ILC & PAUL FIRST NATION FORM NEW VENTURE IN ALBERTA

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Alberta’s Paul First Nation and ILC recently announced the formation of ILC-Alberta. Based on thePaul Reserve and in Edmonton, the new company is jointly owned by theprogressive Paul First Nation, located on the shores of Lake Wabumun,and ILC.

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While ILC was originally formed in Alberta, thismarks the first time the company has taken an active role in shape thatprovince’s publishing future.

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“Alberta is Canada’s wealthiestprovince. It also has the best IT infrastructure in the country –possibly in North America,” stated ILC CEO Randy Morse. “Unfortunately,most young Aboriginals in Alberta are not fully participating in theprovince’s rapid growth. K-12 test scores for Aboriginal students areso low that the provincial government and Aboriginal organizations haveagreed not to publish them. This is a disastrous state of affairs, andit has to change,” Morse added.

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“There’s a lot at stake here,”he continued. “Too many young First Nations and Métis students arehaving a terrible educational experience. They end up without theskills and self-confidence necessary to lead happy lives and make apositive contribution to their families and communities. And let’s beclear, this isn’t simply an Aboriginal problem – in the next 15-20years, Aboriginals will make up almost 50% of Alberta’s populationunder the age of 25. All Albertans have a very real stake in ensuringthat our rapidly growing Aboriginal population has every opportunity tocontribute to keeping Alberta’s economy healthy and strong, and itssocial fabric intact.

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“Chief Daniel Paul and his fellow PaulFirst Nation councilors understand this – that’s why they have joinedwith us in creating ILC-Alberta. We were pleased to host several (nowformer) Government of Alberta cabinet ministers recently in Spokane,introducing them to political leaders from the Washington Legislaturewho are working closely with ILC-Alberta’s sister company, ILC-Washington ,in that state to create a new generation of web-based learningresources for Washington’s 1 million K-12 students. Chief Paul and Ilook forward to working with the new government of Premier Stelmach tolaunch a similar project in Alberta,” Morse concluded.