Press Release

Feb. 27, 2001 - Heritage College Establishes a New Aboriginal Education Council

Heritage College, West Quebec's only English cégep, has established a new Aboriginal Education Council to advise the Director General on educational issues affecting the Aboriginal student population at the College and on the relationship between the institution and the Aboriginal community at large. The Council will review and submit recommendations on Aboriginal-specific program courses and external funding applications. It will also serve as a resource on all subjects relating to the education and support needs of the College's Aboriginal population both in "Aboriginal-specific"and "mainstream" programming and services. The Council reports directly to the Director General.

Heritage College Aboriginal Education Council membership comprises a minimum of three officially-appointed representatives-one per Aboriginal community, an elected representative of the Aboriginal students currently attending the College, and two non-voting members appointed by the Director General from the College personnel.

The three Aboriginal community representatives are Kitigan Zibi Education Council Director Gilbert Whiteduck, Cree School Board representative Jean Trembath, and Barrier Lake representative Jules Papatie. Each designated Aboriginal organization selects its own representative according to the process most appropriate to its organizational structure and operations. Criteria such as regional constitutency, individual knowledge of and familiarity with aspects of post-secondary education, and trust within their respective organizations are considered. Representatives are accountable to the leadership of their respective organizations and to the community they are selected to represent while representing the collective interests of all Aboriginal communities in their Council deliberations. At the meetings, the Council will be guided by the advice of an elder who is chosen by the Aboriginal community representatives. At the most recent Council meeting, the Aboriginal community representatives elected Gilbert Whiteduck to the position of Chair for a three-year term.

As its mission, the Heritage College Aboriginal Education Council is committed to the life-long learning of Aboriginal peoples. To this end, the Council assumes collaborative responsibility for the continued support of initiatives to meet the needs of the College's Aboriginal community, aims to ensure that respect and honour of Aboriginal identity and culture will be reflected in its policies, programs and procedures, strives to secure the essential elements of a teaching and learning environment, and seeks to gain external resources for ongoing and longer term programs and services.