Log outMember's Log in
Present:
Angus Toulouse
Anna Marie Abitong
Arnelda Bennett
Lawrence Solomon
Leroy Bennett
McKenzie Toulouse
Nelson Toulouse
Nicole Eshkakogan (virtual)
Paul Eshkakogan
Rhonda Stoneypoint (virtual in AM)
Sheldon Toulouse
Staff:
Andrea Hajt-Jacobs, Assistant Director – Council Secretariat
Darla Boston, Political Office Administrative Assistant
Juanita Skruibis, Director of Family, Community, & Social Services
Mark Foden, By-law Enforcement Officer
Meggan McCracken, Director of Finance
Nicholas Trudeau, IT Technician
Roger Jones, Council Secretariat
Ross Assinewe, Director of Planning & Infrastructure
Ryan McLeod, Financial Advisor
Sean Cassidy, Director of IT & Communications
Susan Deschamps, Director of Long-Term Care (virtual)
Wade Owl, Political Office Coordinator
Vance McPherson, Director of Education
Guests:
Dale Eshkakogan, Young Warriors Drum Group
Hevan Solomon, Young Warriors Drum Group
Julian Kernan, Young Warriors Drum Group
Logan Corbiere, Young Warriors Drum Group
Terrance McNichol, Young Warriors Drum Group
Inspector Marc Lesage, Anishnawbek Police Service
Regrets:
Evan O’Leary, SDC Manager
Opening Prayer by Michael Abitong
Opening Song by Young Warriors Drum Group
Meeting called to order @ 9:40 AM
Would like to extend thanks to the Young Warriors Drum Group for their opening song, and would also like to recognize their skill and efforts in learning the drum and songs. Recognition was given to
Additional items for the agenda include a discussion on assumption of management of Jordan’s Principle, a Finance & Audit Committee session to be scheduled during lunch, discussion on the Yellow Hall across from St. Raphael’s Parish, and a required in camera session.
Motion 2023/12 #01
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept agenda as presented and amended.
Moved by: McKenzie Toulouse
Seconded by: Michael Abitong A/O: 0 Discussion:
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #02
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept the FAC Minutes of July 4th, 2023, October 5th, 2023, and November 6th, 2023 as presented.
Moved by: Arnelda Bennett
Seconded by: Sheldon Toulouse A/O: 0 Discussion:
CARRIED
The Q2 reports have been deferred for further review by Council. It has also been suggested that the Quarterly Reports be included as part of the Consent Agenda.
Minutes of the November 28th, 2023 Council meeting being presented for approval. No corrections to be made.
Motion 2023/12 #03
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept the Chief & Council minutes of November 20th, 2023 as presented.
Moved by: Anna Marie Abitong
Seconded by: Leroy Bennett
A/O: 0 Discussion: CARRIED
Two letters have been received, one from Deanna Southwind requesting a transfer to a larger unit, the other is an application from Bradley Trudeau. There is a 2 day working session on January 19th and 20th for the Housing Working Group with the goal of policy review and unit allocation for Maple Ridge. The two letters will be reviewed on Thursday’s meeting of the Housing Working Group. Nicole Eshkakogan – if a person is denied by the Housing Working Group, are they considered for active review with further meetings? Sheldon Toulouse – Applicants who are not assigned a house are kept on file with an evaluation of their needs, and that is reviewed on each meeting. Arnelda Bennett – Additionally, we removed the requirement for annual reapplication; people only submit new applications if their information has updated or their family circumstances have changed.
Regarding Jordan’s Principle applications for the Little NHL teams, the chances of approval are higher if it comes from a collective or group. We may recommend that the teams come together to submit a single application to increase their chances to receive funding.
Motion 2023/12 #04
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to acknowledge the 2023 Holiday Schedule excepting Ritchie Falls until reviewed.
Moved by: McKenzie Toulouse
Seconded by: Sheldon Toulouse
A/O: 2 – Arnelda Bennett and Anna Marie Abitong as employees. Discussion: CARRIED
Marc had prepared a statistical breakdown of Calls for Service from July 1st to September 30th, 2023, showing 283 total calls. This is a reduction from seasons previous, with the highest category of call being Police Assistance at 35 calls.
Angus Toulouse – I have a concern that the stats are not documented well enough, as I feel there are a higher incidence of calls that are being reported vs what is recorded. Ensuring accurate information gathering is how we guarantee the policing services we require, and I worry that the numbers shown may not reflect the reality of community safety. Our location means that additional officers from other detachments can’t assist in a timely manner, so we need to have the proper contingent of officers to meet our needs.
