ALDEN ARMSTRONG, PRESIDENT
Hello Elders and Members;
I would like to take the opportunity to pass season’s greetings to everyone ?Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year.
The General Council has continued to work with the Government of Alberta and the Federal Government
to establish a positive working relationship. The MLA tours to the Settlements have been a success with
visits from Minister of Agriculture Doug Horner; Minister of Energy Greg Melchin; and Members of
Legislature Len Mitzel, Neil Brown, Tony Abbott, Ron Lieper, Rob Lougheed and Doug Griffiths. We also
had a number of Deputy Ministers and government representatives attend. These visits were utilized to
educate and provide first-hand knowledge of the progress our Settlements have made, as well as the
challenges we face. I am thankful to all representatives who took the time to visit. We also had our first
meeting with Minister of Indian Affairs Jim Prentice in Ottawa, Ontario; the meeting was positive and
we have a commitment to meet again to follow up on issues discussed.
We have been moving forward in discussions with the government on a future relationship; recently
we received an agreement in principle from cabinet for $9 million in funding for 2007-2008. This
funding is subject to Treasury Board approval and appropriation of the Legislative Assembly. We will
use this money to develop a work plan and business case to government for continued funding. This
work will take place in coming months and will be completed by July 1, 2007. The Settlement
Councils will be totally involved with the process, and we expect to be meeting frequently throughout
the next seven months.
In closing I would like to thank Premier Ralph Klein and his wife Dr. Colleen Klein for attending our
legacy event. The event was a great success and was well attended by MLAs and members alike. Tom
Ghostkeeper and Minister Pearl Calahasen did a fantastic job as co-masters of ceremonies. The evening
was all about recognition of Premier Klein’s contributions to the Aboriginal people of the province. We
were able to provide a wide variety of Settlement talent as part of the festivities. Thanks to all the
participants and a special thank you to the organizers.
GERALD CUNNINGHAM, VICE PRESIDENT
Hello to all the readers of the Messenger. I hope all is well with you and your family, especially with the
festive season just around the corner. I’m pleased to be able to provide you with another update of the
activities of my portfolio area, and I would like to thank all the staff at the General Council for all the
tremendous work that they do on a daily basis. As you read the updates, you will see that we have been
keeping very busy. We’ve just about completed our tours to the settlements and I thank all the members
that attended the meetings and provided comments and recommendations. I also want to thank all the
members that attended the Premier’s dinner as that was a great event and Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Klein really
enjoyed the evening. Thank you to the Kookums, the Buffalo Lake dancers and all the entertainers that
provided entertainment. You were all awesome.
Following is a brief update of activities and thanks goes out to Darlene and Tim for their assistance in
providing this update.
Infrastructure and Environment
Alberta Water Council (AWC)
As you are aware, the MSGC was appointed to sit on the AWC a few years back. The AWC was
created to bring all stakeholders together to develop and implement the Water Strategy. We have been
very busy with the various Working Groups and Project teams over the last four months. We presently
have representatives on the Wetlands Policy Development Project team, the Shared Governance and
Watershed Policy Working Group and the Transition Committee. The practical results of these teams will
be policies, guidelines and models for the protection and proper water use within the province. As these
teams gain momentum, we have identified a need to appoint more Settlement members to participate.
We have found that our members bring a number of different and valuable perspectives to this body of
work. At a meeting scheduled for November 30, 2006, we will be asking your Settlement Councils for
assistance in identifying members who may be interested in getting involved. For those of you, who have
internet access and are interested in learning more about the Water Council process, please visit:
www.waterforlife.gov.ab.ca.
As discussed in the last issue, the Water Council met in High Prairie and undertook a tour of three
Aboriginal communities (East Prairie, Sucker Creek, Driftpile) to view their respective water and
wastewater facilities. The tour proved to be a very valuable experience to the members of the AWC. As
such, a special thank you goes out to Mr. Victor Prince of the EPMS for taking time to share his
experiences and perspectives on the East Prairie Watershed. The AWC was very impressed with the
presentation. In addition, I would like to thank the Council and Administration for their assistance in
making the tour a success.
Alberta Wetlands Policy Development
The Alberta Water Council and the Department of Environment have now completed an initial round of
input and feedback towards the development of a new Wetlands Policy for Alberta. A number of
discussions have taken place on the settlements over the last number of months. The feedback that was
received by the Settlements has been positive and constructive. The AWC has reviewed comments to date
and have instructed the Wetlands Project team to develop a Draft Policy for formal public consultations.
