Grande Prairie Regional College Magazine

SUMMER2005

THIS ISSUE

AmbassadorCarmen Sylvain

Actor Gerald Augerreturns to GPRC

Chris WarkentinParliament hopeful

Saturday, October 1, 2005Bowes Family Crystal Gardens

Champagne Reception 6:00 pmDinner to be served at 7:00 pmDancing to The Urbanites

RSVP to AdvancementGrande Prairie Regional College780.539.2905 • presidentsball@gprc.ab.caTickets $150 per person($125 before Sept 16)

Wisdom is published three times annually as a service to the many con-stituents of Grande Prairie Regional College, by the Department ofAdvancement.

Executive Director Carmen HaakstadEditor-In-Chief Lynne NessAdvertising Director Sharifi HoussianDesign and layout Trina Irons, Irons DesignPhotography Lena Gilje Photography

Rob Ganzeveld, FX PhotographicRick Erlendson, Country Lane PhotographyCatherine Ridgeway

Cover Photo Courtesy of Foreign Affairs CanadaPrinting Menzies Printers

THIS ISSUE

3 In Our WisdomAthletes as Ambassadors– Leigh Goldie

6 Sense of CommunityDonor Newsand Events– Sharifi Houssian

8 In ConversationAmbassadorCarmen Sylvain– Lynne Ness

14 Sharing KnowledgePreserving languageof Beaver people– Lynne Ness

16 Alumni ProfileChris Warkentin– Catherine Ridgeway

Gerald Auger Returnsto GPRC– Rick Erlendson

21 Achievements

22 Alumni Mailbag

In Our WisdomLeigh Goldie

InsideAthletes as Ambassadors

Mike Weir and Steve Nash.These are names of two superbCanadian athletes that are instant-ly recognizable to people fromcoast to coast in this great countryof ours. Weir, Canada’s best golfer,won the 2003 Masters Tournamentwhile Nash was recently namedthe Most Valuable Player in theNational Basketball Association.Both of these accomplishments arethe source of great pride toCanadians as these athletes repre-sent the best of what it is to beCanadian. They are both immense-ly skilled players who have workedlong and hard to develop their tal-ents, and when they speak theycome across as humble, respectfuland pleasant. In other words, theyare tremendous Canadian ambas-sadors.

Just as our professional athleteshave the capabilities to make animpact in the world at large, so doour GPRC Wolves student-athleteshave the potential to be positiverepresentatives for our College. Itseems that most of our athletesdevelop strong ties to the institu-tion during their time here. Theexperience is intense as they try tobalance their commitment to theirstudies with their desire to trainand grow in their chosen sport.Fierce loyalties to their teammates,coaches and College develop asthey go to battle together overthe course of the seasons. Whetherthey win or lose, for many student-athletes their time at our Collegeis one of the best experiences oftheir lives. Through sport, a signifi-cant number of them leave with a

–continued on page 20

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Dedication

Douglas Cardinal and his wife Idoia infront of the newly renovated andrenamed Douglas J. Cardinal PerformingArts Centre. The Cardinals attendedDedication ceremonies held Feb 12, 2005.

A Sense ofCommunity

Three prestigious GPRC awards werepresented at the second annual GPRCPresident’s Awards Reception onSaturday, February 12. TheAlumni/Foundation Volunteer Award,Distinguished Alumni Award, andBoard of Governors Award ofDistinction are awards established bythe College in recognition of the con-tributions of our community in sup-port of post-secondary education inour region.

Board of Governors Award ofDistinction - Recipient LesLongmateThe Award of Distinction is theCollege’s highest tribute to individu-als or groups within our community.This award has been established tohonour individuals whose actionshave made exceptional contributionsto our community and to theadvancement of higher education.Charles Leslie Longmate was born in

Holden, Alberta in 1922 but shortlyafter his family moved to Drumhellerwhere his father started the Forddealership. Upon graduation fromDrumheller High School, Leslie pur-sued a diploma in Business fromAlberta College in Edmonton. In 1940Leslie joined the Canadian Air Forceand served his country overseas until1945 at which point he returned toGrande Prairie, Alberta where hestarted Windsor Motors with friendBob Millar. In 1950 Leslie married hishometown sweetheart, MargaretAnderson, and moved her north toGrande Prairie where they startedtheir life together. Leslie andMargaret raised four children andmade many close friends in the 54years they have made Grande Prairietheir home. Apart from being a suc-cessful business entrepreneur, Lesliehas served on many committees andcommunity organizations: He was anAlderman on City Council, sat on the

GPRC Foundation Board as well asthe Grande Prairie Public LibraryBoard, the Police Commission, Rotaryand has supported countlessfundraisers and community events.Les Longmate has also proven to be afriend and mentor and has helpedmany to a better way of life. Leslie isbest known for his profound sense ofcommunity and hilarious sense ofhumour.

Alumni/Foundation VolunteerAward - Recipient Willie deWitThis award recognizes GPRC Alumnifor outstanding accomplishments intheir profession, and /or in service totheir community, society, or GrandePrairie Regional College. In 1978Willie deWit was a 17-year-oldComposite High School football quar-terback working on a research pro-ject on boxing for a physical educa-tion class. Boxing quickly became hispassion, and deWit went on to a

Willie deWit Les Longmate

2005 Presidents Awards

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On July 23 and 24, 2005 theGrande Prairie Aviation Societyhosted the Grande Prairie RegionalAir Show. This was the first airshow here in over 10 years and fea-tured the Canadian ForcesSnowbirds, Sky hawks parachuteteam, any many other air acrobatswho wowed the crowd.

The air show was a non profitventure and GPRC was is honouredto have been selected as the prima-ry recipient of the charitable pro-ceeds. The Foundation worked inconjunction with the Air Showboard to market sponsorshipopportunities to local businessesand the response from the commu-nity was enthusiastic. The Societyplans to organize an air show everytwo years so we hope this was justthe beginning of a new summertradition.

career of 67 wins and 12 losses thatincluded the North AmericanAmateur Heavyweight championship,the World Amateur Heavyweight titleand a silver medal for Canada in the1984 Olympics. In his professionalcareer he was ranked number 5 inthe world. Upon his retirement fromboxing in 1987, he enrolled atGrande Prairie Regional College inpre-law. He has said that this was theaccomplishment he was most proudof. In countless interviews he hasgiven credit to GPRC as “the perfectplace for me to learn how to learnagain…” Willie deWit attended GPRCfrom 1989-1991 then went on tograduate from the Faculty of Law atthe University of Alberta and hasbeen practicing law in Calgary eversince.

