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A P R I L 2021 ME S S E NG E R
C O N S U L T A T I O N & E N V I R O N M E N T M etis S ettlements G eneral C ouncil
Over the past year the actitvites of the Federal Consultation Resource Center has slowed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the various outbreaks and restrictions. However, we have been able to facilitate a couple of meetings with Natural Resources Canada to discuss the possible move to develop and open up the doors to small modular reactors in the Province of Alberta and how that may affect the Metis Settlements. This is an ongoing conversation of importance as recently Premier Kenny has spoken on allowing for SMRs in Alberta in the future. Local settlements have an opportunity for online training, unfortunately it is strongly First Nation focused and not geared towards the Metis Settlements. This is an area of concern that is constantly being addressed at both the Federal and Provincial tables aiming to impress upon the needs of focused training options for Metis Settlements specifically as opposed to an generic cookie cutter method for all Indigenous. The FCRC funding support is being carried forward from fiscal 2020/2021 into fiscal 2021/2022 as we maintained a surplus due to the pandemic. Under this funding 4 settlements will be accessing Traditional Knowledge research support as they did not access it last year. We will also be looking to increase training opportunities this fiscal for technical and committee members in order to improve the local skill sets that will lead to a improved consultation process on the local level. Areas for training being considered this year are as follows: Drone Training, Traditional Land Use Knowledge gathering training including GIS and GPS training through Google Earth Pro, Bear Awareness, Legislative Training for both Provincial and Federal arms including Canadian Environmental Regulator and Alberta Environmental Regulator, as well as an in-depth grant and proposal writing course and how to develop templates. Direct settlement support for trining will also be provided at a local level and in the event that the pandemic moves aggressively we will be reconsidering our rollout of training activities and how we may push more of it to a local level. The FCRC was a pilot project program that began with Erin McGregor, and it has become a proven success at the federal level, for this reason they are considering how to make it an ongoing support hub for the Metis Settlements General Council, that will benefit the settlements over the long term. IPCA (Indigenous Protected Conservation Areas) The IPCA is currently in year 3 of a 4 year contribution agreement with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) Over the past 2 years we have been able to build on our research base and develop a strong feasibility study that we are in the process of reviewing at this time with the consultation technicians. The next step will involve fnalization of the study and talks with Minister Nixon to talk about the area we wish to identify and protect in and around the lost Settlement area of Wolf Lake. The Consultation departments will be discussing this process further and seeking feedback from the assembly on our process so far. Canada Water Agency A proposal was submitted to review a plan on Canada Water activities, it was accepted and sent out to the settlements to undertake the Canada Water Activities directives. No funding came due to an error on the federal side and we have been asked if we would like to submit a proposal for funding this fiscal year. It is agreed that a proposal to review the newlt formed Canada Water Agency Mandate and Direction would be submitted on behalf of the MSGC.
O u r L a n d . O u r C u l t u r e . O u r F u t u r e .
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