Submitted by: Glen Lipinski & Beth Honsberger, MNO Community Relations Coordinators
MNO Peterborough and District Wapiti Métis Council members who
participated in the MNO Governance and Finance training. (Left to right)
Senator Terry Bloom; Tom Thompson, PCMNO Region 6 Councillor; Terra
Knapp, Secretary Treasurer; Brad Hodgson, Councillor; Christa Lemelin, Chair;
Andrew Dufrane, President; and Deidre Thompson, Interim President for the
MNO High land Waters Métis Council.
The Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) benefits immensely from the dedicated volunteers who are members of its chartered community councils. These hard-working individuals spend hundreds of hours building and strengthening their Métis communities.
Through funding provided by the New Relationship Fund, the MNO has been able to develop and deliver a Governance and Finance course that helps community councils perform their important work. Recently, the MNO Peterborough and District Wapiti Métis Council participated in this two-day seminar from January 25-26.
The training was facilitated by MNO Community Relations Coordinators Glen Lipinski, and Beth Honsberger. The training 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.