Marc Lesage – Sagamok does have a high number of occurrences, with violent occurrences that take time for officers to investigate. Regarding staffing, there was no one who could tell me initially why Sagamok had a deployment model of 4 officers and a sergeant. We do want to allocate more officers, but the issue is hiring interested officers.
Sheldon Toulouse – what’s the approach for people who have been BCR’d out, and what can we do ensure they stay removed? Marc Lesage – the best thing you can do to keep them out is a great by-law that’s prosecutable. The current method is using the charge of trespassing, but that lacks the real teeth needed to keep those people out.
Anna Marie Abitong – Regarding the number and type of calls, what would the resolutions be and what interagency/organizational collaboration?
Angus Toulouse – when we update the protocol that could be something that we insist on.
While the Crown Attorney and the Justice department seek us out for input on release, it only occurs occasionally. We would like more frequent input, and a stronger relationship.
Sagamok has signed a protocol with the ASP to provide “effective, efficient and culturally sensitive policing services in accordance with the needs of the community,” with the group communicating between Roger Jones, the Justice department, Council, and the APS officers. Crown Attorney Robert Parsons has moved to the northern region, and his replacement Cara (?) will be our new point of contact. We haven’t had the opportunity to meet with Cara, and are currently working with Sasha. This transfer of duty is a factor in why a recent individual was missed with regards to no trespass inclusion.
Will schedule and review monthly, and attempt to ensure Marc’s visit is a regular occurrence for Council meetings.
We will advise when we are likely to go live for our Council meetings. The system had a few issues in our initial test, and the current test is showing promising results. According to Sean, we can expect to go live with Council meetings in January, and notice will be given when we do so. Regarding the platform we will use to broadcast, the recommendation is to use Zoom as the platform of choice due to better handling of large participant sizes, the ability to provide a fixed quality video, and ease of access via a variety of devices.
As we move to livestreamed meetings, we would need to develop a protocol for community observation and attendance. The current preference is for keeping it observatory with a question and answer period at the end of the meeting. A fully participatory protocol has the potential to slow meetings significantly, but is not out of the question once any unforeseen issues have been addressed.
An update on the security camera installation was requested; most cameras have been installed on the digital signs with the capability to assist in police investigations. They can detect motion, recognize faces, and read license plate numbers as flagged. The video is fed to the By-Law Officer who can provide time segments on request.
Before proceeding with the presentation, would like to acknowledge Pam Toulouse for pioneering the inquiry-based approach, Claudette Fournier for holding the line of Education, and Anna Marie for developing the Education unit into its current form from the ground up.
The Education department is looking at its Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results and using a variety of metrics to analyze each. A draft roadmap of goals has been prepared outlining short, medium, and long term landmarks to achieve, and potential top down revisions to policy, standards, and procedures may be necessary to achieve those landmarks.
Lunch Break at 12:28 PM from 1:15 PM
Motion 2023/12 #05
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to approve BCR 2023-12-45 – Jordan’s Principle Service Adoption.
Moved by: Leroy Bennett
Seconded by: Michael Abitong
A/O: 1 – Rhonda Stoneypoint Discussion: CARRIED
Ryan would like to explore the possibility of moving Sagamok’s business to a new auditing firm; the current proposed pricing from BDO is very competitive when compared to others. Ryan hopes to present the options to the Finance and Audit Committee, then to Council if the FAC is agreeable. Council is willing to support the approach, and will defer the naming of auditors for the 2024/25 fiscal year to the next Council Meeting.
Motion 2023/12 #06
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to approve the proposal and transition auditing services from KPMG to BDO for the fiscal years of 2024, 2025, and 2026.
Moved by: Anna Marie Abitong
Seconded by: Rhonda Stoneypoint A/O: 0
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #07
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to approve the proposed budget format to be implemented in the finance software and Procurify.
Moved by: Arnelda Bennett
Seconded by: Leroy Bennett A/O: 0
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #08
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to approve allocation of funds for the Aftercare Residential Program.
Moved by: Paul Eshkakogan
Seconded by: Rhonda Stoneypoint A/O: 0
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #09
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to support the advance of funds to ZCLP for $500,000.00 to support their cash flow needs with the funds being returned within 60 days.
