Working Group

In March of 2023, we began drafting a plan for our governance process.

In May of 2023, our Elder’s Committee was consulted on this process, and provided guidance on the way forward.

In June 2023 a community meeting took place to share the proposed process, gather community input, and ensure that the community was at the centre of decision-making from the very beginning. This meeting confirmed a process with several stages.

The first stage was to develop a community-based working group to collaboratively create a draft Terms of Reference and Voting Process for a Governance Committee. This working group was named Mamawihatoskehk, Cree for “working together.”

From June – August 2023, the 20 community members and Elders of Mamawihatoskehk met regularly in person and over zoom to develop these drafts.

In doing so, they developed capacity in governance through considering the appropriate make-up or structure of the Governance Committee, how membership should be determined, and how the community would participate in that determination.

Between August and September of 2023, the Mamawihatoskehk Working Group held community meetings to present and amend the Governance Committee Terms of Reference and Voting Process, with the community making each decision along the way.

This process determined that the Governance Committee would be made up of seven individuals: An Elder, two youth, two community representatives, one person with traditional knowledge and language, and one person with experience working with government and industry.

At the conclusion of this first phase, in September 2023, a democratic vote took place in Kelly Lake through which the seven members of the Governance Committee were elected.

On Wednesday, May 17 2024, Elders and members of the Kelly Lake Community met to discuss a proposed community governance process for the first time. The meeting was held at the Kelly Lake Community Centre and was very respectful, positive, and productive.