On Jan. 29, Simpcw First Nation moved forward with a historic project for their “away-from-home” families living outside the main village of Chu Chua near Barriere, by opening the first of two satellite offices.
The office, located in New Westminster, is part of the Tcwesétmentem: Walking Together Agreement, B.C.’s first community agreement under section 92.1 of the Child, Family and Community Service Act. Tcwesétmentum was co-created with Simpcw and signed through a ceremony and protocol on April 12, 2022.
Simpcw First Nation’s Kúkpi7 (Chief) George Lampreau says he has a “new outlook” for this year: “There is an opportunity in every situation, you just have to look to find it. 2024 is a new year filled with opportunities.
“This office is the first of its kind in the province. This is part of fulfilling a commitment we made two years ago to our members living off reserve to provide them with family support and cultural services. We negotiated with the province over the past two years to be able to provide this much-needed support to our members living outside of our home village, and we will be opening the second office in Prince George at the end of February to provide those supportive services there.”
According to the chief, the program will be overseen by a Simpcw member, and both offices will be operated by members from the nation as well.
“This is just first steps in this pilot project. It will take a couple of years to get things operating to full capacity. Our goal is to eventually open a central office to assist other First Nations in organizing their own programs for their members. We estimate this expansion will serve approximately 550 members to start.”
By working in partnership with the province through the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD), the early intervention outreach workers based in both locations, and working from the two offices, can begin to provide vital services to Simpcw children, youth, and families instead of relying on MCFD. “So far this has been working in partnership with the province,” says Lampreau. “However, we will soon be having discussions federally as well.”
Some of the supportive services for away-from-home members will include providing food and clothing vouchers along with other essential services, with the intention of “strengthening our member families and keeping them unified, secure and safe, together, wherever they may be,” says Lampreau.
Approximately 250 members of Simpcw First Nation live in the community of Chu Chua, Simpcw’s main village near Barriere. Of the nearly 500 away-from-home members, 150 are under the age of 19. In November of 2022, Bill 38, the Indigenous Self-Government in Child and Family Services Amendment Act, was passed into law. Through this bill, B.C. changed provincial legislation to remove barriers for Indigenous governing bodies, supporting their inherent right to self-govern, specifically exercising jurisdiction over child and family services.
Lampreau speaks with pride, telling Black Press “We won the Premier’s Award in partnership with the Ministry of Children and Families in Victoria about a month-and-a-half ago. Our staff worked very hard together in this process with MCFD. Jurisdiction means we have control and say in our families’ lives, and for us that is so significant.
“This enables us to work directly with our families, so they don’t have the experiences in the child welfare system that our people used to deal with in the past. Tcwesétmentem means ‘walking together’ and that is what this journey is about for all First Nations in Canada.”
Simpcw envisions the two new satellite offices in New Westminster and Prince George as hubs to bring their band members living out of their home community together: “[A] place to connect back to Simpcw, and some to return to the community again for cultural events,” says the chief.
“We will be constructing 15 new housing units in our community this spring and we hope to look at more development in that regard in the future if more away members would like to return home to Simpcw. We also want to look at assisting in career training and overcoming barriers to help people with their long-term life plans. I see 2024 as a year of positive opportunities for Simpcw.”
Lampreau says that the next “historic” event happening soon will be the much-anticipated Memorandum of Understanding signed with Simpcw First Nation and the mayors along the Highway 5 corridor from Barriere, Clearwater, Valemount and McBride, uniting the partners formally in the valley as they work “collectively as good neighbours.”