One of the seats on the School District 57 board of trustees should be reserved for the Lheidli T'enneh, according to a demand made by the local First Nation on Wednesday.
The Lheidli T'enneh is not the only First Nation within the SD57, but it is the geographic and demographic bulk of the district's aboriginal content.
Lheidli T'enneh Chief Clay Poutney said that as a host for so many Aboriginal students on its territory, that LTFN was duty-bound to be at the table to represent the interests of their own students and the others sharing the area.
"We estimate we have students from 40 First Nations' within our district," he said, estimating that one-third of those registered across the region were of Aboriginal descent in some form. "We believe we should have a dedicated trustee among the seven (existing trustees) in order to have a higher influence."
It would also be fine with the LTFN if their seat were added, making it a table of eight.
School District 57 (SD57) has not had formal talks with the LTFN on this matter, but enough respectful relationship-building has been going on in recent years, said Poutney, that this new demand would not come as a surprise.
"This is just the next logical step," he said.
SD57's board chair Tim Bennett could not be reached for comment by deadline but did relay that he would be examining the matter and making comment today. The legal framework for sectioning off a position on the board for the LTFN has many facets to consider, like the process of selecting a candidate for that spot, protecting the democratic right for anyone. Including other LTFN members, to run for the other available seats, and compliance or changes regarding existing provincial legislation that governs the election process.
"If they kick it to the provincial level then we will take it to the provincial level as well," Poutney said. "Something has to change, and we want to implement that change."
It is already the case that different areas of the district have their own representative, so a template already exists in the minds of LTFN governors.
"We are not just stomping our feet saying we want a board member," said Vincent Joseph, the LTFN's education coordinator.
"We've been thinking this through and building up to it for a long time."
He said part of that buildup was participating in the ongoing Aboriginal Education Board, but he and Poutney shook their heads over that being an effective voice.
"That isn't a body that looks at policy, it has no authority to supersede the trustees, it just makes recommendations and hopes for the best," Poutney said. "A designated person at the trustees' table would directly represent issues from our point of view. School District 57 does have an open ear, we've developed a very good relationship, but this would take it to a more meaningful level."
The underlying benefit, said Poutney and Joseph, is how representing the interests of LTFN children is also beneficial in representing the interests of non-Aboriginal students as well.
This is a shared district, and nothing is more locally relevant than the language and traditions rooted specifically where the community lives, does business and raises their families. The announcement of this demand was made, not by coincidence, at the LTFN's economic development office in downtown Prince George to symbolize the prosperity of a mutual future in this historically, geographically and sociologically unique place where all roots intertwine with the Lheidli T'enneh.
