Follow-up Group A: Questions and Answers

Upon further discussions by the group:

Questions
1. What employment position have you held full time (40 hour weeks) in the past ten years and for how long?
2. What campus do you attend and how are your studies financed? - personal, student loans, Band Education fund?
3. References?
4. Besides education focused on native culture and native economics, do you have any background in present economics?
5. People are asking why not run for councilor to start and establish yourself for a future chief position if that is still your aspiration?
6. What vision would you have for each specific Band business, short and long term?
7. What are your business plans – concrete, business plans not only the weekend cultural, language, traditional elements.

Answers

1. In terms of 40hrs/week, I've been attending university during the whole year (Fall, Winter and Summer semesters) for the last three years and haven't had the time to work full-time, but have continously held 2 or 3 part-time positions over those three years. Before that, my full-time employment was during the summer months (May-Aug), one summer in Kelowna working construction, and full-time positions at the golf course for two years prior to that.
To focus on the last 3 years, as well as being a full-time student, I've worked an avg of 28-35 hrs a week.

2. I attend UBC Okanagan in Kelowna (previously the OUC North-campus) and pay for my own education through part-time employment, student loans and the odd bursary. The Band only administers DIA funding and do not fund anyone that does not qualify based on DIA requirements, I do not meet those requirements and am therefore not supported by the Band/DIA in any way.

3. I could provide references, but, in keeping with protocol, I would have to ask them first if I could put their name forward; instead, I would just suggest that you ask other Chiefs, Councilors, Educators, Administrators, Elders that you respect, how they feel about myself and any other candidates.

4. With all education, the Western (or current) theories are the easiest part, the hard part is the incorporation of traditional and/or Indigenous values into current theory. It is harder because you have to learn Western economic theory better than current economic theorists, in order to disprove their assumptions; that only their way is the right way, and our Indigenous theories are primitive and backward, but that's the privilege of Western thought, never having to prove itself valid, and those that learn it (Western/current theory) just assume it's "the way it is".
For example, current economics has brought us to the environmental state we are in, global warming, water loss, oil crisis, energy crisis, etc.; because, instead of factoring in any environmental, ecological, social, political, cultural factors into the equation as real inputs into macro economic decisions, those factors were simply given costs and mitigated financially (a good example of this are the massive diamond mines left open by hiring one security guard because it is cheaper to pay that employee than return the land back to what it was). Indigenous economics, at the least, would factor in ecological thresholds, and understands if we develop in a certain way, the long-term environmental, health, cultural, societal costs, economically, outweigh the short-term spikes in financial gains. Economic theory in general is starting to recognize this, and is actually looking toward Indigenous knowledge to re-transform theories to deal with the global state our world is headed towards.

5. First, I really do not believe that I have personal "aspirations" or am I driven by ambition to be chief, the main reason that I want the position is to put real decision making power back into the hands of the people and my overall goal is not to ask the people to exchange one political faction for another, that would be pointless, I am asking them if they want real input into the decisions that are made on our reserve. I believe that if we have one person that holds all three Chief, Band manager and CEO positions, then not one position receives full devotion, and they will all suffer, also, the decisions that are made on our reserve, we do not know if they are made from a CEO perspective or Chief perspective. I believe the CEO perspective prevails, because it is easier to just decide on decisions based on money as a CEO and only have a few to consult on decisions (which are made at the boardroom) and harder to incorporate the input of the people and do what is best for everyone in the community. If I sat as Councillor, that problem would persist.

6. The vision that I would have for the businesses, is to make them all profitable, so that we do not have to keep borrowing more money or developing our lands for minimal sums, with low lease payments, we really need to get a handle on our debt. We have to ensure that our people are working in those band business positions, and if not, why; and, before we develop more, we should answer that question so that we can ensure we are benefiting our people, because that is one of the main motivations behind developments - jobs.
Further, we have to ensure that our people are treated fairly, given the same wage, promotions, full-time positions (not kept at part-time), benefits, etc. as non-native employees.

7. As for concrete business plans (ie. business objectives/vision, market/industry analysis, competitive opportunities/challenges, sales and marketing assessment (4-P's), etc), those would have to come in time, when I get some real information. No information has been shared for so long that I don't know if any of the Band membership knows what is going on with any businesses, unless they are the few that work in upper management. I know there are year-end financial statements shared but, with no opportunity for input, discussions, feedback etc., then those statements are only part of a one-way information sharing system with no real accountability. If Band members are share holders, if the businesses are supposed to benefit the Band membership, then the people should be kept informed, so that the people can have informed discussions and play a more significant role. Band meetings that provide updates on what each of the Band business operations are doing, are needed, possibly semi-annually or annually. There are other reserves that provide such information to their members and we should do the same.