It seems we have just greeted each other with ‘Happy New Year’ and ‘how was your holidays?’ and switched gears to ‘I do not have time to talk to right now’. Already, January 2010 has come and gone so quickly that I cannot believe that I am writing for the Newsletter. We even managed to have a grandson in between meetings. Congratulations to those who became grandparents and parents during this month and those yet to come! During this month, I have had to count on our staff to keep the Band Office running as efficiently as possible, continue to set up the Business/Investment Centre and prepare for the off-reserve community meeting.
The Manager’s meeting on January 5, 2010 went relatively well. The Manager’s meetings purpose is to promote a collaborative teamwork approach, communication, and generate ideas to ensure that O’Chiese governance and programs are kept running efficiently and productive. So I expect all the Manager’s to attend this once per month on the 1st Tuesday of the month.
Calvin, Emil, Connie, and our lawyers have worked to ensure that the Big Moose Store returns back to an O’Chiese First Nation Business. The ‘O’Chiese Gas Bar Ltd’ welcomes Debbie and Kevin to assist with managing, training, and opening operated by the Nation. As Debbie and Kevin get our store going, they will be calling on the committed, honest, and hard working Band Members to step up to the plate to begin the managerial training. We will go through a few staff until the ones that are committed, honest, and hard working prevails. We apologize for the inconvenience but we are hurrying to get it back up and running.
As you know, our leadership has been putting together an Electoral and Membership Act and we have presented the idea to the membership and have gathered names to sit on a committee. They had their first meeting in Edmonton to go through the membership act. I believe there will be a number of meetings to understand the membership act. Acts are difficult to disseminate and understand; therefore, kudos to Chief, Council and Connie for trying to formulate their first Legislative Act within their government.
We have had our first departmental review. The departmental review is just that, to review the program: Are we meeting our objectives? What more can we do? And what can make our jobs easier? The Employment and Training Centre is the first department to undergo a review. This department amalgamates Social Development (S.A.), HRD, and Economic Development together under one department. We wanted to see how well the departments are working together. This review turned out to be positive, full of communication and ideas. There were tasks, good comments, and support from our Leadership which leads to productive committed programming. Thank you to the staff and leaders!
Thank you to Jen, who chaired our Chief and Council Meeting on January 18, 2010. According to the Leaders, she did a great job. She will chair the next Chief and Council Meeting on February 1, 2010.
January 28, 2010 is our Off-Reserve meeting in which our Leadership and Senior Managers report to the members who by choice choose to live off reserve. Although, we do not garner any funding for them, they are still a part of our membership and we want them to continue to know what is happening in their community in the event they may move back or work for us. The staff produces reports, the Senior Manager’s provide power point presentations, and we bind those reports to produce a booklet to hand out. Most of the topics that get questioned are: Governance, Housing (on & off), Employment Opportunities (Business/Investment Centre), Employment/Training Centre (Social Assistance & HRD), and Finance. We will have presentations from Enterprise 203 Holdings Ltd and Membership this year. For the off-reserve band members, it will be informative. We thank them in advance for attending this annual event.
It was nice to see in last month newsletter, the Elders, parents, and children reading, looking, and doing the activities in the newsletter. Please continue to read for your goo-kum, mo-shoom, children, and yourselves! Newsletters can be obtained at the reception desk usually around the first week of the month. Thank you to the editor and to those who submit to the newsletter!
Respectfully, Beatrice Carpentier, O’Chiese Band Manager