Prince George, BC

Spread this request out to your networks.

I am involved with a fascinating three year project which is creating a network of learning circles across Canada to bring policy makers, practitioners and academics together around cracking the next level for urban Aboriginal economic development in Canada.   We had a very successful kick off meeting in Ottawa in October and we now have some learning circles taking shape across the country.

One of the circles is located in Prince George and it’s looking at models of urban Aboriginal governance.   Tonight my friends Ray Gerow, Veronica Creyke and I were talking about the fact that when most people look at governance structures, they picture a body that makes decisions and manages resources.   We are very interested in looking at the way governance happens when people take responsibility for creating their futures collectively.   In other words, a bottom up approach to governance that is based on networked action, governance that emerges from community and economic development in action.   That is what is happening here in Prince George and we want to study it and tell the story.

The basis for this inquiry comes from an Open Space we ran here four years ago.   That event was notable in that the community created 21 projects all led by community members who attracted people to help them out.   Everything from resurrecting the Aboriginal Choice School idea (which is why I am here this week) to organizing drug addicts and homeless men in helping to spruce up the parks and public spaces where they live.

The champions of the action groups were completely self-selected and they later came together as a champions council and together decided how to spend the $250,000 that the federal government set aside to support these projects.   It was remarkable and it lasted for two years in tha format.   Since then, an organization has taken over the funding and the process has gone back to a more traditional governance model.   But much of the work that was started continues on and another Open Space is in the works to revive the idea, and that made us think that the most effective governance for this urban Aboriginal community was not a structure at all but rather some form of “action governance” based in real development work.

We don’t know what any of this means or looks like, but through this project we have a chance to explore it.   What we are looking for is an academic who would be eligible for a SSHRC grant to look at a very different kind of community governance, something akin to wirearchy in action but absolutely without using Web 2.0 or really any kind of social networking technology other than Open Space and other conversational social technologies. Part of my inquiry in thinking about how social technologies can come into this field and enhance the latent governance function.

If you are interested, or know someone who is, let me know.   We have money and some interesting questions and we would like the story told.

Watching the news tonight and both CBC and CTV are talking about “Anger in the West” with lots of video of conservative talk show hosts in Calgary and folks in diners in Lethbridge mad as hell and not willing to take it any more.

So let me just say something, as a Westerner.   The West is not a seething homogenous conservative backwater.   It is not united on this issue and it not any more angry than it usually is.   Callers to Dave Rutherford’s show in Calgary are always angry, because Dave Rutherford is always angry.   People in diners are always cranky when you stick a camera in their face and interview them while their eggs get cold.   The only time diner interviews are good news is when a local team has won a championship.

And with healthy Alberta First folks willing to shoot off their mouths at the drop of a hat, it’s fun to provoke the hypocrisy of Western seperatists who complain about Quebec seperatists, and are themselves quick to talk about taking their oil and leaving Canada in pieces.

So whatever.   Are we served well by this kind of bluster and outrage?   Not really.

Bottom line, is that there is anger everywhere if you look for it, but there is very little benefit gained in the midst of a Constitutional crisis by declaring the entire country west of Kenora “angry” and characteriszing us all as a bunch of reactionary rednecks.   So lay off the stereotypes and let’s focus on the people on all sides that are trying to put a government together.

This week in the feedreader:

• Alison on why the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement makes us complicit in human rights crimes.
• Lovely little non-verbal film on hope and traditional teachings.
• Doug Germann on why he is a lawyer.
• George Nemeth on doing small things
• Matthew Baldwin reviews great board games for 2008
• Ravi Tangri’s blog, an Art of Hosting friend.
• Otto Scharmer on awakening the giant.
• Dave Pollard on what you can do to help Obama.

Received an email through the NCDD list asking for help in Texas…

Galveston is in trouble.   That is almost as much as I can say about the community here.   My name is Jimmy Mai and I’m a Member with Americorps’ National Civilian Community Corps. We’re stationed in Galveston, TX doing needs assessment post- Hurricane Ike.

In doing this, we are walking door to door and stopping people on the streets to see what they may need. From  that    we are  making notes  on whatever support they  require and enter it into a nation-wide database called the Coordinated Assistance Network (or CAN).   CAN is a system that allows hundreds of Non- Profit organizations to come together and  look at these individual needs and send out help respectfully.

The problem is we- Americorps NCCC members- have no idea how this network is being managed.   Case managers are supposed to overlook the people we are putting into this database, but that’s not supposed to be for another three weeks,  and we have no idea why there is a postponement.   We are told that organizations like Metro United Way, Salvation Army, and The Red Cross are apart of this, but we haven’t been told any information on what they are doing to use CAN  to it’s potential.

There is a hinder in the recovery process because of this and  FEMA response.   Although FEMA has helped a few, the number of untouched cases and unheard people are overwhelming.   We go to the community and listen to their stories;  unfortunately,  there’s an agreement on camp that the amount of people being helped, compared to those not, is unacceptable.

…

These people need help. These people need a voice, and they need resources to help them through this. This community has many strong points; they are accustomed to bad weather, and have an amazing resilience and sense of hope.   But Hurricane Ike is really testing them; lets help them fan the flames once again.

If anyone knows anything that might help this area, please let me know.   If anyone would like to call or meet for further discussion, don’t hesitate to contact me, because many corps members and I are in need of information and networking that might help these people.   Americorps members are at an advantage in that we experience first hand what this community is going through.   We’ve heard the stories, but now we need to get something done.   Thanks so much for your time, and please contact me if you think you can help in the slightest bit. An alternate email address of mine is ncccgreen6pol@gmail.com

Jimmy Mai

Americorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC)

Project Outreach Liaison- Green 6

502-417-0524

NCCCgreen6pol@gmail.com

With tears of gratitude in my eyes, I point you to Nancy White’s passionate observation that the future for peaceful societies lies with the women and the girls.

Since I was in Israel and Palestine last month, I have been struggling on how to write about my experience in a way that is not about judgement, but about reflecting what I saw. The tyranny of person over person is heartbreaking, regardless of the reasons and justifications we create. But from what I saw and learned about, women and children are victims as Israel and Palestine continue without a solution for sustainable peace. The statistics around maternal and child health paint a compelling picture that war, occupation, and the patterns that trigger them are bad for women and children. High levels of maternal depression correlate with poor child nutrition. Raising rates of stunting in children from persistent malnourishment (low nutrition and poor nutrition) are staggering. Cultural challenges that resist healthy patterns of breast feeding and trigger increased poor child health and adult obesity and heart disease in Palestinians.

Where is the hope for something better? For basic human rights of food, shelter, clothing, clean food and water and yes, even peace?

It is with the women.

That’s my daughter Aine at the top of this post.   She’s one of them.