GN CCP Update November 2009

Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw Comprehensive Community Planning

Nov. 27 2008

CCP Update for Staff Hello everyone!

It’s been almost two months since the CCP Launch Dinner back in October.

I have prepared this update to let you know what’s been happening with our community’s CCP in the meantime.

The CCP DVD that Dave Danyluk and many of the kids worked on was shown at a recent INAC meeting as an example of what we’ve been doing for our CCP, and they liked it so much that they would like to show the DVD in Ottawa as an example of the great work that our community is doing! Congratulations to all of those who helped out with that project.

Also, I would like to say a big thank-you to all of those who have been helping out with the CCP, coming to meetings, and supporting this great project.

This update is divided into four sections: 1.

2.

3.

4.

On-going Communications Meetings Partnerships & Networking What’s Next?

I hope you find this update interesting and informative. Please give me a call or send me an e-mail if you have any questions, comments or ideas.

If you would like more frequent CCP updates, such as the minutes from our meetings, please let me know.

Gila’kasla!

Jessie Hemphill CCP Research Coordinator

154 Tsulquate - P.O. Box 998 – Port Hardy, B.C. - V0N 2P0 (250) 902-2306 (ph) - (250) 949-7402 (fx) - ccp@gwanak.info

Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw Comprehensive Community Planning

On-going Communications CCP News: 4 editions of the CCP News have been distributed to the community (roughly once every two weeks) to provide an update on the CCP and give community members information about how to get involved in the CCP. If you have ideas for information to include in the CCP News, I would love to hear them.

Facebook: There is a newly created facebook group for the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Comprehensive Community Plan. The creation of this group was based on a recommendation from an advisory committee member, and will hopefully attract a wider audience to the CCP. Notices & Posters: Notices are created for almost all CCP meetings and distributed to each house on Tsulquate reserve. Posters are also put up within the community a few days before the meetings.

Meetings CCP Meetings are always accompanied by a free meal, and when possible free child minding so that parents can bring their children.

Advisory Committee: To-date there have been 7 meetings of the advisory committee.

This committee (which has a fairly open membership with several core members) has provided recommendations about the following things:  The format of CCP meetings  The CCP Launch Dinner (Oct. 9)  How to connect with community members  What kinds of activities to do as part of the CCP  How to approach certain topics  How to be culturally sensitive Planning Meetings: There have been two planning meetings so far, one for social issues and one for lands & resources. These meetings were both fairly well attended, and many good recommendations came out of them which were highlighted in the CCP News (vol.4) and shared with the community.

Another planning meeting, on economic issues, is to be held on December 8.

Photography Project: We were successful in getting a grant of $8,000 from the BC Arts Council to supplement the CCP funding. This grant will be used to do a special project with children, youth and elders from our community. Participants will be asked to take pictures of those things that represent ‘community’ to them, and they will also participate in facilitated discussions about the meaning of community. At least one photo from each participant will then be blown up into a poster, which will go up in a public place within the community. It is hoped that this project will allow those who are more visually oriented to take part in the CCP in a meaningful and engaging way.

154 Tsulquate - P.O. Box 998 – Port Hardy, B.C. - V0N 2P0 (250) 902-2306 (ph) - (250) 949-7402 (fx) - ccp@gwanak.info

Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw Comprehensive Community Planning

Partnerships & Networking Our CCP is co-sponsoring two upcoming events.

Dec.5 2008: We are working together with the Mt. Waddington Health Network to hold a health network meeting at the Wakas Hall in our community. There will be a guest speaker and facilitated discussion with early childhood service providers, which will hopefully give our community members a great opportunity to talk to professionals in the field of early childhood development.

Jan. 15 2009: We are working together with the University of Victoria’s Office of Indigenous Affairs to hold a regional info session at the Wakas Hall. At this session staff from UVic will talk about the indigenous programs offered at UVic, and there will be a chance to discuss future partnerships between UVic and our communities.

In addition to these co-sponsored events, I’ve been taking part in the following networking activities:    

The Community-to-community forum held in September 2008 The newly-formed Vancouver Island Community Research Alliance The community planning committee for upcoming LIRNBC events to be held on the North Island, including a community visioning workshop Presentations to the Port Hardy Chamber of Commerce and the Mt. Waddington Regional District about our CCP (upcoming)

What’s Next?

Planning meetings: Hopefully there will be a planning meeting once every week or two from January to April 2009. These meetings, combined with one-on-one interviews with community members, will provide CCP staff with a better sense of the needs within the community. During this time period we will also work on establishing a vision statement for the community, laying out our values and shared beliefs as the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw people.

Starting in the Spring of 2009 and lasting through the Summer, CCP staff will create work plans to address the needs laid out by the community in the planning meetings.

These work plans may be supplemented by additional research, feasibility studies, etc. to make sure that they are realistic and do-able.

After the work plans are drafted, they will be presented to the community for feedback and possible revision. By the end of 2009, the final work plans will be combined into the final Comprehensive Community Plan, which will be accompanied by an implementation strategy and put to work for the benefit of our community!

154 Tsulquate - P.O. Box 998 – Port Hardy, B.C. - V0N 2P0 (250) 902-2306 (ph) - (250) 949-7402 (fx) - ccp@gwanak.info