Alumni/Foundation VolunteerAward - Recipient Rick HryciukThe Alumni/Foundation VolunteerAward recognizes a person whoexemplifies the many volunteers

upon whose efforts the continuedgrowth of our College depends. RickHryciuk joined the GPRC FoundationBoard of Directors in 1999, havingbeen recruited by former PresidentTom Thompson. During his years onthe Foundation Board, Rick chairedthe two major fundraising events –College Classic Golf Tournament andPresident’s Ball. Two years after histerm on the Board ended, Rick wasapproached to be a member of thespecial committee established for theGPRC Theatre Heritage Project. RickHryciuk has lived in Grande Prairiesince moving here at the age of threeand has been a regular volunteer inour community. He was the inauguralpresident of the South Peace BallAssociation, and was the VP Sportsfor the Canada Winter Games 1995 –a commitment of five years in total.“My philosophy has always been thatwhen I am asked to do something, Igive everything I’ve got.”

Rick Hryciuk

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A Sense ofCommunity

The Ainsworth College Classictournament was held on June 3,2005 at the Grande Prairie Golf andCountry Club. The sun was bright at1:00 pm when GPRC President JimHenderson fired the gun allowing144 golfers to get their round under-way. It was the perfect day forgolf…until around the 9 hole mark.For only the second time in the 18year history of the Classic, clouds,

rain and hail quickly moved in forc-ing club manager and event emceeDon McFarlane to blow the hornputting an end to play. Despite theshortened game, spirits were high.Players enjoyed a fantastic barbe-cued steak dinner, then participatedin a hugely successful live auctionand silent auction run by Mr.McFarlane. At the end of the day arecord $42,000 was raised for the

college and its students.We would like to thank our title

sponsor Ainsworth Lumber for theirinvolvement. Both Allan Ainsworthand his son Micheal flew in fromVancouver to play in the tourna-ment.Other major sponsors were:Pepsi Bottling Group, SportswearPlus, and Common WealthCredit Union.

The final audience for Annie GetYour Gun applauded more than thesuccessful run which entertained localtheatre-goers. The company, drivenby the energy of producer RickHryciuk, raised $18,000 toward theGPRC Theatre Heritage Project.

The Alberta Foundation for theArts has awarded a grant of $12,150for the support of arts activities atGrande Prairie Regional College. Thefunding is part of the Foundation’sPost Secondary Institutions GrantProgram, and is subject to the stipu-lations and restrictions of that pro-gram.

Five GPRC projects were identifiedin the GPRC funding submission, andthe grant has identified monies foreach of the five: Prairie North ArtistsResidency, Visitor in the Arts Series,National Arts Centre Orchestra,Piano Recital and ContemporaryShowcase. These projects will belaunched throughout 2005 - 2006.

The National Arts CentreOrchestra project is a new initiative,providing the 55-member Ottawaorchestra for two-day residenciesgeared to elementary school stu-dents. The GPRC National ArtsCentre Orchestra residency will givemusic students of all ages in our areaa wonderful opportunity to learnfrom and play with world-class musi-cians.

Grande Prairie Regional College isvery grateful to the AlbertaFoundation for the Arts for thegrant, and for this grant programwhich does so much to stimulate artsactivities in our region.

Support for GPRCArts Projects

College Classic

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NAC Orchestratour comes toPerforming ArtsCentre at GPRC

Grande Prairie Regional College isdelighted to host the National ArtsCentre Orchestra on November 13,2005 as part of the NACO tour ofAlberta and Saskatchewan this year.

Consistent praise has followedthis vibrant, classical-sized orchestrathroughout its history of touringboth nationally and internationally,recording, and commissioningCanadian works. The National ArtsCentre Orchestra of Canada, nowunder the direction of renownedconductor/ violinist/violist PinchasZukerman, continues to draw acco-lades both abroad and at its home inOttawa where it gives over 100 per-formances a year.

The GPRC performance is partiallysupported by a grant from theAlberta Foundation for the Arts,while the Alberta portion of this

National Arts Centre Orchestra Touris supported by Alberta PresentingSponsor EPCOR, and Alberta MajorSponsor CN. Tour educational activi-ties are supported by AlbertaEducation Sponsor ConocoPhillips,and Education Donors NAC Friends –Alberta, and CIBC.

In addition to a full series of sub-scription concerts at the NationalArts Centre each season, tours areundertaken to regions throughoutCanada and around the world. Sincethe arrival of Pinchas Zukerman,education has been an extremelyimportant component of these tours.He has led the Orchestra on tourswithin Canada in 1999, 2002 and2004, to Europe and Israel in 2000,and the United States and Mexico in2003 with educational activitiesranging from master classes andquestion-and-answer sessions to sec-tional rehearsals with youth andcommunity orchestras and studentmatinees. Teacher Resource Kits havebeen developed for distribution toelementary schools in the regionstoured and across Canada, and thepublic has been able to follow eachtour through fully interactive web-

sites which are now archived on theNAC’s Performing Arts Website atwww.artsalive.ca. The Orchestra’s2004 tour in British Columbia includ-ed 95 education activities in additionto the public concerts. The next touris to Alberta and Saskatchewan inNovember 2005.

The NAC Orchestra has 40 record-ings to its name, six with PinchasZukerman: Haydn, Vivaldi,Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart (aCD of flute quartets, and a CD oforchestral and string quintets). Thecommissioning of original Canadianworks has always been an importantpart of the National Arts Centre’smandate with over 50 works com-missioned to date.

The concert will be on SundayNovember 13, 2005 in the Douglas J.Cardinal Performing Arts Centre atGrande Prairie Regional College.

Tickets (reserved seating) go onsale in September at the GP LiveTheatre Box Office, phone538-1600. Main Floor: $30 adults,$25 seniors, $20 students & childrenBalcony: $25 adults, $20 seniors, $15students & children

Every year, sudden cardiac arrestclaims more than 400,000 thousandlives. Each year, over 12,000 NorthAmericans experience cardiac arrestin a public place. Research hasshown that AEDs, AutomatedExternal Defibrillators, can increasesurvival rates as much as 90%, andthe devices have become a key partof health and safety procedures inmany public areas such as airports,shopping malls, and public institu-tions.

The Swan City Breakfast LionsClub, represented by Norm Perra,provided GPRC with a cheque for$9,500.00, funding the purchase oftwo defibrillators, a training defibril-lator and training for 30 people. Thetraining will be provided to the“first-responders” health and safetypersonnel at the College, whichincludes representatives from

throughout the insti-tution.

The gift meets anidentified butunfunded need; theCollege has beenenthusiastic aboutthe Operation HeartSafe program pro-moted by GPREMSwhich encouragesaccess to AEDs inpublic spaces. “Weare very grateful tothe Swan CityBreakfast Lions,” says GPRCPresident Jim Henderson. “This gifttruly makes a difference; throughthe generosity of the Lions, GPRCwill be a safer place to work andlearn. If the life of just one person issaved the value of the gift will bepriceless.”

