SAGAMOK ANISHNAWBEK CHIEF AND COUNCIL MEETING
FORT LACLOCHE BUILDING
SEPTEMBER 13th, 2022
5:30 PM – 8:30 PM

Present:

Chief Angus Toulouse
Councillor Anna Marie Abitong
Councillor Arnelda Bennett
Councillor Lawrence Solomon
Councillor Leroy Bennett
Councillor Michael Abitong
Councillor McKenzie Toulouse (virtual via Microsoft Teams)
Councillor Nelson Toulouse (virtual via Microsoft Teams)
Councillor Nicole Eshkakogan
Councillor Paul Eshkakogan
Councillor Sheldon Toulouse
Councillor Rhonda Stoneypoint Trudeau

Staff:

Evan O’Leary, SDC General Manager
Melanie Lazarus, Director of Community Wellness
Ross Assinewe, Director of Planning & Infrastructure
Ryan Assinewe, Director of Finance
Samantha Keysis, Director of Lands, Resources, and Environment
Wade Owl, Political Office Coordinator

Guests:

Jim Lees, Orbis Consulting Roger Jones

Opening prayer by Councillor Leroy Bennett

Meeting called to order at.

Motion 22/09 #02 Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept the agenda as presented and amended. Moved by: Councillor Lawrence Solomon Seconded by: Councillor Nicole Eshkakogan A/O: 0 CARRIED Discussion: Added a presentation regarding a Reorganization Plan by John Lees of Orbis Consulting, a discussion about concerns raised by Arnelda Bennett at the Food Bank, and an in-camera session for information at the end.

Opening remarks by Chief Angus Toulouse

Motion 22/09 #03 Sagamok Chief & Council motion to accept the minutes of the September 2nd, 2022 Chief & Council meeting as corrected. Discussion: Corrections and additions will be made, and the motion accepting the minutes will be tabled to our next scheduled meeting. Moved by: Councillor Seconded by: Councillor A/O: 0 TABLED TO NEXT MEETING

For those who are sitting on various boards and committees, the first meetings of the new Council term will be taking place in the near future.

Brief break for dinner

Presentation by John Lees and Roger Jones Regarding Restructuring Plan

Congratulations extended by Roger for those who were elected. John & Roger are familiar to most gathered, as both are working on Koonasweg (?), with a focus on governance. John will also be around the community to discuss the presentation and other related matters if any Councillor wishes to have a one-on-one session, either in person or virtually.

Proposed approach to organization review, an opportunity to explain past work, what has worked and what wasn’t and allow for input. Want to ensure management and staff are well supported, as the organization evolves, a pause and reflection is necessary to ensure that you are still delivering your mission and mandate.

Chief and Council Minutes – September 13th, 2022 Page 3

Another reason is to advance key priorities. The org chart is actually a small portion of org design, the sharing of information is the real goal of good organization design. Considering how jobs are designed, what executives are doing, and more are important to consider. Context surrounding our organizational needs have been considered, including how the Indian Act has shaped our structure, the two year election cycle leaving little time for follow-through, and the needed supports of Council. The newly adopted FAL and 10 year Grant Agreement with ISC have provided opportunity for programs to work together and share resources, but it is not without its own challenges. Timely information is key to assist in shaping decisions of Council. Developing and supporting the talented staff within the organization—

Our current structure has been heavily influenced by the Indian Act.

Many reasons to seek effective org design, including delivering quality service to the populace by supporting staff and ensuring they can do their job well.

Q from Leroy – the overreliance on paperwork, like triplicate reporting, prevents workers from efficiently doing their jobs; do you have an idea on how to address that? Answer – employees have reported that 20-30% is spent on paperwork, the sharing and use of information is the best way to address that.

Q from Nelson – has experience with the role and function of committees, needs some discussion; how do we best serve the administration to reach goals as committees, may need dual function of committees serving program, ie, Elders and Lands Committees working in tandem with the other. Rather than designating tasks to committees, collaboration between committees to achieve a full picture and better results. Answer – will definitely have a follow up conversation

Suggested approach for the new organization: Phase 1 – mid-September (around Sept 20th): planning and clarifying objectives by holding interviews with Council, agree on objectives and design committee (small group of management and Council to have first eyes on new org plans), and establish timelines; a new org design can cause stress for those within the organization, so communication and speed are important in alleviating that.

Phase 2 – late-September; functional analysis, do we have the capacity to provide the functions we want within the organization

Phase 3 – October-November; develop checklist of what we hope to achieve with the restructure, compare to options we have.

Q from Leroy – How does ISO fit into all this? Answer – ISO is a way to ensure quality management, this reorganization is to achieve and

Chief and Council Minutes – September 13th, 2022 Page 4

deliver quality; if ISO is becoming an issue, it may not be followed as closely as it needs to. ISO is designed as an internal quality tool.

First step in new org is to ensure we can succeed as a government; two main objectives – development and deliver services. Development for things like infrastructure, emergency preparedness, etc. Programs and services like education, child care, etc. Demands and needs from the community, partnerships, funding agreements and more, all shape how these are delivered.

Q from Nicole – For implementation plan, will it include a way to measure how well we are delivering the proposed set up? Answer – when dealing with a local gov’t like ours to deliver provincial and federal gov’t, there is a good deal of complexity when determining what is succeeding and what isn’t.

Q from Anna – talked about developing education authority, how can you develop when the funding is under the organization, because the authority doesn’t have the ability to determine how funding is used. They lack jurisdiction and authority decoupled from the main organization.

In order to achieve things such as election law, education authority, and other governance, a constitution is necessary, otherwise the laws and policies developed exist in isolation.

