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Debates of Feb. 7th, 2003
House of Commons Hansard #55 of the 37th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was nations.
- Report of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Manitoba
- Business of the House
- Specific Claims Resolution Act
- Health
- Chinese New Year
- Housing
- Dorothy Rungeling
- National Library of Canada
- Queen's Jubilee Medal
- Black History Month
- Riding of Jonquière
- International Development Week
- Species at Risk
- Canadian Coast Guard
- Canadian Alliance
- World Social Forum in Pôrto Alegre
- Black History Month
- Veterans Affairs
- Fisheries
- Iraq
- Border Security
- Justice
- Iraq
- Health
- Firearms Registry
- Child Pornography
- Agriculture
- The Environment
- National Identity Card
- Goods and Services Tax
- Softwood Lumber
- Government Contracts
- Health
- National Defence
- Aboriginal Affairs
- Gasoline Prices
- Child Pornography
- Homelessness
- Foreign Affairs
- National Defence
- Health
- Employment Insurance
- Human Resources Development
- The Environment
- Human Resources Deelopment
- Taxation
- Presence in gallery
- Privilege
- Points of Order
- Government Response to Petitions
- Petitions
- Questions on the Order Paper
- Question No. 100
- Questions Passed as Orders for Return
- Question No. 48
- Specific Claims Resolution Act
- Solicitation Laws
Report of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Manitoba
February 7th, 2003 / 10:05 a.m.
The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bakopanos)
It is my duty, pursuant to section 21 of the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, to lay upon the table a certified copy of the report of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Manitoba.
This report is deemed permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.
Business of the House
10:05 a.m.
The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bakopanos)
Pursuant to Standing Order 81(14), it is my duty to inform the House of the motion to be addressed Monday in studying the business of supply.
That this House consider the sending of troops to Iraq by the government only after the United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution explicitly authorizing a military intervention in Iraq.
This motion, standing in the name of the member for Saint-Jean, is a votable motion. Copies of the motion are available at the Table.
Specific Claims Resolution Act
Government Orders
10:05 a.m.
Kenora—Rainy River
Bob Nault Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
moved that Bill C-6, an act to establish the Canadian Centre for the Independent Resolution of First Nations Specific Claims to provide for the filing, negotiation and resolution of specific claims and to make related amendments to other Acts, be read the third time and passed.
Madam Speaker, there are countless compelling reasons to support this important legislation. Perhaps most important, the specific claims resolution act would enable us to achieve honourable and just settlements to some of the longstanding grievances of aboriginal people, yet of all the arguments, few are more persuasive than the fact that this act would create opportunities for unprecedented economic and social development in first nations.
The Canadian centre for the independent resolution of first nations specific claims established by Bill C-6 will usher in a new era of cooperative and impartial negotiations; negotiations which will allow us to more efficiently address the grievances of the past so we can focus on building stronger, more self-sufficient first nations communities in the future.
One of the greatest benefits of the bill is that it reflects the priorities identified by aboriginal communities. In response to the recommendations of the First Nations-Canada Joint Task Force on Specific Claims, we are proposing an independent centre that would operate at arm's length from government. It would be comprised of a chief executive officer and two components: a commission division to facilitate negotiations on specific claims and a tribunal division to resolve disputes involving those claims.
The centre would promote a fairer and more transparent process for the research and assessment of claims and to conduct negotiations. It would also establish a forum in which both parties can be held to account for their actions to resolve claims.
I want to go back to many years ago to reflect for a moment and advise the House that this is the third time in the last 50 years that we have attempted to create an independent resolution process for specific claims and claims for aboriginal grievances. I am proud today to stand in this place to recognize the hard work of the aboriginal joint initiative between ourselves and the first nations, in particular the AFN. We have gotten to a point where we are now talking about a piece of legislation that will remove the judge and jury type of philosophy that we have used in this place for many years to deal with these kinds of claims. We will now have, I believe, a very independent body to deal with these very fundamental issues of grievances of the past.
This is a very important step as it would increase first nations people's confidence in the process and help us reach agreements more amicably and efficiently. We would no longer be left with no alternative other than being bogged down in an adversarial court system. We would instead be able to resolve impasses before an impartial tribunal.
With the specific claims resolution act, we will be able to create a system that is more fair and just as important, more effective in settling specific claims. The claims resolution centre would provide a range of modern dispute resolution mechanisms to help to accelerate the rate of claims settlements.
All specific claims would have access to the centre's modern day bargaining tools which would include facilitation, mediation, non-binding arbitration and, with the consent of all parties, binding arbitration. These alternative mechanisms emphasize that the Government of Canada and first nations would rather negotiate than litigate, because negotiations save unnecessary delays and help to reduce costs.
As a labour unionist in my past life and a negotiator, I can say that one of the most important parts of arriving at arrangements between parties is the ability to have these modern tools at our disposal. Whether it is mediation, joint research, or the ability to go to arbitration when necessary, these are the kinds of tools the centre would bring to the forefront for the first time in our relationship.
It would be done with the independence of a commission whose members would be appointed by order in council, but they would be qualified people, as is done in the same fashion with other commissions right across the country. They would also, through the budget that would be set down for them, have the ability to use it in an efficient way to arrive at the kinds of arrangements they want and to get away from going to court, as we do on a regular basis.
I remind my hon. colleagues that not only first nations residents but entrepreneurs and communities all across Canada, aboriginal and non-aboriginal alike, profit from the settlement of these claims. Successfully completed specific claims produce a win-win situation for Canada as a whole.
The first obvious impact that comes to mind is the economic benefits they create. One key obstacle to the development of aboriginal businesses is the difficulty of getting the investment and the loan capital that companies need to grow. The certainty provided by claim settlements can help to bridge this gap.
Settled claims pave the way for partnerships among first nations and the private sector, governments and other Canadian communities. Once claim settlements have been reached, the door is open to expanded opportunities, such as joint ventures with non-aboriginal businesses. Investors can proceed with confidence and first nations can negotiate from positions of strength.
The strongest cases for settling specific claims are the investments that communities make in their own development. For example, with the funds from its successfully resolved claim, the English River First Nation has purchased Tron Power, a general contracting firm which provides specialized construction services.
Equally important are the training opportunities these funds generate which create career options for young people living in aboriginal communities. The Kitigan Zibi First Nation used its $2.7 million settlement for both infrastructure and other social programs.
Of course from the first nations' perspective, perhaps the most critically important aspect of settled claims is access to land and resources. A number of first nations have purchased agricultural lands with the proceeds from their settlements to farm or to lease to non-aboriginal farmers. As one example, the Osoyoos settlement allowed the first nation to purchase a large orchard and further develop its vineyards.
Some first nations have purchased oil and gas producing lands with their claim settlements which generate revenues, employment opportunities and even sometimes joint venture projects. These partnerships benefit Canada not just from an economic standpoint, but they also strengthen the presence of aboriginal culture in the country and create new opportunities for the aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities to get to know each other better. As we all learn more about each other, we all learn to appreciate the value of different cultures and gain greater respect for our shared history. I am sure hon. colleagues would agree that we simply cannot put a price tag on that.
I want to remind the House that this progress is made possible through the settlement of first nations claims. By moving forward with the bill we can create a more positive climate for other aboriginal communities so they too can see business and other partnerships flourish.
As was made clear in the Speech from the Throne, the government is determined to move further and faster to achieve the same progress for first nations still awaiting the settlement of their specific claims. We know that the revenues generated by settled claims lead to greater partnerships and self-sufficiency. We know too that the end result of this economic success is the ability to better respond to community needs. This in turn leads to an improved quality of life for aboriginal people. It is this above all that we are determined to achieve.
For all the many good reasons I have outlined, the House must move forward in supporting Bill C-6. This economically advantageous and very necessary legislation will help to ensure that first nations people will finally see the grievances of the past resolved and can look forward to a brighter future. There can be no doubt that we all believe this will make us richer, richer as a country, richer as a people.
I know that in any discussion we have with first nations people, there are always other things they want as it relates to a piece of legislation.
But I think that in the general sense of what we have achieved here after 50 years of trying to get a piece of legislation before the House, we have achieved a good balance, a balance that the government needs to have as it relates to fiscal responsibility in a budget and also at the same time the independence necessary to work very closely with first nations on these grievances, these specific claims, in arriving at a just and very acceptable solution for all.
I thank the House for allowing me this time to voice our strong view that this is a good piece of legislation and one that needs to be supported by the House. I look forward to it coming into effect so that we can move very quickly to resolve the specific claims that are outstanding.
Specific Claims Resolution Act
Government Orders
10:15 a.m.
Canadian Alliance
Maurice Vellacott Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK
Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-6, entitled an act to establish the Canadian Centre for the Independent Resolution of First Nations Specific Claims to provide for the filing, negotiation and resolution of specific claims and to make related amendments to other Acts.
For non-technical listeners today, a layman's explanation is that the bill is designed to set up a permanent centre to evaluate specific claims brought against the federal government by first nations.
An Indian Claims Commission already exists, but it was put in place eleven years ago in 1991, as a temporary measure, to stay until the Liberals got around to fulfilling their 1993 red book promise. That promise is nine years old now. In my view and in the view of others on the committee, the Liberals are still not keeping their promise with the bill before the House today.
