PO Box 188 * Merritt, BC * V1K 1B8 * tel (250) 378-4235 * fax (250) 378-9119 November 2016 Inside this Nicola Tribal Issue: NTA Strategic Planning 2 Session Association Executive Director 3-4 Report NWSFA Report 5-7 Newsletter NTA Christmas Din- 8 NTA Christmas Ca- tering Bid 9 November 2016 NTA AGA Notice 10

NTA Staff Halloween Pic 11 Nicola Tribal Association Community Notice 12- 13 ASETS Job Posting 14 MISSION STATEMENT

Elder’s Craft/Bake 15 Sale Working in Unity to improve the Quality

of Life of our People

While Promoting our Language

Culture and Protecting our Deadline for NTA newsletter submission is the Ancestral Rights 20th day of every

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SERVICES IDENTIFIED THROUGH OUR STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION HELD ON MARCH 14, 15, & 16TH 2016

1. Gathering Place

We provide a gathering place in Merritt, the largest community closest to the majority of our members. We will work with our communities to see how we can better support them and their families. At this time, we provide a number of core services that we provide to members on a walk-in basis, including but not limited to: A place to rest after or during shopping in town; Free telephone use; Free internet use; Free photocopying service; and

Meeting and other facilities for ceremonies. 2. One Voice

NTA, by mandate, is the single voice for all communities as well, the concept of One Voice has to do with the power and strength in numbers channeled through the single entity NTA. One Voice includes lan- guage and culture, centralized communications, and community supported decisions for referrals and environmental interests. These are areas that relate to specific services, most notably fisheries, or to matters where business is conducted within Merritt and where a unified First Nations voice (and ap- proach) is needed. We are continually looking to enhance the conversations where we can demonstrate value, and have identified the following services as those that fall into this category: Protection and stewardship, especially our work on fisheries and land surveys; Centralized communications, including seeking to work with our communities to help them with engagement in their own communities; Centralized engagement where it is expected or required, especially in Merritt and the surrounds and on regional, provincial and national committees as needed through our work; and Acting as a language hub so that the languages spoken within the seven NTA communities can be pre- served and grown.

3. Shared Services

We provide a series of valued services to all our member communities that are better performed as one organization rather than seven, either in terms of reducing cost or creating greater effectiveness, using the voice of seven instead of one. Some of these services are provided because of our history, others be- cause we have identified the need. We will continue to work with our communities so that we can con- stantly offer a NTA-based valued solutions.

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT Oct 31 2016 ?éx k? n? Way’ isk?ist

AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA

ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY ONE VOICE MOVING FORWARD TO NATIONHOOD

AT THE CIVIC CENTRE COME AND PROVIDE YOUR INPUT

As most of the communities are aware we cancelled our October 20, 2016 AGA. The next available date for the AGA will be sometime in January 2017. Watch for the new date. We will post it on our website, on face book and will send out notices.

Come and see what is happening at Nicola Tribal. Be a part of the future and the changes. We need and value your input to moving forward to Nationhood, becoming one voice.

Website

Our website has been very slow and had some problems. We are working to update and repair the problem. Please revisit and see the improvement. We did some training on how to keep our site up to date and maintained. We will post items on our website as well as our newsletter such as advertising, job posting etc. Drop off or email to our office and we will provide this service.

Work plan

We have been working on a two year work plan for Nicola Tribal and the outline should be ready for the AGA in January 2017. The Board members completed a two day planning session in Kelowna on October 15 and 16th and will be making an announcement at the Annual AGA in January 2017.

Renovation

We will be doing some office renovations beginning November 7, 2016 so we apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. Most of the work will be done after hours but will cause some disruptions.

Fieldtrip

The administrative staff works day to day processing paper work but doesn’t necessarily understand the paper work they are processing. As a result I decided to have the office staff go out into the field with the crews to better understand the work that is being done. We completed two fieldtrips – one with our Lands Department and one with our Fisheries Department. It was very informative and provided the staff with the background and

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Executive Director Report Continued: the information gathering that these departments do is imperative to the health and safety and protec- tion of our fish stocks and the land. They also observe the changes in the land and the animals and so forth. They are out there observing and documenting. Our staff has a better understanding of the work and the paperwork involved from these departments. I was well impressed and I just wanted to say well done to these departments and keep up this all important work.

