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City, BATC launch joint Indigenous employment strategy

Apr 3, 2018 | 10:00 AM

The City of North Battleford has joined with Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs (BATC), becoming the first municipal community/First Nations Tribal Chiefs partnership in Canada to develop a joint Indigenous employment strategy. 

During the local program’s launch at City Hall Monday, the individuals participating came together to celebrate the occasion.

“We have eight work placements that have come from the BATC that are going to begin employment here at the city,” North Battleford Mayor Ryan Bater said. “It’s about developing partnerships and being able to work with the BATC on their employment initiatives.”

The project is part of the First Nations-Municipal Community Economic Development Initiative, made available by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers. The individuals in the program were selected based on their skill levels, and during the first six weeks they will be assigned to various city departments. The participants, who started April 2, will begin the second part of the program in May, working with the city’s Parks Department until the end of August. 

“It’s actually pretty exciting,” City Manager Jim Puffalt said. “We’ve been able to place one person with each department. They will shadow the director for a while, then they are going to go out to each department to work with them.”

Vanessa Osecap, a liaison worker with BATC, said she was thrilled to see the program get started, as it will give participants hands-on work experience they can use in the future.

“It’s good to see our students be able to work for North Battleford,” she said.

The city and BATC are putting the final touches on their 2018 joint work plan to implement the program. The two partners are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding in June in order to ensure a fair working relationship between the governments.

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

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