In the latest edition of the For the Arts newsletter, the Canada Council for the Arts has reflected on the present state of its second Aboriginal Arts Advisory Committee. The report, follows on from a presentation given by Council Board member Suzanne Rochon Burnett, at the National Gathering on Aboriginal Artistic Expression in mid-June. During her speech, Burnett provided an overview of the progress and steps still to be taken at by the Council, to bring it up to speed in terms of the needs of Aboriginal arts communities. Burnett noted, that despite the best intentions of cultural agencies, the situation in Aboriginal arts communities has too often remained unchanged, echoing the recent recommendations of the Advisory Committee and the responses to these recommendations made by Council. According to the newsletter, the perceived expectations that the Aboriginal community has of the Council, their weak participation in Council programs and the necessity of their involvement in the structural and decision-making processes clearly demonstrates the need for quick action. On the other hand, the newsletter states, the establishment of programs targeted towards Aboriginal communities, education sessions on Aboriginal cultures, surveys carried out in the communities and the creation of special committees illustrate real progress in the areas of consultation and dissemination. In concluding her presentation Burnett highlighted the underlying relevance of Aboriginal arts programs and emphasised that as of this year, the Council has an officer responsible for Aboriginal arts in each of the six arts disciplines; media arts, writing and publishing, music, visual arts, dance and theatre. In other news, the Canada Council has also has launched Eurotour.03, a national competition that will send seven professional music groups to Europe to perform in selected music festivals. The purpose of the tour is to promote Canada’s Aboriginal and folk music, jazz, world music, musique actuelle, electronic music, and spoken word in Europe, with artists to perform in Holland, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.