Tolko Closure We have been assured by a representative at Tolko that the referrals part of their program will contin- ue with no changes. Therefore Tmixʷ will not see any changes as a result of the mill closure.

We will continue to work hard protecting our lands and water and look forward to seeing all of you at our AGA JANUARY 2017. Come and provide your input. We need your valued opinions. Be a part of the change.

SEE YOU ALL AT THE ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN JANUARY 2017

Arlene Johnston, CAFM CAPA Executive Director

NICOLA TRIBAL ASSOCIATION (NTA) #202-2090 COUTLEE AVENUE P.O. BOX 188, MERRITT, BC V1K 1B8 PHONE (250) 378-4235 FAX (250) 378-9119

NTA WILL BE CLOSED ON NOV. 11/16 FOR REMEBERANCE DAY AND REOPEN NOV. 12 REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS

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NICOLA TRIBAL ASSOCIATION (NTA) #202-2090 COUTLEE AVENUE P.O. BOX 188, MERRITT, BC V1K 1B8 PHONE (250) 378-4235 FAX (250) 378-9119

October 31, 2016

Standing Committee on Fisheries & Oceans Sixth Floor, 131 Queen Street House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6Canada

Re: Review of the Changes to the Fisheries Act, Fisheries Protection Program, Pacific Region

Dear Standing Committee on Fisheries & Oceans:

This letter is written on behalf of the Nicola Tribal Association (NTA) member bands; , Cooks Ferry Indian Band, , , Shackan Indian Band, and Upper Nicola Indian Band. These communities are not engaged in the BC Treaty Process and maintain their assertion that their Aboriginal Title and Rights exist over the entire territory, as they have done so since time immemorial.

I am the Program Manager of the fisheries department of NTA and I attended the BC First Nations Fisheries Council hosted “Review of the Changes to the Fisheries Act” in Merritt, BC on October 14th, 2016. As this is the first time in history that we have been consulted on this Act, there were a few issues and concerns that I will note in no particular order.

1. The timing of the funding roll out for Indigenous Peoples will prevent deep and meaningful participation, research and input from those who do not receive funds in a timely manner.

2. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) representative discussed excerpts from the Fisheries Act which illustrates Government priorities as being: Commercial fisheries, Recreational fisheries and finally First Nations fisheries. However, the Courts have presented the ideas differently; Conservation (not even listed in the Act), First Nations - Food, Social and Ceremonial, Recreational fisheries and finally Commercial fisheries.

3. What about past court cases that have been won by First Nations? Where are relevant new laws found within the Act?

4. Section 35 - Serious Harm to Fish: the old Section 32 and Section 35 have been combined into the new Section 35 with different wording. These changes drastically reduce protection of fish and their habitats. The current Act prohibits “activities” only if they result in the “death” of fish and/or “permanent” destruction of fish habitat. Previously any activity resulting in ‘Harmful alteration, disruption, or destruction of fish habitat (HADD) was prohibited. How

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Where is ‘Conservation’ under Definitions? Where does protection come in for the intrinsic value of fish? What about the predators (killer whales, bears, eagles, etc) that depend on fish for food and the nutrient cycling that results from fish predation? Do fish only warrant protection because they are a ‘resource’ to human beings?

There is no analysis of the Fisheries Act, in its current form. Is it doing what is it was built to do? Are the ‘Compliance and Protection’ sections simply words on paper or are they actually being implemented?

As there is currently a lack of Conservation and Protection staff for effective enforcement of the Act and its regulations, governments should be working with local Indigenous Peoples to bridge ca- pacity gaps. First Nations have a wealth of knowledge pertaining to their local areas, are moti- vated by protecting and preserving healthy, well-functioning ecosystems and can fill stewardship, monitoring, and compliance roles. First Nations can possibly contribute partnership funding to this capacity building.

Within the scope of this review definitions have received some attention, but “Sustainability” is not defined. The Fisheries Protection Policy states the following goal: “to provide for the sustaina- bility and ongoing productivity of commercial, recreational and Aboriginal fisheries”. But what does ‘sustainability’ mean in this context? Who decides what is sustainable? And how is that de- cided?

The 2012 changes to the Fisheries Act introduced the definition of “aboriginal fisheries” as “fish that is harvested…as food, or for social or ceremonial purposes.” The words “sale, trade or barter” fall under the Commercial fisheries definition, yet court cases have declared that Indigenous Peoples have the right to sale, trade or barter. If it is deemed necessary to define ‘aboriginal fisheries’ in the Act, one would expect First Nations to be consulted on the matter. This was not the case when the Act was last revised. If such a definition is to be included in Canadian legislation it needs to be accurate from a First Nations perspective.

