Kukpi7 (Chief) Cliff Arnouse Wéytk kp Xwexweytk tep, my (skewst) name is Frederick Clifford Arnouse. My (kwesalktn) family and wife is Gladys Arnouse of 50 years. I am blessed with six children, daughters, and sons and 26 grand children, also two great-great grand children. My mother was the late Regina A. Arnouse (Michel), My father was the late Frederick A. Arnouse. I had six brothers and one formidable sister. Also, there are numerous knowledgeable caring sharing, uncles and aunties, cousins, nephews, nieces… too many to mention and because of limited space and time I can only mention it. I have lived away from the reserve life since a young man, learning to work hard and plan. Building my experience and skills in working with BC Hydro, Tugboat Deck Hand, BC Rail, Construction and Mill work for 25 years. And of course, truck driving. My political career began in 1995 here at ALIB, with my first nominations by Mary Jules as a Band Councillor when at the old hall. Not very many people knew me then, however I have built on, trust, unity, my political and negotiating experience since then. This year 2020 has gone by so fast, there does not seem to be sufficient time to have acceptable plans in this short period. In the end all things that are essential consistently are accomplished. Our challenge is a division of politics and administration. As politicians our duty is to strategize, vision and have an overview plan or lobby for the organization and have trust in the managers and directors to do their duties. Administration is the action of the policies, with job descriptions, employee guidelines, and directions from our Executive Director (ED). Managers are there to administer the various departments according to the plans and visions set out in the policies. The substantial political focused on the policies that is a duty of administration to draft the initial assertions is disquieting for some. As a leader it is relevant to promote better communication and transparency. To assist with governance, it makes sense to draw on the wisdom, experience and knowledge of others. The communications of the leaderships meetings was put in the newsletter, ALIB web site and meeting became more frequent. The year end report is a process to be accountable and transparent to membership. The use of computer for meetings has been more so in todays C&C meetings and other processes through
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Zoom, Teams. My phones were used more than ever. Some calls usually can be directed back to Departments for answers to their inquiries, to ensure we follow our policies. The bigger challenge was working through the Covid -19 and doing so within the organizations responsibilities. This is unprecedented for me as a Kukpi7, to keep the offices opened to serve the community and ensure every one’s safety, at the same time. The fear of losing our Elders, is especially concerning because of the knowledge they retain in language, culture, and songs. We will all have our story of surviving the Covid-19, to tell our children and family. The changes and sacrifices we all had to make because of the worldwide pandemic. We have been through this type of diseases according to our Elders and history. The stories from Elders help us appreciate our families more because of the suffering and loss we have experienced or been through. We have hope that the virus is running its course and we have our second shots beginning with the eldest to the youngest in May and June. My thanks go out to all that have listened to the precautions and limited the spread of Covid-19. The plans to build much needed homes for families were put in place while dealing with the virus. Its been a decade or more since ALIB built houses due of the lack of Band land. The purchase of ten acres from a Certificate of Possession (CP) holder has never been done before, it is new to our community. The negotiations with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) were initiated in the early part of the 2020 year. There was plenty of discussions on being updated on our budgets to go along with this major project.
Chief & Council
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ALIB Annual Report 2020-
