News and Notes

Over the past few months we've been receiving a lot of comments and ideas from community surveys and followers on our website, blog, and facebook. We appreciate hearing what you have to say, and with your feedback we can improve how we deliver and you receive all this information. We are listening to your thoughts, and have made the following adjustments:

Community Meetings

What we heard is that you wanted more community meetings. We added an entire third round of meetings to help members stay informed. We also doubled the number of off-reserve meetings for those members who couldn't make it to their community meeting.

You told us the first round of meetings contained too much information, and that you would prefer to hear from the leaders. In the second round, we focused the meetings on stories from your elders as your leaders took center stage to share their thoughts on this agreement.

Website and YouTube

We've done a complete redesign of the website, and updated all the information. Each community has it's own webpage, with links to photos, pamphlets, survey results, and posters unique to that community. Check out your community page by visiting http://www.statimchydro.ca/ and clicking on your community logo at the bottom of the home page!

We interviewed your Chiefs and put their videos on YouTube and linked their videos to the website. You can watch them all at http://www.youtube.com/user/statimchydro1911, or on your community page at http://www.statimchydro.ca/communities

In addition to videos of the chiefs, we edited and posted clips from community members and elders on our YouTube channel.

Facebook and Updates

We heard that you wanted more meeting notice, so we have been posting 1 week notices on Facebook and we've been providing notice posters for each community well in advance. We have also been posting event notices to Facebook, the website, and the news feed. Lastly, we have been posting same-day reminders on Facebook and on the website.

Newsletters

You told us the trust was confusing. We printed an additional newsletter illustrating how the trust works, and posted a blog explaining that communities have a say in how the trust is used - http://statimchydro.posterous.com/word-on-the-street-will-the-communities-have

The first newsletter explained the agreement in detail, showed quotes from Chiefs, and included FAQs. The second newsletter explained how the trust worked, had comments from community members, a negotiations timeline, and more quotes from Chiefs and their thoughts on the agreement.

Both of these newsletters have been made available to each community, mailed out to members living off-reserve, and distributed to a couple local businesses. If you've not had a chance to see these, click below:

Ratification (the vote)

We are happy to introduce Carmen Ned, Ratification Officer for St'át'imc Nation Hydro. Carmen and the ratification team has been working hard to get everyone their voting packages. If you have not provided your address to us, or are unsure if we have the correct address, please let us know ASAP. The deadline for submitting addresses is Friday, March 25, 2011. You can submit your address by telephone at (250) 256-0425, or email Carmen at: statimc_ratification@yahoo.com

For more information on Carmen and your voting packages, watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSC8nkKp5Mw&feature=channel_video_title

To find locations of the 14 polling stations, visit our webpage at http://www.statimchydro.ca/the-agreement/voting-information

We're well into the third round of meetings, and things are going well. There is just over 2 weeks until voting day, and our team is working hard on keeping everyone informed so you can feel confident about your vote on April 9th.

Kukshjam,

The St'á'timc Hydro Communication Team