Regional Indigenous People’s Circle Meeting Minutes
February 28, 2022
Attendance:
Prudence McKenzie, Chair
Vivian Merasty, Member
Brenda Walsh, Treasurer
Kelsey Dreaver, Vice Chair
Clarissa Danielson, Secretary
Sarah Griffin, Member
Louise Mardell
Janette Husak, PRC Representative
Call to Order – 12:09 Land Acknowledgement read by Chair and Harassment Policy read by Louise
Review Agenda – Moved by Brenda, seconded by Kelsey
Minutes from the Last AGM Meeting read by Louise moved by Brenda, seconded by Sarah
Business Arising from Minutes – none
Election of Officers (completed by Janette):
Chair – Vivian nominates Prudence, seconded by Sarah, Prudence McKenzie accepts the position of Chair by acclamation. Vice Chair – Prudence nominates Kelsey, seconded by Vivian, Kelsey Dreaver is the elected Vice Chair by acclamation. Secretary – Prudence nominated Clarissa, seconded by Brenda. Clarissa Danielson accepts Secretary and is elected by acclamation. Treasurer – Prudence nominated Brenda, seconded by Vivian. Brenda Walsh accepted the position for Treasurer.
Chair’s Report – it’s the 5th anniversary of Phoenix pay system and yet we employees are still having a lot of issues happening, many members are struggling with T4’s due to Phoenix not configured properly to handle our indigenous employees. The issues are ongoing and causing a lot of time and expenses for our indigenous employees when filing for income taxes each year. Jennifer from Winnipeg as well as Janette have been actively posting to our RIPC Facebook group. Prudence also gives appreciation and thanks to the past executive of our committee and express kind words to all and words of encouragement to the newly elected. Elder Bear was mentioned about her medicine wheel teachings and how Elder Bear is always willing to contribute her knowledge when our committee requests. The Chair mentioned the virtual bannock making session and expressed the great feedback following the session, stating it was very a great way to share our culture and it was noted that Vivian made the same video on YouTube in our Cree language! Awesome Vivian! Prudence encourages all to wear orange shirts on and its significance on TRC Day! She adds June is Indigenous Awareness month therefore we as RIPC will continue with more virtual teachings such as the idea of a starting an online reading club where the group selects an indigenous author’s book to read, review and discuss the book afterwards, also as pandemic restrictions loosen up that we gather outdoors for group sessions like a medicine gathering walk to. Prudence also mentioned in the future it would be nice to attend an outdoor ceremony with Bears in Muskoday which was cancelled last fall due to the pandemic. Lastly, our Chair states she is going through personal circumstances that are consuming her time and may be requesting an extension for the deadline of the annual report.
Vice Chair – newly elected has nothing to report
Secretary’s Report – thanks for the opportunity to continue as Secretary and Clarissa looks forward to our group’s growth and our ideas to making our committee bigger with stronger voice.
Treasurer’s Report – Brenda provided the bank balance at December which is $741.33. The chair added we will change banks and setup our bank account at Diamond North Credit Union.
Round Table:
Vivian – She is willing to do more virtual sessions upon request.
Janette – congratulates the new executive; PRC Convention is now virtual as we speak; invites proposals to be submitted for the year ahead including the above mentioned medicine gathering walk.
Louise – congratulates and thanks the new executive; thanks Vivian for virtual session. Also as Phoenix is still very problematic Louise encourages us employees to login to the Phoenix site and leave comment so that our voices and opinions are viewed and addressed by politicians and we need actions taken now. She adds we need to support our bargaining team for PSAC even via virtually by updating our background screen so its visible that “we support our bargaining team”. Lastly, Louis mentioned that PSAC is currently fighting for a decent wage increase to match the inflation to cost of living expenses.
Adjournment – 12:56pm
Next Meeting will be scheduled for Thursday, March 31 at 12pm virtually.