June 21, 2007 Aboriginal Day - a National Holiday? It’s Time for Aboriginals’ Contributions to be Rightly Recognized New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada – In acknowledgement of the significant contributions that Aboriginal groups have made to Canadian history, Advance Corporate Training (ACT) is calling for Aboriginal Day to be recognized as a national statutory holiday. “We respect and appreciate the struggles of the Aboriginal people throughout our country’s history,” said Janet Dean, President of ACT. “We’re proud to celebrate this day with Native, Inuit and Métis groups across Canada, but it’s not enough.” The enormous roles that Aboriginal groups have had, and continue to have, in Canada’s history deserve to be recognized with the prominence of a statutory holiday. The Canadian government recognizes these “unparalleled contributions to the development of this country” with a day of celebration, but more can be done. “Let’s set an amazing precedent and truly acknowledge with a national holiday that Canada is as great as it is thanks in large part to Aboriginal peoples,” Dean said. “We want the rest of the country to join the Northwest Territories, which has already designated Aboriginal Day as a statutory holiday.” ACT is committed to continuing to provide learning services to Indigenous peoples. In July, the company will send a team to the Great Northern Arts Festival to help Aboriginal artists market their art to a broader clientele. The team will interview up to 25 Aboriginal artists, documenting their work and creating individual custom biographies, websites, business cards and other marketing pieces to help these artists open previously untapped markets, leading to increased self-sufficiency. ACT has been providing training to performance-driven businesses, institutions and organizations since 1990. The company operates out of its head office in New Westminster, BC, as well as satellite offices in Edmonton, AB and China.
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