Board of Trustees Report on Trust Activity, Trustee Biographies and Logo Contest (Community Trust)

Introducing the Fisher River Cree Nation Community Trust – Board of Trustees

Fisher River Cree Nation Chief & Council are excited to introduce the Board of Trustees of the Fisher River Cree Nation Community Trust. The Board of Trustee has a team of 5 trustees made up of 4 Community Trustees, represented by 2 On-Reserve and 2 Off-Reserve Members, and FNB Trust as the Corporate Trustee. Supporting the Board of Trustees is TE Wealth as the Investment Advisor. Check below to learn more about the team.

Your Board of Trustees:

Jennifer E. Garson – Community Trustee (resides on-reserve)

Jennifer Garson is one of two Community Trustees that lives and works in-community of Fisher River Cree Nation. Jennifer is a mother to four children, Devon (and his partner, Shawna), Victoria, Jarren and Bernie. Her children are the main reason for becoming a Community Trustee.  She is a wife to her husband Warren, who has always encouraged and supported her to try anything in life.  Jennifer is a High School Math and Science Teacher at Fisher River High School. Being a schoolteacher is a passion of Jennifer’s because she enjoys the company of students since 1998.  She has obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1996, a Bachelor of Education degree in 2002, and a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Educational Administration in 2008.

Being a mother, wife, teacher, and community member are all the reasons to being your Community Trustee. Her hope is to plan for the future and think of generations that are yet to come.  As a mother and wife, she wants to see not only her family and children, but many generations to see the growth of our Community Trust and the importance of this Trust.  As a Teacher, she hopes that students will use their voice to ensure they are securing themselves a future, by learning today about the Trust and the importance of it growing for tomorrow.  “As an on-reserve community member, I hope we can work together to educate, empower, and inform.”-Jennifer Garson

Jeremy Neault – Community Trustee (resides on-reserve)

Jeremy Neault is one of two Community Trustees that lives and works in-community of Fisher River Cree Nation. He has over ten years of Business Administration in different fields such as retail, sales, management, and human resources. Currently, he owns & manages his own business called Neault Marketing Solutions since 2015, which offers website development/management and marketing services to Indigenous communities throughout Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Jeremy’s previous experience includes six years as a Board Member for the Fisher River Economic Development Corporation, in which he was a part of the team that saw the development of Bay River Inn & Suites, Fisher River Grocery expansion and the Fisher River Car Wash & Laundromat. In addition, he also has two years’ experience as a Retail Advisor for the Tribal Councils Investment Group of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manager of the Peguis Multiplex Centre and various roles with Fisher River Grocery in his early years.

Jeremy is married to his loving wife Juanita, and they have three beautiful children, Meena, Emmy and Jameson; and he looks forward to contributing in the long-term future of Fisher River Cree Nation.

Taylor Wilson – Community Trustee (resides off-reserve)

Taylor Wilson is the youth-representative and one of two off-reserve Trustees. She currently resides in Winnipeg where she works as a Project Coordinator at the Winnipeg Boldness Project. She is a skill Indigenous researcher and evaluator and has worked on various projects at the University of Winnipeg, the University of Manitoba, Red River College Polytechnic, and the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute. Much of her research and evaluation work focuses on Indigenous issues in Canada and ranges from health and wellbeing, economics, policy, education, and social services. Taylor also holds a Master’s Degree in Development Practice with a focus on Indigenous Development, a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology and a Bachelor of Arts in Conflict Resolution from the University of Winnipeg.

Taylor has spent time living in Fisher River Cree Nation but has spent the last several years in Winnipeg to pursue her education. It is important to Taylor to stay involved in Fisher River while simultaneously working on her goals. To do so she has been involved in several research projects in Fisher River, most recently the Fisher River Cree Nation Cookbook that was released with the University of Winnipeg. When the opportunity to become a Community Trustee came up, Taylor jumped on the opportunity to be involved and is excited to play a role in setting up and maintaining the trust for future generations of the community. She hopes to bring a fresh perspective and the knowledge and skills she’s gained over her years of work and education to the trustee team.

