Canada First Nations Education Jurisdiction Funding Agreement Main Table Negotiations DRAFT Summary

May 28 and 29, 2008

Meeting Facilitator: Kathi Dickie

I. A. Introduction

The IFNs were asked to review the agenda. Kathi mentioned that the National Day of Action regarding Aboriginal issues was scheduled for today with a march from Canada Place to the Art Gallery, participants were asked if they intended on to participating as that would affect the agenda. The majority of the group indicated that they would be interested in participating so the decision was made that the meeting would break for a long lunch starting from 11:30 – 1:30 to allow people to participate in the march.

Introductions then took place.

Greg Louie, from Ahousat First Nation reminded the group that the federal government is making offers to the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council Nations today and Ahousat had their Chief and school board attend today to be witness to this important event.

Kathi, provided a review of the negotiations to date: of the 24 First Nations that Canada has the mandate to negotiate with, offers on the Canada First Nation Education Jurisdiction Funding Agreement (CFNEJFA) were made to ten First Nations. Offers will be made to the remaining three negotiating First Nations today.

Analysis has begun based on the initial offers and FNESC has retained consultants, Barry Anderson and Rob Gage (with help from the Ministry of Education) to carry out the funding anaylsis.

Nathan Matthew joined the meeting and was able to provided further input regarding the funding analysis and the negotiation session planned.

Nathan noted that it is critical to set up the analysis in a way that works for everybody, not just the negotiating First Nations but all First Nations that involved in the process that will be negotiating later. The offers to the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council negotiating First Nations is a big event, as it will complete the offers to all 13 negotiating First Nations, which then allows for a complete analysis of the offers to take place. FNESC was very pleased to have Barry and Rob Gage in attendance to help work through the funding analysis, both Barry and Rob have vast amounts of experience in working with the provincial funding formula and there are a number of issues to address regarding the funding analysis and hopefully Barry and Rob will be able shed some light on those issues. Nancy, the legal counsel was present and will be reviewing some legal issues which were brought up at the last meeting: independent legal reviews. Nathan said that by the end of this session we should have a good idea what the funding analysis would look like. There is an established budget for this year that provides the capacity resources,

1

to set up Community Education Authorities and governance activities. A budget will be brought back to the group for approval, when FNESC finds out from INAC how much is established for this fiscal year in terms of resourcing.

Nathan expressed concern with only 13 First Nations signed up to negotiate and for this year the group should be looking at increasing that number. Nathan noted that if a First Nation is not serious about becoming a negotiating First Nation they need to consider the value in attending these sessions, it takes up a lot of the negotiating budget to bring everyone together for these sessions and it costs a lot for First Nations in terms of human resourcing. Nathan wanted to reiterate that this is a serious commitment and it is important that we keep progressing and we can’t afford to have communities joining in on a rotating basis, there needs to be consistency, full support from your chief and council and a concerted commitment to bring this information back to your community. If there is no intention to sign an agreement then a First Nation should not be participating in these sessions. All the IFNs at this point need to know from their communities whether they are in our out. It is also important to realize that education Jurisidiction is a compromise, it is not sovereignty, but it is a way to move things forward in the meantime, while treaties and self government agreements are being worked out, which know takes several years, but with this initiative we have an opportunity to help our communities and its students immediately. We have the possibility to open the door to more First Nations. In closing Nathan said that FNESC would like a sense of who is on deck next to negotiate, and who is moving towards a decision to negotiate. It is important that we make good use of time.

Discussion Regarding Offers

Mount Currie shared that in their initial review of their offer the per pupil rate is $40,000 short.

Heiltsuk noted that their Offer was lower than what they get through the Interim Band Operated Funding Formula (iBOFF), therefore they will be unable to accept the current offer.

Canim Lake expressed that they did not understand where the numbers came from for their Offer. It is hard to conduct an analysis as the Band is not familiar with the numbers and cannot at first glance see how they came to be.

Snuneymuxw shared that there is no link with the provincial block rate, and the nominal roll numbers are off in their Offer.