Leroy - Introducing the clan system to the organizational structure and constitutional framework could create some confusion, as there exist clans that we don’t know about; 44 vs the 7 we have. Writing what the clans can do vs what we see in action are two very different things. Focusing on negativity towards the Indian Act prevents you from seeing what points and structures within it that could be used to benefit us.

It is important to remember that the constitution will be what the people determine it to be.

Motion 22/09 #04 Sagamok Chief & Council motion to support and proceed with the organizational design review as presented and outlined. Discussion: A design committee is the next step, and we will work on that at the next meeting. Moved by: Councillor Paul Eshkakogan Seconded by: Councillor Leroy Bennett A/O: 0 CARRIED

Director of Planning & Infrastructure

Motion 22/09 #05 Sagamok Chief & Council motion to renew the loan agreement with CMHC for 5 years and sign the loan agreement.

Chief and Council Minutes – September 13th, 2022 Page 5

Discussion: Regarding the housing strategy and housing needs, is Council planning to prepare a new strategy given the current state of housing and community needs? Forward the past documents done by Turtle Island and KPMG to John Lees to assist in fitting that into the proposed org structure. Current agreements can also present a hurdle for those who wish to operate a business out of their homes. Increases on the loan amount do not affect those who are paying, as they pay a fixed month. Certain individuals in the community may require advocacy or assistance in having their housing needs and requests met. For example, Alex Espaniel’s home is also in need of an inspection, and if need be a mobile or tiny home could be provided for him. Current housing program only deals with new builds, not renovations or things such as energy audits, and no dedicated budget for renovations. However, there are programs such as the RRAP or other ways to access funds that people may not be aware of. If possible, could someone from this table talk to Bluewave as a provider of propane and see if we can leverage our status as a large customer to achieve a better rate for our members. Could schedule a meeting to discuss purely housing as Council so we can prepare our next Housing committee and keep aware of the community’s needs. Paul will put his name forward to prepare a community wide assessment of homes and housing needs and policies to better serve the changing needs. Sheldon and Lawrence can prepare an agenda, and Wade can send out suggested dates for a day meeting with a 9:30 – 10:00 AM start. Moved by: Councillor Anna Marie Abitong Seconded by: Councillor Arnelda Bennett A/O: 0 CARRIED

Motion 22/09 #05 Sagamok Chief & Council motion to renew and sign the Loan Renewal Agreement for Phase 14 with CMHC for 5 years. Discussion: There are outdated completion dates on the report, they will be updated by Phillip Stringer following his return from holidays. Will the land closure ensure that the recyclables are removed from the landfill before its closure? We currently have no recycling program. GFL is currently handling recyclables, but will not remove recycling from the landfill as they are considered to be contaminated. A clay layer will be placed over top to prevent water from leeching into the soil. Moved by: Councillor Lawrence Solomon Seconded by: Councillor Anna Marie Abitong A/O: 0 CARRIED

Chief and Council Minutes – September 13th, 2022 Page 6

Director of Finance

Leroy and Nicole would prefer to have the name of the individual in order to feel secure and avoid any potential accusations of nepotism. Time is a factor as the deal closes on the 29th, and the investor may secure other investors. If we secure this loan, Nicole would like to see this money secured for the Food Bank, as it is currently an unfunded program. Leroy suggests 50% go to current housing concerns, such as insulation or other needs in places where RRAP may be too much of a hurdle to clear. Other suggestions include Education and Recreation. SDC will hold the mortgage as it needs to be held by a corporation.

Motion 22/09 #06 Sagamok Chief & Council motion to support investing with the mortgage of <location> with the priority agreed upon with the condition that the name of the borrower be circulated tomorrow. Moved by: Councillor Lawrence Solomon Seconded by: Councillor Sheldon Toulouse A/O: 3 – Nicole Eshkakogan & Leroy Bennett, due to hesitance & unfamiliarity with the type of proposal Arnelda Bennett, as an employee of SDC CARRIED

Community Wellness

Hired Jim Baraniuk to integrate the treatment programs available within Sagamok to ensure they work well together. There are a number of issues in using Ritchie Falls as a location for the treatment centre, such as its isolated location posing a liability issue in the event of an emergency, staffing recruitment and retention for the 24 hour program, and difficulty in connecting with other support staff once clients leave treatment. The new proposed location is the Fort LaCloche building. Given its close proximity, it should address the problems raised above with some renovations and adjustments.

Regarding the current occupants, there will be a move of the LRE office back to the current ZEI office building down River Road, and the new ZEI office will be ready in December. When it comes to the question of activities scheduled for the Fort LaCloche site, the same can be said for Ritchie Falls; it comes down to a matter of scheduling and cooperation.

Motion 22/09 #07 Sagamok Chief & Council motion to approve repurposing Fort LaCloche infrastructure for residency and operations of a mental health land based treatment center for the proposed 8 bed addictions residential program with a test cycle up to March 31st, 2023. Moved by: Councillor Leroy Bennett Seconded by: Councillor Sheldon Toulouse Discussion: The security of Fort LaCloche is another point, how do we prevent the drug sellers

Chief and Council Minutes – September 13th, 2022 Page 7

from selling at the various sites? Is there another place to consider, if not Fort LaCloche? A/O: 0 CARRIED

Other Business

Arnelda and Angus are to meet with Shirley tomorrow to discuss further options for the Food Bank. Melanie and Nicole are all offering aid as well, to review policy and other shortcomings.

Regarding the information for the individual involved in the proposed Finance investment agreement, the information is to be circulated among Council and placed on the agenda for the next meeting to discuss with a proper info base and awareness.

Motion 22/09 #08 Sagamok Chief & Council motion to close the meeting. Moved by: Councillor Arnelda Bennett Seconded by: Councillor Leroy Bennett A/O: 0 CARRIED

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