Edward Kidd – Off-Reserve Trustee

Edward Kidd is one of the two Community Trustees that resides off-reserve of the community of Fisher River Cree Nation. Edward is originally from Fisher River Cree & Peguis First Nation.  He was raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia but returned to his Manitoba roots in the late 80’s in search of his biological family.  After locating his family, he considers himself fortunate that he has been able to experience the joys and discover the bonds that a large Indigenous extended family has to offer.

Edward received his post-secondary education in Winnipeg and has completed a variety of courses at the University of Winnipeg and the Manitoba Emergency Services College. He has also received a diploma in Micro-computing Applications from Red River College.  Edward worked for 4 years with the federal government in the Employment Services Department, RBC Royal Bank where he attained the position of Bank Manager, and North Eastman Health Authority as an Emergency Medical Responder student.

Edward has worked with the Centre for Aboriginal Human Resources Development (CAHRD) as their Marketing/Employer Representative. This position provided him with the opportunity to network, reconnect and re-establish the bonds that he previously enjoyed with the Indigenous community of Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Edward was the first Executive Director for the Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce of Canada, RBC Bank Manager and worked as the Regional Manager for Western Canada-Aboriginal Markets for CIBC.  After 20 years he decided to start the Kidd Group, a Banking facilitator/banking consultant company along with Vickar Automotive Group to bring his experience and education to advise Indigenous clients in financial literacy through transfer of knowledge.  Edward looks forward to furthering the goals and promoting the economic entrepreneurial and business endeavours of the Indigenous people across Canada.

A proud father, Edward’s pride and joy are his four children (3 daughters and a son) and 9 grandchildren.

Priscille Buors – Corporate Trustee (FNB Trust)

Priscille Buors is the Senior Trust Officer at FNB Trust, located in the Winnipeg office of the First Nations Bank of Canada.  She is the Corporate Trustee on the Board of Trustees for Fisher River Cree Nation Community Trust and many other Indigenous trusts. She provides best in class, proactive and personalized trust client experience to Indigenous trusts with a focus on capacity building, technical experience, and developing trusted relationships.

Priscille is a proud Metis woman from the community of St. Laurent, MB.  She holds the professional designation of a Charter Professional Accountant (CPA) since 2008 and the Certified Aboriginal Financial Manager (CAFM) through AFOA Canada since 2019.  Priscille has over 12 years of professional accounting experience in her previous employment opportunities in the Indigenous sectors within Manitoba Hydro and as a Senior Manager at the First Nations Financial Management Board (FMB). At FMB, she led a team of professionals to build capacity with First Nations across Central Canada in finance and governance practices with an end goal to achieve certification.  It is within Priscille’s personal passion to contribute to her Indigenous community with the skill set she has obtained!

Suzanne Trottier – FNB Trust

Suzanne Trottier is the Vice-President of Indigenous Trust Services with First Nations Bank of Canada’s wholly owned trust company, FNB Trust. She leads a dedicated team that provides trust structuring and administration services to Indigenous governments and organizations. Suzanne is a proud Métis who grew up in Manitoba with maternal roots to the Lake Manitoba First Nation.

Previously, Suzanne was the Director of Capacity Development and Intervention with the First Nations Financial Management Board and a Vice-President with Ernst & Young Corporate Finance Inc. Active in her community, she is the vice-chair of the InBC Investment Corp. board of directors, board member (risk and audit committees) of the Business Development Bank of Canada, and advisory committee member of the Martin Family Initiatives. Suzanne was also Treasurer for North Fraser Métis Association and Actions Enfance, and a board member of Aboriginal Finance Officers Association of Quebec. Suzanne was a member of the National Financial Literacy Committee and the National Indigenous Financial Literacy Committee. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst and an ICD.D with the Institute of Corporate Directors. Suzanne holds a Master of Business Administration in finance from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Manitoba.

