Russ McCutcheon

?There is a value to that,? he said.

Frazell said the biggest obstacle cities face when starting to work collaboratively is developing trust and working relationships. Sometimes that boils down to protecting turf, he said.

But there are also genuine differences in what city residents want compared to township residents, he said. There?s also a fear of failure, Frazell said. A collaboration that fails can have a political impact for elected officials.

In Waite Park, the focus has been on looking at what resources it has and what resources other cities have that could benefit Waite Park, Johnson said.

With police services, some don?t like the idea of creating one regional department. So instead, they look at how they can help each other. Some departments have police dogs that other departments can use. St. Cloud police have a crime lab that can be used for other departments.

Each city is a different size, Johnson said, and it?s important to make sure that each has its own representation.

?You have to make sure there?s not one (city) overpowering another,? she said. ?There has to be a level playing field. Otherwise, mistrust gets in the way of wanting to do what?s best for the region.?

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler says service providers in remote Northern Territory communities are not working well together.

Mr Butler says a lack of coordination between mental health and other service providers is hindering efforts to tackle problems in remote areas.

He says sectors like health, housing and employment, need to form better working relationships to help people with mental illness.

Often people who are experiencing mental illness issues of their family members feel like that they have to go and knock on doors rather than have service providers work together around the person instead, he said.

Meanwhile, the Menzies School of Health Research says the Territory needs to establish a suicide register.

Associate Professor Gary Robinson says a register is the best way to get the whole picture on who is committing suicide and why.

He says the data provide evidence to instruct the government on how to best prevent suicides.

We think we really need to look at the whole way suicide has manifested itself over the last 25 years thoroughly, and to really tease out the different sets of risk factors and the different rates and incidences for different age groups across the population, he said.

(A) suicide register would give us an enormously greater understanding of what is going on.

Topics:
mental-health,
healthcare-facilities,
health-administration,
federal—state-issues,
alice-springs-0870,
darwin-0800

First posted

February 01, 2012 16:49:02

The Vince Lombardi Trophy is seen during a news conference for NFL footballs Super Bowl XLVI Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)AP2012

Memorial Hospital and the physicians of Chester and Steeleville Clinics are pleased to announce the development of the Chester Medical Group. The Chester Medical Group was formed in and effort to provide for long-term working relationships with current physicians and will help to attract and retain new doctors and medical professionals interested in providing quality patient care in a rural community setting. The new organization will include Drs. Lisa Lowry-Rohlfing, James Krieg and Stephen Platt along with general surgeons, Dr. Allan Liefer and Dr. Scott Hinze. Physician assistants, Jamie Hess, Angela Albertini and Richard Kleinschmidt will be members of the Chester Medical Group as well.
As a result of this collaborative effort between Memorial Hospital and its active medical staff, two new physicians will be joining the Chester Medical Group in the near future. Dr. Joseph Molnar from Davenport, Iowa and Dr. Shannon Price from Bettendorf, Iowa are scheduled to begin seeing family medicine patients at the Chester and Steelville Clinics beginning in April and August respectively.

By Jason Malloy

Lindsey Donovan is making inroads in two First Nations community.

The RCMP officer from Winnipegs duties have included a special focus on policing Glooscap and Annapolis Valley First Nations for the past two years.

Before they always used to inquire, why are you here? Did someone do something? Donovan recalled.

However, by spending time in the community he has built a friendly relationship with the residents.

Its kind of got past that point where the police being on the reserve is a bad thing. They know its Lindsey, hes just probably driving around to see how people are doing.

That service will continue after the two bands agreed to cover a funding shortfall to maintain the position. Prior to April 1, 2011, the federal government covered 48 per cent of the cost and the provincial government 52 per cent. The federal component will now cover 30 per cent with the bands picking up the remaining 18 per cent. It means the bands are each responsible for $12,500 of the roughly $140,000 cost. When the provincial Department of Justice learned the federal government was reducing its share, an official contacted the Municipality of the County of Kings, which helped bring the bands and province together.

The agreement was announced during a news conference last week. The one-year accord, backdated to April 1, 2011, will continue annually until one of the partners requests a change.