The College is very pleased to beeducating a significant percentageof its staff in the use of AED, By edu-cating the general population onCPR and the use of AutomatedExternal Defibrillators (AED), carecan start before an ambulancearrives.

Lion’s Club Provides Defibrilators

Jim Richards, Norm Perra, Carment Haakstad, Hywell Williams.

Conversations

8

The past year has been a remark-able episode in the life of CarmenSylvain. In September, 2004, Ms.Sylvain was formally accredited byKing Mohammed VI as theCanadian Ambassador to Morocco,becoming the first womanAmbassador to an Arab country.

Just how did she get there fromGirouxville Alberta? “Well, it is along story, but it is incremental!”says Carmen Sylvain, speaking fromthe Embassy residence in Agdal-Rabat.

“It all started in Grande Prairie,and it actually started with LeighGoldie.” Carmen Sylvain was partof a group of players fromDonnelly high school who hadbeen recruited to play Wolves vol-leyball. “What happened was wewere playing in a tournamentonce, and one of the referees wasa Grande Prairie man who hadspent some time in Alabama andworked with the university volley-ball team. He saw a couple of usplay in that tournament, and he

approached Leigh about doing aplay video that he could send tothe coach at that university toshow off those of us he thoughthad some potential. Three of usparticipated in a video to send tothe coach in Alabama. Leigh cameback to us about three weeks later,and said “gosh golly gee, some-thing went wrong, the video didn’twork, could you come and do itagain.” And the other two womensaid, no, we’re not going to do itagain, it’s too much trouble, we’renot going to get selected anyway.But I said sure, I’ll do it again, whynot?”

Leigh Goldie submitted thevideotape, and within a monthCarmen Sylvain received a letter

In Conversation

Ambassador Carmen Sylvain

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Peace Countrywoman CanadianAmbassador to

Morocco

offering her a full scholarship tothe university in Alabama. “So I justwent home, told my parents whereI was going, and headed off all onmy own to Alabama – I don’tremember ever thinking twiceabout it. I just headed off, thinkingYAY, I get to go to university, it’spaid, I get to play volleyball, I getto live in the US and discover aboutit a little... I remember going to mymother and telling her about it andshe said “where’s Alabama?” I had-n’t even taken the time to look yet,so I pulled out the map and wefound it together.”

And thus began the series ofseemingly unrelated events whichtogether positioned Carmen Sylvainperfectly for her entry into thediplomatic service.

Carmen Sylvain was considered a“foreign student” at the universityin Alabama – part of a large con-tingency of foreign students. “Theygave scholarships to students fromall over the world. I joined the clubfor international students, and I

met for the first time people fromIran, Iraq, Kuwait, Japan, SaudiArabia, several African countries –something like 70 different coun-tries were represented. I reallyenjoyed that – I learned such atremendous amount – you learnjust from meeting people.

“That sort of inspired me in for-eign affairs – between all of them,they all had something to sayabout whatever was happening onthe international stage at thattime. It was a good learning experi-ence.”

That experience, combined witha course in Western Civilization,began Carmen on what wouldeventually lead her to the diplo-matic services. “I had a reallydynamic professor, who was veryexcited about history, and it wasthe first history “experience” forme – and combined with all of thepeople I was meeting, I was verytaken with it. I thought, this iswhat I want to do: study history,get to know about the world anddifferent cultures – that was wheremy interest started.”

History gradually overtook vol-leyball as a priority, and Carmenwas immersed in her studies whenthe sudden death of her parentsbrought her back to NorthernAlberta to care for younger sib-lings. “I was a bit depressed – I hadthought I would complete myBachelors’ and then go on to do aMasters degree in California, andsuddenly here I was back inGirouxville. It felt like a setback. Ithought, I am never going to getmy Masters . . .”

Carmen got a temporary jobteaching, and also began workingfor the French CanadianAssociation. While she was with theFrench Canadian Association, sheinteracted frequently with theDepartment of Secretary of State.“At the time, they had a promotionof women and multicultural pro-grams, and they were looking for acommunity development agentwho knew different parts ofAlberta.” Carmen was hired tomeet with women’s organizationsand Francophone community orga-

nizations, analysing communitydevelopment projects, and deter-mining which ones the departmentwould fund.

“I was there for about ninemonths and by chance I went to aconcert in Montreal, where I metthe director of the women’s pro-gram in Ottawa. She had a team inOttawa, and she didn’t like the factthat practically everyone on herteam who was handling nationalissues was from Ontario or Quebec– she was looking for people fromthe regions who understoodwomen and agriculture, women inrural communities, and multicultur-al organizations. I had worked withsome of them in Alberta, so I wasinvited to Ottawa for six months asa temporary replacement for some-one. My appointment was pro-longued, and after about a year Iwas offered a full-time job and I

decided to take it.” Two years later, Carmen was fin-

ished that project and looking for achange. A neighbour who wasworking for the Privy council office,told her of an opportunity gather-ing input for constitutional talks.They wanted people who hadworked with community organiza-tions, and people who had workedacross the country. “I had workedwith aboriginal and francophonecommunities, with environmentalgroups, women’s groups, agricul-tural groups – so I put in my namethey called me and said ‘when canyou start?’

For the next year and a half,every important group in the coun-try was making presentations tothe central government on howthe constitution should bereformed. “It was a very interestingexperience,” says Carmen. “The job

gave me an opportunity to learn alot about our constitution, andlearn about all of the differentinterests of these organizations rel-ative to the constitution, and theprovinces positions. And then therewere six constitutional policy con-ferences where they broughttogether experts and the research -historians and ordinary Canadians –it was an excellent opportunity.There was a referendum that fol-lowed – a very high profile eventwith the media following it minuteby minute – a lot to learn in termsof working with the media.”

When that process was over,Carmen Sylvain was no longerneeded at the Privy Council, andwas looking for another job. Thedepartment of Communicationshad the responsibility for organiz-ing Canada’s participation in WorldFairs abroad. “What they neededwere people to plan these spaces –essentially building a Canadianpavillion abroad. They neededsomebody who understood thecountry, who had travelled or whohad worked in various parts ofCanada. I had done that in thewomens program and I had done itin Privy Council. They neededsomebody who had federal-provin-cial experience, because you had tonegotiate with all the provincialgovernments, and someone whoknew private industry because youhad to recruit sponsorship from pri-vate industry to build these pavil-ions. They also needed somebodywho knew media and communica-tions because they are very largecommunications events. I wouldn’tsay I had a lot of experience in allof them, but I had had a taste ofall of these fields. Anyway, I woundup with the job – I had time tolearn for about a year, and thenplunged into it.”

Carmen Sylvain was Director ofInternational Expositions,Department of Communications,from 1992-1994, and held variousposts at Canadian Heritage in theyears 1994-2001, including Directorof International Events, andAssistant Commissioner General.

