1 / 17

KITSUMKALUM FIRST NATION

KITSUMKALUM FIRST NATION. Developing a Kitsumkalum Constitution. Photo credit: Brigitte Bartlett. What has been done so far?. Last year, a technical Working Group and the Treaty Office developed a draft constitution

odette
Download Presentation

KITSUMKALUM FIRST NATION

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. KITSUMKALUM FIRST NATION Developing a Kitsumkalum Constitution Photo credit: Brigitte Bartlett

  2. What has been done so far? • Last year, a technical Working Group and the Treaty Office developed a draft constitution • The draft constitution is for discussion purposes only and a final draft will be developed through a community driven process that will occur over the next 2 years • Community representatives will be engaging members through community meetings, open houses and as requested through individual visitsand telephone calls • Kitsumkalum has developed an initial work plan

  3. What is a constitution? • A constitution is the highest law of a nation by which the people agree to be governed • A Kitsumkalum Constitution will outline the political rights of the Kitsumkalum people along with the roles and responsibilities of government • A constitution is for the Kitsumkalum people and will be developed using a community driven process over a period of about 2 years

  4. Why do we need a constitution? • A constitution is essential in achieving self-government and an important step towards good government • Post-treaty, the Indian Act will no longer apply and a Kitsumkalum Constitution will set out the structure for a new government • A constitution will balance an individual's rights and government responsibilities in a fair way

  5. How will we develop our constitution? • The development of the Kitsumkalum Constitution will be a community driven-process • Community representatives will be engaging members through community meetings, open houses and through individual visits

  6. Constitution Planning Structure

  7. What must we consider when developing a constitution? • Constitutions are meant to last long term and be difficult to amend • A constitution should provide important principles but not necessarily provide operational details • Kitsumkalum can provide more details in other laws and policies that will be easier to change as necessary • A Kitsumkalum Constitution may reflect the traditional values of the Kitsumkalum people as contained in the ayaawk and adaawk • Kitsumkalum treaty staff have been discussing lessons learned with other First Nations that have written constitutions

  8. What should our constitution contain?? • A constitution will provide a governance structure that will best represent all of the Kitsumkalum people • A Kitsumkalum Constitution will set out the eligibility criteria determining who can be members of the Kitsumkalum people • A constitution should provide individual rights to help protect the Kitsumkalum people • A constitution can also help create financial accountability and fiscal transparency for members

  9. Key Elements of a Constitution? • A constitution will address matters such as: • Membership • Rights and Responsibilities • Structure of Government, and • Financial Accountability

  10. Membership • Eligibility and enrolment will be set out in the treaty and the Kitsumkalum Constitution • The treaty and the constitution will allow membership to anyone with Kitsumkalum ancestry, anyone who is already a band member and anyone accepted by Kitsumkalum custom • It is up to Kitsumkalum to chose who should be accepted under its custom, (ie. Spouses from other nations or non-aboriginal spouses)

  11. Rights and Responsibilities • The constitution will provide rights to members that can allow them to challenge decisions or laws made by the government if they are inconsistent with the constitution • The constitution will include a number of rights. • Some examples include: • The right to equality • The right to participate in Kitsumkalum activities • The right to access public information • Kitsumkalum laws will have to conform to these constitutional rights or they • will not be valid

  12. Structure of Government Presently, Kitsumkalum is governed by an elected Chief and Council as set out in the Indian Act Under treaty, the Kitsumkalum government can be different and can include representation from the hereditary chiefs

  13. Sample Structure For example, the government may look like this: Other options will be considered and discussed with community members

  14. Treaty vs Constitution

  15. Financial Accountability • A constitution will include provisions to ensure the Kitsumkalum government has financial transparency and accountability • Along with the constitution, a financial administration law could help establish specific policy and procedures to make sure those goals of accountability are met

  16. Conclusion • The Kitsumkalum Constitution will be voted on by community members any time before the Final Agreement • Treaty staff will be continuing to engage community members over the next few years until a draft of the constitution is ready to be voted upon • Contact the Kitsumkalum Treaty Office or Band Office to find out ways to become more involved in the constitution building process

  17. CONTACT US Jenniefer Bolton, Constitution Communications Assistant Email: kkcommteam@gmail.com Ph: 1-888-635-1718 | www.kitsumkalumtreaty.com Band Administration Office Email: kitsumkalum@citywest.ca Ph: 250-635-6177

More Related