For the most part, specific claims deal with outstanding grievances that first nations have regarding Canada's fulfillment of its obligation under historic treaties or its administration of first nations lands or other assets under the Indian Act. That is of course in contrast to the comprehensive claims, which are substantial land claim treaties such as the Nisga'a and Delgamuukw claims.
In other words, at points in our country's history, and maybe even until a few decades ago, there were sharp Indian agents, too sharp by half, who took native lands, who absconded and cheated first nations out of certain shares of that land. Some of these claims have been validated already, but for others, that was the whole point of this centre.
Bill C-6 proposes to set up a claims resolution centre made up of a commission and a tribunal. First nations will file a claim with the commission and if it meets the terms of an admissible claim for the purposes of the commission, the claim then will be submitted to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development for consideration. The commission then will convene preparatory meetings to help the claimants present their case to the minister. Upon completion of that phase of the process, the commission must then suspend proceedings until it receives a written response from the minister as to whether or not he will negotiate the claim. Therein lies the rub, and I will talk later about the stall and delay tactics that can be engaged in thereafter.
In other words, the minister is not given any deadline for making his decision. If the minister decides not to negotiate the claim, the commission will sit down with both parties in an attempt to help them resolve the question of the validity of the claim using alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
If that process does not work, the claimant can then request that the case be sent to the tribunal, but only if the total amount of the claim does not exceed $7 million. If the tribunal decides that a claim is valid or if at the earlier stage in the process the minister decides to negotiate the claim, the commission then has to try to help the two parties arrive at an agreed upon amount of compensation.
If the compensation question cannot be resolved by the commission, the claimant can make an appeal to a tribunal to have the case heard, but again only if the compensation being demanded by the claimant does not exceed $7 million. The tribunal has the power to make a binding decision after it has heard the case.
The goal behind the bill is to expedite the process of resolving specific claims. Between 1970 and March of last year, Indian bands across the country had filed 1,146 claims and only 232 had been settled, which is less than 20%. The backlog is terrible. The cost in terms of human lives and suffering in the meanwhile is only getting worse, with both the government and first nations becoming increasingly frustrated with the current system.
Unfortunately Bill C-6 is not the legislation we need, despite the minister's pretext to the contrary. I certainly agree that the intent behind the bill is sound and the goal is correct, but the mechanism proposed is terrible. It will not work. What we have before us today is unfortunately a badly and deeply flawed bill.
At committee, the Canadian Alliance Party introduced about 40 amendments to the bill to improve it, to get it right, to make it fair and just and to make it work. But as we in the House of Commons know, the government always has a majority on a committee. The Liberal dominated committee voted against every single amendment we put forward. If it had passed even just one of those amendments, I might be able to stand here today with a message of some hope and some optimism for the Indians who are supposed to use the centre that the bill authorizes and for the taxpayers of this great country who are expected to fund this institution.
Unfortunately I cannot do that, because I believe the claim centre that Bill C-6 proposes will not work. It will fail because it does not have the confidence of the first nations people who are supposed to use it. It will fail because the $7 million cap on the claims that can be heard by the tribunal will significantly limit the number of claims the new centre will be able to consider. It will fail because it lacks transparency, concrete accountability measures and provisions to prevent patronage.
When it fails it will fuel the feelings of injustice and unrest among Indian people across our nation. It will put Canadian taxpayers on the hook for the cost of setting up and running this centre, but with no return, or a very negligible one, on their investment.
Taxpayers will also have to continue to pay the government's legal bills for the expensive court cases that will be launched in place of the mediated hearings that would take place in an effective claims commission and tribunal. First nations people will continue their uphill battle to have legitimate claims recognized over incidents of injustice and maltreatment at the hands of the federal government and its agents in violation of historic treaty agreements.
I want to discuss some of the reasons why Bill C-6 is such a flawed bill. I will revisit some of the current concerns we raised by way of amendment in committee and hopefully this time around the government will be listening. As a result, perhaps even at this late hour the government may be of a mind to withdraw the bill or to send it back to the aboriginal affairs committee for further examination.
One of the worst aspects of the bill, in contradiction to the proposals and recommendations that came prior to this in the lead-up to the bill, is the lack of independence of this centre. The government spent three years negotiating with first nations to come up with a plan for dealing with specific claims, or longer than that if we count some of the negotiations prior to that process, which produced the 1998 report of the Joint First Nations-Canada Task Force on specific claims policy reform.
That report reiterated the longstanding recommendation for an independent claims centre. The primary mechanism by which it would be made independent was a joint government-first nations process for appointing the commissioners and the adjudicators. Both parties were to develop a list of jointly approved candidates. The government would pick the commissioners and adjudicators from that list. However, the government has completely abandoned that particular key and crucial proposal.
In Bill C-6 the government has the exclusive prerogative of appointing and reappointing these officials and deciding whether to increase or reduce the number of commissioners or adjudicators, of course within the parameters provided by the bill.
Also, the three to five year review process mandated by Bill C-6 is to be undertaken only by the government, rather than by a joint team of government officials and first nations representatives or other vested interests. The government may, and again "may" is a slippery word, bring other parties into the review process, but it is not required to.
We certainly do not consider the government's track record of late to be one of transparency and disclosure when it comes to dealing with ethical violations. We hearken back to the lack of disclosures on the gun bill of late, to some of the deceptive stuff that was going on there. We do not believe that there will be the transparency and disclosure that is required for this centre to work properly. Therefore, the review process sends the message that the government is interested in the effectiveness of the centre from only its own perspective, rather than understanding its impact on all of the parties involved and concerned.
Indian chiefs from across the country, as well as the Assembly of First Nations, have made their position abundantly clear: that this appointment process mandated by Bill C-6 undermines any claim that the centre will be independent and impartial. If first nations use the centre at all they will not or will very reluctantly accept the rulings against their claims, because they lack confidence in the impartiality of this proposed centre. Unless the government has already decided that it will negotiate all specific claims, it has set up a process that really will not resolve anything in terms of producing closure on or finality for a particular claim.
The parliamentary secretary told us in committee that the minister would consult first nations, but having said that, he was unable to explain why the minister was unwilling to put such a promise into the bill, black on white, where all could see it and read it. Simply saying, "Trust me, I am from the government", does not work today. It never did. If an MP were to try that, going back to the constituency and telling people, "Trust me, I'm from the government", people would not be likely to swallow that real well, especially not when such a sentiment produces $1 billion gun registry fiascos and numerous other examples of gross incompetence and questionable ethics.
Canadians want to make their government accountable by seeing its promises stipulated in legislation so that there can be no backing out or waffling on what was intended by some verbal statement. Verbal assurances are not good enough and certainly not when there is the kind of legacy that this government has.
There is also concern about the possibility of patronage appointments to the new centre. There is nothing to prevent the government from resorting to its common practice of patronage and stacking it with its own people who are really not capable and not competent. They may have raised money for the party and done other kinds of things and maybe they are competent in that respect or that sphere, but not with respect to something as important, as crucial, and as complex as this might sometimes be.
The bill does not provide sufficient details on the credentials required of the commissioner or adjudicator so as to ensure that the person actually has some basic understanding of specific claims. Bill C-6 states that the majority of the adjudicators, those who serve on the tribunal, including either the chief adjudicator or the vice-chief adjudicator, need to be members in good standing of the bar of a particular province or the Chambre des notaires du Québec, but the bill states nothing about the professional qualifications of those eligible for appointment to the actual claims commission.
In a saner time one might have been able to trust the competence of appointments without more specification, but I am not even sure if ever in the history of our country we could. Right now a parliamentary committee is calling bureaucrats to account over the billion dollar boondoggle of the gun registry to determine their role in the out of control spending that took place there and the less than ideal amount of disclosure. Of course patronage is standard operating procedure for governments through the course of history of our country, particularly for the Liberal government. So we have real concerns about the need for greater clarity as to the credentials of potential appointees to the claims centre.
First nations have also expressed a concern that the appointment periods for the chief and the vice-chief of commissioners and adjudicators are only five years. For the regular commissioners and adjudicators the period is three years. There is the possibility of reappointment in all cases. First nations fear that these short periods of service will tempt the officials to rule in favour of the government of the day to ensure their being reappointed. I think they have a legitimate point.
I served on a district health board in my province as one of the elected members. We had eight elected and six appointed. I think fair observers of that whole process in Saskatchewan would be quick to say that yes indeed, when push came to shove, those who were appointed tended to be looking over their shoulders in terms of whether to be on the government side because of more money. Sometimes we were being underfunded or there were other issues, but they did not want to rock the boat very much because they owed their appointments to the government of the day. As an elected member, I did not. I was not at the government's beck and call. It was the old adage of he who pays the piper calls the tune.
Therefore, we think there needs to be a longer period of time so the officials are not so beholden to the government by way of the appointment process.
The government has abandoned the recommendation of the joint task force report. A number of these things that I am talking about today were from the joint task force report. Despite the statements of the minister here, first nations are not accepting of that. Our party is not, because we want a quick, expeditious and fair settlement of claims and this is only going to bog it down and make it longer, to the frustration of all parties involved.
We believe that the government has chosen to act in bad faith with Indians by securing exclusive control over the appointment process for the claims centre. As such, it has undermined the legitimacy and the credibility of the agency, guaranteeing its failure before it has even begun. That is a tragedy and it is one that victimizes first nations, some 600 bands across our country. It victimizes them all over again and also victimizes the taxpayers who have to pay out more because of that.
