Preamble
The Trustees of the Fishing Lake 1907 Surrender Trust (the "Trustees") exist to invest, protect and monitor the 1907 Trust Settlement for Fishing Lake First Nation #89 & 89A Band Members. The Trustees are responsible for making decisions that will provide membership with the maximum benefits from the settlement. The Trustees are also responsible for communication with Members on the Trust activities. The Member Development Policy (the "Policy") is one part of the Trust Settlement which is designed to assist individual members to become self-sufficient through small business and educational support. In addition to becoming self-sufficient, the Member Development program will assist Members and their families enjoy a better quality of life by providing assistance for housing and recreation funding for youth.
The Member Development Policy is a component of the Fishing Lake 1907 Surrender Trust Agreement (the "Agreement"). Pursuant to section 5.02 of the Trust Agreement, the Trustees have developed this policy entitled The Member Development Policy. The purpose of this policy is to set out the procedures Members must follow to apply for Member Development funds and the procedures that Trustees must follow in considering these applications. The criteria used for the types of activities that the Policy will consider for funding were developed by the Trustees in consultation with the Chief and Council of Fishing lake First Nation and the Members of Fishing Lake First Nation. The Trustees also consulted the Fishing Lake First Nation Strategic Plan prepared by Jeff Orchard of Meyers Norris Penny in July of 2002. Finally, the Trustees considered many of the ideas provided by Band Members at various public meetings in the development of this Policy. The five areas that were most often mentioned were; small business, micro business, housing, education, as well as sports and recreation for youth.
The Member development Policy and any other benefits that Members may obtain from the Trust Settlement are not to infringe in any way on any Treaty or Aboriginal Rights that the members of the Fishing Lake First Nation may have. Section 5.03 of the Fishing Lake 1907 Surrender Trust Agreement states;
"No Prejudice of Rights: The funding of any Band Development or Member Development shall not be construed as prejudicing the rights of the First Nation under Treaty nor shall such expenditures be used to replace programs normally funded by Canada under Treaty or under any other law, policy or program."