2017 - 2018 ANNUAL REPORT Table of Contents Gesgapegiag at a Glance 3 Message from Chief and Council 4 Message from Director General 5 Administration 6 -Human Resources 7 -Governance 7 -Finance 8 -Communications and Policy 11 Housing, Public Works, and Housing 12 -Housing 12 -Public Works and Infrastructure 13 Learning, Training, and Employment 14 Natural Resources 18 -Fisheries 18 -Forestry 19 Public Safety 20 -Police and Fire Department 21 Health and Wellness 22 Economic Development and Lands 34 Consolidated Financial Statements 40 Contributing Writers: Treena Metallic, Sue-Helen Caplin, Amanda Larocque, Maxime Condo Jr., Franklin Condo, Hollie Larocque, Ken Arsenault, Melissa Bryan, Francois Lapointe, Emily Jerome, Fred Vicaire Design & Layout: Jessica Rowe-Jerome Photos: Melissa Bryan, Alex Jerome, Rose Gedeon, William Jerome, Mary Caplin. Prepared By: Melissa Bryan 2 2017-2018 ANNUAL REPORT Gesgapegiag at a Glance Gesgapegiag Membership Statistics Gesgapegiag Gespeg Listuguj TOTAL MEMBERS BY GENDER NUMBER OF MEMBERS BY AGE NUMBER OF MEMBERS BY AGE 789 750 GROUP OFF-RESERVE GROUP ON-RESERVE Female Male 65 to 99 0 to 4 0 to 4 5 to 12 65 to 99 5 to 12 31 19 13 to 17 48 Total 1539 150 47 37 115 MEMBERS ON AND OFF-RESERVE 13 to 17 18 to 30 287 68 160 415 162 31 to 64 18 to 30 828 711 31 to 64 Off-Reserve On-Reserve Total: 828 Total: 711 Total:1539 2017-2018 ANNUAL REPORT 3 VALUE STATEMENTS Wisdom: is knowing the outcome of your actions before you act. It is understanding that what you do or say, or even what you don`t do or say is important. This exact moment leads you to the next therefor everything is important. Love: is unconditional and in being so it is given without asking for anything in return. Respect: is given to others without the expectation that it will be given back. Respect is the act of respecting all living and non- living things regardless if they respect you. It is showing respect when people are respectful Message from Chief and Council towards you, even when you are at your worst. Bravery: is to do the right thing even if you Another year has passed and the community know it`s going to hurt you. It is being true to continues to strive. This annual report will who you are no matter what may happen to you. highlight many achievements and give a It is about facing the future on your own healthy snapshot of our 2017-2018 fiscal year. Our terms. community has come so far and improved greatly in different areas but more specifically is the act of being honest with with financial management and good governance Honesty: yourself and who you really are. It is about being practices. Our directors and heads of honest with your aspirations for your physical, departments planned out their annual objectives spiritual, psychological, and emotional life. and budgets based on community priorities. We Honesty begins & ends with you because it flows are very fortunate and extremely grateful to have to affect all those around us. such staff and heads of departments to carry out these accomplishments mentioned in this 2017- 2018 Annual Report. Humility: is coming to understand that you don`t know everything for anyone but yourself. OUR MISSION Humility is recognizing that sometimes you`re To provide fair & sound governance for the wrong and accepting success with pride not development, advancement, & well-being of arrogance. Humility is allowing others to speak our people, while honouring our ancestors, and and act even if you could do so just as well, mother earth for the next seven generations. about knowing that sometimes what you want needs to be set aside for the needs of another person. OUR VISION The Micmacs of Gesgapegiag will be a strong, knowledgeable, and healthy community Truth: is to speak the truth under all balancing governance & traditions by protecting circumstances even when you don’t wish to. It our cultural identity for the next seven means to walk through life truthfully with yourself generations. and with others. It is the ability and willingness to recognize the truth in the physical, emotional, psycho-logical, and spiritual actions of another as well as your own. 4 2017-2018 ANNUAL REPORT Current Elected Officials Chief: Roderick Larocque Jr., Councillors: Patsy Jerome, Douglas Martin, Jeremy Jerome, John Martin, Anthony Jerome, Armand Martin, Ronnie Condo, Luc Martin Message from Director General It is with great pleasure I present to you the 2017-2018 Annual Report for the Micmacs of Gesgapegiag. This past year the organization has surpassed many milestones and continues to head in the right direction. Throughout this Annual Report, you will read different achievements, successes and overall positive milestones that the different departments have achieved over the past year. You will also notice that they are grouped into clusters. For an example: Learning, Training, and Employment includes the Education Department, Social Assistance, and GHRDC. This is one strategy that helps breakdown silos and it gets everyone working together. In addition, the different departments participated in their second year of the Annual