A third area of serious concern with the legislation is the complete lack of transparency. The provisions allow the government to stall, delay and stonewall the process of considering a claim.
If the minister, for example, were to decide not to negotiate the claim, he would have no obligation to explain his decision. Of course, if the claimant were to decide to challenge the minister's decision, he would need to provide complete disclosure in his defence. The minister does at a point much later along the way, if we even get there. The claimant, however, must provide a full accounting of his position and his rationale from the very outset of the process.
One would expect that in a context that is supposed to be conciliatory and guided by alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, rather than the adversarial environment of the courts, that the bill would make clear both parties' responsibilities for full disclosure. In a court of law or in any other judicial or semi-judicial proceeding it is not acceptable that only one is required to divulge his or her position fully, exhaustively and completely, while the other one has no onus at all in that respect .
The government has built a number of mechanisms into the bill to enable delay and obstruction in the process of considering a claim. It has avoided the establishment of tangible timelines, contrary to recommendations in the 1988 joint task force report that would have helped to ensure a speedy and effective claims resolution, which is what the Canadian Alliance, and the Reform Party before that, had insisted on.
The government also rejected the joint task force report proposals that would have given the claimant or the commission the ability to move the process forward if the government seemed to be taking excessive time to consider a claim. The first example of a stalling clause in the bill is the provision for multiple preparatory meetings. On the initial preparatory meeting, the commission is authorized to hold additional such meetings at the request of either party. The minister can conceivably use this provision to delay the process.
Indian representatives who spoke to us said that generally one preparatory meeting would be enough and that therefore the optional additional meetings would not likely to be found useful to first nations. Concern was raised that it existed more for the benefit of the government for use as a stalling mechanism. These meetings do not necessarily have to happen back to back and they can be strung out and protracted over a long period of time too.
The bill does not require the commission to hold additional meetings at the request of either party. One could imagine the government using this point in its defence. However, without protections in the bill to ensure that the commissioners are competent and patronage free, this means very little.
Later in the process, where the bill discusses the minister's need to consider the merits of the claimant's case and to make a decision as to whether or not he will negotiate the claim, the bill gives him six months to report back with a decision. That sounds well and fine enough for more complex kinds of issues and settlements but in clause 30 of the bill it states that the minister can come back to the commission in six months and, instead of reporting his decision, he can just simply say that he needs more time. Six months later he can come back again and say he needs more time. This could go on indefinitely. Therefore at first blush it might seem like a reasonable provision to ask for an extension of six months but if it is extended again and again, which it can be with no particular reasons other than he needs more time, then there really are no timelines or final deadlines provided at all. The government could theoretically ask indefinitely for additional six month extensions.
One of the amendments that we submitted, which we thought was a reasonable and fair amendment, would have put a one year limit on the process. However the government voted down that amendment. More specifically, our amendment would have required the minister to apply to the commission for more time, giving the commission the right to deny the government's request. It also would have required the commission to hear from the claimant before making a decision.
Currently, the bill does not require the minister to seek permission for an extension. The minister can make the decision unilaterally and the commission and the claimant are forced to live with it. The bill does not even require the government to provide its reasons for insisting on this extension to its reporting deadline.
We are dealing with a government that appears to, these days at least, despise accountability and transparency. Subclause 30(3) states that the government may, and there is that slippery word again, provide the reasons that it needs more time, and here it really compounds it, "if applicable".
The way the clause is phrased it treats the practice of not providing reasons as normative by stating that the minister only needs to produce reasons if it is deemed applicable to do so. I do not know what situations would make it not applicable for him to provide reasons for delaying the process and leaving the parties hanging.
One of my amendments in committee was to delete the words "if applicable" but, alas, the government members voted it down.
Although I am not quite sure why, this secrecy provision is important to the government, even though the minister is secretive about telling us why it is important. It is the lack of transparency in the bill that raises serious questions about how effective it would be at clearing up the terrible backlog that exists today in specific claims.
The government even added a fourth section to clause 30 to protect itself against penalties for stalling the process. Subclause 30(4) reads:
No passage of time in relation to the decision on whether to negotiate a claim may be considered as constituting a decision not to negotiate the claim.
The government protected itself quite well there.
That subclause reinforces the fact that the bill makes no provision for the claimant to circumvent this part in the process. The commission may not treat the lack of a decision from the government as a decision one way or the other. It remains in limbo until the minister decides to announce his decision. It has no possibility of going another way, no recourse to some alternate route, until such time.
The Canadian Alliance proposed an amendment to delete that subclause from the bill but again the government members in the committee defeated the amendment.
I want to take a moment to quote the legal analysis of Bill C-6 produced by the Assembly of First Nations, being that the minister said that they were so much in love with the bill and supported it so grandly. The following is their analysis pertaining to the issues of accountability and transparency in the claim process proposed in the legislation. They state:
Under Bill C-6, the federal government unilaterally controls the pace at which claims are considered. Bill C-6 permits the Minister to "consider" a claim indefinitely at an early stage in the process. There are no time limits that must be obeyed. No independent body can ever say "enough is enough, the claim goes to the next stage." A claim might have to go through an elaborate series of distinct stages and steps before compensation is ever paid. This could include:
The following is the AFN list:
a funding application; initial preparatory meetings; Ministerial consideration; mediation; further delays while the Minister considers an amendment that the claimant makes to its initial claim; an application and hearing to convince the Commission that mediation has been exhausted;
They tried everything and absolutely covered all the grounds. The list goes on:
a hearing in front of the Tribunal to determine compensation; mediation to deal with compensation; an application and hearing to determine whether mediation has been exhausted;
Even as I read this I am almost exhausted thinking about the long, drawn out and frustrating process. To continue:
proceedings in front of the Tribunal; a five year delay while the award is paid out; judicial review of the award.
The AFN continues:
Many of these steps could have been eliminated or combined. With others, the delays could have been controlled by giving an independent body control over the pace or by setting a strict time frame in the statute itself. The Joint Task Force Model Bill was built for making major headway on the backlog. Bill C-6 is almost certain to ensure that the backlog grows.
In a footnote to these comments, the AFN notes that:
Under the JTF Report, the Minister did not have the discretion to consider a claim indefinitely.
I think that was a good thing in the joint task force report.
Once a claim was lodged, the Commission and Tribunal, not the federal government, had theprimary say over the pace of proceedings. A First Nation was not required to attend more thanone preparatory meeting, or to prove to a third party that mediation or other "alternate disputeresolution" was exhausted...When a claim reached thetribunal, both validity and compensation could be dealt with together.
As I have examined the bill and the claims process in general, including the history leading to the place we find ourselves today, these observations strike me, generally speaking, as quite reasonable.
When the minister finally gets around to making a decision, if he decides not to negotiate the claim, the claimant can then request the commission to bring the minister to the negotiating table in an attempt to resolve their differences. That is where we face yet more problems.
The bill would require a claim to be heard twice by the commission and by the tribunal if the claim could not be resolved through the commission. It would first have to go through a validity phase, which is designed to determine the validity of the claim. After a claim is deemed valid, if the government decides to negotiate it or the tribunal rules that the government just get on and negotiate it, the claim would then have to go through a similar process in order to determine compensation.
As everybody knows by now, Bill C-6 includes a cap such that any claim valued above the level of the cap would not even be heard by the claims tribunal. The cap proposed in the bill is $7 million and whether or not a cap of some sort should exist at the compensation stage of the process, there is no reason that the cap should be proposed at the validity stage.
Since the bill would clearly separate these two parts of the process, it should be relatively easy, one would think, to eliminate the cap requirement for the validity stage. In committee, the Canadian Alliance introduced an amendment that would have done just that. It would have eliminated subclause 32(1)(c) which would have required the claimant to waive any compensation for the claim that is in excess of the claim limit. We wanted that subclause eliminated.
The government likes to point out that the cap is only applicable at the tribunal stage of the process, that there is no cap for claims heard by the commission, but if government officials knew that an unresolved claim at the commission level had to be bumped into the slow and expensive court system because it could not be sent to the tribunal, that would act as an incentive to stall and obstruct the process in the case of claims the government really had no interest, no desire or did not want to resolve.
In other words, although the cap would not apply directly to the work of the commission, the other side of it is that it, nevertheless, would have a significant and severe impact on the work that would take place there as well.
Perhaps the reason for preventing access to the tribunal for determining validity for costly claims is strictly political. Some first nations have told me that a tolerable compromise might be a measure similar to the one that is available in the current Indian Claims Commission.
The current commission cannot issue binding decisions on a claim but it can prepare non-binding reports that first nations could use to generate some political pressure on the government at least, if they feel the government is unfairly stalling in the resolution process. That is more likely the reason that the Liberals do not want an expensive claim to come before the tribunal, even to deal with the matter of validity. The unfortunate result is that far fewer claims will be successfully processed through this new claims centre than the government hopes.
Another problem with clause 32 is the obstructionist language used in terms of the requirements the claimant would have to fulfill before the commission would be permitted to send a claim to the tribunal. A claim could go to the tribunal if the government refused to negotiate it following the discussions facilitated by the commission with the help of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. However if the claimant still wanted to pursue his claim he could ask the commission to refer it to the tribunal for a binding decision. The problem here is the excessive threshold of proof that the bill would impose on the claimant before his claim could go before that tribunal.