The Fisheries Act currently only provides protection to fish species that are targeted by a fishery. What about all other species? Many other species are vitally important to fishery species at vari- ous stages in their life cycle and hold intrinsic value within the system. The Act should aim to protect them as well.

The sections outlining Ministerial discretion and authorization are cause for concern as they make for a weaker Fisheries Act. They appear to create numerous opportunities for Politics to trump strong habitat protection standards and represent a move away from co-management. As these sections currently stand, they enable quick passage of regulations without any stakeholder consultation

As the above may seem like an extensive list, it is not. One three hour presentation from DFO is not ad- equate consultation. The presenter, Susanne Thorpe, was not well versed in the Act or the history of past occurrences in our region and could not satisfactorily answer many of our questions. Therefore, I hold the right to submit another statement to the Standing Committee if I attend a second Fisheries Act Review meeting.

Finally, while stakeholders appreciate the opportunity to voice concerns and make comments regarding the upcoming Fisheries Act review (which we were not provided with in 2012) we maintain the opinion that the consultations held for this review were not genuine. It felt as though we were simply going through the motions so that someone, somewhere, can say it was done. We take this opportunity very seriously as the Fisheries Act is a piece of Canadian legislation that is of utmost importance to us, partic- ularly here in BC where our traditions and cultures are so closely linked to Salmon populations. It is

6 frustrating to know that our input and concerns will likely continue to carry little weight due to the manner in which First Nations have (or have not) been consulted this time around. For meaningful and sound recommendations to be made, answers are required for many questions we have. For example: 1) What are the risks and benefits of trying to define Aboriginal fisheries? What would a robust definition look like from a First Nations perspective? 2) With regards to habitat protection, what changes have we seen since the Act was revised in 2012? Has there been an increase or decrease in permitted projects / activities that have negative effects on fish habitat? Was the previous HADD standard more effective at protecting habitats? 3) Does the current Act restrict co-management and if so, what changes would facil- itate improved co-management efforts? To answer these questions, and others, time and funds are required to conduct studies. Within the given timeframe for Fisheries Act Review consultations, and considering the timing of fund availability, this was not a possibility. If the consultation period was longer and funding was available to successful can- didates sooner, perhaps some of our questions could be answered and we would be able to present you with better informed recommendations. Hopefully the input you do receive, though, will be considered and weighed carefully.

On behalf of the First Nation bands represented by NTA, I would like to thank you for your time and re- affirm that we sincerely hope to see our comments and concerns integrated into a revised Fisheries Act.

Sincerely,

Tracy Wimbush, NWSFA Program Manager

CC: Nicola Tribal Association Chiefs Nla kapamux Nation Chiefs Nlakapamux Nation Independent Bands BC First Nations Fisheries Council, distribution to BC FN’s

NTA

BOARD OF DIRECTOR’S

Lee Spahan – Coldwater Indian Band David Walkem – Cook’s Ferry Band Ursula Drynock – Nicomen Band Marcel Shackelly – Nooaitch Band Lennard Joe – President – Shackan Band Fred Sampson – Vice President – Siska Band Harvey McLeod – Secretary / Treasurer –

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One Voice

Be A Part of the Change

Gathering Shared Place Services

DOOR PRIZES January 11, 2017

• 40” Smart TV Merritt Civic Centre • BBQ 9am-4pm • Samsung Tablet Lunch and nutrition OPEN TO ALL breaks will be provided MEMBERSHIP For more information call the DRUMMERS NTA Office at 250-378-4235 or email [email protected] nicolatribal.org

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Advertise in the NTA Newsletter SERVICES Children’s Help Line (250) 310-1234 Scw’exmx Child and Contact the NTA office for more Family Services information : Society (250) 378-2771 (250) 378-4235 Scw’exmx Community Deadline for submissions is the last day of Health Services Society each month. Please send all submissions (250) 378-9745 Conayt Friendship to: Society [email protected] (250) 250-378-5107 Journey Into Fax: (250) 378-9119 Tomorrow If you would like to have your newsletter Transition House (250) 378-6170 emailed to you, Send your email address to: ASETS [email protected] (250) 378-0126

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