Métis National Council Reacts to 2nd Reading on Kelowna Accord
Members of Parliament had an opportunity to make a difference last night by voting in favour of the "Kelowna Accord." The Métis National Council sat in the gallery as the vote was held for second reading of Paul Martin's private members' bill, An Act to Implement the Kelowna Accord.

See also:

• Martin bill to revive $5 billion aboriginal accord approved in principle

• Assembly of First Nations pleased by the passage on Second Reading of Bill C-292: An Act to Implement the Kelowna Accord

Partnership With Libraries Helps Families Access ServiceOntario Online
The Henvy Inlet First Nation Public Library is partnering with ServiceOntario to make it easier for area residents to access Ontario government services in their community.

An Aboriginal solution to Alberta's worker shortage
Alberta Workforce Connex, an innovative and results-driven forum to address the worker shortage is being held Wednesday, October 18th and Thursday, October 19th at the Capri Centre Trade and Convention Centre. For the first time, many employers will learn about their ability to access Aboriginal talent through Aboriginal employment centres and develop strategies to effectively train, recruit and retain Alberta's untapped Aboriginal workforce.

Income-assistance cuts examined
According to the provincial government’s Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance, some 306,700 jobs have been created in B.C. since 2001, and unemployment is at the lowest recorded level ever: 4.8 percent last August. The total provincewide income-assistance caseload (one case consists of a single person or a family) has dropped by 36 percent since 2001, when the ministry began implementing a range of policy changes, including introducing more stringent eligibility criteria for income-assistance applicants and measures that allowed easier removal of cases, scaling back on staff, closing offices, and cutting social-assistance programs. The Income Assistance Project, a qualitative five-year study conducted by researchers from UBC, SFU, and UNBC, is keeping tabs on the effects of this policy. Researchers are investigating how low-income, lone-mother families have been affected by the 2002 policy changes. Beginning in 2003, researchers worked with 22 single mothers in urban Vancouver and the rural Bulkley Valley. So far, they have found that these parents have been hit hard.

It's alarming how many aboriginals are in prison
Canada's jails are as full as its postsecondary institutions with aboriginal men and women. There were 22,881 native postsecondary students in 2004-05 who had registered Indian or Inuit status and received federal education funding. There are roughly 17,000 native inmates of federal or provincial jails. This is a national disgrace.

Ontario Providing More Tools To Support Sustainable Communities
Legislation to reform Ontario's land-use planning system and promote sustainable development has been passed by the Ontario legislature.

Create a well-fed city, residents urged
In line with a United Nations initiative to end hunger, a visiting anti-poverty advocate has challenged Whitehorse residents to be the first ones in Canada to make their city hunger-free.

Action needed on housing
In this red-hot real estate market, providing affordable housing for lower income families is a difficult and elusive goal. From last September to this, housing prices in Edmonton increased by 48.8 per cent, the biggest increase in any city in Canada during that time. The average price of a single-family home in Edmonton jumped to $322,077.