Integrated Operational Planning process. That document not only includes the planning of their annual objectives based on our community driven 5-year Strategic Plan but it also integrates an annual budget, risk management strategies, Human Resource Plan, and opportunities for collaboration amongst the different departments. My commitment as the Director General is to ensure that the organization continues to strive, build capacity from within, and to continue to work towards being a self-sufficient, sustainable community. None of that would be possible without the hard work and dedication from staff and the support of Chief and Council. Welaliog, Fred Vicaire Director General 2017-2018 ANNUAL REPORT 5 Administration 6 2017-2018 ANNUAL REPORT AGE CATEGORIES 65 AND PER TYPE OF UNDER 18 18-30 30-64 OVER EMPLOYMENT Human Resources Students 9 23 0 0 0 9 35 6 Student Employment Policy Projects Permanent 0 26 73 9 With Councils approval in May of a Student 0 13 30 4 Employment Policy and the Collaboration of all Term departments, the Human Resource Department Seasonal 1 14 58 3 launched the first integrated recruitment process: Total 10 85 196 22 over 30 Positions were posted and 29 students were hired. This is in addition to 24 staffing Governance actions during the same period. Financial Administration Law OVERALL STATS MALE FEMALE GRAND TOTAL Our Financial Administration Law (FAL) came into ON HIRING force on April 2017. A FAL is a set of governance Students 16 16 and finance practices that helps Council and staff make informed decisions and run our Projects 28 22 community well. Following our FAL, it will commit Permanent 37 73 us to good governance and finance practices over the long-term. Term 24 23 Seasonal 66 10 This part sets out the roles and responsibilities of the people who manage our First Nation’s Total 171 144 finance practices and bring your FAL to life, 315 including Councillors, committee members, employees, and contractors. 2017-2018 ANNUAL REPORT 7 THERE ARE 5 MAIN AREAS OF THE FAL: The main goal of going into this direction with our FAL is to eventually receive a full financial management certification with the First Nation 1 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Finance Management Board. Our community has 3 years to complete all of the standards This part sets out practices around within each section mentioned. how every part of your First Nation’s finances will be managed. BENEFITS OF THE FMS CERTIFICATE: This includes: Planning and budgeting • shows that our First Nation has put in controls for managing place good finance practices for the long-term. renues and expenses Rules for borrowing Risk management Getting certified brings: Finance reporting Information technology • confidence to community members, lenders, business partners, and others that our ADMINISTRATION 2 First Nation runs its affairs well in a transparent and accountable way. This part sets out the roles and respon- sibilities of the people who manage • good standing with the FNFA our First Nation’s finance practices and (First Nations Finance Authority), which provides bring our FAL to life, including my- low-cost loans to First Nations in the same way self and councillors, committee mem- as other governments in Canada which could bers, employees, and contractors. save our community a lot of money 3 CAPITAL PROJECTS STEERING COMMITTEE This part details practices around how our First Nation manages our assets, The Steering Committee is an internal working such as roads, buildings, computers, group that meets on a weekly basis to review and so on. It also covers finance prac- new and updated policies to ensure that they tices around new capital projects, such meet the standards and quality as set out in our as the construction of a new building. Financial Administration Law. There were 25 steering committee meetings held during the CONFLICTS OF INTEREST 4 2017-2018 fiscal year. This part sets out rules to help us avoid or reduce the impact of conflicts of interest. 5 MISCELLANEOUS This part depends on what our community and different things we would want to add in. 8 2017-2018 ANNUAL REPORT SOME OF THE TOPICS THAT WERE COVERED 2018-2019 Annual Integrated Operational WERE: Plan Process and Timing Funding Proposals to support governance Finance and Audit Committee Policy and related projects and implementation of Procedures FAL Five-Year Strategic Plan Policy and Procedures on Committee Establishment and Dissolution Special Meeting: Outcome of presenta tion of Student Employment Program Housing Committee Terms of Reference Policy and Procedures to Council Economic Development Program Policy Update to terms of reference of Steering and Procedures Committee Annual work plan Monthly and quarterly reporting to Chief and Council FINANCE AND AUDIT COMMITTEE Process to support Council’s decision making: templates and instructions The Finance and Audit was created by Chief and Templates for monthly and quarterly Council a year ago as one of the first follow ups financial information to the approval of the Micmacs of Gesgapegiag Financial Administration Law, 2017.