PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Board of Directors Meeting

Room 310

ACWI, 181 Higgins Avenue

Winnipeg, MB

Good day! My report for June/11

As you may recall, I advised Directors at a recent meeting that I would not be standing for reelection as ACW President as I would be moving back home to Thunder Bay, Ontario. Since then, I have travelled there and as a result of this visit and other strategic thinking, I have now decided to throw my hat in the ring for another term.

• I want to thank each of you for your contribution to our work and if reelected, we will continue to build on the many new relationships/networks we have established and identify new initiatives that will heighten the community’s awareness of the valuable contributions we make to overall Aboriginal community development in Winnipeg.

Tripartite

Tentative dates for next Tripartite meeting are June 22 and 23/11.

Current Activities

• Gang Prevention Strategy – Next Steps – Wayne just got back from Ottawa and had a chance to speak with a senior official in the National Crime Prevention Centre. The new funding program will support development of social enterprises that will provide training and employment opportunities for individuals with lived experience in gangs. As a result, ACW will contact this person and arrange a meeting to learn more about this program and the criteria for funding.

• Gang Awareness and Intervention Network: I have been attending these meetings regularly. This inter agency coalition is in the early stages of development, however we are sharing information with each other and there will be some new partnerships and initiatives developed out of this process. I will provide updates in my monthly reports.

• Social Economy/Social Enterprise Feasibility Studies: The 1^st Draft of the Feasibilities Studies is complete and has been provided our funders. The next phase of this initiative will be to assess the viability of each of the social enterprise opportunities and to decide which, if any, are a priority to seek funds to establish. A complete business plan would be the next step in the process.

• ACW Youth Committee: I met with the Youth Committee recently and they are working with Natalie Ballentyne (Consultant) to develop the proposal for the youth conference that will be funded by OFI and ANA. The proposal should be completed within the next 2 to 3 weeks.

• Restorative Justice: I have met with Cora Morgan, Executive Director, Onashowewin, Inc regarding the state of restorative justice programming in Winnipeg. She has an ambitious and much needed plan to grow this programming in Winnipeg. ACW will provide direct support to this organization to achieve this worthy goal. Far too many of our youth are ending up in custody when they should have been referred to Onashowewin. Under the current legislation, WPS officers can do direct referral for non indictable offenses. This is not happening. Cora and I will be meeting with the Chief of Police shortly to discuss how we can make this work. We will also be requesting a meeting with the Justice Minister when we are ready for same.

• Youth Intern: Michelle is providing support to the ACW Youth Committee and attending various types of events/meetings on our behalf. She prepares reports on these meetings if there are no minutes taken. She is also scheduling my meetings with the Executive Directors of key agencies as part of our preparation for the upcoming elections and AGM in September. Michelle has also been assisting the Right to Housing coalition as part of ACW’s contribution to this group.

• Food Banks of Canada: I will speak to a gathering of the many food banks in Canada at Winnipeg Harvest on Wedneday nite. David Northcott, Executive Director, was kind enough to ask me to do this on behalf of the Council and I always welcome these opportunities to put the Council front and centre. I am hopeful our message will be well received.

• Provincial Election in October: ACW needs to identify those issues/concerns that we will bring forward to politicians this fall. Some of these issues are already identified through the work we are doing, however I encourage all of you to think about this and how we may organize the Council to take action.

• CAHRD: There is a proposal to establish a new entity that would have a negative impact on CAHRD and the training programs it delivers. I have spoken with Marileen about this and CAHRD/ACW will identify actions we will take to prevent this if at all possible.

• ACW Funding: ACW’s core funding base is still $200,000. This is definitely hampering our ability to become more relevant to our members and our community. Although we are in uncertain economic times and governments are curtailing or cutting spending, we will still try to identify new/increased funding. I have a copy of the federal Throne Speech and the state of Aboriginal Peoples social and economic conditions were mentioned. ACW will explore this opening for possible funding sources.