Rights

• Attendees will learn to use strategic decision-making to make good selection and purchasing choices and drive better HR outcomes.
• That afternoon, Dr. Amy Dufrane, CEO of HRCI, will deliver “The Interplay of People and Technology,” looking at what HR professionals need to do to support organizational objectives while collaborating with other business functions.
• Conference chair Jeanne Achille said, “Moving into 2024, we’re seeing an increasing focus on the role of the HR professional and the expanding value they deliver to their organizations, alongside the business outcomes that exciting new and evolving HR technologies offer.
• To secure a complimentary ticket, visit www.hrtechnologyconference.com/virtual .

• TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2024 /CNW/ - The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today announced the membership of its Seniors Expert Advisory Committee (SEAC) for the 2024 term.
• First launched in 2016, SEAC has provided valuable insights on and contributions to OSC initiatives supporting seniors, including the development and implementation of the OSC Seniors Strategy.
• Members provide diverse perspectives on issues and challenges facing older investors, drawing on their expertise in sectors including financial services, law, law enforcement, academia, medicine and seniors' advocacy.
• The OSC would like to thank former SEAC members Alexis Wenzowski, Harold Geller, James (Jim) Turner, Kavina Nagrani and Keith Sjorgen for their service and contributions.

• THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Jan. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MIND Technology, Inc. ("MIND" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: MIND) announced today that the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") has elected not to declare a quarterly cash dividend on its 9.00% Series A Cumulative Preferred Stock ("Series A Preferred Stock") for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year ending January 31, 2024.
• The Company may defer dividend payments on the Series A Preferred Stock, but the dividend is a cumulative dividend that accrues for payment in the future.
• The deferral of the dividend on the Series A Preferred Stock for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending January 31, 2024 is the sixth quarterly dividend to be deferred.
• Accordingly, holders of Series A Preferred Stock will have the right to appoint two directors to the Board pursuant to the specific provisions of the Certificate of Designations, Preferences and Rights of MIND Technology, Inc. 9.00% Series A Cumulative Preferred Stock, as amended.

• The agreement stressed the full collaboration of Indigenous Peoples in alignment with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• The Nature Agreement follows a series of historic federal investments in nature conservation over the past several years.
• Like the previous announcements, the 2023 Nature Agreement includes funding for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, or IPCAs.

Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas

• Unlike regular parks and protected areas in Canada, IPCAs are established and maintained by First Nations, Métis and Inuit governments.
• Indigenous governments establish IPCAs under their own Indigenous laws, while some also choose to pursue protection under Canadian law.
• IPCAs are varied, but typically support ecological restoration or protection and local economic development while centring Indigenous cultures, languages, knowledge and laws.

Roadblocks to reconciliation

• Canadian governments continue to grant tenures and licences to companies for logging, mining, fish farms and other impactful activities inside IPCAs against the wishes of Indigenous nations.
• These actions go against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and its foundational principle of free, prior and informed consent.
• Indigenous governments are sometimes forced to compensate companies by buying out tenures to ensure protection of their IPCAs.
• This assertion is in spite of the Canadian government’s own guidance for reconciliation and legal pluralism — including the recognition of Indigenous rights and building equal relationships with Indigenous Peoples.

Systemic change will advance reconciliation

• The challenges IPCAs surface can be embraced as catalysts for reconciliation.
• It is the kind of transformative work that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called for in all sectors of society.
• As such, how Canadian governments and the conservation sector respond to the roadblocks encountered by Indigenous governments advancing IPCAs is crucial.
• Only by assisting these initiatives can we build meaningful and lasting IPCAs which not only restore and protect ecosystems but also advance reconciliation through Indigenous governance, laws, and knowledge systems.

• Justine Townsend received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for her doctoral research.
• Robin J. Roth receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#895-2019-1019) and is the principal investigator and co-lead of the Conservation Through Reconciliation Partnership.