Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Board of Directors Meeting
Room 310
ACWI, 181 Higgins Avenue
Winnipeg, MB

Good Evening! Welcome to our first board meeting of the New Year!

Tripartite
he next events in the Tripartite Evaluation process have been scheduled for Jan. 27/28. On Jan. 27 Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP will host a session with the ACW Board of Directors at their offices on the 23rd Floor, Richardson Bldg in the Lasalle Room. This exercise will involve a discussion with the board as to what element might best support the ongoing Tripartite process which has now become a Quadrapartite process with the City of Winnipeg at the table. Do we want another MOU and if so, would the City be a signator even though they have not indicated a willingness to match the $100,000 funding contributions by the two senior levels of government. The federal representative has indicated that the federal government may enter into a three year agreement. The last MOU was five years in duration. There will also be some focus on the evaluation outcomes and a look at how we might improve this process. I would encourage as many board members to attend as possible. The second day will involve the Tripartite Evaluation Steering Committee that will be tasked with implementing the agreed to process arrived at on the 1st day with the ACW Board. No date has been set for the next Tripartite meeting in April/10 although it will be held in Winnipeg and hosted by ACW.

City of Winnipeg
Funding for the Youth Intern position with ACW has been approved by the City. I have sent the Job Description to Rhonda Forgues. She will give this to her Project Leaders and they will refer qualified individuals from the inventory of Aboriginal youth currently working in AYS funded projects in the city. The resumes will be sent to Carol. As soon as I have 4 to 6 qualified applicants, I will set up interviews to hire someone for this new role. The City has also confirmed funding in the amount of $50,000 to support the virtual business incubator (VBIC). Wayne, Karen and I met with Minister Bjornson of Entrepreneurship, Training and Trades on Tuesday, January 5/01 in support of a grant request of $100,000 for VBIC. The meeting was fairly positive and information requested by the Minister is being forwarded by Karen Keppler, VBIC Manager as well as confirmation by the City of their grant. We are anticipating that the Province will at least match the City grant. The Royal Bank of Canada has also indicated that they will provide some type of support to VBIC.

Community Engagement Project - OFI
Chris and Deb Leskiw have forwarded a draft questionnaire and a list of potential interviewees for this project. I sent these to all Directors for input. A revised list was forwarded to Deb and Chris prior to office closure on Tuesday. The project final draft report is projected for completion by Feb. 15/10.

ACW Tripartite Evaluation Results Implementation Workshops and Governance Development Project – OFI
I have submitted a proposal to Jeff Betker as above. The monies from this proposal will cover the costs of the workshops with Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP on the Tripartite Evaluation later this month and the costs to engage consultants to do governance development workshops and Legal Duties and Liabilities workshop with a lawyer. The consultants for this project were pre-selected by me as there was a very tight timeline to get the project submission into OFI, get approval, and complete the required work by March 31/10. Jeff called me on Monday to advise that the proposal was going forward for peer review shortly. I am anticipating approval within the next few weeks.

Economic Development
Social Economy/Social Enterprise Capacity

In our meeting with Minister Bjornson of Entrepreneurship, Training and Trades last Tuesday, we raised the topic of Social Enterprise/Social Economy in Winnipeg and Manitoba. I clearly indicated our interest in developing Aboriginal community capacity in this arena. The Minister indicated that his Department is doing work in this subject area and that the Government of Manitoba will be providing some type of supports to the development of social economy/social enterprise in Winnipeg and Manitoba. I have also met with the Community Economic Development Network in Winnipeg and SEED Winnipeg to develop a working relationship on this subject. Both of these parties are willing to work with the Council with a goal of developing some type of social economy/social enterprise hub in Winnipeg and Manitoba. There will be more meetings in the near future.

Women
There will be a thorough discussion of the Report and Recommendations for Aboriginal Women's Training and Employment in the City of Winnipeg at the board meeting on Wednesday. We will go in camera for this discussion.

Youth
Once the new Youth Intern position has been filled, I will work with this person and the Youth Portfolio Chair to outline future activity in this important constituency of the Council. One of our goals will be to identify ongoing funding to support the employment of youth by the Council in coming years. I would appreciate a volunteer from the Board to assume the role of Chair of this committee.

Urban Aboriginal Strategy
The Winnipeg Partnership Agreement is expiring and will not be renewed. The UAS is funded by OFI until 2012. The Council is involved in the process which will identify individuals to sit on a Selection Committee to choose individuals to sit on the renewed Aboriginal Partnership Committee. This will be the main agenda item for the UAS/APC meeting on Thursday to be held at the new NorthEnd Wellness Centre. I will be in attendance at that meeting.

Aboriginal School Board
There was significant press coverage across Canada upon release of the LiveSafe Report to the Standing Policy Committee on Protection and Community Services. There was some government/public apprehension arising out of the notion of creating a "segregated" Aboriginal system. This was not surprising, but it underscores the need to ensure that this notion is dispelled by undertaking research as part of the platform of due diligence to be undertaken by the leadership structure of this undertaking. The City of Winnipeg Community Services Department is currently identifying resources to support this body of work. Leslie Spillet and I will be co-leaders in the exercise. A broad cross section of individuals with knowledge, experience and interest in this initiative will be approached to sit on the project steering committee.

Food Security
As part of my efforts to enhance the role and visibility of ACW in Winnipeg and to broaden our areas of interest and to keep up with new and emerging issues, I have made a good connection with the growing food security network in Winnipeg and Manitoba. As such, I have been attending meetings with Food Matters Manitoba on a regular basis. I am also on the conference organizing committee for Growing Local 2010 to be held at the U of W on February 19/20/10. There will be several Aboriginal presenters at the conference.