The federal negotiator reminded participants that the Offers are not based on provincial block rate.

The negotiating First Nations asked about the one-time set up costs, in all the Offers they were varied. It was further expressed that it is hard to conduct an analysis when it is not clear what will be an individual research vs. collective research. Kathi responded that a a

2

template letter went out to all negotiating First Nations outlining what information FNESC required from INAC and the letter also gives INAC permission to release the information to FNESC. FNESC could do a follow up memo to all NFNs listing the information that each NFN is required to provide FNESC, ie. population projections and nominal roll.

It was asked that if the FNEA costs would influence what the NFNs want to accept as in terms of governance costs, for example will there be any fees associated with buying services from the FNEA or simply being an FNEA member. It is getting time to identify a rough cost for the FNEA.

It was also noted that ratification, and implementation costs are not indicated, a First Nation would like to know what kind of funding would be available for those activities before signing a funding agreement.

It was remarked that the annual increases are too low at about 3-4 %, this would not cover cost of living increases or other inflation related costs for education.

A participant asked if Heiltsuk had their isolation marked as a cost factor in their Offer. Heiltsuk responded, no.

Nathan provided a quick update on reciprocal tuition. FNESC and Ministry of Education (MEd.) are currently looking at information sharing. We are trying to figure a way to account for students they would pay for in First Nation schools, reporting information that is satisfactory to both parties. We are not set up to be accountable with data (First Nation schools are not provided the resources to set up BCeSIS or student data systems) but there is a possibility that MEd.would agree to a paper based sharing of student information. Reciprocal tuition will be an exchange of block rates. The process we are negotiating regarding reciprocal tuition is for all First Nation schools.

I. B. Negotiation Session

Facilitator: Nathan MatthewFNESC Staff/Recorders: Christa Williams, Nancy Morgan, Jan HaugenINAC Negotiators: Heather Lawrence, Tanja Dyck

Tsehaht offered to open negotiations with a prayer, a prayer that is said daily at Haahuupayak school.

Negotiators for the three First Nations that were negotiating were confirmed:

Greg Louie for Ahousat First Nation

Martin Watts for Tsehaht Nation

Judy Thomas for Ditidaht First Nation

3

Heather Lawrence, the federal negotiator said a few words of introduction. She said that she was very happy to complete the circle of federal Offers on CFNEJA and CFNEJFA. After today, all negotiating First Nations will have Offers to assess. Heather said that she looked forward to next phase in the negotiation process. The negotiation process for today would follow the same format as the previous offers. The Offers will include one- time set-up funding, program and services funding and the funding will be listed on a 5 year funding stream, for the duration of the funding agreement. Because of the unique nature of the Nuu-chah-Nulth Tribal Council funding agreement with INAC the negotiations will take place between the individual First Nations as well as Nuu-chah-Nulth Tribal Council and INAC. Heather closed her comments by saying how she appreciated the efforts of all parties to get to these Offers today.

Heather then presented the Offers.

On behalf of Ahousat, Greg introduced their Chief and school Board and requested that they be recorded in the proceedings of the negotiations. Greg then asked the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation members to stand and stated on behalf of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and wanted to thank the other 10 negotiating communities for their support, as the they worked through some of their unique funding arrangement. The NTC appreciated the NFNs decision to stick together, and move ahead collectively.

Response to the Offers

Tsehaht First Nation acknowledges receiving an opening Offer from INAC and is prepared to negotiate an adequate funding agreement.

Dididaht acknowledges receipt of the Offer and thanked NFNs for their solidarity and support in moving ahead with the jurisdiction negotiations.

Ahousat First Nation acknowledged receipt of the Offer and looked forward to healthy negotiations.

Discussion with INAC

Next meeting: July 3 and 4 is that date still good for everyone?? Is that okay – those dates were confirmed.

