Latest news with #GreenandInclusiveCommunityBuildings
CBC
04-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
N.W.T. counsellors say $7M from feds will establish new healing lodge
New federal funding for a healing lodge in N.W.T. will help establish a facility focused on cultural immersion, land-based wellness, and processing grief and trauma, according to a couple of trauma counsellors in the territory. "Trauma impacts the body, the heart, the mind and spirit," said Roy Erasmus, who co-owns Dene Wellness Warriors with his partner Jean Erasmus. "It's a wound that adds to personal and intergenerational suffering. We want the participants to learn how trauma has impacted them and we offer the tools to deal with reactions to trauma and live in the present," said Roy. Roy and Jean co-chair the Endacho Healing Society which will build a new, energy-efficient and eco-sensitive healing lodge with 24 beds and six- to eight-week healing programs. N.W.T. MP Michael McLeod announced $7 million in federal funding for the facility last month, days before the federal election was called. "Across the Northwest Territories, many Indigenous peoples, families and communities are deeply affected by trauma and its health and social impacts," McLeod said in a March 21 news release. The funding is part of the federal Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program, focused on creating a healthy environment and economy. The new lodge will focus on culture and traditional teachings, blending Western and Indigenous healing methods to "help deal with the traumas" that addictions stem from, said Roy Erasmus. The centre will be distinct as a trauma healing lodge and will not be an addictions healing centre. Endacho will provide aftercare to people who are at least 35 days sober, a requirement before attending, Roy said. Endacho will be open to people who have been sober for years or decades and even those who never faced addictions. "It's not only psycho-educational, it's really immersing the participants in culture. There will be a land-based component and we know as Indigenous Dene that the land heals," said Jean. Jean Erasmus said the lodge would also serve elders. "They've been through a lot and lived a long life with their traumas, and a lot of them haven't dealt with it," she said. Current treatment difficult to access N.W.T. residents currently face waits to attend healing programs in B.C., and there is a lack of an Indigenous-focused trauma healing space to send people to, Roy said. He says the existing referral process for treatment programs is "very complicated" and requires seeing a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse in order to be assessed. The Endacho lodge will be different, said Roy. "We're hoping that people will be able to get referred by a central person in each community working with the lodge, and that it would be a lot easier than it is right now," he said. Jean said the planned healing lodge will build on the work of the N.W.T.-based Northern Indigenous Counselling program, which trained 16 counsellors in its 2022 cohort and expects 13 more to graduate this July. "The beautiful thing about it is that they're not only trained, but they've done a lot of inner work to help them [in] healing their wounds so that they can be really effective counsellors," said Jean. The Endacho Healing Society still must negotiate the conditions of its contribution agreement and is still working to select a location for the facility. It has an advisory committee with members from each region across the N.W.T. "When we made our presentations to the annual assemblies, every region we went to, they all said, 'put it in our region.' Someone may come forward and make us an offer we can't refuse," said Roy Erasmus. Healing for complex, repeat traumas Roy said communities in the North are highly interconnected and when there's a tragedy, "everybody knows about it and it affects everybody." Erasmus points to the community of Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., where a 29-year-old man was allegedly murdered in February. Just weeks later, in the same community of about 500 people, a woman was found dead after an alleged stabbing. Roy said it would be a "huge accomplishment" to provide trauma healing in the North. "The impact of colonization is the origin of most community, family and personal problems," he said. Dene Wellness Warriors will test its curriculum for a master's degree in trauma counselling in two pilot programs in preparation for the healing lodge, he said. Practicum students from the Northern Indigenous Counselling program will assist in a four-week program focused on processing grief and regulating compounding traumas. The program topics will include "reclaiming our culture, confronting colonization and its impacts," he said.
CBC
20-03-2025
- Science
- CBC
Federal government pledges up to $20M for new Thunder Bay science centre
A proposed science centre to be built along Thunder Bay's waterfront took a major step toward reality on Tuesday, with federal government pledging up to $20 million in funding for the project. The centre would be built along the city's waterfront, and Science North hopes to see construction start by spring 2027, said Ashley Larose, the organization's CEO. "We have been visioning a science centre with the community in Thunder Bay since 2017, and this is really the next step in allowing us to bring that vision to reality," Larose said at a media event on Wednesday. "It will be right on the waterfront right next to the art gallery, which will create a beautiful cultural anchor down at that end of the waterfront," she said. "The power of a science centre is really in its relevance to the community, so this is going to be a science centre about Thunder Bay, for Thunder Bay, in Thunder Bay." "Using the same style of science communication that we do at our centre in Sudbury, we'll be bringing that here to Thunder Bay, but telling the stories that are relevant here." The facility's design is still being finalized, Larose said, but noted the funding was coming through the government's Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program, and would be built to the Canadian Green Building Council's Zero Carbon Building V4 standards. In a media release, the federal government said the centre will include a "heating and cooling system that uses geothermal power from Lake Superior." "It's really important that people in this day and age, maybe more than ever, really understand the world around them," Larose said. "We want to build critical thinking skills. We want to build the workforce of the future as well, and science centres play a really pivotal role in that." Northwood Coun. Dominic Pasqualino, who was at the event on Wednesday, said the centre would be a great thing for Thunder Bay. "City council is certainly interested in supporting this," he said. "We really very much want to see this here." "There have been land