“With the proposed one-parent rule, it means as long as one parent belongs to our nation, then our children and our grandchildren will become Treaty as part of our band,” she explained.
Cook-Searson also noted band members shouldn’t expect another large per-capita payment from the Treaty 6 Agricultural Benefits settlement. She added, however, there is $40 million set aside for community investments, along with a legacy fund for individual payments around Christmas. That amount will be determined by how much interest has been earned through the legacy fund.
“That money ($40 million) is still there. That one will be going into community investments for our community members,” Cook-Searson remarked.
“That one will be decided by the members, and the councillors before have already gone out to do community meetings and they will continue to do that just to determine the priorities of the community, where they want that money spent. Allocations have been made to each of the communities.”
Cook-Searson also wanted to mention the growth on the LLRIB in recent years.
“We have strong leadership with the LLRIB, we have strong communities, we have a strong future. One of the areas I have highlighted is Kitsaki Management Limited Partnership, which is the business arm of LLRIB. From four years ago, we had 660 employees and now we have over 2,030 employees, so that shows the growth we have had in Kitsaki, for example,” she said.
“The band is in a good, solid financial position. We always have unfinished business and we’re heading towards that way with working on the projects we still have to work on.”
Cook-Searson holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Management. She sits on several boards including Cameco, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority, Saskatoon Airport Authority, Virtual Health Hub, the Prince Albert Grand Council and Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.
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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com