Seven area governments signed the Sacichawasihc Relationship Agreement in June, 2019. (File photo/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

Working Together

City shows support to the Battlefords Regional Community Coalition

Aug 26, 2020 | 4:31 PM

The City of North Battleford is showing its support for the Battlefords Regional Community Coalition (BRCC) that is being developed from the Sacichawasihc Relationship Agreement.

The city is providing $30,000 for each of the next three years, as well as a prorated amount for the remainder of this year.

Mayor Ryan Bater said with the upcoming retirement of the initiative’s current project manager, Herb Sutton, the city is basically assuring the coalition that it will keep providing funding for this type of position.

“Our hope is that other funding will also be available,” he said. “This is really to create enough capacity within the coalition itself in order to be able to function.”

The coalition is made up of representatives from the city and town, as well as five area Indigenous communities – Moosomin, Sweetgrass, Saulteaux, Little Pine First Nation, and the Lucky Man Cree Nation.

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The Battlefords Regional Community Coalition is in the process of seeking to become incorporated as a non profit.

“The idea here is to have an organization that will carry on when there are turnovers in leadership,” Bater said.

Through its efforts, the BRCC may address various issues of interest through an advocacy role, by providing coordination, or leading special projects, for example.

At its recent meeting, city council approved a resolution to support the creation of the Battlefords Regional Community Coalition Inc., and for the city to join the organization as a founding member. In addition, the city will provide $30,000 per year for a three-year period, from 2021 to 2023, to the BRCC. The city will also provide for 2020 an equivalent prorated funding based on the retirement date of the current BRCC project manager. Funding for the organization will come from reallocating funding from the project manager position.

Bater said the organization has an important role as a voice for the region as a whole.

“What we always wanted was an apparatus that did not belong to the city; it belonged to the region, where there are equal partners all working together for the benefit of the entire region,” he said.

The coalition is being created from the Sacichawasihc Relationship Agreement, that allows Indigenous and municipal governments to work together in the spirit of reconciliation.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow