insid e - afoa canada issues/l3b2-jam05.pdf ·...

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Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada

INSIDEFirstNationAdministrators – Is it timefor aprofessional associationand certification?

What is PerformanceReportingandwhyshouldmyFirstNation learnmoreabout it?

In searchof goodgovernance forFirstNationspensionplans

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AMessage from the AFOA Chair & President & COO . . . . . . . 1

Atlantic Initiatives – Comprehensive CommunityPlanning & the Governance Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Are you working on developing financial policies,procedures,by-laws or other financial control tools? . . . . . . 9

You could become a Certified Aboriginal FinancialManager (CAFM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

How to become a CAFM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Build the skills you need to get the job done well –Certified Aboriginal Financial Management Program . . . 12

First Nation Administrators – Is it time for aprofessional association and certification? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

In Search of Good Governance for First NationsPension Plans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

How-To Guides for the Aboriginal Manager andElected Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

AFOA’s Annual Aboriginal Youth FinancialManagement Conference Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

CommunityWorkshops Now Available –AFOA InstructorsWill Come toYou! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

What is Performance Reporting andwhy shouldmyFirst Nation learnmore about it? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Strategic Planning on First Nations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Important changes to First Nations Financial Reportingrequirements are coming – Will you be prepared? . . . . . . . 53

Playing Safe is Risky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Aboriginal Management Certificate Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Today’sWorkers – Tomorrow’s Seniors and Elders . . . . . . . . 62

The Financial Planning Growth Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Tableof

Contents

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Subscription InformationAFOA members receive free subscription to JAM: The Journal ofAboriginal Management. The Journal will be published twice ayear – once in the spring and once in the winter. The Journal willbe mailed to members.

Non-members can subscribe to JAM for $50.00 a year. To get asubscription, call AFOA toll free at 1-866-722-2362 or visit AFOAat www.afoa.ca.

Advertising InformationAFOA is distributed to all 1,300 AFOAmembers,over 800NationalConference delegates andmade available to all First Nations andInuit across the country. These are the people with the purchas-ing power who spend millions of dollars a year on products andservices.Advertisers gain valuable exposure to key decision-mak-ers in Aboriginal communities and organizations. Corporationswho advertise in JAM also contribute to enhanced Aboriginal fi-nance and management in this country and, ultimately, make acontribution to the enhancement of the quality of life amongAboriginal peoples.

AFOA welcomes advertisers for JAM:The Journal of AboriginalManagement. All advertisements are in full colour.

Corporate Members Other

Full page,inside front or back cover $3,000 $4,000Full page $2,000 $3,000Half page $1,000 $1,500

ISBNInformation

JAM The Journal of Aboriginal Management

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TheAboriginal Financial Officers Associationof Canada (AFOA) isvery pleased to introduce a new look to JAM: The Journal ofAboriginal Management – A Journal for all Aboriginals acrossCanadaworking in the finance andmanagement fields.This newlookwas designed to be consistent with all AFOA’s products andreinforce the notion that education inmanagement and financeis essential to our prosperity and to the success of the next gen-eration.

Whether you work in your community administration or in programand service delivery, in a health or educational organization, in a de-velopment or capital corporation, in a national or provincial Aborigi-nal organization, in social services or economic development, or in aprivately owned business – this Journal is intended to help you be onthe leading-edge of key Aboriginal finance and management issuesthat will impact you in your job.

This issue includes important information on strategic planning,com-prehensive community development, performance reporting, pen-sion plan governance, band management and other key issues.

This Journal is one more product from AFOA that demonstrates itscommitment to being Canada’s Aboriginal Centre for Finance andManagement Excellence. We welcome all expressions of interest tocontribute to JAM on Aboriginal management and financial issues.JAM is published twice a year.

The Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada is the centrefor excellence and innovation in Aboriginal finance andmanagement.We are the only organization in Canada that focuses on the capacitydevelopment and day to day needs of those Aboriginal professionalswho are working in all areas of finance, administration and manage-ment – today’s leaders and those of the future.

Romeo Crow-Chief, CAFM Ernie Daniels, CGA,CAFMChair President & COO

AMessagefromthe

AFOAChair&President&COO

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AtlanticInitiativesComprehensiveCommunityPlanning&theGovernanceFrameworkTracey L.Wade,MCIP, RPPChignecto Consulting Group

CCP in theAtlantic ContextIn Atlantic Canada,there are 37 First Nation communitieswith anon-reserve population of approximately 20,000, residing on34,000 hectares of land. First Nation populations are increasingby 6% annually,while the overall population of the four Atlanticprovinces is decreasing. The average age of non-Aboriginal At-lantic Canadians is 40 years, while the average age of AtlanticAboriginals is 25 years. Further, it is important to note that FirstNation reserves fall completely outside of provincial andmunic-ipal planning jurisdictions leaving First Nations to fend for them-selves in undertakingnewdevelopments or responding to issuesof severe overcrowding,capital and infrastructure requirements,water quality issues, and socioeconomic development.

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Ten years ago, Atlantic First Nations were introduced to the conceptof Comprehensive Community Planning (CCP), which has been de-fined as “a holistic process that enables a community to build aroadmap to sustainability, self-sufficiency and improved governancecapacity.”i Similarly,CCP is“developing and carrying out strategies toreach a balancing act of environmental stewardship, resourcemanagement, standard of living, cultural and traditional values andsocio-economic conditions.”ii In short, comprehensive communityplanning,as withmany other planning tools,can be used to state andachieve a community’s vision of their future whatever that may be.

In all cases, CCP is meant to be comprehensive – meaning all factorsand realities of a community are to be taken into account in creatingthe plan. It is a lofty goal, to consider all internal and external factors,gather information from all sectors of a community including gov-ernment, administration,corporate influences,and communitymem-bers – from youth to seniors, including all special populations inbetween - and successfully develop a holistic strategy that will be en-dorsed by the local leadership andmade into reality over the ensuingyears.

The JointCommunityPlanningCommitteeIn response to the growing concern over social and economic reali-ties, an inadequate land base,and poor housing conditions, the JointCommunity Planning Committee (JCPC) was established in 1998.iii

Made up of several Atlantic First Nations, six federal government de-partments and planners from Dalhousie University, the goals of theJCPC were to:

1 create local examples to illustrate how community planningcould make a difference;

2 develop local expertise to initiate, guide and sustain the plan-ning effort;

3 develop resources and technological capacity at the local level;and

4 develop an awareness of what planning is.

The work of the JCPC resulted in the First Nations Community Plan-ning (FNCP) model which received much-deserved acclaim both na-tionally and internationally for its clearly-defined sequential steps,intensive community engagement, and capacity building efforts atthe local level. Having been developed in partnership with First Na-tions, themodel was recognized as the tool bywhich Aboriginal com-munities in the Atlantic could effect positive change for their peoples.

TheReality of Planning& ImplementationTo date more than 22 Atlantic First Nations have used the FNCPmodel. Most notably, Pictou Landing, Miawpukek and MembertouFirst Nations successfully incorporated their plans into the gover-nance and administration of their communities and are making tan-gible progress towards long-term community aspirations.Unfortunately, for many other First Nations, implementation – that is,the process of making the plan a reality - has been much more chal-lenging. Several factors affecting implementation of FNCP plans in-clude inconsistent funding for the process, inadequate training of FirstNation planning champions, lack of governance support, unrealistic

TraceyWadeis a professional planner withChignecto Consulting Group

where she conducts research andundertakes community develop-ment projects with several com-munities in planning, education,

and socio-economic develop-ment. In 2007,Tracey coordi-

nated the First NationsComprehensive Community

Planning initiative in the Atlanticregion on behalf of the AtlanticPolicy Congress of First Nation

Chiefs. Tracey was also one of theprimary authors for the First Na-tions Fiscal Planning Calendar

(www.fnfp.ca ).

i Indian & Northern Affairs Canada, BC Re-gion. CCP Handbook. 2006.

ii PublicWorks and Government ServicesCanada, Sharing the Story - ComprehensiveCommunity Planning - Experiences in FirstNations, Inuit and Northern Communities,

2004. www.pwgsc.gc.ca/rps/inac accessedMarch 25, 2008.

iii Atlantic Region also realized a significantinflux of community development fund-

ing resulting from the 1999 SupremeCourt decision on R.. v.Marshall, which

helped spur on broad-based communitydevelopment processes.

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expectations from com-munity members, littleor no guidance for im-plementation, and aninability of federal part-ners to respond to com-prehensive strategieswith a “silo-less” ap-proach to programs andfunding.

The FNCPmodel focuses on project-based results,which means thatimplementation on these projects (large and small) is a key measureof its success. Unlike non-Aboriginal communities whose commu-nity plans focus on regulation and policies, the FNCP model takes astrategic planning approach and identifies projects to be imple-mented. The project wish-lists incorporated into First Nation plansserved to build up high expectations of community members thattheir dreams and aspirations would be pursued (and funded) in theimmediate future. Thus, inmany cases, the resulting plans did not ad-dress the fiscal and political realities that existed on-reserve. And ifthere was real commitment on the part of the current Chief andCouncil, pursuant to the Indian Act, elections take place every twoyears inmore than 80%of the Atlantic First Nations. This instability inleadership makes consistent buy-in for the community planning ini-tiative or ongoing implementation of an approved plan very chal-lenging. In fact, strategic implementation is a challenge in anycontext, let alone in one that faces historical, cultural, political, fiscal,and capacity challenges on a daily basis. Now funding agents andFirst Nation leaders have been trying to determine where to go fromhere.

TheAtlantic CommunityPlanningCommitteeFollowing the dissolution of the JCPC,whose mandate it was to cre-ate a First Nation planning model, the Atlantic Community PlanningCommittee (ACPC)iv was established in 2005 to support the develop-ment of CCPs and their implementation. The ACPC soon recognizedthat many of the Chiefs and Councils were not prepared to take onthe implementation of the planning“projects”that resulted from theFNCPmodel. True comprehensive community planning is really a par-adigm shift from the standard management of First Nation commu-nities which is program-based, and highly reflective of the silo-approach to funding that is mandated through the federal govern-ment. As such, a broader support system needed to be conceived towork hand-in-hand with the planning process. Indeed, planning isonly a part of the larger community development context underwhich First Nation communities operate.

EnablingCCP ImplementationComprehensive Community Planning is based on the broader prem-ise that effective community development is a cyclical process wherecommunities prepare, plan, implement, and evaluate their progress,and that capacity development (at various levels) happens at eachstage of the process. This is illustrated in Figure 1 (following page).

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Atlantic Initiatives

Figure 1: Community Development Process

The ACPC is now focusing on what can be done to ensure that At-lantic First Nations have the tools and capacity to both undertake andfollow-throughwith their planning and development processes. TheACPC is developing the“enablers;”the things thatmake the planningprocess, including implementation, happen. These enablers are: re-lationships, resources, technology, and governance.

1 Relationships. These include development of stronger internalnetworks (i.e., mobilizing community leaders, administrators andcommunity members to work toward a common vision) and ex-ternal ones (i.e., relationships with other First Nations,partnershipswith the private sector, agreements with neighbouring munici-palities, joint ventures, etc.).

2 Resources. There are three types of resources needed to see com-prehensive planning through. Beyond the physical resources of acommunity (natural and built form assets), a greater understand-ing of financial resources is necessary. Financial resources refer tothe fact that First Nations have finite budgets from federal agen-cies to build houses, infrastructure andmake capital expenditures.Planning must take this reality into consideration, and govern-ments must learn how to work creatively within that budget. Ad-ditional funding is not the only way to successfully implementCCPs at the community level. Finally,human resources and capac-ity need be considered. Perhaps the most crucial element to thecomprehensive community planning process is the need to en-sure that community members, and specifically band staff, havethe capabilities and broad understanding to allow them to un-dertake and then implement the CCPs. Specific skills development,education, training and mentoring should happen at every stageof the process for a variety of individuals (from administrators topractitioners and front-line staff ).

3 Technology. Many aspects of the CCP process are people-cen-tred; that is, they rely solely on building relationships and trust,andthen documenting ideas. However a critical aspect of good com-munity planning is having the technology to support timely andappropriate decision-making in the community.Technological in-frastructure is a keymanagement and administrative requirement

iv The ACPC is made up of representationfrom several federal government agencies,

three First Nation Chiefs and three FirstNation planners.

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in any organization in the 21st century. Emails, high speed Inter-net, and networked computers for Band staff are crucial for effi-ciency and effectiveness of band systems. Technology can also becritical to relationships by helping communities keep in touchwithmembers living off-reserve, provide outreach services, or deliverinformation which can enlist and engage potential partners. Fur-ther, and more specifically, geomatics and GIS technology allowslocal decision-makers to devise scenarios and options fromwhichthey can choose the best, based on their knowledge of commu-nity priorities and the vision. GIS is a tool used by most non-Abo-riginal communities and is a modern option to current processesthat facilitates decision-making.

4 Governance. Supportive governance and leadership towards thatcommon vision is needed to see CCPs through. The ACPC is de-veloping a governance framework that aims to improve day-to-day management and overall governance of First Nationcommunities. The intent is to provide best practices and adminis-trative models including organizational charts, policies and pro-cedures, job descriptions and Chief and Council orientations, sothat First Nation communities can improve their administrationand work toward effective implementation of their CCPs. This isoutlined more fully in the following section.

Atlantic FirstNationsGovernanceFrameworkThe Governance Framework is being developed to meet the follow-ing objectives:

> To assist First Nation communities in achieving their planning ob-jectives; in the areas of social,housing,health,education,economicdevelopment, Aboriginal Policing, Environmental Assessments,Land Management/Addition to Reserve Lands, and Elections;

> To move beyond project based results and begin transformativeresults by implementing community plans;

> To help First Nation leaders understand their fiduciary responsi-bilities to theirmembership and as trustees for Public Funds in thevarious areas of programs and services that they are responsible toadminister;

> To incorporate alternative management and governance stylesthat are appropriate to First Nations; and

> To foster the development of relationships beyond communitiesto enable real management and economic opportunities.

The Governance Framework is a “tool box”made up of four primarysections that will help community leaders govern their communitiesmore effectively. The sections, which are described in detail below,include law making and executive powers; structures and systems;procedures and processes; and codes, guidelines and policies.

Section1: LegislativeandExecutivePowersThe first section of the Governance Framework will outline a First Na-tion Band Council’s ability to pass laws and the power to enforce andimplement them (for example, expropriation, imposing fines, servicefees, taxes, press charges). The Governance Framework will also pro-vide summaries and key components of the laws of general applica-tion, including, for example: Human Rights Law, the Canadian Labour

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Atlantic Initiatives

Code,the Indian Act,Contract Law,First Nation LandManagement Act,and Environmental Laws. These laws apply to many facets in the ad-ministration of Bandprograms including health,social,education,abo-riginal policing, financial management, etc. This will not replace legaladvisory services that Bands may require from time to time, but willprovide community leaders and senior managers with a better un-derstanding of the laws and regulations under which they are bound.

Section2: StructuresandSystems–CommunicationsandAccountabilityIn this section, tools such as organizational charts will be developedand recommended asmodels for First Nations to realign program andinternal accountability. Improved communication systems betweenBand Councils and senior management; between First Nation pro-grams; between Band Councils and their members; and among FirstNations at the Atlantic level all need to be considered. Communica-tion is the key to ensuring accountability within a Band office and be-tween Band leadership and community members.

Importantly, the development of an accountability framework is an-other component of this tool box. First Nations are interested insound management tools for financial administration and supportstrategic planning and setting of priorities. In order to completely un-derstand the true intent of an accountability framework one needsto understand the transfer payments for the various programs andservices. This section of the Governance Framework will address uti-lization of budgets and how good planning is crucial to understand-ing the current financial structure and future financial picture of acommunity. Community leaders will play a significant role in the de-velopment of specific policies for their communities based on theseover-arching structures and systems.

Section3: ProceduresandProcessesThe Governance Framework will include a recommended set of pro-cedures and processes that will inform newly elected Band Councilsabout protocol and expectations from both the community and thefunding partners. Examples of products for this section include BandCouncil procedures (including everything from Band Council meet-

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ings, to expectations of Councillors), record-keeping, and decision-making processes. These written processes can be used to protectboth the community frompartisan activities aswell as the BandCoun-cil when issues arise. Procedures and policies relate to overall man-agement and to full accountability. Without a process in place thatdocuments and records everything that is done through the Band ad-ministration, the Band Councilmay become liable for issues that arise.

Section4:Codes,GuidelinesandPoliciesPerformance measurements, standardized band policies which re-spond to legislative requirements, fair and consistent hiring policies,job descriptions, personnel policies and codes of conduct for BandCouncils, Band staff and others in authority positions are some ex-amples of the tools the Governance framework will include in thefourth section. One significant development will be a template forcustom code elections. Such a template provided to First Nationswould enable them to adopt fundamental aspects of a region-wideframework while still responding to the unique desires of their com-munity members when it comes to elections. Importantly, compre-hensive community plans will play a central role here as thecommunity vision should help drive the way that procedures andpolicies are developed. For example, if openness and improved com-munications are part of the community’s vision, then policies andcodes need to reflect those priorities.

ConclusionIn truth,much of the value in any planning process is in the process it-self. The FNCPmodel has proved to have all the steps needed to suc-cessfully develop a plan and initially filled the void of planning in FirstNations. What it lacks, however, is the assurance that participatingcommunities have the resources in place (human, financial, and oth-erwise) to move from the initial interest stages, through the processand successfully into ongoing implementation. The ACPC is respond-ing through the development of a Governance Framework that willprovide BandCouncilswith the tools to govern responsively,and allowBand administration tomanage programs effectively.Atlantic First Na-tion communities and government agencies remain strongly com-mitted to comprehensive community planning,believe in its inherentvalue, and are creating the supporting enablers like the GovernanceFramework, to help First Nations move forward on their CCPs.

ArticleAbstractThe Aboriginal population is growing six times faster than the non-Aboriginal population in the Atlantic region and First Nation commu-nities are working to become a central force in the regional economy.Comprehensive community planning began in earnest ten years ago,yet today First Nations continue to struggle with implementation. Withmany lessons under its belt, the Atlantic Community Planning Commit-tee is working to developmethods to build relationships, increase ca-pacity, and create a governance framework that supportsimplementation of comprehensive community plans so that First Na-tions can take their rightful place in the economy and society as awhole. JAM

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Areyouworkingondevelopingfinancialpolicies,procedures,by-lawsorotherfinancialcontroltools?AFOAhasauniquetoolthatcanhelp.The AFOA’sDistributed Knowledge System (DKS) is a unique effort reaching out to allFirst Nations communities that would like to develop practical and effective financialpolicies and procedures.DKS enables First Nations to develop their own financial poli-cies with the benefit of models, samples and the experience of First Nations who areworking on,or have completed their own policies.The key behind DKS is a softwareprogram that uses internet technology andweb-based collaboration to support FirstNations communities in their policy development process.

DKS allows members of a community to work together with others,whether on or off-reserve,in the development of the community’s financial codes. Examples of financial policies thathave been developed in other communities available in the DKS resource library.To datethere are models from over (?) communities across the country.DKS will also feature samplefinancial policies and procedures for a community to choose from - whether they are lookingto update all of their financial policies and procedures, or only sections that would add finan-cial control measures to what they already have. For example, First Nations will have access tosample policies and procedures related to signing authorities, operating budgets, policies tocontrol andmanage cell phone expenses, or contracting for professional services.

Another DKS feature provides First Nations with mentor and peer support, even when somecommunity members work in different locations.Whether on or off-reserve,DKS allows sev-eral users to work together on the development of the community’s financial codes, at thesame time! On-line support to the community is provided by a DKS Administrator who looksafter the website ensures that community workspaces are setup and working properly.

We encourage your community or Tribal Council to become involved in this First Nationsinitiative by sending us a copy of your financial codes,whether policies, by-laws, acts, orequivalent financial management tools to share with your colleagues nation-wide.(Any information used to create the samples will be credited to participating organizationswith their permission.

To make a submission, First Nations can use one of three options:

1 Emailing an electronic copy to theattention of [email protected];

2 Faxing a copy to (613)722-3467; or,3 Sending either a hard copy or

electronic copy on diskette, by mailor courier to the attention of:Suzanne SeebachDirector, Programs & ServicesAboriginal Financial OfficersAssociation of Canada1066 Somerset St.West, Suite 301Ottawa,ONK1Y 4T3

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YoucouldbecomeaCertifiedAboriginalFinancialManager(CAFM)Haveyoubeenworking in the fieldofAboriginalfinancialmanagement for over five years?Haveyoutakenanumberof financialmanagement relatedcollegeoruniversity courses?If the answer to either of the above questions is yes, you could re-ceive the CAFM designation.

Haveyoubeenworking in the fieldofAboriginalfinancialmanagement for over five years?Under Special Arrangement B, individuals with over five yearsdemonstrated practical experience can receive the designation ifthey have successfully completed the CAFM Examination.You maybe eligible.

Haveyou takenanumberof financialmanagementrelated collegeoruniversity courses?In the standard application process, candidates must have success-fully completed fourteen courses which form part of the AboriginalFinancial Management program.Ten of those courses are availablein universities and colleges across the country.AFOA grants exemp-tions for those courses towards the AFM program.You may qualifyfor those exemptions. Four of the courses are available on-linethrough AFOA (see page ?)

Find out why hundreds of other Aboriginal professionals are ob-taining their CAFM designation and making a difference in theircommunities and organizations.

TheCAFMdesignation is becoming thedesignationofchoice for employers ofAboriginal financeandmanagementprofessionals.Having the CAFM designation means that you are informed, ex-perienced and skilled in Aboriginal financial management. Itmeans that you have the competencies needed to be a leader –competent in technical knowledge, general management, leader-ship and professionalism.

The CAFM targets you as a professional who can answer to thedemands of your job at the pace that is required today.

As a CAFM you also gain access to top notch products and serv-ices from AFOA that are specifically targeted for Aboriginal fi-nance and management professionals.

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HowtobecomeaCAFMStandardApplicationProcess

Successful completion of the 14 AFM courses +Successful completion of the CAFM exam and2 years practical work experience.

CoursesRequired in theAFMProgram

Certificate Level Courses

> AFM 1 - Financial Accounting 1> AFM 2 - Communications> AFM 3 - Law> AFM 4 - Aboriginal Strategy & Decisions> AFM 5 - Values & Ethics in the Aboriginal Workplace> AFM 6 - Aboriginal History & Developments

DiplomaLevel Courses

> AFM 7 - Computers & Systems> AFM 8 - Economics> AFM 9 - Financial Accounting 2> AFM 10 - Financial Accounting 3> AFM 11 - Quantitative Methods> AFM 12 - Management Accounting> AFM 13 - Finance> AFM 14 - Aboriginal Human & Fiscal Issues

Special ArrangementA

Members who have their CGA, CMA or CA with2+ yrs practical working experience in anAboriginal organization.

Special ArrangementB

5+ years practical working experience andSuccessful completion of the CAFM exam

Call usnow to findouthowyou can join yourcolleaguesacross the countryand receive theCAFMdesignation.

For more information call1-866-722-2362.

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Buildtheskillsyouneedtogetthejobdonewell!PromotingExcellenceinAboriginalFinanceandManagementCertifiedAboriginalFinancialManage-ment(CAFM)ProgramAFOA Canada recognizes the need for qualified Aboriginal Fi-nancial Managers. To meet the demand, the AFM Program wasdesigned to build those skills and competencies to achieve fi-nancial success in the workplace. The AFM Program consists offourteen courses; the following five courses are available on-line:

> AFM 3 – Law> AFM 4 – Aboriginal Strategy & Decisions> AFM 5 – Values & Ethics in the AboriginalWorkplace (NEW!)> AFM 6 – Aboriginal History & Development> AFM 14 – Aboriginal Human & Fiscal Issues

The remaining courses or their equivalents are offered across Canadain accredited post-secondary institutions.By successfully completingthe AFM Program, the door will open for you to obtain your CertifiedAboriginal Financial Manager (CAFM) designation.

The CAFM designation is quickly becoming the preferred credentialfor thoseworking directly with Aboriginal organizations and First Na-tion governments in effectively managing their finances.

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AFOAManagementCertificateCoursesAFOA Canada also offers the following professional development courses:

AFOA2 -AboriginalManagementPractices 1Focusing on your management role, this course will provide tools to enhance leadershipskills including decision-making, change-management, communications, dispute resolu-tion and other management competencies.

AFOA3 -Aboriginal ProgramManagementA disciplined approach to managing programs is needed to achieve results - this courseprovides you with the skills to help you manage your programs effectively and integratethem into community policies.

AFOA4 -AboriginalManagementPractices 2Building on the knowledge acquired in Management Practices I, this course examines therole of governance, the principles of strategic planning, debt management and advocacystrategies.

AFOA5 -Values&Ethics in theAboriginalWorkplaceThis course is the first of its kind in Aboriginal education. It provides a broad based under-standing ofmaintaining good values and ethics within the Aboriginal workplace.The coursecovers business and human resource ethics,examines different ethical situations and ethicsin financial administration.

AFOA6 -PerformanceMeasurement&Reporting in FirstNations:AFocusonResults

Learning to report on performance to communitymembers is a big step on the road to self-governance. This course introduces the concept in a First Nation context, identifies coreprinciples of performance reporting and draws the link to financial reporting.

AFOA7 -An Introduction toComprehensiveCommunityPlanning in FirstNationsThis course focuses on best practices and case studies in Comprehensive Community Plan-ning (CCP) and covers the history and evolution of CCP; exploring indigenous principles;and current models and insights from First Nations who have completed CCP.

AFOA8 -DevelopinganEffectiveRemedialManagementPlan in FirstNationsThis course will help you acquire the knowledge and techniques needed to develop a Re-medial Management Plan for your community and in so doing help to achieve financial sta-bility and accountability.

All courses are offered on-line through AFOA Canada.Whether you are pursuing your CAFMdesignation, or you just want to improve your knowledge, skills or cv, taking an AFOA on-line course is the best avenue to professional development.

Course instructors are available for support and guidance. Courses run for 15 weeks. Coursesbegin September 8, 2008

You can register on-line at www.afoa.ca or call toll free1.866.722.2362 to get more information.

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FirstNationAdministratorsIsittimeforaprofes-sionalassociationandcertification?IntroductionThe health and success of a First Nation community can often bedirectly linked to the effectiveness and capacity of its adminis-tration. Band administrators, or managers, are key to a commu-nity’s viability and well-being. The knowledge and skills theyrequire to do a good job are varied and extensive.These knowl-edge and skills include:

> Financial management;> Strategic planning;> Infrastructure and asset management;> Leadership;> Knowledge of Aboriginal law in Canada;> Community development approaches;> Land use planning for both on and off-reserve;> Government relations;> Community relations; and,> Skills for re-building historic nation alliances and institutions.

Since the 1970’s the role of the band administrator has steadily in-creased in its significance and importance.

Given the importance of this senior management level position toFirst Nation success youmight assume that there is a professional as-sociation for things like:

> Determining base skill levels to be successful in the profession;> On-going professional development opportunities;> Advocating for the profession;> Networking and career development opportunities;> Promoting the profession as a meaningful opportunity to youth.

However, that assumption is incorrect. Currently there is no profes-sional association or certification that directly targets the needs ofFirst Nations administrators. So, is it finally time for a professional as-sociation to represent this critical link in First Nations success?

Getting theball rollingOn April 9th 2008 The National Centre for First Nations Governance(NCFNG)-BC Region co-hosted a one-day forum with the AFOA-BCChapter to engage BC First Nation administrators in a discussionabout the need for an Association of Band Administrators and pro-fessional certification.First Nations administrators include bandman-agers, CEOs, COOs, and other senior managers.

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The forumwas attended by approximately 40 BC First Nation admin-istrators. Two discussion papers on the topic were presented. NCFNGand AFOA also made presentations. Afterwards an open space ses-sion was facilitated by Chris Robertson (See JAM Volume 3 Fall 2006formore onOpen Space). Therewas overwhelming support frompar-ticipants for the concept of an association and certification. Much ofthe discussion of the day focused on strategies for advancing the con-cept nationally.

TheNCFNGPerspectiveNCFNG has a mandate to support First Nations as they implementtheir inherent right of self-governance. One component of this man-date is to build the capacity of First Nations for governance. This com-ponent of the NCFNG mandate is reflected in the fact that a corebusiness line of NCFNG is Professional Development.

At the community level, the most influential administrative positionin First Nations governments are First Nations administrators. Thesekey administrative positions play a significant role in the success ofany initiative at the community level – including the broad goal ofmoving away from the Indian Act towards inherent right based self-governance.

As such,building the administrative capacity of First Nations is a criti-cal link to achieving the NCFNG mandate. However, building admin-istrative capacity represents an enormous task. Therefore, the NCFNGProfessional Development Directorate is developing strategic part-nerships to influence how administrative capacity is developed. Forexample, the First Nations Governance, Administration, ManagementCertificate pilot project with the University of Victoria ensures that ca-pacity building is orientated to the opportunity of inherent right basedself-governance. Although this is a successful example, it is also a timeand resource intensive initiative with just one institution. While con-tinuing to build post-secondary educational programs one-by-one, itis also useful to consider broader initiatives that could shape futurecapacity building initiatives needed for self-governance.

Certification of First Nation administrators may be the most efficientway to direct post-secondary programs to teach competencies re-quired to move from the Indian Act to inherent right based self-gov-ernance. In fact, certification of administrators was targeted by thepilot project at theUniversity ofVictoria for further exploration. Linkedto the pilot project,yet independent of each other, therewere twodis-cussion papers commissioned to explore the concept of certification.

Both papers came to similar conclusions: a) that a certification systemis positive to building the capacity of First Nation administrators as aprofessional group; and b) that a national First Nations organizationis needed to spearhead the initiative.

There seems to be momentum building to explore the concept of anational professional association and certification system for First Na-tion administrators. NCFNG will not become the administratingbody for a national professional association as NCFNG is not a mem-bership based organization nor is it in our coremandate to operate aprofessional association. However,NCFNG is committed to workingcooperatively with AFOA Canada to advance a national association

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and certification system for First Nation administrators. In our view,working together is the most effective way to see a professional as-sociation and certification advance.

TheAFOAPerspectiveSuccessful capacity building in Aboriginal communities is pivotal toeffective Aboriginal governance and economic prosperity.AFOAwasfounded as a non-profit organization in 1999 to help Aboriginals bet-ter manage and govern their communities through a focus on en-hancing finance and management practices and skills. It is anAboriginally controlled organization, membership based, and gov-erned by an Aboriginal Board of Directors

AFOA’s premise is that sound financial practices and managementskills are key building blocks of social and economic prosperity forAboriginal communities, and essential elements of successful Abo-riginal governance. AFOA’s activities are geared toward building aneffective“Aboriginal public service.”

AFOA believes it is essential that First Nation Administrators be sup-ported by a national organization and that professional training besupported by a national certification process.

Since its founding in 1999, AFOA has built a solid reputation andgained significant experience in Aboriginal Associationmanagementand developing Aboriginal educational and certification programsfor financial managers.AFOAmade a presentation at the April Forumin BC which addressed the questions:How can First Nation Adminis-trators build on AFOA accomplishments?What can AFOAbring to thetable?

Highlights of the Association’s work over the last eight years include:

> Growth of membership to 1,300members - 25% ofmembers areBand Administrators

> Development of the Aboriginal Financial Management (AFM) Pro-gram – a series of fourteen courses leading to a diploma and cer-tification.

> Establishment of the Certified Aboriginal Financial Manager(CAFM) designation including development of competency andethical standards

> A wide range of products, courses and community workshops fo-cusing on management skills

> JAM:The Journal of Aboriginal Management> Recognized Awards, Internship Programs and Youth Programs> Recognized National Conferences with a Bandmanagement track– 25% attending are Band administrators

> Chapters across the country – many of which hold regular work-shops for Band administrators

While AFOA’s primary focus has been on financial management, theAssociation has progressively providedmore andmore programs andservices that serve the capacity development needs of Band Admin-strators. Many of ourmembers either serve as Band Adminstrators orare involved in Band administration in some way. The competenciesand skills required of financial managers correlate closely with thecompetencies and skills required of Band administrators.

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First Nation Administrators

Internally AFOA, it’s Board of Directors and its Chapters have discussedformalizing our efforts on behalf of Band Administrators under a sep-arate Band Administrator Certification and Educational Program ini-tiative. Consideration has also been given to changing AFOA’s name,while maintaining its branding, to incorporate and include the inter-ests of Band Administrators along with that of Financial Managers.

As stated earlier, we believe it is essential that First Nation Adminis-trators be supported by a national organization and that professionaltraining be supported by a national certification process.We also be-lieve that this initiative must be First Nation led.AFOA is in a positionto support this initiative and looks forward to working with theNCFNG to explore the options and opportunities for a national asso-ciation and certification for First Nation administrators.

BCForumresultsThe Forum in BC allowed for participants to consider issues and op-portunities related to developing a First Nations professional associ-ation and certification.

Issues included:

> How to keep the momentum building for a professional associa-tion;

> How to identify regional champions that could start to organizethe initiative;

> Certification and“professionalism”still have to reflect First Nationsculture and values;

> Keeping the development of a professional association non-polit-ical;

> Finding the funding to organize and build a professional associa-tion;

> Ensuring that First Nations are setting the standard for certifica-tion.

Opportunities included:

> The overwhelming support for a professional association for FirstNation administrators;

> Using the infrastructure of AFOA and the support of NCFNG tolaunch the initiative nationally;

> Promoting the profession as a viable and meaningful career;> Strength in developing a collective professional identity and voice;> Development of educational standards would give guidance topost-secondary institutions on what kind of learning would sup-port future professionals;

> Advocating for financial compensation that equateswith the com-plexity of the position;

> Looking for ways to assist administrators find a work/life balance.

ConclusionAFOA and the NCFNG welcome comments from readers on this im-portant issue. Please send your comments to [email protected]/or [email protected]. AFOA is also exploring holdinga special forum in February 2009 at the AFOANational Conference inCalgary to provide a vehicle for further discussion on launching thisinitiative nationally. JAM

Supporting documentsavailable on

www.fngovernance.organd www.afoa.ca

1.Needs Analysis, Best Practices,and Options for a BC First Na-

tions Certification Program for aFirst Nations Governance Admin-istration andManagement Pro-

gram byWendy Magahay,University of Victoria

2.Discussion Paper on Advancinga Certification System for FirstNation Administrators by JimPealow,Association Manage-ment Consulting & Evaluation

Services.

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InSearchofGoodGovernancefor

FirstNationsPensionPlansBy Ted Patterson

Good pension plan governance has been one of the hottest top-ics in the financial industry for many years now and it is essen-tial that those responsible for overseeing pension plans have asolid grasp of what constitutes “good governance.” Herein liesthe challenge for First Nations Band Councils. Band Councilsrarely handle day-to-day pension plan administration but theyare ultimately responsible for overseeing the administration oftheir plans and,therefore,have an obligation to their employeesto ensure that their plans are governed in accordance with theprinciples of good governance. The future economic prosperityof First Nations pension plan members depends on Band Coun-cils’ ability to implement and maintain the good governance oftheir pension plans.

WhyGovernance?There are significant responsibilities associated with sponsoring apension plan and the reality is simply this; the specific parties whoare accountable (Band Councils,Boards of Trustees,Pension Commit-tees, etc) can not physically do everything themselves because oftime constraints and/or a lack of specific expertise in the subjectmat-ter. Consequently, to get the jobs done and ensure that the pensionpromise is protected, other parties (both internal and external) mustbe engaged. Specific tasks relating to the administration of the pen-sion plan and pension fund need to be delegated to these“other par-ties” and their progress must be monitored. The delegation ofadministrative tasks to qualified and properly selected parties, andthe on-goingmonitoring and reporting of their progress, constitutesthe pension governance system.

GoodGovernanceDefinedDevelop a definition of pension governance that is appropriate, andmakes sense, for your organization or Band. There are many defini-tions that are used today to describe pension governance. Descrip-tions such as “ the processes and structures used to direct andmanage the affairs of the pension plan, in accordance with the bestinterests of the pension plan participants”; “the system used to or-ganize the roles and responsibilities of all persons in respect of a pen-sion plan”;“the decision–making structures and supporting policiesand procedures that enable an organization to achieve its pensionobjectives and discharge its pension obligations to its legal ownersand others” are often seen. It doesn’t have to be perfect and it canchange over time but it represents a starting point for your analysis.

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Ted Pattersonis the Director,Centre for Em-

ployee Benefits at the Humber In-stitute of Technology & Advanced

Learning in Toronto,Ontario

It also will represent your Band’s commitment to protecting the pen-sion promise it has made.

There is no one perfect pension governance system that fits all or-ganizations; nor is there one ideal way to establish a pension gover-nance systemwithin an organization. A pension governance systemis evolutionary in nature and takes time, and effort, to develop. “Trialand error”are the twin building blocks of the ultimate good pensiongovernance system.

A good pension governance system connects all parties involved inthe administration of your pension plan and pension fund includingthe Band Council,plan administrator,broker, investmentmanager, in-surance company/custodian, trustee,etc.and obliges them all toworkcollectively to protect and ultimately deliver the pension promisemade to the plan members when they joined the pension plan.

While the implementation of a good pension governance systemmayseem like a daunting task, youmight be pleasantly surprised to learnthat you already have many of the key components in place. Thecomponents may be disorganized, and disconnected,but with somehard work and determination they can be organized and set in theright direction. It’s true that hardworkwill be required to draw every-thing together,but remember that a journey beginswith the first stepand you may have already taken that first step without even realiz-ing it.

Now you need to understandwhat else is required and how to gatherthe various component parts together to put your system in placeand make it effective. How can you tell if you have an effective sys-tem? You cannot just take a checklist, start ticking off the boxes and,when you are done,argue that your system is effective. You can startby ensuring that all participants in the pension plan process under-stand why a pension governance system needs to exist in the firstplace. If everyone is working from the same page, then the task is sig-nificantly easier and it becomes a team exercise versus a one personjob .

TheBasicElementsofanyPensionGovernanceSystemThere are four (4) key elements that are integral to any effective pen-sion governance system - proper knowledge; proper delegation;proper monitoring/oversight and proper documentation. An assess-ment of the extent to which any, or all, of these elements are presentwithin the local Band’s pension plan administration systemwill quicklyidentify what remains to be done to ensure the basics are in place.

Proper knowledge - this means that the participants in the gover-nance system have proper knowledge of their duties and respon-sibilities. If one doesn’t know what he/she is supposed to do togovern the plan, then chances are it won’t be done properly. Thequestion to ask is “do the current participants have the necessaryknowledge?” If not, is there a process in place for them to acquirethat knowledge?

Proper delegation – this means that the delegation of duties andobligations are made to properly qualified and selected internaland external people or organizations. The question to ask here:“isthere a process in place to identify the knowledge and skills nec-

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essary to effectively run the those parts of the plan where dutiesare delegated?” Are these individuals and/or organizations prop-erly qualified and do they have the necessary knowledge and skillsto do the work?

Proper monitoring and oversight – this means that there must bea process in place to continuously monitor and evaluate the indi-viduals and/or organizations to whom you have delegated duties.The fact remains that, while you may delegate the task(s) to oth-ers whomay bemore qualified, you cannot delegate the ultimateresponsibility for monitoring and evaluating their performance.Remember, the law holds the plan administrator ultimately ac-countable.

Proper documentation – this means that your internal and externalrelationships with those to whom you have delegated tasks isproperly documented; including listings of the tasks delegated, to-gether with performance and timing expectations, all as agreed.The onus is on the plan administrator to document all such rela-tionships. A proper paper trail is the end result and that trail willbecome an essential part of your evidence should a dispute orother problems arise in the future.

In summary,when a pension governance system is working properly,the‘players’ involvedwith plan administration have been properly se-lected and are clearly identified; their tasks are well defined and theroles, responsibilities and expectations of all involved with the planare well understood; appropriate monitoring, oversight and report-ing procedures are in place and everything is properly documented.

DevelopingyourGovernanceSystemMost First Nations pension plans have some of the basic pension gov-ernance elements in place but Band Councils may be unsure of whatelse needs to be done to complete their governance system. Thereare numerous sources of information and assistance, including; theOffice of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (“OSFI”),brokers(such as Many Nations Financial), law firms, consulting firms and in-surers (such as Sun Life,Manulife, GreatWest Life, Standard Life). Lo-cating, accessing, reading, understanding and absorbing thisinformation involves significant time and effort and there can also becosts associated with some of these sources. However, there are al-ternative ways to assess and identify strengths and weaknesses inyour current pension governance system.

ThePension IndustryResponseThe pension industry has also responded to the pension governancechallengewith some tools designed to assist plan administrators. TheCanadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (known as“CAPSA”), a national organization with members representing 10 ju-risdictions with pension benefits/standards legislation + the CanadaRevenue Agency,Statistics Canada and Finance Canada, issued guide-lines in 2004 for Pension Plan Governance and for Capital Accumula-tion Plans (“CAP”) (e.g. defined contribution pension plans).

These guidelines are not law but they may be viewed by a court infuture legal proceedings as an industry-wide ‘best practice’ standard

21

Good Governance for First Nations Pensions Plans

which should be adopted by reasonable, prudent pension plan ad-ministrators. Both sets of guidelines are applicable to most First Na-tions pension plans and provide a roadmap to assist planadministrators to assess what elements they currently have in place,how complete they are and what needs to be added. Since the ma-jority of First Nations pension plans are defined contribution plans, itis important that plan sponsors and plan administrators start by en-suring that their pension plans comply with the CAP guidelines(Guideline #3) issued by CAPSA.

The following diagram briefly summarizes the CAP guidelines withrespect to the obligations of the pension plan sponsor. A copy of theoriginal guideline can be downloaded from the CAPSA website atwww.capsa-acor.org/capsa-newhome.nsf.

CAP

1. Introduction

2. Setting up a CAP

3. Investment Information & Tools

4. Introducing a CAP

5. Ongoing Communication

6. Maintaining a CAP

7. Terminating a CAP

The Plan Sponsor

Has responsibility for:> setting up &maintaining plan> providing investment info, decision making tools & ongo-ing information to members

Should establish:> why CAP being set up (rationale)> criteria for service providers (if used)> investment options (critical section)

Has responsibility to:> provide investment information & decision making toolsto assist members

> choose to provide investment advice through service provider

Should providemembers with:> information on the nature & features of CAP> outline of rights andresponsibilities

Has responsibility to:> provide member statements & fund performance reports> access to information> advance notice of investment option changes

Should periodically review:> service providers> investment options> maintenance of records & decision- making tools

Has responsibility to:> terminate a CAP in accordance with the terms of the plan> promptly communicate required information to memberson termination of a CAP

> provide pertinent information to member on terminationof participation in a CAP

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TheRoleof thePlanAdministratorThe pension plan administrator’s role in pension governance is a keyone. In most First Nations communities they are the “go to person”for pensions. They are expected to administer the pension plan andfunds in accordance with the plan text, the funding agreement andthe applicable laws. This includes filings with the regulatory author-ities, working with the external service providers, brokers, insurers,dealing with planmembers and reporting to Chief and Band Councilon matters of importance. They are expected to understand the In-come Tax Act (Canada), common law and statute [the Pension Bene-fits Standards Act (Canada)] as well as the Band Employee Benefits(BEB) program requirements because they all impact on the Bandpension plan. Andwhile administering the Band pension plan is usu-ally just a small portion of their overall job, it could be one of theirmost important responsibilities.

To do the jobwell,plan administratorsmust understand and embracethe necessity for pension plan governance. They may have a steeplearning curve and need training in order to understand their pen-sion responsibilities. Their actions/inactions can impact their plan’sfuture viability. Themanner in which they fulfill their duties will havea direct impact on the future well-being of their plan members. Thequestion is where else can pension plan administrators go to acquirethe necessary knowledge.

FirstNationsPensionPlanGovernanceProgramThe First Nations Pension Plan Governance Program (FNPPG),a 5-daypension plan governance training program, was specifically devel-oped by the Centre for Employee Benefits at the Humber Institute ofTechnology & Advanced Learning (“Humber”) to assist First Nationspension plan administrators to understand their responsibilities.Humber collaborated with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada(“INAC”) and OSFI to develop the FNPPG program and delivered it inten communities across Canada in the Fall of 2007.

Very positive feedback was generated from the participants whowalked away with a new appreciation of their role as plan adminis-trators, the value of pensions, governance systems and implementa-tion tools. Topics such as pension basics,governance and legislation,pension plan investments and a hands-on forms workshop were in-cluded. Most participants had come to the course wondering howthey could spend five days talking about pensions; most left at theend of theweek realizing that they had only just scratched the surfaceand had developed an intellectual curiosity to learn more. Partici-pants also acquired a quiet confidence that they now had a newskillset that would allow them tomake a positive contributions to thefuture well-being of their Band’s pension plan members.

AFinalWordViews on, and impediments to, retirement are universally applicableand transcend culture. They are applicable to retirees everywhere -Australia, Europe, the United States and Canada.

The concerns being expressed about retirement in First Nations com-munities are not unique. Impediments such as:

Good Governance for First Nations Pensions Plans

> the individual’s ability, and willingness, to direct monies into pension plans for tomorrow’sretirement benefits,

> an overreliance on government social security payments,> capital markets that fluctuate wildly from year to year,

make all potential retirees skeptical about their future financial well-being during their retire-ment years. This has prompted a growing recognition of the importance of advance prepara-tion for retirement among many band pension plan members.

With concerns such as these, the distinct advantages of registered pension plan participation,with a contributing plan sponsor partner, can easily be overlooked by plan members. Hereinlies the challenge for plan administrators. Brokers and insurers are key allies to assist the planadministrator in this regard – the fees they charge include on-going investment education andassistance for plan members.

Pension plan governance is a complementary byproduct of the move towards self govern-ment. It is all about control. Transparency and accountability by the plan sponsor are the keyingredients that will support your pension governance system andwill go a longway towardssatisfying the concerns of the regulators and the needs of your plan members.

The link between economic prosperity and good governance is easily seenwithin First Nationscommunities – it should be no different in the world of pensions! JAM

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How-ToGuidesfortheAboriginalManagerandElectedLeadershipNEW!PerformanceMeasurement&Reporting inFirstNations:AFocusonResultsThis is the first resource that tackles the issue of performance report-ing in First Nations.The focus is on reporting on performance to com-munity members.With the guidance of an Advisory Committee, andsupported by Case Studies, it identifies core principles of performancereporting in First Nation environments, draws the link to financial re-porting and introduces the Aboriginal PerformanceWheel. Issues ex-amined include: the appropriate level and frequency of reporting;identifying the important aspects of performance; identifying thekinds of information to be reported; and,preparing reports on goals.

NEW!DevelopinganEffectiveRemedialManagementPlanin FirstNationsThis publication is will help communities acquire the knowledge andtechniques needed to develop a Remedial Management Plan for theircommunities and in so doing help them achieve financial stabilityand accountability.With the support of case studies, issues examinedinclude:What is a RMP? Understanding the RMP and its impact;Whodoes what andwhen in the RMP? How do you develop a RMP?Meas-uring and assessing performance of the RMP.

NEW!An Introduction toComprehensiveCommunityPlanning in FirstNationsMany communities throughout the country are undertaking Com-prehensive Community Planning (CCP) in an effort to improve theireconomic base while asserting their independence and ownershipof community resources.This publication includes best practices andcase studies and focuses on: history and evolution of CCP; exploringindigenous principles;and currentmodels and insights from First Na-tions who have completed CCP.

PresentingandUnderstandingFinancial Information–APracticalGuide forAboriginal LeadershipThis guide is written for Aboriginal elected leadership. It provides abasic introduction to the financial responsibilities of elected leadersincluding:short and long termplanning;budget approval and review;establishing a financial policy;decisionmaking based on financial in-formation; approval of financial statements ; the nature and formatof financial information and reports that should be reviewed; theaudit; and, financial communication with the community.

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UnderstandingDebtManagementThis tool kit describes the principles of deficit financing, the federal government’s interven-tion policies; how to manage debts well; and, putting in place an effective financial manage-ment environment and policy vis-à-vis debt management.

ManagingEmployeePerformanceThis innovative resource introduces the Personal PerformanceWheel - a tool to evaluate em-ployee performance which brings together principles of human resources management, tra-ditional aboriginal teachings on values and ethics and the teachings of themedicine wheel. Itincludes a description of the process, the tool itself and a short PowerPoint presentation thatcan be used to introduce the process to Council and staff.

RiskManagementThis resource describes the principles of riskmanagement,defines riskmanagement;providesrisk management tools and presents a risk management structure.The tool kit also includes aglossary of terms and a case study.

ProjectManagementThis tool kit describes the principles and key elements of projectmanagement. It includes a de-scription of the process from start to finish, a sample project management business case forsmall and large-scale projects,a projectmanagement checklist,and a glossary of projectman-agement terms.

DevelopingBusinessPlansandFundingProposals-This is a guide for preparing a business plan and proposal writing. It will describe business planbasics, the key elements of a business plan, and the business planning process. It will also in-clude a business plan template for different types of ventures.

TechnologyandOperationsManagement -This is a how-to guide on technology and operations in an Aboriginal workplace. It outlinesbasic office necessities,software options and elements of building office connectivity. It also ex-plains how to build a technical support unit and identify security concerns, and provides atechnology and operations checklist.

Introduction toDocumentManagement-This tool kit describes the fundamentals,principles andpractices of informationmanagement,thevalues and importance of effective informationmanagement,key laws and legislation, informa-tionmanagement trends and responsible use of, andmanagement of, email. It also provides anintroduction to electronic documentmanagement and a recordsmanagement checklist.

TheAudit - APrimer forAboriginalManagementThe audit process is oftenmisunderstood and as a result sometimes feared.However, the audithas many benefits.This Primer provides the tools to:

> understand the audit;> facilitate the audit process efficiently and painlessly> understand remedial management; and> utilize the audit as an effective management tool.

For Information:Costs:Members: $15.00 plus GST

Non-members $30.00 plus GST

To order, call AFOA at 1-866-722-2362 or go to www.afoa.ca

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It is a sad fact that very fewof our youngpeople are entering intoa career in financial management or band administration - orwhat is becoming commonly termed as the First Nations PublicService. Many communities and organizations struggle daily tofind new, competent people to fill key positions in administra-tion andmanagement.There is a great demand for these profes-sionals. And there are many opportunities for those youngpeoplewhowant to pursue this career path andmany sources ofassistance.

It is up to our youth to carry the torch. If our youth do not follow usinto these professions, then our communities and organizations willsuffer the price, as will the next generation.We have to make somechanges and begin engaging Aboriginal youth into the finance andmanagement professions. It is key to our survival.

AFOA’sAnnualAboriginalYouthFinancialManagementConferenceAwards

Left to right: GeordyMarshall, Rebecca Sangwais and Sayla Spence

27


That is why AFOA launched the Aboriginal Youth Financial Manage-ment Conference Awards in 2007with the generous support of GrantThornton LLP. The Awards are open to young Aboriginals in grades10, 11 and 12 from across Canada. Applicants were asked to write ashort essay on the topic “If I were in charge of my community, whatwouldwould bemy plan of action to addressmy community’s needs”.Teachers were asked to submit letters attesting to the student’s per-formance and commitment.A selection committee reviewed the es-says and submissions and selected three winners. They were:

GeordyMarshallEskasoni High School, Eskasoni,Nova Scotia

Rebecca SangwaisGrenfell High Community School,Grenfeel, Saskatchewan

Sayla SpenceChildren of the Earth High School,Winnipeg,Manitoba

Winners were flown to Montreal to participate in AFOA’s NationalConference program activities and a special youth session; theywereintroduced to opportunities in financialmanagement as a career;and,theywere provided information on how to go about pursuing an ed-ucation in financial management and what kind of help is available.Wewere also pleased to acknowledge these fine young people by re-producing their awardwinning essays,alongwith the essays of thoseapplicants who received Honourable Mentions, in a special bookletdistributed to all 800 conference delegates.

We are pleased to re-print the Award winners’ essays in this issue ofJAM.

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Therearemanywaystoleadacommunity,astherearemanywaystobealeader.Thequestionisthough,howwouldIleadmycommunity

ByGeordyMarshall

Hi my name is GeordyMarshall and I am from the community ofEskasoni,Nova Scotia.My community is located on the beautifulshores of Bras`dor Lakes,Cape Breton,NS.My First nations back-ground is of Mi` kmaq culture and traditions.There are approxi-mately 3600 residents and we are the largest first nationscommunity east of Montreal.

Today, our community faces many challenges that need to be ad-dressed by our leaders in order to affect positive change for our peo-ple today for the future generations. My leadership plan for thecommunity of Eskasoni would concentrate on the political, social,eco-nomic and cultural aspects of our everyday life on the reservation inorder to affect this necessary change.

One of the greatest changes that I feel necessary is within our Edu-cational system. As language is the foundation of our Mi`kmaq cul-ture, I would make the existing Mi’kmaq Immersion programmandatory for all students in the Elementary school program. Thegreatest challenge my community faces is the loss of interest in mylanguage,especially towards the young ages.We as the leaders of thecommunity must find ways to bring the culture and traditions backinto these children’s hearts,becausewithout their interest then thereis no reason for them to carry it on.The Mi’kmaq language will seizeto exist within the next 4 generations unless immediate action is setforth. As the students mature and enter the junior and secondaryschools they must be able to enroll in specific Mi` Kmaq

Curriculum courses to further enhance their learning and under-standing of our cultural ways. These courses at the secondary levelwill ensure a constant emphasis on our language andwill help guideour young teenagers through themost influential years of their lives.

A second area of concern that I would address as a community wouldbe in the economic as well as social aspects.As leader, I would bringin alternative renewable energy sources to my community, and do

ifIwereincharge?

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Aboriginal Youth FinancialManagementConference Awards StudentEssay#1

everything in my power to turn my community green. This focuswould benefit my community in protecting the environment as wellas create some desperately needed employment opportunities. Re-search shows that Cape Breton and Nova Scotia is a perfect place forplacements of wind turbines and I would encourage our band coun-cil to take advantage of this growing industry. Another environmen-tal initiativewould be to place garbage bins every .2 kilometers (every6 power lines) along the main road of my community. This initiativewould help clean up our streets and make the residents feel goodabout the way their community looks. Feeling good and presentingour environment will ensure our young people will take “pride” inwhere they and where they come from.

As far as changing the housing and protecting our reservation needsof our community I would be strongly advocating for more suitableproducts that are of environment friendly and have programs likereusablewaste and recycles implemented . I believe that the leader ofevery community should have some focus on the environment, be-cause if they don’t take care of our environment, then eventually therewill be no community to lead.

One of the main social concerns within my community is the misuseof drugs and alcohol.Many of the youth and adults are under the in-fluence, and sadly they don’t care. I believe that people can changebut not everyone can change.What the current leaders are doing nowis trying to help those,and try to change thosewho have these prob-lems. Howeverwhat needs to be done is preventing the children fromthis burden, as it maybe too late for those who are already under theinfluence. I believe that some focus needs to be on law enforcement,to make sure every drug dealer, and bootlegger in my community isfound and prosecuted.

There aremany problems facing the youth ofmy community and oneof the measures that I can do as a leader to focus on this need by in-sisting on the establishment of a youth center, but not only for theyouth,but for the community as a whole.This center would be for allresidents of all ages. A place full of thing to do for every one of allages.This center would consist of things such as a study hall,pool, fit-ness center, arcade, pool hall, tutors, gymnasiums, etc...these thingsare the ideals to help build and grow the foundation of all individu-als and would create the“base”of the healing of my community.

As far as economics of my community I would design a programcalled ”possibilities” and teach our youth that there is life outsidethe reservation. This program would show new possibilities in lifeother than being a nurse, teacher,mechanic,electrician,plumber etc...I strongly disagree that everyone would be deeply passionate aboutbeing a plumber. I believe that people should love what they do andenjoy life.This programwill illustrate other possibilities program andwould include an after school center called ”the center of possibil-ities”where children can see some other possibilities in life, such asfilmwork,acting,architecture,music directing,singing,astrology etc...

This center would just a place where a kid can be a kid.A place full ofpreparation for their future. I would also make a scholarship founda-tion for thosewho need the extramoney to fulfill their dreams and es-pecially for those who want to go back to school.

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The schooling program is really important,because I believe that ed-ucation is a right and not a privilege.Statistics says that 65-70% ofmycommunity depends on social assistance for a living, so that means60-75% of the people in my community are unemployed, that’s toomuch to handle, and is one of the main reasons why my communityhas their heads stuck in the ground. All is needed is to realize theirpossibilities,and together as one community we can all achieve theirgoals and dreams for their futures.

The elders are greatly respected inmy community,andwe are greatlyhonored to still have them around.The thingmy community needs todo is to listen to them more, and let them incorporate their ideas towhatever change we need to do.You would listen to an elder just asclosely you would listen to your mom.Everything that they say or doeverything that they teach has a reason,and comes fromgreatmean-ing. So I think the elders should have their place their place in the“center of possibilities”and take on the role of teaching the childrenof older Mi’kmaq traditions and culture. As leader of my communityI would have the “elders” exposed to the youth at every communityevent and celebration, especially having them involved at the edu-cation level visiting our schools and speaking directly to the youthfrom all ages.

As the leader of my community I would represent a democratic styleof leadership in showing themembers of Eskasoni that I am just a av-erage guy with big dreams. I would promote an “Open Door Policy”where they can always come to talk to me for whatever they feelneeds change in the community.

I would create a youth and elder council to work with the band tohelp bring new ideas for the community and create an avenuewherethey could express their concerns to the leaders.This council of rep-resentatives would help create good lines of communication be-tween the people and their community leaders.I believe it is veryimportant for a community leader to attend community events, forit’s his/ her job to give to the community asmuch as possible. I wouldensure that there is always a Band Council representative at each andevery event to ensure support for all.

Another issue Eskasoni faces is the lack of economic developmentthrough tourism. My community is a beautiful place and can whichcould create much needed jobs and opportunities. I believe tourismcould be created through the establishment of a lake resort with sail-ing on the lake,walking through nature trails, hiking up to some wa-terfalls, and just so many things to catch the tourist’s eyes.

As I set in class and ponder about the many quotes and cultural sto-ries to represent the type of Leader I could be for the people of mycommunity the only one I could only think of is the story about thepeople whowere climbing themassivemountain.Themountainwasone of the highest,and the peoplewere struggling to climb and reachthe top, dealing with the fierce blistering winds, and blazing snowstorms, that could just represent a practical hell. It climb was becom-ing wearisome with a bleak future, but finally the people throughgood leadership and a good plan made it to the top of the moun-tain to discover how beautiful the view was, and knew after all thathard work it all was worth it, in the end.

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Aboriginal Youth FinancialManagementConference Awards

So if you ask me today why I want lead my community, I would tellyou because I want to make a difference. If you ask me how I wouldlead my community I would say my way, but with the help and sup-port of others. And if you ask me what would I do to lead my com-munity, I would tell you, that I would give my people a millionpossibilities to live their dreams. It is through the creation of thesepossibilities, that I believe any good leader can truly lead!

GeordyMarshallStudent,EskasoniHighSchool

”Heymy name is GeordyMarshall and I am from Eskasoni First nationin Cape Breton,Nova Scotia. I was selected as one of the three winnersin the 2008 AFOA essay contest.My essay on “WhatWould I do If Iwere In Charge ofMy Reserve”was chosen from students fromacross Canada.As a part of winning , I won a free trip toMontreal,where I had to deliver my essay to an audience of 800 people.Wow,what an experience that was!! I couldn’t bemore surprised that I wonbecause just taking the time for a couple of hours writing an essay, I gotmyself a trip toMontreal all expense paid.

I think that was a pretty sweet deal.While in Montreal, I had the oppor-tunity to take a tour of the city where I learned a lot about different his-torical sights that were both beautiful and educational.We weretreated like royalty from all the AFOA participants along with the repre-sentatives fromGrant Thorton.

This competition has also opened upmany“new”doors for me in whatI want to do withmy life. I havemore of an idea of what’s inmy plan forthe future.One think I know for sure is that one day I want to become acommunity leader and that this conference helpedme to understandthe process financially on what it takes to run a community.

I can just go on and on how great this experience was but all I can sayis thanks AFOA & GrandThornton,and a special thanks tomyTeacherMr.Steve Parsons for givingme this opportunity, if it wasn’t for him Iwouldn’t be the person I am,nor would I have the knowledge I havenow.”

StudentEssay#1

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IfIwereinchargeofmycommunity,whatwouldbe

myplanofactiontoaddressmycommunity’sneeds?By Rebecca Sangwais

If I were in complete dominant power of my community I wouldonly want what was best for my people. This would be anythingthat would benefit my people and help us later on in our futurevisioning and planning as time progresses.

In today’s society, in regards to our Aboriginal First Nations, there aremany adjustments that can bemade to ensure that we are living ourlives to the fullest potential we can reach. Many of our people are liv-ing in poverty and not much is being done about it. We need to ad-dress a specific plan in order for all in our communities to reach ourgoals.

For starters, we need strong role models to look up to. I know thatthere are a number of educated people who can make a differenceand all it takes is one. Having someone who knows what goals theywant to achieve and how is a good place to start. With today’s pop-ulation growing rapidly, Aboriginal First Nations people are the fu-ture. We are the next generation.

Often a role model is someone who is not afraid to speak up and is awell self-determined person who leads, and that others admire fortheir attributes. We have people of all ages that are role models andare more than capable of success. In order for them to be successfulwe,as Indian peoples,need to guarantee that they have access to theresources that will help them to meet and exceed their goals.

To address this in our surrounding communities,encouraging our peo-ple to live a clean and healthy lifestyle would be another huge asset.People want to feel safe and not have to worry about gangs, drugs,petty crime and the violence that comes with these illnesses. Weshould teach our children at a young age so they can carry our tradi-tional values on to their generations to come. Making certain that peo-ple are eating healthy foods and are spiritually,mentally andphysicallyhealthy would contribute to a safe environment and surroundings.

Living in a healthy community allows people to live drug and alco-hol free lifestyles. Drugs and alcohol are deadly substances that havetaken overmany lives. To keep people away from this we need to pro-vide themwith different activities to keep a healthy and happymind,

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so they have better things to keep themoccupiedwith in life. Gettingpeople involved in sports or extra curricular activities is a good wayto become involved and reduce the amount of youth and othersusing and abusing these substances.

A huge influential concern that has gotten to First Nations is the‘hurt’of the Residential Schools. It has damaged people in ways that arenot visible andmany are emotionally and physically wounded inside.There are things that have occurred that we do not understand andgiving the residential survivors our time and understanding will letthem knowwe are there for support. We need to be able to recognizethe harmful impacts that have come with the residential school sys-tem andmend our people. As a result of this we have lost our cultureand language and need to find alternative ways to bring it back.Teaching the younger generations is a start and if we don’t do any-thing at all,our culturewill be lost. Our elders are our teachers andweneed to embrace that. They are very educated and wise in terms ofour traditional teachings and they could expand our horizons a lot.Keeping not only the youth but also everybody involved in traditionalceremonies will benefit us and help keep our culture alive.

Expanding our education opportunities to grant equal access to allFirst Nations peoples will enable them to enhance their learning abil-ities. Education is amain key to success. Wewant to ensure our peo-ple are able to maximize their potential. Offering post secondaryopportunities to people allows them to achieve at a higher level.

On our First Nation there are not always jobs or career choices avail-able and our people move away to cities where there are more op-portunities. Living on the reserve, there is a lack of jobs andwe needto create more jobs at higher wages so our people will want to comehome andwork for the good of our people,while earning a decent liv-ing. To improve the lifestyles I believe that we need to develop bet-ter services. We need to develop our environment and ensure thatwe have adequate housing,and healthy communities. Increasing theservices that our communities provide will createmore jobs. Havingself-governed law enforcement,education systems,andmedical cen-ters on reserve will help the population. People won’t have to travelso far and will have easier access to these services. The services willalso be provided by people that have a better understanding of theunderlying causes of the issues, as they will be provided by First Na-tions people for First Nations people.

We also need to protect and promote our treaty rights. Our treatyrights have been with us for a long time and they are slowly becom-ing depleted. We were given these lands by the Creator and this willforever give us the right to be known as the First People of Canada.We have to take stand and speak up for our rights that we have as In-dian people. In promoting our rights we need to help people under-standwhat we are about andwhat we have built on. These rights area part of the First Nations people and they are going to be with usforever. Standing together as a communitywill help us remain strong.

Bringing together a community to address the problems and gettingeveryone involved will bring a greater understanding of what thecommunity needs and the ways we can achieve the results we agreeon. People can stand as one. This will bring dedicated and commit-ted leadership because everyone will be working as one.

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Once people begin to pursue a variety of careers, they will becomestrong leaders. Our leaders are our voices. Everybody has an equalchance to say how they feel about certain topics but it is the leadersin our communities who are going to voice these opinions on our be-half and make sure our voice is heard as a nation.To make sure thateverything is run to its optimal capacity, there has to be accountabil-ity. We need good rolemodels and leaders who are going to listen toour community and treat everyone fairly.

I believe that I am a strong, positive role model and I could be a partof making a difference. Living in a clean atmosphere and beingbrought up in a healthy community has providedmewith a lot of op-portunities and has openedmany doors forme. I have traveledmanyplaces and I have had the chance to see how other reserves are sim-ilar to mine. I have also noticed what things we need to address foreveryone’s benefit. Finally, I have learned from other youths - - theirbeliefs and views as to how we can make our communities betterplaces to live.

If I were in charge of my community,my plan of action to address mycommunity’s needs would be to create stability. It would take a lot ofdedication and hard work. Stability in a community is needed toshow and also prove that everyone is equal. Working together as ateamwould enableme and others to be able to directly pick out spe-cific areas that need work. Taking a stand and showing leadershipwould give others insights and something or someone to look up to.I would work on improving the community as a whole and then, in-dividually working on the small things. I would want tomake certainthat everyone was treated fairly and give everyone equal opportuni-ties to take advantages of what is available. Today there are no limitsas to what can be done. Once people are able to lead they can beginto achieve things on their own. Improving the above mentioned iswhat would bemost important. Ensuring people have the best is theonlyway they can take full advantage of everything available to them.

I believe that within many of our societies today, people are begin-ning tomakemore positive decisions. More opportunities are at handandwe are taking other people and our surroundingsmore andmoreinto consideration. We are becoming the leaders of tomorrow and itis showing. Taking charge of a community is where it has started andcontinuing this work is addressing our people and our need and de-sire to become a healthy and prosperous community.

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Aboriginal Youth FinancialManagementConference Awards

RebeccaSangwaisStudent,Grenfell HighCommunity School

My trip toMontreal,Quebec was a fantastic and verymemorable expe-rience. It expandedmy horizons a great deal, openedmany doors andexposedme tomany opportunities out there. I enjoyedmyself and amhonored to haven been a part of the Aboriginal Financial OfficersAssociation Conference.

I remember getting the news that I had been chosen as one of the re-cipients for the writing contest andwas ecstatic. Counting down thedays I was excited to go to a new place. The plane ride was awesomeand arriving inMontreal was amazing! It wasmuch different thanmysmall town community.

During the conference, I had the pleasure of meetingmany educatedand intelligent people. Meeting these successful individuals encour-agedme,gaveme insight and inspiredme to follow their footsteps. Ienjoyed participating in the activities that were planned for us. It gaveme an idea of the workforce opportunities inmy future. Getting up infront of over 800 people was anxiety ridden but after the first para-graph it came natural andwas exciting. I was very proud to have beengiven the opportunity to be heard as an individual.

Touring the city was phenomenal! I loved being in a different environ-ment. The churches were so beautiful and the people were very polite.

Overall,my trip toMontreal was a wonderful educational experience. Iwould like to thank the AFOA and Grant Thornton for providingmewith this opportunity. I would like to thankmy principals for their inputand encouragement. I would also like to thank Fred Vicaire and BonnyShears for their hospitality andwarmth. They were excellent hosts. Iwant to wish the best of luck in all endeavors to the other winners,Sayla Spence and GeordyMarshall. My words of advice to anyone outthere would be to take advantage of every opportunity that comesyour way. The small opportunities can lead to bigger and better things.Keep on dreaming and reaching for your goals.Make them happen!

StudentEssay#2

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By Sayla Spence

Traveling by car for three hours, taking three different highways,andnavigating ageographic landmark calledTheNarrowswhichis a tiny strip of land between two lakes, you will come to myhometown– Eddystone,Manitoba.Myname is Sayla Spence. I amfifteen years old and even though I now live in Winnipeg, myheart is still in Eddystone.

Growing up in Eddystone, I had a good childhood but not one thatcould be called exciting. Eddystone is a very small and isolated com-munity that does not have many opportunities for children.There isno community club; there are no organized sports teams.Even schoolis a half hour away by bus. Because of this, it is very easy for childrenand adolescents to get lost and find themselves heading down thewrong path. In fact, just down the road, there is easy access to thekinds of things that are harmful to young people – drugs,alcohol,andthe wrong types of people who make a point of trying to draw ouryouth into their negative ways. For those who want to participate inpositive activities, they must have someone available and willing todrive them an hour away fromhome.Sadly, the negative activities arealmost within walking distance.

I consider myself one of the lucky ones. Thanks to my parents, I didnot get drawn into the destructive ways to be found down the road.My mother and father made a point of teaching my sisters and methe ways of our culture and traditions.This wonderful connection tomy past andmy heritage keptmemotivated to stay on the right track,in spite of the temptations. This connection is what I would providefor my community if I could.

I believe when children are raised to believe in themselves and havechoices of positive things to do, they are more likely to follow a goodpath and become strong, responsible adults. Therefore, if I could doanything formy community, it would be to ensure the children comefirst. In order to make this happen, I would implement five specificprograms – a community centre, an organized sports program, ap-propriate social opportunities, cultural instruction and traditionalteachings, and opportunities for employment for youth. For each ofthese broad programs, I would include a number of activities andevents that would address the needs of the entire community.

First, I would establish a community centre that provides a canteen,adrop-in centre,a dance floor,a library,and a game room,among otherfeatures. This centre would be staffed by volunteers who would or-ganize events and activities for the children and youth of the com-munity. Outside organizations would be given time and space in thecentre to set up local chapters; such as 4-H,Boys andGirls Club,Scouts,

ItTakesaVillage

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Guides, and Brownies, to name just a few. Children who haveopportunities to join these types of organizations will find that theyare kept busy, not only on the days that the groups meet, but alsoduring the rest of the week.Often, groups like 4-H have activities fortheir members beyond the weekly meeting and there is always workto be done between meetings.

The community centre will also be used for individuals to provide les-sons to children in a variety of areas. For example, square dancing,martial arts, self defence, and introductory music lessons could all bemade available right within the community. Participants will have avariety of activities to choose from, and everyone will be able to findsomething that they are interested in pursuing.Dancing,singing,pot-tery, or crafts is a much better way to spend a few hours than hang-ing out down the road.

Secondly, I would introduce organized sports activities to the com-munity. Statistics show that when children participate in organizedsports, they tend to stay out of trouble, do better in school, and de-velop strong leadership abilities. That is why it is very important tooffer a number of different sports within the community. In the win-ter, wewould have hockey, figure skating,and curling. In the summer,we would have baseball, basketball, football, and soccer. In order tokeep all children involved,every effort would bemade to provide dif-ferent athletic activities,as requested by the youth of the community.Even young peoplewho are not athletic would be encouraged to par-ticipate, and teams would be organized for all ability levels.

Thirdly, I would propose a variety of social activities.Positive social ac-tivities screen children away from negative practices.These activitiescould include dances,movie nights, picnics, sports days,winter activ-ity days,andbarbeques.These social activitieswould lead children andyouth away from the temptations they face every day they donot havesomething to do.Our children need to be kept busy and involved, it isonlywhen children have nothing to do that they are easy prey for neg-ative influences. Again, I would ensure that the offered activities arevaried to meet the interests and abilities of all age groups. In otherwords, teenagers would appreciate having a dance much more thanthe toddlers and pre-schoolers. Toddlers and pre-schoolers wouldprobably enjoy a“MommyandMe”programmore than the teenagers!

Fourthly, I would set up culture and heritage training for anyone whowould be interested.Culture and tradition keptme from the dark side;because of this I cherish my ancestry and my chosen path has deepand significantmeaning forme.To respect themselves;mentally,phys-ically, spiritually, and emotionally; children must know who they are. Iwas taught the importance of just being a child as I was growing up.Because learning my culture kept me strong, I would include culturaleducation as part of my plan for the community.The culture and tra-ditional teachingswill show to all participants the kinds of things thatI learned when I was younger; that is, how all people can live in har-monywith each other andwith theworld.The teaching thatwould bepart of this program include pipe ceremonies, sweats, stories told byelders, powwow dancing, and craft making. It would be understoodthat the teachingwould be done by genuine traditional teachers,andthat all members of the community are welcome, regardless of theircultural background. Open sharing of information among membersof the communitywill help to build strongbridges between all groups.

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Fifthly, I will provide opportunities for young people to work in thecommunity. All of our children will be invited to take part in job op-portunities throughout the year.These jobswould provide themwithexperience, and also help to keep them busy. Possible jobs are cut-ting grass and community clean up,weeding gardens and shovellingsnow for seniors who need extra help, reading to children and elders,and babysitting.Additionally,working in the canteen at the commu-nity club would be set up on rotating shifts so several youth couldbenefit by learning entrepreneurial skills.Aswell,young peoplewouldhelp out at all the other activities at the community club.

I understand that these ideas would require a great deal of time andmoney to implement and fund raising for support for these initiativeswould probably be a full time job. That, however, would just be onemore activity that communitymembers could be involved in.The oldCree saying that“it takes a village”is very applicable here;particularlybecause it would take the entire community to support the entirecommunity in the implementation and running of these worthwhileprograms.

Additionally, while the central idea of this system is to keep the chil-dren busywith activities it does not give only the children somethingto do.Adults, parents, and elders are also given things to think aboutand take part in. Everyone could be involved in sports activities, vol-unteer at all sorts of projects, and help out at the community clubevents. The parents could support their children and be proud ofthem.The elders could act as teachers and mentors to children andyouth. It would truly be an entire community involvement.

I would love to be able to see the coming generations be successful.I would love to be able to ensure that success. Children growing upstrong and confident is not unrealistic, even in today’s difficult world.All we need to do is provide themwith positive,constructive activitiesthat nurture them,mind, body and soul. My community means theworld to me, I always feel safe when I am home.That is why if I werein charge, I would include everyone in making the future of Eddys-tone as bright as it can be.

Sayla SpenceStudent,Childrenof TheEarthHighSchool

The five days I spent in Montreal were unforgettable. I met many help-ful people and I was praised by hundreds. I had a fabulous hotel roomand explored the phenomenal sites in a beautiful city.This is only asmall part of what I experienced.

I found out that I had awinning essay one afternoon at school. I wasshocked for weeks withmixed emotions. I immediately toldmy familywhen I got home from school.My trip was only weeks away.

I was so excited and scared at the same time. I packed and rereadmyessay numerous times.The day we left I woke up extra early to catchthe plane.Tome the plane ride was short, I was so excited!What wasstrange was that one of the essay winners and hermother were on thesame plane, just a seat ahead of my chaperone and I.

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I couldn’t believe I was finally out of Manitoba for the first time inmylife.We checked into the hotel and I was so happy to see how comfort-able my hotel roomwas. I unpacked and just relaxed.

Our first task was tomeet in one of themany rooms in the hotel to dis-cuss the agenda for the next several days.The other twowinners and Igot two bags full of gifts from AFOA.My favourite was an iPod Nano. Ienjoyed spending timewith the other winners because I already knewsomething we had in common.They were so interesting to talk to andwewere the same inmany ways.There were also differences.Ourschools’ systems andways weren’t alike for one thing.

My chaperone and I spent a lot of time in themall shopping in our freetime.Almost every evening wewere in the large conference room.Therewere also laptops available at all times during the Conference and Iwas able to keep in touch withmy family.

One part of my experience was exploring the city of Montreal.Tomethe sites were phenomenal because I’d never left Manitoba before.There was ameet and greet dinner where I met a lot of people whocongratulated us winners and supported us.One evening wewent topresentations andworkshops where people explained different careersthat we could focus on.

The second last day was themost intense. It was the day I readmyessay in front of 850 people. I knew it wouldn’t be too difficult because Idid what I could to domy best. I chose the highlights of my essay toread and I practiced several times so I rememberedmost of it.Whatwas amazing tomewas that there were hundreds of AFOA booklets inthe Conference room and in every one of themwere a copy of my essayandmy school picture.

I was so anxious while I was sitting for hours as other presentationswere in session.When it was almost our turn to read our essays,waitingwas the worst part of it. I went up to read and felt almost like a star.People were watching, smiling, following alongwith a copy of myessay.Several pictures were being taken and a video camera wasrecording. I was relieved when I was done reading; it was the longestfiveminutes ever.As much as I dreaded reading it, I knew it would beworth it in the end.

The next part of the agendawas role playing.The other winners and Iacted as bandmembers and other people who volunteered for this ses-sion were counsellors. I think the role playing was important for the un-derstanding of our leadership ability and business. I wouldn’t havenoticedmy creative ideas in business if it were not for this program.

The big dinner on the last day was becamemore sad as the hours wentby. It was a classic formal event and I spent quality time with the otherwinners,hours after my chaperone went to bed! Just thinking aboutleavingMontreal brought tears tomy eyes. I didn’t want to go homethe next morning whereas I was very excited to be able to get home,unpack and sharemywonderful experience withmy family andfriends.

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CommunityWorkshopsNowAvailableAFOAInstructorsWillCometoYou!Travel can be costly when you are trying to access training formanagement and staff and elected leaders. AFOA is pleased tooffer workshops on key management and financial issues thatare delivered right at your door, in your community or a locationof your choice.These workshops are for management, staff andelected leaders. Participants are provided with publications,tools and guides.

Workshops are available on the following:

PerformanceMeasurement&Reporting in FirstNations 2DayWorkshopThis workshop is the first to be offered in Canada that tackles theissue of performance reporting in First Nations.The focus is on re-porting on performance to community members.The workshop fo-cuses on core principles of performance reporting in First Nationenvironments and draws the link to financial reporting.Participantswill be introduced to the Aboriginal PerformanceWheel. Issues ex-amined include: the appropriate level and frequency of reporting;identifying the important aspects of performance; identifying thekinds of information to be reported; and,preparing reports on goals.

DevelopinganEffectiveRemedialManagementPlanin FirstNations 2DayWorkshopThis workshop will help staff acquire the knowledge and tech-niques needed to develop a Remedial Management Plan for theircommunities and in so doing help them achieve financial stabilityand accountability.With the support of case studies, issues exam-ined include:What is a RMP? Understanding the RMP and its impact;Who does what and when in the RMP? How do you develop a RMP?Measuring and assessing performance of the RMP.

An Introduction toComprehensiveCommunityPlanning in FirstNations 2DayWorkshopMany communities throughout the country are undertaking Com-prehensive Community Planning (CCP) in an effort to improve theireconomic base while asserting their independence and ownershipof community resources.Using best practices and case studies thisworkshop focuses on: history and evolution of CCP; exploring in-digenous principles; and current models and insights from First Na-tions who have completed CCP.

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ProjectManagement & RiskManagement1DayWorkshop

This workshop examines the principles and key elements of projectmanagement focusing on the process from start to finish. It also ex-amines the principles of risk management, provides risk manage-ment tools and presents a risk management structure. Participantswill be taken through a case study on risk and project manage-ment.

Developing Business Plans and Funding Proposals1 DayWorkshop

This workshop takes participants through the preparation of a busi-ness plan and proposal writing. It examines business plan basics,the key elements and components of a business plan, and the busi-ness planning process. It takes participants through all the financialdocuments required and presents a feasibility study to determinethe viability of a business.The workshop also covers the basics ofwriting funding proposals.

Presenting and understanding financialinformation and the audit1 DayWorkshop

A workshop for both elected leadership and management, this pro-vides a basic introduction to the financial responsibilities of electedleaders including: short and long term planning; budget approvaland review; establishing a financial policy; decision making basedon financial information; approval of financial statements; the na-ture and format of financial information and reports that should bereviewed; and, financial communication with the community.Theworkshop also covers the audit process providing tools to under-stand the audit; facilitate the audit process efficiently and painlessly;understand remedial management; and utilize the audit as an effec-tive management tool.

UnderstandingDebtManagement1DayWorkshop

This workshop describes the principles of deficit financing, the fed-eral government’s intervention policies; how to manage debts well;and, putting in place an effective financial management environ-ment and policy vis a vis debt management. Participants will beprovided with an overview of budgets – developing and usingbudgets and community participation in the budget process.

For more information, for costs,and to set a date for your workshopcontact AFOA at1-866-722-2362.


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WhatisPerformanceReportingandwhyshouldmyFirstNationlearnmoreaboutit?Increasingly, First Nations are recognizing that learning toman-age and report on performance is a big step on the path to self-governance.

One of the tests of a self-governing community is whether it can ar-ticulate, agree, and then achieve its own goals rather than those im-posed by others.

Developing a capacity to prepare and use financial statements andother financial information helps a First Nation manage one of thekey resources it needs to meet its goals – money.

Butmaking ormanagingmoney is not what a First Nation is all about.Money is an important resource to help a First Nation achieve its com-munity, health,well-being and cultural goals.However,money is notthe only resource a First Nation needs – and sometimes it is not eventhe most important resource.

Other resources that a self-governing First Nation might draw uponto define and achieve its goals include:

> focus;> discipline;> community engagement;> wise choices of strategy;> training, knowledge and skills; and;> the ability to learn and adapt from experience.

Just as a self-governing First Nation needs to plan, keep track of andreport on its money in order to manage its finances, it needs to plan,keep track of, and report on these broader aspects of its resourcesand performance in order to manage them well.

This broader approach to management and reporting is called per-formance reporting.

AFOA recently completed a comprehensive study on performancereporting in a First Nation context. The focus is on reporting on per-formance to community members.The study was guided by a high-level steering committee of Aboriginal managers and leaders. Thestudy has resulted in a publication, an on-line course and a commu-nity workshop on Performance Measurement and Reporting in FirstNations.

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The Aboriginal Performance Wheel

Defining and reporting on performance enhances performance as awhole,helps decision-makersmake better decisions and strengthensgovernance.

As First Nations move towards self-governance, they are beginningto adopt and adapt techniques for categorizing and quantifying per-formance that have been developed elsewhere. They are acceptingthe costs and the challenges of performance reporting so that lead-ers, managers, and community members can better discuss, define,and achieve their community’s goals.

They are not reporting on their performance because“it is the thingto do”or because external stakeholders require it. They are reportingon their performance because they see that it can help build and bet-ter their communities.

Oral reporting and discussion of performance has long been part ofFirst Nation culture.

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Performance is about achieving goals. That may sound simple. Inpractice,however, it is a bit of a juggling act - there are many aspectsof performance that have to be kept in balance with one another. Todescribe performancemore fully,AFOA introduces the Aboriginal Per-formance Wheel (see p. 19). At the inner core of the Wheel are thecommunity’s goals; immediately around the goals are the directionsmanagement gives to achieve these goals.Around these are Cultural,Capacity, Community and Financial perspectives on performance.

Performance management is the art of, first, defining and then plan-ning, organizing and implementing to achieving a First Nation’s goals.Performance management starts with a community envisioning itsfuture and defining both long-term goals and short-term perform-ance targets. It is sustained by ongoingmonitoring and comparisonsof progress against plan and by discussion of lessons learned.

Formal performance reporting plays a key role in performance man-agement. It complements financial reporting by addressing the realbusiness of the First Nation – thewell-being of the community. It pro-vides a structure and content to complement oral reporting and dis-cussions of performance. It goes beyond transparency by showing acommunity their Nation’s performance as seen through the eyes of itsleaders. And formal performance reporting – in accordance withagreed rules — underpins the accountability relationship betweenthe Chief and Council,management and the community.

First Nationsmay not find it easy to adopt performancemanagementand reporting to help plan and achieve their goals. To be sure, thereare technical issues to address. But the biggest barriers are cultural.Meaningful reporting not only holds out the promise of better results,it also imposes responsibilities on all the parties to an accountabilityrelationship. It demands a high level of trust, openness and respectamong Chief, Council, management, staff and the community. Staffmay have to overcome fears that they will be unfairly criticized fortheir performance. And the whole community will be involved inchoices and trade offs.

To start thinking about and preparing for performance reporting in away thatmakes sense for individual communities,AFOA suggests thatyou consider carefully:

1 How ready are we to report on performance? The introductionof performance reporting may bring changes to the way thatmany in the community interact with one another. Is there ashared understanding of why change is necessary? Are all theplayers willing to make the changes? Do they have the skills thatthey will need?

2 At what level and how often should we issue reports? It issometimes easiest to start reporting on performance at the levelof individual programs. But it may be that what the communitymost needs is to think about performance at the level of thewholecommunity and how programs interact with one another. Keyquestions here are how,at what level,and howoften does the FirstNation government engage the community in setting or changingdirections?

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What is Performance Reporting?

3 Onwhich aspects of performance shouldwe focus? We shouldnot try to report everything.That will just overwhelm users.Ratherwe should focus performance reports on what managementthinks is important, what the community thinks is important andon what has previously been committed to.

4 What kinds of information should we report? Performancemeasures are hallmarks of performance reporting. As important asthese indicators are,however, is whatmanagementmakes of them.How do management and elected leaders interpret the availableinformation? How do the current results affect long-term goals?How do our results compare with past performance and withother, similar, organizations?

5 Howwill we validate and issue performance reports? Good re-porting should be transparent about the basis on which it hasbeen prepared and any limitations in the underlying data onwhich it is based. It makes sense then to start by assessing the rel-evance and reliability of available information and how it can bepresented to the community in a way that is user-friendly.

6 Howwill we obtain and respond to input? The main reason forreporting is to engage the community in planning and achievingits own future. That will not happen just because the First Nationissues reports. Processes – assemblies,committees etc.,must be inplace to provide the community with an opportunity to digest re-ports and comment on performance. Most importantly there hasto be awillingness to respond to community input,and processesto facilitate response.

AFOA has the following resources available to support your efforts tointroduce Performance Reporting in your community:

Publication/Guide – $25 AFOAmembers/$50 non-members – con-tact AFOA at (866)722-2362 for copies or email Christine Dewache [email protected]

On-line Course – Course start date September 8, 2008 – to registercontact AFOA at (866)722-2362 or Jeff Hunter at [email protected]

CommunityWorkshop – AFOA can come to your community to de-liver a 2 day workshop on PerformanceMeasurement and Reportingin a First Nation - for more information contact Suzanne Seebach at(866) 722-2362 or at [email protected] JAM

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StrategicPlanningonFirstNationsBy JoeMelisek B.Sc, B.A., CMC

How do First Nation communities and their entities increase thelikelihood of success in whatever they do? Like anything in life,setting goals and planning to reach those goals increases one’schance for success. For a First Nation, adopting a strategic plan-ning process at all levels of the organization, regardless of thepolitical environment, can assist. Typically, strategic planning isfor the entire organization,butwhat if your organization has notadopted a strategic planningprocess?The answer quite simply isthat youhave to adopt the processwithin your owndepartment,in your own job or set the expectation for your superiors. Thiswas the message conveyed at the 2008 Aboriginal Financial Of-ficer’s (AFOA) conference where BDO Dunwoody Chartered Ac-countants and Advisors presented the session “An Introductionto Strategic Planning: The Key to Better Performance in YourCommunity”.This article summarizes the key points of that pres-entation and shows how far an organization can go when itadopts a strategic planning process.

The term process is appropriate since strategic planning is more thana one day, feel good brainstorming session. The process describedherein outlines: the importance of planning on First Nations todaymore than ever; the keys to success; issues identification, causes andwhat needs to be addressed; a solution framework and some bestpractices.

IntroductionWith the relatively short terms of First Nation elected officials, and ahistory that is geared to dealing with issues at the Chief and Councillevel, Aboriginal organizations/communities and their entities tendto have short-term focus on planning, if they plan at all.Aboriginal or-ganizations, especially with current funding agreements, are no dif-ferent than any other organization. They can be consumed withday–to–day issues, often without consideration of the larger picture,resulting in poor performance, not reaching goals, poor service tocommunity etc.

Strategic planning is an ideal way of overcoming this. The websitewww.managementhelp.org says “simply put, strategic planning de-termines where an organization is going, how it’s going to get thereand how it’ll know if it got there or not”. It is a disciplined effort to pro-duce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide whatan organization is,what it does,andwhy it does it,with a focus on thefuture or in other words“increasing the likelihood of success”.

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JoeMelisekB.Sc.,B.A,CMCis a CertifiedManagement Con-sultant and Senior Manager of

Consulting with BDODunwoodyLLP in Sault Ste.Marie.BDO is anational chartered accountingand consulting firm primarilyconcentrating on the special

needs of Canada’s not-for-profitorganizations, independent busi-nesses, corporations, local gov-

ernments, credit unions andaboriginal sector clients.

Importanceof Strategic PlanningonFirstNationsWhy is it nowmore important than ever to adopt a strategic planningprocess on First Nations? The Aboriginal Financial Officers Associa-tion tells us that there is/are:

> Complex Financial Environments - Over the past twenty-fiveyears, Aboriginal financial operations have rapidly grown in com-plexity. Federal transfer payments are increasingly premised uponsignificant local decision-making and accountability.Further,Abo-riginal financial operations are becoming increasingly diversifiedthrough economic development, claims settlement, tax regimes,etc.These trends are sure to continue.

> AFunding Shift - First Nations aremoving from a“funding agree-ment” transfer-paymentmentality to onewhere long term strate-gic planning and revenue generation is critical to survival.This shiftis occurring at an unprecedented speed.

> More Sophisticated Requirements for First Nation Manager’sSkills,KnowledgeandAbility - The knowledge and skills requiredofmanagers in today’sworking environment are significantlymoresophisticated than thatwhichwas required twenty years ago.A lackof effective management can translate into serious repercussionsfor a community and directly impact on community members.

> ARequirement for First NationManager‘s toMoveBeyond justFinancial Management and Have More Well-Rounded SkillSets - Financial management is only one aspect of the manage-ment skills required. Effective, sound community management inall its aspects (planning, policy development; accountability, per-formance, program, project, risk and human resource manage-ment; communication skills and general management relatedskills) is critical to community success, self-governance efforts,andsocial and economic prosperity.

> ARequirement for Effective governance -While the focus in thepast has been on capacity development at themanagement level,progress is also highly dependent on increasing capacity at theelected leadership level – a difficult challenge in light of the polit-ical framework in which communities operate.

> Leadership Challenges - Management face significant challengesvis-a-vis elected leadership. However, it is only through the com-bined efforts of all parties involved in governing and managingcommunities (elected leaders, CEOs,management, financial man-agement), that progress can be made. Cooperation is essential.

Implementation: theKey toSuccessOver the years as a consultant to management and also a member ofa largenational firm,I havebeenapart ofmany strategic businessplans.Many of these plans had participation from all stakeholders,were wellthought out and the intentions were good, but sadly most of theseplans sit on the shelf or in a folder on the organization’s computer net-work. So today,as you scroll through that folder and see strat plan 2003or S/P 2005 or Biz plan 2007, ask yourself …What went wrong? Frommy experience,the answer to that is simple, it is implementation.How-ever, the execution of the answer is muchmore difficult.

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The dictionary defines implementation as“the carrying out,execution,or practice of a plan,amethod,or any design for doing something”.Assuch, implementation is the action that must follow any preliminarythinking in order for that thought to come to fruition. In short, thisboils down to somebody doing something tomake the plan actuallyhappen. Are or were you that person? Are you the Chief, the coun-cilors, Manager/CEO,Director of Operations or DepartmentManagerresponsible for the implementation?The fact is that all aspects of theorganization are responsible for the implementation in some way.

What can you do tomake the plan actually happen? Critical to successis that every plan needs a champion. Typically, that champion is acommunity leader that ensures the plan is initiated, monitored, re-vised and evaluated. More so, if the champion creates a team ofchampions at themanagement and staff level, the likelihood for suc-cess increases.

A well designed plan is composed of smaller action plans with keydeliverables. Those deliverables have resources and responsibilitiesassigned to them. If you as a leader can ensure that each employeeat the action plan level champions their own deliverable or actionitem, then the likelihood of success is even greater.

Much like the success of a small business is largely based on the en-trepreneur’s ability to manage; the success of a strategic plan for amulti-part organization such as a First Nation is greatly dependenton its governing body to oversee the implementation. In a typicalgovernancemodel, that oversight is onewhich ensures implementa-tion of an organizational vision for the future based on fulfilling a re-alistic mission. On First Nations, the mission usually revolves aroundproviding services through program delivery and economic and so-cial development. Once a First Nation’s vision and mission for thecommunity are set, including the goals involved, the objectives de-sired and the strategies and actions to reach them are set, a strategicplan should be developed to achieve the organization’s vision andfulfill the mission. Simply having a vision and mission is not enoughto create dynamic change within a community; a well thought outplan must exist along side them.”

What if this isn’t the case?What if you are proponent of planning andthose around you are not? You should continue to plan regardless ofthe situation; it can be contagious.Planning breeds success and all toooften one hears “they have a plan …maybe we need a plan?”As a fi-nancial officer or manager, why not act as the catalyst for planning?Usually, it is the financial information that stimulates the planningprocess fromanegative standpoint.We are in deficit,we need aplan orduring the budget process as the upcoming year’s projected revenueand expenditures land on your desk at the eleventh hour…Where istheplan togowith it?Howdoes itmeet ourmission,vision andphiloso-phies? Howdoes it address the situationwe find ourselves in now andin the years to come? If you ask these questions of your organization,what follows is a straight forwardprocess that answers thesequestions.

Mission,VisionandPhilosophyA good plan has the organization’s mission, vision and philosophy(MVP) in mind. If the MVP are well stated, the plan need not over-stretch their limits, but use the MVP as targets or goals:

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Strategic Planning on First Nations

> Mission – The purpose or reason for the organization’s existence;> Vision – The future position of the First Nation;> Philosophy – Set of values,practices and structures that help peo-ple share and leverage their knowledge tomeet their First Nation’sneeds.

SituationAnalysisOnce the MVP are identified the next step is the situation analysis.This process is simple and is the most rewarding. Start by collecting,analyzing, and reporting information that describes the current situ-ation and anticipates changes in the future environment by way ofan Environmental Scan and SWOT analysis. In other words,determinewhat the situation is you are operating in andwill be operating in andwhat can you do take advantage of, or mitigate the situation, de-pending on the issue or what needs to be addressed. These deter-mine driving forces, issues and trends and are used in an internalassessment (strengths and weaknesses) and an external assessment(opportunities and threats) of the First Nation as follows:

Environmental Scan

> Monitoring,evaluating and disseminating of information from theexternal and internal environments.

> Attempts to:

> Identify the key trends and changes that will affect theway thatthe First Nation operates.

> Identify the external and internal elements that influence thefuture of the First Nation.

SWOT

StrengthsPositive issues internal to the First Nation

WeaknessesNegative issues internal to the First Nation

OpportunitiesPositive issues external to the First Nation

ThreatsNegative issues external to the First Nation

Strengths

Your strengths are the advantages of your First Nation. To determinewhat your strengths are you should ask questions such as:

> What do you do well?> What community assets or resources do you have?

Weaknesses

The weaknesses are the limitations or difficulties you encounter onyour First Nation. To determine your weaknesses you should askquestions such as:

> What do you do poorly?> Where could you progress or build capacity?> What should you steer clear of?

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Opportunity

An opportunity is a favourable or suitable situation that provides achance for progress or advancement.Useful opportunities can comefrom such things as changes in:> The need for local resources> Technology> Government> Demographics, social patterns, lifestyle changes, etc.

Threat

A threat is a possible risk or constraint you face such as:> Economic obstacle> Legislation> Geographic location

Causes

It is important to identify and group similar causes in order to set pri-orities and identify what needs to be addressed in a strategic plan.

> What causes a strength or opportunity and how does your FirstNation take advantage or build on it?

> What causes a weakness or threat and how does your First Nationmitigate?

WhatNeedsToBeAddressed

Once you have identified the causes, the final step in your situationanalysis is to summarize, condense and prioritize causal information

> When you identify common causes of multiple issues, it enables amore focused approach in developing alternatives and subse-quently, a solution for dealing with what needs to be addressed.

> Once a solution is identified, develop GOSA (goals, objectives,strategies and actions).

SolutionFramework - goals,objectives, strategiesandactions (GOSA)The outcomes fromplanning andbrainstorming sessionswith a focus on:

Goal – Open-ended statement of an expected accomplishment> No quantification of what is to be achieved> No time criteria for completion

Objective – End results of a planned activity (measurable, results ori-ented)

Strategy – A comprehensive master plan stating how to achievegoals and objectives

Actions–Tasks/activities toexecute a strategyanddetermine scope (W5)> Timeframes> Deliverables> Resources> Costs> Responsibilities> Evaluation/Measure – did we meet the objective and how is itmeasured?

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Strategic Planning on First Nations

ManagingConflict

With every planning process comes conflict. It is important to identifythe conflict early and address it. Here are some tips:

> Not all conflict is negative; it may result in a positive discussion orsolution.Your ability to manage conflict and use the outcomes toyour advantage will make you successful.

> Watch out for the silo builders – they are the first to say they willcontribute,yet they are territory protectors andwill do everythingwithin their power to undermine the process.

> Take advantage of community-oriented people – they are awealthof knowledge and have a community perspective rather than apolitical one.

> Avoid the talkers – they are not implementers.> Use organization or community groups, or create one to addressbroad range of issues to hear all sides.

Best PracticesBest practices in strategic planning provide an awareness of what isneeded to produce successful results at all stages of the process.Some best practices to initiate, implement and sustain a strategicplanning process are:

What’s needed to initiate a strategic planning process?

> Community and/or stakeholder engagement and support> Capacity building/training> Resources (time,money, external professionals)> Communication

What’s needed to implement a strategic plan?

Keys to success are:

> Identify four or five priorities at each level of the organization andknock them off one by one to build confidence

> Integrate performance measures with strategy> Allocate and align resources to support actions> Involve all stakeholders in the process (e.g. communication)

What sustains a strategic planning process over time?

> Commitment to the process

> Ensures continuity> Retreat one day every year for follow-up, evaluation and prior-ity development. This is a feel good exercise that celebrates theaccomplishments of the past and set new priorities for the fu-ture.-

> Runs across terms of government.

> Credibility> Adhering to your own participation> Following the documentation you have prepared.

> Communication> Educate those around you on the existence and merits of theplan and celebrate the accomplishments to get buy-in.

Worth noting is that communication is a best practice throughout theprocess and finding creative ways to engage and inform your com-munity, organization and/or department is paramount to success.

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Once you have mastered the strategic planning process by readyingthe community for planning and adopting a continuous planningprocess, the next step is the Comprehensive Community Plan.*

A Comprehensive Community Plan (CCP) is a holistic process under-taken with broad community participation. A comprehensive ap-proach that:

> Enables the community to establish a vision for its future and im-plement projects to achieve this vision.

> Helps to ensure community projects and programs are thoughtthrough,make sense and are the best use of resources.

> Integrates and links all other plans the community has producedwith a goal of sustainable development.

Processes that are driven by the community and for the communityare most effective at achieving positive change.That’s why the com-prehensive community planning process is inclusive and representsthe perspectives of all members, whether they reside within or out-side the community. All members of the community, including Eld-ers, youth, and family representatives, can offer unique and valuableperspectives on community needs, values and priorities.

A comprehensive community plan addresses key planning areas, allof which are interrelated and interdependent: governance, land andresources, health, infrastructure development, culture, social issues,and the economy. Consideration of all key planning areas throughone unified process defines community planning as a holistic and in-tegrated exercise that can lead to sustainable development.

In the end,strategic planning in a First Nation organization builds con-fidence to: plan; implement the plan; and, sustain the plan with theultimate goal of a comprehensive community plan. A CCP encour-ages sustainable development on First Nations and indicates to thecommunity, funders, agencies, financial institutions, etc. that the FirstNation encourages growth, while respecting history and culture.When a community effectively implements a CCP they are integratingorganizational, social, economic and environmental factors into theirdecision-making,which increases their likelihood for success. JAM

*The Comprehensive Community Plan information fromabove is excerpted fromwww.ainc-inac.gc.ca/bc/proser/fna/ccp/ccphb/ccphb_e.html

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ImportantchangestoFirstNationsFinancialReportingRequirementsarecoming–Willyoubeprepared?Self-governing First Nations are typically directed by their self-government legislationto follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or GAAP for governments as out-lined in the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) Public Sector Account-ing (PSA)Handbook. INAC’s currentYear-EndReportingHandbook requires First Nationsto follow the local government reportingmodel outlined in the PSA Handbook.

First Nations should be aware however that the local governmentmodel has undergonemajorchanges and effective with fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, the local gov-ernment reporting model will be the same as that for senior governments (provincial, territo-rial and federal governments). There will be only one financial reporting model forgovernments in the PSA Handbook. This model will be referred to as the Common Govern-ment Reporting model.

The CICA is in the process of completing a publication entitled Report of the Financial Report-ing by First Nations StudyGroup.This report recommends that First Nations follow the CommonGovernment Reporting Model. Ernie Daniels, AFOA President & COO and other prominentAFOA members including Keith Martell, CAFM, Chairman, First Nations Bank of Canada, andHarold Calla, CAFM, Chairman, First Nations Financial Management Board, and Fred Tolmie,CAFM,CEO,Nisga’a Lisims Government were members of this Study Group.

All First Nations financial andmanagement staff and elected leaders should be aware of thesepending changes andwhat theymean to your community.Among the key capacity challengesthat will be faced include:

> Converting financial statements to the Common Government Reporting Model> Providing an overview of accounting for Tangible Capital Assets

AFOAWorkshopbeingoffered tohelp youprepare for these changesTo prepare First Nations for the pending changes in First Nations Financial reporting require-ments, AFOA is developing a workshop which will focus on the key challenges that financialstaff will face when these changes go into effect January 2009.

The workshop will cover the following:

> Converting financial statements to the Common Government Reporting Model> Providing an overview of accounting for Tangible Capital Assets> Note disclosure requirements with a focus on Segment Disclosures

This workshop will be delivered across the country in the fall months in conjunction with AFOAChapter Events.More informationwill be provided tomembers over the summermonths. JAM

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Playing

SafeisRiskybyDan Jelinski

Torisk is tochoose.

I’m an early riser.Five o’clock usually findsme inmyZenden con-templating theunfoldingof a newday.Life viewed from this van-tage point always holds the promise of things unseen.The peaceandquiet of theday,soon tobe replacedby the frenetic pace andnoise of another twenty-four hours, calls my wanderingmind toattention.What lies hidden in the next several hours?Will it be acarbon copy of the previous day or will I be invited to ventureinto risky,unknown territory?The choice ismine,as it is for everyperson who chooses to live life intentionally.To choose the pathless travelled or to opt for thewell-worn thoroughfare traversedby themasses, is the choice offered by each day.

Risking means to wander down an unfamiliar path, to dare living bychoice and not by chance. Choice involves being in the moment ex-ercisingmy freedom to live with intention,where chance reduces lifeto reacting to whatever random stimuli might comemy way.

I can’t speak for the masses; I only know in the early hours as I peerinto a new day, I often waver on the edge of a maybe.Maybe I’ll playit safe,avoid risk and possible failure,stick to the tried and true,get thejob done, and look like I’m in charge.Or maybe I’ll dare to throw cau-tion to the wind, live for the moment, and risk the possibility of hav-ing others see an imperfect human being.Choosing the route of leastresistance, as pedestrian and boring as that sounds, does offer a cer-tain degree of security, sameness, and predictability. Choosing thepath less travelled, on the other hand,means leaving routine behindand embracing an adventure whose end is not yet in sight.

To greet each day ready to embrace what life has in store would beidyllic. However, that kind of consistency is illusive. There are manydays when security beckons and I saunter down the well-travelledroad called Sameness. This choice, if indeed it be called a choice, isless of a calculated decision andmore the result of the grinding paceof life that captures so many of us.Yet whenever I catch myself turn-ing my back on intentional living and succumbing to the easy way,somewhere deep inside is the nagging awareness that I’ve compro-mised my values.

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Dan Jelinski, speaker,facilitator of personal and

organizational success

[email protected]

Co-author ofBe the Leader They Love

(Attracting,Developing andRetaining PeopleWhile

Earning Their Trust)Leader Smarts Team,2008.

www.betheleadertheylove.com

Whatare the consequencesof not risking?What causes a person towaver between stayingmired in the old andfamiliar,when striking out in a new direction offers somuch?Why dosomany otherwise educated, intelligentmen andwomenplay it safe?One simple explanation is that although the sameness of status quoliving offers few challenges, it does offer protection from the possi-bility of failure. As much as risk taking is encouraged in the popularmedia, risk avoidance appears to be the modus operandi of an in-creasing number of people. At the root of risk avoidance is the per-son’s discomfort with change.Yet it is acceptance and the befriendingof change that catapults the ordinary leader into the ranks of the ex-traordinary.

Toriskmeans to leavebehind theoldand familiar toventure into

thenewandunfamiliar.

It seems self-evident that risking involves change. Risking suggeststhat there is some kind of movement, a kind of distancing from theold“what was”to the new reality of“what is.”This change takes placeon different levels: thought, attitude, and most obviously, behaviour.A leader might say,“I used to believe that theory, but now I espousethis one. I used to embrace that approach, but now I believe in thisapproach. I used to go there, but now I come here.”With persever-ance and discipline, what started out as an intellectual pursuit leadsin time to action in the external world. Simply contemplating riskythoughts, speculating about brave adventures, or dreaming “would-n’t it bewonderful if ____X____”amounts towishful thinking.The re-sult of this kind of fantasizing is that status quo thinking and actionis maintained, substantive change remains dormant, and nothing isrisked.To risk means to leave behind the old and familiar to ventureinto the new and unfamiliar.The new and the unfamiliar,however,canbe delayed by falling back into safe patterns of thinking and decisionmaking.Reliance on these safe patterns jeopardizesmomentum andultimately puts at risk any real progress.

There is a quaint story of two old friends named“If”and“When”whowould meet regularly for lunch. Their conversations, unknown tothem,would always revolve around all the things theywere planningto do, but somehow never got around to doing.“If”was always com-ing up with what he called reasons for his inaction,while“When”hada problem committing to his grandiose schemes. This went on forsome time until another diner, overhearing their defeatist conversa-tion, mirrored back to them how their negative thinking and lack ofactionwas keeping them stuck.Feeling frustratedwith their lot in life,“If” and “When” decided there and then to live life intentionally andspeak only of their actions and successes.

Have you ever caught yourself, family members, or work associatessounding like the two gentlemen in the above story? You might besurprised to discover how these old friends aremore numerous thanyou think.Youwon’t have to search far.They are found lurking aroundphotocopiers, staff meetings, boardrooms, and CEO suites.

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The pervasive presence of “If” and “When” speaks to how ingrainedour aversion to risking is.The story of “If” and“When” is really a com-mentary on you and me when we fail to stick out our necks and risk,when we choose inaction to action,when we choose the comfort ofthe known to the perceived discomfort of the unknown.We are guiltyof “If” and “When” thinking when we catch ourselves talking in plan-ning or speculationmode, rather than accomplishment and achieve-ment mode.

Some people believe they can avoid the discomfort of change i.e. risk,by standing pat. Inaction, however, exacts a heavy price: temporaryrelief in the short term, stagnation and atrophy personally or profes-sionally in the long term.

Whatare thebenefits of risking?Howwill you ever find out how good you are if you never push your-self to the next level, strive for the next standard,or stretch for the ul-timate prize? Pushing, striving, and stretching are essentialcomponents of being successful in the business world or being a suc-cess in life. In fact, it’s hard to conceive of a situation,story,or life wherethis energetic trinity was absent and success was present.

Goals are thwarted if perseverance and discipline are replaced withshort-term thinking and lack of staying power. Intentional living andrisking go hand in hand.There is an allure to the path of least resist-ance for those talented men and women who park in the Comfortzone.But by falling victim to the siren song of familiarity,peoplemissan opportunity to move beyond mere spectator status. Success be-comes elusive when fear of risking becomes pervasive. Fear of risk-ing becomes the unwritten subtext for those lured into the ComfortZone.What exactly is the Comfort Zone?

Have you heard the term“Comfort Zone”used in casual conversation?Commonplace usage suggests people apply this concept frequently.There may bemore to this thanmeets the eye.The idea of a ComfortZone does not stand alone.Those who see it within the context of amuch larger discussion gain a much fuller appreciation of this term.

Imagine three concentric circles: the inside circle labeled the ComfortZone, the next circle the Growth Zone,and the outside circle the PanicZone. Each of these circles describes experiences that speak to adultdecision makers at various stages of risk taking.

The Comfort Zone typically possesses the following characteristics:rest, relaxation, safety, security, familiarity, no risk, little learning,stress-free, sameness, creativity, fun, autopilot.

The Growth Zone is typically characterized by energy, newness, ad-venture, risk, the unknown,new learning,stress,change, increasedlearning, courage, challenge, experimentation, creativity, fun, fear,excitement.

ThePanic Zone typically engenders extreme fear, terror, immobiliza-tion, desire to escape, survival thinking, no learning, irrational be-haviour.

Risk avoidance often appeals to those attracted to remaining in theComfort Zone, while risk acceptance and risk pursuit attract leadersseeking to push beyond the conventional.This push to traversewhere

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Playing Safe is Risky

others fear to tread, however, has its limits. Intelligent risk takers ac-knowledge the possible adverse consequences of their decisions andactions.They spurn a cavalier attitude in the face of obvious harm anddefer to the safer extremities of the Growth Zone. Informed risk tak-ers have learned from reflection upon hard lessons that careless ven-turing into or being pushed beyond to the Panic Zone leads to oneplace: escape thinking.

Panicked leaders and panicked employees shut down,emotions takeover,productivity slows to a crawl, and creativity ceases.Survival andchaos replace reasoned growth and order. Informed managers andCEOs avoid the Panic Zone at all costs.The Panic Zone is the last placeto locate creative, informed risk taking.The Growth Zone is the mostobvious place for productive risking.What causes somany otherwisegifted leaders to get caught in the Comfort Zone?

What challengesget in thewayof risking?The reasons for choosing the familiar risk-avoidance surroundings ofthe Comfort Zone are endless.However, the rationale for not movingout of this mindset is found in the answers to these two questions.

> What happened in the person’s past, regarding risk?> What are the perceived negative outcomes of risk in the future?

A person’s risk history has a direct influence on their choice ofwhetherto risk or not.What happened the last time that person risked?Was itsuccessful? Was there a positive outcome, or was the person hurt bythe results? If the personwas hurt as a result of taking a risk, the likeli-hoodof risking again is diminished.More often than not,the now jaun-diced person opts to wrap himself in the mantle of“cynicism.”

Cynicismoftenhas its roots inariskventuregonewrong.

Cynicism often has its roots in a risk venture gone wrong.The persontrusted, risked, and paid the price. Cynicism, now the bandage thatprotects a deep emotional wound, becomes the strategy used tobuffer against what is perceived to be a hostile work environment.Cynical people are non-risking people.Their negative stance rendersthem incapable of pursuing a more positive future.The possibility ofa brighter tomorrow is tainted by their past and they predicate po-tential future outcomes on selective recall of a flawed past.Wherepeople have come from speaks volumes concerning how they viewthe future. A person’s vision, however clear or blurred, controls theirperception, and their perception controls their reality.What you be-lieve, is what you see.

Risk takers, particularly risk-taking leaders, need to make peace withtheir past,as good or as bad as it may have been, in order to embracea more positive future.There are, however, those risk-phobic leaders,employees, and work associates for whom the future presents moreof a challenge than the past.

People make choices almost every moment of their waking lives;some decisions or choices are easy,with minimal risk and of no con-sequence, while others are difficult, highly risky, and life altering.

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Whether to brush one’s teeth before breakfast or after breakfastmat-ters little.Whether to marry this person or someone else, or whetherto commence chemotherapy or not, is qualitatively different.The for-mer points to routine behavior, while the latter identifies potentiallife-defining moments. These moments, simple or complex, speak,however inaudibly, to the rationale bywhich a personmakes choices,i.e. approaches risk taking.

A person risks and grows by vacating the Comfort Zone on a regularand intentional basis.To do otherwise is to remain stagnant, and na-ture teaches that stagnant things die.A personwho remains stagnantin thought, action, and relationships courts the ultimate.

Uninspired,risk-avoidanceemployersreplicate themselves inuninspired,

risk-avoidanceemployees.

The allure of the Comfort Zone lies in the fact that this mindset of“chilling out, pampering, and embracing the easy life”has become acultural norm. Men and women from across various demographicshave chosen the soft, play-it-safe life. This is not to denigrate pleas-ure, relaxation,and positive self-care.But someone should sound thealarm for leaders in the business sector seduced by the Comfort Zone.Being stuck in the Comfort Zone suggests conventional thinking,sta-tus quo management, and “vanilla flavoured” leadership instead ofpushing-the-edge,“jalapeno chocolate chip”leaders.Uninspired, risk-avoidance employers replicate themselves in uninspired, risk-avoid-ance employees.

The problem with a preoccupation with the Comfort Zone is thatgreatness has never come from a person’s Comfort Zone. Through-out history, evidence shows that outstanding enterprises achievegrowth through hard work, discipline, and intelligent risk taking. Allare the product of spending time in the Growth Zone.The genesis ofgreat movements, inventions, and business innovations may haveoriginally surfaced in the Comfort Zone,e.g.Buddhameditating underthe bow tree, Jesus praying in the desert, Isaac Newton resting underan apple tree, Archimedes relaxing in a bath tub. The developmentand ultimate refinement of their discoveries, however, occurred wellbeyond the Comfort Zone.The wisdom of an African proverb pointsto the consequence of those who favour security over adventure:

Smoothseasdonotmakeskillful sailors.

For an informed risk taker, decisions require the parry and thrust, thegive and take of “maybe I should or maybe I shouldn’t” thinking. Riskthrives in this area of uncertainty,where outcomes lack a guarantee.Growth Zone thinking involves taking risk while fully conscious of astill undefined outcome.

Growth Zone thinking requires a “letting go” of outcomes. Absoluteresults are rarely predictable, yet savvy business leaders know intu-itively that success lies in their ability to push beyond their need to becertain. More often than not, businesses rise or fall based on theleader’s internal dialogue rather than on decisions made in the cor-

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Playing Safe is Risky

porate boardroom. Innovative leaders inspire their followers by modeling the way. Theydemonstrate what living beyond the safety zone looks like.They teach by their decisions andactions:

“Youcan’t steal secondwithyour footfirmlyplantedon first.”

—BurkeHedges

Courage is the hallmark of leaders who function from the Growth Zone.Optimal thinking andinformed action separate these leaders from thosewho aremore comfortable with status-quothinking and behavior.Risk-taking leaders possess a clear vision of where they want to be andhow they plan to get there. This clarity allows them to take calculated chances with the fullknowledge that the endmay not be in sight.These world class leaders have a profound senseof what it takes to be successful.Their hard earned secret to success is summed up in thewarn-ing: playing safe is risky. JAM

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IntroducingAFOAAboriginalManagementCertificateCoursesAre you struggling with key management issues in your organi-zation? Do you want to know more about strategic planning,human resourcemanagement and othermanagement practicesthat support high performance? Do you want to know how toplan for and resolve ethical issues in your organizations? Do youwant to know more about performance reporting or compre-hensive community planning? Do you need to develop an effec-tive remedial management plan?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you want to enrollin AFOA’s on-line courses

On-line courses are a convenient and inexpensive way to upgradeyour skills and knowledge. . You will receive a Certificate of Profes-sional Development when successfully completing the course.

Coursesoffered

AboriginalManagementPractices 1 (AFOA2)

This course provides an overview of current management practicesand activities that support high performance. Issues covered include:how to manage change; leadership; problem-solving and decision-making; meeting management; communications; negotiation anddispute resolution; continuous improvement; and self-management.

Aboriginal ProgramManagement1 (AFOA3)

This course focuses on your role as a programmanager and your abil-ity to make sound and informed decisions. The key processes inachieving high performance are strategicmanagement,performancemanagement, and effective decision-making. These processes arethoroughly discussed in this course.

AboriginalManagementPractices II (AFOA4)

Building on the skills and knowledge acquired in Management Prac-tices I, this course offers tools that can be used to provide leadershipand accountability. It examines governance issues,policy-making andplanning,human resourcemanagement,benchmarking,governmentand community relations and other key management issues.

Values&Ethics in theAboriginalWorkplace (AFOA5)

This course is the first of its kind in Aboriginal education. It providesa broad based understanding of maintaining good values and ethicswithin the Aboriginal workplace. The course covers business andhuman resource ethics, examines different ethical situations andethics in financial administration.

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NEW! PerformanceMeasurement&Reporting in FirstNations:AFocusonResults (AFOA6)

Learning to report on performance to community members is a bigstep on the road to self-governance.This course introduces the con-cept in a First Nation context, identifies core principles of perform-ance reporting and draws the link to financial reporting.

NEW! An Introduction toComprehensiveCommunityPlanning in FirstNations (AFOA7)

This course focuses on best practices and case studies in Compre-hensive Community Planning (CCP) and covers the history and evo-lution of CCP; exploring indigenous principles; and current modelsand insights from First Nations who have completed CCP.

NEW! DevelopinganEffectiveRemedialManagementPlanin FirstNations (AFOA8)

This course will help you acquire the knowledge and techniquesneeded to develop a Remedial Management Plan for your commu-nity and in so doing help to achieve financial stability and accounta-bility.

Register NOW!Next course start date: September 8,2008Space is limited!

Costs: Members $535 (plus GST)Non-members: $645 (plus GST)

Register on-line at www.afoa.ca orcontact AFOA at 1-866-722-2362.

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Today’sWorkers-

Tomorrow’sSeniorsandEldersEven if retirement is many years away and you are a ‘senior orElder of tomorrow’, understanding Canada’s Public Pension sys-tem now can help you and others in your community. Planningfor your retirement takes work, but it is an important step in se-curing your financial future.

Almost all of today’s seniors and Elders receive income fromCanada’sPublic Pensions. These pensions and benefits are delivered throughthe Government of Canada’s Old Age Security (OAS) program and theCanada Pension Plan (CPP). No benefit from OAS or CPP will beginautomatically, you must apply and meet the eligibility requirementsto receive a benefit.

CanadaPensionPlanThe Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is a contributory pension plan de-signed to provideworkers and their families with some financial pro-tection from loss of income. As long as you meet the eligibilityrequirements, the CPPwill be there for you and your family when youretire, if you become disabled and cannot work, and when you die.

CPPContributionsYou must contribute to CPP to receive a benefit for you or your fam-ily. Most workers contribute automatically through deductions fromtheir paycheque. Both the employer and employee pay half of theCPP contribution. Your contributions to CPP are portable; they accu-mulate over your working life even if you work with different em-ployers or live in different areas.

First Nations and all other workers employed off reserve have had tocontribute to the CPP since 1966, but it is only since 1988 that FirstNations employers and workers employed on reserve can choose tocontribute. If your employer chooses to participate in the CPP, youmust participate as well by making contributions.

If your employer chooses not to participate, you can choose to con-tribute on your own by paying both halves of the contribution. Self-employed individuals off-reserve must contribute to CPP on netearnings. If you are self-employed on-reserve,you can also choose tocontribute to CPP by paying both the employer and employee por-tion. Tax status is not determined,or affected,by whether or not youcontribute to the Canada Pension Plan.

The amount you can receive in benefits depends on how long andhowmuch you have contributed to the CPP during your working life.Certain periods of low or no earnings are also exempted from thecontributory period when you apply for a CPP benefit.

For example, the Child Rearing Provision allows CPP not to count theyears you were raising your children under the age of seven when

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calculating the amount of your benefit,whichwill ensure that you receive the highest pensionpossible. This provision must be applied for when you apply for a benefit from CPP.

It is never too late to apply for the Child Rearing Provision. If a senior or Elder is uncertain if theyprovided this information when he or she applied for CPP, he or she should contact ServiceCanada to confirm.

CPPBenefitsCPP Retirement pension – must have made at least one valid contribution to CPP; can apply

as early as 60 years of age if you have stoppedworking or earn less than themaximumCPPbenefit payable. At age 65 or older, it does not matter if you are still working.

CPPDisability benefit –youmust have contributed to the CPP during four of the past six years(or three of six if you are a long term contributor) AND have a severe disability that preventsyou from working regularly at any job. If you qualify for this benefit, your dependent chil-dren can also receive monthly benefits.

CPP Survivor benefits - If youmet theminimum CPP contributory requirements for Survivorbenefits and you die,and your survivor is over 35,has dependent children or is disabled,heor she (your spouse or common-law partner) and dependent children can receivemonthlybenefits.

CPPDeathbenefit - If you are eligible, the CPPwill pay up to $2,500 towards your funeral costs.

TheCPP is available in all parts of Canada,except in the province ofQuebec,which has its own sim-ilar program, the Quebec Pension Plan, or QPP. Contributions from both CPP and QPP are consid-ered when calculating a CPP benefit. However, the QPP does not allow tax-exempt persons tocontribute to the plan.

OldAgeSecurityThe Old Age Security pension is a monthly payment available to most Canadians aged 65 orolder.You must apply to receive benefits. If you meet the eligibility requirements you can re-ceive an Old Age Security pension even if you are still working or have never worked. Unlikethe CPP,Old Age Security is not based on earnings or contributions.

To receive the basic Old Age Security Pension, you must be 65 years of age or older and meetthe residence requirements of the program. Seniors and Elders who have lived in Canada allof their lives,or for at least 40 years,are entitled to receive the full OAS pension. Thosewho havelived in Canada for less than 40 years, but at least 10 years,may be entitled to receive a partialpension. Seniors and Elders with less than 10 years of residencemay still be able to qualify fora partial pension under an International Social Security Agreement.

In addition to the basicOldAge Security pension,there are three income testedbenefits avaiableto low ormodest income seniors and Elders:

Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) – for seniors and Elders aged 65 and over, in receiptof the OAS pension,who meet the income cut-off levels.

Allowance and Allowance for the Survivor – for younger seniors and Elders aged 60 – 64who are either the spouse or common law partner of an OAS pensioner or a widow or wid-ower who has not remarried or entered into another common-law relationship, and meetthe income cut-off levels.

Some seniors and Elders face barriers gaining awareness of and access to these benefits;whether because of language, literacy, isolation or lack of exposure to government. Sharing thisimportant information with your community can ensure that seniors and Elders are receivingall of the benefits to which they are eligible.

For more information on CPP and OAS benefits, contact Service Canada at 1-800–277–9914,visit servicecanada.gc.ca, or go in person to a Service Canada Centre in your area. JAM

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By IsmoHeikkila, CFP

HowtoSuccessfullyManageYourMoney–A lookatpersonal financial planningSometimes people pay more attention to managing their organiza-tion or community’s finances than they do their own personal fi-nances. This brief article is focused on tips and strategies to creatingyour ownpersonal wealth.Whilemany individual's financial situationsare similar, few are identical, and everyone is responsible and ac-countable for managing their finances successfully for growth, bal-ance and harmony.

Here are two questions that serve as a reminder for all of us; “Whatare the primary aspects of growth in nature?” And the follow up ques-tion is…”What are the requirements for personal growth and finan-cial security?”

By observing the continual success, year after year,of how nature ex-hibits growth, one can apply similar principles to one’s own life. Weknow that to have something grow there needs to be Seeds,an Envi-ronment, and Nourishment.

Let’s examine how nature’s growth process applies to us on a per-sonal level.

Seeds would be Decisions; the Environment is where we live andwork;and Nourishment is the actual thinking,and doing,and activelypursuing one’s goals.

Everyone has some idea of what they would need and want in theirlives. Howone spends their time andmoney reflects their current be-havior. Behavior is influenced by one’s attitudes, and at their core,their personal values. A value might be defined as “a thing or condi-tionwhich one strives to get or keep”.Therefore,howone spends theirtime,and howone spends their money,are indicators of the values ofthat person. It is a reasonable assumption that one does not spendtheir time and money on things and activities which do not havevalue.

Money does not have any intrinsic or real value except for use as anexchange for goods and services. So everyone has a choice in as-sessing whether or not something is of value for the amount ofmoney required to obtain it. Whenmoney is limited, then the choicesbecome limited and need to be prioritized. For example, food, cloth-ing, shelter, and other basic survival needs are a priority.

TheFinancialPlanning

GrowthProcess

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IsmoHeikkila,CFPis the National Director, Financial

Education & Employer Servicesfor T.E. Financial Consultants, a

FEE-ONLY™ division of T.E.Wealth,an asset andwealth

management company. Ismocan be reached at

[email protected].

Time falls into this category as well since everyone has choices as tohow to spend their time. With everyone having 24 hours a day, andhaving many alternatives with what to do with their time, then a listof priorities is developed. Exchanging one’s time in employment forincome; being with family and friends; spending time in developingand helping the community,and taking time learning and personallydeveloping, are all examples of growing by design, not by default.One way to define successful living is“the continual progress towardworthwhile goals”.

To bring these concepts and ideas to a more practical level regard-ingmanaging one’s personal finances requires an assessment and anaccurate documentation of:

1 current assets – what is owned2 current debts – what is owed3 current income – from all sources4 current expenses – includes everything

One cannot make an accurate financial projection into the future,which could be nextmonth,next year,or inmany years,unless one al-ways has an accurate documentation of their current financial situa-tion. This is very important in order to establish realistic andachievable goals. Essentially this means a focus on maintaining andimproving one’s lifestyle. Ultimately it means securing enough fi-nancial assets and income to allow lifestyle to continue for the rest ofone’s life once employment income ends.The personal financial plan-ning process is a method of aligning one’s finances with their goals,and it is the same structured process for everyone. The differences,the pleasant and unpleasant aspects of implementing the process,allvary by individual. Compromise and trade-off may be necessary.While some are confident inmanaging their finances independently,others look for assistance from family, friends, and financial advisors.

No matter what one’s current financial situation is, it can always beimproved,and it may take some time. Yet the result of having a goodunderstanding and control over one’s finances,and life,will be a heal-ing and empowering reward.

So think of the:

Seeds = Decisions…of what is desired in the futureEnvironment =Home& Job…iswhere youmake a contributionNourishment =Work & Effort… is the power of activity

Through this process of attunement with nature, living through thespirit of gifts given to everyone, then harmony, balance, and growthcan be achieved. JAM

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