If you turn to page nine, you will find a new column by Richard Wagamese.
He’s a 52-year-old aboriginal writer with three novels — Dream Wheels, Quality of Light and Keeper ‘n Me — and the memoir For Joshua: an Ojibway Father Teaches His Son under his belt.
He’s lectured about creative writing at the University of Regina’s Saskatchewan Indian Federated College.
He’s been a faculty adviser for the journalism faculties of Grant MacEwan Community College and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
And he’s been a scriptwriter for CBC TV’s North of 60.
Now he’s writing One Native Life, a weekly column for the News.
“It is more than time for Canadians to meet their native neighbours in a non-confrontational, non-blaming, non-rhetorical way,” wrote Wagamese, adding he wants to show how Canadian a native life experience is, has been and can be.
His column will run every Wednesday.
It’s one of many changes you’ll find in these pages, and beyond.
Our business section has morphed into Business Environment, a recognition that environment issues are business issues, and vice versa. The two cannot be considered in isolation.
On Fridays, we’ve launched Namas Te, a new section on faith in all its manifestations.
We’ve moved Michael Dougherty’s popular Just Society column into those pages. And we plan to foster a lively discussion about religious issues throughout the territory and the world. (If you have any suggestions or ideas, please e-mail rmostyn@yukon-news.com).
As well, Graeme McElheran has returned to our pages with a weekly column from Africa, where he’s currently living.
Mondays we’re striving to give more of a community focus, with news and features from rural Yukon.
But we’ve also placed Lonely Planet there. It’s a weekly column from the popular travel guide publisher that will give you tips on navigating the frontiers of Earth.
And our Sports pages will see the Finish Line, a new column focused on Canadian sports and athletes.
And then there’s our website, www.yukon-news.com.
That, too, has been expanded and improved.
We’ve added a slideshow feature that gives our award-winning photographers a venue to showcase dozens of fabulous shots in full colour.
We’ve also launched a video unit, and hope to shoot short documentaries that will be available on the site. Our first, Northern Challenge, on the Yukon Quest, was posted February 12.
And we plan to offer audio feeds, giving visitors direct access to important speeches and interesting interviews that our reporters have covered.
Finally, we’re posting stories, letters and other content that doesn’t appear in our print edition.
Using the website, the News is moving towards becoming a virtual daily, and will strive to publish important breaking news online between our print editions.
As part of that, during the Canada Games, we plan to post results, pictures and other stuff to the site regularly.
And there are other changes planned.
It’s all part of our commitment to serve our readers throughout the territory.
We encourage you to check it out. (RM)