait preuve d’ouverture en autorisant exceptionnellement la présidente de l’association des Inuits de Montréal à poser une question en fin de séance. De son côté, Geneviève Baudet, porte-parole du Comité réseau d’appui au projet, dit être déçue mais aussi garder espoir.

NunatsiaqOnline 2010-07-11: NEWS: Montreal Inuit org wants apology from borough mayor

NunatsiaqOnline 2010-07-11: NEWS: Montreal Inuit org wants apology from borough mayor

China's massive growth means more demand for Nunavik nickel

-Several new projects being planned











A Financial survey of 24 economists has estimated that China’s economy is currently growing at massive 11.7 percent, a faster rate of growth than before the 2008 global recession.

This means that China is hungry for nickel – the key ingredient in stainless steel.

Stainless steel demand is tied directly to infrastructure spending. It is required for the manufacture of automobiles, planes, factories, buildings, bridges etc.

Without new supplies of nickel, the Chinese economic growth will be in jeopardy.

With yearly domestic nickel imports worth about $1 billion, it’s a safe bet that China nickel shopping basket is not full.

Indeed, last August a Chinese-Canadian joint venture (Goldbrook and Jilin Jien Nickel Industry Co) bought out Canadian Royalties for $191 million cash. The joint venture acquired all shares of Canadian Royalties for 80 cents, a 30% premium over the closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Canadian Royalties handed over the fully permitted and construction-ready Nunavik Nickel Project in Nunavik, Northern Quebec, about 1,500 miles (1,700 km) north of Montreal.

And they may not have to look far for a new asset.

Knight Resources holds a 45% interest in a joint venture with Anglo American at the West Raglan nickel project in northern Québec, 90 kilometres west of Xstrata’s nickel mine.

On July 7th 2010, Knight Resources announced that drills were turning on their West Raglan project in Northern Quebec. Two drills are active on the project, and a revised budget of $5.75-million has been approved for the 2010 exploration program.

The London Metal Exchange (LME) inventory levels are down 20% from the peak in February and the latest International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) production data suggests that the nickel market will remain in a global deficit of 36,000 metric tonnes for 2010.

Barclays Capital is also seeing a supply/demand imbalance.

Barclay’s is forecasting nickel spot price increases of 30% for over the next 24 months, supported by China's furious pace of industrialisation.

These estimates may be conservative. While gold, silver and copper have all flirted with or surpassed their 36 month highs, nickel still has a long way to run.

The cash-rich Chinese steel manufacturers – and the Chinese government - are unlikely to tolerate this sort of pricing uncertainty in one of the key drivers of their economic engine.

KNP has identified several high grade nickel zones that look similar to Xstrata’s. The last drill hole returned values of 28.28 metres of 3.21% nickel and 1.3% copper. They’ve just completed a financing and are about to begin drilling.

With all the positive macro fundamentals pushing nickel, and the Chinese hunger for a new nickel asset, we look at the nickel exploration companies to fill the worlds growing demand.

Bloomberg

Des citoyens disent oui au centre d'hébergement inuit.

Publié le 5 Juillet 2010

Anne-Laure Favereaux Faire reconnaître le droit à la santé du peuple Inuit du Nunavik et le droit de choisir l’édifice de soins qui leur convient le mieux, c’est la volonté d’un groupe de citoyens de Villeray en réponse à la polémique qui a suivi l’annonce d’un centre d’hébergement pour Inuits dans l’ancien hôpital chinois du quartier.

Sujets : Quartier de Villeray
La réaction vive de certains résidents à l’annonce d’un centre d’hébergement pour Inuits dans l’ancien hôpital chinois de Villeray a heurté plusieurs citoyens. « Cette réaction ne correspondait pas à ma vision de ce quartier multiculturel et tolérant qu’est le quartier de Villeray », explique Geneviève Baudet, porte-parole du comité de citoyens en faveur du projet. Afin de manifester leurs intérêts pour ce projet, une quinzaine de personnes seront présentes au conseil d’arrondissement ce mardi 6 juillet. Leur objectif : faire lever l’avis de motion qui gèle actuellement le développement du projet. Plus largement, le comité de citoyens veut faire reconnaître le droit à la santé du peuple inuit du Nunavik et leur droit de choisir l’édifice de soins qui convient le mieux à leurs besoins. Un comité qui compte sur la mobilisation de nombreux citoyens : 591 personnes sont déjà membres de la page Facebook « Contre le racisme. Pour un hôpital pour Inuits dans Villeray » et une cinquantaine ont signé la pétition, en faveur du projet, qui circule actuellement dans Villeray.