“I actually stayed in that job for

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close to ten years because I enjoyedit so much. It is like a mini-embassyabroad that you build new eachtime. Each takes about three yearsto plan – you do everything: pro-duce film, produce exhibits, put onprograms – trade programs, publicaffairs programs. It’s likeDisneyland in a way – in Germanywe created the largest Canadianpavilion ever abroad; the pavillionwas the size of a football field. Wewere receiving 25,000 visitors a day,close to 3 million visitors in a five-month period. We made exhibitorprograms for that audience, plusspecial programs for visiting digni-taries – producing a Canadian showabroad for five or six months. Itwas fascinating. Those events areextraordinary learning events forpeople.

“I did that for three events, andacquired a certain amount of expe-rience. There is an internationalbody similar to the Olympic com-mittee – anyway, I wound up get-ting elected to the executive com-mission of the organization, andserved as a member for about fouryears, and then when the presiden-cy came up I was encouraged torun. I thought I was too young –who is going to vote for me withall these other candidates from var-ious countries – but I thought I’lltry anyway; I had learned my lessonin Grande Prairie when I got thatscholarship.

“I tried and I was elected, andthat gave me the opportunity to dosome inquiry missions – China,Russia, Mexico, Korea, Poland andArgentina were bidding – I woundup leading a delegation of sixmembers, from six different coun-tries, to each of these biddingcountries, and being received bythe leaders of those countries. ThePresident of China, the Mayor ofShanghai, the President of Mexico– the highest level officials of thosecountries – business and govern-ment. President Poutin of Russia,Gorbachev... really extraordinarypeople. I got this opportunity -partly chance, partly experience,partly interest and hard work – Ihad put a lot of hard work into the

organization.” And then the Foreign Affairs

bolt slipped into place, gatheringCarmen Sylvain’s long history ofexperience and expertise into itscurrent direction.

“After Germany, the Canadianambassador to Germany becamethe Deputy Minister of ForeignAffairs. He had been so impressedwith what we did in Germany – hesaw us as a small embassy – heasked me if I would go and work atForeign Affairs. I said yes, I wouldlove to, because ever since I hadbeen at university, I thought this iswhat I would like to do, and I hadnever had the opportunity to pur-sue it in a direct pass.”

Carmen Sylvain went to thedepartment of Foreign Affairs andasked what they had to offer. ‘Haveyou ever thought of working in theMiddle East?’ she was asked.

“I said never, ever, ever! To tellyou the truth I had absolutely nointerest. I thought about it, anddecided that this may not be anarea of the world that I am attract-ed to, but I will pursue those in myprivate life. If I take this on in myprofessional life, it forces me tolearn about it, and I may like it. So Isaid okay.”

When Carmen Sylvain startedher work in the Department ofForeign Affairs on September 7th,2001, she was responsible for allthe countries of the Gulf and all ofthe countries of North Africa. “Fivedays after I was there, I was sittingin my office in Ottawa, on the tele-phone with our ambassador inSaudi Arabia – we were chattingand he says ‘Oh, Carmen, do youhave your TV on?’ I said no, and hesaid, well there is a plane that justflew into the World Trade Centre.

“I was talking to ourAmbassador in Saudi Arabia aboutour program for Saudi Arabia, andthen this occurred. Our wholedepartment turned upside down.Of course in the immediate after-math all the attention turned onthe Gulf region – the two regionsthat I was dealing with, really,because they were all Arab coun-tries. In a way it forced a tremen-

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dous amount of work on me veryvery quickly because I didn’t knowthe region, and I was learning it,but on the other hand when a crisishappens like that the wholedepartment comes togetherbecause they have to deal with thecrisis – so I got to know all theareas of a new department veryquickly. People were exceptionallygenerous in helping me learn – wewound up having more interactionwith those countries because weneeded to for security reasons.

“I just worked really hard and Iguess they must think we did adecent job because after threeyears they decided that I knew theregion well enough to go abroad.That is such a lo-o-ong story – butit all has to do with how I got here.

“You know, I didn’t plan any-thing. I was always jealous of thesepeople who knew what they want-ed to be – I knew what I wanted todo generally ,but there was nomoment when I made the decisionto be a Canadian Ambassador andbegan to work toward it specifical-ly. A lot of people decide to studyinternational affairs, and they jointhe department at a young ageand begin to move up the ranks...it is extremely hard to get into thedepartment like I did. Very few areable to do that... but now it isexactly that approach which isbeing encouraged. They are findingthat international affairs personnelbenefit from that broader experi-ence – first-hand knowledge ofother provinces and territories,work with industry – networksthroughout the country so thatthey understand Canada well andcan represent the whole countrywell abroad.

“People in the department used

to ask – how come you know somany people? How do you knowthat person, that issue, thatresource? I think it was because Ihad come to the work so indirectly,had spent years working with somany other interests, that my con-tacts are strong and varied.”

And now Carmen Sylvain is onCanadian soil in Agdal-Rabat,where the official language isArabic, and the language of busi-ness is French. The entire embassyis decorated all with Canadianmaterials – artworks, furniture, car-pets – everything is purchased inCanada. “It is kind of a Canadianshowcase.” Her staff includes sever-al Francophone Canadians, butmany more Moroccans.

“You definitely need French towork here – Arabic is the languagespoken by mostly everyone, butFrench is the language of business,and the language used by govern-ment and in every official capacity.If you want to do anything here,you communicate in French.Definitely my Francophone her-itage has been useful. What I findinteresting is that everyone whohas worked here in the past,absolutely everyone, has alwaysbeen from Quebec. So I am the firstone from another region.

“By sending someone from out-side Quebec, first we are announc-ing that there is a Canada outsideQuebec, and also we are able todraw interest to western Canada. Ihave already been talking aboutMorocco to people at theUniversity of Alberta, and UNBC,and different industries in Alberta,the oil industry in Calgary – and Ihave talked here in Morocco aboutAlberta, and the various opportuni-ties in industry and education for

Moroccans who want to go toCanada. So the language is useful,but I find that being from outsideof Quebec is also an importantthing.”

No two days are alike. On theday of the interview with Wisdom,Ms. Sylvain received a delegationof former chiefs of the CanadianArmed Forces – planning for somemeetings with the chief of theMoroccan Armed Forces to talkabout a convention on Land Mines.“Morocco is one of the few hold-out countries in Africa, which hasnot signed on. And they have notwanted to talk to us at all. Westarted discussions last fall, andfinally talked them into receiving adelegation. So we’re planning allof this – its very exciting becausethe object of course is to have asmany countries on board as possi-ble to rid the world of landmines.When you have a holdout whoshows potential interest in comingon board, you want to be sure youget it right. So that’s what I wasdoing today.”

Embassy personnel includes aperson in charge of political pro-gram, the chief of trade programs,and someone responsible for immi-gration. “We oversee all of theimmigration services for Moroccansto Canada – they immigrate mostlyto Quebec. The RCMP is here, col-laborating with the Moroccan gov-ernment on issues such as drugsmuggling, arms smuggling, orga-nized crime. We have a team withCSIS (Canadian Security IntelligenceService – cooperating on anti-ter-rorism activities and trafficking,money laundering. They all workout of the embassy here.”

Morocco is the largest source of –continued on page 22

SharingKnowledge

Only a few people are still speak-ing the Beaver language in thePeace Region, and as a young highschool student Nell Friesen was for-tunate to meet one of them. As shebecame acquainted with DominicHabitant of the Eleske Reserve, Nellquickly became interested in histraditional language and in helpingto preserve it. Now, about to enterher fourth year in the Bachelor ofEducation program at GPRC, Nellhas recorded several hundredwords, and spends summer freetime collecting additional wordsfrom her elderly Beaver friend.

“It really started as a fun thing –actually it was several years agowhen I was still in high school inFort Vermilion, which is close toone of the few remaining Beaverreserves. There are very,very fewpeople left who speak the Beaverlanguage even on the reserve.”

Nell Friesen first met DominicHabitant when he came to hermother for therapeutic massage.“He would come for treatment andstay for tea. He would tell us storiesin English. He began to talk abouthow the Beaver language wasdying out, and because I was inter-ested he taught me a word or twowhen he would visit. It is hard tolearn from him, because he cannotread or write English, and speaks itonly a little. He would tell jokes, Iwould learn a few words, he’dtease me about my accent.

“Then I started writing down thewords he told me. First of all, I

made up my own phonetic symbolsto try to reflect the sounds of theBeaver language – it was hardbecause we don’t have English let-ters for some of the sounds.I col-lected quite a few, and started toresearch a little bit.

“Dominic tells stories, the oralhistory of his people. Some of thestories he has told us, I haveresearched and found in print,almost word for word as he toldthem to me – so the oral history isquite accurate. He said his grand-mother would tell these stories, inthe teepee when they lived out inthe bush. Dominic did not everattend residential school, and neverlearned to read or write, so he didnot lose his knowledge of Beaverlanguage, and his stories have notbeen affected by the English lan-guage.

“The first year I was in Collegehere I located a few resource mate-rials at the University of Alberta.There is an old book by linguistPliny Earl Goddard who has workedwith recording several native lan-guages, and I also have some mate-rial done in syllabics by a mission-ary, Garrioch (1917) – even backthen Garrioch had trouble findingpeople who could talk the lan-guage – and those who could didnot speak English very well so hehad trouble finding an interpreter.”The Gospel of St. Mark has beentranslated into these syllabics, aswell a child’s prayer book, butresources relating to the language

14

Education studentspending her freetime to preservelanguage of Beaverpeople

Dominic Habitant is now in hisseventies. “There was another manwho was part Beaver who I workedwith a little bit,” Nell explains, “buthe died last summer. That was toobad. There are not many left whodo speak it. I would love to taperecord Dominic, but he is very tradi-tional. His grandfather was a medi-cine man. He says he doesn’t like tospeak on tape, or have his picturetaken – it takes his power away – soI respect that. But that also meansthat when he is gone, the languagehe knows will go with him. He does-n’t talk about it a lot, but once in awhile he’ll refer to the time whenhe isn’t here and I will be one ofthose who helps to hold his lan-guage.”

– Lynne Ness

are minimal. In fact, Nell Friesen, who makes

no claims as a linguist, has becomesomething of a resource herself. Inthe past few years she has beenasked regularly to help with transla-tions into Beaver language forAboriginal Studies textbooks beingpublished by Duval Publishing inEdmonton. “It is kind of exciting tobe part of that. They had calledDominic , but couldn’t understandhis English. He directed them tome.”

In recent months, two linguistsfrom Germany have begun to payvisits to Dominic. “They fly overhere and been paying Dominicmoney to tell them about his lan-guage. The Beaver language isamong those that scholars know isalmost extinct. I have not met theGerman women, but it would beinteresting to know more abouttheir project.”

Nell’s own project is modest, andher goal is clear. “I would like to doit in a form that even children, ifthey speak English, could look at itand get a sense of the words. I amnot a linguist – I would not try todo it for linguists. Most of theBeaver descendants now speakeither English or Cree. I’d like to beable to do it so that Beaver peoplewho would like to know moreabout their language could look atit and get some sense of what itwas. The thing with that is, it ismore Dominic who has beenencouraging this process more thanme. He has kept pushing me along.It is very important to him that thisget preserved.

“Their language is quite complex.I think I can get maybe a skeletonof it, but since I am only collectingfrom one person the result will belimited. And like Dominic himselfsaid, the dialect would have beendifferent from Fort Vermilion toDunvegan to Ft. St. John. TheBeaver Indians at one point were allalong the Peace River, but the Cree

came in and pushed them back andkind of took over as a culture.

“I think at one time Beaver was avery complex language – and it stillis for the people who know it –there are a lot of little meaningswithin the words, just saying theword differently with differentaccents or tone changes the mean-ing. Dominic will tell me a wordmeans name, and then say the samething means prophet - that sort ofthing. When I ask about it, he willsay ‘Well, it’s very much the same.You just say it a little stronger.’ It isvery hard.”

Dominic and his wife Madelinetalk together in Beaver, Nell says,but none of their children speak it.“He said his one niece had wantedto learn, but she lost interest. Whenthere are not many people speakingit, there is not much incentive forthem to learn it. Some of theBeaver people from the Ft. St, Johnarea came to find out about what Ihad done – they wanted to know,to learn the language – but I hadnot done very much by that time.”

Nell Friesen will be returning toGPRC in September to begin herfourth year Bachelor of Education.Perhaps some day her work withthe Beaver language might be asubject for a Master’s degree, butfor the time being it is definitely aspare time endeavour. “When youare busy with classes it is hard tofind time to work on this. It hasbeen an off and on sort of thingwhenever I am home – during thesummers I collect quite a few words.Last summer I managed to do some– not as much as I would like. I hopeto be working on it again this sum-mer – I will be working at the muse-um in Fort Vermilion.“

Beaver is one of the Athabaskanlanguages of the Na-Dene, theNative American language family.There are only a handful of knownfluent speakers for the entire lan-guage family – and no recorded flu-ent speakers of Beaver.

15

‘There are very, very few people left who speak theBeaver language even on the reserve.’ – Nell Friesen

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Chris WarkentinGPRC Alumnus Chris Warkentin

recently earned the right toreplace Charlie Penson as theConservative candidate in theupcoming federal election, anamazing achievement for a youngman of 26. Warkentin has beeninvolved in politics since he waselected to the Board of the localconstituency association at the ageof 18 and has helped in allConservative election campaignssince 1993.

