Norman Taylor Memorial Bursaries and Scholarships
Norman Taylor was a member of the Ucluelet First Nation on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. He was one of the founding members of the AFOA Canada serving as the founding President and later the Chief Advocacy Officer.
There are four $1,000 bursaries to be awarded in August 2012. Bursaries are open to AFOA members and non-members.
Bursaries are available to First Nation, Inuit and Métis students attending university or college as a full-time student in an academic program such as Business Administration, Business Management, Accounting, Commerce and/or other finance related programs.
Scholarships are available for two applicants who wish to enroll in one on-line AFOA course – scholarship value of up to $800 each.Two applicants who wish to attend the AFOA National Conference (February 2013 in Toronto, ON) – each scholarship includes conference registration (value up to $800) and travel related costs (up to $2,000). You must be a member of AFOA to be eligible to apply for a scholarship.
The deadline for the submission of applications is July 27, 2012.
Click here for more information on the Bursaries and Scholarships, Application Forms and Guidelines. You can fax your application to AFOA at (613) 722-3467 or e-mail Sarah Dykeman at sdykeman@afoa.ca or mail to:
AFOA Canada
1066 Somerset Street West, Suite 301
Ottawa, ON K1Y 4T3
Tel: (613) 722-5543
Fax: (613) 722-3467
website: www.afoa.ca
e-mail: info@afoa.ca
Message from Chief Brendan Sheppard
Dear members and potential members, as you are aware the band was just recently established in September 2011 and has many challenges to deal with in order to build a firm foundation for the future. I realize that the process of reaching a staff person within Qalipu for any type of assistance either through phone calls ,emails and letters etc is frustrating, however please understand that there is a huge demand for service at this time. There are thousands of individuals seeking information related to their Mi’kmaq ancestry, requesting information on their applications, on their status cards, on their medical prescriptions, dental, along with hundreds of visits to our offices, individuals looking for applications and seeking all types of information, making it very difficult for a staff member to be readily available at the ring of a phone. At this stage in the transition QMFN is incorporating new accountability systems which have placed a huge demand on staff time. However; all of these efforts are necessary to provide service and accountability to the large dispersed membership. Qalipu is now dealing with approximately forty thousand applicants as opposed to eighty-six hundred during the period of time when the Federation of Newfoundland Indians was lobbying for recognition. I trust you will understand there are many agenda items that need attention during this time and they all cannot be addressed at once however; they will be dealt with as best we can during our infancy stage. To assist each of you, we have recently updated our contact list so that you can hopefully reach the appropriate person when trying to make contact with QMFN. In closing, I ask all to remain patient and provide Qalipu sufficient time to deal with all the important matters which need to be completed.
Update on Enrolment Process
In keeping with the accelerated process an amendment to the Order in Council took place on March 29, 2012. This amendment included 1514 applications which were in the system prior to November 2009. Approval letters for this number of applicants will be sent out from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) soon.
A fourth batch of 921 applications which were also in the system prior to November 2009 was submitted for approval by AANDC on March 23, 2012 for inclusion on the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation founders list. These 921 applications are yet to be approved by an Order in Council.
All other applications submitted after November 30, 2009 will be submitted for inclusion to the founders list after the independent enrolment committee has completed all of their review and other necessary work as specified in the agreement which will be sometime in 2013. Letters from the independent chair Mr. Tom Rideout will continue to go out to applicants periodically.
Update your file and stay connected with Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation Band
We are working hard to make sure we develop the best services and programs for you and all of our members. We are working now on updating our Qalipu Membership Database. This will help us build a database of current information on our members. It will provide current contact information for the election process as well as allow you to access training and employment programs, especially for members who are over 18 years of age. (A letter was recently sent to all members 18 years of age and older outlining the details of this project.)
It is critically important that you continuously manage your own member profiles on our database. I urge you to actively keep your information up to date. As of now, we have more than 16,000 registered members over the age of 18 (of the almost 22,000 members in total); it is quite possible that this number will almost double in the next few years. As you can imagine with this large membership we need you to take responsibility for making sure your information is up to date in order for us to maintain communications with you.
Our new website will keep you informed about our programs and services. Through the website you can now access your individual member files. Please click on the “Update Member Information” button and follow the instructions.
