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 1 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. 2 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 3 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 4 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; Coldwater Indian Band, Cooks Ferry Indian Band, Nicomen Indian Band, Nooaitch Indian Band, Shackan Indian Band, Siska 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 5 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.