Warkentin got into politicsbecause he felt, even from ayoung age, that there was “com-mon sense missing from politics.”As a child, he even remembersthinking “if you make apromise just followthrough with it, youknow, what’s so hardabout that?” Chris wasvery interested in politicsas a young man, eventhough his family was notpolitically involved. “Iremember dragging my dadto these political meet-ings before I had mydrivers’ license.My

grandfather was political, in thesense that he was an armchair crit-ic. Politics was something that hediscussed, so maybe that’s where Igot my sense of politics.”

Chris realizes that his age maybe a factor for some voters butsays it is both positive and nega-tive. “There’s a sense that a fewmore years would be helpful and Iagree. I think that when you arerepresenting people with a historyit is important to have a historyyourself. At the same time, beingyoung means that I have the ener-gy that is needed for the job

because it is so rigorousin terms of travel and

in terms of beingout there and I

hope that it is amajor advan-tage.” In addi-

tion, Chris hasbeen creditedwith attractingfresh new faces to

the local partyassociation. “You

know you hear allthese doomsday

prophecies,” Chrisexplains, “that

young peo-ple just

aren’t

involved, and they will never getinvolved, no one cares about it[politics]. Well, there are a lot ofpeople that do care. I think thatwe just haven’t allowed youngerpeople to be involved and that’swhat causes them not to want toengage in the process. Politics is afunny thing, it’s like anything, ifpeople can’t see a way to getinvolved, they won’t get involved.”Warkentin would like to see thischange. “I really care about theviews of constituents and wouldlike to see as many people as possi-ble get curious about politics. Ifyou are not representing the ideasthat you were elected under, thendemocracy doesn’t work becausethat’s what the majority of thepeople elected you to do.”

Chris, a small “d” democrat byideology, says his “passion lives inseeing democracy revitalized. I’dlike to see policies that encourageparliamentarians to represent theconstituents who elect them.”Warkentin believes in “a free votein the house, where you’re notpersuaded to vote the way thatyour party would. I believe thatMPs should be encouraged to votethe way that their constituentswant them to. I think the Party sys-tem if it was run in a different waymight really work well to engagepeople in discussion, but when weare shutting down discussion byforcing or whipping the MPs thenthere is no discussion and nothinghappens. If you could have fourdifferent parties all with differentideas to try to influence oneanother, then if they could voteacross Party lines, we’d actually seethe best ideas going forwards.That’s when we will see truedemocracy.”

Chris realizes that politics is notalways easy and is realistic aboutthe upcoming election. “I’ve beeninvolved enough to know thatthere will be a lot of surprises and

AlumniProfile

16

that I don’t know everything. I’myoung enough to put up with afew disappointments in life andpush forward to try and makesome positive changes.” This nextelection will be a challenge forChris, but winning the candidacyunder such time restraints was adefinite confidence booster forhim. “Winning the candidacy wasa surprise in that, it happened soquickly. We had a very tight timeframe because just this spring theyfelt an election was imminent, sothey really forced things. I creditthe organization, the people whocame alongside me.” Warkentinhas also seen the nasty politicaltactics used by some during cam-paigning and hopes that it willnot be an issue in the coming elec-tion. “It really disappointed me tosee the dirty tactics because I fig-

ure if we cannot show that poli-tics can happen different on thelocal level then on the nationallevel it will never change.Especially in a community likeours, I think that we can have apositive discussion of ideas, andwe all have to be neighbours inthe end. I think that beingdecent during the campaign issomething that needs to happenso that we can have a positivediscussion.”

Currently, Chris is organizinghis own business, NeighbourContracting, so that the momentan election is called he will befree to focus on the campaign.Politically, he is busy “network-ing throughout the constituencyto get volunteers on board. “Iwant to meet with as many peo-ple as possible and try to con-

17

vince them that the Conservativeswould be a good party to repre-sent the people of Canada andthat I would be a good representa-tive of the people here.”

Chris’s long-term goal is to getinto a political position to makepositive changes in government.“My expectation is that I will beable to make some change; if Iwork hard enough, then some-thing will happen. I’m youngenough to put up with a few dis-appointments in life and push for-ward to try and make some posi-tive change. I realize that we firsthave to get through this election,get elected, and then there is theissue of gaining credibility. I havethe ambition to someday be in arole of leadership or a role ofinfluence.

– Catherine Ridgeway

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Douglas J. Cardinal Performing Arts CentreReserved SeatingTickets available at the GP Live Theatre Box Office538-1600

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18

Ten years ago I received a phonecall from a friend. She knew of ayoung aboriginal GPRC studentwho needed a photo portfoliobecause he had been discovered bythe North of 60 producers after heperformed as a warrior dancer inthe opening ceremonies of theCanada Winter Games in GrandePrairie. I did a photo shoot thenext day, and when Gerald Augersent the photographs along, hewas changing the course of his lifeforever.

Before long he was filling regu-lar roles on the popular CBC-TVNorth of 60 series. And his actingexperience there led to many oth-ers: An IMAX spectacle known asLewis and Clark: The Journey West,the Hallmark mini-seriesDreamkeeper which aired on ABCand CTV, the 1998 movie My Weststarring David Bowie and HarveyKeitel, a topical music video byFirst Nations rap group Red Power,a controversial documentary aboutHIV/AIDS in Canadian aboriginalcommunities entitled The LongWalk, and a couple of movies forrelease this fall with award-win-ning producer Steven Spielberg.

Television work led to film. Filmled to docudrama and commercialwork – which led to radio, musicvideos, filmmaking, writing, mod-eling. That work led to motivation-al speaking, and special assign-ments like serving as a special advi-sor for SAY (Spirit of AboriginalYouth) Magazine.

So, it was fate’s good work thatbrought Gerald and I togetheragain at the annual BusinessConference organized each year bymarketing students in a course Iteach in the winter semester. I con-tacted him about serving as themotivational afternoon speaker atthis year’s conference held in theDouglas J. Cardinal PerformingArts Centre, and he was thrilled

and honored to accept the invita-tion.

Gerald was a marketing/man-agement diploma student at GPRCfrom 1993 to 1995. As we walkedthrough the college re-visiting hisclassrooms and instructor’s offices,we found his place on the class listfor 1995.

“At that moment I felt like I hadcome full circle,” he recalled.“Walking the hallways and seeingthe people who helped me rightmy life at that time in my life wasa powerful experience,” he said.

Indeed, Gerald has come a longway from his humble Cree originsin Wabasca, Alberta – where hewas born into a world of poverty,abuse and strife. His many achieve-ments would have seemed insur-mountable when he abandonedhis life on the reserve at age 12and drifted from Edmonton toToronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouverwhere he witnessed the horrors ofstreet life for eight years.