Issues:

Nathan asked ONAC about the budget commitment for this year and if there was a confirmed budget yet. Tanja: responded that INAC is providing immediately a $250,000 interim budget that BC region has agreed to flow to FNESC and FNESC should be receiving an amendment shortly. In addition INAC has agreed to a total budget of $1.5 million for the Jurisdiction Negotiations and Capacity Building Activities for 2008-2009. The funding should flow quite quickly and FNESC will have to modify their proposal to

4

cover that amount, it is expected that FNESC will receive the cash flow schedule for the 1.5 million before August.

There is likely to be a new authority established for $70 million in new funding for education that was announced in February in the budget. The authorities renewal carries on and in terms of Band school funding, it is looking like they may extend the current authorities for 2-3 more years, but that has not been confirmed yet and we may hear more in the fall. Currently INAC headquarters are focusing on getting the new $70 million out, and are currently working on that process which will include criteria and conditions.

It was commented that all First Nations are being negatively affected by the never ending renewal process. There are two main issues regarding the national renewal of authorities: if headquarters are required to redraft a memorandum to cabinet how and when are they going to be consulting First Nations, and it is unreasonable to expect First Nation schools to continue running on 20 year old budget formulas, the funding gap is ever growing and INAC is only exacerbating that situation. INAC responded that there will be some consultation on the 2008 $70 million budget plans, and there will be a representative from headquarters meeting with FNESC on that budget in June and the plans are to put out $20, million this year, $50 million next year. There are two themes for those funds: Partnerships and Accountability. Jan added that FNESC staff will be participating in a brainstorming session on what BC could to access that funding, a proposal will be drafted for input from the FNSA and FNESC Board’s.

It was asked if any of the $70 million go to instructional services for First Nation schools. Tanja responded no, the way the money was allocated had to be a separate piece of money and it is not related in any way to Band school funding so therefore cannot be put toward instructional support. Tanja did say that in terms of the accountability piece: INAC will work with FNESC and the FNSA to see where the funding can be applied to build upon already existing initiatives to strengthen schools such as data collection, school evaluations, standardized testing, and school growth plans. It was then commented that in terms of accountability schools are already doing a lot of what was just listed, like school growth planning.

Christa mentioned that the BC Minister of Education, Shirley Bond will be setting up a meeting with the federal Minister of Indian Affairs Chuck Strahl. One of the agenda items for that that meeting will talk about INAC perceiving that we are at our end point in BC regarding partnerships and we don’t need any of the new money. We will be presenting an expanded partnership plan and in developing our plan/proposal we will also try to inform the terms and conditions. The meeting will also include the Minister of Advanced Education Murray Coell and this will show that we are dealing the whole spectrum of education here in BC and we are hoping to have that meeting with the ministers to drive our plans for that new funding. Another piece of that meeting will address the province’s concern about the tuition rates being different and level of resourcing that the federal government is making available to First Nation schools, this will have an affect on the reciprocal tuition arrangement. Minister Bond would like to talk with the federal government about what they see as adequate funding for BC First

5

Nation schools. BC will be giving the provincial block rate as part of the reciprocal tuition agreement and they are concerned about paying for a service that a First Nation school cannot meet, for example it will be an issue if a First Nation school that is in a reciprocal tuition agreement does not have a gym for PE classes.

In response to all the comments made regarding FNESC requiring information from INAC on the 13 negotiating First Nations, INAC said that they will be working with the Funding Service Officer’s (FSO’s) so they are aware of the initiative, the purpose for providing key pieces of education information and familiarizing them with formulas. It is the FSO’s job to gather and provide that information.

Nathan said that one of the big issues is that we are analyzing an offer that starts three years from now, so there is a bigger negotiation around projection of numbers. Both sides need to make projections around need.

The Chief from Ahousat wanted to give thanks to everyone for lunch and for activities today.

II. A. Funding Analysis

Barry Anderson and Rob Gage introduced themselves. They shared some of their professional background: they both worked on developing a finance system within the Ministry of Education so they are knowledgeable of funding for schools in BC and Canada.

Barry and Rob provide a presentation (which will be provided as a hand out) on a brief overview of Offers from INAC on the CFNEJFA.

