The New FP - a change in direction, not in purpose

By James Wastasecoot, Publisher

Well as someone once said, "change is inevitable-except from a vending machine."

This month marks the unveiling of FP-the natural evolution of The First Perspective-with a new look and significant changes to our editorial focus and content.

We've undertaken this momentous change to accommodate and reflect both the evolving and dynamic change occurring amongst aboriginal peoples and in the communications itself.

Of course one of the most salient features of communications today is the speed and breadth of access to information available to anyone with a computer at home or at the office. Yet newspapers still remain the most affordable, tactile and handiest method ever invented for disseminating information to people, especially in the aboriginal community where we are just now fully realizing and utilizing the potential of the electronic media.

However Newspapers by virtue of their composition-paper and ink-are endowed with the added authority, and responsibility, of permanence. This is precisely why, despite the dazzling array of means and processes utilized in compiling and disseminating information electronically and digitally, that newspapers flourish and survive.

In our case, we have noticed the increasing need for people who are the key decision makers in the aboriginal policy and development fields to be able to readily access the hard data and information in their fields of interest and responsibility. As such we know that you need to know what events are coming up around the corner. What new reports and studies are available on aboriginal policy? Who said what about aboriginal peoples this month? What are the implications of new or proposed federal, provincial or municipal legislation or administrative policy?

As a result our content over the next few months will increasingly shift to delivering this information and analysis to you on the pages of FP-The First Perspective-and, of course, on our online edition at www.firstperspective.ca

One of our most popular columnists, Alexandra McQueen, has returned to her Ottawa Watch vantage point after a well-deserved hiatus and will continue to provide readers with her insightful analysis and perspective of the goings-on at Parliament Hill.

This premiere edition of FP also contains a new section: Speeches, Reports and Studies-as if we weren't studied enough, I hear you say. Well, it seems there's a lot more to know. This section details some of the most recent and most significant presentations, reports, speeches, and studies specifically dealing with issues important to aboriginal peoples.

As part of our process of retooling The First Perspective, FP is actively inviting professionals, scholars and intellectually energetic individuals-aboriginal and non-aboriginal-to share their knowledge expertise and analysis on aboriginal issues, questions and developments of the day with all our readers, and by extension, the entire community. And we especially encourage those wishing to initiate articulate, reasoned and substantive discussions in the areas of law, finance, social services, the arts and the environment, just to name a few, to submit their ideas, letters and opinions.

Next month, Wanda Wuttanee, a respected and articulate professor of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba will join our cast as a regular bi-monthly commentator on economic and business development in the aboriginal community.

We are also seeking columnists to write on the topics of finance and law. If you want to actively participate in the dynamic change the next decade inevitably holds for aboriginal peoples we urge you to contact us.

And lastly we would like to thank our loyal advertisers, readers, subscribers and contributors for embracing The First Perspective so enthusiastically over the past 12 years, and in creating our reputation as one of the most influential and respected national aboriginal publications in the country.

Your support of our efforts and active engagement with The First Perspective has been both gratifying and humbling.

We look forward to your continued support during this exciting period of development at FP as we strive together to examine and discuss the evolving challenges and needs of aboriginal peoples.