Dan Veniez was left with a pen at the ready, but no papers to sign, that after second thoughts from some segments of the Allied Tribes of the Tsimshian resulted in their decision to withdraw their consent to a protocol agreement between Ridley Terminals and the Allied Tribes.
The signing ceremony was to take place as the center piece of a special gathering on Sunday night at Chances Convention Centre, as part of that ceremony there was to be an announcement of a 25 thousand dollar scholarship program for the Tsimshian people, as well as a 5 thousand dollar donation towards the All Native Basketball tournament.
However, before those photos of the cheque presentations would be sidelined, representatives from some of the member communities asked for a second look at the protocol, explaining that there had been a lack of communication on the proposals that were about to be signed.
Left unstated in the Daily News article from Wednesday, is exactly what it is about the protocol agreement that has concerned some of the members of the Allied Tribes of the Tsimshian, or further examination on the details on how Ridley Terminals plans to increase First Nations participation in the RTI workforce from the current level of around 8 per cent.
The signing ceremony was to take place as the center piece of a special gathering on Sunday night at Chances Convention Centre, as part of that ceremony there was to be an announcement of a 25 thousand dollar scholarship program for the Tsimshian people, as well as a 5 thousand dollar donation towards the All Native Basketball tournament.
However, before those photos of the cheque presentations would be sidelined, representatives from some of the member communities asked for a second look at the protocol, explaining that there had been a lack of communication on the proposals that were about to be signed.
Left unstated in the Daily News article from Wednesday, is exactly what it is about the protocol agreement that has concerned some of the members of the Allied Tribes of the Tsimshian, or further examination on the details on how Ridley Terminals plans to increase First Nations participation in the RTI workforce from the current level of around 8 per cent.
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That is a level that Dan Veniez, chairman of RTI vowed to redress and improve upon in the future, suggesting in a speech to the gathering that they would be developing training programs to teach and retain local First Nations members as part of the Ridley workforce.
As well, no details were provided as far as the status of the scholarship program and ANT donation, but we would imagine that all is in a holding pattern, until the different groups within the Allied Tribes come to a resolution of their internal differences on the protocol.
Hopefully, full details on the protocol will then be provided, outlining how the agreement will benefit the Allied Tribes of the Tsimshian, Ridley Terminals and the North coast. The surprising turn of events from Sunday night was presented by the Daily News as the headline, front page story in Wednesday’s paper.
ALLIED TRIBES CHOOSE NOT TO SIGN PROTOCOL AGREEMENT
Ridley Terminals believed they had a monumental agreement in place
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Pages one and two
The nine Allied Tribes of the Tsimshian decided on Sunday night not to sign a protocol agreement with Ridley Terminals Inc. (RTI) after some member tribe leaders raised concerns over a lack of communication on the proposal.
According to Metlakatla Chief Harold Leighton, the proposal would have set up a protocol agreement between the Tsimshian and Ridley Terminals regarding how the two sides would work together going forward. Ridley then would set up a $25,000 post-secondary scholarship for the Tsimshian community as well as a $5,000 donation to the All-Native Basketball Tournament.
“All we are signing for today is that we are going to build a relationship. We talk about our youth or high unemployment well that’s what the Tsimshian and RTI are talking about. There is nothing confidential in the agreement. We apologize to anyone we didn’t inform,” said Leighton.
But Leighton’s comments would not be enough to save the signing on Sunday as some leaders felt it best to take the agreement home.
The speed in which the agreement was made and the lack of consultation leading up to it surprised many and forced some to urge caution. They suggested revisiting the plan later after consulting with all member tribes.
“If you get an offer like this you have to look at it real close,” said Tsimshian Chief Buddy Helin. “A lot of people say this should have happened a long time ago but a long time ago was a long time ago.”
Helin told the gathering that whether or not Tsimshian members believed Ridley Terminals Chairman Dan Veniez wanted to build a positive relationship, they had to admit it was an offer they could not refuse. His main contention was that with all the tough economics around the North Coast, to just sign off an agreement without fully believing in what they were signing would be a mistake.
“Mr. Veniez, I have to take you at your word because you have presented your family in front of me to share with us what is in your heart. But we are looking at hard times because fishing is going down and a hard fact is 90 per cent of our economy in Port Simpson is fishing,” said Helin.
The plan going in to the evening was for an extravagant signing ceremony between Veniez and the Tsimshian leadership and some leaders had thought that all issues had been addressed the night before at a special feast in Lax Kw’alaams.