Barry noted that they did not have much information from INAC, only copies of the Offers, but they would liked to have some detail around nominal roll numbers and actual information on what the numbers in the Offers were based on.

Observations and Notes on the Offers:

$18,000 is the average per pupil rate for small districts, the comparison showed that small districts getting a lot more money.

The comparison does not include: special education, small isolated schools, future inflation, bandwidth and technology, rules to discuss fiscal adequacy, and no provision for enrollment increase.

It was noted that the birth rate in Aboriginal communities are generally higher than average and this will be important when working through the fiver year projections and subsequent increases.

6

Rural schools, are not able to get fully qualified speciality teachers or subject matter experts so telecommunication connectivity and technical capacity in terms of hardware and software is vital, provincially all subject matter is moving toward electronic delivery.

The Offers do include some minor capital but not large capital.

Offers quire low compared to existing provincial funding.

There are no rules to guarantee future funding except the annual fixed increased over 5 years.

Additional concerns: Omission of funding histories and potential changes from previous years funding Differences between nominal rolls and reported enrollments

Options for responding to the offer:

1. School districts operate with something called a fiscal framework to guide funding, a set of rules for funding.

2. The negotiating First Nations could create a Band school district which would let the province compute the amount of money that districts would get for the 13 negotiating First Nations. This option will also build an ally in terms of the province and it will help with small isolated schools. The result of using this option: building political allies and a mechanism that is used for all schools in the province.

All the option regardless, point to increased funding.

The discussion around the funding analysis will look at the two different options that Barry has developed to discuss and move forward with choosing an option and carrying out the analysis.

Barry noted that the simplest form of a fiscal framework is to keep things broad, the more detail that is put into a formula harder it is to negotiate, and it would be good to see a balance and come down the middle on something that will work for both parties. The budget will never be big enough, which is why it is important to keep funding formula broad and not bogged down with too many details, if situations change where for some reason beyond anyone’s control, like teacher’s collective settlement, where more funding is needed, then having a broad formula will allow for those unexpected changes.

It was suggested by the consultants to establish a framework for negotiating funding for Band schools, this would also cover issues with the national authorities renewal.

It was agreed that the afternoon would be spent to work through a framework. It was noted that it will be an easy, simple calculation to find out the per pupil funding amounts, and by doing that it is clear to see the discrepancy between provincial rate and offer.

7

It was asked how the population growth factor will be addressed. In response it was confirmed that will need to be addressed in the framework. It was suggested that the discussion around a fiscal framework take place in smaller groups. Options: 1. Fiscal Framework this is done in the province every year.2. Create a virtual Band school district compute the amount that district would

receive from the province and use that amount to create a Band school funding formula using provincial rules. Only comparison we currently have is the francophone school district regarding a unique funding formula to something outside

Other notes on the Presentation on the Offer Comparison

The 30% discrepancy between the Offers is based on the provincial formula for small schools. Offer is $10, 547,876 under funded as compared to provincial rates.

Barry noted that they were missing key pieces of data such as Special education and the group may want to have some recognition of other unique factors. The presentation today was to see a simple comparison. Another question around this issue is to how to allocate the funding, ie. Negotiate a total amount with INAC then figure out allocation to each school.

At the provincial level the block rate is recalculated twice a year.

Barry closed his presentation by sharing in his opinion there will be compromises that will have to made, in choosing a funding formula to conclude the CFNEJFAs.

It was commented by an IFN that the 13 negotiating First Nations are negotiating on behalf of everyone else to follow, and as part of IFN group which makes up everyone else, this particular IFN was not willing to get into anything less than school district costs. The IFNs are asking the first 13 to shoot for higher amounts rather than less.

It was commented that one of the biggest expenses for a First Nation school is administration, and administration at the Band level, not just the school level, the Band currently takes care of some administration that would normally be carried out at aschool district office.

Rob acknowledged that there needs to be some negotiation with FNESC to reflect additional costs outside block rate to cover second, third level services.

