It was Battleford town council’s turn to hear from the new co-ordinator for the Battlefords Regional Community Coalition this week.
Tom Howard provided an update on what was happening with the coalition at their council meeting Monday. The presentation was along the same lines as the one he made to North Battleford council late last year, shortly after he arrived in October.
The Battlefords Regional Community Coalition was established following the signing of the Sacichawasihc Relationship Agreement by the town of Battleford, city of North Battleford and five regional First Nations — Moosomin, Sweetgrass, Saulteaux and Little Pine First Nations and the Lucky Man Cree Nation.
The coalition has gotten right to work. Howard noted that in 2020 the coalition had engaged in a wide range of conversations on a variety of topics, including tourism, advocating for a regional gang strategy, systemic racism in policing, and others.
The pandemic has been a major focus lately. Howard noted they were hosting biweekly pandemic calls with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and representatives from Indigenous Services Canada and Indigenous Health Services.
The organization’s plan for this year, said Howard, is to focus on relationship building, including finding new funding sources for the organization. Another focus is under the category he describes as “strategic interventions and tangible results.”
The coalition has submitted for a federal grant for community engagement work on a potential new development in the Yellow Sky neighbourhood of North Battleford. This development could include recreation facilities and possibly a new First Nations high school in that area. But this is all at the conceptual stage, Howard emphasized.
Howard said he is also working on regional response planning, and on more effective communications with councils. The plan is to do quarterly updates with the Town of Battleford.
There are also plans for a public rollout of the coalition later this year when it is safe to do so. There were plans for a launch event in the spring of 2020 but that was put off due to the pandemic.
There was considerable interest from council in the coalition’s plans. Among the items they were most interested in was the tourism strategy. Mayor Ames Leslie noting a number of First Nations are interested in creating museums and their own attractions. He noted the BRCC and Howard are trying to coordinate all of that “so we’re not doing anything in silos and trying to create the same thing.”
Councillor David George particularly wanted to know what the coalition was doing with respect to gangs. Howard indicated they have invited the RCMP to their leadership meetings and they will be at their next board meeting this week. The plan, said Howard, is to give the leaders of the First Nations and municipalities a chance to interact with the RCMP and talk about their struggles, and give the RCMP a chance to share strategies. He expects the gang issue to come up there as well.
Mayor Leslie also noted the coalition had previously advocated for a gang “team” or unit to focus on gang operations, and there is an emphasis on making the gang strategy a regional target, not just something within the city or town limits.