It is very important that the Glooscap First Nation community and the RCMP develop our positive working relationships for the betterment of our children and the families we serve, Glooscap Chief Shirley Clarke said.

While both bands have agreed to fund the position, Annapolis Valley Chief Janette Peterson said it would be difficult.

Right now were on a tight budget, she said. We have to fight and struggle for every dollar we get.

Peterson also raised other concerns during the news conference.

I want some more visibility, she said. If were paying our dollars, we want to get our moneys worth.

The chief would also like to see an Aboriginal person in the position. Donovan is a Caucasian.

Kings RCMP Insp. Mike Payne said he understands Petersons concerns.

Theres no substitute for having an Aboriginal person provide Aboriginal police service, he said, but he added Donovan has built solid relationships during the past two years.

Its kind of got past that point where the police being on the reserve is a bad thing. They know its Lindsey, hes just probably driving around to see how people are doing
- Const. Lindsey Donovan

He is often personally requested for policing matters that require follow up, Payne said.

Payne added there is currently one Aboriginal member on the force.

The two bands each has about 300 members with about a third of them living on the reserves. The Glooscap band is located near Hantsport; Annapolis Valley is in the Cambridge area.

Why was funding cut?

A federal government department could not say why it cut funding for an RCMP officer to help police two Kings County First Nations communities.

After the Feb. 1 press conference where chiefs of the Annapolis Valley and Glooscap bands announced they were picking up the $25,000 shortfall, information was requested on why the federal government scaled back its funding for the position from 48 to 30 per cent.

Despite numerous calls and emails to Public Safety Canada, the question remains unanswered at press time.

Please be advised that the police service agreements between the federal government and the provinces are cost sharing agreements where the province covers 70 per cent and the federal government covers 30 per cent of policing costs. The federal government and the Province of Nova Scotia are currently finalizing a 20-year policing agreement that will begin on April 1st, spokeswoman Lisa Filipps said in an email late Feb. 3.

The new agreement will ensure that communities continue to receive the most efficient, effective and sustainable police services possible and address the interests of all parties, such as governance and accountability.

She added the current agreement covers the cost of RCMP officers in Nova Scotia, including the position discussed at last weeks news conference.

Until April 2011 the cost associated with this officer was cost-shared under the Aboriginal Community Constable Program. The federal government continues to support the position through the police service agreement.

Some people at the news conference and other officials speculated the federal government determined it was not going to fund the Aboriginal Community Constable program any longer after a review. No details from the federal government have confirmed why that might be.

jmalloy@kingscountynews.ca

TORONTO – Corporate Canada will be in focus this week as the earnings season starts to move into high gear amid a light calendar for economic news.

Some of the countrys biggest resource companies will be unveiling results during the week, including forest products firm Canfor (TSX:CFP) on Tuesday, while Husky Energy (TSX:HSE), Precision Drilling (TSX:PD) and Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) hand in earnings Thursday.

Analysts say investors are likely in for a mixed earnings picture, depending on what commodities these companies produce.

We are going to get a bit of a mixed bag in terms of the numbers, said Pat McHugh, senior portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management.

Energy is certainly up over the last three months but natural gas is off 40 per cent. Copper is up. Nickel is up. Zinc is up. Gold is mixed.

Strong stock gains by companies reporting could also be elusive since the resource-heavy Toronto stock market has been climbing fairly steadily since the recent lows at the end of the third quarter of 2011. The TSX had a particularly strong January, up more than four per cent.

In January for example, the materials were up 10 per cent, integrated oils up 12 per cent, paper and forest up 14 per cent, a huge, huge move, said McHugh.

So if there is something people don’t like, then they may be quick to take some profits.

Investors will particularly focus on the outlook offered by resource companies. Strength in the Chinese economy has been important for the sector since the rapidly expanding economy has had a huge appetite for oil and minerals.

China has had to slow its economy in order to rein in uncomfortably high inflation, particularly for housing and food, but recent data is raising confidence that the government has managed to slow the economy gradually.

They have been raising interest rates and tightening monetary conditions, said Gavin Graham, president Graham Investment Strategy.

Now they can start loosening monetary policy. And they have shown they are willing to do so.