Christa reiterated the position of the jurisdiction group has always been that we will not take anything less than a provincial block rate plus governance costs. So as we move forward in looking at options that should be kept at the forefront – the only option is to

8

move forward in a way that articulates our position is provincial block rate and appropriate governance costs.

In response to the comment made to the 13 negotiating First Nations, one of the negotiating First Nations said that we will not settle for the INAC initial Offer and that their school always carries around the provincial rate, so it is very clear they will not settle for anything less than block. We are talking about comparability and will not settle for less.

It was further commented that in these negotiations we should not let INAC make First Nations take responsibility to figuring out funding for 5 years, the NFNs should give them the rules as to how the funding will be indexed and that should be the response.

In response to the discussion around the funding analysis Christa Williams provided a few comments.

In listening to the presentation Christa said that it made her think back to how long we (BC First Nations) have held the position that we want the block rate indexed to provincial block rate for our First Nation schools. We should be able to go back with a response in July that we hold our line that we want provincial block rate. We cannot be distracted with the details in figuring our formulas when the only formula we need to know is the provincial formula.

It is important that in our response we articulate very clearly what we want and what we expect but we also want the response to be informed, so that we are providing INAC with the formula we want. We have waited 35 years to get these agreements and we can’t be distracted at this point. Instead of focusing on details of formulas we should instead need focus on a lobby strategy that will help INAC garner a provincial comparable funding for First Nation schools in BC. We need to continue to make those strategic messages politically through the Standing Committee, Ministry of Education, etc, and we need to continue building allies. Federal government pays the provincial block rate for status students so it does not make sense that will not do the same for status students on reserve, it is a simple and innocent question that we need to make them answer.

The IFNs all expressed agreement for this strategy and it was commented that the Offer was not even worth analyzing, as it is so evident that it is too little. It was remarked that in developing our lobby strategy the federal government should be made aware that there is an element of embarrassment regarding the jurisdiction agreements, we have it on record with a Minister confirming there would adequate resources. FNESC will be using its space in the Vancouver Sun to put out the following message :Residential Crisis isn’t over we are under funded by 30%”

It was commented that in experience in negotiating with a teachers union, there is always a go to the wall position, some throw away positions, and a bottom line position. It sounds like in terms of this negotiation the short term is to look at the provincial rate and

9

articulate the position of the NFNs based on that. Key thing to negotiating is not a matter of having a yes or no but a back and forth.

Christa said that when FNESC was negotiating the overall agreements we never compromised in the negotiations and we do not have room in this situation to compromise and we get caught in the minutiae if we veer from our position. FNESC held the line of Indian control of Indian Education. Even those First Nations that are not in the front line of the 13 are supporting negotiating 13 and we need to maintain that solidarity.

The only thing that could hold us back is not receiving funding for the negotiations for next year, but it does sound like the funding has been confirmed.

It was commented that when we are modeling First Nation schools after the provincial system it is important to know that many school district run in debt and they generally get bailed out. However, if a First Nation school runs out of money they do not have the same recourse. It would be hard to manage that argument, if we hold the line at provincial block rate..

It was also noted that we when wevare looking at above provincial costs, how much it will take for First Nations to catch up from the years of under funding. Bill Postl did projections for catch up a few years ago and it would be interesting to bring up that element as well.

It was recommended that since we know we want provincial comparability on the per pupil funding then July should focus on governance costing.

It was also suggested that our response or counter offer include a one page spread sheet, of what was offered and what we expect that way we are taking control of the negotiations.

It was commented that it was exciting to see the Offers but disappointing to the figure that were in those Offers. The ministry website has all the provincial rates for teacher salaries, etc. It doesn’t need to be very complicated the comparison. It would be good to continue with this process because we are working for the future of our children. It is not right and we deserve better.

We should have no problem at all not giving them an extra meeting to take the time. We have time to do more work.

From the meetings, IFNs need to see what further needs to be done by Barry and Rob in forming response to the Offer regarding funding.

INAC does not expect anyone to accept the offers and we need to arm them with information that will help them build a case in their system.

