Wahta Council Report March/Ennisko:wa 2014 Wahta Mohawk Council TABLE OF CONTENTS Community Declaration 3 Council Governance 4 Administration and Financial Codes 5 Wahta Mohawks Land Claim Settlement 7 Indian River Reserve 8 Tobacco 10 Iroquois Cranberry Growers 12 Iroquois Caucus 14 Sustainability Update – Peggy Lovelace 14 WERC Report 16 Legal Update 17 Wahta Mohawk Council Community Declaration Wahta Mohawk Council Page 3 Council Governance Council has been very active during the winter months, continuing the developmental work necessary to build the foundation for accountable and transparent governance in our community. The Wahta Strategic Plan was developed over many months under the guidance of the Wahta Mohawk People and approved at a community meeting. The latest draft of the Wahta Community Sustainability Plan was recently presented by Peggy Lovelace for additional input from the community and the comprehensive document has been finalized. In conjunction with the community, the next steps will be to implement the Plan moving toward design and engineering of an affordable housing location(s), easier access mortgages, specialty designed seniors housing and working through the other economic development opportunities and items outlined in the Sustainability Plan. Council has over this last term purchased private lands as they became available along Muskoka Rd.#38 for this very purpose. Council had been successful in obtaining funding from Indian and Northern Affairs for the Cranberry Marsh assessments as well as additional funding to further advance our work on governance by examining processes for developing community laws and/or by-laws. Council has been meeting with various policing authorities and are currently in discussions to explore the option of providing native policing on the territory. For citizens involved in the Tobacco business, it is that time of year to get your tobacco quota applications into the administration office. Please be aware that the Government of Ontario is going to be reviewing the quota process. We will provide more information as it becomes available. The winter of 2014 will be remembered for a very long time! We haven’t had this much snow and record breaking temperatures in many years.The Council appreciates the efforts of the maintenance staff in keeping the roads, driveways and walkways accessible and we thank the Wahta Mohawk people for their patience and understanding while that work is being co-ordinated and carried out. We would like to remind all Wahta Mohawk citizens to make sure your mailing address is correct and updated with the administration office. Contact senior administrator, Sandra Monette with any of your address changes. This will assist in keeping the community as a whole informed and to ensure that you receive the monthly newsletters and special mailouts. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us directly. Yours in Unity, Shirley Hay Dan Stock Stuart Lane Bill Hay Page 4 Wahta Mohawk Council Administration and Financial Codes On Saturday, January 11, 2014, the Wahta Mohawk Council held a community meeting which provided an updated review of the Administration and Financial Management codes. A community vote was also conducted later in the day by a 3rd party to adopt both the Codes and the voting results were successful by an overwhelming majority response to their ratification. Administration Code The initial drafting of the Administration Code came as a result of community input received during the Organizational Review back in 2010. A majority response from community members at that time was that they wanted to see more transparency, accountability, fairness and good governance from Chief and Council as well as the administration. This prompted the council to continue on with their governance structure in developing processes and policies with the community citizens to ensure that everyone has input, understanding and responsibility for the development and implementation of the code. Several community workshops were held throughout 2011 facilitated by Lorraine George gathering input and discussions involving roles and responsibilities, relationships, communication, a code of conduct, conflict of interest, enforcement and compliance and a code of ethics. The Administration Code provides accountability and transparency standards on the following areas: Open council meetings; Required community meetings; Roles and responsibilities; Conduct; Communication; Oath of Office; Code of Ethics; Appeals and Redress The Administration Code also includes respect and sustainability elements including: Informed and valued members; Meeting guidelines and conduct requirements; Protocols and policy requirements; Short and long term planning requirements; Reporting requirements to the Wahta citizens. The Administration Code provides the further development and implementation of various council and administration polices based on the code. Wahta Mohawk Council Page 5 Financial Management Code Also as a result of the Organizational review process in 2010, several community workshops were held in 2011 and 2012 and a community working group was formed to continue work on developing the financial management code with Lorraine George. Several working group meetings were held throughout 2012. The Financial Management Code provides accountability at all levels including Staff, Administration and the Council. It requires budgeting and audit process with compliance terms. It requires a community committee to oversee and ensure compliance. It defines enforcement and breach mechanisms. These codes cannot be changed without a community vote. Financial management policies were developed to implement the Code. The application of the Code governs the receipt, management, expenditure, control and recording of the Wahta Mohawk funds and structure for Wahta Mohawks administration that manages the funds. The Financial Management Code applies to all Wahta departments and agencies in receipt of Wahta Mohawk funds including all businesses, corporations and/or other entities owned/ controlled by the Wahta Mohawks. The day-to-day implementation of the Code is governed by policies and procedures consistent with its’ nature and intent and are approved by Council and enforced as such. Management training was also provided and completed by staff. A presentation of the final drafts of the Administration Code and Financial Management Code was extensively presented at a community meeting and were approved by Council motion and the final community ratification vote was held on January 11, 2014 at which time both codes were duly passed. The Wahta Council appreciates the hard work, input and dedication of the community to assist in the development of these codes. The Codes are based on the foundation of the Community Vision which was developed by the People – key principles and values: “Wahta Mohawks are of One Mind in preserving our inherent and treaty rights to sustain future generations by respecting the Creator, Iethinistenha Ohwen:tsia (Mother Earth), oneself others and our culture.” Social Equity - Tsi Akwe:kon Sahtetionkwa:te (Everyone is Equal) Culture - Tsi Niionkwarihoten (Our Ways) Page 6 Wahta Mohawk Council Environment - Tsi A:iatewahnonhsta:te Tsi Niahen:weh (To Save the Environment Forever) Economy –Tewatatienawahs (Taking Care of Everyone) Both Codes provide the stability, accountability and transparency essential for “governance excellence” and address the concerns expressed by the Wahta citizens throughout the governance development process. Copies of the codes can be obtained at the Administration office. Thank you. WAHTA Mohawks Land Claim Settlement Over the last two years, Wahta Mohawk Council has with the assistance of legal counsel, reviewed the Wahta land claim settlement/agreement. Most of you will recall the original settlement was entered into back in 2002 between the former Council and Governments of the day. After extensive review of the settlement/agreement, Wahta Mohawks Council and legal counsel, believe that we should have received far more compensation than what we received from the final negotiations. We believe Wahta should have had the original settlement lands returned to us or at least comparable lands which were acceptable to the Wahta Mohawks; or that we should have been compensated much higher than the approximate $9 million that Wahta Mohawks did receive through the settlement/ agreement. Council feels that we had lost prime economic land that could have provided opportunities for our People and additional loss of use and inability for timber and harvesting practices. Council’s legal opinion is based on the following two main facts: The land in question originally belonged to Wahta Mohawks and was taken without any legal right to do so. The Federal Government acknowledged this when it agreed the land was taken without a proper surrender by the Wahta Mohawks. The Federal Government was obligated and should have either: Returned the land or provided other land which was acceptable to Wahta, (which it did not do), or Provided fair compensation for the taking of that land (which also did not happen) There are many examples of land claim settlements where the claimants received much higher and fairer compensation compared to what Wahta Mohawks have received. Also considering the current value of the land, it is possible that with all of our other losses, our compensation should have been estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. As a further example,