Subclause 32(1)(a) states:
the basis for the claim and all matters of fact and law on which the claimant relies in support of the claim have been fully and clearly identified and adequately researched and have been considered by the Minister;
Subclause 32(1)(b) states:
all dispute resolution processes appropriate for resolving the issue have been exhausted without the issue having been resolved;
These sections, essentially, would require the claimant to prove to the claims commission that he had done absolutely everything that he could possibly do, no stone unturned. The onus would be on him to prove that he had done that within the alternative dispute resolution process before the commission could send that claim to the tribunal to consider its validity.
The absolutist language in that subclause would impose an excessive, if not impossible, threshold of proof on the claimant before he would be permitted to pursue a hearing before the tribunal. If pro-government patronage appointments were sitting on the commissions, and we think there is every likelihood of that, they could help the government use this provision as yet another stalling tactic. If the claimant does not have every single t crossed and every i dotted, this step in the process could be a place to delay justice for aboriginal people. We think that cannot and should not be and, unfortunately, it is again, to the detriment of native people across our country.
First nations have pointed out that they support the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and that if the alternative dispute resolution process is working for a particular claim, it really is in their interest to make it work. First nations therefore say that they do not understand why the government is using this big stick approach to ensure the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, unless it is another mechanism to be used as a stalling tactic to force the claimant to continue to sit down again and again with the federal government even long after any reasonable person, any outside fair-minded observer, would say that there is nothing further to be gained by additional negotiations.
One comment we received from first nations on this issue is as follows:
Alternate dispute settlement mechanisms, such as mediation, only work if both parties are committed to making it work. The best judge of that is the parties themselves. A claimant should not have to "prove" to the commission, in another potentially very expensive and dilatory proceeding, that alternative dispute resolution is "exhausted". The current provision allows the federal government to further stall and frustrate the process by dragging its feet with respect to its participation in the alternative dispute resolution process.
I want to move to the compensation phase of the process. Assuming the tribunal has made a binding decision if the claim is valid, both parties then have to go back to the commission to try to negotiate the appropriate compensation for the claim. That is dealt with in clause 35 of Bill C-6. Subclauses 1(a) and 1(b) of this clause duplicate those found in clause 32. We have talked about that before, and the same reasons why it is so flawed and problematic apply in this case here.
We introduced amendments in committee to improve these clauses, but again they were defeated by the government without explanation. This was the course, a stony silence on the other side. Even when its own member on the committee asked for the reasons for voting down some of these amendments, there was dead silence. Other times there were other offhand remarks that were not respectful of the process.
Some first nations have said that if alternative dispute resolution mechanisms do not work by the end of one year, there should be a provision for the claimant to request that the claim be transferred to the tribunal. One representation we received, stated in part:
After one year of attempting to negotiate a resolution, the claimant should be free to proceed to the tribunal. It should not have to go through further hoops, involving additional delay and expense, to show that it tried to exhaust other means of settlement. It is unnecessary and unfair to require the claimant to exhaustively state its case, including all of its evidence and legal arguments, prior to that tribunal hearing. No one is required to do so in any other comparable litigation or arbitration context.
The representation went on to state:
The Minister should not be able to delay resolution by dragging a First Nation through a slow or endless series of "negotiations". Any First Nation that can achieve a reasonable settlement by negotiation will do so. Why would it risk losing at the tribunal?
That is a very valid point.
They certainly seem to me to be reasonable observations. I am not saying that no criteria should be stipulated as a basic requirement of part of the process, but we think that the claimant should be able to proceed without being stalled or stonewalled in that way. It has to be something met by the claimant before the commission can transfer it to the tribunal. Perhaps there are ways that I or others in committee have not thought of, but more thought could be given to that, if in fact a claimant tried to unfairly take advantage of a situation in which no criteria were required. At the very least, the criteria should be modified with changes to the absolutist language that currently exists in the bill.
Subclause (1)(d) of clause 35 requires the claimant to waive any compensation amount higher than the cap stipulated in clause 56, which is currently set at $7 million. We introduced an amendment to increase the cap to $25 million. I will be talking about this more in a moment.
When we think about the section before us, we have to realize that the claimant is really being asked to waive his right to a claim amount higher than the designated cap before even knowing what the final value of that claim might be. That strikes me as being rather perverse. The longer a claim takes to be resolved, the more its value grows in terms of interest and appreciation. If a claim is close to the value of the cap or if the government stalls the resolution over many years, the value of that claim rises above the cap. Claimants who have signed waivers have to essentially take a loss in terms of the maximum amount they can receive from the federal government for the claims.
If it is ruled an authentic claim, then questions arise about the legitimacy of attempts to get the claimant to accept the compromise. We well understand that the government does not have an unlimited pot of money, but it raises some serious philosophical and practical questions when we allow the fiscal limitations to guide, in this case, the government's decisions about whether it will honour contractual and treaty obligations. Others have to declare bankruptcy to escape fiscal obligations. To hold the government to a lesser standard of contractual obligation, is to grant it the right to exercise arbitrary power.
As I stated earlier, there might be issues of jurisprudence that should be revisited, but to maintain respect for the rule of law, the government should be held accountable to honour whatever jurisprudence it has chosen to accept.
The claimant already has had to waive a compensation amount over the value of the cap before the claim can even proceed to the tribunal at the validation stage. The claim might be well more than the $7 million, and that is the whole purpose of the process. However claimants have to waive that, or sign away their life so to speak, at the outset of the process and that seems hardly fair. It is not even clear why they have to sign waivers a second time prior to the tribunal accepting it for the purpose of determining compensation.
There are other aspects of the clause that might have some merit, although I expect that is rather open to debate. However due to the government's refusal to make the important amendments proposed by the Canadian Alliance in committee, I introduced an amendment to delete the entire clause from the bill.
The government has not told us what it is afraid of when it comes to being held to the same standard of accountability that first nations are held to with this piece of legislation. Yet time after time in committee amendments, from the Canadian Alliance as well as from other parties, that would have introduced stronger measures for accountability and transparency into the legislation were defeated. It just shows how self-important or maybe even arrogant a government can become.
Most of the amendments were put forward with sincerity and reasonableness but were defeated without explanation. Committee members from the various opposition parties continually asked the government members to explain why. From time to time we had wringers in committee, and I am sure we are all familiar with that term. They walked into committee totally unaware and out of the loop of the discussion beforehand. Therefore we understood why they could not explain. However no attempt was even made by other committee members who had been supposedly told to vote a certain way.
I confess one Liberal member voted with us on a number of these. Consistently he asked his own colleagues for an explanation to refute the apparent reasonableness of some of our amendments, yet almost without exception our questions were met with blank stares and stoney silence. I suppose when the government has a majority in Parliament, it does not have to explain its actions or defend its decisions. It can do whatever it wants in the hope that constituents will have forgotten by the time the next election comes around.
I want to speak for a moment about clause 56 which stipulates the criteria for determining compensation, including the $7 million cap. I think that cap is very unfair. We had proposed a cap of $25 million. I will leave it to subsequent speakers to deal with that. However, I move:
That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word "That" and substituting the following therefore:
Bill C-6, an act to establish the Canadian Centre for the Independent Resolution of First Nations Specific Claims to provide for the filing, negotiation and resolution of specific claims and to make related amendments to other acts, be not now read a third time, but be referred back to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, Northern Development and Natural Resources for the purpose of reconsidering clauses 30, 32 and 35 with the view to making the claims negotiation process faster by, among other things, setting timelines for each step of the process.
Specific Claims Resolution Act
Government Orders
10:55 a.m.
The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bakopanos)
The amendment is in order.
Statements By Members
11 a.m.
Canadian Alliance
Rob Merrifield Yellowhead, AB
Madam Speaker, Wednesday's health accord represents a commendable start to improving health care in Canada. There is some confusion about the money because the Prime Minister is good at inflating the numbers, but the first ministers agreed with the deal.
Now, it is up to all parties to meet their commitments, work together, and improve health care for all Canadians. It is time for the squabbling to be put behind us and to focus on the needs of all Canadians.
There is much in the accord that the Canadian Alliance called for. We called for flexibility in implementing the new programs. We called for restoring funding for the core health services. We called for no restrictions on private delivery within the public system. We called for dedicated health transfers for adding transparency and accountability. We will now be holding the government accountable for the deal that it has signed.
Canadians want to see tangible improvements for frontline health care services, that is, more doctors, nurses, hospital beds, shorter wait times, and wider delivery options.
It is time to put health care on solid footing in the 21st century. That means putting the interests of the patient first.
Chinese New Year
Statements By Members
11 a.m.
Sophia Leung Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Madam Speaker, over the last two weeks I have had the opportunity to attend many Chinese New Year's celebrations in British Columbia and Alberta. As the third largest ethnic group with over one million Chinese Canadians, Chinese New Year has become a major celebration for many Canadians.
I want to congratulate groups such as the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver, Chinese Culture Centre of Vancouver, Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association, SUCCESS, and the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce in B.C., just to name a few, for helping Canadians celebrate this important holiday in Chinese culture.
I would also like to extend greetings to all Canadians for a healthy and successful year of the ram.
Statements By Members
11 a.m.