10

In closing off discussion Kathi asked if there were any negotiating First Nations that are willing to Accept their Offer or if all negotiating First Nations were together on the same page in rejecting the Offers and moving ahead with a response that included rejection and the position reaffirmed today: provincial block plus governance.

One of the negotiating First Nations said that they were in a unique situation and that their Offer was above the provincial average, the Offer provides them ability to support twice the number that we have enrolled in the school, so that is an envious position. However stating that the NFN said they were okay sticking with the rest of the negotiating First Nations and arguing for a provincial comparison and reaffirmed that they were here to support the process and developing negotiating strategy is important.

Day 2 Jurisdiction Main Table Session Friday May 30, 2008

Kathi reviewed the agenda.

II. A. Funding Analysis Continued

Christa provided some opening comments:

Christa said that in thinking about the discussion yesterday regarding the Offers and differences of what was Offered to each school, we know that there are some communities that did much better and some that did much worse and she wanted to reiterate that this is typical INAC way of business and again it is important not to be distracted.

Regardless of what was offered all First Nation schools still have some shared challenges:

public tuition, 5 year block, fixed price but have potential to go in the hole. have a common challenge around the index, it does not follow the provincial

increase. population

The slide that was important was when he said the highest offer was $13,500 per FTE compared provincially we should be coming in provincially at approximately 18,000 per FTE. We are in a tight spot and that we have some work to do together. Heard unanimously that everyone liked the comparison charts that were done by Barry and Rob and they gave us a tool that can be shared with chief and council.

II.B. Funding Analysis Small Group Discussion

The purpose of the small group discussion was to consider the decision made yesterday by the IFNs to stick with position of providing Barry and Rob the direction to carry out the funding analysis of provincial comparability and then in July the meeting would focus

11

on governance costing. Based on what was presented the IFNs were asked to brainstorm anything that has been missed in terms of looking at the Offers and should/could be shared with Barry and Rob to carry out the analysis.

Results from Discussion Groups:

- FNESC was asked to provide the NFNs some direction and support on how to access and figure out population growth

- Employee benefits and wages – need parity with provincial rates- CEA: talked about how there is no difference between big community or small

communities but the Offers include different amounts for the one-time CEA set up and it is necessary to know how INAC came up with those amounts

- School districts are not required to lock into 5 years of funding so why would First Nation school?

- Keeping up with heat and transportation costs, this will need to be considered as part of the year over year increase

- It is hoped that the lack of progress on the CFNEJFA does not affect reciprocal funding and BC’s willingness to engage in that process this SeptemberData collection if that is a requirement of reciprocal tuition, we need to offer some kind of workshop for those FNs needing to report on that…

- Some schools are running in debt, if a Band takes over the rate, will they pick up the debt. As well

- Accrued employee benefits- Language and culture resources- Contingency funds- Legal costs, ie. Unionizing teachers, registering laws, updating laws etc,

ratification- Governance costs: including travel- Government is not setting up a positive environment to increase First Nation

participation in the process, if there is no carve out of funding available- Band administration of education, includes covering costs of off-reserve students,

or students that attend public schools, funding is not just to cover students attending First Nation schools.

- Funding to follow the student, students that leave the public school and then go into the Band school.

- Major Capital costs- Reminder that Offer is just an attempt – it is not the end game- It was suggested that the NFNs look at their neighboring school district and see

what they are paying for salaries and how many teachers are required, etc. - Funding should be indexed on an annual basis like school districts. -Transportation in is too low in the Offer and does meet current prices-Francophone school district gets federal funding for language and culture programming-Ask the FNSA staff to redistribute the AFN survey-Stick with provincial indexing but we still need to articulate what is wrong with the offer.