He is a survivor of the urbansqualor afflicting his people, rou-tine alcoholism, drug abuse, vio-lence and death. “When I lookback I remember myself as a kindof ‘walking dead,’” he said.

It was when he saw his compan-ions and street brothers die one byone that Gerald came to termswith his situation: either do 25years behind bars or land up sixfeet under.

Instead, he decided to get a life.He returned home, and planned toattend college. While enrolled inBusiness Administration at GPRCGerald became the student presi-dent of the campus Circle ofAboriginal Students and helpedform Canada’s first aboriginalToastmasters’ Club.

He started tasting success. Hepassed his classes, and caught theeye of some of his instructors – likeBill Fletcher.

Gerald remembers Bill Fletchertaking him under his wing. ”Hesaw something in me that I could-n’t see in myself at the time. I havealways been thankful for his extrasupport, and have kept in touchwith him through the years. Hehas copies of every single articlethat’s been published about mebecause I send them to him faith-fully,” Gerald commented.

The year after his graduationfrom GPRC, Gerald was appointeda National Native Role Model bythe Governor General, and spentthe next two years traveling acrossCanada speaking to youth, inspir-ing his aboriginal peers, and work-ing to prevent other young peoplefrom finding themselves on thestreets. In 1999 he was the firstaboriginal recipient of the Rotary

Gerald Augerreturns to GPRC

AlumniProfile

19

International integrity award.While Gerald has great passion

for acting, producing, and film-making, he has one other fargreater passion: inspiring youngpeople.

At the Business Conference,appropriately named ‘Leadership:Towards Tomorrow Today,’ Geraldcommented that “anything is pos-sible if you have the courage tochange and the conviction to fol-low your dreams. But, it takes sac-rifice. It takes dedication, and ittakes commitment,” he advised.Gerald ‘s presentation epitomizedthe conference theme. In his hour-

long talk he explained how his col-lege education opened up a worldof options for a better life that fortoo long he didn’t even knowexisted. And though he’s nowworking in an artistic area, henoted that “business is unavoid-able.

“I am able to apply every daywhat I learned in Business at GPRC.I have hands-on input in day-to-day business dealings workingwith agents, and running my pro-duction companies known as BlackEagle Productions and Soul 2 SoulEntertainment Inc. Marketing andgeneral business skills are transfer-

able to virtually every profession,”he noted.

Gerald is based out ofVancouver these days, and is cur-rently working on a three-partdocumentary series produced bythe National Film Board of Canada.It portrays the realities and percep-tions of Aboriginal gang culture.He’s also working on a Hollywoodfeature film, in partnership with aLos Angeles based company, aboutnative mythology, and a movie-of-the-week (MOW) which will becalled Brave Under Fire.

– Rick Erlendson

20

In OurWisdom

–continued from page 3

Just as our professional ath-letes have the capabilities tomake an impact in the world atlarge, so do our GPRC Wolvesstudent-athletes have the poten-tial to be positive representa-tives for our College. It seemsthat most of our athletes devel-op strong ties to the institutionduring their time here. Theexperience is intense as they tryto balance their commitment totheir studies with their desire totrain and grow in their chosensport. Fierce loyalties to theirteammates, coaches and Collegedevelop as they go to battletogether over the course of theseasons. Whether they win or lose,for many student-athletes theirtime at our College is one of thebest experiences of their lives.Through sport, a significant num-ber of them leave with a height-ened sense of themselves andwhat they are capable of accom-plishing in their future lives.

Our Wolves student-athletesserve as outstanding ambassadorsfor GPRC while they are in atten-dance here. The community is ableto observe them as they pursueexcellence both academically andathletically in a very public forum.What could speak more eloquently

for what we do here at theCollege than the efforts of theseyoung men and women? We havefound that when they eventuallyleave the College to further theirstudies and careers that theybecome highly effective spokesper-sons for GPRC as they speak fondlyof their time here and encourageothers to follow the same route.Their passion for the Wolves is evi-dent when we travel to play atother colleges around Alberta.Often our Wolves alumni in thestands will outnumber the specta-tors present for the home team.

The idea that our student-ath-letes are some of GPRC’s greatestambassadors is certainly a validone. It applies during their timehere when they are most visibleand perhaps, more importantly,after they leave, when many

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become lifelong advocates for theCollege. A great number of currentstudents have chosen GPRC basedon the recommendations of for-mer Wolves. In addition, manyalumni volunteer their time toGPRC as they serve on variousCollege boards and committees.For those of us that work here atthe College it is very gratifying tosee that type of continuing sup-port for our programs.

In the PEAK Department, whensomeone who has been here foran extended period of time leaves,we often give them some type ofgift with the inscription “Once aWolf, Always a Wolf”. We feel thatthis is the attitude that most ofour athletes carry with them asthey become some of GPRC’s“ambassadors extraordinaire”.

– Leigh Goldie

21

Dr. Rick Erlendson, has beenappointed Dean of Business, GrandePrairie Regional College, effectiveMay 1, 2005.

Dr. Scott McAlpine, has beenappointed Dean of Arts, Science andEduction, Grande Prairie RegionalCollege, effective May 1, 2005.

Marg Mazer, is honoured by theNational Academic AdvisingAssociation (NACADA) which hasannounced that she will one of tenrecipients of the Outstanding AdvisingCertificate of Merit, Academic AdvisingPrimary Role Category. Ms. Mazer isone of ten individuals across Canadaand the US to be honoured with thisaward in this category this year.

Gordon Pellerin, was recognized byhis peers in the Alberta Services forStudents association, which presentedhim with the Dean Stetson ServiceAward in recognition of his enthusias-tic and effective service to students ofGPRC. Mr. Pellerin was an academicadvisor at the time of the award; hehas since been appointed to the posi-tion of Assistant Registrar Admissionsat GPRC.

Trevor Thomas, BusinessAdministration instructor, is the 2005recipient of the Award for Excellencein Teaching presented by the Students’Association at GPRC; the award annu-ally recognizes an instructor “who hasdemonstrated exceptional ability inconveying knowledge by presentingmaterial in a fun and interesting man-ner.”

Dr. Jaroslav (Jerry) Petryshyn, waselected Chair of the Alberta 2005Centennial History Society, which ispublishing a two-volume history ofAlberta to be launched in October.

Bruce Galenza, has been namedTriathlete of the Year in a tri-city com-petition this summer, achieving lowaggregate time for his category inraces held in Grande Prairie, Fort St.John and Fort Nelson. When he is notswimming, cycling and running,Galenza teaches Philosophy at GPRC.(photo above)

Recent Achievementsof Faculty and Staff

Jane Friesen, recipient of the GPRCDistinguished Employee Award, 2005,for her significant contributions to theeducation of professionals in the fieldof human services

Dolly McArthur , received a NorthernWoman of the Year award for her con-tributions to the community and hercommitment to improving the qualityof life for persons with disabilities.