John Maloney Erie—Lincoln, ON
Madam Speaker, the Governments of Canada and Ontario announced the allocation of 3,200 units for low to moderate income residents in 12 municipalities under the community rental housing program. The units were distributed to municipalities with the greatest need for affordable housing under the first phase of the Canada/Ontario affordable housing program agreement.
The affordable housing program will provide $489.42 million over the next five years to help increase the supply of much needed affordable housing in the province. Government of Canada funding of $244.72 million, together with matching contributions from the Government of Ontario, municipalities, and other private and non-private partners will help create an estimated 10,500 affordable housing units. All governments, federal, provincial and municipal, must work together to encourage investment in affordable housing.
I strongly urge the Minister of Finance and cabinet to support the extension of the residential rehabilitation assistance program, RRAP, and the supporting communities partnership initiative, SCPI, as well as to continue funding commitments for affordable housing.
Dorothy Rungeling
Statements By Members
11 a.m.
Tony Tirabassi Niagara Centre, ON
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to congratulate my constituent, Dorothy Wetherald Rungeling, for being named a Member of the Order of Canada.
Once billed as "Canada's Flying Housewife", Dorothy dared to challenge convention and secured a place in aviation history. From her base at the Welland airport she earned her pilot's licence in 1949, her commercial licence in 1951, her instructor's certification in 1953, and her senior commercial pilot's licence in 1954.
To this day she is one of only three women in Canada to have accomplished this combination of feats. She also became the first Canadian woman to conduct a solo helicopter flight. The pursuit of her life long passion attracted worldwide attention as she competed in national and international air races.
Now in her nineties she remains active as a writer and instructor of computer skills to senior citizens. I wish to congratulate Dorothy.
National Library of Canada
Statements By Members
11 a.m.
Mac Harb Ottawa Centre, ON
Madam Speaker, a book provides a refuge for the soul of the reader; a library a refuge for the soul of a country. The National Library of Canada, the soul of our country, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Since 1953 the library has brought together the needs and interests of Canadians, their culture, their heritage, and their understanding of Canada's place in the world.
Fifty years later the government has announced its intention to provide Canadians with even better access to their history. The new institutions, the Library and Archives Canada, will combine these two great institutions and stand out as a world class agency dedicated to the preservation of our culture.
Queen's Jubilee Medal
Statements By Members
11 a.m.
Canadian Alliance
Deepak Obhrai Calgary East, AB
Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the recipients of the Queen's Jubilee Medal awarded throughout Canada and particularly in my constituency of Calgary East.
We co-hosted an event with four other constituencies and the Hon. Lieutenant Governor Lois E. Hole attended to present medals to extraordinary Canadians who, in their own way, have made a valuable and outstanding contribution to both community and country.
I would like to congratulate: Raghbir Basati, Surendra Bhandari, Fariborz Birjandian, Chuck Blanchard, Gita Boyd, Pradeep Charan, Ray Clark, Dinesh Dattani, Michael Detheridge, Vinay Dey, Titus Matthews, Ed McNally, Krishna Naicker, Michael Pearson, Prabhudas Ruparell, Ian Seright, Kumar Sharma, Abbimanyu Singh, Ajit Singh, Gabrielle Stapleton, Tishma Taneja, Rufo "Tigs" Tidalgo, Anil Tiwari, Manhar Verma and Neville Wells.
Black History Month
Statements By Members
11:05 a.m.
Gurbax Malhi Bramalea—Gore—Malton—Springdale, ON
Mr. Speaker, Black History Month is dedicated to the recognition, learning, and celebration of black history in North America.
In 1995 the Government of Canada declared February to be Black History Month. This gives us the opportunity to celebrate cultural, social, economic, and political contributions of blacks to North America. I am pleased that in my riding of Bramalea—Gore—Malton—Springdale the Malton Black Development Association will be holdings its annual dinner to honour the many young people who will receive scholarship money for excelling at education and athletics.
I would especially like to acknowledge the ongoing efforts of all the organizers of this annual event who have made it a success for more than 20 years.
Riding of Jonquière
Statements By Members
11:05 a.m.
Jocelyne Girard-Bujold Jonquière, QC
Mr. Speaker, last Friday, the Alumiform company, in my riding, announced a new expansion plan that will create 50 new jobs.
Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions has invested $2.9 million in this project. However, once again, this loan was announced by the Secretary of State responsible for Canada Economic Development and by the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord.
Since I am the member of such a flourishing riding where it rains grants, I can only be pleased. I thank the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord for announcing the assistance for my riding on my behalf, even if everyone knows that he has nothing to do with promoting these causes.
This way, I can listen in person to my constituents' concerns, serve them in Parliament and defend their interests, their causes and their ideas, particularly with regard to the war against Iraq.
I thank the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord. All members dream of having a press secretary like him at their service.
International Development Week
Statements By Members
11:05 a.m.
André Harvey Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, as part of the activities for International Development Week 2003, the Minister for International Cooperation launched a national contest for young people between the ages of 14 and 18, sponsored by CIDA and called Butterfly 208.
This contest gives young people the chance to think about ways to do something about poverty and injustice in some of the poorest countries in the world.
Yesterday, roughly one hundred Ottawa school children took part in a forum to launch the contest, which young people everywhere are strongly encouraged to participate in. They can submit an essay or an art entry on themes such as child protection, AIDS awareness, or education.
I invite all Canadians to encourage young people they know to participate in Butterfly 208 and help change the lives of others for the better.
Species at Risk
Statements By Members
11:05 a.m.
Canadian Alliance
Philip Mayfield Cariboo—Chilcotin, BC
Mr. Speaker, the new species at risk law is already, even before it is proclaimed, unnecessarily throwing some British Columbians out of work.
Healthy and growing caribou herds in the Itcha Ilgatchuz Mountains in western B.C. have been lumped into the same eco-province as the vulnerable caribou herd in the Cariboo Mountains 500 kilometres to the east and with another herd in Alberta. What this means is that guide outfitters have been told there is no work for them and also, planned establishment of new herds in the East Kootenays using this healthy stock have been stopped.
This heavy handedness has occurred despite years of success by wildlife biologists, logging companies, guide outfitters and private citizens to enhance this western herd. This new law will come into effect in June. Therefore, any exemptions have to made now, even though letters have been sent to the guides telling them there will be no work this fall.
This is so typical of the government. Already it cannot tell the difference between its own listing of endangered species and it has no idea of how to effectively enforce the law that it has made.


text:
What A DayJune 26
Extended AbsenceJune 26
MOSeJune 25
We're stuck with Internet Explorer for the next 3 years bare minimum, most likely 6. Let's start thinking about how we can move forward.
I've been considering enhancing my work somehow for browsers that can support it, and I'm not the only one. Steve Champeon, Mike Pick, and CodeBitch have all discussed the idea.
We now have a method and an example. View my latest Zen Garden entry, mnemonic for the example; carry on reading for my method, which I dub Mozilla/Opera/Safari Enhancement, or MOSe for short.
MOSe relies on IE6's inability to pick up child and adjacent selectors, or > and + as they're known by. As well, some basic CSS3 selectors are becoming more and more usable in everything but IE (see CodeBitch's CSS3 support chart) so we can use these to our advantage as well.
The key to the method is somewhat similar to how NN4 page design developed as CSS became more prevalent — after creating a basic, functioning page in IE, you add extra functionality with these selectors. While IE can't render them, at least it doesn't make a half-hearted attempt to and come short. And that's way better than what we had to put up with to make things work in NN4.
I'll leave application of MOSe as an exercise to the reader. Pick apart mnemonic and see a few ways it can be done. You can start at the spec, but for the sake of your Googling, here is a non–exhaustive list of CSS2 selectors you'll want to pay special attention to, thanks to their support in MOS and non–support in IE:
- Child Selector, eg.
- Direct or Adjacent Sibling, eg.
#footer + .bottomLink
- Attribute Matching, eg.
- Attribute Value, eg.
acronym[title="Document Object Model"]
- Attribute Substrings, eg.
And a few CSS3:
- Substring Prefix, eg.
- Substring Suffix, eg.
- Substring Match, eg.
There are bound to be more that are MOSe–friendly.
:focus, and possibly
:not look promising, although the latter is buggy in IE5.
The point is to provide IE a way out by using CSS it has no hope of understanding. This is the only way we can keep moving forward in the next few years. Let's embrace it.
(okay, I realize I say right on the Garden that it's not about "the latest bleeding–edge tricks," but you can see how this is an exception. As well, I realize that some things might be funky on Mac browsers — I hear it renders alright, but I can't guarantee there's no weirdness going on.)
Simple, It Ain'tJune 24
Anyone who says CSS is easy hasn't had enough experience with it. It is easy if things go right; it is a bottle of Tylenol if things do not.
Example 1 — precisely the sort of thing I'm talking about. Take this simple block of code:

multiple paragraphs here

Try to give the span a border, if all the paragraphs are floated. It can't be done, even if the span is a block–level element.
This should be possible, block level or not. Unless the text is removed from the document stream via absolute positioning, it should be contained within the span, which means it gets a border. However, and this is a problem amongst every browser, the floated text is treated as independent of the document stream. Hence: no border.
This is inconsistent behaviour. Floated items are not supposed to be removed from the document flow — you'll notice how nicely the non–italicized paragraphs in example 2 wrap around the italicized text. This is expected. So why no border in example 1?
CSS is powerful, but with great power comes grea… strike that. Let's just say it's not easy and leave it at that.
update: Simon pointed out that my example is actually invalid, since block–level elements shouldn't be contained within inline elements. The span is invalid when surrounding the paragraphs. But! Even when corrected, the problem holds — see example 3 for a div in place of the span.
Using ItJune 23
Hack Hotbot, Part V: The ResultsJune 21
GIF Freedom DayJune 20
As previously mentioned, expiring today is the patent on the LZW compression scheme which forms the basis of the GIF file format. Well, at least if you reside in the United States. Canadians, Europeans, and others are stuck with it for another year.
Kuro5hin has a great eulogy on the highs (and lows... mostly lows) of Unisys' ownership of the format. From the creation of GIF87 in 1987 on, Unisys was content to sit back and let people use it. In 1994, I suppose their lawyers caught on. Any developer using the format was shocked to learn that, come Christmas of that year, we'd have to pony up a huge licensing fee just to include GIF importing and saving capabilities in our software.
I use the inclusive 'we' because I was writing a DOS–based image editor at the time, if you can believe it. I may even still have the Unisys licensing papers kicking around somewhere. I took one look at the $2000 initial license, considered I was writing shareware and lost all interest in GIF support.
So what does a public domain GIF (assuming that expired patents are released into the public domain — on this point I'm not clear) mean to the web developer? All praise of free data formats aside, not much. In this case, it means we don't have to pay Unisys thousands of dollars per site we create.
Didn't hear about that? At one point they were looking to bill any site owner using GIFs upwards of $5000US for a license. It was a big deal at the time. Hindsight says that would have been a great day for PNG had they gone ahead with the plan. It didn't happen though.
So here we are today. GIF is 16 years old, while PNG is 8. They're now both free file formats, which means the only reason to use one over the other is technological — Have another look at some of the technical issues involved in using PNG if you need a refresher.
Happy GIF Freedom Day. Ironically celebrated with a PNG banner, just cause I'm that kinda guy.
Reconciling FlashJune 17
And The Web Played OnJune 16
The Way ForwardJune 13
Design Matters, No Zen, QuarkJune 12
A good design column, an eerily familiar concept, and reflections on Quark's recent news.Sherif Tariq has started an on–going column titled ' Design Matters .' The concepts he touches on are basic building blocks of design, and yet they're too frequently overlooked by designers. Well worth a read. I'm particularly fond of his demonstration of white space . § And from the odd coincidences corner comes news of a project similar to the Zen Garden , both in theme and intent. Ken Boucher's NoZen has apparently been around for a few years, and exists as a place to "get lost in the moment." Offering a smattering of koans, or musings as you may prefer, NoZen also allows the user to change his or her style sheet while browsing. The call is made for users to submit their own, too. Similar projects revolving around a Zen theme — how very, um, Zen–like. § So we've got Wired , ESPN , and now Quark . Coupled with the recent announcement of QuarkXPress 6 for OS X, Douglas Bowman has discovered their site's redesign was done in valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional and CSS . Another beautiful CSS –based design to add to the 'good list'. XPress and Adobe's InDesign are page layout programs. The ability they offer in positioning text and imagery on the printed page is very similar to the way CSS is used to position those elements on a web page. If you consider absolute positioning and hard pixel values for everything, though arguably not the best way design for the web, the two methods are virtually identical. Will Quark's web development team recognize this after their experience redesigning the site, and convince the product development team to make a push towards CSS –exporting options in the next version? Empowering print designers, who often just don't get the web, would start a new trend in high–end CSS –based design. These are the people that expect a site to render with nary a pixel out of place. These are the people that still need convincing the web doesn't have to be a mess of single–pixel spacer GIF s and horrendously complex tables. If Quark or Adobe can make publishing a visually solid, standards–based web site as easy as a printed brochure, from the same program, then designers don't have to be convinced; they will just start doing it . A final note on Quark's site: they fall susceptible to a minor oversight that a lot of designers still miss today. Their body background colour is left to the browser's default, though it should obviously be white. When an attentive (retentive?) user like me comes along who has purposely set his browser's default background to a glaring yellow, this bug has a tendency of being rather annoying. § ]]>
A PNG ReviewJune 9
Eleven days from now, the patent on LZW compression forming the basis of the GIF file format is set to expire, according to C|Net. They question whether this means the death of the PNG file format.
Not hardly.
PNG and GIF are not two competing file formats in a situation where you have to choose one or the other. They're not black and white; they're regular and extra strength.
PNG was created in reaction to the draconian licensing scheme Unisys imposed: creators of any software supporting GIF had to cough up a $5,000 surcharge whether their software was free or otherwise. This from a previously–open file format that was theoretically free to use. PNG was built in part to provide a free alternative, but also to better meet the needs of designers.
Now the licensing bait has been pulled out of PNG's arsenal, so the only reason to adapt is technical. As we are all well aware, Microsoft's Internet Explorer is the only modern browser that doesn't support the alpha transparency that PNG offers. This, however, is not a reason to shun PNG until the situation improves. In a bout of 'the grass is always greener', I believe we've forgotten what it can and can't do today. A brief summary is in order.
PNG, pronounced 'ping', is available in 3 flavours: true colour, grayscale, and palette–based. The former is better known as PNG–24, the latter as PNG–8 (24 and 8 bits per pixel, respectively) and these are the two that will concern us for now. 1–bit transparency means every pixel is either completely transparent, or completely opaque. 8–bit transparency means every pixel has an opacity value from 0 to 255, where 0 is completely transparent and 255 is completely opaque. Also see the accompanying PNG test suite.
PNG–8 is the GIF replacement. Allowing for custom–palette images ranging from 2– to 256–colour, it also offers a 1–bit transparency. This is exactly what GIF does, minus any hint of animation. File sizes are smaller, and support is consistent amongst all modern browsers. If you are using GIFs, there is absolutely no reason not to consider using PNG–8.
However, after considering it, there are still reasons why you may not want to actually use it. If you are exporting your images from Photoshop, you will consistently notice that your file sizes for equal PNGs are larger than the comparable GIF. This is a limitation of Photoshop, and highlights weak PNG support rather than any problem with the format itself. Work–arounds are possible by exporting from another more capable program like Fireworks, but that adds an extra step to the process.
See the first couple of comments to this article for plug–ins and third–party applications that get around Photoshop's flaw.
Now we come to the heart of the matter. PNG–24 is the one we all want to use. Internet Explorer doesn't support alpha transparency properly as we're aware, which renders the main reason we wish to use it null and void. Such a great loss, we lament.
Except that we forget to consider also that PNG–24 is a lossless compression format, and in most cases we wouldn't be able to accomplish what we're dreaming anyway. Why? File sizes, my friend. If you compress a 400x200 image into a 25k JPG, you're reasonably happy. That same image as a PNG with an alpha channel might hit 150k if you're lucky, while 200k is more likely. A lossy PNG–24 will never exist either, because an alpha channel with compression artifacts would lead to randomly transparent pixels – something that is definitely not desirable.
PNG–24 is certainly great for some effects, and allows for amazing visual eye candy. But you will never build whole sites with it, not while bandwidth is a concern. It will remain a niche format even when widely supported, to be used only in situations when the 1–bit transparency of PNG–8 or GIF won't quite suit the bill.
Other PNG Features
PNG offers plenty of extra features including gamma correction, lossless compression, 48–bit colour, alpha transparency, and even multi–image files (animations, anyone?) via the MNG extension to the format.
48–bit colour is absolutely useless on–screen. Your monitor displays 256 levels in each red, green, and blue channel per pixel. Each channel is represented as a single byte, hence 8 bits (1 byte) times 3 channels equals 24 bit colour. The next jump up to 48–bit colour involves doubling the bits per channel. A 16 bit red channel does not mean 512 levels of red though, it actually means 65,536. No monitor on earth displays that many levels per channel, and any advantages of having the extra colour are only realized when working in different colour models (which does us no good on the web).
I question the need for per–image gamma adjustment (as opposed to per-page) but I can see some practical applications of it, when considered outside of the context of the web page. Not every application of a graphic file is web–oriented. You may never use some of these features, but other graphics professionals may be hard–pressed to ignore them.
So we're in a funny spot. We can use PNG on the web, but not fully. With a bit of elbow grease we can start using PNG–8 as the GIF replacement it was always meant to become. But that bit of extra work means it's almost a sure bet that most professionals will avoid the challenge for now. A valuable addendum to the alpha transparency pressure on Microsoft might be found in calling on Adobe to work better optimization techniques into their software for PNG–8. Both issues are equal hindrances for PNG adoption.
PNG may gain dominance sooner or later, but despite it all, the 16 year old GIF file format is going strong. And while the patent news is good for the Free Web, it doesn't mean PNG is going anywhere.
Comments are open on the Second Edition of the PNG specification until June 23rd, 2003.
The PlanJune 6
Reasons to quit your job, and an explanation of absence.
"Well since it doesn't handle proper markup, can't we just have our CMS wrap that paragraph with an
 to hack the text's formatting?"
So if anyone in the Vancouver, BC area is looking for a designer who's up on the latest standards, we should talk. I'm not quite ready to move yet, but getting there.
Off to San Francisco for the weekend. Get out and enjoy the weather. Back Monday.
Coding vs. DesignJune 5
And speaking of design, do not miss the two excellent new Zen Garden submissions: "Wrapped in Burlap" by John Simons and "What Lies Beneath" by Micheal Pick. You may remember Mike's previous submission, "Dead or Alive". These two designs are phenomenally creative examples of how radically different the same designer can approach the same problem. There's some incredible talent in this one, and if you're in the New York area, do peruse his portfolio. §
How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the HegemonyJune 4
Why the Luxury Web idea wasn't destined to work, and more questions than answers.
There's nothing like a good talking to by Zeldman to make you reconsider your ideas in a real hurry.
Right on the money as always, he draws parallels to the Apple 'Switch' campaign. If they're not having luck, given their marketing budget and that they cater to an audience who responds enthusiastically, then a loosely gathered group of volunteers trying to lure people away from their current browsers won't make much of a dent.
It's tempting to call this particular comparison apples and oranges. Switching or upgrading an Operating System requires a hell of a lot more commitment and money to upgrade apps, not to mention the difficulty in rollbacks if things go awry. In reality, the scope is different but the underlying mindset is the same. "This is what I use. It's what I'm comfortable with. Leave me alone."
I believe he's dead on about browsers: the end user really can't care less about which browser they run. Which is why the Luxury Web concept focused on selling features, rather than selling browsers. But since, as Zeldman points out, this is precisely what others have tried and failed, then even that rudimentary thinking on the subject must be flawed.
My original thought was a reaction. It was a 'well we can't just sit here and take it, we have to do something!' The percentage of the population that fails to vote each election have no right to complain about their elected leaders if they don't speak up when they have the chance; it was my attempt at voting.
So what do we do now? No one but Microsoft is going to be content with letting the situation stand. Rapid evolution and occasional revolution have been a given in the computer industry for decades. When they slow down, we react. It happened last time; it will happen again. The question is: how?
And just for the sake of having it out there one more time, I don't, in fact, think we're in that bad of a spot right now. "…be thankful we're even this far. Being stuck with IE6 for the next 7 years is way better than being stuck with NN4." It could always be worse.
The Zen of Plagiarism, Cleaning HouseJune 3
All complaining about Microsoft's current focus aside, much praise is due Tantek Çelik and his team for this. That is a lot of green in the MSN/Mac OS X column. Way to go! § Douglas Bowman followed up his recent Zen Garden submission with an incredibly in–depth look at his design process. This is a must–read article. § Seamus Leahy adds an offering to the recent CSS–2 pseudo–class tricks that have been going around, and ups the ante to CSS–3. While we've been focusing on :hover, he decided to explore :target. Take a look in your favourite Mozilla deviant.

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UA Hosts William Shakespeare's First Folio
Scholar says that without this almost 400 year old book, only half of Shakespeare's plays would be known today.
Scholar says that without this almost 400 year old book, only half of Shakespeare's plays would be known today.
Also on Arizona Spotlight: Visit the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show with an avid shopper, and Beth Surdut pays attention to her desert neighbors, the coyote.
Research at ASU to better understand concussions; Fort Lowell Day celebrates Tucson history; a woman shares her bi-cultural world on "Dímelo"; "Old Jews Telling Jokes" brings laughter to The Live Theatre Workshop.
From StoryCorps, 10-year old Zoe shares thoughts on politics and race; what is the community story project "Dimelo" all about?; Patricia Ward Kelly honors the legacy of her husband Gene Kelly; singer Lizz Wright plays the Tucson Jazz Festival.
Ron & Nancy Barber remember the aftermath of January 8, 2011; one of the oldest buildings in Arizona gets a facelift; a preview of the 2016 Jewish International Film Festival including "Mister Kaplan" and "Enter the Faun".
The Arizona Department of Transportation and the City of Tombstone are renovating the exterior of an important landmark, Shieffelin Hall
Brothers share memories of growing up in an unconventional family; author Tom Van Dyke talks about "A Cowboy Christmas"; learn about the first Tucson Solo Theater Festival; meet a young cellist chosen to perform with The Moscow Ballet.
The transcontinental journey behind the gardens' founder and director.
Vietnam veterans gather at Rillito Park for music, brotherhood, and support.
'Nam Jam marks 28 years of veteran brotherhood; veteran, folksinger & teacher Clyde Appleton remembered; Steven Wright takes his comedy seriously; voices form the 2015 All Souls Procession.
A walking meditation in the All Souls Procession; How does a warrior heal?; Developing Tucson's startup culture; What will local election results mean for Tucson?
Voices for the Cure returns; Tucson group shares interest in ancient Egypt; artist Beth Surdut learns that all lizards are not created equal; restoring a missing piece of Poland's Jewish history.
Decades-old group focuses on ancient Egypt and its architecture.
A collection of '80s rock videos by Southern Arizona bands debuts this weekend at HoCo Fest.
Visit a barber school in Tucson where students learn from a master of the trade, explore the legacy of Mexican women in journalism; and more...
What does "Mapping Q" say about Tucson's social landscape and LGBTQ youth?; a look back to Tucson in 1776; The Friends of Tucson's Birthplace celebrates the city's 240th birthday; blues legend Stefan George remembered.
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Maybe it IS About the BikeTwo feet plus two wheels might equal better running performance
This article appeared in our August 2010 issue.
Mike Mason, a veteran trail runner from Charlotte, North Carolina, spends as much time in his man cave as he does on the trails. There, he is surrounded by race posters, medals and the whimsical race tschotcke. But he's not reminiscing or surfing the Internet. He's hammering on a Cycleops—a device that turns his road bike into a stationary bike. Here, Mason will spin off 40 miles in preparation for his next trail race. Mason is a major proponent of cross training, off setting his ambitious running schedule with the right amount of bike time. But does cycling—even if it's stationary—make him a better trail runner?
"Absolutely," he says, "It makes me a better climber." But there's more to it than that.
Breaking Away
Research has shown that running and cycling are friendly bedfellows when it comes to training and building fitness. One study, which examined cross-training effects in elite triathletes, concluded that crossover benefits occur between cycling and running, but not swimming.
Another study examined the effects of one group running four days per week and another group combining two days per week cycling and two days per week running. After five weeks, the results were almost identical for both groups. Both had significantly improved their VO2 max (the maximal oxygen uptake or the maximum volume of oxygen that can be utilized in one minute during exercise). The running-only group reduced their 5K race times by seven percent. The running-cycling group lowered their times by eight percent.
While studies point at cycling being a potential gateway to improve 5K times, Mike Mason was not preparing for a paved event. Instead, Mason was training for Virginia's 2009 Massanutten Mountain 100-miler, a brutally tough race known for its unique Appalachian blend of steep climbs and ankle-wrenching rocks. As his training ramped up, he developed severe discomfort in his foot, until finally he could barely walk. A visit to the podiatrist delivered unwanted news: torn ligaments.
Mason could have taken a DNS at Massanutten. But his stubborn will, and blinding love of the sport, would not allow it. With four months time till the race, he turned to a bike. "I began training hard on the Cycleops and doing very easy runs," he says. "All of my long workouts and hard efforts were on the bike."
On race day, Mason had no idea what to expect. Would his legs blow up from lack of preparation on Massanutten's punishing course?
"I finished third in a very competitive field and got a course PR of 20 hours and change," says Mason. "Bro, the bike is king."


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Great food doesn't have to be overly expensive, and to foodographists there's nothing tastier than a bargain - so count your pocket change because we're on a hunt for the best deals around. From the Brooklyn flea market for great food and finds to the 99 Cent Chef for a cheap and delicious make-at-home meal. Plus, we'll transform fast food into a fancy feast with a few tricks, grab some grub at L.A.'s oldest dive bar, and meet Emily Farris, the Casserole Queen. Don't worry about the bill! Food(ography) is picking up the tab.
Get Cooking Channel on your TV.


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Here's how RW members rated this race in the past (458 votes).
In short: Some rather challenging hills, but otherwise a really good training race! Love the hoody! Thanks ot the Huntingdon club runners who helped me up the tempo at mile 15!Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: well organised and excellang Hoody. Car parking too far away.In full: Well organised race with very friendly marchals. Great water stops ( every 3 mile ) and directions. The end of the race was through an estate with a lot of twists and turns and you couldn't see the finish until the last moment. ( not good for a sprint finish ). The car park was too far away but maybe you could of put a mini bus to take people back to thier cars. Still a briallant race and I will be back next year. Well done Bedford Harriers. Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: definately undulating but challengingIn full: Beautiful course, marshalls execellent. Parking a challenge. As always more ladies loos! Too windy through the housing estate at end - also no idea how long - how much further -Is it just round the next corner, or the next, or the next??? At end of race no one guiding you to water or telling you about collecting the excellent hoodie - could have missed it.Date of review: March 29, 2010
In full: Excellent race. Glorious scenary and very well marshalled. My only moan was the lack of parking. Despite the hills I managed a pb and knocked 1 min off my previous time at the bury st edmunds 20. Will certainly be back next year even if I am not doing a spring marathon Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: Loved it - particularly the marshalls and the Hoody!In full: Great race - lovely course, well organised with really positive marshalls and local support. Undulating yes, but not really hilly. Was pleased with my time for the course, which hopefully will set me up well for Brighton Marathon in 3 weeks. Only reservation was the last mile - hard with lots of tight turns, kerbs and then the field at the end. Nice to finish with lots of supporters, but surely there is another way to plan it?Having said that, really glad I enetered!Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: This race sets the standard for other organisers to follow. Great organisation, atmosphere, and above all, wonderful marshals!Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: Defines undulating but if you can finish that then VLM is gona be a breezeIn full: The race was well organised, marshalls were very supportive, local support amazing!!! but the course was very hard. Training is vital! but i throughly enjoyed the race!Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: Great race and organisation ruined by the dreadful last 3/4 mileIn full: Well done Bedford. Nice race, good marshalls, great hoodie and a very 'undulating' course to provide a real challenge. But sadly completely ruined by the sort of bolt on after thought of shlepping round some grotty housing estate at the end. It would be perfectly possible to put in a lollipop at some stage earlier in the course as many other races do, eg Stebbing, to make up the distance or even run round the housing estate at the start or at 12 miles, but not at the end please. And the same applies to making tired legs run round a playing field - after 19 3/4 miles on roads, legs do not want to do grass.Would have been 4-5 ratings were it not for this.Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: Great run. Lots of encouragement from marshallsDate of review: March 29, 2010
In short: Great pre-marathon warm upIn full: My third time running this race and quickest so far, so a big thumbs up from me! Well organised, good marshalling, scenic course and overall a very friendly "local" feel to a relatively large race. Date of review: March 29, 2010
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There is still time to enroll for [IBM Edge], a conference focused on storage, to be held June 4-8 in Orlando, Florida. There is an early-bird discount until May 6!
