Urban Aboriginal Strategy Prince George
The Prince George Aboriginal Strategy engages the expertise and talents of the entire Prince George community to champion the vision of improving the quality of life for Aboriginal people, today and tomorrow.
WHERE IT ALL STARTED
The current iteration of the PGUAS started in May, 2007 following the announcement of a 5 year renewal of the Urban Aboriginal Strategy program. Previous to this, the PGUAS existed as a two year pilot program. The bulk of PGUAS activities for the from May 2007 onward involved the following transition activities for the new program:
- Refining the membership structure of the community committee;
- Seeking a mandate from the Aboriginal community; and,
- Ensuring project selection was in line with the program's national priorities while still reflecting local needs.
In order to prepare for the continued delivery of the UAS in Prince George for the next 5 years, a Transition Team of volunteer Aboriginal community members from the former Project Champions Council developed a series of recommendations for the management and membership structure of the PGUAS. This proposed structure was presented to attendees at a Community Engagement Session, held at the Prince George Native Friendship Centre on September 28, 2007. The Community Engagement Session allowed interested Prince George Aboriginal community members the opportunity to input their suggestions on the delivery, structure and priority areas for the new PGUAS.
Participants at the Engagement Session approved a management structure which consisted of a Management Team of twelve to fourteen community seats with additional seats for the four levels of government, (federal, provincial, municipal and First Nation) and incorporating three seats for youth representatives (aged 18 to 30). Eleven of these seats were filled by volunteers at the Engagement Session. The first meeting of the Management Team was held on October 9, 2007.
Details on PGUAS initiatives and our last two year's Call For Proposals may be found under the "Projects & Initiatives" portion of this website while more details on our current activities may be found under the "Strategic Planning" section.