T.E. Wealth – Investment Advisor

T.E. Wealth is a national firm with roots going back over 45 years to 1972. Our dedicated Indigenous Services practice has been providing comprehensive investment and trust advisory support for over 20 years. Their primary objective is to assist clients in achieving sustainable Community wealth to ensure a prosperous, healthy and culturally-vibrant community.

Jack Jamieson, Vice President, Indigenous Services

Having founded the practice 24 years ago, Jack works exclusively with Indigenous Communities and Jack currently serves on the National Advisory Board for the National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association (NATOA) and through T.E., he is a partner member of the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association (AFOA) and an Achievement Award recipient of AFOA. He has authored articles for the Journal of Aboriginal Management and is a regular speaker at Indigenous conferences across Canada. Prior to joining T.E. Wealth, Jack  leads the Investment Advisory practice for Ernst & Young in S.W. Ontario.

 

Kain Big Canoe, CPA, Assoc. Vice President, Indigenous Services

Kain is a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation and is a Charted Professional Accountant (CPA) formerly of Deloitte Canada. In addition to being a Senior Manager of our Indigenous Advisory practice, Kain brings with him a solid expertise in the planning, development and implementation of effective investment and trust solutions. In addition, he has experience in conducting working sessions with Indigenous communities to provide an understanding of economic development strategies. He also has experience in providing financial literacy training workshops to community youth.

 

Fisher River Cree Nation Community Trust – Board of Trustees Report on Trust Activity

Year-to-Date to December 15, 2021

Background

In April 2021, Fisher River Cree Nation (“FRCN”) entered into a Consent Settlement Order with respect to the 1896 Alienation Specific Claim with the Federal Government of Canada securing its long outstanding right to compensation for the failure to ensure that the Southeast Addition and Southwest Addition were set aside as reserve.  FRCN established the Community Trust to receive the compensation payable by Canada to FRCN ensuring that it is utilized for the long-term benefit of FRCN’s membership.

Purpose

“Fisher River Cree Nation has established this Trust for the purpose of promoting the long-term benefit of the FRCN and its Members.” – FRCN Community Trust Agreement Article 2.1

Trust Year-to-Date Activity for the Period Ending December 15, 2021

June/July 2021 began the selection process for four (4) Community Trustees through a job opportunity poster to the community requesting for two members living on-reserve and two members living off-reserve. The interview process was led by a Selection Committee as represented by the Corporate Trustee, FNB Trust, TE Wealth, the Investment Consultant, and a member of Council. The Selection Committee provided a recommendation from the interviewed candidates for approval by Chief and Council, that being Jeremy Neault, Jennifer Garson, Edward Kidd, and Taylor Wilson, with either a 2- or 4-year term.

In August 2021, the Trust Agreement was officially signed by Chief and Council and the Board of Trustees, with each Trustee signing a Trustee Engagement Agreement.  The Trustees began their duties by participating in a Trustee Training session led by FNB Trust on October 19, 2021 alongside Chief and Council.

The Trustees have retained TE Wealth as the Trust’s Investment Consultant to begin developing the Investment Policy and to assist in the Investment Manager selection process. The Trustees met on November 5, 2021 to interview four (4) investment managers and have selected Beutel Goodman and Fiera Capital to invest the Trust funds in accordance with the Policy.

A virtual Trustees’ Meeting was held on December 10, 2021 to begin Trust operational business activities including an update to the Trust’s unaudited financial statement for the period ending November 30, 2021:

• Settlement Income of $10,500,000
• Interest earned of $3,236
• Accounts Payable and Accruals for Professional Fees of $10,114
• Bank Service charges of $20

The path forward for the Trustees in the year 2022 is to fully invest the trust funds with the Investment Managers, prepare for the 2021 financial statement audit, and plan for communications with the Membership!

This is a very exciting time for FRCN Membership, Chief and Council and your Board of Trustees!  The Board of Trustees is honored to represent the Trust and the Beneficiaries and are looking forward to building the Trust for the future generational wealth of the community!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season!