Blackfoot Resource Hub gets annual funding recommendation
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on January 22, 2022.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
The Cultural and Social Standing Policy Committee is recommending Lethbridge city council approve nearly $500,000 in annual funding for the Blood Tribe/Kainai Nation to deliver the Blackfoot Resource Hub Services.
The committee is also asking council to authorize the City Manager and City Clerk to execute any further documents that may be required regarding the $496,248 funding for the hub.
The committee was told in its Thursday meeting, in response to a question from councillor John Middleton-Hope, that the City does not pay for any of that funding.
Instead it comes mainly from the federal government with some monies provided by the province.
Martin Thomsen, general manager of Community Social Development, told the committee the funding is for a four-year term which can be renewed annually by the City.
“The original allocation was made through council last year and it’s a four-year term. It’s actually an annual allocation where the City of Lethbridge has the right to renew it annually based on performance. So in alignment with this funding, will be an agreement with performance management, KPIs (key performance indicators) and outcomes defined that will be reviewed and if all is going well, it will be renewed up to a maximum for a total of three years.”
The original allocation for all agreements started in January 2021 for a four-year allocation, Thomsen said.
In response to a question from councillor Jeff Carlson, Thomsen said “the funding is from the federal government, the majority of it is from the Reaching Homelessness Indigenous funding stream with some funding from the provincial homelessness program.”
Thomsen said last year funding was approved and allocated to the Sik-Ooh-Kotoki Friendship Society but because of “unforeseen organizational issues and they had some key staff that are no longer with the organization, Sik-Ooh-Kotoki was unable to fulfill the agreement. And so the City of Lethbridge engaged in a procurement process, an RFP, to solicit a new service provider and the Blood Tribe was the successful proponent,” Thomsen said.
“So we are in the process right now of refining the agreement and the deliverables and the targets and outcomes,” he added.
Thomsen said the process is “that we seek approval, of course through first the Community Well Being and Safety Committee and then go to council for approval for the allocation. Once approved, then we proceed with the actual contract and agreement.”
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More gifts from the embattled taxpayer. Enough, already!
Okay, now let me get this straight, we have: $496,248.00 in annual funding being allocated to the Blood Tribe/Kainai Nation to deliver the Indigenous Resource Hub Services in the City of Lethbridge.
Why is a “nation” putting it’s resource hub in an incorporated city? Why is this hub not on Blackfoot land? Why is it not put on the land by Kipp that is now Blackfoot land? As the Sage Clan stated in the news, they are tired of ‘whitemen’ telling them what to do and they want to deal with things their own way, the old ways that have been soooo successful! So, this land is 10 minutes away from downtown, so why are they building up all their resources in the city if they do not like how we do things?
We have pumped millions into trying to resolve all of their issues on our streets in just the last year, of local city taxpayer dollars. That land is sitting there, 10 minutes from downtown and if they are serious about taking over the problem and dealing with it themselves, then the Indigenous Resource Hub Services should be there, not here!
That land is the perfect spot! Is this the City of Lethbridge, in Alberta, Canada? Or is this the City of Lethbridge of the Blackfoot Nation? Because when I drive downtown and see City Hall the most prominent flags I see are that of the Blackfoot Nation and Reconciliation, not the Alberta or Canadian Flags! Why are the taxpayers of this city on the hook for the $200,000 it cost for the new flag poles and for all of the other millions blown? $300,000 was allocated for a study for an indigenous interpretive center that would cost $25-$30 million, to be built in this city. Again, why would it not be built on their land?
Is this the City of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada? Or are we now the Blackfoot Nation? If we are, I want some of the benefits they get, including tax breaks!