Town of Smooth Rock Falls File No: Staff Responsible: Luc Denault Item No: AIR - 1746 Prepared For: Council Agenda Date: 19 Apr 2021 RE: MoCreebec Eeyoud Expression of Interest DESCRIPTION MoCreebec Eeyoud Expression of Interest RECOMMENDATION Council approves the letter to MoCreebec Eeyoud as contained in the report from the Chief Administrative Officer entitled “MoCreebec Eeyoud Expression of Interest” and dated April 14, 2021 and directs Administration to send the letter to MoCreebec Eeyoud. SUMMARY Further to Council’s direction on April 6, 2021, Administration has worked with J.L. Richards & Associates Ltd. to prepare a letter to MoCreebec Eeyoud requesting additional information on the proposed relocation and expression of interest process. The draft letter to MoCreebec Eeyoud is included in the April 13, 2021 Memo from J.L. Richards & Associates Ltd. attached to this report. Also attached to this report is an updated chronology of key events relating to this file prepared by J.L. Richards & Associates Ltd., dated April 13, 2021. Department Manager: Finance Manager: City Manager: CAO RECOMMENDATION: __X__ YES _____ NO Comments: Luc Denault Chief Administrative Officer MEMORANDUM Page 1 of 3 To: Mr. Luc Deneault Date: April 13, 2021 Chief Administrative Officer Town of Smooth Rock Falls JLR No.: 31101-000.1 CC: Shannon Michaud, TSRF Georges Quirion, JLR From: Jason Ferrigan, RPP, MCIP, MSc.Pl. Grant Campbell, JLR Senior Planner Leena Lamontagne-Dupuis, JLR Re: MoCreebec Eeyoud Expression of Interest Further to the Town Council Meeting on April 6, 2021, we are pleased to provide you this memo, which summarizes the chronology of key events relating to MoCreebec Eeyoud’s Expression of Interest and the Town of Smooth Rock Falls’ consideration of the same. Chronology of Key Events: June 2019 – MoCreebec Eeyoud (Chief Jolly) contacts the Town of Smooth Rock Falls (former Mayor Arsenault) to raise and gauge whether the Town may wish to receive MoCreebec Eeyoud as a community within the Town. June 17, 2019 - Former Mayor Arsenault updates Town Council at its Regular Meeting on June 17, 2019. At that Meeting Town Council passed Resolution #2019-324, as follows: “BE IT RESOLVED THAT Council accept the information as presented by Mayor Arsenault and provide further direction to administration. AND FURTHER THAT Council directs administration to obtain additional information to provide an update to Council”. September 3, 2019 – MoCreebec Eeyoud presents to Town Council at its presented to Town Council at its Regular Meeting on September 3, 2019. At that Meeting Town Council passed Resolution #2019-362, as follows: “BE IT RESOLVED THAT Council accepts MoCreebec Eeyoud’s pursuit of a community site Briefing Note as attached for information purposes, discussion and direction to administration. AND FURTHER THAT Administration is requesting further information and a meeting with Chief Allan Jolly.” March 2020 – The COVID-19 Global Pandemic begins. November 25, 2020 – MoCreebec Eeyoud submits a letter to the Town of Smooth Rock Falls requesting an Expression of Interest from the Town on or before March 1, 2021. February 1, 2021 – The Town of Smooth Rock Falls (former Mayor Arsenault, CAO and third party advisors) meet with MoCreebec Eeyoud (Chief Jolly, Council Members and third party advisors) to understand MoCreebec Eeyoud’s expectations through the Expression of Interest process. April 13, 2021 JLR No.: 31101-000.1 Page 2 of 3 February 16, 2021 – Administration updates Town Council at its Regular Meeting on February 16, 2021. As part of this update, Town Council considers a proposed work plan that would allow the Town to respond to MoCreebec Eeyoud, should Council decide to. At that meeting, Town Council passed Resolution #2021-057, as follows: “BE IT RESOLVED THAT Council approve the work plan proposed by JL Richards in regards to the MoCreebec Eeyoud Expression of Interest, subject to the feedback by Town Council at its meeting held on February 16th, 2021.” As part of this feedback, Town Council recommended that MoCreebec Eeyoud be contacted to determine whether they would be willing to receive an Expression of Interest after the March 1 deadline to provide Town Council an opportunity to receive additional information and consult with the community. February – March 2021 – J.L. Richards & Associates Ltd. follows up with MoCreebec Eeyoud, consistent with Council’s feedback. At this time, MoCreebec Eeyoud indicates that they would be willing to receive a submission after the March 1 deadline, that they are not seeking a formal and detailed Expression of Interest and would be prepared to share additional information and discuss the matter further with Town Council. March 1, 2021 – Administration updates Town Council at its Regular Meeting on March 1, 2021. At that meeting, Town Council passed Resolution #2021-075, as follows: “BE IT RESOLVED THAT Council accepts the updated report from JLR for information purposes. AND FURTHER THAT JLR extend an invitation Chief Allan Jolly to the March 15th, 2021 Council meeting.” March 2021 – J.L. Richards & Associates