Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

reposted April 2006

Here are some pictures of PSAC’s “55 foot” Tepee that was erected at the 26th Assembly of First Nations AGM and Trade Show in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories from July 4-7, 2005. We are happy to report that the giant Tepee received national press and media coverage, and is being touted as the largest ever erected in the North. Federal NDP leader Jack Layton was in attendance.

The painting on the canvas is a gift to the PSAC from internationally acclaimed Dene artist Archie Beaulieu and the Tepee is the property of PSAC’s National Aboriginal Inuit and Métis (NAIM) Network. Archie Beaulieu will complete the painting at the Dene National Assembly in August 2005.

Here are some photos of the event.

PSAC’s participation at the event was a collaborative effort between the Dene Nation, NAIM, PSAC North, PSAC Ontario, PSAC BC, PSAC Yellowknife Regional Office, Union of Northern Workers (UNW) and the Organizing Program. This special project is a great success story and the Tepee is symbolic of PSAC’s commitment to building a stronger partnership and working relationship with Aboriginal, Inuit and Métis members, leaders, communities and staff.

During the course of the week, over 3000 people visited the Tepee, including Chiefs from the various communities across Canada. The Tepee was also used as a cultural centre for the Native Women’s Association of the NWT and for local Aboriginal artists. At the site of the Tepee erection, Dene medicine man Bob Wasicuna blessed the ground and lit the sacred fire which was kept burning until the completion of the Assembly. This structure, which has been honoured in traditional ceremonies, is a priceless treasure of the PSAC NAIM network and our members.

In my role as Health and Safety Coordinator I have spent the last few weeks working in the PSAC office creating a list of Health and Safety contacts for all the worksites in BC. While not complete it is quickly becoming close to finished as Locals get their information to me. Anybody who was unable to contact me at the PSAC office can e mail me their Local contact name to joyj@shaw.ca.

My next step in this process is to send out a short survey to the contacts that I have been given and the survey will be mailed care of the Local. Watch for this to come out late August or early September. The information from the survey will be used to assist us in planning our next Regional Health and Safety Conference which we hope to hold early in 2006.

In addition to the above I have been continuing to work on the Joint Training modules being developed in conjunction with the Pacific Council. In the meantime for those who are wanting more training on Health and Safety watch for Union School news for the fall of 2005. If the new Health and Safety Training course for activists is ready in time, the chances are good that it will be piloted at the Union school.

The Brush Committee is alive and well! With so much activity occurring around Health and Safety in our Region we will be scheduling more meetings. The dates will be posted on this site. If you are interested in being part of the Committee please contact either Jack Rudd or me and we will be happy to put you on our Brush Committee list.

Finally, my other project that I am going to be working on is contacting the National Officers to come up with an idea on how best to share information around the different component’s Regional and National JOSH Committees and existing Policy Committees. From my discussions with the Locals it seems that a lot of us feel we are working in isolation and constantly reinventing the wheel. Many similar issues have already been addressed and we just don’t know it. If you have any thoughts on this I’d love to hear from you.

Here’s hoping everyone has a safe and healthy summer.

Joy Hennen, BC Regional Council Health & Safety Rep.