We expect that workshops will take place on the settlements over the late winter and early spring. This
second round of discussions will result in the adoption of either new Wetlands Legislation or a regulatory
framework under the Water Act.
Infrastructure Project Updates and Developments
The Settlements have been very busy working on a number of community projects and larger
developments. The MSGC provides support of up to 25 per cent of an approved infrastructure project,
and in this last quarter, the MSGC has approved funding for the completion of the Bridge Replacement
Project at the Paddle Prairie Settlement. In addition, we have received a copy of the Fishing Lake Site
Assessment for their new Waste Water Treatment Facility. While a final decision has not been made on
the specific site, we expect that the Fishing Lake proposal will be submitted to Alberta and MSGC by the
end of March 2007.
As discussed in the last issue, the MSGC has been working with the Elizabeth Settlement on a Pilot
Initiative for a Sustainable Housing program. As of this issue, the Project Team and Housing Authority
has approved the preliminary concepts and budgets for the proposal. Total project budget, including the
MSGC/Elizabeth share, will exceed $2.1 million for implementation of Phase I .The Proposal to the
Canada/Alberta Sustainable Housing partnership will be made in December 2006. We will keep you
posted on the status of the proposal.
The Settlement Wellness Centre initiative is well under way with the project at the East Prairie
Settlement complete as of today. We have had some difficulties in completing the Buffalo Lake Centre,
however, the project is moving forward once again. I would like to thank the Buffalo Lake Council for
their assistance in moving this forward. The Project priorities for this fiscal year and next are Kikino
and Gift Lake. The MSGC has followed up the requests made by Region 10 to Alberta Infrastructure,
and expect to begin discussions on these project priorities in the near future. Last issue I identified that
Peavine and Fishing Lake were priorities for Fiscal year 07/08, however with the delays in
completing the existing projects, these priorities may be pushed back; however we will keep pushing
for the approvals within the original timelines.
Solid Waste Treatment (Landfills)
A landfill assessment project was launched across the Settlements in early September. The purpose of the
assessment was to assess whether any of the existing or old sites posed unnecessary dangers to the
health of the communities. While we confirmed that there is some remediation that needs to be
undertaken there are no specific sites that pose undue risks to our members. A draft report was provided
to the Infrastructure Review Committee in early November. A secondary review is to take place by the
settlements Public Works and Environmental Monitors. Once we have received comments and feedback,
we will develop a work plan with the settlements that will address appropriate follow-up work required
to bring these sites into compliance with the Alberta Regulations. Assistance for this follow-up project will
be requested from Alberta Environment and Alberta Infrastructure.
Harvesting Agreement and Membership Card System
In the summer months, the Province of Alberta hired an Independent Negotiator to work with the
Settlements on a long-term Harvesting Agreement. However, with the Leadership race underway, we
have not had any formal discussions regarding the timelines for negotiation, the issues or otherwise. I
believe that once the Provincial Leadership Race concludes, we will begin our negotiations. We will keep
everyone up to date in the interim via Memos to the Settlement Councils.
The Métis Settlements Land registry upgrade is complete and is now in the hands of the Registry Clerks
on-settlement. With the completion of the training the first week of November and new computer systems
provided by the MSGC, the Clerks are now prepared for the system set-up for the Cards. Under the
proposed structure, the cards will be issued centrally from Edmonton. Once the Land Registry verifies the
information, the card will be printed and mailed out to the membership clerks. The software package is
scheduled to be complete prior to Christmas and once we have it in hand, a training session will be held
for your membership clerks so we can begin implementation. One final hurdle does remain however,
and that is high-speed Internet access for the Settlements. At present we have three settlements working
off high-speed supernet, with more to follow in the near future. High-speed access is required to allow
for the transfer of large files to and from the Settlements.
The Land and Resource Standing Advisory Committee
We have tentatively scheduled our next Land and Resource committee meeting for December 14, 2006,
to review recommended changes to our current Master Development Agreement.
Environmental
As previously reported MSGC developed a reference document entitled “The Environmental Operating
Guidelines Framework,?from which specific Settlement guidelines can be developed. To facilitate this
process, we incorporated a training component which involved two Settlement representatives
(environmental monitors) from each Settlement. To date the training aspect has been completed and the
final process; tentatively scheduled to begin mid-January involves visiting each Settlement to gather any
additional requirements they would like to see incorporated to make the manual more Settlement-specific.
