Thank you very much, Madame.
My name is Theodore John Merasty. I am from the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, in northeastern Saskatchewan. Our territory encompasses 32,000 square kilometres, eight communities, and over 11,000 band members, and it is a vast untapped territory. It's been tapped a little bit but not as much as it could be.
Good morning. I am a land manager and I am also on the board of directors for the National Aboriginal Lands Managers Association, NALMA. I'm also the chair of the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Lands Technicians, SALT, which I've been with for a number of years.
I'm here today with my colleague Albert Marshall Jr. from the east to speak on behalf of our associations, specifically with regard to community capacity building and the retention of talent in the delivery of essential services on reserve lands.
I'm going to say a few words in my first language.
[Witness spoke in Cree as follows:]
Ohci, ohci kayahte nistanan inta nipekiskwaten Nipekiskwaten otah, otah ipe ipe kiskeyimakaw Oma mekwats otaskewaw kasihkasocihk ota Awa mina eh pemenacihakaw pemiyawak maskihkiya Ah kawikaskwa ekwa maskoskwa Ah asci ah mina asci ah minokoson how ekwa mina istemaw Awat nipakosemaw manito Awa asci akasewmow niwahkomakantik tawihtamkoyahkaw tapekiskweyahk Tamiyotakoseyahk Ekwa mina instohtamowin tamikoyahkaw Kwayask tapekiskwatokoyakaw, anohc kakisikahk ota nitoteminanak ohci merci
[Cree text translated as follows:]
I have a lot of respect for these people, their land and their names. I give respect and give them our medicines as offerings. I bring sweetgrass, as well as other herbs. We also bring an offering of tobacco. We are asking the Creator for your help. I ask our people to tell us…for us to speak, to be heard well and to be understood, to give us a voice and understanding. I ask for our voices to be heard properly today, and for our people to be heard as well. Thank you.
[English]
We would like to thank the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs for the invitation to speak today. We look upon this opportunity to promote awareness of raising professional standards in first nations land management and to draw attention to the need to build capacity in first nations across the country.
The National Aboriginal Lands Managers Association was officially formed in 2000 as a not-for-profit, non-political organization. NALMA is a technical organization driven by first nations land management professionals across Canada. Our association is composed of eight regional lands associations with 195 first nations and Inuit communities represented, namely in the regions of Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Labrador, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nunavut and British Columbia.
Our members operate under various land programs or regimes. The RLEMP program is the reserve land and environment management program, which manages reserves under the Indian Act. The second one is the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management, which is managing lands under a sectoral self-government arrangement. Third is self-government for full control of administration, land and resources.
NALMA and our regional lands associations work towards providing opportunities in professional development, networking and technical support that will meet the existing, emerging and future needs of first nations land managers to efficiently and effectively manage their lands.
In the 2017-18 fiscal year, NALMA provided land management training to 800 first nations participants. In addition, we engaged and provided technical support to approximately 2,000. For more information regarding our association, visit nalma.ca and coemrp.ca.
A central pillar of NALMA's mandate is to raise professional standards and promote a code of ethics among practitioners in the field of land management on reserve. As the national certifying body for professional lands managers working on reserves across the country, NALMA holds expertise in the development and retention of professional capacity in first nations. Since the inception of our professional lands management certification program, NALMA has graduated 175 certified land managers across the country. There were only a couple in Alberta.
With respect to retention of professional capacity, NALMA has observed a number of challenges for indigenous nations. Not surprisingly, one of the central issues is a lack of funding to retain qualified staff. Oftentimes, what the nation can afford in compensation is substantially less than what a person with equivalent qualifications could earn off reserve. In the field of land management, we have seen certified land managers leave their home community to work for another first nation or government or industry. There are multiple elements that contribute to the decision to relocate, and without a doubt, compensation is one of them.
Other obstacles to retention can include unrealistic expectations about the workload of the individual and job descriptions that include too many disparate responsibilities. As well, there is the lack of job security or a secure funding source for long-term positions, and the need for more trained staff—for example, more than one qualified person working in that capacity. Peter Ballantyne is a large band, one of the largest in western Canada, and I'm the only land manager in the whole department, as an example. There is also wage stagnation, lack of support from leadership, and difficulty in accessing training close to home, which can be a barrier to career growth, especially for women.
[Witness spoke in Cree as follows:]
Ekosi, tapas, Ninaskomon, Albert
[Cree text translated as follows:]
That is all. I give thanks to Albert.
[English]