Mayor rebuilds environmental council

Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz released the names of the councillors who will comprise the new Mayor’s Environmental Advisory Committee.

The appointed committee offers the mayor advice about sustainability practices. The last incarnation of the committee disbanded six weeks ago over a dispute regarding the group’s mandate.

New members on the council include students, the new principal at the University of Winnipeg’s Richardson College for the Environment, a cycling activist and a collection of environmental consultants, co-ordinators and lawyers, reported the Winnipeg Free Press.
The new committee will hold its first meeting Mar. 31.

National chief to speak at U of W

The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Phil Fontaine, has big ideas about the role indigenous people will play in the struggling economy.

Fontaine will speak on the issue at the University of Winnipeg’s Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall, Mar. 30 at 7 p.m.

Phil Fontaine has been the national chief of AFN for an unprecedented three terms; he is a highly respected leader for First Nations communities across Canada.

Stereotypes can impact your brain

A recent study done by two university professors suggests negative stereotypes may negatively affect the grades students receive on specialized tests.

According to Steven Spencer, one of the co-authors of the study, students worried about playing into negative stereotypes with their test answers exercise over-excessive caution when answering questions – which eventually leads to poor results, Maclean’s OnCampus reported.

Based on these results, the professors claim that women and ethnic groups who seem to perform poorly – or even just as well as their privileged counterparts – on tests contain an untapped potential in all fields.

Colleague of the King comes to U of W

For the second try in a month, a distinguished civil rights activist and historian, not to mention speechwriter for the late Martin Luther King Jr., will be coming to speak at the University of Winnipeg.

Vincent Harding will present his lecture, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Barack Obama’s Other Ancestors, free of charge on Apr. 2 at 7 p.m. in Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall.

Harding was first set to speak at the U of W on Mar. 5, but the talk got postponed for unknown reasons.

First Nations education funds squandered by the feds

A new government audit suggests the Conservative government failed remarkably in its efforts to track post-secondary educational funding for First Nations youths across the nation.

The report found that over 10,000 qualified students are stuck on waiting lists despite being ready to go to school after the government failed to allocate any funds for them, Canadian Press reported.

Yet the government has no ideas, as it failed to trace its spending of $300 million on aboriginal tuition this year.

The government claimed that higher education is one of its primary ways to improve First Nations’ living standards.

The audit called on the government to develop checks in the system to ensure the proper allocation of funds.