12

-Is this all new money will this affect the Band as whole, ie getting more money for employee benefits. -Ensure that the implementation and transition costs are included in the Offer

To Do List for Funding Analysis

Costing Subcommittee FNESC/FNSA Barry and Rob-Each member of the committee is to ensure they have the letter for information sharing-Look specifically at the cost of a CEA: legal costs, unions, updating laws-O&M costs: transportation and heating-Accrued or existing debt.-Fill out blank spots in the Offer-Contingency funds – what happened to FN schools, provincial schools are covered-Emergency services-Unionized costs-Indexing – need to be next to public schools on an annual basis.FNEA: costing, terms of reference, PFN costs/involvement

-growth projections-FNESC can dig up the teacher salary charts and benefits-length of agreements (5 year block)-Special Education, language and culture (FNSA)-Reciprocal tuition – FN not to be held hostage-Develop workshop for First Nations on how to report on data ministry wants- data collection methods-Assurance that non PFNs will not be negatively affected-Federal funding for future NFNs-Renewal of authorities: Ottawa meeting with Christine Cram, push for consultation-Capital surveys-Report that includes all these pieces which will be used as part of the response.-Northern community-have a 2200 per teacher going into northern communities. 3.5% increase on salary 10 years, 2.5% increase for everyone else.Costing FNEA: set up, Terms of Reference, division of labor

How the numbers were arrived at- Talk with FSOsLength of 5 year agreement – 5 year blockHow do school districts deal with increased O&M costs gas, etc-modeling on increases/projection as samples using the NFNs growth, what it would mean to a budget-History research on union settlements and the cost of unionizing.-Ask them to find out where the francophone money comes for the French school district-Retention strategy for Remote/northern community increases for teachers new teachers get a 2200 signing bonus10 years = 3.5 increaseEveryone else 2.5

13

III. A. Lobby Strategy

Political Opportunities:

1. First Nations Leadership Council – bring them up to speed2. Federal government touting BC as success story3. June 11 the apology for the residential schools: they have been treating our

schools badly, we can start using that as part of the lobbying strategy4. There will be both a federal and provincial election coming up5. Momentum, we are here together, staying together6. Minority federal government: opposition parties onside7. AFN Annual General Assembly: we should have some sort of a presence. 8. 150 year anniversary of BC9. Need to start educating our people on reserve we need to make sure all

community members can also lobby on our behalf10. 2010 Olympics

Principles of Lobby Strategy- Well prepared and consistent, to the point messaging- Dispel myths quickly, utilize Barry’s information - Positive messaging- Accessible, comprehensive

Political Community Other Allies-Create a phone list of local MPs for everyone to call-Vancouver Sun 2 pages per sector would be available FNESC can undertake½ day of media training with Tawanee Joseph – talk to INAC-FNESC would do a press release on the articles-Make a presentation to the leadership council-UBCIC meeting, ship some copied materials.-Tyrone-Summit provide update-pick spokespeopleBC AFN – Tyrone to presentBooth at AFN AGA

-Communities to use all public/community events to promote and share messaging-Arrange for politicians to meet with First Nation leaders to talk about jurisdiction-A pitch through youth at the North American Indigenous Games. Who will ask them to donate the water bottles: Lilah-Local newspapers, -Talk to leadership and make sure they are ready-looking for sponsorship of events – advertising, AGMs

Education Partners: BCSTA, BCTF, BCCPAC, BCCTIndependent schools conference: Greg

Lobby PackageReprint the folders with jurisdiction logo

14

Key messages: develop will send out to reviewFAQs – fiduciary duty, special educationKey Charts: Barry and Rob to adapt the one that shows what the offers are and then a column showing provincial rate. 4 charts in totalPamphletDVDsPinsPoison free water bottles to donate for the indigenous gamesGolf Shorts/ ball caps or visorsPost-card addressed to Minister StrahlWebsites put lobby package on webTimeline: look at what we have done. Powerpoint from Kathi regarding an update on the Offers was distributed to everyone. Law Making ProtocolNancy provided an update on a memo that she drafted regarding seeking advice from negotiating First Nation’s legal counsel. Went over memo, answered questions. Agreements have been annotated. The agreements cannot be rewritten as they are supported as is through legislation, small changes are possible not substantive.

Costing subcommittee meeting date: June 23

Tyrone wanted to note to everybody that EFP 12 needs local support to push it with school district and to identify teachers to implement it.