Environmental Management Information Base (CD ROM)
Through the course of the above-noted training, the difficulty of obtaining pertinent information such as
Regulations, Alberta Environment, EUB Directives and Guides was identified. As a result the MSGC is in
process of finalizing an Environmental Management Information Base (CD-ROM), which will contain links
to government documents, workshop presentations and various subsections of the Environmental
monitoring manual.
Oil and Gas
Department remains busy with day-to-day administration, preparation of upcoming budget
requirements (which also includes projected revenues for the upcoming year), review of potential
liability issues as they relate to co-management and providing various reports such as Operations for
the year ended March 31, 2006 which encompassed information from land sales to projected revenue
to year ending March 2016.
Settlement Tours
Along with the Finance department we participated in Settlement tours and provided Council/members
a financial summary; distribution of revenue and a reserve summary to year ending 2016 for oil and
gas operations. This also provided us with the opportunity to discuss various issues and concerns with
each Settlement.
Formation of Small Working Committee
Due to the complex nature of the following issues: Resolution 18, Co-management amendments,
Granting of term extension pursuant to the Mines and Mineral Act; Buffer Zone; Ownership of Minerals
etc.; the Board approved the establishment of a small working committee with recommendations to be
forwarded to the all Council Assembly for ratification. To date two initial meeting have occurred, next
scheduled meeting is December 14, 2006 in conjunction with the Land and Resource Committee.
If you have any questions regarding any of the above, please contact me, Darlene or Tim at the
MSGC office.
In closing I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and may God bless
you and your families.
DENISE WHITE, ELECTED TREASURER
It’s been awhile since our last Messenger and I would like to take this opportunity to say hello to
everyone. As I said before, 2007 is fast approaching and I am proud to say the Future Fund is at $107
million dollars today. We should hit our target of $110 million dollars by April 2007 if the market stays
the same. It has been a very busy year for all of us ?a lot of people have been working hard for the
future of the Settlements and it is greatly appreciated.
May you all have a wonderful Christmas and a safe New Year, and don’t forget the “CHRIST?in Christmas.
SUSAN CARDINAL, ELECTED SECRETARY
Merry Christmas,
It has been a while since our last Messenger and there is a lot that has been happening. The Executive
have been concentrating most of our time on the Work Plan that has to be submitted to Government to
achieve the one-year funding for the 2007/2008 fiscal year. If successful, we will be focusing our efforts
on delivering a Business Case for continual funding with the Government.
I would like to thank everyone personally for their dedication to this process, especially all our Staff that
have taken the initiative to keep things on track and help out in all areas when needed.
To the Council members and their staff, we are very grateful to you for your input around the table. Good
discussion takes time, which will result in good outcomes. Our main goal is to fulfill the goals of the
Accord, which will in the end enhance the lives and economics on our Settlements.
A warm welcome to Tina St. Germaine, who has accepted the position of our Family Violence
Coordinator in November, and to Sharon Shirt, who is contracted to write the history books on our
Settlements and expand on our website. Also to Dianne Desjarlais, who is the STI Director and doing a
remarkable job in filling Tom Ghostkeeper’s shoes.
We have been very fortunate to have had Tom with us in our organization for the past years. He was a
great asset to our Communities and I know that his dedication toward the Strategic Training Initiative and
his direction has made it the success it is. Thank you Tom for your guidance, your wisdom, your
friendship and your love. I will truly miss you.
Susan Ladouceur is now our Researcher for the Unit, and Brenda Sayers has been successful in
retaining the Information Manager position. Our love and prayers go out to BJ Simpson who broke
her ankle last month, and will not be able to return to work until February some time. Take care BJ
and hope to see you soon.
Besides the focus of the Business Case submission, and all the areas of the Tri-Partite I will be focusing
on the idea of setting up an Elder’s Senate; the new proposed legislation, regulations and MOU’s on the
Peace Officer Act; the next steps in the Aboriginal Youth Suicide Survey results; and focusing on retaining
extra funding for the Strategic Training Initiative, to name a few.
The Census that was conducted in June 2006 was a great accomplishment. Our population numbers
finally show the true picture of people from our Settlements, which will enhance the levels of funding we
will receive through populated grants. Thank you to all the enumerators, land clerks, administrators and
Settlement staff that completed this task and achieved the results we have long awaited for.
On behalf of myself, Marvin and our family, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year.
May the Gift of Love, the Gift of Peace, the Gift of Happiness be yours at Christmas and throughout the
New Year.
Ekosi
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