|
Centre, town council discover Common Ground
|
Mayor Rick Dumont, left, and Vicky Barsalou, the executive director of the High Prairie Friendship Centre, signed the agreement of understanding and co-operation for the Common Ground Initiative at the town office Oct. 21.
|
Mac Olsen
for South Peace News
The Town of High Prairie and the High Prairie Friendship Centre have signed an agreement of understanding and co-operation related to the Common Ground Initiative.
Mayor Rick Dumont and Vicky Barsalou, executive director of the centre, signed the agreement Oct. 21 in town council chambers.
Barsalou is pleased with the agreement.
“We very much appreciate the support that the Town of High Prairie has already given to the Friendship Centre,” said Barsalou at the Oct. 13 council meeting. “We would like to formalize that relationship.”
Dumont is also pleased with the agreement.
“It means we’ve got a partnership and … it’s going to be good for everyone in the long run,” he says.
“We’re very proud of the relationship that we have with the town and this is … a formalization that the Common Ground Initiative asks us to complete,” says Barsalou.
Working for increased cultural understanding and acceptance, as well as working together on common projects and initiatives are part of the agreement’s provisions.
As part of the local CGI, the centre has been holding meetings with the Town of High Prairie and other stakeholders since the spring of 2008 to identify issues of concern.
The CGI has its roots in Edmonton. In 2006, the City of Edmonton developed an Accord Relationship Document which was targeted toward Aboriginal groups within the city.
In 2007, the Alberta Native Friendship Centres Association and the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association discussed the possibility of setting up pilot projects with communities which have large Aboriginal populations. Then they put the Common Ground Initiative into a memorandum of agreement. Later, High Prairie was one of four communities chosen for a CGI pilot project.
During the Oct. 13 meeting, Councillor David Vanderwell asked what the new local agreement would provide which isn’t already provided. Barsalou says it formalizes their relationship and allows the centre to show the co-operation it has with council when applying for grants with other organizations.
“It gives us strength in what we do and how we approach other funding bodies,” says Barsalou. “It’s not about the money for us. It’s about creating a formal partnership, an agreement.”
The Friendship Centre also has a very close relationship with the High Prairie RCMP Detachment, as some officers help with its police cadet program, she adds.
< Previous
Home
Next >
|
