Reserve Governance Researcher Enjoying Work

Reserve Governance Researcher Enjoying Work

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 12:51

 

 

This year’s Aboriginal Governance Index is being assembled with the help of a La Ronge woman.

 

The index is compiled each year by the Winnipeg-based Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

 

It examines governance on First Nations and the policies that surround it.

 

Barb McLeod of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band has been working full-time on the report since last year.

 

She says she enjoys meeting First Nations residents in Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan and learning about how their communities are managed.

 

McLeod travels to band offices where she sits and talks to local members, and occasionally even goes door-knocking.

 

She says most of the bands in Saskatchewan are quite receptive to her visits, adding the chief in Saulteaux phoned people on the reserve to urge them to do the surveys.

 

One of the questions McLeod asks is whether rightful voters were able to trust that their votes — and only their votes — were counted during the last band election.

 

She says other questions are also asked pertaining to housing and the economy.

 

McLeod just wrapped up a large tour of the Meadow Lake area, and is headed to Onion Lake and Island Lake in the days to come.