Moved by: McKenzie Toulouse
Seconded by: Michael Abitong A/O: 0
CARRIED
The presentation will be deferred to the upcoming January 2024 meeting.
Motion 2023/12 #10
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to support the proposed workplan, and amend the workplan as per Council feedback, and to approve submission to ECCC & Chiefs of Ontario.
Moved by: McKenzie Toulouse
Seconded by: Anna Marie Abitong A/O: 0 Discussion:
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #11
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept BCR 2023-09-13 Transfer to Sagamok Anishnawbek - Anita Maracle.
Moved by: Lawrence Solomon
Seconded by: Paul Eshkakogan A/O: 0 Discussion:
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #12
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept BCR 2023-09-20 Transfer to Sagamok Anishnawbek – Andrew Johnathan Garrow.
Moved by: Paul Eshkakogan
Seconded by: McKenzie Toulouse A/O: 1 – Angus Toulouse Discussion:
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #13
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept BCR 2023-09-21 Transfer to Sagamok Anishnawbek – Ionkhihawison Horn-David.
Moved by: Arnelda Bennett
Seconded by: Rhonda Stoneypoint A/O: 1 – Paul Eshkakogan Discussion:
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #14
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept BCR 2023-09-22 Transfer to Sagamok Anishnawbek – Stacy Olivia Lesley Keysis.
Moved by: Leroy Bennett
Seconded by: Sheldon Toulouse A/O: 0 Discussion:
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #15
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept BCR 2023-09-23 Transfer to Sagamok Anishnawbek – Hannah Louise Phyllis Linklater.
Moved by: Arnelda Bennett
Seconded by: McKenzie Toulouse A/O: 0 Discussion:
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #16
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept BCR 2023-09-29 Transfer to Sagamok Anishnawbek – Matthew Garrow.
Moved by: Lawrence Solomon
Seconded by: McKenzie Toulouse A/O: 1 – Angus Toulouse Discussion:
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #17
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept BCR 2023-09-25 Transfer to Sagamok Anishnawbek – Kenneth Dean Pangowish.
Moved by: Anna Marie Abitong
Seconded by: Paul Eshkakogan A/O: 0 Discussion:
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #18
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept BCR 2023-09-26 Transfer to Sagamok Anishnawbek – Levia Pangowish.
Moved by: Michael Abitong
Seconded by: McKenzie Toulouse A/O: 0 Discussion:
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #19
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept BCR 2023-09-27 Transfer to Sagamok Anishnawbek – Vienna Pangowish.
Moved by: Anna Marie Abitong
Seconded by: Sheldon Toulouse A/O: 0 Discussion:
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #20
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept BCR 2023-12-43 Transfer to Sagamok Anishnawbek – Jason Martin.
Moved by: Rhonda Stoneypoint
Seconded by: Leroy Bennett A/O: 0 Discussion:
CARRIED
Motion 2023/12 #21
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept BCR 2023-12-46 Transfer to Sagamok Anishnawbek – Jerri-Anne Madison Keysis-Assinewe.
Moved by: Anna Marie Abitong
Seconded by: Leroy Bennett A/O: 0 Discussion: BCR to be prepared and walked around once ready.
CARRIED
Item has been deferred to the next Council meeting in the new year.
A recommendation was brought forward to reduce the speed on the road just before the Indian Head to 70 km/h from 80 km/h, and move the speed limit sign of 50 km/h to before bridge near Industrial Park road.
Motion 2023/12 #22
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept the recommended changes to the speed limit layout as presented.
Moved by: Arnelda Bennett
Seconded by: Leroy Bennett A/O: 0 Discussion:
CARRIED
Included in the agenda as an FYI by Ross; items have been deferred to the next scheduled meeting for discussion and approval if necessary.
Adjournment
Next Meeting is scheduled for January 23rd, 2023 at 9:30 AM.
Motion 2023/12 #23
Sagamok Chief & Council motion to adjourn the meeting.
Moved by: Leroy Bennett
Seconded by: Paul Eshkakogan A/O: 0 Discussion:
CARRIED
Closing Prayer by Michael Abitong.
Meeting adjourned.
Z’gamok Enterprises Inc. is a corporation 100% owned by the Sagamok Anishnawbek. It is mandated to maximize the economic development opportunities of the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation within its traditional lands and within the Northern Ontario region in the resource sector and in services related to construction and resource development.