Ltd. follows up with MoCreebec Eeyoud, consistent with Council’s direction. MoCreebec Eeyoud agrees to attend the March 15, 2021 Town Council Meeting. March 15, 2021 – MoCreebec Eeyoud presents and discusses updated information to Town Council. At that meeting, Town Council decided to reflect on the information it had received and discuss the matter further at its next regularly scheduled meeting. April 6, 2021 – Town Council discusses the information presented by MoCreebec Eeyoud at the March 15, 2021 Town Council Regular Meeting and passes a Resolution to give Administration and J.L. Richards & Associates Ltd direction to draft a letter from Town Council to MoCreebec Eeyoud requesting additional information on MoCreebec Eeyoud’s proposal. References: September 3, 2019 Staff Report February 16, 2021 Staff Report March 1, 2021 Staff Report March 15, 2021 Staff Report April 6, 2021 Staff Report April 13, 2021 JLR No.: 31101-000.1 Page 3 of 3 J.L. RICHARDS & ASSOCIATES LIMITED Prepared by: Jason Ferrigan, RPP, MCIP, MSc.Pl Senior Planner JF MEMORANDUM Page 1 of 4 To: Mr. Luc Deneault Date: April 13, 2021 Chief Administrative Officer Town of Smooth Rock Falls JLR No.: 31101-000.1 CC: Shannon Michaud, TSRF Georges Quirion, JLR From: Jason Ferrigan, RPP, MCIP, MSc.Pl. Grant Campbell, JLR Senior Planner Leena Lamontagne-Dupuis, JLR Re: MoCreebec Eeyoud Expression of Interest Further to the Town Council Meeting on April 6, 2021, we are pleased to provide you this memo, which includes a draft letter for Council’s consideration. Based on Council’s feedback and direction at the April 19, 2021 Meeting, the draft letter can be finalized and sent to MoCreebec Eeyoud as Council’s first formal response to MoCreebec Eeyoud’s Expression of Interest. I will attend Town Council’s April 19, 2021 Meeting to present this draft letter and respond to any questions or clarifications that Council may have. Background MoCreebec are one of eleven Cree First Nation communities recognized by the Cree Nation Government (Grand Council of the Crees). MoCreebec members live on the western portion of Moose Factory Island and Moosonee. The community consists of approximately 1,000 people. MoCreebec members have lived in the Moose Factory Island/Moosonee area for generations. MoCreebec traces their ancestry to the people along the east coast of James Bay in Quebec. Many families migrated from the east coast of James Bay to the Moose Factory Island/Moosonee area due to the establishment of trading posts. As Moose Factory Island/Moosonee continued to grow and evolve, and government policies changed, additional migration occurred. One outcome of this migration in pursuit of opportunity, is that MoCreebec Eeyoud are not officially recognized by the Federal Government as a First Nation under the Indian Act. Nor is MoCreebec Eeyoud recognized in the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement or Treaty 9, which applies to the Ontario side of James Bay. Due to this lack of formal recognition, MoCreebec Eeyoud did not receive any form of support or service from senior levels of government in Canada. Historically, this lack of support resulted in substantially lower quality of life for MoCreebec people. In response, the MoCreebec association was formed in 1980. In the 40 years since then, MoCreebec has successfully pursued a comprehensive strategy to improve the economic, physical and social conditions in their community. This included the creation of a new “community” including housing and associated services, the creation of new businesses and improvements in health and education. Examples of local businesses include Creecable (which provides cable and internet services to Moose Factory and Moosonee), the Cree Village Restaurant and Bakery, Moose River Broadcasting Association and Cree Village Ecolodge. MoCreebec has and remains focused on political recognition and development since the early 1990’s. In 2007, MoCreebec Eeyoud were formally recognized by the Cree Nation Government as the 11th Cree Community. The Cree Nation Government has asked MoCreebec Eeyoud to identify a new community site in Ontario as a pre-cursor to formal negotiations with the Federal and Provincial Governments to recognize MoCreebec Eeyoud. April 13, 2021 JLR No.: 31101-000.1 Page 2 of 4 This context has led to MoCreebec Eeyoud requesting Expressions of Interest from local communities who may be interested to partner with MoCreebec on their new community. As previously described an Expression of Interest is a tool that is commonly used in procurement by individuals/organizations that are looking to identify the skills, experience, resources and capacity that another individual/organization may have and may be willing to bring to a project. Sometimes, an Expression of Interest can lead to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which is an “agreement to agree”. Typically, an MOU will identify the parties to the MOU, describe the project they are agreeing to work on together, the conditions associated with their mutual participation, roles and responsibilities and the decision making process.