Posted on 20 November 2009. Tags: conference board of canada, funding, money, north, Project, public, review
It looks innocuous, doesn’t it? and it sounds kinda … classy … Centre for the North. Even the body that’s pulling it together has a neutral sound to it: Conference Board of Canada.
But being a money coach in my past life, I’m always interested in following the money (and those of you who have watched the Best.Series.Ever, The Wire, will have had that emblazoned on your brain too). And when I followed the money on this, here’s what I found at the end of the document:
Funding of the Centre
This Centre will be funded by a variety of organizations from the private and public sectors. We are asking each investor to commit for a five-year period.
There are three levels of investment:
Champion investor ($100,000 annually)
Champion investors will be deeply involved with Conference Board staff in the drawing up of the Centre’s research plan and meeting agendas. These investors will be part of the Centre’s Steering Committee and will play a leadership role in Centre meetings.
Lead investor ($50,000 annually)
Lead investors will help the Conference Board and Champion investors develop the research plan and review the research in progress. They will also suggest meeting topics and be invited to participate in Centre meetings.
Participant investor ($25,000 annually)
Participant investors will be invited to attend Centre meetings and will have access to the detailed research findings. They will also provide input on the choice of research and meeting topics.
So. People willing to cough up between $25K = $100K every year get to
- set the agenda
- choose which questions get asked and which don’t
- and have access to the research findings.
Anyone else find it hard to believe that the Conference Board of Canada will live up to their stated commitment of being:
- “The foremost independent, not-for-profit, applied research organization in Canada.”
- “Objective and non-partisan. We do not lobby for specific interests.”
I call bullshit. But I’m guessing the final document and research findings will be presented with little mention of who actually drove the whole project.
I dunno. I guess I thought we voted in MLAs every few years to, you know, set the agenda and direction for the north. Clearly I am mistaken.
Posted in City
Posted on 30 October 2009. Tags: aviva, community, fun park, insurance company, MediaMentor, playground facilities, Project, support, vote, yellowknifer
No doubt you read the article in the Yellowknifer or heard about it on the radio. Yellowknife’s playgrounds have limited access for those individuals in wheel chairs and other disabilities. To have NJ’s playground become accessible for everyone would be a first for Yellowknife and a great start.
Here is the information found on the AVIVA Community Fund Website:
To create a fun park that is accessible to children with disabilities, especially children in wheelchairs. We would like this playground to be a playground that does not segregate but includes all children regardless of their physical abilities. What it would offer each child is opportunity, opportunity to play,opportunity to swing, opportunity to rotate. This playground would be an extension and addition to the current playground facilities at the school.
We believe that every child should have equal access to good play opportunities. We would purchase equipment that would allow children with disabilities to play side-by-side with the able bodied. It would be a park for all children to have fun.
We would like to install new equipment that would be such as accessible Fun Hoop, or a Jenn swing, or speedy racer, bell panel, drag ramps, accessible seats, accessible tables, wide tread stair, rounded slides, a music centre, but most especially a ground cover that wheelchairs can move on.
This park would be open to the children attending our school but also to the community. Everyone in Yellowknife would benefit from it.
So here is what you need to do. Go to the AVIVA Community Website and register and then to the Fun Park page to vote. Remember to vote as there is only 2 days left. A note to Union of Northern Worker/PSAC Members: AVIVA is the PSAC insurance company. Please support this project to put your insurance dollars to work locally in Yellowknife. Also please forward the link to as many people as you know, an easy way to do so is by pressing the “Share/Save” button below!
Thanks to MrHooie and MediaMentor for this post.
Posted in City
Posted on 05 August 2009. Tags: Friday, photo, Photovoice, Picture, Project, public, Screening, yk, youth
This coming Friday evening is the Red Carpet Screening for the Youth Photovoice Project. The showing, which will be held at the capital theater, starts at 5:30pm and goes until 6:30 and is free to the public. You can find out more about what the Youth Photovoice Project is HERE.
The Project was done by local youth who put a lot of work into it over the last couple of week. Please consider going to show your support. You know what they say “A Picture is worth a Thousand Words”.
You can view the PDF Poster HERE
Where: Capital Theatre
When: Friday, August 7, 2009 5:30-6:30
Posted in City, Events, Posts
