Battlefords Regional Community Coalition executive director Brad Swiftwolfe. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Public survey

BRCC launches Sharing a Vision project to gather feedback

Mar 8, 2023 | 2:26 PM

People living in the Battlefords and surrounding area will have an opportunity to take part in a new survey to give their feedback.

Battlefords Regional Community Coalition (BRCC) is launching a public survey and series of community engagement sessions for a project called “Sharing a Vision.”

BRCC executive director Brad Swiftwolfe said the aim of the initiative is to gather input from people in North Battleford, the town of Battleford, and the five member First Nation communities— Moosomin, Sweetgrass, Saulteaux, Little Pine First Nation, and Lucky Man Cree Nation.

“We’re trying to find information and utilize the best of what everybody is doing,” he said. “[We want to] get feedback on some of the issues around the Battlefords area – on everything for recreation, health and education.”

Swiftwolfe said the results and report will look for important gaps in existing services, “so that we can identify and provide solutions/ideas to service providers to improve or enhance services.”

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BRCC is seeking as much feedback as possible.

“You never really know what the issues are until we hear from [people],” Swiftwolfe said.

The study will look at people’s concerns about healthcare, education, and recreation services currently, and what they hope to see for the future.

“Any data is good data,” Swiftwolfe said. “All [feedback] we receive we can forward that to the leadership, to arm them with information they can use to make good decisions with.”

According to the BRCC website, the Sharing a Vision project is also focused on exploring opportunities for Indigenous participation in the delivery of regional health services, and to overcome systemic racism in healthcare, education, and recreation.

The survey is available online now at brccoalition.ca, while the community engagement sessions will run March 13-30. BRCC plans to visit each community it is partnered with, and also attend larger events happening around the Battlefords where people gather in an effort to solicit input. Anyone needing information about the survey, or the Sharing a Vision project can call 306-317-5834 for more details.

As an incentive, survey participants will have an opportunity to win some prizes as well, to encourage more people to take part.

Swiftwolfe noted all submissions remain anonymous, and no personal information from participants will be collected in the process.

“All we are really looking for are people’s concerns and issues, and maybe some ideas for enhancement in the region,” he said.

On March 13, BRCC is looking at posting a survey at one of the recreation facilities in the Battlefords, for people dropping by to add their comments. Then, BRCC will visit the various partner communities, including member First Nations.

“We are trying to capture [feedback from] community events, so people will be around the area,” he said. “We are hoping to catch people walking by.”

The submissions will be gathered by research firm Certes. The project is expected to be completed by June 31, 2023.

“They will be giving us a report,” Swiftwolfe said. “It will be public information, so we will share it with stakeholders, and anyone interested in the findings.”

The results will help guide BRCC’s decision-making for the future.

“Hopefully, we find what the issues are out there, and [we’ll] put more effort into dealing with the issues,” Swiftwolfe said. “We’re always trying to make the world a better place. We’re encouraging people to participate; the more the better. The more feedback we receive, the more concerns that we hear.”

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW