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Treaty Team Report: 2020-2021
» 2022/2023 Lands application for $100,000 towards completing the Land Use Plan » 2021/2022 completed 5 lot registrations for Coyote
Rock Estates in 2021 & 5 in 2022 over $2,000 in lands registration fees
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2. Organization of Lands Management & Registry » Issued burn permits Spring 2021/2022 » Registered five new Coyote Rock estate lots in 2021 & five in 2022 & 1 commercial lot registration » Updated all Lands forms to pdf fillable » Forming a WLFN Lands manual to provide guidance in the Lands department » Attendance at various invasive plant, wildlife, lands meetings (such as Invasive Species Council of BC & federal engagement sessions on Species at Risk) 3. Law Development » Near completion of Garbage Collection Law,
Waterworks Law, Business License Law » Close to final draft state for the WLFN Land Use
Plan and Law
Lands department survey training in Summer 2021
CORPORATIONS HIGHLIGHTS
SUGAR CANE ARCHAEOLOGY
Between archaeological fieldwork, laboratory processing, educational fieldwork, and heritage preservation initiatives, Sugar Cane Archaeology (SCA) has been busy over the past year!
In accordance with Article 31 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), Indigenous peoples “have the right to maintain, control, protect, and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions… [and] the right to maintain, control, protect, and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions”. In accordance with this, Sugar Cane Archaeology conducts archaeological fieldwork across both WLFN traditional territory, and the broader Northern Secwepemc te Qelmucw (NStQ) Statement of Intent (SOI) area.
Our crew, now numbering 18 people over the summer field season, is currently busy preparing for the upcoming 2022 field season. Equipment is being organized, trucks are being cleaned out, and staff members are completing a variety of training certifications that will come in handy over the coming year. All SCA employees receive their ATV/UTV, Bear Aware, Chainsaw, Confined Spaces, Ground Disturbance, First Aid, H2S Alive, S-100/S-185, Transportation of Dangerous Goods and WHMIS certifications over the course of the job – it’s good to prepared for any situation! While delivering >$1,000,000.00 worth of contracted archaeological services during 2021, our crews have worked across the Cariboo-Chilcotin Natural Resource District, Quesnel Forest District, and the 100 Mile House Natural Resource District. This work has included crew stays in locations across the region, including in: Alexis Creek, Big Bar, Clinton, Horsefly, Lac La Hache, Likely, Quesnel, Tatla Lake, Wells, and 100 Mile House.
As the company continues to grow, the list of clients and industries that we conduct archaeological fieldwork for grows with it! Over the past year, we have conducted fieldwork on behalf of:
» Government and ministry clients (including British
Columbia Timber Sales (BCTS), the Ministry of Forests,
Lands, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural
Development (FLNRORD), the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI), and BC Parks); » Local and regional agencies and organizations (including the Cariboo Regional District, the City of
Williams Lake, the Williams Lake Cycling Club, and the
Williams Lake Community Forest); » Industry clients and developments (including Tolko
Industries Ltd., and West Fraser Mills Ltd.); and, » Other Indigenous nations, enterprises, and ventures (including Alkali Resource Management, Stswecem’c
Xget’tem First Nation, and Tsi Del Del Enterprises Ltd.)
Beyond conducting fieldwork and reporting for clients, SCA has partnered with several clients (including British Columbia Timber Sales and the Resource Planning and Assessment Branch (RPAB) of FLNRORD) on developing regional Indigenous cultural heritage training programs for delivery to government staff members and licences. Through culturally appropriate training, we hope to provide government employees with an understanding of the cultural history of the region and its Secwepemc people, as well as the importance of protecting archaeological, cultural heritage, and traditional use features and locations.
During this year’s fieldwork, SCA crews recorded more than 20 new archaeological sites in the territory, including lithics (such as flakes, projectile points, and scrapers), habitation sites (such as house pits), and subsistence features (including cache pits and fishing rocks). In addition to new archaeological sites, SCA crews also recorded 50+ traditional use sites (including culturally modified trees, or CMTs, and resource collection areas) during the past field season.
In addition to fieldwork, SCA has been busy at work reaching out to the Sugar Cane and City of Williams Lake communities, and beyond, via participation in educational and social events, initiatives, and collaborative learning experiences. In December 2020, SCA launched an educational blog designed to bring awareness to Indigenous archaeology, cultural resource management, and cultural heritage. Our blog can be found at: www.sugarcanearch.ca/blog.
SCA further demonstrated our commitment to collaboration, education, and youth through a partnership with School District 27. Over the past year, we have hosted workshops for more than 10 classes from local Elementary and Middle schools for students ranging in age from 5 to 13 years old. These workshops have included tours of the SCA archaeology lab, interactive presentations on how to identify, protect, and report artifacts, and on-theland visits to archaeological sites. We look forward to continuing to work together with the School District over the coming years to promote cultural awareness, heritage protection, and Reconciliation over the coming years. Beyond our work with School District 27, SCA collaborated with the Williams Lake First Nation Title & Rights, Recreation, and Social Development Departments on Williams Lake First Nation’s 2021 Youth Culture Camp that took place near WLFN Indian Reserve #5 (Chimney Creek). Taking place of 3 days, Culture Camp allowed more than 30 WLFN-affiliated youth the opportunity to participate in cultural activities on the land, including a tour of nearby archaeological sites, drum making, ribbon skirt making, and traditional plant collecting.
In addition to our work with youth, SCA has also participated in multiple job fairs and expos over the past year. To date, we have participated in university-level recruiting expos on behalf of Simon Fraser University, Trent University, and the University of Calgary, as well as local jobs fairs including the Williams Lake Job Fair, the Trades and Technical show, and the WLFN career fair. We truly believe that by investing in youth and the future, we will promote the management and protection of cultural heritage for future generations.
If you are interested in following along with our crew’s journey over the upcoming field season, don’t forget to head on over to Facebook (@Sugar Cane Archaeology) and Instagram (@sugarcanearch)! Interested in what we do? We are always looking for enthusiastic individuals to join our seasonal field team. If you love archaeology, fieldwork, and the outdoors, don’t hesitate to pop by the SCA offices in the WLFN Downtown Office at 315 Yorston Street to join the fun!
SCA crew members participate in Chainsaw Training.
SCA crew members participate in ATV/UTV training.
SCA crew monitoring during prescribed burning within CWL. SCA crew member measuring a cultural depression.
Kamloops Horizon projectile point identified within the CWL. Lithic material identified within the CWL.
BORLAND CREEK LOGGING
Borland Creek Logging Ltd.
Harvests 120 to 150, 000 m3/year. Full phase harvesting operation. “Stump to Dump” In operation for 25 years. Currently has 35 harvesting and Silvicultural Crew members.
BCL has had a very difficult year in terms of harvesting activities. Crews started up late this year and curtailed operations due to the softwood lumber market and a large increase in the stumpage pricing increase that came into effect on July 1st.
Our road building crew is updating the ITA access roads for our chipping and removal of harvest debris from the 2017 wild fires. The Biomass or chipping operation should run into the early months of 2022. FESBC has set aside funding for these operations. Tree planting on the ITA lands will continue increasing each year with 150, 000 trees planted over the past two years and 450, 000 trees to be planted next spring.
Silviculture crews are working on a number of fuel management projects within the territory. We also have crews working at Gibraltar Mine conducting core sampling and another crew on environmental monitoring.
Last year BCL has harvested approx. 100, 000 m3 of volume under the WLIB/City Community Forest, West Fraser, and Tolko forest licenses.
Any questions or concerns you have please do not hesitate to drop by the office or give Aaron Higginbottom a call at 778-417-0191.
SUGAR CANE PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
There were a lot of small projects completed in a period of 9 months (July 2021 – March 2022) such as:
» Putting in new shelving. » Removing the old shelving from the store. The old shelving was in use for a long time and had started rusting which lead to it also affecting the store floor tiles. » Purchasing outside rolltop which gives our store extra space for automotive products such as windshield washer fluid, diesel exhaust fluid. » Bringing in new vendors for impulse buy products which includes clothing blankets. » Cleaning the store floor ties. After the shelving removal, we found that the floor was a mess and required us to hire a waxing company to clean and scrub them up nicely. » There were a lot of extra racks which were making the store really congested. Therefore, we got rid of them to give our store a lot of room. » Cleaning the outside shed which is used to carry our old paperwork and some store supplies. It was also full of junk which was removed and is now kept tidy. » Installed a new door in the manager suite upstairs for privacy reasons. » Old-Dutch chips sales have increased with +223% reported by Business
Development Manager Old-Dutch Dean » New Heating unit has been installed by Markey mechanical on 4th of march and its working » New lighting and blinds have been installed on window in manager suite » New water heating tank has been installed for the building
There is one project still in process as we are changing the front entrance and exit doors with new doors which will also include handicapped button to open the doors automatically. This project will take some time as there is supply shortage from the back end for glass.
FINAN FINANCIALS
2021-2022 FINANCIAL OVERVIEW
The Williams Lake First Nation (WLFN) has completed its 3rd year in the 10-year grant and has exceeded financial expectations in the 2021-2022 fiscal. We realized revenues of $15,116,819 in 2020-2021; and in 2021-2022 WLFN realized even higher revenues in the amount of $24,815,371 which is an increase of $9,698,552 (64% increase).
The chart on the right breaks it down by specific revenue sources, which shows WLFN generated 31.58% of its annual revenues which continues to increase annually. WLFN’s strong leadership and staff have continued to capitalize on funding opportunities by applying for proposals, entering into agreements, and forming partnerships.
In 2021-2022 WLFN received $8,618,906 in funding through Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) formally known as Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC). Although this is a substantial amount, it is important to know that WLFN is not solely dependent on ISC funding as the own source revenue that WLFN generates from proposals, agreements and partnerships continues to fluctuate between the 61%-66%.
Since WLFN receives funding each year from Indigenous Services Canada through the 10-year grant, Indigenous Services Canada is required to review WLFN’s financial statements to:
» Calculate our financial position at March 31, 2021 » Determine whether or not all programs, services and activities were delivered in accordance with the terms and conditions of our funding agreement » Determine any program reimbursements, recoveries, and ongoing unexpended funding balances.
WLFN’s 2020-2021 review has been completed and it is important that WLFN ratios are deemed favourable each year. Below you can see WLFN’s 2020-2021 financial ratios are above each benchmark and all three have been deemed favourable.
The Williams Lake First Nation also continues to add to their Tangible Capital Assets and in 2021-2022 WLFN added a net value of $7,943,308. The net value is calculated utilizing the $9,101,864 additions in Tangible Capital Assets minus the Amortization of $1,158,556.
Tangible Capital Assets (TCA’s) are a significant economic resource managed by governments and a key component in the delivery of many government programs. TCA’s can include: roads, buildings, vehicles, equipment, land, water and other utility systems and computers.
The 2021-2022 new additions included the completion of the New WLFN Government building, construction of the trail, sweat lodge and new housing developments, repairs/ maintenance on Coyote Rock Road and Borland Creek Dam, vehicle and equipment purchases, purchase of land, Arbour and Sugar Cane Treadpro building upgrades, and furniture and fixtures for new government building etc. Below you will see how much TCA’s has been added over the last 4 years. WLFN has continued to grow substantially, especially in the last two years.
FINANCIAL RATIOS 2020-2021 2019-2020
Liquidity 5.8 8.08
Sustainability
Working Capital to Revenue 1.53
0.57 2.31
1.16 BENCHMARK
A liquidity ratio <0.9 is of concern as it denotes that a Nation cannot address its short-term debt obligations with its liquid cash
A sustainability ratio <0.5 is of concern as it denotes that a Nation cannot meet longer term obligations with their assets
A working capital ratio <-0.08 is of concern as it denotes a Nation cannot address its current liabilities with it’s current assets
FINANCE HIGHLIGHT #1 RECOVERY OF ARREARS
WLFN Finance and Housing worked collaboratively together to create U114 Williams Lake First Nation Arrears Policy which was approved by Chief and Council in April of 2021. The purpose of the policy is to recover overdue monies owed to WLFN and to protect the financial viability of the Williams Lake First Nation. Housing and Finance met with multiple community members to review their arrears and arrears agreements were signed. On April 1, 2021, the arrears of community members amounted to $414,116.66 with WLFN recovering $93,989.98 in arrears during the 2021-2022 fiscal.
Note: All WLFN Member distributions are subject to arrears recovery. All recoveries will be based on the following: a) Arrears amount between $.01-$5,000 the deduction of 25% b) Arrears amount between $5,001 and up, the deduction of 50%
In 2018, The Williams Lake First Nation implemented a community Christmas bonus to thank all WLFN members on and off reserve (over the age of 18) for their participation in supporting all WLFN departments and businesses. All eligible members are required to fill out the WLFN Community Christmas bonus form to receive their $150 bonus. This annual payment comes out of our Community Forest License budget and is distributed during the month of December.
In 2020, 82% of eligible members submitted their Community Christmas Forms totalling $80,550 being paid out to eligible members (payments were increased to $225/member due to Covid and WLFN’s inability to hold a Community Christmas Party).
In 2021, the number fell to 79% for a total of $52,500 being paid out to members.
We are looking forward to the 2022 Community Christmas Bonus – make sure to fill out your form (can be found on WLFN website) and let’s increase our numbers.
Note: The Community Christmas Bonus are subject to arrears recovery as noted in Highlight #1.
WILLIAMS LAKE FIRST NATION
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the year ended March 31, 2022
