Members of the Toronto and York Region Métis Council during the
Governance and Finance Course earlier this year.
The Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) benefits immensely from the dedicated volunteers who are members of our chartered Community Councils. These hard-working individuals spend hundreds of hours building and strengthening their Métis communities.
Starting in November 2010, the MNO has been able to take advantage of funding through the New Relationship Fund to develop and deliver a Governance and Finance Course that helps Community Councils perform their important work. Offered at no cost to MNO Community Councils, the Governance and Finance Course is delivered by Glen Lipinski and Andy Lefebvre, the MNO’s Consultation and Community Relation Coordinators. To date, Courses have been offered in Atikokan, Toronto, Sudbury and Niagara and Courses are scheduled soon for Peterborough, Grand River, Credit River and Georgian Bay.
The Course is a two-day seminar, usually offered on weekends, in a hotel or meeting hall in each Council’s community. The Course explains where Community Councils fit into the MNO governance structure and explains their role as local government. The Course covers everything from how to run effective meetings and engage citizens in Council activities to budgeting and the various financial practices, regulations and legislation that Community Councils must follow.
Participants in the Course felt they were very useful. Donna Grenier, the President of the Toronto and York Region Métis Council stated: “The Toronto and York Region Metis Council is new; without the guidance of the Governance Courses, we would have stumbled on more rocks along the path on our journey. The information we gained has helped to make for more productive Council meetings.” Stephen Quesnelle the President of the Niagara Region Métis Council said: “I feel that the information that was given to us will enable us to manage council matters in a more efficient and proper manner. It would have been great if we could have had more time, it was a lot to absorb in just two days, but we have good written information and now it is up to us to read more to gain better understanding as we put into practice the valuable information that we have received.”
“This Course is for all our Community Councils,” explained Glen Lipinski, “so, if a Council is interested, we hope they will contact us – we would love to come to their community!”
If your Community Council is interested in accessing this excellent resource, please contact Glen Lipinski at glenl@metisnation.org or Andy Lefebvre at andyl@metisnation.org.