http://www.leprogresvilleray.com/Actualites/2010-07-05/article-1493455/Des-citoyens-disent-oui-au-centre-dhebergement-inuit./1

THE GOVERNMENT OF QUÉBEC IMPROVES HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES IN NUNAVIK

(Canada Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)

KUUJJUAQ, QC, July 5 2010 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, the Premier of Québec, Jean Charest announced that the Government of Québec and the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services have concluded a seven-year agreement on the delivery and funding of health and social services in Nunavik. For the occasion, the Premier was accompanied by Lise Thériault, Minister for Social Services and Pierre Corbeil, Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and Minister responsible for the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Region and the Nord-du-Québec Region. The announcement took place before Pita Aatami, President of Makivik Corporation and Maggie Emudluk, Chair of the Kativik Regional Government. Representing the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services was the Chair of its Board of Directors, Alasie Arngak.

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As stated by the Premier, "Much progress has been made in the region since the Katimajiit Forum in August 2007, but we know we still have more work to do. Today, we are taking an extra step to meet the concerns and needs of families living in the region's 14 villages. By the end of the agreement, the investments in health and social services will have allowed for the region's annual budget to jump by nearly 60%, an increase of $61.5 million compared to 2008-2009. My government will also invest $280 million, by 2015-2016, to help the region develop the infrastructures it needs in health and social services to better support the population." This money will particularly go towards building or expanding certain facilities, purchasing advanced medical equipment and building housing for staff, a crucial factor in the recruitment and retention of personnel.

The plan will be implemented over a seven-year period and will directly address the social problems experienced by families in the region, particularly those related to psychosocial issues, mental health, suicide, youth protection, sexual abuse and violence, alcohol and drugs, infant mortality, cancer, and dental health. "We will continue to develop front-line psychosocial and health services to prevent problems more effectively and adapt interventions, particularly with youth. It is important to build a sustainable partnership that will allow us to improve the situation together," stated the Minister for Social Services, Lise Thériault.


"We know the solution hinges on the ability of communities and their residents to take charge of their health and well-being. To effectively meet the various needs, we will either focus on a local service organization in each of the 14 villages, or a sub-regional organization on the Hudson Bay and Ungava Bay coast or for all Nunavik regions. Certain specialized services that are not available in the North will continue to be offered in Montréal," added the Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, Pierre Corbeil.

The 2009-2016 Strategic Plan will be achieved through annual implementation action plans. Moreover, the government and the Regional Board have agreed on the administrative details with regard to financial management and accountability reporting for health and social services in Nunavik.

Quebec government gives $60M boost to Nunavik health, social services

Quebec gives $60M boost to Nunavik health, social services

AccuWeather.com - A hot summer!

Most of Quebec including Nunavik will enjoy very warm weather in the next few weeks. A summer heat wave over most of eastern north America will push plenty of warm into all areas of Quebec. Environment Canada has issued a High heat and humidity warning Montreal. The temperature in Montreal will be in the low to mid 30's all week with humidity making it feel closer to a very uncomfortable 45 degrees. Hot temperatures combined with polluted air from the US Midwest region usually brings smog into the Montreal.


A summer heat wave over most of eastern north America will push plenty of warm into all areas of Quebec. Environment Canada has issued a High heat and humidity warning Montreal. The temperature in Montreal will be in the low to mid 30's all week with humidity making it feel closer to a very uncomfortable 45 degrees. Hot temperatures combined with polluted air from the US Midwest region usually brings smog into the region. I included a picture taken from a Boeing 747 plane before landing at Dorval-Trudeau airport when the weather was similar a few weeks ago.



Environment Canada Montreal Weather
http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/qc-147_metric_e.html

See storyAccuWeather.com - Brett Anderson | East Hot, West Cool into Early August







See storyAccuWeather.com - Brett Anderson | East Hot, West Cool into Early August