Investors will also take in the first earnings reports from the big insurance companies as Great-West Lifeco (TSX:GWO) reports on Thursday.

Like other insurers, Great-West has had a tough time because of a combination of very low interest rates and weak stock market performance, which diminishes their returns and increases the value of liabilities that stretch far into the future.

But Graham thinks Great-West should do better than the competition as they, along with Industrial Alliance, have a reputation as the most conservative of the big four Canadian insurers.

He also thinks there is the potential for Great-West to do better this year if the stock market continues to improve and bond yields rise.

Unless you believe that we’re going to have permanent two per cent 10-year government bond yields for the next decade, and that the stock market will be no higher than it is now, in 10 years, then quite frankly these things are pretty cheap, he said.

And if you want the conservative way to play it, Great-West would be the one.

Meanwhile, stocks finished last week higher thanks in part to a stronger than expected American jobs report for January. A total of 243,000 jobs were created in the United States, far better than the 150,000 that economists expected.

A recovery in US employment levels is considered necessary to spur economic growth, which would be good for Americas trading partners, including Canada.

The TSX ended the week up 110.78 points or 0.88 per cent on top of a gain of more than four per cent for the month of January.

Despite the strong data, McHugh wasn’t so sure this would translate into the start of a fresh rally.

We’re cautioning people that the market from the lows of the third quarter is up about 20 per cent, he said.

So it is possible that we might see some pullback or at least some sideways movement in the market and that’s OK because we’ve had a nice move since the last quarter of 2011.

BY MITSURU OBE

TOKYOThe president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Friday indicated that the utility will go ahead with an electricity rate increase for corporate customers in April, emphasizing that the unpopular move is necessary to keep the company afloat and ensure stable power supply for the nations capital.

I believe we have obtained the understanding of the government-backed nuclear compensation body, Tepco president Toshio Nishizawa said after a meeting with the bodys executives Friday afternoon.

The …

Jones Lang LaSalle appointed financial services expert Mark Melas to its banking industry group in New York City. He assumed the role of account director after serving 16 years as a corporate real estate executive with HSBC. Melas will work with financial institutions looking to drive business growth, mitigate risk and reduce costs with their national real estate portfolios.

“We work with many of the largest banks in the world to help them leverage corporate real estate and workplace solutions to drive value for their shareholders and customers,” said Stuart Hicks, president of JLL’s banking industry group. “Mark joins our team at an especially critical time in the evolution of the financial services industry, and we know that our clients will benefit from his ability to understand the real estate nuances of this industry in particular. He’s got agility in that he can tackle global issues that banks face right now, like reducing real estate footprints on a large scale, so that they can focus more time on their customers.

Melas was in charge of HSBC’s corporate real estate across North America and also was responsible for its assets in South America. Prior to his work at the global bank, he served with NYNEX (now Verizon) in its corporate real estate division for 17 years. His practice area included business unit interface and alignment, strategic planning, portfolio optimization and master plan development and oversight of office and retail projects.

Sasfin Hires JSE’s Greenhill to Head Corporate Finance Team
February 06, 2012, 1:53 AM EST

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By Stephen Gunnion

(Updates with JSE Ltd. CEO comment in third paragraph.)

Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) — Sasfin Holdings Ltd. appointed Noah Greenhill, a senior general manager at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, to head its corporate finance team, the Johannesburg- based financial services group said.

Greenhill, who helped to set up the Johannesburg bourse’s Alternative Exchange for small companies, will join Sasfin on Feb. 13, replacing Panico Theocharides, who resigned, the lender said in a statement today.

Greenhill’s responsibilities will be incorporated into a new role being created as part of a management restructuring, Nicky Newton-King, Chief Executive Officer of JSE Ltd., operator of the bourse, said in an interview today.

–Editors: Linda Shen, Susan Lerner

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Gunnion in Johannesburg at sgunnion@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

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READER DISCUSSION

As successful business is driven by successful relationships, positive mutual perceptions are critical, even more so when working with two totally different cultures. China is increasingly becoming a business hotspot for Western companies who are increasingly employing Chinese nationals in senior roles. Equally, more and more Chinese are going abroad to both invest and buy – and often send managers, some with no awareness of the difference in perceptions, to run their companies.