III. B. Communications - Community Updates:

Canim Lake: Planning a one day strategy meeting, Kathi went to present. On how to move forward and to start a committee, would like Kathi to attend the strategic session. Would like to start planning around reciprocal tuition

Tshehaht: Council went through an election however five remained and are on the education portfolio and in full support of jurisdiction. Will be presenting the Offer to Chief and Council and they will direct next steps.

Shuswap Nations: Things are not going as fast as expected, trying to bring in all partners. Met with all school boards and will continue to plug away at informing key partners. It will be important to go back with the hard date that was presented at this meeting regarding the comparison, to share with First Nations. Preparing Chiefs and Councils to attend the AFN meeting. Plan to invite Kathi to talk Chief and Council. Placed ½ page ads in local Firs Nation news as well as putting information in on EFP12 into newsletters.

Lower Kootenay: Jurisdiction representative sits on council and ensures that education and jurisdiction are part of the regular reports. An education meeting was held last week and looked at receiving funding for science camp through school district. Put in advertising of school in the local paper.

15

Simpcw First Nation: Held one jurisdiction steering committee meeting, one council member is a part of the steering committee. Planned a parent/teacher meeting around jurisdiction.

Adams Lake: Spoke to Parent Advisory Council about jurisdiction and sent out newsletter

T'Sou-ke Nation New Chief and Councils and school boards, need to be reeducated.

Nuxalk: June 20 to celebrate jurisdiction, invited hereditary Chief and elders to luncheon, Presented to board members, all grades will have a presentation on jurisdiction. Order bags, pens and pamphlets, hired 2 studnets to hand out information to elders.

Kitamaat: Meeting with the education board on a regular basis, always struggling for money, struggling for agenda time, however the community is committed to working on jurisdiction. Meeting planned with elders.

Ahousat: Lots of communication and work in preparing for the Offer, several meetings with the NTC, regional tribal chiefs and special meeting with regional communities. Several conference calls with INAC and NTC to prepare for Offer.

Fort Nelson: AGM in February reported out to the public, jurisdiction 101, keep repeating message. Issued an invite to Chief and council to sit on jurisdiction panel to review education law in preparation of Agreement. Working school district and tuning up LEA. Provided an update to the Teacher Assistants and Education school staff, creating advocates.

Snuneymuxw: Experiencing difficulties in getting the off reserve community to attend community events. Hoping to have a jurisdiction information table at a community fun day. Publish regular newsletter with 2 jurisdiction FAQs in each issue, and a Flyer about off reserve was recently drafted.

Takla Lake: The representative shared that they held the education portfolio and fisheries. They are hoping to have Kathi go up to meet with community so that jurisdiction becomes more of a reality for the community. Leadership is starting to pick up the issue of education lately, as the population is growing into school age.

Chilcotin: Kathi presented. Moving slowly, however the lobby packages will be helpful. Need to get more information from FNESC to send a proper message out on jurisdiction to the community and currently they are working at gaining a better understanding of timelines. Looking for a template on LEAs and shared appreciation in hearing from other communities and where they are heading, listening to the Offers was useful and informative.

16

Heiltsuk: Updated jurisdiction link on the nation website and the community coordinator is also a Chief Councillor which helps in keeping jurisdiction on the Chief and Council agenda.

Mt. Currie: Shared a meeting with cultural centre, DSTC, then they did a jurisdiction presentation. Problem with meeting with elders, but at the language meeting connected with elders because there was an interpreter present. A general assembly was coming up and a jurisdiction report will be provided as well as a meeting with youth.

Seabird Island: Coordinated the EFP 12 delivery for district. Meeting with other school districts on EFP 12 to share information on how to deliver it. Conducting jurisdiction updates with the school district and the UCFC Board of Directors. The BCTF invited Tyrone to do a presentation on jurisdiction at their social justice conference where there were lots of questions and the word segregation came up. Need to do some more presentations to BCTF, especially looking at jurisdiction from union based thinking and informing them of First Nation self government concepts.

17