“We had a meeting in the village and I didn’t think this would be a problem,” said John Helin.
“I understand we have to be cautious but we also have to trust our leaders.”
“We shouldn’t be mistrusting our own people.”
Veniez, Allied Tribe leader James Bryant and Leighton were about to sit down and sign the official, though non legal, agreement when Buddy Helin first voiced his concern.
Veniez had begun the night by telling those in attendance that First Nations employees only make up eight per cent of the RTI workforce, a situation he intends to correct by offering scholarships so that Tsimshian members might be trained for skilled labour jobs at Ridley.
“There is a very strong need for Ridley to step up to the plate and build a bridge,” said Veniez before the decision to not sign the agreement was announced.
“We’ve been here for 27 years and we should have developed these programs that we are announcing today. We are probably going to have an employee shortage and what we should have done long ago is make training available for the community. We’ve never made the effort, which is unacceptable.
As well, no details were provided as far as the status of the scholarship program and ANT donation, but we would imagine that all is in a holding pattern, until the different groups within the Allied Tribes come to a resolution of their internal differences on the protocol.
Hopefully, full details on the protocol will then be provided, outlining how the agreement will benefit the Allied Tribes of the Tsimshian, Ridley Terminals and the North coast. The surprising turn of events from Sunday night was presented by the Daily News as the headline, front page story in Wednesday’s paper.
ALLIED TRIBES CHOOSE NOT TO SIGN PROTOCOL AGREEMENT
Ridley Terminals believed they had a monumental agreement in place
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Pages one and two
The nine Allied Tribes of the Tsimshian decided on Sunday night not to sign a protocol agreement with Ridley Terminals Inc. (RTI) after some member tribe leaders raised concerns over a lack of communication on the proposal.
According to Metlakatla Chief Harold Leighton, the proposal would have set up a protocol agreement between the Tsimshian and Ridley Terminals regarding how the two sides would work together going forward. Ridley then would set up a $25,000 post-secondary scholarship for the Tsimshian community as well as a $5,000 donation to the All-Native Basketball Tournament.
“All we are signing for today is that we are going to build a relationship. We talk about our youth or high unemployment well that’s what the Tsimshian and RTI are talking about. There is nothing confidential in the agreement. We apologize to anyone we didn’t inform,” said Leighton.
But Leighton’s comments would not be enough to save the signing on Sunday as some leaders felt it best to take the agreement home.
The speed in which the agreement was made and the lack of consultation leading up to it surprised many and forced some to urge caution. They suggested revisiting the plan later after consulting with all member tribes.
“If you get an offer like this you have to look at it real close,” said Tsimshian Chief Buddy Helin. “A lot of people say this should have happened a long time ago but a long time ago was a long time ago.”
Helin told the gathering that whether or not Tsimshian members believed Ridley Terminals Chairman Dan Veniez wanted to build a positive relationship, they had to admit it was an offer they could not refuse. His main contention was that with all the tough economics around the North Coast, to just sign off an agreement without fully believing in what they were signing would be a mistake.
“Mr. Veniez, I have to take you at your word because you have presented your family in front of me to share with us what is in your heart. But we are looking at hard times because fishing is going down and a hard fact is 90 per cent of our economy in Port Simpson is fishing,” said Helin.
The plan going in to the evening was for an extravagant signing ceremony between Veniez and the Tsimshian leadership and some leaders had thought that all issues had been addressed the night before at a special feast in Lax Kw’alaams.
“We had a meeting in the village and I didn’t think this would be a problem,” said John Helin.
“I understand we have to be cautious but we also have to trust our leaders.”
“We shouldn’t be mistrusting our own people.”
Veniez, Allied Tribe leader James Bryant and Leighton were about to sit down and sign the official, though non legal, agreement when Buddy Helin first voiced his concern.
Veniez had begun the night by telling those in attendance that First Nations employees only make up eight per cent of the RTI workforce, a situation he intends to correct by offering scholarships so that Tsimshian members might be trained for skilled labour jobs at Ridley.
“There is a very strong need for Ridley to step up to the plate and build a bridge,” said Veniez before the decision to not sign the agreement was announced.
“We’ve been here for 27 years and we should have developed these programs that we are announcing today. We are probably going to have an employee shortage and what we should have done long ago is make training available for the community. We’ve never made the effort, which is unacceptable.
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