The MNO Oshawa and Durham Region Métis Council at
the Governance and Finance training. Back row. (L-R)
Janet Huttmann,Treasurer; Ted McNally, Councillor;
Jeanette Ireland, Secretary. Front row. (L-R) Claire
Kearns, Women’s Representative; Kristin Randall,
President; Cecile Wagar, Senator.
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.
The MNO has developed a Governance and Finance course that helps community councils perform their important work. The course is delivered by Glen Lipinski and Beth Honsberger from the MNO Community Relations team.
During the weekend of March 14-15, 2015, the course was offered to the MNO Oshawa and Durham Region Métis Council. In the past, courses have been available in Atikokan, Credit River, Georgian Bay, Grand River, Milton, Niagara, North Bay, Ottawa, Peterborough, Sudbury, Temiskaming, Toronto, and Windsor.
The course is a two-day seminar, usually on weekends, in a hotel or meeting hall in each council’s community. The program explains the role of community councils as the MNO’s local governments, whose structure and purpose is coordinated through each council’s charter agreement with the MNO. 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 follow.