use studies for that area, and this would fit in really well in the waterfront," Pasqualino said. "So we're looking to make sure that there would be support from the city." "Now, what that entails, that has to be determined at this point." Larose said the final cost of the centre is yet to be determined, and Science North is currently working to secure the site. Science North currently runs its Thunder Bay operation out of the Boys and Girls Club building. "We've actually had that office for about 15 years, and that was really our first step in engaging with this community," Larose said. "Our mandate is to serve all of northern Ontario, so it's really important that we have a strong presence in northwestern Ontario. That office allows us to do that." "From that office, we also deliver summer camps, school programming, we do adult nerd nights on a regular basis here in the community, which we love to do," she said. "This next phase is going to allow us to also take that even further." Pool Six development study released The proposed science centre's location falls in an area that was the focus of a new economic study, a summary of which was released earlier this week by the Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC). The study looked at best uses of the Pool Six property and tugboat basin, which runs from the city's cruise ship dock north along the Lake Superior shoreline to the new Thunder Bay Art Gallery site. And the study shows the area has the potential to generate up to $15.4 million in tax revenue for the city annually. "The city has done a great job in terms of waterfront development," said CEDC CEO Jamie Taylor. "Pool Six was really the last remaining piece." "We understood the city was going to be undertaking an update to the Waterfront Master Plan, and we wanted to ensure that, at the time of the initiation of the study, that ... the economic impact would be considered as part of development." Thunder Bay waterfront - Pool 6 Lands 14 hours ago Duration 0:28 A new study says developing the area could bring in more than $15 million in tax revenue annually. The CEDC worked with Bain Smith Consulting and Book McIlroy on the study, which explored various potential developments, including hotels, condos, retail space, restaurants, a conference centre, and a Nordic spa. "The development options that were recommended that would provide the best tax return really were a mix of a few of these things," Taylor said, adding there's "definitely opportunity for apartments or condominiums with first floor commercial space availability within those buildings." There's room for one to two hotels on the property, and Taylor said a Nordic spa is also recommended. A conference centre may also be a good fit, but Taylor said more feasibility work needs to be done around how such a facility would be funded. Taylor said the cruise ship dock will remain in its current location, and any development would protect the habitat pond on the area. The Pool Six building, which is located near to the dock and currently houses city offices, would be torn down. Taylor said the study will be used to inform the development of the next phase of the city's Waterfront Master Plan. Kara Pratt, executive director of the Waterfront District BIA, said the potential developments at Pool Six are "wonderful." "Anything that can help maintain city services, city infrastructure, and brings people to our area is beyond great," she said. "We want to see more tourists in the waterfront district, more locals, and we want to see people brought through the city, not just using the Trans Canada Highway as a thoroughfare."
CBC
12-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Construction set to begin this summer on disability arts hub
Social Sharing After seven years of work to secure a suitable permanent home in Calgary for Canada's largest organization for artists with disabilities, plans for a new facility for the group were unveiled on Tuesday. The National accessArts Centre (NaAC) has been in need of a new building since the roof of its facility at the Fairview Arena collapsed due to heavy snow in 2018. The centre announced on Tuesday it's receiving more than $8.2 million in federal funding to assist with constructing the Multidisciplinary Disability and Community Arts Hub, which will provide a space for the group's use. The $14-million facility will be constructed adjacent to the former Scouts Canada hall in Calgary's northwest neighbourhood of West Hillhurst. The hall is also being transformed into a purpose-designed learning centre for training and producing work by artists with disabilities. Side by side, the facilities will anchor an accessible arts campus in Calgary that will be home to the NaAC, said the group's president and CEO Jung-Suk Ryu. "Today, we are positioning Calgary as the national capital of our disability arts movement," Ryu said on Tuesday. "The roof collapsed seven years ago, and it's been nothing but non-stop hurdles since that time. To now see some light coming out at the end of this tunnel, and just to imagine the faces of our artists when they realize what kind of home we're going to be building for them just gives me goosebumps." The federal government's funding for the centre, which is designed to be a net-zero carbon facility, is being delivered through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program. The new hub will feature a performance venue, arts studio, gallery space for contemporary works completed by artists with disabilities, a cafe, and indoor and outdoor gathering spaces. Ryu added that the hub will also offer after-school community arts spaces that can be used for pop-up exhibitions and concerts, and that it can be repurposed to host small- to medium-sized receptions, weddings and other community events. First launching 50 years ago, NaAC supports more than 350 artists with disabilities in Calgary and southern Alberta. The organization recently opened a community arts hub in Toronto, as well. Calgary Skyview MP George Chahal said the federal government's funding was put in place to allow the participating artists to flourish. "A project like this is so critical for a city and for our members who have disabilities, who need a place to find their passions and dreams through art," Chahal said on Tuesday. A new venue next to the former Scouts Canada building was first announced as a possibility by the NaAC in 2021. The NaAC entered into a deal with the City of Calgary in 2021 to move into the former Scouts Canada building, at the West Hillhurst Civic Building. But the group has faced challenges with the location, such as the front steps and other elements of the building not being accessible. The group has also found itself at an impasse recently with the city over disagreements on how to fund the West Hillhurst building's transformation. On Tuesday, Ryu said the NaAC is launching a capital campaign that will help finance the group's new home.