I will be there all week! Here are the seven sessions I will be presenting at the Technical Edge side of the event:
- Understanding Your Options for Storing Archive Data to Meet Compliance Challenges
This session will cover the IBM software and hardware solutions that your organization can use to store archive data, including features like immutability, Write-Once-Read-Many (WORM) technology and Non-Erasable, Non-Rewriteable (NENR) enforcement. The discussion will include high-level concepts like chronological and event-based retention, litigation hold and release, as well as an overview of the products and solutions from IBM that you can deploy today.
- IBM Watson: How it Works and What it Means for Society Beyond Winning Jeopardy!
In 2011, the IBM Watson computer was able to beat the top-earning human winners on the trivia game-show "Jeopardy!" As I was the author of [How to Build Your Own Watson Junior in Your Basement], I have been asked to explain how the IBM Watson system was put together, how it works, and what examples of text mining and big data analytics means for society as we apply technology to meet tomorrow's challenges.
- Using Social Media for IBM System Storage - Birds of a Feather
I will be moderating this Birds of a Feather, or BOF, session that will bring together a Q&A panel of experts on how social media can be leveraged to help you do your job, get the information you need to solve problems, and share your knowledge with others.
- Data Footprint Reduction: Understanding IBM Storage Efficiency Options
Data Footprint Reduction is the catch-all term for a variety of technologies designed to help reduce storage costs. In this session, I will cover thin provisioning, space-efficient copies, deduplication and compression technologies, and describe the IBM storage products that provide these capabilities.
- IBM's Storage Strategy in the Smarter Computing Era
Confused about IBM's new initiatives for Big Data analytics, Workload Optimized Systems, and Cloud Computing? This session will explain it all, and how IBM's strategy for its various storage products and solutions fit into these overall themes.
- IBM SONAS and the IBM Cloud Storage Taxonomy
Confused over the different types of cloud storage? IBM's scale-out Network Attached Storage (SONAS) can be used in a variety of use cases. This session will provide an overview of IBM's SONAS solution, provide an update on the latest features and functions recently announced, and explain how it can be deployed in various private, public and hybrid cloud environments.
- IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center Overview and Update
IBM has enhanced its premier storage infrastructure management tool: IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center. This session will provide both an overview of the product, and explain the latest features and functions recently announced.
I hope to see you all there!
technorati tags: IBM, Edge, Archive, Social Media, BOF, Data Footprint Reduction, Strategy, Smarter Planet, Smarter Computing, SONAS, Cloud, Taxonomy, Tivoli Storage, Productivity Center, TPC, IBM Watson


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Come skiing or boarding in the best european ski resort !
ALIVE Retreat - A wonderful week of yoga, massage & adventure sports in the magical alpine resort of Chamonix, Mt Blanc France. Relax, Rebalance & Rejuvenate in the French Alps September 8th - 15th 2012
Yoga Retreat France Detox, Massage Acupuncture Getaways with an Active Nature! Chamonix 11 -18th of May 2013 Yoga & Detox Week Total Detox and De-Stress Package 10xYoga 3x Detox and Massage Treatments,Workshops, Luxury chalet, Sauna, Private Chef...
Mountain biking holidays for all abilities with guiding service and bike hire (Orange, Gary Fisher and Univega). Chalet accommodation available in Chamonix. Or combine biking with windsurfing and dinghy sailing in 9 resorts in Med and Cari
Both relaxation and excitement await you at this mountain yoga retreat in stunning Chamonix Valley. Discover the charm of the French Alps as you immerse yourself in an eight-day yoga adventure.
SKI-SUN HOPPERS offers family holidays winter and summer in the French Alps. Take your kids for free( children under 16yrs), enjoy catered �310pppw or self-catered from �650pw
Summer chalets in the French Alps. Take your kids for free(under 16yrs). Mountain biking, walking,parapending,swimming and many more activities, also skiing in winter.
Ski Hiver have 5 catered ski chalets in the typical French village of Peisey Nancroix connected to the large ski resort of Les Arcs. All chalets have ensuite facilities and all are in walking distance to the lift system.
Chamonix Mont Blanc, France visitors guide to accommodations, adventure travel, unique tours and rentals. Check out top Chamonix Mont Blanc, France getaways & destinations. Chamonix Mont Blanc, France vacations, packages & travel spots. Visit Chamonix Mont Blanc, France !.


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I've no idea who decided to have the first one in 1875, many years later I did go to a few when I was a child. It seems my grandfather (his grandmother was a Lowrey) was quite involved in the reunions and loved the family gatherings.
There was also a family newsletter called The Lowrey Ledger which I received over the years, and my last issue was November 2000 in which there was a write-up for the 118th Lowrey Family Reunion. A few days ago, I decided use google to see if there was anything in print about the upcoming one, as they were always in August or September. I was excited to find some news, so imagine my surprise to see that there was nothing written. My anticipation did an about turn. Horrors, are there to be no more, after 118 of them? Was nobody in the family wanting to continue on with them? I discovered that the Connecticut State Library has the Lowrey Family Reunion Association Records, donated in April 1990 from Marjorie M. Lowrey on behalf of the Lowrey Family Reunion Association. Hum, that was interesting, I bet too, a lot of family reunions don't donate their papers.
Even in 1979 my grandfather probably went, as he drew the old family homestead for the cover of the program, when he was 88 years old. The family had both a 50 year and 100 year genealogies printed. I discovered that the DAR Library even has a copy.
In my file for this family, I noticed that Marjorie Lowrey, the Lowrey family historian for many years, and I wrote seven times, and yet, I knew nothing about her. Not her maiden name, anything about her family, children? just nothing. She was extremely dedicated to her husband's linage, but shared nothing about herself. I wanted to contact her or somebody about a reunion, but her husband born in 1915 had passed away, so what about her? Fast forward to the evening. As I gathered strength to dial a number on the last old newsletter, I reached Marjorie's son! Of course, at first, I didn't know he was the son. He knew of my name, and told me that his mother just got home from the hospital. She is now 91 and uses the computer for email! He isn't sure if they will have another reunion, they only had 17 show up at the last one. However, the family sure had a long run with over 118 reunions.
Seems a shame that descendants of Thomas and Mary aren't interested in the reunion any more. It was such a long tradition. If they ever have another one, I will make the short drive to Connecticut.


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Aquatics stars recognised in National Apprenticeship Hall of Fame
3 April 2013
Five former Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) apprentices have been recognised in the National Apprenticeship Service Hall of Fame. Rebecca Adlington, Lauren Steadman, Katie Clarke, Oliver Hynd and Sarah Barrow, all of whom have represented Great Britain at international level, are featured in the Hall of Fame, designed to showcase the rise and accomplishments of England's most successful former apprentices.
Upon completing her AASE apprenticeship, swimmer Rebecca Adlington became a household name, winning two gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and two bronze medals at the London 2012 Olympics.
Swimmers Oliver Hynd and Lauren Steadman have both represented Great Britain at the Paralympic Games. Oliver secured gold, silver and bronze medals at London 2012, while Lauren Steadman swam in her first Paralympics aged just 15, when she competed in Beijing in 2008.
Katie Clarke and Sarah Barrow are also esteemed AASE graduates. Katie competed in the Synchronised Swimming final at the London 2012 Olympics and Sarah Barrow achieved her goal of being selected for 2012 Olympic Diving Team.
All five AASE graduates cite AASE as an important step in realising their potential and reaching the level of an elite athlete.
Sarah Kirk, AASE Programme Manager at the Institute of Swimming commented,
"We have been delivering the AASE Programme in aquatics since 2006 and the programme has gone from strength to strength during that time. The National Apprenticeship Service Hall of Fame isa great opportunity to recognise some of our former apprentice's fantastic achievements who have been through the programme.
"The AASE programme is not just about here and now in an apprentice's career, but the development and ongoing process of that career. It's about giving our young talented and gifted athletes the tools to develop further and see their full potential in their sporting careers, along with giving them support and opportunities in their onward careers."