Dr. Oswald S. Warner, SociologyInstructor in the Department of Arts,Commerce and Education, has pub-lished a paper entitled “EncounteringCanadian Racism: Afro-TriniImmigrants in the Greater TorontoArea, Canada” in the May 2005 vol-ume of Wadabagei: A Journal of theCaribbean and Its Diaspora. The multi-disciplinary journal is committed tofacilitating the exchange of ideasamong Caribbean scholars worldwide.

Christine Donkin, was commissionedby the Fine Arts Department ofGrande Prairie Regional College tocompose three choral pieces for thecollege Concert Choir. These pieceswere written in celebration ofAlberta’s Centenary. The three pieces,settings of Psalm 23, Psalm 86, andPsalm 117, were premiered by theChoir at their Spring Concert. AConservatory instructor at the college,Christine studied composition withStephen Chatman at the University ofBritish Columbia.

Robert Cole, received the “BestDocumentary” award in the the GPLions club held “It's Your Turn” filmfestival for his film of the restorationof the GPRC Theatre. The film receiveda standing ovation when it was pre-sented at the dedication ceremoniesduring the President’s Awards event inFebruary.

Grande Prairie Regional Collegeregretfully announces the deathof former student and valedicto-rian David Doherty. David’s fami-

David Doherty • Valedictorian 2001, 1998-2000

I N M E M O R I A M

ly recalls that the years he spent atGPRC were a highlight for him.Specifically they recall him beinginspired by Carmen Gorgichuk,

John Murray, Robin Bourke andGerry van Nie. During his studies,“the College community becamehis family” while he was away.

GPRCalumni

MA

ILBA

G

’87 Paul CharestBachelor of Arts & Music Diploma, 1983-1987“Since leaving GPRC I’ve found the training Ireceived at The Tapestry prepared me for themany jobs I’ve held since 1986: interviewing,writing, editing, design, layout, proofreading,print deadlines and the whole ball of wax.Literally, as we cut and pasted our paper in thedays before onscreen layout. It was a greattime and, good or bad, it all lives on in theTapestry archives.”For the past three years, Paul has been workingas a Detachment Clerk for the RCMP inMcLennan.

’97 Teresa MartinBusiness Administration Diploma, 1994-1997“After completing my Business AdministrationDiploma I worked for a year and then went onto the University of Lethbridge. I graduatedwith distinction with a Bachelor ofManagement Degree majoring in HumanResources and Organizational studies. I am cur-rently employed with Edmonton Public Schoolsin a role specializing in classification and com-pensation. I’m loving it!”

’98 Kassey Patterson (nee Pelletier)Business Administration, 1996-1998Kassey is as an Administrative Assistant forMeyers Norris Penney, in Grande Prairie.

’99 Cynthia DivesBachelor of Education, 1997-1999Cynthia has gone abroad and is currentlyteaching in New York city.

’99 Shari TuckerBusiness Administration, 1997-1999Shari has completed a Photography II andDigital Imaging Program with honours fromthe Nova Scotia Community College in Halifaxand is currently living in Truro, Nova Scotia. “Icurrently operate my own photography busi-ness called Shari Tucker Photography and lookforward to going full force with it now that myeducation is complete. My favorite memoryfrom GPRC is being instructed and motivatedby Rick Erlendson. Not only did I get a busi-ness/marketing education at GPRC, but I alsobecame interested in Photography. Throughoutmy years of education, he has been one of thebest teachers there is. Pass along a pat on theback for doing a great teaching job!”

’00 Trevor BoychukBusiness Administration, 1997-2000Since graduating Trevor has been “contractedto Pomeroy Group from 2000 to April 1, 2005.”He is now working with Hansen Ford in theArmour Production Testing department.

Contact us at www.gprc.ab.ca

Send us your news! Update your infowith current career news etc., and wewill include you in an upcoming edi-tion of Wisdom magazine.

’00 Lana PfauBachelor of Arts Transfer, 1998-2000Lana is currently employed as an EmployeeBenefits Marketing Assistant for Great-WestLife here in Grande Prairie. “I am grateful forall of the friendships that I made during mytime at GPRC.”

’01 Connie Musselman (nee Rigler) Bachelor of Arts, 1994-1996Bachelor of Education Collaborative, 1998-2001Connie was enrolled at GPRC for her first twoyears of college, then moved on to theUniversity of Lethbridge to complete her Artsdegree, majoring in English. In 1998, Conniereturn to GPRC enrolled in the TeacherEducation North program; a collaborativeteaching program with the University ofAlberta. Now Connie is teaching in the GrandePrairie Catholic School Board system.

’02 Richard Podsada Interactive Digital Design, 2000-2002Richard is currently running his own webdesign business, in Grande Prairie, calledPodsada Consulting, and is the web designerfor the GPRC website.

’03 Shawn JohnstonBusiness Administration, Bachelor of SocialWork: U of C Access, 1998-2003Shawn has gone on to work for YHSSA – ChildProtection in Yellowknife, North WestTerritories.

’03 Catherine RidgewayBachelor of Arts, majoringin English, 2000-2003Catherine has gone on to Mount Royal Collegein Calgary to complete an Applied Degree inElectronic Publishing. She is currently workingon her first Directed Field Study with GrandePrairie Regional College’s Advancement depart-ment. Catherine played soccer for the MountRoyal Cougars while in Calgary. The Cougarshad a very successful year, making all the wayto the CCAA National final where they lost toQuebec’s FX Garneaux after two over-time peri-ods and a shoot out. Catherine “credits theskills developed while playing on GPRC’s volley-ball team” for all her success in Calgary. “Thefact that I had already been a part of a CCAANational final while playing with GPRC’s volley-ball team, gave me the experience and know-how to help lead the Cougars to a National sil-ver medal. I really appreciate all that GPRC hasdone for me!”

–continued from page 13

immigrants from Africa to Canada.There are 50,000 Moroccans livingin Quebec right now. The CIDA pro-gram provides funding to organiza-tions and to the governments andagencies for everything from edu-cation, water supplies, buildingroads, professional training

“The other interesting thinghere is that I am the first womanwho has been an ambassador inMorocco – actually in any of theArab countries. I think this countrywas ready for it. They said theywere very happy that Canada senta woman. About a year ago, theKing changed the family code togive women a revolutionary seriesof rights that they had never hadbefore – the most advanced of any-where in the Arab world. They arevery proud of it. When the nomina-tion came, they saw it as Canadarecognizing the progress they weremaking in terms of women’s rights.Because of the timing, they havebeen very open to me.

“To work in many different areas– trade, culture, international issues– to work on all of these issueswithin one country, and to bebuilding relations with that coun-try, is the chance of a lifetime.”

– Lynne Ness

Alumni Association

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