Both East and West must be mindful of each others cultures, and as an integral aspect of Chinese culture, mianzi must be respected. However, for successful cross-cultural interaction it needs to be understood in its fuller sense.

Generally, mianzi is defined, and believed to be understood, as merely saving face (reputation, honor or respect). Meanwhile, it is the resultant behavior and the broader manifestations of the concept that are often not recognized by us in the West – or misunderstood when they are. Chinese doing business with the West (or hoping to) need to realize how difficult it is for us to comprehend it in its totality as some of its more obscure implications result in frustration, misunderstandings, and sometimes even red hot anger.

Not saying no or voicing disagreement is one of the main aspects to cause problems in East-West working relationships. To Chinese, the reasons would be to save ones own face or anothers, but this behavior is commonly perceived by Westerners as a lack of understanding or knowledge; obstinacy; inflexibility; reluctance to admit to wrong decisions/actions or unwillingness to confront, challenge or to criticize. All of which are considered negative in a Westernized business environment, as well as being irritating, or worse.

Chinese often convey the truth through their non-verbal behavior and read others the same way, considering what they then identify as the reality over and above the spoken word. In the West we focus on direct literal communication and only now are waking up to the importance of the unspoken in communication. Even when a Westerner recognizes the subtlety of variation in voice, facial expression and body language, it can be very, very tricky for them to spot the cues in a person from an Asian culture.

The scenario of saving face can also involve verbal untruths. This is wholly acceptable to the Chinese, who do not view themselves or the act as deceitful as they believe their non-verbal behavior conveys the real truth. However, the lack of verbal truthfulness and openness is easily misconstrued in the West as a lack of interest, cunning or, at worst, crass dishonesty. All of which impedes the development of strong relationships and partnerships, which, for sustainability and longevity rather than expediency, must be built on mutual trust and respect.

In the West we most certainly share the value of some of the positive aspects of mianzi. We prize integrity, personal pride and dignity, dislike humiliation and appreciate the importance of praise and recognition.

However, this is balanced with an emphasis on transparency and open, direct communication.

In 2005 a survey carried out by China Youth Daily resulted in 93 percent of respondents admitting to face being very important and 75 percent acknowledging that making a mistake in public was, by far, the most humiliating experience they could ever have. If the same questions were asked of youth today, I believe that the percentages will have decreased significantly. With Westernization fast taking hold in the new generation, many have a greater awareness of the cultural differences through their constant exposure to media, education, travel and increased diversity all around them in the cities. They are therefore adapting, both consciously and subconsciously, to a blend of the two cultures, and will continue to do so even more aggressively as time goes on.

What is seen and heard in an individual creates many judgments, and compositely form the perception of that person. Therefore, the differences in appearance, person-to-person communication and behaviors between the two communities and individuals can easily lead to wrongful and pejorative perceptions being formed. Successful business is driven by successful, symbiotic relationships. Perception affects all interactions between people and eventually affects the speed and depth of a relationship. For successful business, perception management is therefore a critical factor to give the competitive edge. Emanating from the interpretation of how one looks, sounds and behaves, the conclusions reached may well be complicated by the difference in cultures if this is not recognized.

Resulting problems can easily be avoided by creating awareness of these pitfalls but then employing appropriate tools at the outset to everyones advantage. Our offering of intelligent perception management at Positive Presence focuses and integrates all these aspects and provides the necessary tools while also developing people and organizations to their full impact and relationship potential.

My conclusion is that it is not for Westerners to decide whether mianzi is outdated, any more than it is for Chinese to convey that we have unacceptable customs and behavior.

At present it is for us both to understand and respect the differences between the two cultures and do what we can to minimize any challenges that result. Meanwhile, be aware that the variations are now eroding and blending naturally through globalization. We can therefore hopefully look forward to a time in the-not-so-distant future where we can enjoy a tolerant and diverse mono-culture that eases the path to the world peace and prosperity we all so desperately seek.

The author is managing director of Positive Presence, a London-based image consultancy. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily 02/03/2012 page8)